Sell you a Bridge chapter 357

July 13th 2016 Limitless Library, 11:00 PM EDT

As  we followed the trail that Taylor had found, we ran into a few more of  the angels, but after banishing a couple (and killing another one) even  that stopped. I was pretty sure that while they were timelocked by us viewing them, they could interact with each other, and I suspected some  of the ones we'd come across had been far enough away that we hadn't  noticed them. Word was spreading and the time pests were too scared to  fuck with us anymore.

Despite that, we weren't exactly in  perfect condition. It was already getting late, and despite my skills I  was pretty sure sleeping in the open would be a big mistake. I consulted  the only person who had actually been here about the dilemma. "Hey,  Mickey. Any ideas of a place where we could rest?" I hadn't seen  anywhere that looked like a rest area, but this was an infinite  building, there was no way there wasn't some place to stop and recover  given the threats in the main library space.

Sure enough,  Mickey nodded. "Haha. Yeah, the reading room. It's folded into the space  here so you can summon the doors. They have food and places to rest  there, and it's considered neutral territory. It's usually pretty packed  there since there's only the one room across the whole library. You can  meet people from all over." He sounded enthused about checking the  place out, and I got that, but currently I just wanted to stop and nap  for a bit.

When I indicated that I  wanted to enter, Mickey called up his keyblade and pointed it off to one  side, a flash of light shooting out into a huge keyhole and clicking  open a door that wasn't there before. I was curious how normal people  got into the reading room, since the only twenty keyblade wielders I  knew of were standing right here, but in the end that probably didn't  matter much right now. What DID matter was that the door swung open to  admit us into the "reading room".

"Huh."  I said as we stepped into what looked like an old fashioned tavern.  "I'll be honest, not what I was expecting." The place was big for what  it was, but it wasn't exactly a gymnasium. I'd expected more room given  all the people supposed to be here. Looking closer though, I could see a  weird spatial effect on the tables, allowing them to somehow be RIGHT  next to each other and also dozens of feet apart. It was a fascinating  way to deal with space.

Mickey  chuckled. "It's the same as I remember it." He waved us over to the  sturdy wooden bar. "Just be aware that the reading room has magical  protections in place that ensure nonviolence. Even if someone tries to  start a conflict, don't bite. You won't be able to attack them. Most  people don't bother though, because starting a fight in here makes  getting attacked in the library itself more likely." We stopped in front  of the bar, and Mickey grinned up at the tanned blonde man polishing a  mug with a rag that looked well used enough that I suspected it might  actually be making it dirtier.

The  man looked up as he approached and raised a laconic eyebrow. "Mickey."  He said in a thick English accent. "Good to see you again. Supposin'  your master won't be joinin' you this go around?" I wasn't shocked he  recognized Mickey, the anthropomorphic mouse kind of stood out, but I  was impressed by how stoic he seemed. I was guessing he saw his fair  share of crazy shit.

"John."  Mickey said with a nod. "Not this time. I brought some friends with me,  we were interested in renting some rooms if you have them." He turned  to us. "Everyone, this is Honest John. He runs the tavern here. This is  only part of the reading room, but it's the safest place to rest, and  everyone looking to find a place to lay their head comes here. The stew  is pretty good too."

There  was a snort from off to one side and we turned to see a dark haired,  dark eyes, plain looking man sitting on a bar stool sipping from a mug  of dark beer. He was short and wore a dark cloth robe, but more  importantly his aura clazed like a fucking exploding star. He had the  same kind of magical power Master Yen Sid and Merlin did. Mickey raised  an eyebrow at the man. "Something to say Pug?"

The man,  Pug, chuckled. "Yeah, don't overpraise him, he'll get a big head. How  you doing kid?" Seeing someone who looked to be in his mid twenties say  that to a literal magician king would have normally seemed weird, but  this guy pulled it off. His eyes looked...old. Those same eyes flicked  to us. "Pug of Stardock, by the way. Nice to meet you all. I see there's  some real talent among your group."

I almost bristled at  that, but he was looking at Jim, and John as well as any of the girls,  so I was pretty sure it was just unfortunate phrasing. He seemed to  sense my reaction though, because he grinned at me. "I meant magical  talent, boy. My wife would have my hide if I even thought about  straying, and trust me when I say she's even nastier when she's angry  than I am."

Mickey passed Honest John a small bag (we had  far too many Johns so this one would get referred to by his full title).  "The stew please, twenty bowls." He glanced over at Pug. "Unless you  feel like joining us, my friend? I haven't heard from you in quite a  while. How is Miranda, and the children?" Mickey had said he's only been  here once, but they seemed to know each other well. Then again, there  were lots of ways for wizards to keep in touch, so that wasn't too  surprising.

"I could eat." Said Pug with a shrug. "And  they're fine. Miranda is away at the moment. My father in law dragged  her into something stupid and dangerous. She'll call if she needs help.  She and the old man can take care of themselves. The kids are doing  well. Arutha's wife recently had twins, which means I'm a great  grandfather now, and doesn't THAT make me feel like an old man."

He  got up and followed us to a nearby table after Honest John went through  a door behind the bar, presumably to get our stew. We all piled into  the booth, somehow able to fit comfortably with no crowding in a table  that should have been only about five feet on either side. More spatial  bullshit, but it was extremely convenient, since I was right next to my  girls and also somehow had a ton of elbow room. Maybe I should look into  opening a place like this after the whole Barbatos mess was over.

Honest  John came out, bringing with him a series of bowls on a tray and taking  way more bowls off than should have reasonably fit on there as he  passed them to us. On second though, maybe I shouldn't look into opening  a place like this. Seeing all this casual spatial fuckery was making my  head hurt. I took a bite of the stuff though, and was pleasantly  surprised by how good it was.

"So."  Said Pug mildly as he ate. "What brings you all here. I don't know what  your business is, but I've been in this game long enough to see the  stirrings of fate when I'm in their presence. Some mad errand or quest  perhaps?" He scooped up a bit of stew, but blew on it for about thirty  seconds before eating, humming happily as he did. "Don't tell John." He  said in amusement. "But this IS the best stew I've ever eaten. I just  don't think he needs the encouragement."

I  snorted at that, before taking the liberty of answering him. "Yeah, we  have a crazy quest. How could you tell?" I didn't tell him what that  was, because I didn't fucking know this guy, and despite seeming pretty  chill and being a literal monster in terms of power, I wasn't going to  trust some random with information on our secret infiltration of the  Scala ad Caelum and the world forge.

He  looked at me searchingly. "Mind if I make a few guesses?" He said  casually. I couldn't exactly stop him so I just nodded. "Well if you're  on a quest and coming to the library you're either here for knowledge or  travel. If it was knowledge you wouldn't have brought quite so many  combatants, so my guess is travel. I won't speculate on your  destination, as that would be pointless and rather rude to boot, but if  you're trying to reach somewhere, you may be going about things the  wrong way."

I  was about to tell him to fuck off, but Mickey stopped me. "What do you  mean?"Said the mouse king. He seemed to respect this guy quite a bit,  and Mickey was pretty badass. I decided to wait and hear him out, if  Master Yen Sid was impressed with this guy, and it seemed like he was  based on Mickey's attitude about their last meeting, he was probably  pretty fucking impressive.

"Just  what I said." Said Pug. "The Limitless Library has many connections to  many worlds, but the points of ingress are all fairly notable. Honest  John's connects to...other, means of transport. If you're trying to a  silent entry, which I would assume you are based on your presence here,  access through the Hall of Worlds would be much more subtle, if not also  extremely dangerous."

Mickey  seemed uncertain. "I thought the Hall was part of the Library? How  would using it be different the just going through the stacks?"

Pug  shook his head. "No. The Hall isn't part of the Library. More of  an...alternative. The Rock of Eternity connects to everything, and the  Limitless Library takes advantage of that, but contrary to its name, the  main limitation of the library is its very nature. It is a place or  learning, of knowledge. The Hall is more of a sort of series of backroom  passages. Every single door or entrance in the multiverse connects to  the hall, if you know how to open them."

That  sounded useful as hell. It might even be able to bring us right to the  forge. "Ok, so...how do we get there?" I wasn't going to turn down help,  and I knew he wasn't lying to us about this. I'd have been able to  sense it.

"Like  I said, every entrance connects." Pug shrugged. "But it's somewhat more  dangerous. The stacks are just one big grid you can traverse, they're  large but orderly. The hall is infinite, but the doors aren't always  near each other. In order to find the ones you need you can't just walk  down a hall, that would take you eons. The fastest way is to take  shortcuts through the carious doors and worlds to come out in different  parts of the hall."

He  took a final bite of his stew. "Well, I'd better be going. My wedding  ring is heating up, which means my bastard father in law is probably  about to get my wife into a mess they can't get out of after all." He  stood up, tossing a gold coin onto the table. "Good luck on your quest.  You seem like nice kids, and I find these things usually work out,  except when they don't."

"Well."  I said blankly after he left. "That was weird and random. I mean, I  know for sure he wasn't lying about anything, but doesn't that seem a  bit too convenient?"

Zee  picked up the coin, which I assumed was a tip, and started to giggle. I  raised an eyebrow at her and she flipped it at me. I snatched it from  the air, rolling it between my knuckles so I could look at both sides,  and had to stop myself from groaning out loud. One side of the coin had a  heroic looking blonde man, but the other had a wizened bearded face  with a familiar pointy hat. Well, it looked like Merlin wasn't above  helping out after all.