Chapter Four Hundred and Seven - Off the Books

Chapter Four Hundred and Seven - Off the Books

Chapter Four Hundred and Seven - Off the Books

What can you tell us about this ghost? Amaryllis asked.

Pecorina frowned and gestured vaguely towards the fallen stack of books. They rose up, and the books carefully slotted themselves back into their spots on the shelves. This has been an issue for... well, some time now, she said.

Youre haunted? Caprica asked.

Im not haunted. The store is, she said. And by a very persistent and clever ghost.

Arent ghosts usually easy to get rid of? Calamity asked. Smack them with something magical and theyre done for, no?

Thats usually the case, yes, Amaryllis said, before turning to Pecroina. "And you're clearly not lacking when it comes to magic. So, why is your store still haunted?" she asked, her tone turning a bit leading.

Pecorina crossed her arms. This isnt a normal ghost. Obviously. If it was, then Id have squished them between two books long ago. Everyone in Inkwren knows better than to try and mess with my store. Even the academies respect me.

Are you that strong? I asked.

She grinned. Im a Bibliomancer. The more books I have, the stronger I am. She made a little gesture to the stacks and stacks of books all around us. Its a rather uncommon class, though there are a couple of us in Inkwren. We can pull magic and enchantments directly from the books themselves. I have a million books and ten thousand spells as long as Im in my shop.

Wow, I said, genuinely impressed. It did sound like a very cool class.

Not one for me, though. It sounded like shed need to lug around all of these books with her if she ever wanted to go on an adventure, and that seemed terribly inconvenient. I couldnt imagine myself dragging a heavy chest full of books through a dungeon or something.

"So, you are strong," I said. "But I guess that's not enough to banish this particular ghost?"

Pecorina rubbed her little nose. "Correct. It won't die," she said. Ive smashed it, fired a library of spells at it, and even found books on exorcism and ghost hunting and cast spells specifically designed to get rid of more powerful undead. But it keeps coming back.

Is it harmful? Caprica asked. Other than knocking down bookshelves?

"Knocking down bookshelves is harmful," Pecorina contested. "New books lose value even from something as minor as a scuffed corner, whereas old books are fragile and can't take the abuse. Mashed pages, split bindings, I've even had covers break off entirely. This ghost is costing me money, to say nothing of the fact that someday, one of those bookshelves is probably going to fall on someone."

I considered it for a moment, then shrugged. We could try, I guess.

Especially if it means a discount, Amaryllis added.

Pecorina snorted. Ill drop the price on whatever you purchase today by half. How does that sound?

That sounded like a fantastic deal. Well do it! I said. Amaryllis, do you think my magic would work? I could hit the entire store all at once.

Whoa now, wait one moment, Pecorina said. You wont be getting any discounts if you blow up my store. What sort of magic are you talking about here?

I paused, my heart pounding. "Hey there, ghost," I said, trying to keep my voice steady and non-threatening. "I'm Broccoli. We need to talk. I promise, I won't hurt you." Id hurt an undead friend once. It wasnt going to happen again.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the book I was holding was yanked out of my hands and flew back onto the shelf. A moment later, another book flew off the shelf and smacked onto the floor just before my toes.

The book opened, then the pages started to flick by, faster and faster until all of a sudden, it stopped and the book came to rest, opened for me to see.

The page it stopped on had a chapter titled, The Importance of Mutual Respect. I couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright, then," I said. "Let's have a respectful conversation. Um, Im guessing you can hear me, then?

Nothing happened for a long moment, then the temperature in the room dropped until I was shivering. A spectral head emerged from the bookshelf, icy blue and semi-transparent. It looked at me with glowing eyes, its expression unreadable. It was just the vague outline of the top of someones head, as if they were peeking out from around a corner. The form was too blurry and translucent to really make out any details, but there was a slight hint of glasses on the face, and something about the size suggested that they were young.

Or maybe it was a non-human-like race, and my guess was all wrong.

"Are you... um, the one who's been causing the trouble?" I asked, my voice shaky. I wasn't afraid, but I did feel a bit nervous. My experience with ghosts had mostly revolved around them trying to kill me. Well, most of the time. Id met at least one nice ghost, and Orange was a spirit cat, which kind of made her ghost-adjacent.

The ghost didn't respond verbally, but it did move. It took a step back into the bookshelf, then a book flew off the shelf. Confessions of a Misunderstood Spirit. I took that as a yes.

"I see. So, you're not trying to cause problems, you're just... misunderstood? Alright, I'll try to understand then," I said. "Maybe we can be friends?"

The ghost slipped away, back into the bookshelves, but a moment later I saw it peek out to stare at me again, further away this time.

Curious, I started to follow it. I had to let my friends know too, but it was hard enough communicating now when it was just me and the ghost. I made sure my Cleaning magic was well-restrained and followed the ghost deeper into the stacks.

I continued to follow the spectral figure, moving deeper into the maze-like bookstore. The ghost seemed cautious, perhaps even a bit wary, but it didn't try to scare me off or attack me. Instead, it continued to lead me through the aisles, often disappearing into the shelves only to reappear a few steps ahead of me after a short pause.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached a particularly dark and musty corner of the store. The spectral figure hovered near a bookshelf filled with ancient, leather-bound volumes. It swayed, and a dozen books spilled to the ground.

Uh, I said as I started to read the titles, but these were all textbooks on different subjects, and unless it wanted to talk about math...

Then the ghost reached into the shelf with a spectral arm and pulled out a single book that didnt seem to belong. Not a leather-bound tome, but instead a notebook that looked much younger, and more beaten.

I picked it up slowly, then flipped it open. Lavinias To Be Read List, the first page read.

Then there was a list.

A very long list, it went on for the first thirty or so pages of the notebook, with several dozen of the titles crossed out. Some even had little reviews, like Okay, or Re-read when I forget, and one said Convince Thorne to read, shell cry.

The notebook seemed pretty mundane otherwise, except for one thing. Some of the titles were crossed out with something that wasnt ink. A faint, glowing line of something ghostly and spectral.

I looked up, searching for the ghost, but it was nowhere to be seen.

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