libraryassistants: (Default)
Unfinished Library Mod & NPC Account ([personal profile] libraryassistants) wrote in [community profile] unfinishedlibrary2026-03-27 07:21 pm

so good night unto you all - LIBRARY RETURN

Who: The Editors, one and all
What: The fight is over, the pieces remain... and the Editors head back 'home'
When: Dawn of the Final Day Sunrise after the attack
Where: Leaving Montica, back to the Library
Content warnings: Please make sure to put CW in headers!

By the time morning comes around again, the fires are beginning to die down, thanks to the many efforts of the citizenry to keep them under control. The rebel vampires too have been largely dealt with. These two seemingly insurmountable obstacles were only possible thanks to a combination of factors: the Umbra not being as blind to their human servants as their opposition would have thought, defectors from the Orlocks who were able to counter-act some of their magic, the following Amalia gathered and deployed from Laurelthirst, some suspicious (though welcome) help from suspiciously new arrivals, and of course, House Guildulf throwing their own into the fray to ally with the vampires for this confrontation.

A unity the likes of which Montica has never truly seen.

As the sun rises, there are few left who are able to fight at all; the rebels are beaten, and even the forces built up by both the vampires and werewolves are exhausted or diminished, leaving no one able to take advantage. Citizens of both sides flee indoors, and the remaining rebels are forced to vanish into the woods once more, weakened and unable to strike again any time soon. But there are still repairs to be done, physically and otherwise. Will this unity last beyond tonight? Will young love and youthful hope prevail? Those are the questions that settle over a weary Montica, as light pours into the city once more.

And then, the world begins to fade, static taking over the senses, as the Editors return to the Library.

Welcome back, Editors

It looks much the same as they left it, though the makings of a masquerade are no longer arranged as finely, a few scorch marks here and there, and for some reason there’s some amazing optical illusions on the floor panelling that makes them look like actual manhole covers. Alas, no sewers lay beneath. It may still take Actors a bit of time to shake off the old-new memories, and for some reason the fluorescent lighting seems harsher on the skin than it has any right too. Good thing that the stacks cast long shadows.

The customary tea cart is set up in the Lobby again, and it seems some improvements have been made. The coffee still isn’t strong, but’s far more drinkable than it has been, and there’s an added decaf option now! The tea has still been overstepped, and the stale cookies have been replaced by scones that are hard as rocks, but clearly someone’s getting the message that there are improvements needed. Clearly the tea cart was the place to start.

If someone for some reason doesn’t want stale scones, there’s also a child sized food truck in the lobby, with a sign out front boasting a variety of tamales, including: black beans and cheese, birria, chicken, fire scorpion, man suffering to death via battle wound, and beef. Upon approach, what look like fuzzy puppets pop up to… take your order? They don’t say much, or rather, they make a single noise over and over that seems to be them communicating, but the tamales are good. Just… don’t try to look in the truck. They’ll screech, vanish, and then no tamales for you.

Meanwhile, the bulletin board has a cheerful sign decorated with colorful blocks, declaring: “Join us in the Children’s Area for Lego Club!” Upon locating the room in question, Editors will discover boxes among boxes of legos of various shapes and sizes. There are some ‘how to’ guides for various builds (including a ‘research space ship’ and a ‘vampire’s castle’), but also plenty of encouragement for people to make their own creations! Unlike normal creations, these will actually stick around for a while after they’re finished, and there’s a nice little table where people can display and share what they’ve made.

The Assistants, it seems, are nowhere to be seen: the ‘back in 5’ sign is still in place at the help desk. Still, even without their ‘helpful’ guidance, some facets of the Library may come more easily to some in the aftermath of Montica’s troubles.

[Due to the resolution of the Story, any skills tagged Archivist in the skill tree cost one less skill point (minimum of 1) until the next Story. This can stack with a normal Archivist bonus!]
angel_of_baal: (fabuloso?)

Sanguinius

[personal profile] angel_of_baal 2026-03-28 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
last gasp at Montica
He staggers out of the sewers, around dawn. Don't notice the stains on his clothes, the way they stick to him as if (as if?) not all the blood on his clothes belongs to his enemies. He's fine. He's holding up the wall with one hand, leaning over. He's just catching his breath. It's just...really hard to catch his breath right now.

After a long moment, he'll realize the pain isn't getting any better, and he'll look up, to navigate by the sun, and begin the long, limping journey home.

((ooc: feel free to speedrun to him arriving at home as a mild wildcard OR accost him on the way there. ))

Return
Sanguinius is not in the dormitories. He will not repeat the error of last time, and risk others by being in public, and trying to sleep. He almost killed someone last time. He cannot be that unguarded again.

He's not in the kitchens, or the stacks, or even the bathroom.

There's one tree in the garden that's much and suspiciously bigger than the others--that might be a clue, laden with cherries the size of a grown man's fist. That's a good harvest for fans of stone fruit!

Up high in the tree, hard to see through the leaves, is a shadowy bulk, one of the grey woolen blankets from the dormitories on a high branch, wrapping his wings tighter to his body--no accidental wingslaps here

Sanguinius is up there, his white wings hidden and held tight against his body by the blanket, back against one of the crown's heavy branches, one leg along the length of another, staring up at the false sky..

He has much to think about and this is as close to solitude as he can get. Even the wrapper for the fire scorpion tamale resting in his lap, twisted into a tight rope, does little to steady him.

wildcard
((ooc: hit me up for a starter OR tell me to tag into your stuff! ))

Edited 2026-03-28 00:04 (UTC)
bashasasdemon: (Kai [Sad])

Kaiisteron | OTA

[personal profile] bashasasdemon 2026-03-28 12:28 am (UTC)(link)
Return

Well. That was terrible.

The Story, all told, ended better than it probably should have. People died, but not the entire city. But the smoke in his lungs, the fighting all around him, and the fact that he'd had to face people he once considered his own-- well. It brought back some of those bad old times that he tries not to think about too much.

Which means, like many others, Kai is trying to find himself a corner to hide in for a bit while he gets his emotions under control. For him, this means curling up in a chair with his veil over his eyes. He's definitely sleeping. So leave him alone.

Tamales

After he's sulked enough to get himself back under control, Kai will be back out in the Library. The weird... creatures are not the strangest thing he's seen, and while he's not sure what tamales are, the smell is pretty appetizing. ...He'll just stick with beans and cheese, though. He's pretty sure those won't have any potentially people-contaminated meat in them.

Maybe someone tell him he's not supposed to eat the wrapping.

Lego time

As with so much of this place, Kai hasn't a fucking clue what these things are, but after making some of the simple designs... he can see the appeal. There's something very soothing about the way these blocks click together. He's working on something- some kind of building, probably- but he'll look up at someone approaches. "Careful where you step," he says dryly, "These are surprisingly painful."
aetherweaver: (frustrated)

Nara'a Sunvara | OTA

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2026-03-28 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
Return

Nero is exhausted - and then suddenly he's no longer Nero. Nara'a is suddenly back in the library, and for a bit he just stands there, getting used to his body again.

He feels rather than hears a bunch of grumbling from inside his soul - between all three of his 'roommates' he's not surprised that they've got a lot to complain about. He can practically hear Ardbert swearing in surprise and displeasure - and he can feel Fray practically staring at him.

Meanwhile his voidsent is just hungry. He'll... he'll get to everything in a minute.


Kitchen

Nara'a needs food, but more than anything else he needs a distraction. The kitchen is full of the sounds and smells of cooking - stuffed cabbage, pies, omelets, soups - if you come in he'll shove food at you.

"Eat." That's all he says before he goes back to cooking.

Occasionally you might find him sitting down with what's probably too much food for most people, but he's attacking it with the speed of a starving man. Anyone who comes in will get a glance up from him and a tilt of the head.


Wildcard

He's easily found most anywhere in the library, so it's not hard to find him if anyone wants them. He's not trying to hang near where most people are, but even with how big the library is there's only so many places one can be.
curzed: (pic#18155868)

Return!

[personal profile] curzed 2026-03-28 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
Daytime had been for sleep in Montica, and he .. hadn't been entirely aware of the transition back into the Library until it was done and over with. What cleanup there had been wasn't his concern. Not even cleaning up himself.

That at least has been handled by returning to the Stacks, leaving him as clean as when he'd left, and the first order of business was finding his brothers. One of which is .. elusive.

Enough so that it takes time to find the right path through crisscrossing scents to determine where, precisely, Sanguinius had gone.

The giant fruit tree is its own tip off, really, and he considers it for a long moment, weighing whether it can hold both their weights or risk shattering it.

"Are you coming down or do I have to come up?" There's not a trace of animosity, mockery or amusement, he's also.. not leaving. Aside from not being as revoltingly filthy as they - or well, him and Sigwulf - crossed paths, not much has changed. Ignore the shadow-and-gold winged serpent necklace wound around his neck, it's always been there.
Edited 2026-03-28 00:33 (UTC)
aetherweaver: (serious)

Return

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2026-03-28 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Nara'a sits down next to Kai - or sits on the floor, at least. He rests his head against the side of the chair. He doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to, not right now. Not unless Kai wants or needs him to speak first.
ohaiyo_isekai: (:sad)

Kitchens

[personal profile] ohaiyo_isekai 2026-03-28 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
Hikaru has been giving Nara’a a wide birth for a while, at least until both of them have had some time to, if he will pardon the phrase, let the dust of battle settle.

But they WILL need to speak, and a chance encounter in the kitchens is as good a time as any.

“If you’ll have me,” he says. “I can recommend the tamales, too.”

And then, he sighs. “Hail and well met. Did you keep the shield bracelets and the skill at warding, or did that melt away when you became yourself again, Nara’a?”
bashasasdemon: (Default)

Re: Return

[personal profile] bashasasdemon 2026-03-28 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
Kai will budge up a little on the chair to let Nara'a sit, but he won't say anything for a long moment. He's not sure how long it is that they just sit there, quiet next to each other. It's... nice. He didn't actually want to be alone with his thoughts. He just didn't think there was any other real option.

Eventually, Kai will speak up first. "You ok?"
aetherweaver: (serious)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2026-03-28 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
Fortunately at the moment he's making a salad, so he can stop and talk. He turns and nods to Hikaru, and takes a deep breath.

"It left, I think. But I have my own warding ability, depending on what sort of position in battle I'm taking."

He really should just leave it at there, given how he's feeling, but - "Are you all right, after all of... that?"
steelfeathered: (This life startles you)

Hisako

[personal profile] steelfeathered 2026-03-28 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
one last Montica moment
Most of the night is a blur. Jadis slipped away from the manor, helped keep the lower city from burning, got shot, was rescued, and returned somewhat worse for wear. She should check the stores of burn ointment and other useful potions she's brewed ahead of time - and she will - but first she has to confirm the survival of the family. Of her family, what's the use denying it anymore?

the return
There's a moment where she doesn't know where or who she is, but she feels air against her bare skin and acts as Jadis, covering her chest in instant, instinctual mortification. Except, her arm doesn't move quite right and - she's been cut! She gasps as she feels the hot wet trickle of blood, and again she acts on instinct to press hard against the wound, but that's worse and something just fell with a ceramic CRACK- At last she looks down and registers that she's slicing, rather deeply, into her chest with a steel-feathered wing. Quite a lot of silver blood is flowing. She's cut the cord of several of her necklaces, including the one with her ocarina, dropping it to the floor.

- "Oh, God's sack," she says, swearing as Jadis would. Then Hisako vanishes, leaving an assortment of beads, a damaged clay flute, and a splash of shining blood on the floor. Anyone who's remained a werewolf should be careful, there's enough silver content in her blood to be potentially dangerous.

(Roboute's picking up the flute.)

med room
She appears in the Med Room several seconds after anyone who started out there does, far enough from any werewolves that her silver blood, claws, and bone does no harm. She's lying on her back on one of the cots with her wings hanging off the sides and trailing on the floor, the fresh cuts scabbed over, her skin ashen. When she tries to sit up, she can't. Birds don't have that kind of waist articulation, and... she is a Stormwing. A great, invisible weight settles over her as she fully and truly becomes Hisako again.


several paragraphs of ANGST
The wounds hurt. That's so embarrassing, that she cut herself like a fledgling! Like she doesn't know how her body works and still expects to be human-shaped. Hag take it, she doesn't want to go through that again.

Her whole body hurts and she realizes: it's because she's hungry. She's... always hungry. The solid part of a Stormwing's diet is not as important as emotions. Fasting for years, for a decade or two, that's no great hardship. Three hundred and seventy years, though. Somehow she'd managed to tune it out and now she's noticing again and it's. Awful.

Her mother's flute is gone. Had it broken when it fell? There had been a bad sound... Hisako's kept it for so long, protecting it from all the things that could damage ceramic, and now she's failed in a fit of idiocy. The last thing she has of her Amma!

Her heart hurts. For a while there, Hisako hadn't existed. Strange, damaged, too-compassionate Jadis had instead, living in what looked, at a glance, like the arrangement Hisako had had with Waehild Sixsmith. Except nothing like that. Jadis cared about the people in her household, especially Roberte, and was cared about in return. Often she felt safe. Sometimes, she had been happy. Dimly she had known about Hisako and felt revulsion, and then pity. She's so unhappy, Jadis had thought.

Now she's vulnerable on her back and not sure how she's going to get up. That does it. Hisako stares at the ceiling, trying to scold herself out of the tears welling up, spilling over into her ears, slowly remembering how the art of the grasp works because she's going to have to use magic to wipe her face.

Later, when she's calmer and has managed to 'sit' (squat) on the cot, her claws puncturing it deeply, Hisako hides her face under her wing and pretends to be asleep when she thinks anyone's coming near. She'll leave as soon as she feels she won't reopen the cuts.

wildcard
Long ago, Hisako had struggled for a long time after her transformation. A bit of that struggle is back, with the memory of how it was to be human so fresh in her mind. She's determined that this time she won't take years. She flies everywhere she can, spending days in the Safe Zone. She licks her feathers with a long tongue. She uses her talons to scratch into the sod in the garden and open up a patch of dirt and roots, then carries buckets of water to it in her teeth and makes a mud wallow. She... okay, taking several hours to laboriously wash her very long hair isn't a typical Stormwing habit, but it makes her feel better.
Edited 2026-03-28 02:45 (UTC)
aetherweaver: (tilted up)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2026-03-28 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
He moves to sit next to his friend and continues to be silent - until his friend speaks. "... No." He could lie, of course. His instinct is to lie, but he has a feeling Kai will know that he's lying anyway.

"What about you?"
codeswitchcraft: (sad)

[personal profile] codeswitchcraft 2026-03-28 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
The Garden (Locked to Close CR)

The moment that Siobhan exits from the story she makes a low moan and falls to her knees, but only for a moment before she pushes herself to her feet and tears off blindly into the stacks, opening whichever doors she can find until at last she reaches the garden.

She can be found there, later, by those who are close to her, curled up into a tiny green, gold, and blue ball next to the rose bushes, her monarch-patterned wings doing her best to shield the rest of her from the world.

Tamales and Legos

Later on, after she's finished yelling and crying, Siobhan can be coaxed back into the main library building. She orders her chicken tamales from the truck in perfect Mexican Spanish (rather than Yberian) and takes them with her to the lego room where she is concentrating very hard on making a very particular castle from Mundus--one Hikaru and Laina will recognize, but not the one she was born in.

"Pass me those flower-shaped pieces," she says under her breath, her normal barest hint of a German accent a little bit stronger at the moment. "I need them for the Jardine."

Wildcard

[Have anything else you want to tag about? Hit me up!]
birdchasingecho: (Default)

[personal profile] birdchasingecho 2026-03-28 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
Morning Sun
All her careful plans, ruined in a single day and night. And yet, she stood equal, here, now, coin and men spent dearly to preserve this, her city.

Her city. Hers. Let those who dare come to this den of wolves, this crypt of vampires! This city of craftsmen and beggars, actors and lords! This is proof! Not just hers, but hers, still, with the rays of dawn and the fires dying. She would help rebuild, both the relationships and the city, and everyone's Montica would stand stronger than ever.

It's when the ragged cheers erupt that she realizes she's expounding, a final speech before the real work of explaining herself to the Guidulfs and likely the Umbra began.

... And then, the world fades into static. She's fainting? Here? Now? She supposed she had... transformed five times that night...

Return
Mei arrives, still more than half Amalia, her body having changed to suit the Rival, and she's having a rough time of it, tripping over her own feet, speaking funny, barely keeping herself together.

She's 170 cm. She'll probably shrink over the next few days.

Her hair is shorter now, and she clicks her tongue in irritation. She kept her lockpicks in that hair ribbon! Where's she supposed to put it now!? she liked her long hair. She worked hard for that hair...

She doesn't even get to keep her fancy dress, though she does get a new shirt out of it: a Hunter green tee, with BULLET PROOFS on it, with a blazon of a crow clutching two muskets in its feet.

... But... As she reviews...

Well. If, in eight years, she was that well-connected, that ruthless, that kind, that able to chew the scenery--

Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.

She pours herself some awful tea, and sits, and waits.

She knows the accusations are coming.

Tamalias?

Mei's order is, after a brief glance, "Birria", and she watches with the amused air of someone watching kids do the same.

Still... It's an acceptable steamed bun, after everything Montica chose to be. "Go ahead and try some. They're good."
bashasasdemon: (Kai [Exhausted])

[personal profile] bashasasdemon 2026-03-28 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
Kai snorts; there's not any real humor it is, more an instinctual reaction. "No," he says quietly after a moment. It's pretty clear that he considered lying too. But... no. They've clearly moved past that, somehow.
ohaiyo_isekai: (:cold anger)

[personal profile] ohaiyo_isekai 2026-03-28 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
Hikaru laughs, once, a release of stored tension.

“A sight better than I suspect you and Siobhan are, though that’s absolutely not a ‘yes,’” he says. “Acting was unpleasant enough in my low stakes… thawing of the heart drama. How much worse to be cast as A Starcrossed Lover?”

Carefully using a Levantine shibboleth instead of calling it a coming out drama. He doubts Nara’a will be anything but supportive, but this also aint about Hikaru.

“And so, seriously, no: how are you, after being Lord Nero?”
aetherweaver: (turn away)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2026-03-28 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Carefully, he puts an arm around the other's shoulders. "... I don't know how many of us will be, after that."

He swallows hard, letting out a long breath. "... I feel kind of awful."
ohaiyo_isekai: (:sad)

The gardens

[personal profile] ohaiyo_isekai 2026-03-28 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
He knew she would be here.

At the beginning of it, he sits next to her, silently offering a hand.
bashasasdemon: (Kai [Talking])

[personal profile] bashasasdemon 2026-03-28 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
Kai tips his head back, trying to look at him even with the positioning making that a bit difficult. "Why?" he asks, puzzled. As far as he can tell, Nero did all that he could-- all that Nara'a would have tried himself to do. Unfortunately, he is also missing some... crucial information.
codeswitchcraft: (horrified)

Re: The gardens

[personal profile] codeswitchcraft 2026-03-28 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
She doesn't notice he's there at first. Once she does, however, she throws herself against him with a soft thud, burying her face against his neck, which he will sound find is wet from her weeping.
shakenit: (Default)

[personal profile] shakenit 2026-03-28 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
Step one: Pull a change of clothes and some toiletries out of a convenient book, attempt to wash the smell of smoke out of her hair, and feel sorry for herself in the shower. It'd be one thing if Sumire felt like she made much of any direct contribution to things, but she really doesn't. Still, so many others had a much harder time, so she doesn't want to make a big deal out of it, either.

Step two: sleep it off for a while.

After that, she's feeling up to wandering the stacks and perhaps being social for a while. The tamale truck is intriguing, partly because she hasn't had tamales before (the chicken ones, it turns out, are quite good) and partly because she can't figure out how 'man suffering to death' is a definable flavor. (She's not curious enough to actually try one of those, though.)

Eventually, she makes her way to the kitchen. She's still feeling a bit at loose ends, and the best thing she can do about it is cook - but cook what?
ohaiyo_isekai: (:resolve)

Re: The gardens

[personal profile] ohaiyo_isekai 2026-03-28 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
He’ll put her hand on her head, stroke gently, kiss her forehead.

“Sigrid pulled me out of my darkest moment there, you should know,” he says. “With the timely reminder she was not quite you, and that you would return to yourself, and to me, after the end.”
Edited 2026-03-28 01:19 (UTC)
aetherweaver: (upset)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2026-03-28 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
He looks at the food he's made, then looks at the other man. "Not well." He allows himself a short laugh before leaning against the counter.

"I did not enjoy being someone I am not."
aetherweaver: (upset)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2026-03-28 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
"Because I was having... relations... with someone who is the partner of someone I care about?" He rubs at his face. "I don't - it feels... wrong. I'm no stranger to doing... those kinds of activities, but not with someone that my friend is seeing.
ohaiyo_isekai: (:lecture)

[personal profile] ohaiyo_isekai 2026-03-28 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
“No,” he says. “No, I didn’t think you would. And so - would you do me and yourself the favour of reminding ourselves of the ways in which you are most unlike the lord Nero?”

Because in his experience, that was not the part that rankled. It was the ways in which a role was apt. Was revealing.
codeswitchcraft: (horrified)

Re: The gardens

[personal profile] codeswitchcraft 2026-03-28 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
He's taller than her again now that they're both pixies. There is something reassuring about that.

"Mother was-- she wasn't Mother, but she was-- she hadn't died, not really, Sigrid Guildulf's father hadn't killed her, even Amalia's shadow didn't exactly kill her." A hiccuping sob bursts from her. "Ereblood, Amalia. Gods, Amalia. She was Konrad in a skirt." She makes another noise, almost another sob, almost another laugh. "She was. Gods, Hikaru, she was. 'Twas even her name when she was a little boy."

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