nexus_sages | (no subject)

There are many cases of moments when a person has not realized that they have just entered the Nexus. This seems to be the situation, when one of the doors into the Forum swings open, letting one Hermione Granger enter. The young witch is balancing a large piles of books as she walks, thus remains blissfully unaware that she has entered the Forum.

Hermione walks carefully, counting her steps just under her breath. In the library where she had originally been, there was a table exactly 15 steps away from the research section, which she is now looking for to set down her books.

Unfortunately, in the Forum, there is no table exactly 15 steps away. So when Hermione gets to her destination, and goes to set down the books, she trips over the fact that there is nothing there. The books go flying out of her arms...but in a split second, Hermione pulls out her wand and calls out "Leviosa!" The books start to float in the air, none of them hitting the ground.

With one eye on the floating books, Hermione glances around her new surroundings. She needs to find a safe place to lower her spell and figure out what do to next. Won't someone help her?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Does Hermione's world have Marvel Comics? Journey Into Mystery? If not, the best she's likely to come up with are the adventures he had in drag, or the time a horse got him pregnant, or the ever-popular tale of when he tricked one of his brothers into killing another.

"Needs must, when the devil drives," he observes cheerfully. "You would not believe the project I've found myself. Although that seems to be the default reaction to me doing things, these days."

If there are Marvel Comics in her world, Hermione has not come across it. So most of her references don't give her any answers for this situation.

But the chance for more questions is quite appealing.

"You have a project?"

"Arts and crafts," he demurs, "but I'm short a few supplies. I need the hottest fire imaginable, the coldest quench, and the hardest thing. I am gonna make the most amazing scrapbook." Can you trust a smile like that?

No, you absolutely cannot trust a smile like that.

"That does sound like an incredible task before you." Of course, Hermione knows of a couple of spells that might help his task. But one is extremely dangerous.

Everything is dangerous, if you try hard enough. "Oh, truly," he agrees, with a solemn nod that should not at all be taken seriously. "Lo, the sagas are rife with bold heroes who perished, for their sticker-game was weak, and their margins lacked sufficient dazzle."

"Didn't they know that the margins are where you put the most important facts?"

"In a scrapbook?" Loki is incredulous, but considers the idea and shrugs. "I suppose not. Probably why they died. So! Lesson learned for us, then."

"It has been awhile since I have completed a scrapbook. But I do recall that it is important to think creative."

"That must be why your own saga went as well as it did," the boy suggests. "But it does leave the question, what next?"

"That is a big question. I am trying to embrace any new opportunity that comes along. Maybe something will lead me to my next big adventure."

"So it's still adventure you want?" Loki asks with a grin.

"Well, maybe adventure with a little 'a', instead of a big 'A'." There is a difference in Hermione's opinion.

"World travel, with a dash of intrigue and just enough action to be interesting?" he suggests.

"I would like to explore a few different cultures. Maybe find spells or potions that are from different places than my own."

"Ah, cultural adventure!" Again, he grins. "Then you've definitely come to the right place! They have everything here!"

"How about a huge library where one can get lost in?"

Loki's grin turns mischievous. "How much do you know about L-space?"

"Not much I am afraid. But I do enjoy learning about new things."

Oooh, Loki gets to explain something! He only barely restrains a happy little dance, settling for a wide grin instead and transferring his magpie to his shoulder so his hands will be free for wild gestures.

"Okay, well, you know knowledge is power, right? Well, power is energy, and energy is mass, and when you put enough mass together, it bends space. That's gravity, right? And every big chunk of gravity is pulling on every other big chunk of gravity, because that's how it works. Well, books are piles and piles of knowledge in a small space, and when you group them all together in a library, they kind of multiply each others' effect. And when some of that knowledge is magic knowledge, stuff that's meant to distort not just space but reality, then it really gets exciting!"

He grins. "Basically, whenever you get a big enough collection of smart enough books together, it bends space into funny shapes, to the point where it kind of goes under the rest of time and space and gets in touch with all the other big piles of books down there. So when you find a library you can get lost in, you can get really lost. And that place where all the libraries touch, that's outside normal space? Well, we're outside normal space, too, aren't we?"

You see what he's getting at?

Hermione listens to his detailed explanation carefully. Her own eyes get a little bigger and wider, as he nears the end. To think about the possibility that he is suggesting -- a library that expands all space, but no space at all.

"That would be amazing to find."

"It's pretty great," Loki agrees, nodding. "Just make sure you bring a banana."

"A banana?" She has to ask.

"In case you meet the Librarian," he explains, as if that explains everything. "The one from Ankh-Morpork. Oh, and don't say 'monkey.'"

"Good advice, then." She takes note of the name and the warning.

"Isn't it?" Loki grins, nodding, then decides that since he's been so helpful, it's time to ask for a favor. "So, just off the top of your head, what's the hardest thing you can think of?"

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