"This is for his own good," Heimdall says. "His revelations are the only things we can rely on to find these statues. If he's warning us not to go in here, I have to think there's something to this place."
Raven wipes her tears away, despite more falling from her eyes. "But what if he's right? What if it's not safe?" she asks.
"Then we'll have to do what I do best. Fight," Loki says, cracking his knuckles.
Raven nods, trusting of them.
She bends and rolls her forehead against mine. "Just have faith in them, okay? If things start to feel worse, we'll leave. I promise," she says.
And though I know it won't be that easy, I have to keep my calm. For her.
I interlock my fingers with hers. "Okay," I whisper.
We don't need to say anything more.
I was brought here for a reason. It's time to start searching.
Raven
It takes Ash a long time to fully come to terms with the revelations that he witnessed, but the library doesn't seem as horrible as he is making it out to be.
This place is dark, vacant, and covered in various cobwebs and insect traps. As we walk down the endless brick hallways, I hold my breath and look at the vast ceiling. Each room is filled with hundreds of books. It's impossible to focus on any of them.
"Great," I say. "This place is just one big maze."
Heimdall is perhaps the most studious out of all of us. Judging by the look in his eyes, he disagrees with my assessment. "I'm not so sure about that," he says. "Look at all these books. Something might be here. I'm holding on to the hope that Ash was right to lead us inside."
"But we have no clue what we're even looking for," I reply.
"No more talking. We keep walking," Loki grunts.
We walk around another corner and find a set of stairs that lead to an even darker basement. Along the walls are small unlit torches. Heimdall seizes the moment by carefully taking one into his hand. He lights a match and watches as the flame illuminates the entire area.
Painted on the wall in red is the phrase:
"She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her."
"You were saying?" he asks.
I feel myself blush. "Maybe I was wrong," I say.
Ash swallows loudly and exhales. "Maybe," he says.
Heimdall slowly leads the way downstairs. Before I can analyze the area, a rat scurries down, causing me to nearly jump into Ash's arms. "You okay?" he whispers.
I swallow down my fear and nod.
"Yeah, I guess so."
Ash holds me and kisses the back of my neck. I comforted him during his time of distress, but he's good at staying strong for me when I am unable.
"Just hold onto my hand. Don't let go. Everything is going to be okay," he assures me.
We move deeper and deeper into the massive underbelly of the library. There are old computers caked in dirt, scattered books, and a few empty sleeping bags that have clearly been abandoned. People lived here once...
I start to get a really bad feeling about this place.
Heimdall stops moving. "Shit. You guys. Look," he says.