After they got inside, Lady Aria began showing them the rooms one by one. The Royal Library was in surprisingly good shape and was full of people studying and reading. She led them to a wonderful, long staircase that went both up and down, and Avon and the others were amazed by the sight.
"It's like a labyrinth," Sara said.
Vernara, who had been looking at every detail, couldn't keep her questions to herself. "I have a question, Lady Aria," she said.
Lady Aria turned, her face full of energy. "Hmm? What is it, dear?"
"The city is in ruins, abandoned for who knows how many years," Vernara said. "How is this library completely intact?"
Avon and the others looked around, realizing she was right.
"This city was abandoned for..." Alvion began, but Lady Aria interrupted.
"Ah, ah, ah. She asked me, not you, Sir Alvion," she said with a smile.
"As you wish, Lady Aria."
"As you know, this city was abandoned from the age of the Old Order, and the Old Order perished 4 centuries ago. But do not be mistaken by the word 'abandoned,'" she said.
Avon and the others were confused. "What do you mean?" Vernara asked.
"Abandoned not by the people, but by the rules of the Order," Lady Aria explained. "In other words, this city served as a refuge for all those who believed and still believe in the Old Order's rules."
"But if it wasn't abandoned, then why didn't you rebuild it?" Avon asked.
"Why would we?" she replied. "These are nothing but rocks, an empty shell. They don't reflect our beliefs, but they are a reminder of who we once were."
"Destroyed what they built, but never their faith," Arcadius said, looking around.
Lady Aria was impressed. "From the 'Faith' book, right? That book was written by Serias Con Lacarius, who traveled with the Old Order Emperor. The book you read is about the people's faith."
"So these people outside, the Old Guardians, from all around the human world, they all have faith in the Order," Vernara said. "Then may I ask what this Order is that changed the human view of this world?"
"Oh, a strong question," Lady Aria said, her smile widening. "Four centuries ago, humanity was at its weakest, bullied by those who claimed the power to control the continents." She turned to look at a picture of a peaceful farm, and her expression became serious.
"Humans are the seed of life of this planet, the original owners of this world," she continued. "But something happened, something truly terrible that changed this world forever. After that 'thing' happened, disgraceful creatures came out of nowhere, and each of them began claiming things that didn't belong to them."
"Claiming things that don't belong to them," Sara whispered.
"Exactly!" Lady Aria said, her tone hardening. "They claimed parts of this world as their own, and wars happened between them. But the ones who took most of the damage were humans. They were used as tools of war while the creatures sat back and watched as humans slaughtered each other for their sake."
"What happened next?" Avon asked, leaning forward.
"Then one of the humans saw the truth of what these creatures really were," she said. "A century or so after the old empire fell, that man stood in silence, thinking about what would happen if he said no."
"The choice he would make would change everything," Arcadius said. "Either he continued being a tool, or he would stand up and fight."
Lady Aria nodded. "That man stood there, raised his weapon to the face of a vampire, and said, 'No! We will no longer fight for the sake of your disgusting, vile queen.' The vampire was about to kill him, but the man was ready. He had lived among them and knew their weakness."
"Silver!" Vernara said, her eyes wide.
"Yes. Silver melts their flesh like magic. That's what that man did. He cut the vampire's throat and killed him in front of the human army. They all stood there in shock. The man then stood on a tower and made a speech. 'Why are we fighting?' he asked. 'Who are we fighting? For what are we fighting? We are fighting our own brothers and sisters for the sake of vampires, elves, and demons. What do we gain from all this? Honor? Respect? None! We get none of it. Hear me out. From this day forward, humanity will no longer kneel. We will no longer serve the sinners!' "
She continued, "He walked among his army, and they made a way for him. He picked up a spear and the vampires' flag. He looked at them all and said, 'What will you choose? To kneel and serve, or to rise up and fight? Fight to take back your homes, your land? I say rise up and fight! Not for me, but for your families, your daughters, your wives, and your sons!' "
People began shouting, "Yes! Yeah!"
"He then threw the flag into a fire and shouted, 'I promise you all, I will bring order to this world for the sake of all humans! Now we march! Either victory or death! For the Order!' "
Everyone started cheering and shouting, "For the Order! For the Order!"
"That leader became the emperor of all humans," Lady Aria continued, bringing them back to the present. "And from that moment, humanity fought with blood, sweat, and tears against all the creatures of this world. And surprisingly, they were winning against all the odds."
"But for every great story, there is an end," Alvion said sadly.
"Correct," Lady Aria said. "After a while, the tide turned. Treason. Human leaders who had served the creatures didn't like how things were going, so they turned against the man who fought for their existence. They learned sorcery, magic, and other forbidden things and declared war on the Order. We were outnumbered and overpowered. We didn't stand a chance."
She turned to face them again. "But looking at you, I see hope. I see the future of our kind in your hands, and I am glad to see this day."
"How bad is the situation now, Lady Aria?" Arcadius asked.
She looked lost in thought for a moment. "Follow me, dears, and see for yourselves."
She walked down a hallway lined with pictures of human civilizations throughout history. Avon stopped at one picture of a knight holding a baby while fighting three creatures at once. Lady Aria noticed and walked over.
"Did you like it?" she asked.
Avon looked from the picture to her. "It's interesting. What does it mean?"
"Valor and honor," she said. "That's what it means to be a knight. Let's go; I want to show you something else."
They entered another room filled with books and a single picture behind a desk. It was of the human leader from her story, holding a spear and burning a flag.
"All of this is history, not stories," Alvion said.
"This room has everything you seek," Lady Aria said. "It has all the answers you want, the history of mankind and all the creatures we know of so far."
"It will take us years to understand everything!" Avon exclaimed.
"Take as much time as you need," she said. "The future is not in a hurry. Rushing things will only make them more difficult."
She walked to a bookshelf, pulled out a book, and threw it to Sara. "You wanted to know how bad it is? Well, humanity is on the brink of extinction."
"But how?" Vernara asked. "There are a lot of human kingdoms that still exist."
"True humans don't use magic," Aria replied. "They don't breed with other species. Those things will make you lose your identity as a human."
"What if they were forced to?" Sara asked.
"Then it's up to them to choose," Aria said. "If they were forced into these forbidden things, they can either forget about it and walk the same path as other humans, or they can continue and lose their right as human."
"And if they choose that path, I will make sure to exterminate them all," Avon said, his voice hard.
"Well said, young lord," Alvion said.
"Your passion is quite interesting," Lady Aria said, a smile on her face. "It reminds me of who I was before."
"I'm sorry," Avon said. "But you know a lot of human history, and you look very young to know all of this."
"You think so, dear?" she replied.
"What my brother said is true," Arcadius said. "To have all this information, it would take centuries, not just decades."
"Lady Aria, I will leave the young lords to you," Alvion said, and he, Souldan, and the other Guardians left the library.
"Since no one is around, there's no point in hiding things, is there, Avon, Sara, Vernara, and Arcadius?" Lady Aria said.
They were all shocked that she knew their names.
"You knew who we were?" Avon and Sara said in unison.
"No messenger in any continent can bring messages that fast," Arcadius said.
"That's interesting indeed," Vernara muttered.
"My name is Lady Aria, the Blood Hunter Assassin who served in the Old Order Empire as an assassin and royal duelist for the Emperor," she said in a serious tone.
They were stunned. "You? You served among the warriors who fought in the old empire? That's impossible," Avon said.
"Please don't joke about this," Sara said.
"I am not joking," Lady Aria replied.
"Then what are you?" Arcadius asked. "No human can live longer than a hundred years."
"I am a human, but I did some very bad things, and one of those things is me being immortal," she said. "But then again, you could say the same about yourself. You're half-human, half-succubus."
They were shocked by her knowledge.
"How?" Avon said.
"Boy, I've lived for nine centuries. I know a lot about everything in this world," she said. "But to be clear, what I know is beyond your knowledge of life."
"What next, Lady Aria?" Vernara said. "Will you kill us for having something we didn't want to?"
"We didn't choose this way of life," Arcadius said. "But you said it yourself: either we continue the path of humanity or continue the path we were forced with. Give us a chance to show you how wrong you are about us."
"Impressive," she said. "But worry not. I will not kill you or even discuss the matter of how or why you became what you are, because I personally requested this from Miss Helen."
The group was in disbelief. "You knew Helen?" Avon said.
"Helen..." Sara whispered.
Vernara was silent, unable to process what she was hearing.
"Like I said, I know many things that are beyond the knowledge of any other human," Lady Aria said cheerfully. "So I have a question for you: Would you like me to teach you everything about this world? Would you like me to teach you how to rule people like that great leader did?"
Avon stepped forward. "I would love to."
"Same here," Sara, Vernara, and Arcadius all said.
"Then please follow me," Lady Aria said with a smile.
She walked to a huge pillar in the center of the library and put some kind of object into one of its missing holes. The pillar began to descend, revealing a staircase to something even deeper.
She looked back at them and said, "Please, follow me. Allow me to show you what lies beyond the knowledge."
They all began to walk downstairs.