After they went downstairs, they saw not just a library, but something more.
"You see all this?" Lady Aria said. "This isn't just any ordinary library. This is history!"
As they descended, they saw thousands, if not millions, of books lining the shelves. Other people were thriving there, reading as if each book were the last one in existence. Some were reading about fighting, practicing moves as they followed the instructions in the books.
Avon looked around. "All these people... do they actually believe in the Order? Or are they just running from their tyrannical rulers?"
Lady Aria stopped and turned, looking at him seriously. "Never in your life should you doubt a man's beliefs," she said in a low, stern voice. Her voice grew louder as she got closer to him. "And these are not just any people, dear Avon! These are your people. The ones who will show them what freedom means, what it is to be outside the cage."
Avon looked down. "I'm sorry, my lady, but I just don't understand. There are human kingdoms and armies today that can exceed expectations. Why don't they fight for humanity?"
Arcadius came to Avon, held his left shoulder, and said, "Brother... just back off."
Avon had a mixed look of sadness and anger on his face. He slowly backed away. Lady Aria saw his expression and had a sad look on her face as if she knew something about his struggle.
"There are many things in this life we humans don't understand, and the human mind is one of them," she said. "You can't truly know what anyone is thinking or how they feel."
Avon kept quiet, looking into the dark abyss to avoid her gaze. Lady Aria knew he was avoiding her.
With a tearful expression, Sara stepped forward. "I know we are strangers to you," she said, her voice shaking. "And I know how rude we are, asking so many questions and favors without anything in return. But this one time... only this time... why?"
Lady Aria's eyes widened in surprise.
Sara continued, her voice cracking as tears ran down her face. "Why is everyone and everything against us? Against humanity? Why?"
Lady Aria wanted to speak but hesitated, looking down with a sad expression. Vernara stood silently, barely able to hold back her own emotions.
Arcadius stepped up, holding Sara's hand. "Sister, please!"
Sara looked at him, her voice cracking. "What? What? We came all this way for what? They promised us answers!" She turned her head to Lady Aria. "And we are here to get them!"
"I know," Arcadius said gently. "And we will get them, but not like this!"
Sara looked at him in disbelief. "W-what are you...!"
"Just have patience," Arcadius insisted.
Sara was about to respond, but Avon intervened. "Sara... he's right. We must have patience. Let it go."
Sara calmed down a bit and walked back to Vernara.
Lady Aria turned and took a glowing object from her pocket. Arcadius, seeing the group had settled down, approached her. "My lady, what are we waiting for?"
"We are almost there," she said. "Just one more step, and we reach our final destination."
Arcadius looked around, confused. "And what should we do? Just take a leap of faith into the void?"
"Yes," Lady Aria said simply.
Arcadius looked at her in shock. "Wait, I wasn't serious about that!"
Lady Aria pulled a lever, and a fence around the stairs opened a small path. She stood on the edge, looking down into the void. Arcadius's jaw dropped. He didn't know what to do; he looked at Lady Aria, then back at the group, who were sitting on the stairs, feeling down.
"Great, just great," he said to himself. "I have an ancient woman who's about to commit suicide and three siblings who are so depressed they're going to cry at any moment. This is just perfect."
Lady Aria turned to him, raised her hands, and winked before slowly leaning back and throwing herself into the void. Arcadius ran toward the edge, but it was too far to reach her. When he looked down, he saw her smiling and giggling, holding onto a ladder.
"So amusing," Arcadius said with a gloomy expression. He waved for Avon and the others to come. Avon stood up, held Sara's shoulders, and told her it was time to go. They walked to the edge, and Sara went down first, then Vernara, then Avon, and finally Arcadius.
They climbed down for a while until they reached the ground. The space was somehow both dark and full of light. Avon and Vernara both noticed it.
"Am I seeing things, or is there light here without a source?" Vernara asked.
"No, you're not alone," Avon said. "The ground is so dark it looks like..."
"The night sky!" Arcadius said, looking closely at the ground. He noticed stars were moving. His eyes widened. "This isn't just any ground... this is the real sky! But how?"
Lady Aria was smiling, watching their moods change from depressed to happy. "This is a reflection of the sky. To be more specific, what you see is the real sky. I copied the best night I have ever seen into an infinite, never-ending cycle. That's why you thought it was a void, because the void has also copied the most beautiful night it has ever witnessed."
They were surprised and confused. Sara asked, "But why this specific night?"
Lady Aria smiled. "Because this was the night where every single creature in this world put their differences aside and enjoyed the night. Oh, what a wonderful night it was."
"What was so special about it?" Arcadius asked.
Lady Aria looked at the ground, closing her eyes as she tried to recall the moment. "There was a prophecy that one day when the sky turned dark in the middle of the day, when the sunlight reached the center of the sky, the day that followed would be Judgment Day. The day when all of Heaven and Hell would declare war on each other and destroy the world we love. And that day truly came..."
She put her hands together, and a glowing pink light appeared. The light formed a large, beautiful pink and light-red flower.
"The dark sky continued for two weeks," Lady Aria continued. "And in those two weeks, this world was the most peaceful place in existence. The songs, the laughs... even the animals were at ease."
"What happened after?" Avon asked.
"After those two weeks, the dark sky vanished," she said. "It was already nightfall, so we waited. That night was the longest night we had ever experienced. To be precise, nobody slept that night. And after we waited the entire night... it finally happened."
Arcadius whispered to himself, "Why do I feel like I've read something similar to this before...?"
Lady Aria continued, "The first sunlight of the new year came, and we were ready and waiting, but nothing happened!"
Vernara was shocked. "What?"
"It was noon and nothing happened, but after a while... we finally started seeing something. Many things, actually."
"Many things?" Avon asked. "Angels?"
"No," Lady Aria said. "Shooting stars!"
Avon was confused. "A shooting star?"
Vernara whispered to herself, "Shooting stars?" as she remembered something.
"Yes! There were so many of them we couldn't count."
"So the prophecy was wrong?" Arcadius said. "They lied to you for centuries?"
"Not really," she said, turning to him.
Sara, thinking it through, spoke up. "The prophecy is true, isn't it? But something else happened?"
Lady Aria smiled at her. "You're almost there, dear."
"It happened before, didn't it?" Avon said.
Lady Aria pointed at him. "Bingo!"
Arcadius looked confused. "What? How? When?"
"It happened when humans reached the peak of their limit," Vernara said. "In other words, they got too strong for this world to handle."
"Nonsense!" Arcadius said loudly.
Avon and Sara looked at each other, confused. "I honestly don't understand what you're saying," Avon said.
"Humans? Too strong for this world to handle?" Sara asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"That's the truth. Ask her; she knows more than I do."
Lady Aria chuckled. "I don't know the exact date of the events, but it happened a very, very, very long time ago. Humans once ruled this world. It was a civilization that nobody could have ever imagined. From the stories I found around the Jeru Ruins, I found out that humanity had so many achievements. In another word, humanity had reached the stars."
They all stared in disbelief. "Reached the stars?" Avon asked. "Was it magic?"
Lady Aria shook her head. "From the scrolls, it is said that mankind built something that helped them cross the sky, and they called them 'machines.' In other words, very advanced tools. Don't forget, they never used magic because at that time, the concept of magic was nonexistent or considered a sin, and the judgment for anyone who used magic was death!"
Arcadius, Vernara, and Avon felt proud hearing this. "As it should be now," Arcadius said. Avon nodded. Sara, meanwhile, felt a pang of sadness. Lady Aria noticed and looked away, walking forward through the void. She seemed disappointed.
"As humanity reached the stars, they also caught the attention of something else," she said. "We call them Angels nowadays, but they... they called them 'Aliens'!"
A chill ran down their spines.
"The who?" Vernara asked.
"Aliens!" Arcadius repeated, shocked.
"Those angel creatures followed the humans back to this world, and with that, they made the first contact," Lady Aria explained. "They appeared peaceful and shared knowledge and some of their advanced tools. Humans thought they had found otherworldly allies to rely on, but they never knew their true intentions."
Lady Aria made her hand glow, and a small blue ball appeared. She threw it into the sky, where it shattered like glass, spreading beautiful flowers and butterflies. As Avon was about to touch a butterfly, a strong red wind blew and burned it to ashes. The group guarded their faces. They looked up and saw a fire unlike any other.
"Soon after, a massive war raged between the Angels and humans," Lady Aria continued. "From the scrolls, it is said that humans fought bravely, fought like there was no tomorrow. United as one, under one flag and one leader, they fought with everything they had. But sadly, humans were at a disadvantage; our limit didn't allow us to push any further, and the invaders kept coming. The defeat of humans was inevitable, but humans had another option, the final one."
She made another ball, this time purple, raging with lightning. She threw it, and a massive explosion happened—a mushroom-like cloud rising from the ground with waves of flames following. Avon and the others were terrified. Lady Aria stood still, her expression serious.
"They decided to destroy this world."
They were shocked. "W-why?" Avon asked. "Shouldn't we be the strongest? Why would we destroy what we fought for?"
"From what I have read," Lady Aria said, "the invaders weren't here for humans or the world itself. It was something else."
Arcadius's eyes widened. "Is it resources?" he asked, snapping his fingers.
"Bingo!" Lady Aria said playfully.
"What? Hold on... what?" Vernara said, confused.
"There is only one material in this world that no other world has," Lady Aria said. "Does anyone know what it is? Let me give you a hint: It's everywhere, even here with us. Wherever we go, we always find it. You use it every day whenever you feel tired or dry." She put a finger to her lips.
"Is it a tree?" Avon asked.
Lady Aria looked at him, surprised. "Why do you think it's a tree, dear?"
"Because we use wood to build houses and leaves for so many things," Avon said proudly.
Arcadius burst out laughing. "That's the lamest thing I've ever heard! A tree? A damn tree, hahaha!"
"Oh, yeah?" Avon shot back. "You keep laughing. Once I'm proven right, you owe me an apology."
"Oh, you bet, bro!" Arcadius said, turning to Lady Aria. "Is it a tree?"
"Hmm, nope," she said, her arms crossed and eyes closed.
Arcadius burst out laughing again. "What? How?" Avon said.
"Think about it, brother," Arcadius said calmly. "If there are trees here, there must be trees on their world as well."
"That's a possibility, yes," Avon admitted.
Vernara sighed. "Boys will always be boys. You're all fools if you think it's a tree or anything like that."
"Oh, yeah, princess?" Arcadius said. "Please indulge us with your knowledge, then. What's the answer?"
Vernara looked proud. "Hehehe, it's simple, of course. The answer is... air."
Avon and Arcadius looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Air? The hell is air going to do when you're dry?" Avon asked.
"Of all the things you could've said..." Arcadius said. "What's next? Dirt?"
Vernara clenched her fists. "Oh, just you wait! You two will beg for mercy once you know my answer is the most logical one!"
"Hate to break it to you, dear, but your answer is wrong," Lady Aria said.
Vernara's eyes widened. "What?! Fine! Whatever! Then let's hear your answer since you're the smart one!"
Arcadius put on a serious face. "The answer you've all been waiting for is... clouds."
Avon put a hand to his face, embarrassed. Vernara burst out laughing. Lady Aria was trying to hold back a giggle.
"You think it's wrong?" Arcadius asked.
"P-please... explain," Avon said, his voice cracking.
"Every world has different clouds, and they probably ran out of clouds or something," Arcadius said.
"Amazing," Vernara said. "This is just... amazing. Wow."
"Just you wait," Arcadius said.
Lady Aria chuckled. "Nope, it's not." She tried to stop giggling.
"Not you, too, my lady," Arcadius said.
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't hold myself back," she replied.
While everyone was laughing, Avon glanced at Sara, giving her a smile and a nod. She looked back at him and gained the courage to speak.
Sara walked closer to the group. "Is it... water?"
Lady Aria's eyes lit up. "Wonderful, dear. Ten points for Gryffindor!"
Arcadius and Vernara looked at Sara. "Water... I was about to say it!" Arcadius said. "But I thought it was a common thing... wait, you said we need it when we're dry? You mean our bodies?"
"Correct," Lady Aria said. "And your answer wasn't far from it. They came to take our water... and they did. Forty percent of this world's water dried up thanks to the invaders. And then, humanity chose to eliminate the source that they came to take. It was a very, very long time ago. People now might think it's just another children's story, but the ruins still stand, and you might find more like this around the world."
She flickered her finger, and everything went back to the empty, endless void. "Follow me, please. We have a lot of work to do."
As they walked, they looked around at the endless stars. Avon got closer to Lady Aria. "My lady, may I ask you a question?"
She nodded.
"What happened exactly after that? Did humans survive?"
"If humans had died that day, none of us would be here to tell the tale. So yes, we did survive," she said. "But how many? I have no idea. The same goes for the invaders. I didn't read anything about them."
"Did you explore all of the Jeru Ruins?" Avon asked.
"No, it was too big to explore, and we had too little time to spare," she said. "Some of the iron doors are shut tight. There might be some valuable secrets behind them. Maybe one day I'll show you; you might end up liking it."
"Thank you, Lady Aria," Avon said.
"Don't thank me yet. I haven't done much to begin with," she said.
"Even so, you seem like a good person, and I trust you. My sister would have said the same to you. Thank you for helping us."
Lady Aria looked at him, then dashed behind him and messed up his hair. "Once we're done here, I will treat you all to a good meal!"
"HELL YEAH!" Arcadius shouted.
Vernara and Sara chuckled.
"So what do we learn first once we reach the library?" Avon asked.
"The dark history," Lady Aria replied.
Avon was confused. "Dark history?"
"Yes."
"And what about the story you just told us about?"
"That, dear, is ancient history. Now we're almost there."