The sound echoed across the library as a wave. It was like thunder, as it vibrated from one end of the building to the other, becoming louder and louder as the curtain of silence was split apart. The heavy breathing of Artemis and Jenny became audible in an instant. Both screamed.
Jenny wasted no time- though she was still screaming as she said her phrase. "AHHH-One-Two-Three-Four!"
Jenny felt her body elevate slightly, as the power of her number awoke within her. her school uniform was gone, as the silhouette of her body was bathed in light. She now wore her magic-girl outfit striking a curious pose. Raising her hand, she called her four pronged weapon out, with a sense of relief that she could now access her magical abilities.
Quickly the two ran to the front of the library, almost tripping over a pile of books to investigate the source of the noise that ruptured the silence. They were shocked by the sight.
Lilly was breathing hard standing alone with the blue stick still on the ground, utterly terrified. She felt sick- that she tried to run out of the library after putting so much effort into trying to help her friends. But when she saw the ghost- a a-real ghost- she ran as the scared little girl she was now. Still moving automatically, she raised the stick parallel to her body, trying to draw comfort from it.
Artemis stared at Lilly... she was looking directly at her, paused at this point in time. Something had finally clicked... she now knew what was different about the squirrel-girl. It was so subtle, there was no chance anyone other then a divine (or possibly a mechanical changed) being could have noticed it- and in this brief moment, it was entirely obvious. What did this mean? What could it possibly mean? But she was pulled quickly by Jenny to their animal-friend before she could say a word.
"W-What happened?" Asked Jenny holding back her stammer. Please let nothing have happened to her again!
"I- The- g-ghost! It was here an' I- I- just hit the floor with my stick an' the sound must have scared it away." That was the best explanation she could come up with anyway, even though it made absolutely no sense. Why did she even do that? How did it even work? She smoothed her school uniform's skirt, panting.
"Y-You beat it? You saved us!" Artemis said- a little loudly maybe- though her divine eyes were still staring at Lilly, to be absolutely sure of what she was seeing.
Lilly's eyes darted around. "I- I- I- was jus' so scared!" she cried. She had never felt a fear like that. A tiny part of her wondered if she would have been that scared in her boy body- but then, this was a ghost. A real ghost! Her old self may just have wet his pants in the same situation- and she was sure she nearly did in this body. "W-where is it?"
"I don't think we beat it," said Jenny glancing at the clock on the check out desk. It was not making any sound to her- and those clocks were notorious for their tick. Jenny took a pen from the check out desk, and tapped it four times, noting the sound. She then did so a little further away, noting that it got a little quieter. It was like now the library had smaller regions of silent areas, floating around like icebergs in the air. Now that she was in magic girl mode though, she was feeling a lot safer.
"M-My d-dad says t-theres no such thing as ghosts!" Lilly squealed saying it. She was absolutely terrified and just clinging onto any rational thought. There's no such thing as ghosts! There's no such thing as ghosts! But then, there's no such thing as talking squirrels, magic girls, harpies, centaurs- but surly not ghosts!
"It looked like a ghost to me," whispered Artemis, her voice really on edge. It was unsettling for the moon-girl to be scared, given her divine nature. Still she was as much a child as her friends. This situation was far from ordinary. Being trapped in a library... with an entity of unknown intent... and their imaginations were certainly on over drive.
Jenny tried to think this rationally."A-Are ghosts real Artemis?" If gods are real, then maybe... surly... she would know? Artemis should know more about this then anyone.
Artemis gave a little lost look. As always such questions troubled her. It wasn't that she didn't know, but the whole concept of it just didn't translate well to the 'normal' world. It was like she had to jiggle her mind between Harriet and Artemis to get an idea of how both would interpret the answer, before she could say it. Ghost's were more 'symbolic' to the gods- and humans did this sort of thing a lot... but that didn't make it un-real either. "Well- I gotta ask to be sure, but... yes and no."
Lilly face palmed. That was useful... so they might be dealing with a ghost or they might not be. The squirrel girl looked around, despite the fear there was something of awe of the old library. She had never seen anything quite like it. In her old life, she hardly used it- and as a girl she had only seen the smaller ones of the school. This was entirely different...
"How did you get in Lilly?" Asked Artemis. If they couldn't deal with this one, then maybe they could escape at least.
"I went in through the vent in the roof," the squirrel girl explained using her stick to point upwards. "But I don't think we can get back up that way."She lowered the stick but it had hit one of the bookshelves. In slow motion the girls watched as the shelf just... fell to the ground, and all the books fell into a heap. Lilly gasped and tried to apologise- but no sound came... that was her first warning.
Jenny and Artemis turned around, as the silence returned stifling sound of breath and heartbeat. Not even their footsteps were making any sound at all. Lilly felt the fur on her body prickle like mad.
They didn't even turn to look, all three girls just ran. Hearing their running steps return again, they knew they must have got out of range of it... only then did they turn around. The thing was looming over the fallen bookshelf, with that same irritated expression. It now looked quite angry.
The three girls took a quick second of solace that the being was not interested in them for the moment- until it appeared right in front of their faces, in no time at all. They screamed but no sound came. SHHHHH was all they thought they could hear- as they ran again.
The three girls ran up a flight of stairs to what looked like another closed off section. This area had books that were covered in dust. Even when the library was in use, these books were just kept for storage. They seemed to be old reference books of maps and even old flags.
"Use your magic Jenny!" Lilly stammered.
"I can't! It- it isn't the Enemy!" The white haired girl was sure of that now. But what could they do? What was her purpose in this instance? Tetra never told her how to fight something that wasn't the enemy or an interloper... this was something created within their own world- not an alien at all.
"But its a ghost!" The squirrel girl tried to convince her. However she knew Jenny had a point. If it wasn't the enemy, Jenny can't consign it to a place away from here- without knowing where it should be.
"We have to keep quiet," said Artemis lowering her voice. "It's attracted to sound for some reason."
That revelation made them all silent.
... and yet still Artemis stared at Lilly... just once more, before she asked her question that was burning inside her. What did it mean? Was this an aspect of a number or... something else? Did the animal-girl even know about it? Was it an aspect of her transformation.. or what?
Mother... why does Lilly have perfect symmetry?
