During the dark hours of Ternion's day cycle, it was easy to let paranoia get the best of someone, especially when alone on a night shift in a dark building. The wind of the stormy night battered the flags and symbols just outside the library's entrance, and the constant hiss of the rain could be any assortment of imaginary monsters.

However, Iyri, the librarian, did not see it as some dreary job, but a formal responsibility of the highest regard. His proud mindset prevented senseless fears from getting the better of him.

The public library was a sacred place, and it was Iyri's duty to ensure it remained so. The royals of Zetomerxy viewed their civilization's history as one of the most important aspects of their culture, and the public library was the place that contained all of their most important and major literature. The most widely accepted theory as to why they were such precious grounds was that they were one of the only sources of information that would remain if the genofexians were to vanish, and it was suspected that their queen, Fraxi, might have been preparing for the worst in that regard.

The widespread disease was still ravaging the genofexians outside of the city's great border. Iyri tried not to think about it, as no amount of rational thought could quell his deep fear of that terrible illness.

In an effort to distract himself, he focused on the view of the library's interior. It was a breathtaking place – the foyer itself was large enough to hold several dozen people, not including the rooms beyond the arched doorways to the left of the main entrance, or the staircase on the right side that led to the upper floor. The foyer and the upper area connected to it were both covered by a ceiling many dozens of feet above the ground, which was undoubtedly what gave the place its impressive aura. The roof was high enough to allow a large tree to grow in the middle of the upper floor, which was covered by a series of skylights and surrounded by decorative hanging beads.

Just to the left of the entrance was a reception desk at which Iyri sat. It was the only place in the library that wasn't lined with tall shelves stacked immaculately with various works of literature.

Off in the passage opposite of the main entrance, a robed figure entered the spacious foyer. Iyri was not completely solitary in his task; his companion, Onevi, was also keeping watch over the library. She tread slowly across the carpeted floor, approaching Iyri with a violet cloak draped over her head.

"Hello," Onevi spoke to Iyri using symbols formed with her hands. Iyri mimicked her gesture. With no mouths to speak from, sign language was the best genofexians could do in most cases.

"Quiet night," she signed, blatantly disregarding the storm outside.

Iyri raised one of his left hands up beside his head; an affirmative gesture.

"I hope you don't mind if I accompany you for a bit," Onevi continued.

"Not at all," Iyri replied. "The shelves have been sorted and cleaned already. I'm not doing much right now."

Onevi lifted a couple of decently sized books onto the table, taking the topmost book off the stack and sliding it across the desk towards Iyri. The title read 'Era of Avarice.'

"Have you read this?" Onevi asked, drawing Iyri's attention back to her hand motions.

He responded by raising a flat hand at about neck height; a negative gesture.

"I think a better question would probably be... are you interested in history?"

"Remotely, I suppose. I'm surrounded by nothing but books for the next 11 hours." Iyri glanced up at the upper floor on the opposite end of the room, viewing the countless books he could see from his desk in the foyer.

"True." Onevi walked over to the other side of the desk so she could stand beside Iyri. She flipped open the book, carefully turning past a few of the introductory pages. "There was something in here that made me wonder how accurate our history really is."

Iyri intently watched her turn the pages, picking up Onevi's speech in his peripheral vision. He poked Onevi's upper shoulder before asking, "what do you mean?"

She paused turning pages to use all four of her hands to sign words. "Most of this book is fairly normal. It describes part of our ancient cultures and how we survived Ternion's great storms. This was all back when we didn't have huge walls protecting our cities, but it was also before we had to worry about some flesh-eating virus."

I guess she's not too bothered by it, Iyri thought.

"It also documents how the ancients discovered riches beneath the surface of Ternion around the time this era ended. That's the interesting part. A colony, which would be where Arcavena is now, formed an excavation team to dig up these minerals. They focused almost all of their efforts on mining rather than technological advancement or exploration. Because of the wealth they produced, they were able to simply trade for many of their necessities instead of producing what they needed to live.

But, this is where it gets strange. According to this record, their mining operation became an obsession. The pits they dug grew so deep that the workers started to suffer from heatstroke and dehydration, if only because the trips between the surface and the bottom of the pits were so long and arduous that it took almost a whole day's worth of energy just to climb up and down. The holes were hundreds of feet deep, some even reaching into the thousands. Yet, peoples' concerns fell on deaf ears. The workers felt like Queen Alina-xi had been brainwashed by the riches and influence she gained through mining the depths, but for the workers, it was either comply or be outcast."

"Terrible," Iyri remarked.

"People started going missing. The miners started growing fearful of their jobs. There was talk about monsters and creepy, supernatural happenings in those pits, but it was widely dismissed as rumours or hallucinations due to the harsh conditions."

"Monsters?"

"That's what it says." Onevi scanned the book's pages before flipping through a couple more, eventually finding a page with an illustration. "Apparently, this is what they looked like."

A monochrome image on the page roughly depicted a grotesque, bear-like creature with many legs and arms, several eyes all over its chest, and a head with nothing but an enormous mouth.

"What kind of 'history' is this?" Iyri signed in response, unfazed.

"Don't believe in monsters?" Onevi inquired.

Another negative response from Iyri.

"Well," Onevi continued, "these monsters were allegedly what marked the end of the Era of Avarice, because, according to this..." she paused, flipping through some more pages, "monsters began rampaging throughout the pits, and they eventually reached the surface, where the colony was completely devastated. Many were either killed or maimed, and Queen Alina-xi was found among the dead. A few escaped, but those who did apparently suffered intense amnesia."

Iyri squinted, placing a hand on his chin. "Don't tell me this is passed off as factual history," he signed with his other three hands.

"I don't think it's widely known or officially recognized, actually," Onevi explained. "I've never heard of anything like it until now, but it's marked as a historically accurate piece of literature."

"Is it mis-tagged, perhaps? Where did you find it?"

"Well..." Onevi turned away, just slightly. "I found it in the cellar archive."

"What?" Iyri frantically signed, his eyes widening. "That's off limits! Strictly! Only great record keepers are allowed in there!"

"I know, I know! But who's going to find out we read from there?"

Iyri put a concerned hand on his forehead. "...No one, I guess." He knew full well what the consequences of reading from a restricted area was, and it struck him with anxiety to think he was now guilty of that. "But... why would something like this be in the archive? Isn't that mainly for things like royal documents and sensitive information?"

"Exactly why this bothered me so much. This isn't a mis-tagged book, since the cellar archive's contents are thoroughly processed when a change is made." Onevi glanced at the book before looking back at Iyri.

Iyri stared at the book for a few long seconds before flipping the page over and reading it himself. The page described how after the fall of Arcavena's ancient colony, no accounts of the so-called monsters could be found. It described how the pits were apparently still there, but in major disrepair, and they were extremely dangerous to traverse – not only because of the anecdotes of supernatural creatures and temperature issues, but the terrain around the pits was also ready to collapse at any moment.

"I don't really know what to think. It's very strange," Iyri declared, "but you better put that back right away."

"Oh, relax." Onevi nonchalantly waved a hand in Iyri's direction. "Like you said, we've got plenty of time before we're off."

Iyri agreed with her, though very reluctantly.

"This all had me thinking, though." Onevi moved the Era of Avarice book to the side, sliding over another copy of the same book into its place. "This one? It's available to the public for perusal."

In an instant, Iyri felt relieved. "I don't suppose this restricted copy is just for archival purposes, then?"

"That's also what I thought. But, just to be sure, I went and checked out one of the other copies we have." Onevi opened the book and began flipping through several pages to reach the same spot they were at in the other copy, which didn't take long. "Read this," she insisted, placing a firm finger on the page.

The page described the same inhospitable conditions as the other book did, but after the exhaustion and temperature complaints came up, it followed by saying the mining colony had run out of fertile ground to excavate. According to this copy, Queen Alina-xi and her royals became outraged, accusing the lower class of stealing the minerals they had been mining. This escalated into overbearing authority, protests, and ultimately a small-scale civil war, which marked the fall of Arcavena's colony and the end of the Avarice Era.

No mention of any monsters or supernatural events.

"That's... inconsistent?" Iyri looked back at Onevi, hoping for an explanation.

"Isn't it? Why do you think this discrepancy exists?"

"Look, I don't know where you're going with this."

Onevi tilted her head to the side. "Do you trust our queen?"

An unamused look washed over Iyri's face. "You think Fraxi is hiding the existence of spooky monsters from us?"

"Maybe! I don't know. There's a 12 or 13 page discrepancy between these books, but I haven't gone over all of the possibilities yet."

As stupid as the idea was, Iyri couldn't deny that the contradiction was at least a bit peculiar. "So, what are you going to do? Your life as you know it will end if any royals find out you went in that archive."

"I don't know," Onevi repeated, "I guess I wanted to know if you had any input."

"I don't. I'll admit it's weird, but I'm not into conspiracy theories. How about you go put those back?"

"Fine."

Onevi closed the public copy of the book; Iyri slid the restricted version over to her, who picked it up and stacked it on the other, ready to be carried back.

Before the books left the table, Iyri looked down at them in horror. He grasped Onevi's shoulder, pointing to the bottom of the books – a page from the restricted copy was jutting out from the bottom, as if it had been ripped at the top half of the seam. That definitely wasn't there before, and any of the great record keepers who managed the cellar archive would certainly notice such glaring damage.

Onevi glanced between Iyri and the book with matching intensity, and she hurriedly opened the book to the damaged page. Iyri almost grew faint when he saw that the page was completely disconnected from the seam.

Although, after further inspection, the page's colour was much more faded than the rest of the book, and the paper looked relatively tatty. Was it even from this book?

With the utmost care, Iyri picked up the page. The words written on it were also quite faded, and some of the characters were swapped out for primordial symbols from ages ago.

Is this... from a past era? Iyri didn't have time to sign any words to Onevi – he was too engrossed in what he was reading.

"Queen Alina-xi is mad. I am not a worker anymore. I am a slave, and I am being sent to my death.

My mother, Ridi, is [missing]. My brother, Aliarch, is dead. Torn apart by the beasts that live down [here]. I watched him die, helpless.

Is it real anymore? My eyes [betray] my mind [...] if they are actually gone. Anyone who [...] last [...]"

The rest of the note was too damaged or worn to read.

Wow, Iyri thought. Maybe there's something to this.

Onevi had been reading the note too. Iyri passed it to her so she could finish reading it, but she held up a hand to reject his offer.

Iyri took another quick look at the note. "Did you know about this?"

Another negatory from Onevi. "This page... this is hidden history. It has to be."

As quickly as Onevi was to shout conspiracy, the old memoir was a rather persuasive document. Iyri still wasn't entirely sure what conclusion to come to.

A nearby thunderclap accompanied by a bright flash outside startled Iyri. He placed the page back in the book as neatly and carefully as possible, and then slowly closed the book.

"Please put these back where you got them now," Iyri insisted with a stern stare. "What if someone comes and we can't hear them?"

"Okay, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this, whether you do it with me or not."

Iyri turned away. "Keep me out of it. I'm happy with my life."

"Suit yourself." Onevi picked up the books with her lower arms. "Thanks for the company," she signed with her upper hands. As slowly as she entered, she walked away towards the other end of the room from where she came before disappearing around the far doorway.