Schrödinger's Library

A place of forbidden and forgotten knowledge, curated by a single lonely Librarian.

[schrodingerslibrary]

A record of letters sent to the void, where time and space and reality neither speak nor exist. A compendium of communications sent to the home of things that have been forbidden, forgotten, or never existed at all.

And the written hand that replied back.

(A place to catalog all of the letters of Librarian Crowe. If you wish to send a letter, it will be picked up by one of the many Corvid Companions that reside in the Library. May your paths in reality be ever clear.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Letter Drawers by Recipient:

(Each drawer will be updated frequently, along with any new Individuals)

Letters To Dr. Henry Jekyll

Letters To Mr. Edward Hyde

-

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

Freedom Attempts:

_One_ - _Two_ - _Three_ -

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

The Journey:

_One_ -

===========

Music:

1 -

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[never-hyde]

Hyde's gaze flickered to Crowe. He had no idea what he thought but it probably wasn't anything good.

He interrupts Victor, snarling through his teeth

"We're not here to let you rattle on about this - no matter how interesting it may be." he added the last sentence for their own benefits, in case Victor deemed them good enough for his next experiments.

Victor's cooky smile falters, bricks falling from a crumbling wall but as quickly as it had dropped, it's back up.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

"Oh Edward, Edward, Edward Hyde~" Victor sing-songs, standing rather protectively in front of the crude machine.

"Maybe let the real humans talk science, hm?"

With this Victor spins to Crowe, obviously not having noticed the very almost-human like features he sports.

"My esteemed gentleman... I suppose you have interest in science yes? Then you must know how important this is, how utterly ridiculous it is for us mere humans to stare Death in the face and heed to do nothing about it?"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's face darkened, those ever concealed features of condemning non-humanity... features forced upon him withour concent, twitched just barely in their confinement... barely enough to be seen as anything more than a slight draft.

Oh how well he knew the desperation of humanity... the aching crave to deny death its dues, to avoid an eternity through any means necessary, no matter the seemingly temporary costs.

But death... always got its way in the end...

No matter how long, no matter the ways humanity cheated it...

Death still came. If not for the life, then for rhe mind, if not for the mind, then for the soul. Death was never denied. The ex-librarian's eyes flickered with a color unatural and just shy of glowing as he watched the man Frankenstein, his soul aching within him as he curled his taloned fingers inward.

"Greater men than you have attempted such feats, Mon. Frankenstein... What compelling you believe you have been graced with knowlage beyond them?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor stares at Crowe for a moment, eyes scanning his face - a twitch in his left cheek before his face twists into a smile. He sputters, laughing much like one would do under the influence, raw and loud and terribly overwhelming. When he's gotten himself under control, his face matches Crowe's in an instant.

"Sire, I have adamant reason to believe that is the case. I have created life. Life! Actual, breathing living speaking moving life from nothing..." his eyes shine with uncontrolled hysteria. "I am the first, I am the only one who has even bothered to do such things...I have mastered Death. I have seen the violence and grief and loss and I have turned tail and done something about it!! I am...I - pfft-hahahaa..." he's interrupted by his own laughter, taking off his cracked spectacles to wipe moisture from his eyes.

"You are right, Sire. Many have attempted. Yet I am the first, the first to achieve it"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Oh how Crowe wished that had been the first time he had heard those words.

"I am the first to defy death!" He would hear, witness, read... "I have achieved what no other mortal ever could!" would boast another... but Death was a domain no being could ever hope to control.

He above all... would know the cost of believing such a fallacy.

Only fools defied death, and they paid the cost for their arrogance in each and every story, each and every timeline, every dimension. No matter who, it would only end in the suffering of those who did not deserve it.

With everytjing in his aching, far too alive soul he wished to shake the man, to beg him to turn from this path... but it would be no use.

It never was.

So he simply bit back the words boiling under his tongue, curling his fingers into those hidden feathers as he shoved his thoughts toward another script. They... they still had yet to learn just what book or knolwedge this Frankenstein had that had come from the Library.

If they found it... they could use it to force open a gate... a way back to that dreaded Tartarus... but a journey he never thought he would be happy to make. All for a friend.

"Achieve it... you say?"

The words tasted like bile in his mouth, his very being revolting against stoking this condemning fire... but knowing he had no other choice...

Not of they were to save Jekyll while there was still time.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

The stiffness in Victor's stance dissolved, clearly loving the attention to his work.

"Yes! Yesyesyes achieving it...!"

Just as quickly as he had advanced toward Crowe he spun away, away from his delicate machine and removing a sheet from a chalkboard mounted on the wall. Pinned into the material were a series of cross sections - stages of life photographed and displayed for all to see. Victor sweeps his hand up the board, pointing to various entry points and accomplishments.

"Here. Here is where my dear friend...Henrich Harlander, rest his soul, helped me to decipher the secrets to what makes life. Pure, unsupported life such as you and I.." He then turns, displaying his waistcoated back to the pair and pointing a path from the base of his neck to the middle of the spine.

"The wonder of the lymphatic system, the ability to manage scarring, deal with the flow of energy from one neuron to the next. Mr..Mr Harlander provided me the key to the gate I had discovered...~!"

Victor turns back to Hyde and Crowe, hands twitching as if swayed by the currents he so readily manipulated in his experiments.

"I collected - I visited graves, war sites and rest all their beautiful souls I collected what I ...needed. I constructed. I sat long hours, sawing and cutting and ripping~" his eyes glaze over

"And when I was finished, and bent the threads of God's will to my hands and I made...I made life...my dear son oh no no not my son you see he was...exquisite. Simply marvelous."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was difficult to keep his face at a neutral as his soul wavered, every once if stillness he had learned in his many decades of isolation going into hiding his displeasure and distaste at the man's thoughts. He had to... keep his thoughts to himself, the evidence of the Library still had not been found.

Even if this happened to be a cruel form of the being he had read about...

He silently listened to the other, sending quick glances toward Hyde when he could.

[never-hyde]

Hyde threw them right back at Crowe, getting visibly more pissed and annoyed by the second

If this scientist didn't tell them what they were here for in the first place soon he'd love to tear it from his throat

Hyde interrupted Victor, a placating smile on his face

"Yes, okay, we kn- We are delighted to hear about your endeavours and successes in the field but we are simply more...interested in the spark itself. What gives the soul life."

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor barely spares a glance toward Hyde before continuing

"I was getting to that my dear friend..." the word "friend" was said with hidden venom

Victor righted himself, wiping stray dust molecules from his deep red pattered waistcoat before continuing

"The spark is what makes the life. Introduce electricity to anything - to any matter dead or alive and it brings back the spark. It has to be...it has to be a sizeable amount of change to bring back the souls of those who were once lost..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... jarring to hear Hyde be diplomatic, but he couldn't find it in himself to be anything but grateful as he gave the duality a thankful flash of a smile.

Then Victor spoke of the spark...

The spark to bring others back to life.

It... the Library held a being almost as if in death... or non existence...

Would this perhaps be the key?

[never-hyde]

Hyde's eyes lit up. Finally some proper answers. He threw a knowing glance toward Crowe

It had been what Jekyll had used to fracture reality itself and help Crowe back into the land of the living, so surely that had to be it right?

"...Yes yes uh...would you give us one moment please?" Hyde's crooked half smile was ready fading from his face as he took Crowe aside, angling them away from Victor and back toward the machine he had showcased earlier- as if fascinated by its workings

His tone is hushed, his gaze fixated on the small bird still lying there

"A spark. Just like he said - that's what we need. But that's what we had before when we got you out... there's gotta be somethin' else surely."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe hummed, pretending to observe the bird more closely as he felt his own hidden wings twinge painfully in their hidden form.

"It is... possible that the spark would perchance need something... intentional to adhere to? An evidence of the other to pull the soul back?"

Every being, every soul, no matter how seemingly insignificant, left lasting marks and changes on the world. Every being left something behind, forever changing the world behind them for something, forever leaving a piece of themselves in reality.

What... would be Jekyll's left behind shards?

[never-hyde]

Hyde remains silent, thinking back to the objects that were tied to Crowe...or promises. If something similar was needed to bring Henry back..

"It is becoming..steadily more possible. If that happened with you to get ya out, who's to say it is not the same for dear Henry?"

Hyde flicks the side of the box, drumming his fingers along the glass

"The mirror already ties us...his writings surely is another-"

He spins to Victor, jabbing a finger into his chest

"Did Henry Jekyll leave anything here? Anythin' at all? Anythin' that your puny little brain remembers apart from equations and your own success?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor slapped Hyde's hand away from his overalls, physically recoiling at the physical contact

"So rushed... what's the matter, "Edward Hyde"... tired of being nothing but a study, a lab rat, to my dear frie-"

His head snaps forward, Hyde's fist curled in the front of Victor's suit, a snarl building in his throat

Edward doesn't say anything, but his eyes widen ever so slightly, fist loosening as he takes in what his body impulsively surged into

Victor grins, the inital shock wearing off

"Looks like someone is getting...rather uncomfortable in their existence~"

"If you must know... he gave me some pages from his journals. Notes, rambles on pages stained with chemicals..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Now that was an answer desirable.

Crowe slowly let himself stand to his full height, his eyes flashing with something just barely unnatural as he stared down at Victor from behind Hyde.

"Might we... see these pages?"

His tone was dark, and in no way a request.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor pauses, tilting his head as he observes Crowe. A small smile flickers behind his eyes, a twinkle of something not too far off curiosity.

"Oh but of course~"

Victor pointedly looks at Hyde's fist, creasing up his carefully ironed shirt below. Hyde spares a look toward Crowe, glaring at Victore before letting his hand fall.

He falls, dropping onto the balls of his feet and righting himself. Without a second thought, Victor flits into the next room, shoes scuffing against the creaking wood panels.

He comes back a moment later, a small binder holding together off-white pages with ink splotches covering some of the writing.

He extends it to Crowe, and waits until his hand nearly touches the fabric before yanking it away.

"Now now, one good deed must be compensated, as abiding by our lingering sense of morality..."

Victor motions to Crowe's hands - albeit claws.

"There is something....just so barely off about you, my friend. Something that I would like to study. Prise apart...hold in my hands and understand..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Ah... but of course.

A small, sad but knowing smile flickered over the ex-Librarian's face as he slowly retracted his hand, pulling it in slowly to rest against his chest, his fingers loosely curled. For the first time, his attention rested solely on the aspiring galvinist, unwavering, focused and chilling.

"I fear, young master Frankenstein, that understanding the brevity of all that you may seek to prise apart is something... impossible." Something veiled flickered behind his eyes, darkened and sorrowful beyond what one should ever feel. "Not only to speak... but to absorb... lest you be consumed as myself."

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor makes a small noise of indifference, melded together with a weary awareness

"Consumed with the knowledge of all being...yes yes, must be a very heavy weight.."

"If nothing shall stem from everything..." he peers over at Hyde, leaning arms crossed against the wall next to Crowe, "Then the point if being is nought...so what does it take for one to live, to feel and breathe and wish to exist...?"

In almost a daze clouded over with thought, Victor's hand loosens on the papers, placing them rather delicately on the table next to him. His feet shuffle across the floor in a monotic pattern, steps in a dance that his desperate mind - desperate for some sort of salvation from the mad cravings of knowledge - only know.

[never-hyde]

Hyde waits until he's pre-occupied before taking the papers, untying the bond on the binder.

The notes are scrawled across paper that seemed far too fragile to hold such weight of word, ink permeating every place it touched with inky darkness.

"His journal. As the mad hatter promised." he muses, both surprised that they still existed and that they were actually spared them, given the supposed importance

Hyde holds them up to the dingy light, trying to decipher any of the chemical formulas that had been jotted down with such urgency the paper ripped in some places.

"Tha's Henry alright." he chuckles, pointing toward a scribbled mass of circles and question marks around a specific chemical symbol

"Apomorphine and Diphospate. He always hated catalysts."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe leaned a bit over Hyde's shoulder, quickly flicking through the notes with a swift reading before letting out a hum. Something... dod not make sense.

"These... notes feel as if they were deeply personal and detailed, something precious beyond measure to a scientist." He let his clawed fingertips trace the serface of the pages, his eyes moving to rest on Hyde. "Why then... would such a crucial slice of ones inner thoughts be left with... someone else?"

The ex-Librarian let his gaze move naturally to the frenzied Frankenstein, tracing his pacing steps with a deep thrum of pity in his chest. It was startling, to see someone who got so unnervingly close to that hunger that had once consumed himself. He knew that desperate craving... intimately, and it never would be satisfied.

Knowlage... had already chosen to claim him to sustain itself.

But... if there was... a single kindness he could do before this soul was consumed...

He looked at the other, his face still resting in that saddened sobriety as he turned ever so slightly to face him.

"Victor Frankenstein. If you desire it, I shall answer a single question that claws at you. Do you wish me to answer the one you stated, or would you wish to ask another?"

It was foolish, he knew it... giving him more knowledge would only speed the decay and consumption of his condemned mind...

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[never-hyde]

Hyde's gaze flickered to Crowe. He had no idea what he thought but it probably wasn't anything good.

He interrupts Victor, snarling through his teeth

"We're not here to let you rattle on about this - no matter how interesting it may be." he added the last sentence for their own benefits, in case Victor deemed them good enough for his next experiments.

Victor's cooky smile falters, bricks falling from a crumbling wall but as quickly as it had dropped, it's back up.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

"Oh Edward, Edward, Edward Hyde~" Victor sing-songs, standing rather protectively in front of the crude machine.

"Maybe let the real humans talk science, hm?"

With this Victor spins to Crowe, obviously not having noticed the very almost-human like features he sports.

"My esteemed gentleman... I suppose you have interest in science yes? Then you must know how important this is, how utterly ridiculous it is for us mere humans to stare Death in the face and heed to do nothing about it?"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's face darkened, those ever concealed features of condemning non-humanity... features forced upon him withour concent, twitched just barely in their confinement... barely enough to be seen as anything more than a slight draft.

Oh how well he knew the desperation of humanity... the aching crave to deny death its dues, to avoid an eternity through any means necessary, no matter the seemingly temporary costs.

But death... always got its way in the end...

No matter how long, no matter the ways humanity cheated it...

Death still came. If not for the life, then for rhe mind, if not for the mind, then for the soul. Death was never denied. The ex-librarian's eyes flickered with a color unatural and just shy of glowing as he watched the man Frankenstein, his soul aching within him as he curled his taloned fingers inward.

"Greater men than you have attempted such feats, Mon. Frankenstein... What compelling you believe you have been graced with knowlage beyond them?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor stares at Crowe for a moment, eyes scanning his face - a twitch in his left cheek before his face twists into a smile. He sputters, laughing much like one would do under the influence, raw and loud and terribly overwhelming. When he's gotten himself under control, his face matches Crowe's in an instant.

"Sire, I have adamant reason to believe that is the case. I have created life. Life! Actual, breathing living speaking moving life from nothing..." his eyes shine with uncontrolled hysteria. "I am the first, I am the only one who has even bothered to do such things...I have mastered Death. I have seen the violence and grief and loss and I have turned tail and done something about it!! I am...I - pfft-hahahaa..." he's interrupted by his own laughter, taking off his cracked spectacles to wipe moisture from his eyes.

"You are right, Sire. Many have attempted. Yet I am the first, the first to achieve it"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Oh how Crowe wished that had been the first time he had heard those words.

"I am the first to defy death!" He would hear, witness, read... "I have achieved what no other mortal ever could!" would boast another... but Death was a domain no being could ever hope to control.

He above all... would know the cost of believing such a fallacy.

Only fools defied death, and they paid the cost for their arrogance in each and every story, each and every timeline, every dimension. No matter who, it would only end in the suffering of those who did not deserve it.

With everytjing in his aching, far too alive soul he wished to shake the man, to beg him to turn from this path... but it would be no use.

It never was.

So he simply bit back the words boiling under his tongue, curling his fingers into those hidden feathers as he shoved his thoughts toward another script. They... they still had yet to learn just what book or knolwedge this Frankenstein had that had come from the Library.

If they found it... they could use it to force open a gate... a way back to that dreaded Tartarus... but a journey he never thought he would be happy to make. All for a friend.

"Achieve it... you say?"

The words tasted like bile in his mouth, his very being revolting against stoking this condemning fire... but knowing he had no other choice...

Not of they were to save Jekyll while there was still time.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

The stiffness in Victor's stance dissolved, clearly loving the attention to his work.

"Yes! Yesyesyes achieving it...!"

Just as quickly as he had advanced toward Crowe he spun away, away from his delicate machine and removing a sheet from a chalkboard mounted on the wall. Pinned into the material were a series of cross sections - stages of life photographed and displayed for all to see. Victor sweeps his hand up the board, pointing to various entry points and accomplishments.

"Here. Here is where my dear friend...Henrich Harlander, rest his soul, helped me to decipher the secrets to what makes life. Pure, unsupported life such as you and I.." He then turns, displaying his waistcoated back to the pair and pointing a path from the base of his neck to the middle of the spine.

"The wonder of the lymphatic system, the ability to manage scarring, deal with the flow of energy from one neuron to the next. Mr..Mr Harlander provided me the key to the gate I had discovered...~!"

Victor turns back to Hyde and Crowe, hands twitching as if swayed by the currents he so readily manipulated in his experiments.

"I collected - I visited graves, war sites and rest all their beautiful souls I collected what I ...needed. I constructed. I sat long hours, sawing and cutting and ripping~" his eyes glaze over

"And when I was finished, and bent the threads of God's will to my hands and I made...I made life...my dear son oh no no not my son you see he was...exquisite. Simply marvelous."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was difficult to keep his face at a neutral as his soul wavered, every once if stillness he had learned in his many decades of isolation going into hiding his displeasure and distaste at the man's thoughts. He had to... keep his thoughts to himself, the evidence of the Library still had not been found.

Even if this happened to be a cruel form of the being he had read about...

He silently listened to the other, sending quick glances toward Hyde when he could.

[never-hyde]

Hyde threw them right back at Crowe, getting visibly more pissed and annoyed by the second

If this scientist didn't tell them what they were here for in the first place soon he'd love to tear it from his throat

Hyde interrupted Victor, a placating smile on his face

"Yes, okay, we kn- We are delighted to hear about your endeavours and successes in the field but we are simply more...interested in the spark itself. What gives the soul life."

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor barely spares a glance toward Hyde before continuing

"I was getting to that my dear friend..." the word "friend" was said with hidden venom

Victor righted himself, wiping stray dust molecules from his deep red pattered waistcoat before continuing

"The spark is what makes the life. Introduce electricity to anything - to any matter dead or alive and it brings back the spark. It has to be...it has to be a sizeable amount of change to bring back the souls of those who were once lost..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... jarring to hear Hyde be diplomatic, but he couldn't find it in himself to be anything but grateful as he gave the duality a thankful flash of a smile.

Then Victor spoke of the spark...

The spark to bring others back to life.

It... the Library held a being almost as if in death... or non existence...

Would this perhaps be the key?

[never-hyde]

Hyde's eyes lit up. Finally some proper answers. He threw a knowing glance toward Crowe

It had been what Jekyll had used to fracture reality itself and help Crowe back into the land of the living, so surely that had to be it right?

"...Yes yes uh...would you give us one moment please?" Hyde's crooked half smile was ready fading from his face as he took Crowe aside, angling them away from Victor and back toward the machine he had showcased earlier- as if fascinated by its workings

His tone is hushed, his gaze fixated on the small bird still lying there

"A spark. Just like he said - that's what we need. But that's what we had before when we got you out... there's gotta be somethin' else surely."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe hummed, pretending to observe the bird more closely as he felt his own hidden wings twinge painfully in their hidden form.

"It is... possible that the spark would perchance need something... intentional to adhere to? An evidence of the other to pull the soul back?"

Every being, every soul, no matter how seemingly insignificant, left lasting marks and changes on the world. Every being left something behind, forever changing the world behind them for something, forever leaving a piece of themselves in reality.

What... would be Jekyll's left behind shards?

[never-hyde]

Hyde remains silent, thinking back to the objects that were tied to Crowe...or promises. If something similar was needed to bring Henry back..

"It is becoming..steadily more possible. If that happened with you to get ya out, who's to say it is not the same for dear Henry?"

Hyde flicks the side of the box, drumming his fingers along the glass

"The mirror already ties us...his writings surely is another-"

He spins to Victor, jabbing a finger into his chest

"Did Henry Jekyll leave anything here? Anythin' at all? Anythin' that your puny little brain remembers apart from equations and your own success?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor slapped Hyde's hand away from his overalls, physically recoiling at the physical contact

"So rushed... what's the matter, "Edward Hyde"... tired of being nothing but a study, a lab rat, to my dear frie-"

His head snaps forward, Hyde's fist curled in the front of Victor's suit, a snarl building in his throat

Edward doesn't say anything, but his eyes widen ever so slightly, fist loosening as he takes in what his body impulsively surged into

Victor grins, the inital shock wearing off

"Looks like someone is getting...rather uncomfortable in their existence~"

"If you must know... he gave me some pages from his journals. Notes, rambles on pages stained with chemicals..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Now that was an answer desirable.

Crowe slowly let himself stand to his full height, his eyes flashing with something just barely unnatural as he stared down at Victor from behind Hyde.

"Might we... see these pages?"

His tone was dark, and in no way a request.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor pauses, tilting his head as he observes Crowe. A small smile flickers behind his eyes, a twinkle of something not too far off curiosity.

"Oh but of course~"

Victor pointedly looks at Hyde's fist, creasing up his carefully ironed shirt below. Hyde spares a look toward Crowe, glaring at Victore before letting his hand fall.

He falls, dropping onto the balls of his feet and righting himself. Without a second thought, Victor flits into the next room, shoes scuffing against the creaking wood panels.

He comes back a moment later, a small binder holding together off-white pages with ink splotches covering some of the writing.

He extends it to Crowe, and waits until his hand nearly touches the fabric before yanking it away.

"Now now, one good deed must be compensated, as abiding by our lingering sense of morality..."

Victor motions to Crowe's hands - albeit claws.

"There is something....just so barely off about you, my friend. Something that I would like to study. Prise apart...hold in my hands and understand..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Ah... but of course.

A small, sad but knowing smile flickered over the ex-Librarian's face as he slowly retracted his hand, pulling it in slowly to rest against his chest, his fingers loosely curled. For the first time, his attention rested solely on the aspiring galvinist, unwavering, focused and chilling.

"I fear, young master Frankenstein, that understanding the brevity of all that you may seek to prise apart is something... impossible." Something veiled flickered behind his eyes, darkened and sorrowful beyond what one should ever feel. "Not only to speak... but to absorb... lest you be consumed as myself."

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[never-hyde]

Hyde's gaze flickered to Crowe. He had no idea what he thought but it probably wasn't anything good.

He interrupts Victor, snarling through his teeth

"We're not here to let you rattle on about this - no matter how interesting it may be." he added the last sentence for their own benefits, in case Victor deemed them good enough for his next experiments.

Victor's cooky smile falters, bricks falling from a crumbling wall but as quickly as it had dropped, it's back up.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

"Oh Edward, Edward, Edward Hyde~" Victor sing-songs, standing rather protectively in front of the crude machine.

"Maybe let the real humans talk science, hm?"

With this Victor spins to Crowe, obviously not having noticed the very almost-human like features he sports.

"My esteemed gentleman... I suppose you have interest in science yes? Then you must know how important this is, how utterly ridiculous it is for us mere humans to stare Death in the face and heed to do nothing about it?"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's face darkened, those ever concealed features of condemning non-humanity... features forced upon him withour concent, twitched just barely in their confinement... barely enough to be seen as anything more than a slight draft.

Oh how well he knew the desperation of humanity... the aching crave to deny death its dues, to avoid an eternity through any means necessary, no matter the seemingly temporary costs.

But death... always got its way in the end...

No matter how long, no matter the ways humanity cheated it...

Death still came. If not for the life, then for rhe mind, if not for the mind, then for the soul. Death was never denied. The ex-librarian's eyes flickered with a color unatural and just shy of glowing as he watched the man Frankenstein, his soul aching within him as he curled his taloned fingers inward.

"Greater men than you have attempted such feats, Mon. Frankenstein... What compelling you believe you have been graced with knowlage beyond them?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor stares at Crowe for a moment, eyes scanning his face - a twitch in his left cheek before his face twists into a smile. He sputters, laughing much like one would do under the influence, raw and loud and terribly overwhelming. When he's gotten himself under control, his face matches Crowe's in an instant.

"Sire, I have adamant reason to believe that is the case. I have created life. Life! Actual, breathing living speaking moving life from nothing..." his eyes shine with uncontrolled hysteria. "I am the first, I am the only one who has even bothered to do such things...I have mastered Death. I have seen the violence and grief and loss and I have turned tail and done something about it!! I am...I - pfft-hahahaa..." he's interrupted by his own laughter, taking off his cracked spectacles to wipe moisture from his eyes.

"You are right, Sire. Many have attempted. Yet I am the first, the first to achieve it"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Oh how Crowe wished that had been the first time he had heard those words.

"I am the first to defy death!" He would hear, witness, read... "I have achieved what no other mortal ever could!" would boast another... but Death was a domain no being could ever hope to control.

He above all... would know the cost of believing such a fallacy.

Only fools defied death, and they paid the cost for their arrogance in each and every story, each and every timeline, every dimension. No matter who, it would only end in the suffering of those who did not deserve it.

With everytjing in his aching, far too alive soul he wished to shake the man, to beg him to turn from this path... but it would be no use.

It never was.

So he simply bit back the words boiling under his tongue, curling his fingers into those hidden feathers as he shoved his thoughts toward another script. They... they still had yet to learn just what book or knolwedge this Frankenstein had that had come from the Library.

If they found it... they could use it to force open a gate... a way back to that dreaded Tartarus... but a journey he never thought he would be happy to make. All for a friend.

"Achieve it... you say?"

The words tasted like bile in his mouth, his very being revolting against stoking this condemning fire... but knowing he had no other choice...

Not of they were to save Jekyll while there was still time.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

The stiffness in Victor's stance dissolved, clearly loving the attention to his work.

"Yes! Yesyesyes achieving it...!"

Just as quickly as he had advanced toward Crowe he spun away, away from his delicate machine and removing a sheet from a chalkboard mounted on the wall. Pinned into the material were a series of cross sections - stages of life photographed and displayed for all to see. Victor sweeps his hand up the board, pointing to various entry points and accomplishments.

"Here. Here is where my dear friend...Henrich Harlander, rest his soul, helped me to decipher the secrets to what makes life. Pure, unsupported life such as you and I.." He then turns, displaying his waistcoated back to the pair and pointing a path from the base of his neck to the middle of the spine.

"The wonder of the lymphatic system, the ability to manage scarring, deal with the flow of energy from one neuron to the next. Mr..Mr Harlander provided me the key to the gate I had discovered...~!"

Victor turns back to Hyde and Crowe, hands twitching as if swayed by the currents he so readily manipulated in his experiments.

"I collected - I visited graves, war sites and rest all their beautiful souls I collected what I ...needed. I constructed. I sat long hours, sawing and cutting and ripping~" his eyes glaze over

"And when I was finished, and bent the threads of God's will to my hands and I made...I made life...my dear son oh no no not my son you see he was...exquisite. Simply marvelous."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was difficult to keep his face at a neutral as his soul wavered, every once if stillness he had learned in his many decades of isolation going into hiding his displeasure and distaste at the man's thoughts. He had to... keep his thoughts to himself, the evidence of the Library still had not been found.

Even if this happened to be a cruel form of the being he had read about...

He silently listened to the other, sending quick glances toward Hyde when he could.

[never-hyde]

Hyde threw them right back at Crowe, getting visibly more pissed and annoyed by the second

If this scientist didn't tell them what they were here for in the first place soon he'd love to tear it from his throat

Hyde interrupted Victor, a placating smile on his face

"Yes, okay, we kn- We are delighted to hear about your endeavours and successes in the field but we are simply more...interested in the spark itself. What gives the soul life."

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor barely spares a glance toward Hyde before continuing

"I was getting to that my dear friend..." the word "friend" was said with hidden venom

Victor righted himself, wiping stray dust molecules from his deep red pattered waistcoat before continuing

"The spark is what makes the life. Introduce electricity to anything - to any matter dead or alive and it brings back the spark. It has to be...it has to be a sizeable amount of change to bring back the souls of those who were once lost..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... jarring to hear Hyde be diplomatic, but he couldn't find it in himself to be anything but grateful as he gave the duality a thankful flash of a smile.

Then Victor spoke of the spark...

The spark to bring others back to life.

It... the Library held a being almost as if in death... or non existence...

Would this perhaps be the key?

[never-hyde]

Hyde's eyes lit up. Finally some proper answers. He threw a knowing glance toward Crowe

It had been what Jekyll had used to fracture reality itself and help Crowe back into the land of the living, so surely that had to be it right?

"...Yes yes uh...would you give us one moment please?" Hyde's crooked half smile was ready fading from his face as he took Crowe aside, angling them away from Victor and back toward the machine he had showcased earlier- as if fascinated by its workings

His tone is hushed, his gaze fixated on the small bird still lying there

"A spark. Just like he said - that's what we need. But that's what we had before when we got you out... there's gotta be somethin' else surely."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe hummed, pretending to observe the bird more closely as he felt his own hidden wings twinge painfully in their hidden form.

"It is... possible that the spark would perchance need something... intentional to adhere to? An evidence of the other to pull the soul back?"

Every being, every soul, no matter how seemingly insignificant, left lasting marks and changes on the world. Every being left something behind, forever changing the world behind them for something, forever leaving a piece of themselves in reality.

What... would be Jekyll's left behind shards?

[never-hyde]

Hyde remains silent, thinking back to the objects that were tied to Crowe...or promises. If something similar was needed to bring Henry back..

"It is becoming..steadily more possible. If that happened with you to get ya out, who's to say it is not the same for dear Henry?"

Hyde flicks the side of the box, drumming his fingers along the glass

"The mirror already ties us...his writings surely is another-"

He spins to Victor, jabbing a finger into his chest

"Did Henry Jekyll leave anything here? Anythin' at all? Anythin' that your puny little brain remembers apart from equations and your own success?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor slapped Hyde's hand away from his overalls, physically recoiling at the physical contact

"So rushed... what's the matter, "Edward Hyde"... tired of being nothing but a study, a lab rat, to my dear frie-"

His head snaps forward, Hyde's fist curled in the front of Victor's suit, a snarl building in his throat

Edward doesn't say anything, but his eyes widen ever so slightly, fist loosening as he takes in what his body impulsively surged into

Victor grins, the inital shock wearing off

"Looks like someone is getting...rather uncomfortable in their existence~"

"If you must know... he gave me some pages from his journals. Notes, rambles on pages stained with chemicals..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Now that was an answer desirable.

Crowe slowly let himself stand to his full height, his eyes flashing with something just barely unnatural as he stared down at Victor from behind Hyde.

"Might we... see these pages?"

His tone was dark, and in no way a request.

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[never-hyde]

Hyde's gaze flickered to Crowe. He had no idea what he thought but it probably wasn't anything good.

He interrupts Victor, snarling through his teeth

"We're not here to let you rattle on about this - no matter how interesting it may be." he added the last sentence for their own benefits, in case Victor deemed them good enough for his next experiments.

Victor's cooky smile falters, bricks falling from a crumbling wall but as quickly as it had dropped, it's back up.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

"Oh Edward, Edward, Edward Hyde~" Victor sing-songs, standing rather protectively in front of the crude machine.

"Maybe let the real humans talk science, hm?"

With this Victor spins to Crowe, obviously not having noticed the very almost-human like features he sports.

"My esteemed gentleman... I suppose you have interest in science yes? Then you must know how important this is, how utterly ridiculous it is for us mere humans to stare Death in the face and heed to do nothing about it?"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's face darkened, those ever concealed features of condemning non-humanity... features forced upon him withour concent, twitched just barely in their confinement... barely enough to be seen as anything more than a slight draft.

Oh how well he knew the desperation of humanity... the aching crave to deny death its dues, to avoid an eternity through any means necessary, no matter the seemingly temporary costs.

But death... always got its way in the end...

No matter how long, no matter the ways humanity cheated it...

Death still came. If not for the life, then for rhe mind, if not for the mind, then for the soul. Death was never denied. The ex-librarian's eyes flickered with a color unatural and just shy of glowing as he watched the man Frankenstein, his soul aching within him as he curled his taloned fingers inward.

"Greater men than you have attempted such feats, Mon. Frankenstein... What compelling you believe you have been graced with knowlage beyond them?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor stares at Crowe for a moment, eyes scanning his face - a twitch in his left cheek before his face twists into a smile. He sputters, laughing much like one would do under the influence, raw and loud and terribly overwhelming. When he's gotten himself under control, his face matches Crowe's in an instant.

"Sire, I have adamant reason to believe that is the case. I have created life. Life! Actual, breathing living speaking moving life from nothing..." his eyes shine with uncontrolled hysteria. "I am the first, I am the only one who has even bothered to do such things...I have mastered Death. I have seen the violence and grief and loss and I have turned tail and done something about it!! I am...I - pfft-hahahaa..." he's interrupted by his own laughter, taking off his cracked spectacles to wipe moisture from his eyes.

"You are right, Sire. Many have attempted. Yet I am the first, the first to achieve it"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Oh how Crowe wished that had been the first time he had heard those words.

"I am the first to defy death!" He would hear, witness, read... "I have achieved what no other mortal ever could!" would boast another... but Death was a domain no being could ever hope to control.

He above all... would know the cost of believing such a fallacy.

Only fools defied death, and they paid the cost for their arrogance in each and every story, each and every timeline, every dimension. No matter who, it would only end in the suffering of those who did not deserve it.

With everytjing in his aching, far too alive soul he wished to shake the man, to beg him to turn from this path... but it would be no use.

It never was.

So he simply bit back the words boiling under his tongue, curling his fingers into those hidden feathers as he shoved his thoughts toward another script. They... they still had yet to learn just what book or knolwedge this Frankenstein had that had come from the Library.

If they found it... they could use it to force open a gate... a way back to that dreaded Tartarus... but a journey he never thought he would be happy to make. All for a friend.

"Achieve it... you say?"

The words tasted like bile in his mouth, his very being revolting against stoking this condemning fire... but knowing he had no other choice...

Not of they were to save Jekyll while there was still time.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

The stiffness in Victor's stance dissolved, clearly loving the attention to his work.

"Yes! Yesyesyes achieving it...!"

Just as quickly as he had advanced toward Crowe he spun away, away from his delicate machine and removing a sheet from a chalkboard mounted on the wall. Pinned into the material were a series of cross sections - stages of life photographed and displayed for all to see. Victor sweeps his hand up the board, pointing to various entry points and accomplishments.

"Here. Here is where my dear friend...Henrich Harlander, rest his soul, helped me to decipher the secrets to what makes life. Pure, unsupported life such as you and I.." He then turns, displaying his waistcoated back to the pair and pointing a path from the base of his neck to the middle of the spine.

"The wonder of the lymphatic system, the ability to manage scarring, deal with the flow of energy from one neuron to the next. Mr..Mr Harlander provided me the key to the gate I had discovered...~!"

Victor turns back to Hyde and Crowe, hands twitching as if swayed by the currents he so readily manipulated in his experiments.

"I collected - I visited graves, war sites and rest all their beautiful souls I collected what I ...needed. I constructed. I sat long hours, sawing and cutting and ripping~" his eyes glaze over

"And when I was finished, and bent the threads of God's will to my hands and I made...I made life...my dear son oh no no not my son you see he was...exquisite. Simply marvelous."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was difficult to keep his face at a neutral as his soul wavered, every once if stillness he had learned in his many decades of isolation going into hiding his displeasure and distaste at the man's thoughts. He had to... keep his thoughts to himself, the evidence of the Library still had not been found.

Even if this happened to be a cruel form of the being he had read about...

He silently listened to the other, sending quick glances toward Hyde when he could.

[never-hyde]

Hyde threw them right back at Crowe, getting visibly more pissed and annoyed by the second

If this scientist didn't tell them what they were here for in the first place soon he'd love to tear it from his throat

Hyde interrupted Victor, a placating smile on his face

"Yes, okay, we kn- We are delighted to hear about your endeavours and successes in the field but we are simply more...interested in the spark itself. What gives the soul life."

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor barely spares a glance toward Hyde before continuing

"I was getting to that my dear friend..." the word "friend" was said with hidden venom

Victor righted himself, wiping stray dust molecules from his deep red pattered waistcoat before continuing

"The spark is what makes the life. Introduce electricity to anything - to any matter dead or alive and it brings back the spark. It has to be...it has to be a sizeable amount of change to bring back the souls of those who were once lost..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... jarring to hear Hyde be diplomatic, but he couldn't find it in himself to be anything but grateful as he gave the duality a thankful flash of a smile.

Then Victor spoke of the spark...

The spark to bring others back to life.

It... the Library held a being almost as if in death... or non existence...

Would this perhaps be the key?

[never-hyde]

Hyde's eyes lit up. Finally some proper answers. He threw a knowing glance toward Crowe

It had been what Jekyll had used to fracture reality itself and help Crowe back into the land of the living, so surely that had to be it right?

"...Yes yes uh...would you give us one moment please?" Hyde's crooked half smile was ready fading from his face as he took Crowe aside, angling them away from Victor and back toward the machine he had showcased earlier- as if fascinated by its workings

His tone is hushed, his gaze fixated on the small bird still lying there

"A spark. Just like he said - that's what we need. But that's what we had before when we got you out... there's gotta be somethin' else surely."

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe hummed, pretending to observe the bird more closely as he felt his own hidden wings twinge painfully in their hidden form.

"It is... possible that the spark would perchance need something... intentional to adhere to? An evidence of the other to pull the soul back?"

Every being, every soul, no matter how seemingly insignificant, left lasting marks and changes on the world. Every being left something behind, forever changing the world behind them for something, forever leaving a piece of themselves in reality.

What... would be Jekyll's left behind shards?

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[never-hyde]

Hyde's gaze flickered to Crowe. He had no idea what he thought but it probably wasn't anything good.

He interrupts Victor, snarling through his teeth

"We're not here to let you rattle on about this - no matter how interesting it may be." he added the last sentence for their own benefits, in case Victor deemed them good enough for his next experiments.

Victor's cooky smile falters, bricks falling from a crumbling wall but as quickly as it had dropped, it's back up.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

"Oh Edward, Edward, Edward Hyde~" Victor sing-songs, standing rather protectively in front of the crude machine.

"Maybe let the real humans talk science, hm?"

With this Victor spins to Crowe, obviously not having noticed the very almost-human like features he sports.

"My esteemed gentleman... I suppose you have interest in science yes? Then you must know how important this is, how utterly ridiculous it is for us mere humans to stare Death in the face and heed to do nothing about it?"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's face darkened, those ever concealed features of condemning non-humanity... features forced upon him withour concent, twitched just barely in their confinement... barely enough to be seen as anything more than a slight draft.

Oh how well he knew the desperation of humanity... the aching crave to deny death its dues, to avoid an eternity through any means necessary, no matter the seemingly temporary costs.

But death... always got its way in the end...

No matter how long, no matter the ways humanity cheated it...

Death still came. If not for the life, then for rhe mind, if not for the mind, then for the soul. Death was never denied. The ex-librarian's eyes flickered with a color unatural and just shy of glowing as he watched the man Frankenstein, his soul aching within him as he curled his taloned fingers inward.

"Greater men than you have attempted such feats, Mon. Frankenstein... What compelling you believe you have been graced with knowlage beyond them?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor stares at Crowe for a moment, eyes scanning his face - a twitch in his left cheek before his face twists into a smile. He sputters, laughing much like one would do under the influence, raw and loud and terribly overwhelming. When he's gotten himself under control, his face matches Crowe's in an instant.

"Sire, I have adamant reason to believe that is the case. I have created life. Life! Actual, breathing living speaking moving life from nothing..." his eyes shine with uncontrolled hysteria. "I am the first, I am the only one who has even bothered to do such things...I have mastered Death. I have seen the violence and grief and loss and I have turned tail and done something about it!! I am...I - pfft-hahahaa..." he's interrupted by his own laughter, taking off his cracked spectacles to wipe moisture from his eyes.

"You are right, Sire. Many have attempted. Yet I am the first, the first to achieve it"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Oh how Crowe wished that had been the first time he had heard those words.

"I am the first to defy death!" He would hear, witness, read... "I have achieved what no other mortal ever could!" would boast another... but Death was a domain no being could ever hope to control.

He above all... would know the cost of believing such a fallacy.

Only fools defied death, and they paid the cost for their arrogance in each and every story, each and every timeline, every dimension. No matter who, it would only end in the suffering of those who did not deserve it.

With everytjing in his aching, far too alive soul he wished to shake the man, to beg him to turn from this path... but it would be no use.

It never was.

So he simply bit back the words boiling under his tongue, curling his fingers into those hidden feathers as he shoved his thoughts toward another script. They... they still had yet to learn just what book or knolwedge this Frankenstein had that had come from the Library.

If they found it... they could use it to force open a gate... a way back to that dreaded Tartarus... but a journey he never thought he would be happy to make. All for a friend.

"Achieve it... you say?"

The words tasted like bile in his mouth, his very being revolting against stoking this condemning fire... but knowing he had no other choice...

Not of they were to save Jekyll while there was still time.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

The stiffness in Victor's stance dissolved, clearly loving the attention to his work.

"Yes! Yesyesyes achieving it...!"

Just as quickly as he had advanced toward Crowe he spun away, away from his delicate machine and removing a sheet from a chalkboard mounted on the wall. Pinned into the material were a series of cross sections - stages of life photographed and displayed for all to see. Victor sweeps his hand up the board, pointing to various entry points and accomplishments.

"Here. Here is where my dear friend...Henrich Harlander, rest his soul, helped me to decipher the secrets to what makes life. Pure, unsupported life such as you and I.." He then turns, displaying his waistcoated back to the pair and pointing a path from the base of his neck to the middle of the spine.

"The wonder of the lymphatic system, the ability to manage scarring, deal with the flow of energy from one neuron to the next. Mr..Mr Harlander provided me the key to the gate I had discovered...~!"

Victor turns back to Hyde and Crowe, hands twitching as if swayed by the currents he so readily manipulated in his experiments.

"I collected - I visited graves, war sites and rest all their beautiful souls I collected what I ...needed. I constructed. I sat long hours, sawing and cutting and ripping~" his eyes glaze over

"And when I was finished, and bent the threads of God's will to my hands and I made...I made life...my dear son oh no no not my son you see he was...exquisite. Simply marvelous."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was difficult to keep his face at a neutral as his soul wavered, every once if stillness he had learned in his many decades of isolation going into hiding his displeasure and distaste at the man's thoughts. He had to... keep his thoughts to himself, the evidence of the Library still had not been found.

Even if this happened to be a cruel form of the being he had read about...

He silently listened to the other, sending quick glances toward Hyde when he could.

[never-hyde]

Hyde threw them right back at Crowe, getting visibly more pissed and annoyed by the second

If this scientist didn't tell them what they were here for in the first place soon he'd love to tear it from his throat

Hyde interrupted Victor, a placating smile on his face

"Yes, okay, we kn- We are delighted to hear about your endeavours and successes in the field but we are simply more...interested in the spark itself. What gives the soul life."

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor barely spares a glance toward Hyde before continuing

"I was getting to that my dear friend..." the word "friend" was said with hidden venom

Victor righted himself, wiping stray dust molecules from his deep red pattered waistcoat before continuing

"The spark is what makes the life. Introduce electricity to anything - to any matter dead or alive and it brings back the spark. It has to be...it has to be a sizeable amount of change to bring back the souls of those who were once lost..."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... jarring to hear Hyde be diplomatic, but he couldn't find it in himself to be anything but grateful as he gave the duality a thankful flash of a smile.

Then Victor spoke of the spark...

The spark to bring others back to life.

It... the Library held a being almost as if in death... or non existence...

Would this perhaps be the key?

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[never-hyde]

Hyde's gaze flickered to Crowe. He had no idea what he thought but it probably wasn't anything good.

He interrupts Victor, snarling through his teeth

"We're not here to let you rattle on about this - no matter how interesting it may be." he added the last sentence for their own benefits, in case Victor deemed them good enough for his next experiments.

Victor's cooky smile falters, bricks falling from a crumbling wall but as quickly as it had dropped, it's back up.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

"Oh Edward, Edward, Edward Hyde~" Victor sing-songs, standing rather protectively in front of the crude machine.

"Maybe let the real humans talk science, hm?"

With this Victor spins to Crowe, obviously not having noticed the very almost-human like features he sports.

"My esteemed gentleman... I suppose you have interest in science yes? Then you must know how important this is, how utterly ridiculous it is for us mere humans to stare Death in the face and heed to do nothing about it?"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's face darkened, those ever concealed features of condemning non-humanity... features forced upon him withour concent, twitched just barely in their confinement... barely enough to be seen as anything more than a slight draft.

Oh how well he knew the desperation of humanity... the aching crave to deny death its dues, to avoid an eternity through any means necessary, no matter the seemingly temporary costs.

But death... always got its way in the end...

No matter how long, no matter the ways humanity cheated it...

Death still came. If not for the life, then for rhe mind, if not for the mind, then for the soul. Death was never denied. The ex-librarian's eyes flickered with a color unatural and just shy of glowing as he watched the man Frankenstein, his soul aching within him as he curled his taloned fingers inward.

"Greater men than you have attempted such feats, Mon. Frankenstein... What compelling you believe you have been graced with knowlage beyond them?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor stares at Crowe for a moment, eyes scanning his face - a twitch in his left cheek before his face twists into a smile. He sputters, laughing much like one would do under the influence, raw and loud and terribly overwhelming. When he's gotten himself under control, his face matches Crowe's in an instant.

"Sire, I have adamant reason to believe that is the case. I have created life. Life! Actual, breathing living speaking moving life from nothing..." his eyes shine with uncontrolled hysteria. "I am the first, I am the only one who has even bothered to do such things...I have mastered Death. I have seen the violence and grief and loss and I have turned tail and done something about it!! I am...I - pfft-hahahaa..." he's interrupted by his own laughter, taking off his cracked spectacles to wipe moisture from his eyes.

"You are right, Sire. Many have attempted. Yet I am the first, the first to achieve it"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Oh how Crowe wished that had been the first time he had heard those words.

"I am the first to defy death!" He would hear, witness, read... "I have achieved what no other mortal ever could!" would boast another... but Death was a domain no being could ever hope to control.

He above all... would know the cost of believing such a fallacy.

Only fools defied death, and they paid the cost for their arrogance in each and every story, each and every timeline, every dimension. No matter who, it would only end in the suffering of those who did not deserve it.

With everytjing in his aching, far too alive soul he wished to shake the man, to beg him to turn from this path... but it would be no use.

It never was.

So he simply bit back the words boiling under his tongue, curling his fingers into those hidden feathers as he shoved his thoughts toward another script. They... they still had yet to learn just what book or knolwedge this Frankenstein had that had come from the Library.

If they found it... they could use it to force open a gate... a way back to that dreaded Tartarus... but a journey he never thought he would be happy to make. All for a friend.

"Achieve it... you say?"

The words tasted like bile in his mouth, his very being revolting against stoking this condemning fire... but knowing he had no other choice...

Not of they were to save Jekyll while there was still time.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

The stiffness in Victor's stance dissolved, clearly loving the attention to his work.

"Yes! Yesyesyes achieving it...!"

Just as quickly as he had advanced toward Crowe he spun away, away from his delicate machine and removing a sheet from a chalkboard mounted on the wall. Pinned into the material were a series of cross sections - stages of life photographed and displayed for all to see. Victor sweeps his hand up the board, pointing to various entry points and accomplishments.

"Here. Here is where my dear friend...Henrich Harlander, rest his soul, helped me to decipher the secrets to what makes life. Pure, unsupported life such as you and I.." He then turns, displaying his waistcoated back to the pair and pointing a path from the base of his neck to the middle of the spine.

"The wonder of the lymphatic system, the ability to manage scarring, deal with the flow of energy from one neuron to the next. Mr..Mr Harlander provided me the key to the gate I had discovered...~!"

Victor turns back to Hyde and Crowe, hands twitching as if swayed by the currents he so readily manipulated in his experiments.

"I collected - I visited graves, war sites and rest all their beautiful souls I collected what I ...needed. I constructed. I sat long hours, sawing and cutting and ripping~" his eyes glaze over

"And when I was finished, and bent the threads of God's will to my hands and I made...I made life...my dear son oh no no not my son you see he was...exquisite. Simply marvelous."

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was difficult to keep his face at a neutral as his soul wavered, every once if stillness he had learned in his many decades of isolation going into hiding his displeasure and distaste at the man's thoughts. He had to... keep his thoughts to himself, the evidence of the Library still had not been found.

Even if this happened to be a cruel form of the being he had read about...

He silently listened to the other, sending quick glances toward Hyde when he could.

[tortured-librarian]

The soft beating of wings woke him from his sleep, much like every day. Sable was no where to be seen, but a covenant of moths - shimmering blue and midnight dusk - swarmed over his head, some of them dipping down, their wings brushing the tear marks from his cheeks while he slept. Time passed rarely, maybe not even at all in here - his old pocket-watch rooted deep in his jacket pockets tilting and moving and not quite counting seconds. It seemed much like a compass in some ways, pointing in different directions then refusing to point to anything immediately after. As if the electromagnetic fields in here were….off.

Oh so surprising.

Jekyll sat up, adjusting the wire frames glasses that slipped off his nose. The Library swam back into focus, dingy and dusty save for the cob-web covered lanterns that emitted a soft, almost warm glow.

The novelty he had upon his arrival had definitely worn off by now, the almost childlike wonder of being lost in a library so deep that light would not ever touch him again now replaced by a deep rooted dread now that all he saw was darkness. He had not spoken a word to Apocalypse after shouting at the poor thing. It was probably trapped in here with him, having no choice in the matter but to stay. Jekyll opened his mouth to fight the condensed air against his windpipe, to call out to the Raven above, but his gaze shifted to the cloud of moths. Below it, dotted on the creaking wooden floor they some of them, still and unmoving, their wings twitching in memories of flight.

He found himself picking a few of them up in his fingers, marveling in grotesque awe as the colour from their wings dissolved into soot on his fingertips. Thick, chalky and gritty, it stained where it touched on his ever-paler skin.

He collected the remaining ones, carefully placing them on top of an unused bookshelf. He refused to look at the single book on that shelf, gathering dust and stray moth antennae.

A look up into the rafters confirmed that the silence didn’t mean he was alone, red beaded eyes looking down on him from a dark corner.

He recalled the hatred, misplaced anger, and gave the entity a small, half smile.

Apologies didn’t mean anything here. It meant more to years of dry inkwells and half faded manuscripts than it did to them.

[schrodingerslibrary]

A fluttering sound of feathers sounded from the rafters above, weak and barely a flutter of pages... but there.

"The Library... is displeased with your curating... if your Summoned are perishing."

Those bloodied red eyes looked on from the darkness with a detached sort of concern, one that Jekyll wouldn't be sure was fully felt by the other. Hesitant and guarded... as any steward to their office.

"The Creatures of the Library do not die... unless their Summoner is losing their... connection."

[tortured-librarian]

Jekyll winces beside himself, he'd grown used to the silence from above for too long. He turns to the raven, not looking at him for too long.

"....losing connection...?" The cogs in his brain seemed to turn through thick sludge, slow and grinding. Losing connection to what? The...Real? World?

"You mean to tell me... I'm losing sight of what is really...Real?"

God hoped not.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Another rustle sounded from those shadowed beams, the barest hint of a dull black beak flashing from the darkness as the great bird shifted on his perch.

"You are losing sight... of everything." A deep creaking caw rumbled at the back of the Raven's throat. "Realities. Mentalities.Librarians either rise... or wither within this Void. You seem... determined... to let yourself rot. And with you... your Summoned companions."

[tortured-librarian]

Now he can't help but stare in its general direction. Come to think of it this brain sludge was new, the gears in his head that used to spin so effortlessly now ground against mental friction. It was exhausting.

"I don't wish myself to rot thank you very much." Jekyll grumbled, wiping the traces of moth dust off his hands.

"I'd rather not read whatever....is in there. Not until there's nothing left." he motions to the solitary book on the shelf - his own name engraved with golden leaf into the spine.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The new unwilling Librarian recieved a tired chuff in return, the large raven shifting in his place once more as a feather drifted down from the rafters.

It was... oddly... greyed, ashen...

"This Library holds... much more... than a single book, Librarian. And... there is more to do... than simply read."

[tortured-librarian]

Jekyll frowns, picking up the feather - an odd look in his eyes as he pockets it

"I've tried. I have tried to re-organise yet this damn Library doesn't allow me to. What else am I meant to do, Apocalypse?"

A small shiver goes through him beside himself at the name spoken aloud

"I wish not to die or rot away in this Hell, so why don't you tell me what to do so I, along with you, can co-exist and live. As much as this place allows anyway."

[schrodingerslibrary]

The otherworldly corvid clicked his beak in those distant rafters, the red flickers of his eyes disappearing as he turned away.

"Have you thought... to glance the desks drawers Librarian?" Those eyes retured once more, tired and dimmed. "It is common... that the headmaster... record... write... add to the knowlage of this place."

[tortured-librarian]

Jekyll regards the corvid for a moment, before daring to turn his back on him and crouch to reach the desk drawers. He was indeed right - a rather intricate quill he hadn't seen lay next to just an intricately detailed book -leather and gold leaf sporting the cover.

He sighed.

"Alright...I'll..."

Jekyll takes them both, closing the draw and sitting against it, flicking through pages of already written knowledge before reaching a blank page. And he began to write - eyes flicking occasionally to the cloud of moths, still falling.

[schrodingerslibrary]

A shuffling of feathers against eachother sounded once more as the great raven hopped down from his perch, slowly stepping into the light. The creature looked... weakened, not like the great, powerful avatar of the Library it once was; its feathers were grayed over, as if covered with dust, and brittle. His eyes, once so burning bright were now slightly dimmer as he poked a beak at one of the fallen moths.

[tortured-librarian]

The soft beating of wings woke him from his sleep, much like every day. Sable was no where to be seen, but a covenant of moths - shimmering blue and midnight dusk - swarmed over his head, some of them dipping down, their wings brushing the tear marks from his cheeks while he slept. Time passed rarely, maybe not even at all in here - his old pocket-watch rooted deep in his jacket pockets tilting and moving and not quite counting seconds. It seemed much like a compass in some ways, pointing in different directions then refusing to point to anything immediately after. As if the electromagnetic fields in here were….off.

Oh so surprising.

Jekyll sat up, adjusting the wire frames glasses that slipped off his nose. The Library swam back into focus, dingy and dusty save for the cob-web covered lanterns that emitted a soft, almost warm glow.

The novelty he had upon his arrival had definitely worn off by now, the almost childlike wonder of being lost in a library so deep that light would not ever touch him again now replaced by a deep rooted dread now that all he saw was darkness. He had not spoken a word to Apocalypse after shouting at the poor thing. It was probably trapped in here with him, having no choice in the matter but to stay. Jekyll opened his mouth to fight the condensed air against his windpipe, to call out to the Raven above, but his gaze shifted to the cloud of moths. Below it, dotted on the creaking wooden floor they some of them, still and unmoving, their wings twitching in memories of flight.

He found himself picking a few of them up in his fingers, marveling in grotesque awe as the colour from their wings dissolved into soot on his fingertips. Thick, chalky and gritty, it stained where it touched on his ever-paler skin.

He collected the remaining ones, carefully placing them on top of an unused bookshelf. He refused to look at the single book on that shelf, gathering dust and stray moth antennae.

A look up into the rafters confirmed that the silence didn’t mean he was alone, red beaded eyes looking down on him from a dark corner.

He recalled the hatred, misplaced anger, and gave the entity a small, half smile.

Apologies didn’t mean anything here. It meant more to years of dry inkwells and half faded manuscripts than it did to them.

[schrodingerslibrary]

A fluttering sound of feathers sounded from the rafters above, weak and barely a flutter of pages... but there.

"The Library... is displeased with your curating... if your Summoned are perishing."

Those bloodied red eyes looked on from the darkness with a detached sort of concern, one that Jekyll wouldn't be sure was fully felt by the other. Hesitant and guarded... as any steward to their office.

"The Creatures of the Library do not die... unless their Summoner is losing their... connection."

[tortured-librarian]

Jekyll winces beside himself, he'd grown used to the silence from above for too long. He turns to the raven, not looking at him for too long.

"....losing connection...?" The cogs in his brain seemed to turn through thick sludge, slow and grinding. Losing connection to what? The...Real? World?

"You mean to tell me... I'm losing sight of what is really...Real?"

God hoped not.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Another rustle sounded from those shadowed beams, the barest hint of a dull black beak flashing from the darkness as the great bird shifted on his perch.

"You are losing sight... of everything." A deep creaking caw rumbled at the back of the Raven's throat. "Realities. Mentalities.Librarians either rise... or wither within this Void. You seem... determined... to let yourself rot. And with you... your Summoned companions."

[tortured-librarian]

Now he can't help but stare in its general direction. Come to think of it this brain sludge was new, the gears in his head that used to spin so effortlessly now ground against mental friction. It was exhausting.

"I don't wish myself to rot thank you very much." Jekyll grumbled, wiping the traces of moth dust off his hands.

"I'd rather not read whatever....is in there. Not until there's nothing left." he motions to the solitary book on the shelf - his own name engraved with golden leaf into the spine.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The new unwilling Librarian recieved a tired chuff in return, the large raven shifting in his place once more as a feather drifted down from the rafters.

It was... oddly... greyed, ashen...

"This Library holds... much more... than a single book, Librarian. And... there is more to do... than simply read."

[tortured-librarian]

Jekyll frowns, picking up the feather - an odd look in his eyes as he pockets it

"I've tried. I have tried to re-organise yet this damn Library doesn't allow me to. What else am I meant to do, Apocalypse?"

A small shiver goes through him beside himself at the name spoken aloud

"I wish not to die or rot away in this Hell, so why don't you tell me what to do so I, along with you, can co-exist and live. As much as this place allows anyway."

[schrodingerslibrary]

The otherworldly corvid clicked his beak in those distant rafters, the red flickers of his eyes disappearing as he turned away.

"Have you thought... to glance the desks drawers Librarian?" Those eyes retured once more, tired and dimmed. "It is common... that the headmaster... record... write... add to the knowlage of this place."

[tortured-librarian]

The soft beating of wings woke him from his sleep, much like every day. Sable was no where to be seen, but a covenant of moths - shimmering blue and midnight dusk - swarmed over his head, some of them dipping down, their wings brushing the tear marks from his cheeks while he slept. Time passed rarely, maybe not even at all in here - his old pocket-watch rooted deep in his jacket pockets tilting and moving and not quite counting seconds. It seemed much like a compass in some ways, pointing in different directions then refusing to point to anything immediately after. As if the electromagnetic fields in here were….off.

Oh so surprising.

Jekyll sat up, adjusting the wire frames glasses that slipped off his nose. The Library swam back into focus, dingy and dusty save for the cob-web covered lanterns that emitted a soft, almost warm glow.

The novelty he had upon his arrival had definitely worn off by now, the almost childlike wonder of being lost in a library so deep that light would not ever touch him again now replaced by a deep rooted dread now that all he saw was darkness. He had not spoken a word to Apocalypse after shouting at the poor thing. It was probably trapped in here with him, having no choice in the matter but to stay. Jekyll opened his mouth to fight the condensed air against his windpipe, to call out to the Raven above, but his gaze shifted to the cloud of moths. Below it, dotted on the creaking wooden floor they some of them, still and unmoving, their wings twitching in memories of flight.

He found himself picking a few of them up in his fingers, marveling in grotesque awe as the colour from their wings dissolved into soot on his fingertips. Thick, chalky and gritty, it stained where it touched on his ever-paler skin.

He collected the remaining ones, carefully placing them on top of an unused bookshelf. He refused to look at the single book on that shelf, gathering dust and stray moth antennae.

A look up into the rafters confirmed that the silence didn’t mean he was alone, red beaded eyes looking down on him from a dark corner.

He recalled the hatred, misplaced anger, and gave the entity a small, half smile.

Apologies didn’t mean anything here. It meant more to years of dry inkwells and half faded manuscripts than it did to them.

[schrodingerslibrary]

A fluttering sound of feathers sounded from the rafters above, weak and barely a flutter of pages... but there.

"The Library... is displeased with your curating... if your Summoned are perishing."

Those bloodied red eyes looked on from the darkness with a detached sort of concern, one that Jekyll wouldn't be sure was fully felt by the other. Hesitant and guarded... as any steward to their office.

"The Creatures of the Library do not die... unless their Summoner is losing their... connection."

[tortured-librarian]

Jekyll winces beside himself, he'd grown used to the silence from above for too long. He turns to the raven, not looking at him for too long.

"....losing connection...?" The cogs in his brain seemed to turn through thick sludge, slow and grinding. Losing connection to what? The...Real? World?

"You mean to tell me... I'm losing sight of what is really...Real?"

God hoped not.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Another rustle sounded from those shadowed beams, the barest hint of a dull black beak flashing from the darkness as the great bird shifted on his perch.

"You are losing sight... of everything." A deep creaking caw rumbled at the back of the Raven's throat. "Realities. Mentalities.Librarians either rise... or wither within this Void. You seem... determined... to let yourself rot. And with you... your Summoned companions."

[tortured-librarian]

Now he can't help but stare in its general direction. Come to think of it this brain sludge was new, the gears in his head that used to spin so effortlessly now ground against mental friction. It was exhausting.

"I don't wish myself to rot thank you very much." Jekyll grumbled, wiping the traces of moth dust off his hands.

"I'd rather not read whatever....is in there. Not until there's nothing left." he motions to the solitary book on the shelf - his own name engraved with golden leaf into the spine.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The new unwilling Librarian recieved a tired chuff in return, the large raven shifting in his place once more as a feather drifted down from the rafters.

It was... oddly... greyed, ashen...

"This Library holds... much more... than a single book, Librarian. And... there is more to do... than simply read."

[tortured-librarian]

The soft beating of wings woke him from his sleep, much like every day. Sable was no where to be seen, but a covenant of moths - shimmering blue and midnight dusk - swarmed over his head, some of them dipping down, their wings brushing the tear marks from his cheeks while he slept. Time passed rarely, maybe not even at all in here - his old pocket-watch rooted deep in his jacket pockets tilting and moving and not quite counting seconds. It seemed much like a compass in some ways, pointing in different directions then refusing to point to anything immediately after. As if the electromagnetic fields in here were….off.

Oh so surprising.

Jekyll sat up, adjusting the wire frames glasses that slipped off his nose. The Library swam back into focus, dingy and dusty save for the cob-web covered lanterns that emitted a soft, almost warm glow.

The novelty he had upon his arrival had definitely worn off by now, the almost childlike wonder of being lost in a library so deep that light would not ever touch him again now replaced by a deep rooted dread now that all he saw was darkness. He had not spoken a word to Apocalypse after shouting at the poor thing. It was probably trapped in here with him, having no choice in the matter but to stay. Jekyll opened his mouth to fight the condensed air against his windpipe, to call out to the Raven above, but his gaze shifted to the cloud of moths. Below it, dotted on the creaking wooden floor they some of them, still and unmoving, their wings twitching in memories of flight.

He found himself picking a few of them up in his fingers, marveling in grotesque awe as the colour from their wings dissolved into soot on his fingertips. Thick, chalky and gritty, it stained where it touched on his ever-paler skin.

He collected the remaining ones, carefully placing them on top of an unused bookshelf. He refused to look at the single book on that shelf, gathering dust and stray moth antennae.

A look up into the rafters confirmed that the silence didn’t mean he was alone, red beaded eyes looking down on him from a dark corner.

He recalled the hatred, misplaced anger, and gave the entity a small, half smile.

Apologies didn’t mean anything here. It meant more to years of dry inkwells and half faded manuscripts than it did to them.

[schrodingerslibrary]

A fluttering sound of feathers sounded from the rafters above, weak and barely a flutter of pages... but there.

"The Library... is displeased with your curating... if your Summoned are perishing."

Those bloodied red eyes looked on from the darkness with a detached sort of concern, one that Jekyll wouldn't be sure was fully felt by the other. Hesitant and guarded... as any steward to their office.

"The Creatures of the Library do not die... unless their Summoner is losing their... connection."

[tortured-librarian]

Jekyll winces beside himself, he'd grown used to the silence from above for too long. He turns to the raven, not looking at him for too long.

"....losing connection...?" The cogs in his brain seemed to turn through thick sludge, slow and grinding. Losing connection to what? The...Real? World?

"You mean to tell me... I'm losing sight of what is really...Real?"

God hoped not.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Another rustle sounded from those shadowed beams, the barest hint of a dull black beak flashing from the darkness as the great bird shifted on his perch.

"You are losing sight... of everything." A deep creaking caw rumbled at the back of the Raven's throat. "Realities. Mentalities.Librarians either rise... or wither within this Void. You seem... determined... to let yourself rot. And with you... your Summoned companions."

[tortured-librarian]

The soft beating of wings woke him from his sleep, much like every day. Sable was no where to be seen, but a covenant of moths - shimmering blue and midnight dusk - swarmed over his head, some of them dipping down, their wings brushing the tear marks from his cheeks while he slept. Time passed rarely, maybe not even at all in here - his old pocket-watch rooted deep in his jacket pockets tilting and moving and not quite counting seconds. It seemed much like a compass in some ways, pointing in different directions then refusing to point to anything immediately after. As if the electromagnetic fields in here were….off.

Oh so surprising.

Jekyll sat up, adjusting the wire frames glasses that slipped off his nose. The Library swam back into focus, dingy and dusty save for the cob-web covered lanterns that emitted a soft, almost warm glow.

The novelty he had upon his arrival had definitely worn off by now, the almost childlike wonder of being lost in a library so deep that light would not ever touch him again now replaced by a deep rooted dread now that all he saw was darkness. He had not spoken a word to Apocalypse after shouting at the poor thing. It was probably trapped in here with him, having no choice in the matter but to stay. Jekyll opened his mouth to fight the condensed air against his windpipe, to call out to the Raven above, but his gaze shifted to the cloud of moths. Below it, dotted on the creaking wooden floor they some of them, still and unmoving, their wings twitching in memories of flight.

He found himself picking a few of them up in his fingers, marveling in grotesque awe as the colour from their wings dissolved into soot on his fingertips. Thick, chalky and gritty, it stained where it touched on his ever-paler skin.

He collected the remaining ones, carefully placing them on top of an unused bookshelf. He refused to look at the single book on that shelf, gathering dust and stray moth antennae.

A look up into the rafters confirmed that the silence didn’t mean he was alone, red beaded eyes looking down on him from a dark corner.

He recalled the hatred, misplaced anger, and gave the entity a small, half smile.

Apologies didn’t mean anything here. It meant more to years of dry inkwells and half faded manuscripts than it did to them.

[schrodingerslibrary]

A fluttering sound of feathers sounded from the rafters above, weak and barely a flutter of pages... but there.

"The Library... is displeased with your curating... if your Summoned are perishing."

Those bloodied red eyes looked on from the darkness with a detached sort of concern, one that Jekyll wouldn't be sure was fully felt by the other. Hesitant and guarded... as any steward to their office.

"The Creatures of the Library do not die... unless their Summoner is losing their... connection."

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[never-hyde]

Hyde's gaze flickered to Crowe. He had no idea what he thought but it probably wasn't anything good.

He interrupts Victor, snarling through his teeth

"We're not here to let you rattle on about this - no matter how interesting it may be." he added the last sentence for their own benefits, in case Victor deemed them good enough for his next experiments.

Victor's cooky smile falters, bricks falling from a crumbling wall but as quickly as it had dropped, it's back up.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

"Oh Edward, Edward, Edward Hyde~" Victor sing-songs, standing rather protectively in front of the crude machine.

"Maybe let the real humans talk science, hm?"

With this Victor spins to Crowe, obviously not having noticed the very almost-human like features he sports.

"My esteemed gentleman... I suppose you have interest in science yes? Then you must know how important this is, how utterly ridiculous it is for us mere humans to stare Death in the face and heed to do nothing about it?"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's face darkened, those ever concealed features of condemning non-humanity... features forced upon him withour concent, twitched just barely in their confinement... barely enough to be seen as anything more than a slight draft.

Oh how well he knew the desperation of humanity... the aching crave to deny death its dues, to avoid an eternity through any means necessary, no matter the seemingly temporary costs.

But death... always got its way in the end...

No matter how long, no matter the ways humanity cheated it...

Death still came. If not for the life, then for rhe mind, if not for the mind, then for the soul. Death was never denied. The ex-librarian's eyes flickered with a color unatural and just shy of glowing as he watched the man Frankenstein, his soul aching within him as he curled his taloned fingers inward.

"Greater men than you have attempted such feats, Mon. Frankenstein... What compelling you believe you have been graced with knowlage beyond them?"

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor stares at Crowe for a moment, eyes scanning his face - a twitch in his left cheek before his face twists into a smile. He sputters, laughing much like one would do under the influence, raw and loud and terribly overwhelming. When he's gotten himself under control, his face matches Crowe's in an instant.

"Sire, I have adamant reason to believe that is the case. I have created life. Life! Actual, breathing living speaking moving life from nothing..." his eyes shine with uncontrolled hysteria. "I am the first, I am the only one who has even bothered to do such things...I have mastered Death. I have seen the violence and grief and loss and I have turned tail and done something about it!! I am...I - pfft-hahahaa..." he's interrupted by his own laughter, taking off his cracked spectacles to wipe moisture from his eyes.

"You are right, Sire. Many have attempted. Yet I am the first, the first to achieve it"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Oh how Crowe wished that had been the first time he had heard those words.

"I am the first to defy death!" He would hear, witness, read... "I have achieved what no other mortal ever could!" would boast another... but Death was a domain no being could ever hope to control.

He above all... would know the cost of believing such a fallacy.

Only fools defied death, and they paid the cost for their arrogance in each and every story, each and every timeline, every dimension. No matter who, it would only end in the suffering of those who did not deserve it.

With everytjing in his aching, far too alive soul he wished to shake the man, to beg him to turn from this path... but it would be no use.

It never was.

So he simply bit back the words boiling under his tongue, curling his fingers into those hidden feathers as he shoved his thoughts toward another script. They... they still had yet to learn just what book or knolwedge this Frankenstein had that had come from the Library.

If they found it... they could use it to force open a gate... a way back to that dreaded Tartarus... but a journey he never thought he would be happy to make. All for a friend.

"Achieve it... you say?"

The words tasted like bile in his mouth, his very being revolting against stoking this condemning fire... but knowing he had no other choice...

Not of they were to save Jekyll while there was still time.

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[never-hyde]

Hyde's gaze flickered to Crowe. He had no idea what he thought but it probably wasn't anything good.

He interrupts Victor, snarling through his teeth

"We're not here to let you rattle on about this - no matter how interesting it may be." he added the last sentence for their own benefits, in case Victor deemed them good enough for his next experiments.

Victor's cooky smile falters, bricks falling from a crumbling wall but as quickly as it had dropped, it's back up.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

"Oh Edward, Edward, Edward Hyde~" Victor sing-songs, standing rather protectively in front of the crude machine.

"Maybe let the real humans talk science, hm?"

With this Victor spins to Crowe, obviously not having noticed the very almost-human like features he sports.

"My esteemed gentleman... I suppose you have interest in science yes? Then you must know how important this is, how utterly ridiculous it is for us mere humans to stare Death in the face and heed to do nothing about it?"

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's face darkened, those ever concealed features of condemning non-humanity... features forced upon him withour concent, twitched just barely in their confinement... barely enough to be seen as anything more than a slight draft.

Oh how well he knew the desperation of humanity... the aching crave to deny death its dues, to avoid an eternity through any means necessary, no matter the seemingly temporary costs.

But death... always got its way in the end...

No matter how long, no matter the ways humanity cheated it...

Death still came. If not for the life, then for rhe mind, if not for the mind, then for the soul. Death was never denied. The ex-librarian's eyes flickered with a color unatural and just shy of glowing as he watched the man Frankenstein, his soul aching within him as he curled his taloned fingers inward.

"Greater men than you have attempted such feats, Mon. Frankenstein... What compelling you believe you have been graced with knowlage beyond them?"

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor points to a long rod that is attached to the top of the glass box which is welded into the surface. Spiderwebs of cracks originate from the center of where it's attached - it's a miracle it's not broken in half.

"This here is the electrode that runs through this copper plate," he points to all corresponding connections in row, making sure they're both looking at his invention.

"This copper plate infuses whatever is lying on it with electricity gathered naturally by Nature's wonderful power. So in our case as I do not have something to re-animate that will be of great use..."

He retrieves a small house sparrow from the innards of a cloth-covered cage, limp and rather malnourished in terms of decay. Victor places it on the plate, a small twinkle in his eye.

[never-hyde]

Hyde keeps nodding along, inwardly rolling his eyes in Victor's direction. Hopefully Crowe was able to figure out what he needed in here - he didn't think he could deal with this madman any longer than necessary.

[schrodingerslibrary]

It was... concerning, horrific even, to watch the poor starved bird discarded on the strange device with barely a concern. Crowe could not help bur feel sympathy for the little creature, his own wings twitching from behind their disguise as he fought to keep himself from reaching out.

No... the strange scientist was going to reveal the information he had... he could not... ruin that now.

[ghostssmoke]

Omen

[tortured-librarian]

(The fluttering sound of wings breaks the horrid crawling silence of the Dark Library, Harbinger barely having the strength to land properly as he hits the dusty flooring next to Jekyll's feet. He coughs out the letter, shutting his eyes for a moment to rest)

My dearest friend,

I am so sorry. This should have never happened.

Please, I am coming to get you out of that horrid place. That sentence is MINE to carry, not yours.

Hold the line my friend, keep your wits about you, and whatever you do... DO NOT START READING. Stay safe. I will get you out.

Regards,

~Crowe~

Jekyll is lying on the floor, staring up into the fog and trying to cure the spiral going on and on and down in his mind, when a letter gets promptly dropped on his face

mmh..

He stirs, glaring at the letter as if it were some omen of death, looking worriedly at Harbinger before reading

..get me out?

Don't..read?

"Hah...too late for that my friend." his voice is wry, hollow from hours? of staring up at nothing and daring that bird to come back down and torment him

He drags himself up to sitting, standing only to grab the quill and the inkwell

"Crowe,

..I fear it is too late. Unless you mean do not read other books because... I know what I am. Nothing but a forgery of words that someone has written for me. Don't come here. You're free now.

Henry"

He had hoped the hopelessness didn't creep into the writing but even that had to spite him too.

Sable appears before Harbinger can even lift his head, chirping a few words of greeting at Jekyll before flying off with the note clutched tightly.

Silence once again, well, save for the few noises Harbinger makes. Jekyll looks over, wishing to give him something, anything to make him feel better.

"I...don't know if there are any seeds in here. I'm...sorry."

@schrodingerslibrary

[never-hyde]

Bloody hell...

Hyde mumbles under his breath, coming forward to rummage through the stuff being thrown onto the desk to find anything useful whatsoever. Frankenstein hovers just over his shoulder, pointing out various equations and notes of interest, before pointing them both to a small box in the corner of the room - hooked up to various wires and electrodes.

[schrodingerslibrary]

The sight of the machine did nothing to ease the increasing feelings of dread and distrust, hos eyes once more seeking comfort in Hyde as he moved closer.

By all rights, these machines should never have been possible to create in this time. Not by this man, and certainly not to this extent.

[dr-mad-prometheus]

Victor bows once both of their attentions are on the small box, a wide grin hidden behind a humble expression.

"Behold my friends, a little project of mine involving your topic of interest~"

He draws a cloth off the top of the box, revealing a horrific contraption of wires, metal and rust - a metal plate in the centre of it.

Victor dances around the box to the edge of the room, looking out of the small window to the sky beyond.

"Now then, this won't actually work until a thunderstorm graces us with its presence... such a shame." He pouts slightly

[never-hyde]

Hyde flaps his hand at Victor dismissively, eyes on the box.

So explain it then. What does it do? How do you harness electricity to such extents??

He leans on the table beneath the box, glaring into its contents.

[schrodingerslibrary]

Crowe's eyes flicker toward the papers on the desk, trying to decern what exactly had been leaked from the depths of the Library.