Discussion About Sections

Elmo couldn't say that he woke up happy. It wasn't that his sleep was disturbed or wasn't restful, instead it was more that his stomach was making its displeasure known to him, demanding that he fill it as soon as possible.

The lights were still lit, though they had been dimmed, which Elmo couldn't help but feel a little thankful for. With how tired he had felt, the reduced lighting he was sure helped him get more restful sleep.

However, as he opened his eyes, the first thing he had to do was clear his vision so he could see properly to know where everything was. It was rather blurry and the usual dried tears in the corners of his eyes were uncomfortable as usual.

He wanted first to see if he could find Blot. Simply because he hoped that there was another cafeteria or something around where they were. Even though the cafeteria they had been in at the entrance to the library had helped prepare the venison that they'd gotten from the deer, he would rather have some bacon and eggs if possible.

It wasn't the kind of breakfast he normally had, but it was something that he enjoyed eating. One small thing that reminded him of the world he came from.

Rubbing his eyes, hoping that his vision would be so blurry afterwards, he slowly stood up from the chair he'd fallen asleep on. His stomach growled loudly, apparently making sure that he didn't forget about it, and then looked around.

He saw everyone else asleep in different chairs, although he did notice in a few instances, the chairs being shared. Such as Kim had apparently lifted Elin up so Elin was on top of Kim as they both slept in the same chair or how Sonya and Heather were leaning against each other as they both slept on the same chair.

Finally, Elmo saw Blot. The book was doing something that he couldn't figure out. He couldn't see it very well, so he thought that he might not really be understanding it very well. It looked like the book was either writing something or drawing something with his bookmark ribbons and tassels. What it was, Elmo couldn't even begin to imagine.

"What're you doing?" Elmo asked quietly as he walked over towards Blot.

"Just taking care of some business in the library," the book replied conversationally. Elmo wasn't sure if he should press the matter or not. After all, even if he knew exactly what Blot was doing it wasn't like he could say if it was 'library business' or not.

"Is there a cafeteria nearby?" he asked, "I was thinking of getting something to eat."

"Of course," the book replied, not taking his attention from whatever he was doing. "Just enter the doorway over there and you'll be in the cafeteria. Then when you're done, you can walk through the doorway again and it'll bring you back here."

Elmo looked around, since he didn't see the book indicating any particular direction when he said 'over there.' Elmo would have liked it if the book had, but he couldn't say that he was too annoyed about it. Maybe if he hadn't felt like he was still partly asleep, he would have, but at the moment, he just couldn't muster the energy to care that much.

After a minute, Elmo noticed a doorframe that led into the side of a bookshelf, making it look like there was a secret passage or something. If it was a secret passage, it certainly wasn't like the one back in the dungeon that they'd started in. As this one was much easier to see. Provided he actually noticed it in the first place.

As he entered the doorway, Elmo glanced back at Blot. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he recognized a few of the characters on Blot's cover. He wasn't sure if it really meant anything or not, but it did make him feel like there was something important about it that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

He already figured that the book was important, even if it was to show them the way to the Book of Living. It was just more that he felt there was more to the puzzle that he just wasn't seeing for whatever reason.

As Elmo got his food and started eating, he couldn't help but wonder when the others would get up so they could continue on with their hike through this massive library. Requiring them to rest for the night before they'd even gotten to the first section with a book they'd asked about.

Elmo was wondering if he should check to see what section they were currently in when he saw Sonya walking in, looking like she might be sleepwalking rather than awake. He wasn't sure if he should say anything to her.

She clearly wasn't fully awake, if nothing else, so Elmo eventually decided to just let her be if she didn't talk to him first. Since if she did, that would mean she likely was awake as well. So it'd be safe to talk to her without worrying about disturbing her rest.

When Elmo finished, he was about to leave when Elin entered, with Heather, who looked a little worried. Though, when her eyes landed on Sonya, who was collecting her food from whoever or whatever was serving it from the shadowed window that the food came through.

"Leaving already?" Elin asked Elmo a moment before she yawned and Heather rushed over to where Sonya was.

"Yeah," Elmo said, yawning himself. "I finished eating, so I thought I'd return and see if I could see what section we were in."

Elin nodded as she walked over to the window to order her food. After she finished her usual order of steamed buns, she turned back to Elmo. "I'm not sure, but I think we might be around section 200 or something like that."

"Why'd you say that?" Elmo asked. "As far as I know, we're still in section 1."

Elin merely shrugged. "I'm not sure, but that's what it feels like to me. Sometimes the books all seemed to have been one color, but then they changed and were all a different color suddenly. So, I thought that might mean we had entered a different section."

Elmo thought about what Elin said for a minute. He hadn't been paying attention to the books, so she couldn't say if she was accurate or not about it. Though, he wasn't sure if it really mattered or not. It wasn't like either of them could really say for sure what made up a boundary between a section in the first place.

"Well, even if that's true, how many sections did we pass on our way here?" Elmo asked, not sure how else to say it. "How many we passed might affect just how long it might be before we get out of here."

"Don't worry about it," Elin told Elmo, looking like she had something else in mind. "Even if we don't win the competition and are able to return to our worlds, I'm sure you'd be able to figure out how to send us back to our own worlds with the book in that last section that Blot mentioned."

Elmo sighed as he shook his head. He really wasn't that worried about the competition. He'd actually hardly thought about it aside from what the current set challenge was.

"I'm not," he told Elin, wondering if maybe he'd worried about it in the back of his mind anyway, regardless of what he actually thought about it. "I'm just wondering how long it'll be before we can look at trying to figure out why Blot wasn't able to recall anything about the Book of the Living."

Elin merely shrugged as she took a bit of her stuffed bun. "I'm sure it'll come to him. I mean, it's not like he's had other problems with his memory. What else could it be?"

Elmo opened his mouth, about to say what he thought, but quickly closed it, shaking his head. He didn't want to say what he thought, only to find that he was wrong. He normally didn't worry about things like that, but in this instance, he found himself doing just that.

"I'd rather not say what I think," Elmo told Elin, hoping he wasn't making a mistake. "I just want to be sure first and I'm worried that I'll screw things up for everyone if I do."

Elin nodded like she fully understood, though Elmo felt a little doubtful on that point. She didn't know what he knew, so she wouldn't be able to really know why he was hesitant about the subject right now.

However, the fact that she was mostly on the same page as him was enough for the moment. He could work on the rest later as he tried to figure out what it was about Blot that bothered him so much.