Ch. 1—The Room

A little explanation of how this works, first. The POVs switch back and forth from Ekai and Will to Allie, Liberis, Caesar, Mookie... etc. The page-break lines indicate a POV switch. Don't depend on font to identify speakers, because while Casey is good at remembering who is who, Allie has too many characters. This is a work in process, so cut her some slack on that.
Other than that, enjoy the story. : )

Ekai walked into the room. “Whoa, deja vu all over again...” He laughed, flicked an errant lock of hair out of his face. “'Kay, Will, it's clear, come on in.” Now the younger of the two came in, far more cautiously than his flamboyant best friend. Phoenixes were like that—like a forest fire, give 'em a chance and they'd brighten anyone's day. Only with much less destruction. Usually.

Ekaiemkessai, called 'Ekai' by most but occasionally answering to 'Inferno', flopped down on a convenient couch, stretching out his six-foot length and flexing foot-claws like those of a bird of prey. Dressed in various shades of red, orange and yellow, he was a bright spot of warm color amidst the blues and greens of the room. Will, on the other hand, was dressed in his habitual grey sweats and t-shirt. He tried to copy his Equal's nonchalant make-himself-at-home attitude, but ended up curled next to Ekai anyway, even though there was no one else in the room. Will stuck to Ekai like a burr—not only because the bird-man was his voice and his best friend, but because Will trusted Ekai to keep him safe when Will was in an unfamiliar environment.

Like, say, this comfy, calm conversation space he and Will had been invited to. Will hadn't recognized the handwriting on the note, nor the turns of phrase, but Ekai did. And Ekai, being the more skilled with fourth-wall-breaking, crossover sorts of adventures, had only rolled his eyes. It was nice that the Author liked him so much, but seriously, could she give him a break sometime? He was running three main storylines already!

Aw, quit complaining, you wouldn't have shown up if you didn't really want in, retorted her voice.

And she was right, but he wouldn't admit that out loud.

Toooooo late, just did. Thank you! He caught the impression of an impish grin. Now wait a mo, and you might want to warn Will because if this works, the other party to this should be arriving soon.

Librarian Generalla Alexandra Biblia Lewis of Irion and Earth --call her Allie or suffer her wrath--stood at the door, invite in her hand, and blinked. This was... odd.

She'd know Writer's handscript anywhere, of course. Writer was the only person Allie knew who still wrote in cursive. Writer--

Allie, my name isn't Writer.

"Yeah, it is. The Library gives you your name, Writer, and that's what you got."

Screw the Library. I created the Library. Trust me, Allie, the Library--

"Is a power all its own." Allie smiled. She held up the note to nobody in particular, waving it in the air like a sign of surrender. "You wrote this, then?"

I wrote everything.

"Really."

Well, mostly everything.

"Are there any more of our number coming?"

You're asking about Daria.

"And others."

Wait and see.

Allie sighed. Writer could be bloody infuriating at times--authors always were. Allie knew, being a writer herself.

But still.

"Excuse me, my dear, but are you planning on meandering about outside the door all day? Because I would like to get by."

"Excuse me, dear sirrah," Allie said. She grinned. She knew that voice... "Did you finally come out of the closet?"

His name was Caesar Ensalada. He was a short man with a giant patchwork coat, a cloak made of socks, and a coat-hanger wire sceptre. The unusual attire came from his inhabitance of choice--the multiverse of closets in the Library. The Librarians had yet to come up with a logical reason as to why all the closets in the Library were connected, but Caesar Ensalada had moved in one day.

Caesar Ensalada, and his Random Chinchilla Mookie.

Mookie poked his head out of Caesar Ensalada's topmost pocket and squeaked. Allie grinned and scratched the chinchilla's ears.

"You know," said Caesar, smiling serenely, "I haven't heard that one before?"

"No? You live in a closet, you can't not get gay jokes."

"Surprisingly, no."

"Not to your face, anyways," said someone else. Allie turned.

"Liberis!" she said happily. "No way, long time no torture."

"Yeah, I'm still sorry about that," Liberis said, blushing. She looked like Allie did, only her immortality had been set at a younger age. Her hair was brown, though not streaked with strands of grey. Her glasses were octagonal and her nose was gelatine, as Allie had dubbed her own. Where Allie wore breeches and plain shirts, Liberis wore hoodies and skirts with leggings. "I swear, I didn't even know you were in the section until I heard the screams. Edan got severely punished for that, I promise!"

"Nah, relax. I don't hold pain against you." The Generalla grinned.

Allie wondered if she and Liberis were the same person. Writer, maybe, as she grew up.

Allie didn't know much about Writer. The girl was their creator, and she was young. A writer, obviously, and a decent one. And... someone who loved them. It was hard to describe, but Allie knew with every word that Writer spoke...

That Writer loved her. That Writer loved her characters more than anything else in Writer's strange, familiar world.

"Well," Allie said. "Enough idle chatter. Shall we enter, friends? Romans? Countrymen?"

“Enough with the quotes,” said Liberis. And then they opened the doors.

~I hear some people talking in the hallway. At least three.~

Ekai nodded. "Good call. The Power of Creativity wanted us to meet some people. They think that their world is written by someone else, so we're going to call the Creativity Power 'The Author', alright?" Will hadn't yet broken the fourth wall... Thankfully, the phoenix had enough creativity himself to keep things within Will's frame of reference without telling lies. The Author had made herself a minor goddess within her own fictional pantheon, after all. He cocked his ears.

..."Friends? Romans? Countrymen?" "Enough with the quotes." Ekai stood to meet the visitors at the doors, and after a moment, Will did too.

He had never seen a more mixed group, except maybe the one to which he and Will belonged. A man dressed in a motley assortment of clothing with a bent clothes-hanger in one hand and a rodent of some sort one of many pockets. Two women, one with the age of a teen but the bearing of an adult, and the other definitely an adult.

Caesar Ensalada, mysterious King of the Closets in the Library. Liberis, Librarian. Allie Lewis, author and Generalla of the Army of Maskil'anim. I don't know if Alix--that is, the one they'll call Writer--has made the introductions. Might as well start, you were here first.

Yes, Mother.

Jerk. Go on...

The pause while the Author and Ekai conferred had taken about as long as an eyeblink--they were pretty well tuned into each other. "Hey, make yourselves at home, the Author's worked hard to make this place comfortable. Since we're all here," Ekai continued, "how about introductions?" He tipped his head towards Will, and put a hand around his shoulder. "This is Will, he's basically my little brother. I'm Ekai, I'm a phoenix."

Allie glanced upward momentarily.

I. Oh. Er. I was supposed to introduce you, right?

I was hoping, Allie thought. She had yet to get used to the mind-to-mind speech process, even though back in the double-digit years she'd had plenty of friends who spoke in that manner. She still preferred verbal communication. Allie didn't trust Writer in her head.

I heard that.

Sorry. Allie did a curtsy-bow, grand as always. "My name," she said with a sweeping gaze, "Is Librarian Generalla Alexandra Biblia Lewis. This is Librarian Liberis-formerly-Mary, and Librarian Caesar Ensalada."

Mookie squeaked.

"And his Random Chinchilla Mookie." Help me, Writer.

Ah, gimme a second. This is getting good.

"We're all basically immortal," Allie added for good measure.

"Some more than others," said Caesar Ensalada.

Ekai and Will exchanged looks. "How can you--"

"Are those chips I see?" Caesar Ensalada asked. "Pardon me."

See, you're fine on your own!

Says you, Big Sister.

Please, I let you have your own opinions and I haven't vaporized you yet, so--

"Shut it, Writer," Allie said, and paused. "Crap, I said that aloud, didn't I?"

"Yes," said Ekai.

"Um." Allie grinned. "I also have a tiny head in my voice that tells me random shit? I'm not insane, I swear. Just a little unique."

~What's going on then?~

~You know how sometimes I talk to the other Equals? Sometimes I talk to the Creativity Power the same way.~

Will glanced over before joining Caesar at the chips. ~Don't bullshit me, 'Ferno, I can put two and two together as well as anyone. We're written too, aren't we?~

So much for protecting him. ~...Yeah.~ “Ok, crisis over, Will's now in the Broken Fourth-Wall Club as much as the rest of us are. So anyway, take a seat, all. Allie, don't feel too bad, Casey yammers at me just as much as your writer does at you, if not more.” ~Will, let me know if you want to play the Ventriloquist game.~

~Y'mean make a comment? Sure thing.~

So you seem to be doing all right.

Eh, I guess so, but I hate multitasking.

You've done more than one conversation before.

Yeah, but throwing my voice and talking normally at the same time plays hell with my syrinx.

Poor baby. You can heal it with a thought, it's your body.

But it's the principle of the thing.