A Professor's Paradise

The following morning, Noble decided to do something that she had not yet attempted while in the Nightmare:

Obeying the Queen. 

Other than the bad placement at dinner and sending a terrible dance partner her way, Emira had not doled out the promised punishment for Noble's leaving the palace and going to fight.

It was best to remain as invisible as possible in hopes that the Queen might be lenient. 

'Out of sight, out of mind.' Or so Noble hoped.

It was a tenuous plan, but it was the only one she had.

Although Noble wanted not to be noticed, that did not mean that she planned to remain idle. 

Like any self-respecting professor, Noble was going to spend her day at the only place that could give her a clear picture of what was going on around her. 

The library. 

Fortunately, the palace had its very own store of books and a head librarian who was most eager to share his wealth of knowledge with the beautiful young woman. 

Noble and her two protectors were ushered into the archive room and given a large workspace. Delighted not to be cramped, Kosi spun around thrice and fell asleep before the research could even begin. 

One of the chief assistants approached them with a wealth of knowledge in his arms. 

"What is it you are hoping to find?" Counsel scratched his chin as he watched the stack of dusty books be piled onto a reading table.

'A way to finish this Nightmare.' After the feeling that vanquishing the Tyrant was the key to her escape, Noble had nearly fallen into despair. 

What could she possibly do to defeat such a powerful being? She wasn't sure. 

But something that Counsel had mentioned had led her to the library in search of information. 

Noble thanked the assistant and waited until she was out of range before answering her companion. "You said something yesterday about the Tyrant wanting its heart. When I asked if you believed it, you didn't want to answer. So I thought I would try and dig up some answers for myself." 

"I see," Counsel pulled his lips to one side. "So we are going on a treasure hunt of sorts. I suppose there are worse ways to pass the time than looking for something that cannot be found." 

"So you don't believe in the heart?" Noble quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I did at first, but I have looked for many years to confirm the claim and have come up empty. I admit that I did not think to look in the royal archives. Not that Her Majesty would have let me come without you." Counsel dipped his head in gratitude. "I will assist in any way I can. Where would you like to start?" 

Noble wondered if the man could read. He was a former slave, but he had been an Awakened for many years. Thankfully the question was answered when he picked up a book and laughed at the title. "Myths and Legends? I doubt you will get much factual information from this text." 

"You never know. Many of those stories have a small kernel of truth. Pick whatever book you like and look for any hint about the Tyrant's heart." Noble selected one for herself and began to dig into the mysteries of the Dream Realm. 

As she looked through the tomes, Noble wondered how many others from her world had gotten such an uninhibited look at the ancient civilizations of the Dream Realm. 

'Very few...' 

The people's belief about corruption as well as their stories of the gods and demons provided a rich backdrop for the professor's imagination. 

'Wait until I tell Julius!' Noble smiled as she tried to commit as much of it as possible to memory. 'He will be speechless!' 

The professor was so busy imagining how excited her mentor would be with all of this new information that her eyes nearly skipped over a very important line in the book before her. 

"Hm!" Noble stopped and read the lines twice more. "What do you make of this? It says the Tyrant was once an uncorrupted human. When the corruption took hold of him, he split his heart in two and gave the untainted half to the woman he loved. But when he went mad and became a Nightmare Creature, he wanted the heart returned to him."

"Let me guess, the answer was a big no?" Counsel leaned over to look at where she was pointing.

"Not only that, they used the heart to banish the man and protect the city from it. As the kingdom grew, the runes were added around the city to protect the heart. The belief is that the heart both pulls and repels the Tyrant." Noble fell silent as she skimmed the rest of the page.

"So in theory, whoever has the heart can control the Lord of the Mountain?" Counsel ran his fingers through his hair. "It might also explain why I can understand the creature so clearly. Part of him is still uncorrupted." 

Now that was a strange thought. Could a Nightmare Creature remain in a state of only being 'mostly' corrupted? It seemed like it was a possibility, though an unlikely one. 

"Do you think the heart is here in the palace?" Counsel glanced around the room as if looking for a secret passage. 

"It might be. Are you wanting to look for it?" Noble felt a thrill of excitement. 

Who didn't love a treasure hunt?

"I will do whatever you desire to pass the time until the celebration," Counsel's tone clearly suggested his preference. His offer was incredibly tempting.

In the end, Noble sighed. "Perhaps later. First, let's finish looking through the books and see if we can get a better location than just somewhere in the kingdom." 

They spent the next couple of hours poring over the books provided by the palace staff. The only clue they could find to any location was that the heart was "buried" in the city center. 

But even that was contradicted by both earlier and later sources. 

Counsel yawned, catching Noble's attention to the lateness of the hour. 

"Oh my, it is past lunch!" 

At the word, Kosi picked up his head and stretched. He would never say no to food. 

"Shall I get us something from the kitchen to eat? I will make sure that the cook prepares it in front of my eyes," Counsel assured her. 

"That would be wonderful. Do you think it is alright if we eat in here?" Noble began to stack the books. She didn't know where normal meals were taken in the palace, but it likely wasn't the library. 

"I don't think they will try and tell the Queen's niece no," Counsel smirked. "I will be back with sustenance shortly. Kosi, are you coming or staying?"

The Symncus stood, his tail wagging. The pair shuffled out of the room, leaving Noble with her thoughts. 

Alone, Noble finished stacking the books into those that would go back on the shelves now and those that she still required. Among the books was a tightly bound tome on the hundred years of war that the kingdom had faced since the beginning of Emira's reign.

Opening it, Noble found the word RUBBISH written across the title page in indelible red ink. It looked almost like blood. 

"Who would dare deface a book in the royal library," the professor wondered aloud. 

"I would," a sharp voice answered. 

Startled, Noble turned around slowly and faced the one person she had been avoiding most. 

The Queen.