Chapter 4 The Battle of Questions

“Oh sorry, we are in my library.”

“And why is that?!”

“Because I summoned you here. Want me to send you back?”

“Never! That place was hell!”

“Ooh?”

“Who are you? And what is that?”

“As I already told you, I’m Cloud, the librarian here, and the woman with knowledge beyond anyone else. And if you are asking about my baby back there, he is a very special cat, you see.”

“Yeah, I saw that. And he could walk and talk too.”

“Yep, yep… Wait. What do you mean by that?!”

“Hey, I’m the one asking the questions here!”

“Not necessarily!”

The two individuals, Han and Cloud, were now conversing, throwing words at each other to try and reveal each other's secrets. But this was hard. Han didn’t have any particular secrets in that world, and Cloud revealed only the tip of the iceberg, simplifying things to try and convince him of something that he couldn’t be completely certain of. Despite this, she was still the only source of information that he had in that world, and she was gladly lending herself to him, embracing his questions with open arms. But this is all in a very secretive way to try and figure out each other's motives.

She was a perfect opponent and a cool one at that.

But this battle wouldn’t be fought with fists, no, it would be thought with words! Words that formed questions!

“Why did you summon me here?!”

“Because…”

“Well? Answer me!”

“You should be glad I’m answering you in the first place!”

“Not right now, you aren’t!”

“What are you, a child?!”

“Stop trying to brush over my question and answer me!”

He dramatically slammed his fist into the table, making the teacups that had not been drunk yet, almost tip over.

Maybe it had been an act of desperation, maybe an act of being afraid, either way, he had shown her a moment of weakness, a nobody lost in that world, a weakling if you say. He was guessing that she already knew all of this, but her lack of a reaction either told him that she already knew about that, or that she was not the one to have as big of a reaction as Han himself. Either way, it was terrifying. And if she just opened her mouth and flickered her lips, the whole conversation would turn and he would lose.

“Well… I thought you were someone else.”

“Someone else..? Grim?”

She nodded.

He could’ve pressed the point, but he felt that if he did, it would make him look bad. Besides, if she didn’t want to talk about it out of personal reasons and, or feelings, he wouldn’t press her on the issue.

“May I ask why you thought that I was your Grim?”

“Well, it's not like it will change fate but… I think you’ll find out soon enough.”

“What does that even mean?!”

“As I said, you’ll see.”

“Hmm…”

And so, the first agreement came over the fighters, ending the first battle without a clear winner.

Cloud acted strange and he knew that something wasn’t right, so, he tried asking her about it.

“Have you used it yet?”

“What?”

The question hadn’t come from his lips but from hers.

She had out of nowhere, asked him a question that he didn’t understand.

“What do you mean?”

“I guessed so, after all, I haven’t seen you here before…”

“Yeah, I just arrived?”

Something felt strange in her tone of voice, she wasn’t asking but concluding something. That he hadn’t been there before felt obvious.

“Well. How about this? What is that strange power of yours?”

“My dupi? It’s short for a duplicate.”

“Yeah, but what does it do?”

“Eheh… to put simply… I can duplicate myself.”

“Say what now?! Well, that makes sense since you called it ‘dupi’.”

“Hehe, thank you. It is essentially the ability to create another version of yourself by pouring a certain emotion into the clone. I just have to go through a ritual where my whole body is visible, then I summon clouds around me that can form a relatively similar person.”

“Oh… So that’s it huh… strange. Wait, the whole body is visible. you don’t mean, you-!”

“Not necessarily no, not if I don’t want to have clones with clothes that are removable.”

As Cloud explained her ability, an ability to clone your body and fuse a part of your soul inside it using clouds, Hans's dirty mind assumed something that Cloud denied quickly and embarrassed. Even so, he wondered how many clones she could create.

“What is the maximum amount of clones you can make?”

“What are you thinking?”

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Sigh. I don’t know, never tried it. A hundred maybe?”

“A hundred…A one-man army huh?”

“Yeah, pretty much, but I use them to help me in the library.”

Cloud's ability was something unheard of. She had an ability, did that mean that he also had one?

“Eeh, what are you doing?”

“Trying- to duplicate-!”

“I don’t think clenching your thumbs together and tense yourself is going to make something happen.”

“Really-? Damn it.”

"Abilities are unique, y'know? I'm pretty much the only one with my ability."

He stopped clenching his thumbs and straightened his back.

Maybe it had been strange for him to do such, but wanting a cool ability like her cloning ability would be great.

“Do I have some kind of ability?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“For real?!”

“Yeah, I mean, all who enter this world of those who do not exist have a wish.”

“A wish?”

“Yeah, and that wish gives them an ability, like for certain, you wished to fly, then you’ll be able to.”

“Wow! That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, but nobody who enters will know what their wish was nor what their ability is.”

“That’s- fine, I guess.”

His ability was hidden from him, and he did not know what his wish had been before entering that world.

All he could do was ask.

“Where was I before coming to this world?”

“...”

Cloud didn’t answer and just looked at him strangely. The pressure coming from her downward gaze made him feel tense and he shrugged his shoulders.

He felt a sense of unease until she smiled again.

“I wouldn’t know, I don’t remember either…”

“Oh, haha, of course…”

An awkward silence spread across the room until they could hear something coming walking toward them, a black cat.

“Ooh, so you are back, Meno?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ya missed meh?”

“You don’t look half as good as before.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, Grayie?!”

The black cat that they previously heard crashing a bookshelf, had come back with his fur all messed up.

“I expected you to say something like If ya are not careful, I might just spew up a hairball in ya shoe, gray boy. ”

“Thanks for yar idea, monochrome man, I will make sure to do that next time, don’t worry.”

“Now I am worried!”

“Hah, ya should be.”

Cloud laughed at them both and gave off a smile.

“Will you two stop for a second? We have tea to drink!”

She poured the tea from the tea can on top of the table into the cups on it, the only problem is, that they were already full.

“Whoops-!”

“And I’m worried no more. You sure don’t bear any hostility to me despite me being some rando who showed up at your doorstep and acted rude to you all the time.”

He criticized his previous actions toward them both to try and not make them hate him, something his mind was slowly making up.

“Who said I don’t bear any hostility towards ya, heh?”

“I simply am just a lonely gal.”

“I’m surprised you two get along so well.”

“We don’t.”

“Yeah, yeah, got it.”

The two of them could not be considered as owner and pet despite Cloud's heartwarming attitude towards Meno. It seemed both of them agreed on one thing and that was that they didn’t get along that well. He didn't know anything about their lives outside of how they acted around guests, so he couldn't tell.

Han thought this was strange since Cloud had told Meno that he would get the library when she died, and he thought of it as a gift meant for him up till now until he realized that the possibility of no one else ever entering that library entered his mind.

In his eyes tho, they seemed to be very good friends despite their continued arguments for not being close at all.

He sighed as he spoke.

“So, Meno, what is your ability?”

“And why should I tell ya that?”

“I thought that was what this party was about,” Han said while Cloud held the reluctant Meno in her arms while drinking the tea they had entirely forgotten about.

“I’m not obligated to tell ya anything!”

“Yeah, I know, I was just wondering…”

“Oh shaddap! It’s not like you will get anywhere with this information anyways!”

“Meno!”

“Say what now?”

The cat scowled at him and chewed him out for not knowing what to do with the information gained from Cloud and Meno. It stung a little but Meno was right, what would he do with this information? And was there any other world outside of the gates of this one?

“Is there, like an exit here?”

“Yeah, what about it? Planning on leaving already?”

“No, or, if I can stay longer then I will. I don’t know where to go from here actually.”

The sad truth stung a little more. But it was true. He didn’t know where he was going after Clouds Library, and he didn’t know if he wanted to. All he knew was that he didn’t want to go back into The Gray Rooms again.

“...”

“Maybe you can go to the outside.”

“The outside?”

“Or- it isn’t an outside, but, this isn’t the only dimension in this world of wishes and dreams.”

“What do you mean?”

“The way out of here leads to another dimension, one called, The Gray Lands.”

“The Gray Lands..?”

The term Gray stuck with him.

If it was similar to The Gray Rooms in any way, shape, or form, he didn’t want to see it, or did he? If it was a way to a world where he could remember and where belonged, then...

“Damn it. What are The Gray Lands like?”

“What do you think?”

“...”

The thought of a place just like The Gray Rooms was terrifying to him. It felt worse after he had left those rooms, like an obsession growing, stronger and stronger by each day. He wanted to get back to those rooms, but he was terrified of what might happen to him if he went back there again.

"Is there anything else that I can do?"

"Well... I could offer you to stay here."

"What? Why would you..?"

"It's complicated."

"As I've already told you, I'm not in a hurry, so please continue."

"Well, uh... I'm kinda lonely."

"Lonely?"

"Yeah, exactly."

The girl in front of him looked down, seemingly embarrassed since her cheeks had reddened a little.

"Well. I don't mind staying here actually. But. I don't think I could." Han told her awkwardly.

"And why is that?" Cloud asked him.

"Because. I don't... belong here."

The words he told her were true. His grayness stood out in that room, in that world. He stood out like a red stain on a white carpet. He knew deep in his heart that he did not belong to this world, nor did he feel like he belonged there. On top of this, his yearning for returning to the world he had come from had gotten stronger, and since the opportunity to turn back was present at all times, he couldn't make himself stay in this world either.

"..."

"I'm sorry if I offended you, but this world isn't my own, and somewhere deep inside me, I am begging to go back."

"I can't blame you. Everyone has felt homesickness at some point."

He gave her a strained smile and sighed.

"I do not know how to continue without crossing The Gray Lands, so are there any books in this library that could help me with that?"

This was his only hope.

If gray was a color that he felt drawn to obsessively, then he should probably get away from it as fast as possible.

"Well then. If you don't have any more questions, I suppose it would be alright for you to take a look at the Library of clouds. Beware tho, if you meet me in there, try not to do anything stupid."

"Stupid is my first name ma'am."

"Sure it is."

She took a sip out of her tea, and Han, who had forgotten his own, quickly drank it all up, thinking it would be cool by now. But to his shock, it hadn't cooled down at all.

"Ouch! Ah-! Ah! Hot! Hooot!"

He yelped and jumped around, trying to somehow get the burning feeling of his tongue, which, of course, was impossible.

Meanwhile, Cloud laughed at him and a snort even came from Meno, laying in a ball on her lap.

"Here, here, I'll fix it..."

"Thank you- Wha-! Blublubl-!"

Cold water was sprayed into his mouth, making it impossible for him to breathe.

He gasped for air and jumped aside, throwing up water on the floor.

"What the heck, Cloud!?"

"I thought you burnt your tongue?"

"And I did! Ouch!"

He petted his exhausted tongue.

First, he had burnt himself on it and then he had his mouth filled with water.

"By the way, how did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Spraying water into my mouth! Jeez, haven't we had this conversation before?!"

"Ooh, that's simple, I used the art of dreams."

"The art of what?"

The strange term wasn't something he had heard of before, and so, he felt it was weird of her to mention it. Was there already some kind of magic in that world that allowed people to control their dreams or what?

"Dreams, imagining. Since this is my domain, I could practically do anything I want to."

"Your, domain?"

"Yep, you have to have a great source of knowledge to know how to find and moderate a world like this."

"Uhuh?"

"This is my domain, and The Gray Rooms is yours, and The Gray Lands belong to an individual called The Inheritor."

Domains were also something new. A domain wasn't something he had heard of before either, but The Gray Rooms was something he knew about. This was because it was his own. It felt strange to him that there existed so many different places, bound by, dreams. And she had mensioned the master of the three domains that he had heard of. This library was hers, and The Gray Rooms were apparently his, but more importantly, The Gray Lands she had mensioned, which he had thought of as dangerous, were owned by a guy called, The Inheritor, an individual he hadn't heard about.

"The Inheritor? Who is that?"

"A strange guy, and a dangerous one at that. He is an odd guy."

"I see. Have you met him before?"

"Yeah, since we are pretty much neighbors when I am in my dreamstate in my mindroom, I sometimes see him in the distance."

Dreamstate? Mindroom? What was she even talking about? He felt a strange feeling that she hadn't explained everything to him. Maybe this was for the better. But he wanted to know more, and now he felt more curious about The Gray Lands, her neighboring domain. And its owner, The Inheritor.

"The Inheritor, huh? Not someone you should mess with, I'm guessing?"

"Mhm..."

This Inheritor individual seemed like someone of high power that was comparable to Clouds herself.

Even tho Cloud was the only person he had met in that world, he could tell that she was one of the stronger, and when she had mentioned The Inheritor, she had talked in a tone similar to that of respect. Who was this guy? He wanted to know.

"May I?" He gestured toward the rows upon rows of bookshelves with tens of thousands of books in them.

"I dare you." She said with a smile that was hiding something more than curiosity, it held a desire, a desire for someone else to read the books in her library. A Library of Clouds.

He nodded and turned toward the library of infinite knowledge.

If he wanted to know the answer to a question, it would be there. So this, was what he was going to do.

"Let's go!"