The Archive looks as it always does, old and magical. At least that is what it looked like before I had powers, and it does still look like that. But now it looks more. I can't describe it really, the Archive just looks more.

Walking to the front door and placing my hand on the door handle, a jolt of...something...rushed through me. It doesn't hurt, quite the opposite actually. It feels comforting, healing even. And as I'm walking in, I can feel the magic in the building reach for me. But it feels alive, and like it wants to… hug me. The Archive itself wants to wrap me in arms it doesn't have and push away all pain and discomfort. It causes my eyes to water, but I fight the urge for them to turn into full tears.

Taking a steadying breath, I walk fully inside and head towards the desk, knowing that one of the twins will be there.

Doris and Deloris are twin sisters that have been running the Archive for decades. When they first started, it was still the main, and only, library in town. They get around well on their own. Even though they are in their late 70s, they are in excellent health. They are also soulmates, with a familial bond. They once explained it to me, after Lillith and Mac discovered they were soulmates.

Many soulmates and types of soulmates exist in the world. The bond is unique to each set. I use the word set because soulmates can be more than two people. Honestly, we are pretty sure that Rosemarie is also Lillith's soulmate, but a familial and platonic one. While Lillith and Mac have a romantic bond. It would literally cause Lillith pain to choose between her sister and Mac. But Mac and Rosemarie don't have a bond. They've told me it is easier to feel the bond when you can tap into magic. Some who have no access to magic, or develop a connection to magic, may have soulmates. They just don't really feel the connection. With people connected to magic, they've told me it feels like a tangible thing. A literal thread connects them together.

I have little doubt that I have a soulmate, or multiple soulmates, but until now I've never had access to magic to feel a bond.

What if...What if what I felt from Devlin earlier... No, nope, he couldn't be my soulmate? He had me killed. Soulmates can't harm each other without causing themselves pain. Though he died right after me, and we'd never come into contact with each other.

Shaking my head, I stop that train of thought, because it feels impossible. 

No one is sitting at the desk, so glancing around I still don't see anyone. Neither of the twins are around. Which is strange, but not unheard of.

"Hello, Ms. Doris, Ms. Deloris?" I ask, raising my voice just enough for it to carry throughout the building. 

It takes only about a minute before I see both of the sisters headed for the desk. Two heads of curly white hair, one long and the other cut short. They wear matching outfits, one in blue while the other wears green.

"Hello sweetheart," Deloris says in greeting.

"How are you doing today?" Doris asks, moving around the counter to set down a ledger of some sort.

I take a breath and think over the last twenty-four hours and the feeling of safety that the Archive gives me. And suddenly tears are rolling down my face. Rapidly blinking so that my vision doesn't blur from the tears.

I accepted a handkerchief that someone offered me and wiped away my tears. The hand stitched ivory that I can make out on the edge tells me that Deloris is the one who handed it to me. 

The sisters guide me to a chair so that I can sit down. The comfort they offer does little to stop the tears from falling, but it helps soothe the pain I am feeling enough that I can speak.

It doesn't take long before words are falling from my mouth, about the next few months, my death, meeting Death, and what has happened since this morning.

After what feels like minutes, which glancing at the clock tells me is actually over an hour, I stop speaking and the tears have mostly stopped. Occasionally, one slips down my face, but it isn't enough to blur my vision anymore.

"Well, that is a lot for one so young to deal with," Doris says, taking my hand.

"And a heavy burden," Deloris adds, resting her hand on my shoulder.

"We might, be able to help with a few things. Like not having to couch serf, and help to get you a more stable source of income. And I believe the Archive will agree," Doris says.

I blink at her a few times, tilting my head in confusion before asking, "The Archive will agree?"

Deloris and Doris both smile at me and chuckle a little.

"The Archive is more than a building, and the things inside it." Deloris says, looking around.

"You feel it, don't you?" Doris asks, with a knowing look.

"Not before, but now...It's like it has a pulse and its own magic. I can feel its magic pressing against me, like it is trying to… to hug me." I whisper, closing my eyes and letting myself feel the magic pressing against me.

When I open my eyes, both sisters are smiling at me with knowing looks. They look at each other and then nod, turning back to look at me.

"Its time," Doris says, standing and heading towards the office.

I turn my head to look at Deloris, my face confused.

"She has to get the key. Come now," Deloris says, standing up.

She looks at me expectantly so, I hurriedly stand. When I move to grab my bag, she waves her hand, the regularly recognized sign for 'leave it'. So I shrug and follow her.

We are soon joined by Doris once more, and the sisters lead me towards the magical section of the archive, where people can check out magical books. But we walk on through the section towards the back. We stop in front of an ornate door, that Doris uses the key she'd just retrieved on. The carvings on the door glow slightly, before I hear the subtly click of the lock unlocking.

"You know of the Archive in the traditional sense, sweetheart." Deloris says.

"As a place of learning and preserving texts and documents." Doris says.

"But the Archive is a bit more than that," Deloris says.

Doris opens the door and they lead me into what I once thought was a storage area, but is definitely not. It is like stepping into another place entirely.

"Welcome to the Order of the White Raven," the sisters say together.