Archie the Architect

Spoiler:

Silence greeted the ears of Minerva as she simply sat at one of the workbenches in the library, clearing the studious mess left behind by one of the many visiting historians. He'd nearly dripped wax on an archived manuscript earlier, and she'd made sure he understood the gravity of what he had nearly accomplished. Ruining an old historical account would set research for every historian back by years. Of course, Minerva would most likely be able to remember what was underneath the document, but that would not have changed the fact that a first hand account was damaged and a secondary version had to be used.

She sighed audibly, folding several sheets of discarded notes up before slipping them into the fire. The lot of slobs needed to make a better habit of cleaning up after themselves. And if he lost notes, that was his fault. She had made it amply clear that anything he left behind was going to be disposed of after an hour, and the man had been gone for a full two. She shelved the collection of tomes the man had been using as his lost notes slowly turned to ash within the flames. The warmth slowly spread to her as she moved back towards the entrance to the archives.

The young woman had recently been moved her, and quickly was moved into the position of a runner, someone who knew the labyrinthine passages of the library well enough to guide any guest to the book or document they were looking for. She sat back in the chair, idly beginning to write to herself about some volumes on architecture she needed to bring out as a well dressed man in a wine colored robe slowly opened the door to the archive, a small pack on his back, and his face and hair neat and organized. Perhaps this man would clean up after himself she thought as the gent approached.

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[Word Count 323/1000]

Architius had always had a soft spot for the architecture of eras past, and he deeply believed that he had much to learn from the architects and designers that had come before him. Every structure in the city had a base in the architecture of it's predecessors, and there were many things he knew the others had forgotten. Of course, it was his hope that research would lead to adaptation of knew techniques and that the ideas borrowed from older architects would lead to a revival of sorts with regards to architecture, but as the man stood outside the library, he knew that getting ahead of himself would do no good. And with that thought, he pushed the door open and made his way inside.

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Minerva's expression was placid as the man approached the desk, asking where he could find documents on older architecture. Minerva rose from her seat, slipping a folded piece of paper between the pages of her book before beckoning the man to follow her. She'd about had it with the historians, and perhaps this man wasn't quite what she had hoped for in the next guest, but nonetheless she lead him on to the station he had requested. He spoke softly on the way there, and apprehensively, something that wasn't what Minerva had expected. She made idle conversation about the going-ons of Reim before showing the man to a table in a small alcove beneath the main floor. She gave him a smile, "The books around here should have most of what you're looking for, unless they're original documents. Those I would need to retrieve for you."

Architius laid his notes out carefully, each one lining up with another as he gently unfolded a book with neat, and orderly writing. His eyes scanned over the wall of books carefully, reading each one before pulling out a scant three. Each book was focused towards a specific subject, rather than a broad category, and Minerva's eyes caught that. "I have something that may interest you...Architius, wasn't it?" And with that, Minerva is gone within the library.

[Word Count 678/1000]