I tilt my head.

[So, to clarify, you kill a tree, chop it up into really tiny bits, soak it in the blood of other types of trees, mash it all together, and then... bury a tree in it?]

Baby makes a small noise. "Huh. I guess I never thought of mulch like that before."

I shake my head. [You humans are so strange.]

He grins slightly. "Every single one of us, yeah."

I look upwards from the tree we're examining to the imposing building it's planted in front of. It's made of white marble, with large pillars on a large porch, with stairs leading up to it and a shallow roof.

[What's taking Joule so long?]

Baby shrugs. "I don't know, but she told us to wait outside."

I can only take so much before I get bored of looking at the weirdness of human 'innovation', as Dylan calls it.

[I'm going in. Are you coming or not?]

He doesn't hesitate. "Of course."

Walking up the stairs, I push through the doors, and a book flies past me the instant I do.

It's chaos inside, of course.

Joule is coiled on a massive pile of books, reading through them in an instant and tossing it aside. Some of the ones she finishes, she hurls at the group of distressed janitors trying to calm her down. Her expression can only be described as manic.

[Joule? What's going on?]

She turns toward me with a disturbing grin. "Null! I've been reading SO MUCH!"

"ILLEGALLY!" one of the janitors shout at her, and she pitches a book at him without looking. It nails him in the forehead, and he passes out.

"They keep telling me that I have to have a membership to read this, but they're all right here! On display! Asking to be read!"

One of the janitors, stacking books in his arms, shouts back irritably, "Books can't talk! Therefore they cannot 'ask' to be read!"

Joule waves him away and leans in. "Okay, but seriously, Null! I've learned so much about the world, and attacks, and spells and grimoires and mana and-"

I cut her off. [Just - stop there. We have to get going, all right?]

She frowns. "Fine. When do we leave?"

[Now.]

Joule jumps back, her lower half crawling agitatedly. "What? But-"

[NOW. You've read a lot of books, so that'll have to be enough.]

Noah pops into existence, sees me, and grins. "Hey, Null! Long time no see! I'll be back soon - just gotta fight a guy named Angry Spider. Anyway, see ya!"

And he's gone.

Everyone stares at the spot he existed in, and I can see a lot of dropped jaws.

[Wait, what just happened?]

Joule looks just as confused as I am. "I... have no idea. What kind of a name is Angry Spider?"

[Why are you asking me?]

Baby walks in and whistles as he sees the pile. "Wow, Joule. You're a pretty serious bibliophile."

Joule's eyebrows shoot up her face. "That's a big word."

He smirks in response. "I'm smarter than I look."

I fill him in. [Noah just showed up and then disappeared. I have a bad feeling about it.]

He seems concerned. "Uhhh... yeah, that doesn't sound good. Every time he's come out of wherever he lives, it's always to hurt something, to make an impression, or to show off. So..."

Joule finishes for him. "Which is this?"