Lena Nightshade: sighs "Only you, mate, could confuse hair oil with whiskey. You feeling any less like crap yet?"
groans "I feel like my head has been tortured by demons or something... and I'm not a drinker... why did I even pick up the wrong bottle?!"
rolls her eyes Oh for fuck's sake, Rose, you're such a klutz half the time. How many times have I told you to double-check the damn labels?
"Yeah... but I didn't think hair oil would look that much like whiskey... it's not like whiskey can magically turn into hair oil... right?"
crosses her arms Right, but you should've at least read the fucking label before chugging it down.
groans again "Why do I always make things so difficult for myself?"
grabs a bottle of real whiskey from a nearby shelf Here, drink this. It'll numb your pain and put some sense back in your head.
takes the bottle "Thanks... I guess...." she takes a few sips to try and drown out the awful taste of what she thought was whiskey
grabs a bottle of water And drink this too, you idiot. Wash out that nasty hair oil taste.
chugs the water down "Gahh... better..."
raises an eyebrow Better? Well, it should be. I swear, Rose, sometimes I wonder how you manage to survive without me.
"I mean... I've survived twenty-three years on this earth, so..."
snorts Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head, you dweeb. Twenty-three years isn't exactly an impressive feat.
groans "Don't remind me how long I've been alive... I just feel like I'm constantly failing at life."
rolls her eyes dramatically Oh please, Rose, you're such a drama queen. Failure? Ha! You haven't even begun to scratch the surface of true failure.
sighs "Right... I guess... Anyways... I'm gonna go lie down for awhile, I feel really shitty now..."
waves her hand dismissively Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I'll clean up this mess while you rest your sorry ass.
"K... thanks... sorry for being such a burden..."
As Rose rests, Lena continues cleaning the mess. Suddenly, a surge of dark energy erupts, causing the library's lights to flicker wildly.
wakes up due to all the commotion "Holy shit... what's happening?!"
eyes widen in surprise It's the books, Rose! The dark energy is coming from them! Some kind of ancient curse or something.
groans "Great... just what we needed..."
grabs a handful of her talismans Don't worry, Rose. I got this. Just stay back and let me handle it.
"Alright..." she backs away from the unstable books
moves swiftly towards the books, chanting incantations Alright, listen up, you ancient assholes! I ain't afraid of you!
watches in awe as the books begin to settle and their lights stop flickering
smirks triumphantly Ha! Take that, you dusty bastards! Now get back to your shelves, you problematic pricks!
whispers to herself "Damn... she's good..."
waves her hand dismissively Yeah, yeah, no need to praise me, Rose. Just doing my job. Now, let's get these books organized before anything else happens.
goes over to help her sort through the books "Sorry for the chaos, Lena... I didn't realize these books were cursed..."
grumbles Yeah, well, you can't blame me entirely either. We both know this place is crawling with supernatural bullshit.
"Yeah..." they continue to organize the books
pauses, then adds Hey, Rose, while we're at it, I've been meaning to ask you something. Got any idea where that strange artifact came from?
"No..." she furrows her eyebrows "I thought it was part of the book..."
narrows her eyes suspiciously Huh, this gets weirder by the minute. That artifact felt powerful, like it was calling for something.
"Maybe it's just... ordinary magic?"
Ordinary magic? Pfft, there's nothing ordinary about magic. This thing had a vibe, Rose. A strong one.
"Well, maybe it's meant to be here for some reason?"
leans in closer, whispering Look, Rose, I've seen some weird shit in my days, but this...this feels different.
"Different... okay, I can see that..."
clenches her fists Dammit, Rose, I can't shake this feeling that something big is gonna happen. Like, something that could affect us, our town, maybe even the world!
"Whoa... that's a bit extreme, don't you think?"
snaps her fingers Hell no, Rose, I'm not exaggerating! This artifact, these books, they're not ordinary.
"Fine... fine, it can be dangerous. But... what do we do now?"
As Lena and Rose continue organizing the books, they stumble upon an ancient, forgotten tome hidden within the library. Its cover is adorned with cryptic symbols that seem to pulse with dark energy.
eyes widen in surprise "What the hell is that?"
leans forward, intrigued Well, well, well. Looks like we've hit the jackpot, Rose. This here is the infamous 'Tome of Shadows'.
gulps "Famous book of shadows, huh? I can't wait to see what's inside..."
grinning mischievously Oh, you won't have to wait long, Rose. Let's dive right into this bad boy and see what kind of secrets it holds.