It was done. It had taken almost ten more years to finish and to find a suitable place, but it was finally done. Kate sat in the sand inside her rather sizable grotto, the ceiling carefully covered in an uncountable number of Noxite pebbles. The head librarian was looking up at the stars in a cave just a few hundred metres behind her house in Hell.

She turned to look at the new arrival. Apollyon had come down here, just as requested, before any of the other guests. The celebration on this day wasn’t just to enjoy the newly finished grotto, it was also Kate’s fifteenth anniversary as a demon.

“Do you like it?”

Apollyon took a deep breath as she looked at the constellations above her head. “It is beautiful. Is it how you imagined?”

“It’s even better.”

“Then I love it.” The old devil followed the lanterns dimly lighting up the sand.

“I’m glad you approve. Is everyone coming?”

Apollyon nodded. “Yes, they all confirmed that they will arrive within the hour.”

“It felt weird letting you handle the invitations for my party, but hey, it gave me enough time for this.” Kate gestured over to a little beach bar.

“Lovely. I take it that is why you asked for Uttu?”

“Yes, her drinks are still the best.”

“They definitely are. Do you need any help with other preparations?”

“No, I just told you to come early so you could be the first to see this place.”

“Besides Lizzy.”

“Yes, besides Lizzy. You are the first who didn’t work on this grotto to see it.”

“You both did great work.”

“Thank you. That means a lot.”

Apollyon sat down in the sand. “I was always fond of the stars.”

“The best thing we don’t have in Hell…”

"Until now."

Kate nodded and smiled. "Until now."

In time, the other guests began to arrive. Uttu and Fury set up their drinks and delicious food just as Lizzy arrived with Kate’s parents to enjoy the treats.

“Oh wow!” Amelia stopped to take in the starry ceiling. “So, this is what you were working on?”

Kate nodded. “With Lizzy, yes. Polly and many others helped gather the little rocks it’s made of.”

“Now you have the stars in Hell. Incredible.”

“It’s amazing to see finished. How have you been anyway?”

“We’ve been well. Michael actually planted some veggies a few weeks ago, finally making some use of that massive garden.”

“Sounds like retirement is treating you both well.”

“Still getting used to not having to travel, but life is good.”

“Very good. What about you, dad?”

Michael just nodded slowly. “Yes, life is good. I finally get to do all the things I always found excuses to not do. You know, like the garden. It’s great. This is what your life is like, isn’t it?”

“I have duties at the library, but yes, that’s what my life is like. I just get to do whatever makes my life better.”

“Such a good life. I’m almost jealous that you got to do that right from the start, but I will settle for watching our daughters enjoy every part of life while we try the same now. Not that I let Lizzy do any gardening even if she wanted to. That part of life is mine.” He laughed.

“It sure is.”

“And I wouldn’t want to interrupt your fun outside.” Lizzy interjected. “I want to rebuild the garden in Hell one day, but until then it’s yours. It’s not my place to interfere with that.”

“I might need your help with the big bushes later this month though.” Michael put on a fake frown.

“You know what I meant.” Lizzy grinned. “Is the bar open already?”

Kate nodded and gestured towards Uttu. With her family moving on, the next arrivals got time to greet the head librarian. Sarah, now a very beautiful Kasha, a cat like demon, led Dorian and Oliver into the grotto.

“Good to see you three!” Kate hugged them all one by one.

“It’s good to be here.” Oliver looked around. “Impressive.”

“Thank you!”

“I recognize these stars.” Dorian was visiting Hell for the first time this weekend. Kate had shown him around the usual landmarks already before handing him over to Sarah to get some time to finish party preparations.

Kate nodded. “The sky as seen from the library.”

“How does that work? Is the library like an important connection point?”

“It is. You see, the material the fake sky is made off is called Noxite, usually comes in tiny pebbles. It’s a strange mineral… created in Hell but not Hell material. Whenever a pollutant from one world enters another where it doesn’t also exist natively, that world reacts to it. Hell makes Noxite to contain pollution from the border world. The thing about the library is that it was the first major point of permanent contact, the first source of pollution in both directions. Most unwanted stuff went through the library one way or another.”

“For something with a troublesome source, it’s really pretty.”

“I’m glad you approve.”

“Well, we should talk more later. There is a line forming.” Dorian chuckled.

“Right. Sarah, make sure our two humans don’t accidently eat anything bad, alright?”

Sarah nodded. “Human certified only, no worries.”

“Good.”

As Dorian and Sarah made their way towards the beach, Oliver didn’t follow them.

“Kate, there is one thing I need to talk to you about before the party starts, before I get sidetracked by all the fun stuff.”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Remember that offer you made me all those years ago?”

“To turn you?”

“Yes. Does that still stand?”

“Absolutely! I take it you reconsidered?”

“I have. I have spent so many nights thinking about everything, about who I am and what I am and if I could be, well, Olivia. Ten years is a long time to think but I have finally got my mind in order and am sure of everything now. I am ready to accept.”

“That’s a surprise and a half. When do you want to be turned?”

“Give me a few days, just to let it sink in that this isn’t just a thing keeping me up a night but reality.”

“Have you told your family?”

“Yes. They don’t know any details, but I told them that I am taking a few weeks to figure everything out and maybe I will return different. They were all really accepting.”

“That’s good. Let’s talk details later, alright? Dorian is right, there is a line forming.”

Kate’s old friend chuckled. “There is indeed. Alright, talk to you about all this later then. For now, we have fun!”

Kate moved on to greet the rest of her friend, everyone she had become close to. Watching everyone talk, enjoy the amazing food and drinks and point out fun constellations in the sky above filled her with immense joy.

Lucifer had gotten into a fascinating discussion about the meaning cultures give to the stars with Dorian and Amaterasu. Watching him accept the demons so readily after the original turmoil warmed Kate’s heart.

Oliver had found company in Jolene, having a great time solving the riddles she posed as a game. It had become somewhat of a hobby for the eldritch entity to create riddles for those bound to reality to solve. She found it quite entertaining.

Sariel and Yumi had snuggle together in the sand watching Sarah fight her new cat-like aversion to getting wet while Lilith and Naamah tried to tempt the young demon into the warm water. The two justiciars had gotten quite close over the past years. Yumi had managed to get Sariel to truly open up to others, something Kate had only managed to nudge towards.

The fae, clad in bronze armour, was inspecting the drinks as Uttu and Eisheth tried their best to describe them to the ancient visitor who had no concept of taste. Even to this day no one had seen a fae outside their armour, but this specific one had become a regular at the library and promised to reveal the truth one day. They were actually quite nice and very eager to learn. Over the years, they even grew to enjoy human humour, especially a good pun.

High inquisitor Azazel had managed to convince now RICA agent, formerly detective chief inspector, Rebecca Hodgins to accept the invitation too. She and superintendent Clementine had become the two humans who worked the closest with the librarians. This was the first time both of them had been allowed into Hell and they loved it. Right now, Fury and Azazel were showing them the wonders of demonic cuisine.

Over in the water, Evelyn was gently floating along with Mochi and Sera. The two Hell cats didn’t seem too bothered by getting their fur wet. Rin on the one hand decided to stay dry and make sure everyone was having ample opportunity to pet a Hell cat. Missy on the other hand didn’t offer herself to everyone, she stuck to snatching up leftovers for a quick snack. Much to the amusement of Phea and Saliria who had to carefully step over the large cat and her spoils to get to Fury’s barbeque.

Missy’s humans, Laura and Monica, had been enthralled by War. The old Fomorian was telling them tales from her past, some more colourful than others.

Ara, the angel Pahaliah and Nirrti had found a nice spot where the small waves washed around them every so often. They weren’t really talking about anything or doing anything, they just enjoyed this moment. A moment of everyone getting along and having a good time. The hour of companionship.

Adelina sat down in the sand next to Kate with a drink in hand. The former vampire had fully transformed into a demon now, a new kind of demon Malice had a dubbed a Therion, capable of employing a rather unique style of blood-based magic.

“Looks like everyone is having fun.”

The young Nightmare nodded. “That’s all I had hoped for. What about you?”

“I decided to take Uttu's recommendation and try the Blue Leviathan.”

“Blue Leviathan?”

“This wonderfully fruity long drink. It’s great, you should get one too.”

“I will.”

“Kate, I need your opinion.”

“Always.”

“So, the book I’ve been writing for the past fifteen years is done now and it needs a title.”

“Okay, what did you have in mind?”

Adelina shrugged. “I thought about splitting it into three parts, it’s a bit long otherwise.”

“Okay, that doesn’t help with the title though.”

“It doesn’t, does it?”

“What’s it about?”

“Well, there is this young woman who is just entering university. She stumbles upon this library right at the start and gets involved with the mystical stuff going on there. Turns out the librarians are actually demons! Over time she gets more and more involved in everything and befriends more of the demons, integrating more into their culture as the book progresses. The rest is spoilers.”

Kate couldn’t help but giggle. “Such an outlandish plot, that could never happen.”

“I know right?” Adelina smirked.

“How about you call it something simple, like… uhm… The Library?”

“The Library. Yes, that could work. Thank you!”

“Always a pleasure.”

“I will see about having it published the moment we get back to the border world. Now, I need to spread the good word about the Blue Leviathan.”

“Please do, and I will get one for myself.”

The two demons got up and went separate ways, Adelina approaching Lizzy and Kate’s parents who were cooing over one of the crystal lanterns lighting the sand with two young demons the head librarian had befriended more recently, and Kate making her way to the beach bar.

Having procured her Blue Leviathan, the young Nightmare wandered along the edge of the water, letting it splash around her hooves.

Eventually, she bumped into Apollyon who stood near the edge of the grotto looking up at the stars.

“Hey Polly.”

“Kate. Are you having fun?”

“Loads! I’m not sure about you though. Why not mingle with the others?”

“I did.” Apollyon turned to face her friend. “I just needed a moment for myself. A moment to think.”

“Oh, I can go back to the others if you want.”

“No, please stay.”

“Alright. What did you need think about?”

“Ara said things about how we are remembered, how not just people remember us but worlds do too. I have left a scar on this world that will never truly heal and I will leave more on other worlds. That will be my legacy. But you, you are the Librarian. Unless things turn out really bad, which I do not believe, the library will remain until there are no more works to be written or read in the border world. Even then, it will move here. You will always be remembered as the first head librarian, someone good, not a destroyer of worlds.”

Kate nudged her friend gently. “As head librarian, I will make sure you are remembered as my right hand. That does sound a lot better than the Destroyer, doesn’t it? The one who recruited the first head librarian. I am sure history will remember that.”

Apollyon smiled. “The head librarians egg mate. Yes, history will remember that. Maybe you are right and history will remember the positive in the end. Maybe Ara is right and it doesn’t really matter. For now, I am not the Destroyer, I am a librarian. When the time comes to leave more scars, I will do so knowing that they are not what define me in the eyes of my friends. What others think, I don’t care about. Let’s head back to the party, this is your celebration after all. Let’s celebrate fifteen years of having found my closest friend and egg mate.”

“Alright, let’s have some fun.”

“And some snacks. I saw Fury prepare some of those marinaded hink skewers.”

“Consider me convinced and hungry.”

Together, Kate and Apollyon returned to the party. There was fun and food to be had and neither of the two wanted to miss out on that. Jolene had been right all those years ago. Kate did thoroughly enjoy the hour of companionship, just as she would enjoy the uncountable hours to come. Eternity awaited her and her friends, and she was eager to face it together with all those she loved.