Riley O'Leary is currently panicking for a multitude of reasons. The first is that she's currently stuck tip-toeing on the very edge of a bookshelf to stop herself from standing on the library books. The second is that she's trying her best to keep her balance so she can stop herself from falling off the bookshelf and into the great abyss beneath her. The third is that the library is currently vertical. 

That's right, the library is currently vertical.

"W-W-What is this?!" Riley yells, almost tripping over but managing to balance herself. She had been looking for her friend in the library, the two having planned to study together, when her infamous lack of direction led to her ending up in the area colloquially known as the Deep Bookshelves. "Why is it sideways?!"

The Deep Bookshelves aren't often visited, even by student librarians. The books found here are niche, the silence is foreboding, and most damning, the environment is prone to anomalous spatial reorganisation. That is to say, the Deep Bookshelves often don't follow the logic of reality.

"I really wish I could float like Willow now." Riley mutters, making the big mistake of looking down. The library's endless nature is typically daunting when walking through it, but now? Absolutely petrifying. Then it gets worse, as the books above her all start to obey the law of gravity. "H-Hah?!"

Riley easily dodges the books falling towards her, thanks to being on the edge. In fact, she goes the extra mile of catching some of the books and gently putting them down as she jumps around. But a loud thump from above shakes her for a moment.

"What was that?!" Riley moves to the edge of the bookshelf to look up, seeing a few books falling to the void. Then she hears another large thump, followed by another, and then another. At this moment, Riley realises it sounds like two large pieces of wood slamming against each other. She also realises that she's standing on basically a large piece of wood. 'Oh… oh no! They're falling onto each other!"

Riley jumps across to the other bookshelf but comes up short, only managing to hang on to the edge with her hands. Left dangling, she's left with no choice but to look down, only to see the bookshelf directly under her about to start falling. She then starts looking for any other out.

"Is… is that Margaret?" Riley squints, noticing a classmate of hers walking up the floor-turned-wall, defying gravity. She swallows some of her fear, saying an internal prayer, before yelling to the girl below. "Margaret! Catch me!"

The girl in question complies, catching the falling Riley with ease. She's glad at finally finding some relatively stable ground, only to be promptly informed by Margaret of terrible news.

"Greetings, Riley. I am afraid to inform you that I'm only able to support my own weight with gravity magic." Margaret monotonously says as she pulls out a book. Riley is about to panic, seeing her classmate carrying her with just one arm, only to process exactly what was said to her.

"Wait, wait, wait… AHHH!!!!" Riley feels the two of them start falling. She looks towards the bookshelves, hoping to grab onto them, only to find them all having already fallen down like dominoes. She then turns to Margaret, hoping she's attempting something, only to find the bookworm in the middle of reading the book she pulled out. "Margaret! What are you doing?!"

"Reading." Margaret flips a page as Riley's panic heightens. It's gotten so bad that Riley has manifested her Gift, placing her within the spirit layer of the world. Her head is also now a pumpkin, but that offers no tactical advantage. What it does give her an advantage in is that she's now incorporeal, allowing her to avoid the danger of everything above her.

"Margaret! W-What are we going to do?!" Riley pleads, yet hears no response to her troubles. She has to resort to relying on herself. Unfortunately for her, the moment she tries to grab a nearby book, hoping to see if it's magical or something, her hand phases through it. "I forgot! My Gift!"

"Do not worry, Riley O'Leary. The regulars of the library like the Deep Bookshelves. One such example is currently above us. She has flight abilities" Margaret pockets her book, looking upwards. Riley does the same, seeing nobody. There is, however, a cat with bat wings. A cat with bat wings that's pathetically flailing its tiny legs around, clearly panicked as much as Riley. 

As soon as it makes eye contact with the girls below it, however, this suddenly changes. Acting as if it wasn't flailing about, it tucks its wings and dive bombs towards the girls. Once it makes it, it flaps its wings before suddenly turning into a senior of the girls, grinning as she falls between the two.

"Hey there. Falling for me?" Mila jokes, flashing an eyebrow towards Riley. Unfortunately for the flirt, neither girl is interested. One has taken out a different book to read, and the other one is still panicking internally and externally. "Fine, fine. I'll stop playing. Try not to puke."

Mila, with the help of her wings, floats over to Margaret and wraps her arm around her. With the unbothered Margaret secured, Mila then moves over to Riley, only to find an obstacle. Riley's Gift is still active, which Mila confirms by swiping left and right through, which makes the incorporeal girl further panic, ensuring her Gift remains manifested.

This panic worsens as the 'ground' comes into full view, the trio of girls plummeting straight at it. At this point, Riley decides it's far safer to remain incorporeal and to simply go through the floor. Naturally, she'll be doing this with her eyes closed. Just because she can't get hurt doesn't mean she's suddenly bereft of fear. And so, Riley braces for the impact that won't come. 

Then she waits for a few minutes.

And once she's sure she's safe and no longer falling, she opens her eyes. But instead of finding herself outside of the library, lying face down on the hallway floor as her Gift deactivates, she finds herself uncharacteristically floating. She's in some sort of interdimensional space, where it's all black beyond the horizon. 

The only thing she can spot is a door, one she thinks goes to the library, and one other person. This other person is simply standing there, back turned to Riley, admiring the endless abyss. Then, as if knowing Riley's there, the figure lifts both hands, revealing them to have a mysterious floating ball in one and, in the other, a voice recorder, which they press play on.

"Foreshadowing is a literary devi-" 

Unfortunately for the figure, Riley swiftly swims through the air, reappearing back in the library, which has returned back to its normal orientation. Lying down on the floor, Riley catches her breath and deactivates her Gift, just in time, as her friend has come over to check on the shaken girl.

"Are you… okay?" Willow asks, only to receive no answer from the pumpkin head.

All in all, a perfectly normal day in Eidolon Academy.

pojlk

Hey there, it's the guy who really likes turning the Kraken into a cute girl, pojlk here. First up, the character profiles:

Students of Eidolon Academy
Riley O'Leary
Margaret Cross

I'm gonna be honest, I couldn't be bothered to do a character story. Admittedly, the character stories are a thing I struggle with, if only because my dumb ass didn't plan out any character, and a character story requires a character to be a… well, character. However, I do have an alternative thing, although this will be a one-off.

Margaret here is actually special, in that she's one of roughly ten characters who did exist before Eidolon Academy proper, since I do have three discarded drafts. I'm going to share the draft that Margaret was in, since that one was actually intended to be the first chapter. Now, I probably could've reused it for an actual chapter or as a character story for Mephista, but I'm too lazy to. Anyways, here's the draft, which is titled Shake My Hand, Faust. Oh, and just to make sure, it's not canon whatsoever.

By the way, one of the other drafts was the second chapter that'd be a follow-up to Shake My Hand, Faust, that took place in the library. You want to know who'd be the focus character for that chapter? Riley O'Leary. In fact, that draft shared the same name as this chapter. Unfortunately, the draft literally only has a single paragraph which only described Riley panicking, so there's no reason to share it.

Anywho, that's all I've got to say, so see y'all later.