The Master of Dragons

Chapter 13

      Daniella woke up to Lotus shifting at her feet, her journal and pen slowly falling from her lap. She rubbed her eye with her free hand as she groaned inwardly that she had fallen asleep. She closed the journal and capped her pen before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She stretched her arms over her head as she yawned. Daniella walked over to the wardrobe and opened the door. She gazed at the clothes hanging in front of her, wondering what to wear. She flipped through the hanging clothes and noticed that they were all similar. She looked from her wardrobe to the dresser on the adjacent wall, her clothes from two days ago still folded on top. She took one more glance at the wardrobe before turning to the dresser and the clothes on top.

       After changing, she rubbed Lotus's head before grabbing her journal and pen and headed for the door. Lotus yawned and followed Daniella through the bedroom door and down the hall. The walk was quiet and short as they made it to the banquet hall, the table set for the two of them. Daniella covered her mouth as she yawned again, sitting down at her place at the table. Her grandmother appeared at the other end of the table, a look of confusion on her face at the sight before her.

"What happened, my granddaughter?" Lao Lao asked, floating over to Daniella's side.

"I woke up," Daniella asked, before yawning again.

"What is so wrong about waking up?" her grandmother asked.

"No caffeine that I know of."

"What is caffeine?" Lotus asked between bites.

"This magical ingredient that helps people wake up. And I haven't had any since I've been here. It takes a lot out of me when I don't have any," Daniella answered.

"But you were okay yesterday," Lotus said.

"It was a lot of excitement and changes. And it was only one day. I can go one day without coffee, but two days pushes it. Especially if I use my powers. It can be so draining," Daniella explained.

"So how do we get this coffee?" Lotus asked.

"I think there might be an old coffee machine somewhere in storage. It should work until you can find a new one for yourself. Your powers will drain you regardless of the coffee intake, however. It is just like building your muscles, you must build stamina. However, there will be some instances where you will still have to have a few days to rest while your powers regenerate," Lao Lao explained.

"Like when I fought the Overlord with my brother?" Daniella asked.

"Yes. Purging the Overlord from your father will do that. You did not have the stamina purge the Overlord and continue with life like nothing ever happened. But don't worry, you will gain the stamina that you need to have less naps," her grandmother answered.

"I mean, we don't have to get rid of the naps, do we?" Daniella asked with a smile. Her grandmother laughed.

"No, I guess we don't have to get rid of nap time."

      Daniella giggled as she finished the last of her breakfast. She wiped her mouth with her napkin before standing and following her grandmother down the hall to one of the storage rooms. Daniella opened the door and let out a gasp. Before her was a massive room that was filled with lines of shelves, stuffed to the brim with so many different things and inventions from previous tenants of the Library. Daniella took a moment to soak in the large quantity of things in the room.

"It should be in this room, but there are other rooms if we can't find it," her grandmother said, floating to one of the shelves.

"Other rooms? You mean that there are more rooms like these?" Daniella asked, her eyes widening.

"Of course, just like the journal rooms, there are many rooms for the things that the previous Purple Ninjas and their Dragon Guards left for other to use," Lao Lao explained, skimming the shelves.

      Daniella let her gaze fall to the ground when Dragon Guard was mentioned. She walked over to a nearby shelf and began to skim them for a coffee machine. She knew that if she focused on the task at hand, she would not have to deal with her thoughts. She browsed the entire shelf before turning to her grandmother, who had moved to another shelf.

"Is there any organization here? Like a list of what is where?" Daniella asked.

"Oh! The card catalogue! I forgot about it! Good idea Daniella!" her grandmother answered, floating over to a filing cabinet. Daniella walked over to her grandmother, a confused look on her face.

"What is a card catalogue?" Daniella asked.

"Here – what?" her grandmother asked, turning to her granddaughter.

"What is a card catalogue?" Daniella asked again, blinking innocently.

"You don't know what a card catalogue is? What are my sons teaching you these days? A card catalogue is a filing system that keeps track of all the things in the inventory, and it is listed on cards. Open the draw and see," her grandmother explained.

       Daniella looked at the drawer and opened it slowly. Inside was a line of cards, filed away in alphabetical order. Daniella looked into another drawer before looking up at her grandmother in awe. She looked back at the drawer and found the section labeled "C" and started flipping through the different cards before finding the one that she was looking for. She looked from the card to the shelves and found the shelf she was looking for. She smiled as she quickly put the card away.

"Old technology is so cool!" she muttered as she made her way to the shelf. Her grandmother looked at her granddaughter in shock but shook her head before following. Daniella skimmed the shelf before finding something that look somewhat like a coffee machine. Daniella picked it up and held it out to her grandmother.

"This?" she asked.

"Yes, that is the coffee machine that your grandfather brought when we stayed for a couple of years," her grandmother answered, nodding. Daniella smiled as she hugged it to her chest, as she walked to the door. Her grandmother smiled as she watched the blonde walk out the door to find a place for the machine.