BOOK ONE

    
        ...๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™จ๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ž๐™ก, ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง๐™š ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™–๐™ก๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ฎ๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ž๐™ก ๐™—๐™š๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™™. ๐™€๐™–๐™˜๐™ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ฌ ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™š-
        ๐™˜๐™๐™–๐™ข๐™—๐™š๐™ง, ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ž๐™ก๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง, ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™จ ๐™– ๐™œ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง ๐™ก๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ก๐™–๐™จ๐™ฉ
        ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ค.

        One summer day a library appeared in a dream. The library went seven stories into
        heaven above and seven stories down under the sea. The medium of its reflection was
        the dream itself. As I descended beneath the water I ascended into the sky. The bottom
        seventh floor was the uppermost seventh floor: the point at which above and below met.

        ๐˜˜๐˜ถ๐˜ชรฉ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ข ๐˜ข ๐˜ญ๐˜ข ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ข ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ข, the librarian said.

        I took a book called Mystery Library Vol. I: The Dread-Reading. It began: Every
        initiation is but the opening of a new door...which have sometimes been called veils...
        
        There was an illustration of a temple; I pointed to it and said, I wish to go.

        The wind started to blow. The yantra started to spin. It spun faster and faster. [I shut my
        eyes as tight as I could.] Thenโ€”the Silent Watcher. Absolutely silent.

        When I opened my eyes, my eyes were still closed. I was not I but a boy and a girl,
        named Ma-Jack and Annie-Soph. Each of them were, themselves, double: the first,
        Apollo and Apollyon, each seeking to absorb his being; the second, Nothing and
        Limitation, an infinite negation meaning, there is no end.

        He found himself confronted by two guards or cherubim who would not let them into
        the temple. "What are we supposed to do now?โ€ They looked at the book. There was an
        illustration of a temple, a boy and a girl, and two cherubim. The boy and girl were 1 [I].
        The cherubim together were also only one angel. They looked at him again. His name
        was Mercur-Lin. He said to them, "That letter which is also the number of this book is
        the first letter of a dread name. When you read all four letters, you may enter." Ma-Jack
        wrote this down: Clue No. I is I.

        He looked inside the book to figure out where to look for the next clue. There was a
        passage that read, "They went into the forest to search for the next clue. They
        encountered another angel relegated to the shadows who said his name was Cernunnos.
        He said, write down this clue, do not come out to the forest, for the master of darkness
        will see." So Ma-Jack wrote down, I See. However by reading the passage they had
        entered the passage. They had already been seen. Annie-Soph was taken in by the
        shadows, disappeared in the abyss of Ayin, and she was only Annie, that is, she was not.

        In the book it said, "He followed her into the abyss. He cast out the fallen angel Xaphan
        who keeps the furnaces of Hell running." Ma-Jack X claimed. It was an X or schism.

        "But what is the fourth and last letter?"

        Mercur-Lin said, "What begins with 'yes' and ends in EXCESS?"

        "The four letters are only three, but one of them is double!"

        So he wrote out, ICXC, said the name, and the door was opened, the book was closed.