"Huh... what's this one? Never seen it before..."

Serena stared at the book, which was laying on one of the few relatively open bookcases in the entire library. An odd affair, it was bound with leather and bits of metal, and locked with a clasp and leather strap. Stranger still, it glowed softly, pulsating with arcane energies.

"Hey, Gertrude? Do we have any glowing books in stock-"

The girl was abruptly shushed from somewhere far-off in the library. The golden rule of libraries, as it went, was to keep your voice down. Tilting her head, she tentatively reached out to touch the oddly-bound book. She recoiled almost immediately, however, rubbing her fingers. "So cold...!" she muttered. "It's the middle of summer. Why's it so cold...?"

She reached out again, this time trying to fiddle with the book's latch. It wasn't locked- the metal on the strap merely hooked around another piece of metal, to hold the book closed. After a few tries, it finally came loose, and the strap fell off to the side. Then, she gave the book a shove, trying to get it open.

As the book opened to a more or less random page, the font started to glow brightly. The air became almost charged, as the book's glow intensified. Finally, a disembodied voice came from the book.

"Who dares to disturb the slumber of the great grimoire, Claud?"

Yet again, Serena was shushed, this time more loudly.

Serena, in turn, shushed the grimoire. "We're in a library," she said, "Be quieter."

A long pause followed that, and the grimoire finally said, in a quieter voice, "Very well then. Who dares to disturb my slumber?"

"My name is... Serena," the girl said. She was staring at the book, tilting her head and craning it around the magical tome. "Uhh... where's that voice coming from?" she asked, "Is this some kind of tape record? Did someone leave this here as a joke...?"

"I am not a joke, girl," Claud said. Pages fluttering, the book rose into the air slightly, and then the ends of the book closed shut. "I am the great grimoire, Clau-"

"Yeah, you said that," Serena interrupted, "Is this for real? Where are the wires?" She reached out and swung her hand above the grimoire slightly, recoiling when her hand met with no wires whatsoever.

"I just told you. I am a powerful grimoire," Claud said, "Cease your gawking at once."

Once more, they were shushed, as those who talk in libraries often were. Serena had turned her head away from the grimoire, but then shot a glance back toward it after the fact.

"We should go somewhere else. I'll be finished with work in twenty minutes..."

Serena sat down on one of the many benches in the park, setting her bag down next to herself.

"Where are we now?"

She glanced down to her bag. Within resided the grimoire, which hadn't spoke since being put into the bag some time before. "The park."

"It smells of... canine feces," the grimoire said, "Bring me elsewhere."

"Why not move yourself?"

"Grimoires such as myself, floating about unerred? You speak madly."

"Why's that mad?" Serena asked. "... Not that I've ever seen a book floating or talking. What's with that?"

"Restrain your curious nature," Claud said, "You answered your own question. Powerful beings such as myself must exercise restraint, binding ourselves to hosts in order to move from place to place."

"Hosts, huh? Sort of like me, I guess." The girl idly crossed her legs and arms, staring down toward her bag. She frowned as her optimistic remark was met with a scoff.

"A host? You?" Claud asked, "Is that an attempt to slay me through laughter? You are a mere woman, and too young to handle my raw strengths."

"I guess I'll just go put you back in the library then. Right at the back. Under a stack of lesser books."

After a pause, the grimoire grunted. "... How long I would wait for a host in there?" he asked himself. "Fine. I will allow you to be my host. For a time."

"Great!" Serena exclaimed. "What can you do, though?"

"Terrible magics will be at your beck and call," Claud said, putting on a quite dramatic tone. "You will be able to bend even the most stoic of men to your will! Erode the flesh from their bones, and raise them as your thrall!"

"Yeesh. That sounds nasty," Serena said. "Anything a bit more conventional?"

"I am... privy to quite a large amount of old history," Claud said. "Just what do you expect me to have, woman?! I am an ancient tome, full of demolishing words!"

Serena shrugged. Her disbelief was fully suspended, at this point, and so she was fully willing to believe that she was actually talking to a book. "Whatever. I'll decide if I want to keep you when my part time job's over."

"When is that...?"

"The end of august. You're either sticking with me, or going back in the pile." She picked her bag up, and started her usual march home. "Welp, let's go. Try to be quiet at home, unless we're alone. I don't want my parents to think I'm crazy."

"... Very well, Serena. My powers are, for the time being, yours." Claud went quiet following that. Somehow, the powerful grimoire had ended up in the hands of a part-timer on break from college.