The library doors loomed before Rommel like the gates of Tobruk. Heavy oak, iron-banded, they were big enough to take his favourite 38t tanks through.
But as soon as he tried to push open, the doors he realized, that with his former commanding presence gone was also his strength. His tiny arms trembled, his face flushed red. The doors didn't budge.
Rommel ground his teeth. "Verdammt… this is worse than El Alamein."
Realizing that brute forcing it would be futile, he decided to change strategy, "I have passed French tanks right in front of them. What is just a door." He shrugged.
Taking a step back he started to look here all over the doors under the light of chandeliers burning overhead.
It was then he noticed that the door had handles hanging a bit high from his head. There was no way for him to reach them. It felt like this was placed deliberately to stop him from gaining access to intelligence.
It reminded him of the time he was promoted to Field Marshal. He had faced such hostility from other Generals who tried to contain his access to important operations, hiding reports and rerouting communiqués. They had tried to box him in with politics and paperwork instead of sand and steel.
Looking around the room, he found the exact tool needed to help him with the task, a four legged wooden stool standing in the corner of the room. Possibly to provide a little comfort to the guard who was supposed to be on duty tonight.
"Huh, what a gross negligence of duty." He thought, but this was welcome for him.
Using all the might in his little princess body, he pushed the stool towards the huge doors.
It was heavier than it looked, and for a moment, he was back in the sand dunes of North Africa, manhandling a stuck supply truck.
With a final grunt, he positioned his wooden steed directly before the formidable oak gates.
He grasped the cold metal, not with the futile push of before, but with a firm, strategic pull. The massive door, perfectly balanced on its hinges, swung inward without a sound.
A cool, quiet draft, smelling of old paper and leather, washed over him—the scent of intelligence, of a new battlefield.
Rommel trotted down from the stool and entered the room looking awestruck at the collection of books inside. He had never seen such a vast collection of books before.
This room was also lit with bright chandeliers all over the ceiling allowing Rommel to see everything very clearly.
"What a waste of precious oil resources." He noted again. But to him it was still welcome.
Huge shelves that seemed as high as the Imperial palace of Germany stood one after another filled with books and papers of all kind.
If that was not enough, ladders were placed on every shelf seemingly to allow the ease of access to the books.
Rommel decided to check through the ones in front of him for now. The letters he had never seen before but mysteriously he was able to read them without trouble.
Then in the first shelf within his reach he found a book, 'Foundation of Magic'. He felt somewhat familiar with this book as if she had read it before.
He pulled out the book and took it to a desk. For a book of its size, it was surprisingly light, as if crafted specifically for small hands like his own. Settling into the high-backed chair which required another minor campaign of climbing to conquer, he opened the cover.
As he was glossing over the contents, he found everything very familiar to him like he has read this book before.
No not just read, he could almost predict what was in each page like he has memorized the book by heart. He started to gloss through the page remembering what secrets it held.
Meanwhile, Inside Elsa's room an alarm bell rung. Waking her up from her deep sleep. She had thought her duties for today won't begin at least until sunrise.
There was no clock to calculate time in this place and time had to be deducted by looking at either the sun at day and moon at night.
"What are you up to now, little lady?" She said to herself, "What kind of kid goes to library at the middle of the night to study magic?"
She got up from her bed. Her room was dark but she remembers where the door was and she effortless opened it, only to be blinded by the light at the long corridor.
Meanwhile, Rommel was almost enraged by the memories he was now having about this magic book. The theories were almost heresy.
But he remembered what that girl claiming Monty showed him. So he decided to give the formulas on the book a try.
He found a simple fire spell that could light up the palm of his hands. This was definitely a book for children because the this was the strongest spell he could find.
Closing his eyes and holding his tiny hands in front of him, he said "Oh Goddess, disperse the darkness and show me light."
As he opened his eyes, he could see a faint light glowing from his hands. Somehow it made him very excited as if he has achieved a long awaited dream.
He closed his fist diminishing the light and his face smiled. Even he couldn't understand why. But he excitedly went back to the pages of the book. But a sound from behind fully startled him.
"Ahem, little lady. What are you doing here in this ungodly hour?!" There was a hint of anger in the voice.