Well, John thought to himself, hadn't Ringo and Paul, and now George, kept saying that they wanted to know lebih about the Beast? And John wouldn't mind knowing lebih himself, really. As long as he wasn't tired, why not do a little light membaca and get to know their adversary?
The book turned out to be written in verse, several poems about mythical creatures. It was a thin volume and he turned easily to the page titled, "King Richard vs. the Beast of Bodmin Moor."
"Of all crusades Kind Richard faced,
The noblest oleh far,
To fight the Beast of Bodmin Moor,
And here his weapons are..."
And so it went; the penulis seemed to have been especially intrigued with the five objects, and the text kept going back to them:
"A Sword for truth,
A Jar for health,
A Coin for strength,
A Crown for nobility,
An Orb for protection"
it read, at the beginning, and these five objects formed a kind of refrain throughout. The details of the battle itself seemed to be of lesser importance, but John didn't mind - he wasn't here to read about war. He was lebih interested in the Objects and anything that could help the Beatles defeat the Beast with their Objects.
"A Sword oleh which to tell the Beast
The wrongs that were no lie,
A Jar of Marmite Yeast for all
The men who must not die.
Titanium to multiply
Strength used against the foe,
A Crown oleh which Kind Richard would
The Beast his leadings show.
The Orb was always used oleh all,
No other way would be
Enough to let its shield
Be spread to all he sees."
Which meant - what? The orb was always used oleh all... John knew that meant something. Probably something helpful, but as the Orb was the one object the Beatles hadn't found, he had nothing to refer to. Oh, well, he'd figure it out later.
The poem went on in this vein, and from what John could tell - because his eyes were beginning to feel heavy in the warm, dimly lit room - King Richard kept the Orb of Protection in the ranks of his army, so that it could shield them and keep them all safe, and the Jar of Green Marmite Yeast Extract he kept outside of the battlefield, to tend to the wounded - and there were several wounded, thanks to the Beast's sharp claws. But the Marmite worked as well on King Richard's men as it had on Ringo back in Bristol. The Crown and the Sword King Richard took into battle with him, and the Coin was kept in his pocket as a talisman, though it only made him stronger when he was touching it. Of course, John knew that. It worked the same way for Paul.
"The mighty Beast the king could not
Slay even with his men,
And sad to say without his Jar,
No soul could rise again.
But e'en with the Coin untouched,
The good King won the day,
With Crown on head and Sword in hand,
He put the Beast away."
John reread this passage a couple times, especially the bit about getting the souls back. He remembered what he and George had talked about back in the wet tunnels, and wondered if this verse was telling them what not to do when confronting the Beast. John blinked a few times, thinking of tampilkan this to his mates tomorrow in case he was too tired to take it in properly.
"And yet King Richard knew that this
Beast would again break free,
And so to keep the Objects safe
Was his priority.
The Sword which would permit no lie,
The Jar which would let no man die,
The Coin which did strength multiply,
The Crown its King does verify,
The Orb protects all standing by."
Whoever wrote this poem did like reiterating what the Objects were used for. But John was glad to get a little lebih insight into them, although the Beatles had figured out what most of the Objects did already. And here it was, in the selanjutnya verse:
"The Sword with the treasure-keepers,
The Jar with the health-keepers.
The Coin in plain air.
The Crown to only King Richard must go."
John laughed, thinking of Ringo.
"The Orb with the law."
John's head nodded meneruskan, ke depan onto his chest, and he fell asleep.
He dreamed of kings and objects and battles with Beasts, his sleeping mind working with all that he had just taken in. The book lay open on his knee, the emas picture of the Beast glinting dully in the half-dark.
Light crept into the room. John blinked. He could hear voices. John sat up. The book was still on his lap. The Sword in his sabuk glowed protectively. John couldn't say how he knew it was protective, but it was. He could still hear voices, but they weren't coming from inside the library. John looked round for his mates, who were just beginning to sit up and rub their eyes.
John picked up the little book and went over to them. "'Ey," he said. "You know how anda lot've been asking me why we can't know lebih about the Beast and where to find them objects? Well, we can."
"Really?" Ringo smiled. "Does that mean we can just go pick up the Orb of Protection now?"
"And stop the Beast?" Paul added.
"And can we get the souls back?" George wanted to know.
In answer, John opened the book to the page about how the Beast hadn't been defeated, humming as he did. George looked over his shoulder, membaca and rereading. "Without me Marmite, they couldn't get the souls back? Does that mean with the Marmite, we can?"
John smiled. "I think so. Seems our King Richard had so many men in his army, he couldn't use all the Objects to fight the Beast."
Paul nodded. "But as it'll be the four of us fightin' him this time, we'll have all the objects right there with us."
John nodded happily. "Right. And we use - the Crown to give us power, the Sword to get things back to how they should be, the Coin to give us strength, the Marmite to heal everyone, and the Orb to protect us."
"Right," nodded Paul. "Er - how?"
"How else?" grinned George. "How we always do everything."
John grinned back. "Exactly. We take our Objects, go in there, and make something up."
Ringo laughed happily. "So where is the Orb?"
That pertanyaan had been the last thing to enter John's mind before he'd fallen asleep, and now it seemed he had an answer. "With the law... I think maybe the police have got it."
And it was at that moment that the voices from outside sounded oleh the door. "I'm sorry, that's not good enough, Miss. We've got to find those lads before they send all of England into a panic. Also we have reason to believe that one of them is armed and dangerous. If you've seen them at all, you'd best let us know."
John laughed to himself at the thought of being called armed and dangerous.
"Of course I haven't seen them." The voice sounded like Rachel's, though as the Beatles had only met her yesterday, they were judging lebih oleh what she berkata about them. "Don't anda think I'd remember if I'd seen the Beatles here?"
The Beatles grinned at each other. Good old Rachel. They were so lucky to have so many loyal fan like that.
"Maybe you'd remember seeing them," the other voice - which could only belong to a policeman - replied dryly. "Or maybe you'd decide to forget seeing them, so they wouldn't get into any trouble?"
"Let's go," whispered Paul. "Before he comes in here and finds us."
John shook his head. "The Orb might be in that police station. The poem berkata it makes a shield. Wouldn't they like it if they had the Orb's shield stoppin' folk from getting out of there?"
"Like the Marmite Yeast at the hospital," George agreed, big brown eyes lighting up. "It was sitting there in the pantry, makin' everyone heal."
"We can go and have a look," berkata Ringo excitedly, retrieving his Crown from where he'd settled it on a meja and putting it on his head. His back straightened even as he did, but suddenly, he stopped. "But we don't have to get arrested to have a look in there."
"Besides, how do we know if it's the right one?" added Paul. "There's police stations all over England."
"But only one protected oleh the Orb," George reminded him.
"Well, how do we know which one that is?"
"We ask them," John replied, drawing the Sword of Truth. "That police must have contacts all over England, if he's looking for us here when they last saw us in Bristol."
And with that, John threw the perpustakaan door open.
"'Ey, Policeman," he greeted him cheerfully. "We've just stepped in here for some light reading. There's some poems about Beasts anda might enjoy."
The way John was talking to the policeman as if they were friendly acquaintances, paired with the way John was holding a sword, made the policeman stop in his tracks. Rachel stood there too, staring at John with some horror - obviously she had been hoping that he would keep himself hidden. But the policeman wasn't akting like anyone who should be hidden from right now. He was baffled. He had arrested many people in his time, but never anyone who stood so calmly before him as though he had a right to be there. And holding a weapon, no less....
"Don't tell us," John went on. "You're here to take us to that station where anda haven't got enough people runnin' round who come in there and can't get out again." He grinned at the policeman's obvious confusion. "Bet you'd like to put us somewhere we'd never get out from. Where would anda put us if anda wanted to do that?"
The policeman was too confused to even process John's question, but as he berkata it, John reached the Sword of Truth meneruskan, ke depan and gently - he didn't want to hurt anybody with it - touched the policeman's arm with the flat part of the Sword. The policeman started as he felt the rush of heat tingling on his arm - the one that would make him tell the truth. "I'd cinta to put anda lot somewhere you'd never escape from, but there isn't any place like that. There's not a police station in England that hasn't been escaped from."
John wanted to make fun of him for admitting such a thing, but there was no time for that. He had to think fast. How else could he find out where the Orb was, before the sword's effects wore off and the policeman realized what he was doing? He blurted out the best pertanyaan he could think of: "Where in England is the most protected, then?"
Another touch of the Sword, forcing the policeman to answer a truthfully as he could. "Depends who anda need protection for. There's an old stationhouse in Nottingham that's supposed to be useless. They say people used to hide in there to escape from the law, and why no one could ever touch them there, I don't know. No one uses it now - but I'm not bringing anda boys there!" he added with sudden authority, and John noticed that the Sword was no longer touching the policeman. "You're coming with me...."
But they weren't, of course. The Beatles put on a sudden burst of speed, dashing past the policeman and out of the universitas as fast as they could go.
The book turned out to be written in verse, several poems about mythical creatures. It was a thin volume and he turned easily to the page titled, "King Richard vs. the Beast of Bodmin Moor."
"Of all crusades Kind Richard faced,
The noblest oleh far,
To fight the Beast of Bodmin Moor,
And here his weapons are..."
And so it went; the penulis seemed to have been especially intrigued with the five objects, and the text kept going back to them:
"A Sword for truth,
A Jar for health,
A Coin for strength,
A Crown for nobility,
An Orb for protection"
it read, at the beginning, and these five objects formed a kind of refrain throughout. The details of the battle itself seemed to be of lesser importance, but John didn't mind - he wasn't here to read about war. He was lebih interested in the Objects and anything that could help the Beatles defeat the Beast with their Objects.
"A Sword oleh which to tell the Beast
The wrongs that were no lie,
A Jar of Marmite Yeast for all
The men who must not die.
Titanium to multiply
Strength used against the foe,
A Crown oleh which Kind Richard would
The Beast his leadings show.
The Orb was always used oleh all,
No other way would be
Enough to let its shield
Be spread to all he sees."
Which meant - what? The orb was always used oleh all... John knew that meant something. Probably something helpful, but as the Orb was the one object the Beatles hadn't found, he had nothing to refer to. Oh, well, he'd figure it out later.
The poem went on in this vein, and from what John could tell - because his eyes were beginning to feel heavy in the warm, dimly lit room - King Richard kept the Orb of Protection in the ranks of his army, so that it could shield them and keep them all safe, and the Jar of Green Marmite Yeast Extract he kept outside of the battlefield, to tend to the wounded - and there were several wounded, thanks to the Beast's sharp claws. But the Marmite worked as well on King Richard's men as it had on Ringo back in Bristol. The Crown and the Sword King Richard took into battle with him, and the Coin was kept in his pocket as a talisman, though it only made him stronger when he was touching it. Of course, John knew that. It worked the same way for Paul.
"The mighty Beast the king could not
Slay even with his men,
And sad to say without his Jar,
No soul could rise again.
But e'en with the Coin untouched,
The good King won the day,
With Crown on head and Sword in hand,
He put the Beast away."
John reread this passage a couple times, especially the bit about getting the souls back. He remembered what he and George had talked about back in the wet tunnels, and wondered if this verse was telling them what not to do when confronting the Beast. John blinked a few times, thinking of tampilkan this to his mates tomorrow in case he was too tired to take it in properly.
"And yet King Richard knew that this
Beast would again break free,
And so to keep the Objects safe
Was his priority.
The Sword which would permit no lie,
The Jar which would let no man die,
The Coin which did strength multiply,
The Crown its King does verify,
The Orb protects all standing by."
Whoever wrote this poem did like reiterating what the Objects were used for. But John was glad to get a little lebih insight into them, although the Beatles had figured out what most of the Objects did already. And here it was, in the selanjutnya verse:
"The Sword with the treasure-keepers,
The Jar with the health-keepers.
The Coin in plain air.
The Crown to only King Richard must go."
John laughed, thinking of Ringo.
"The Orb with the law."
John's head nodded meneruskan, ke depan onto his chest, and he fell asleep.
He dreamed of kings and objects and battles with Beasts, his sleeping mind working with all that he had just taken in. The book lay open on his knee, the emas picture of the Beast glinting dully in the half-dark.
Light crept into the room. John blinked. He could hear voices. John sat up. The book was still on his lap. The Sword in his sabuk glowed protectively. John couldn't say how he knew it was protective, but it was. He could still hear voices, but they weren't coming from inside the library. John looked round for his mates, who were just beginning to sit up and rub their eyes.
John picked up the little book and went over to them. "'Ey," he said. "You know how anda lot've been asking me why we can't know lebih about the Beast and where to find them objects? Well, we can."
"Really?" Ringo smiled. "Does that mean we can just go pick up the Orb of Protection now?"
"And stop the Beast?" Paul added.
"And can we get the souls back?" George wanted to know.
In answer, John opened the book to the page about how the Beast hadn't been defeated, humming as he did. George looked over his shoulder, membaca and rereading. "Without me Marmite, they couldn't get the souls back? Does that mean with the Marmite, we can?"
John smiled. "I think so. Seems our King Richard had so many men in his army, he couldn't use all the Objects to fight the Beast."
Paul nodded. "But as it'll be the four of us fightin' him this time, we'll have all the objects right there with us."
John nodded happily. "Right. And we use - the Crown to give us power, the Sword to get things back to how they should be, the Coin to give us strength, the Marmite to heal everyone, and the Orb to protect us."
"Right," nodded Paul. "Er - how?"
"How else?" grinned George. "How we always do everything."
John grinned back. "Exactly. We take our Objects, go in there, and make something up."
Ringo laughed happily. "So where is the Orb?"
That pertanyaan had been the last thing to enter John's mind before he'd fallen asleep, and now it seemed he had an answer. "With the law... I think maybe the police have got it."
And it was at that moment that the voices from outside sounded oleh the door. "I'm sorry, that's not good enough, Miss. We've got to find those lads before they send all of England into a panic. Also we have reason to believe that one of them is armed and dangerous. If you've seen them at all, you'd best let us know."
John laughed to himself at the thought of being called armed and dangerous.
"Of course I haven't seen them." The voice sounded like Rachel's, though as the Beatles had only met her yesterday, they were judging lebih oleh what she berkata about them. "Don't anda think I'd remember if I'd seen the Beatles here?"
The Beatles grinned at each other. Good old Rachel. They were so lucky to have so many loyal fan like that.
"Maybe you'd remember seeing them," the other voice - which could only belong to a policeman - replied dryly. "Or maybe you'd decide to forget seeing them, so they wouldn't get into any trouble?"
"Let's go," whispered Paul. "Before he comes in here and finds us."
John shook his head. "The Orb might be in that police station. The poem berkata it makes a shield. Wouldn't they like it if they had the Orb's shield stoppin' folk from getting out of there?"
"Like the Marmite Yeast at the hospital," George agreed, big brown eyes lighting up. "It was sitting there in the pantry, makin' everyone heal."
"We can go and have a look," berkata Ringo excitedly, retrieving his Crown from where he'd settled it on a meja and putting it on his head. His back straightened even as he did, but suddenly, he stopped. "But we don't have to get arrested to have a look in there."
"Besides, how do we know if it's the right one?" added Paul. "There's police stations all over England."
"But only one protected oleh the Orb," George reminded him.
"Well, how do we know which one that is?"
"We ask them," John replied, drawing the Sword of Truth. "That police must have contacts all over England, if he's looking for us here when they last saw us in Bristol."
And with that, John threw the perpustakaan door open.
"'Ey, Policeman," he greeted him cheerfully. "We've just stepped in here for some light reading. There's some poems about Beasts anda might enjoy."
The way John was talking to the policeman as if they were friendly acquaintances, paired with the way John was holding a sword, made the policeman stop in his tracks. Rachel stood there too, staring at John with some horror - obviously she had been hoping that he would keep himself hidden. But the policeman wasn't akting like anyone who should be hidden from right now. He was baffled. He had arrested many people in his time, but never anyone who stood so calmly before him as though he had a right to be there. And holding a weapon, no less....
"Don't tell us," John went on. "You're here to take us to that station where anda haven't got enough people runnin' round who come in there and can't get out again." He grinned at the policeman's obvious confusion. "Bet you'd like to put us somewhere we'd never get out from. Where would anda put us if anda wanted to do that?"
The policeman was too confused to even process John's question, but as he berkata it, John reached the Sword of Truth meneruskan, ke depan and gently - he didn't want to hurt anybody with it - touched the policeman's arm with the flat part of the Sword. The policeman started as he felt the rush of heat tingling on his arm - the one that would make him tell the truth. "I'd cinta to put anda lot somewhere you'd never escape from, but there isn't any place like that. There's not a police station in England that hasn't been escaped from."
John wanted to make fun of him for admitting such a thing, but there was no time for that. He had to think fast. How else could he find out where the Orb was, before the sword's effects wore off and the policeman realized what he was doing? He blurted out the best pertanyaan he could think of: "Where in England is the most protected, then?"
Another touch of the Sword, forcing the policeman to answer a truthfully as he could. "Depends who anda need protection for. There's an old stationhouse in Nottingham that's supposed to be useless. They say people used to hide in there to escape from the law, and why no one could ever touch them there, I don't know. No one uses it now - but I'm not bringing anda boys there!" he added with sudden authority, and John noticed that the Sword was no longer touching the policeman. "You're coming with me...."
But they weren't, of course. The Beatles put on a sudden burst of speed, dashing past the policeman and out of the universitas as fast as they could go.
