¤ Epitome of Seriousness

A middle-aged man dressed in homespun grey was waiting in Grendel’s office. He wore his salt and pepper hair cropped closed to the skull, and looked up quickly with sharp brown eyes when the three entered the room.

‘Master Grendel.’ He stood up respectfully, his arms tucked into the wide sleeves of his robe. Then, seeing Silver beside Grendel, he nodded a little stiffly. ‘Good afternoon, Librarian Silver.’

‘Good afternoon, Master Solomon.’ Silver replied equally formally. ‘If I may introduce to you my travelling companion, Jaysen.’

‘Hey, it’s good to meet you, Solomon sir!’ Jaysen beamed and stuck out his hand enthusiastically. Solomon only inclined his head slightly at Jaysen in a stern nod, his hands still tucked in his sleeves. Oops. Jaysen awkwardly let his own hand fall back to his side.

Silver leant to whisper into Jaysen’s ear. ‘Master Solomon there is the head of the Archives. He is the very epitome of seriousness. Don’t try to fool around in front of him, he won’t take it kindly.’

‘Thanks for warning me in advance.’ Jaysen whispered back sarcastically.

‘No problem. Glad to know I’m appreciated.’ Silver returned the sarcasm.

‘You have summoned me, Master Grendel.’ Solomon addressed Grendel.

‘Ah yes. Silver, show good Solomon here the book.’ Grendel walked behind the desk and sat down, indicating that they should all take a seat. Jaysen picked a comfortable looking armchair to the left side of the desk, Silver joining him in the chair next to it after she handed the tattered journal to Solomon.

Solomon remained standing, laying out the pieces of the book on Grendel’s desk. He examined it closely, his brown eyes clouded as he looked at the torn and burnt pages.

‘Is it possible to restore this book, Master Solomon?’ Silver asked.

‘Hmm.’ He continued to run his fingers across the destroyed book. ‘It looks like a simple case of mechanical damage to the spine. I am sure my team of Restorers can fix it, Librarian Silver. But the damage to the burnt pages… that might pose quite a problem. It will require at least four days, on the safe side.’

‘Could it be completed earlier, er, Master Solomon?’ Jaysen asked. ‘Only, we have to get back to Ossyria so- Ow.‘ Silver stepped on his toes, shooting him a death glare.

‘I am sure that my estimate is accurate, Mr Jaysen.’ Solomon replied stiffly, if a little offended. ‘My professional opinion is not made without much consideration.’

‘I am very sure of that, Master Solomon. I was just too impatient. Accept my apologies.’ Jaysen answered sheepishly. Sorry, he mouthed to Silver, who looked away in exasperation.

‘They are accepted.’ Solomon said. ‘If I may start work on this now, Master Grendel.’

‘Thank you for your aid, Solomon. We look forward to your good news.’ Grendel said. At his dismissal, Solomon bowed formally and exited the room with the journal.

Jaysen let out a breath he did not know he was holding. ‘That is one serious dude, man.’

‘Not everyone is a nutcase like you, you know.’ Silver thwacked him on the arm.

‘Hey!’ Jaysen protested. ‘The pot shouldn’t call the kettle black, my dear damsel.’

‘Who wants to be kitchen utensils with you.’ Silver retorted, ‘I’d rather be… be a garden spade!’

‘Do you dig me then? Ow!’

‘Ahem.’ Grendel coughed. ‘I am still in the room, you know.’ Silver had the grace to look a little guilty as she sat up straighter in her chair. Jaysen grumbled a little, rubbing his shoulder where Silver had just punched. I knew there was something wrong about this Scorpio armour. It can’t even protect me from the furies of a girl! Bloody conman overcharged me.

Then again, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Jaysen’s lips twitched a little at that thought. He quickly put on a straight face at the poisonous glance Silver sent his way. Ouch.

‘So it looks like you will be staying here for a few days.’ Grendel said. ‘I have arranged for your old quarters to be made available again, Silver. As for you, Jaysen, you will have to share with one of the other librarians.’

‘Sure thing, Grendel sir.’ Jaysen nodded.

¤ A Conspiracy!

Rei led Jaysen and Silver out from Grendel’s office, back into the lift pod, Grendel having assigned him to guide Jaysen and Silver around the Library. The three of them chatted earnestly as the two travellers updated Rei about Silver’s Project.

‘Wow, that’s one heck of a Project you picked, Silver.’ Rei said in awe after they were done, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

‘I know. I never heard of a Project with a subject whose name can’t be spoken aloud before. ’ Silver sighed as she entered the lift pod, Jaysen following apprehensively behind. ‘And I never expected I would personally experience one of the stories they told us during Apprenticeship. You know, that one about that ruthless guildmaster going after Librarians that know too much about his guild’s plans take over Victoria?’

‘You’d better be more careful then.’ Rei said in concern, pulling the door grill shut and flicking the switch on the control panel. The lift jerked downwards, then settled into a smooth descent. ‘Don’t put yourself in danger just for this Project.’

Silver gave Rei a dry smile. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time, you know.’

The sudden silence between Rei and Silver made Jaysen puzzled, despite the queasy feeling in his stomach. He opened his mouth to ask, ‘Excuse me, but what-?’

‘Ah yes, Rei.’ Silver cut Jaysen off, as she rummaged through her backpack to dig out her journal. ‘Tell me if you have come across any of these people in any books or scrolls.’ She flipped the book open to the list of names she had made and handed it to Rei, who peered down the list with a finger pressing his glasses close to his face.

‘Ah- A-‘ Rei tried to read out Aurora’s name, but gave up quickly. He looked up, amazed. ‘So that’s the girl? Amazing. I never really thought a spell like that was even possible.’

‘Someone else didn’t think so either.’ Silver shot Jaysen a look.

‘And some good lady wouldn’t let me forget it either.’ Jaysen glared back defiantly, glad to be able to fix his eyes on something other than the height below him. ‘But seriously, what about being in danger-‘

‘I remember this name.’ Rei suddenly interrupted, pointing to Wing’s name on the page. ‘He’s this fairy living somewhere near the bottom of the forest town. I heard some adventurers talking about how, uh, rude he was when they were trying to get some Flying Medicine from him or something.’

‘He’s here, in Ellinia itself?’ Silver said, excited now. ‘That makes it so much easier. I can continue researching while waiting for Salmer’s book to be repaired!’

The lift pod came to a halt then, landing gently in a circular lobby of sorts. Its polished wooden floors reflected the warm light radiating from lamps hung on tall poles that circled the landing area of the lift pods. They exited the pod, Rei nodding politely to the other librarian taking over his duty in the lift pod. Jaysen stood in the lobby, peering in wonder at the various corridors that radiated out from the lobby like spokes of a wheel. ‘Where do you get all the space in the tree to build all these?’

Silver rolled her eyes while Rei laughed. ‘It isn’t all inside the tree. We’re actually underground now. Those corridors lead to rooms either below ground, or rooms build on the outside of the tree trunk. It’s quite hard to explain, but we Librarians have our ways.’ Rei said as he led the way to the corridor that linked the lobby to one of the residential wings. ‘I guess you should know where your quarters are, Silver?’

‘How could I forget.’ Silver said wryly. ‘Especially since I got lost in this accursed warren of corridors for a good couple of hours the first time I tried to find it.’

‘Sounds just like you, good lady.’ Jaysen teased.

‘Rei,’ Silver said seriously, ‘Could you do us all a favour and abandon this wretched thief right smack in this maze? I’m sure a day or two of starvation will do him good.’

‘I can’t, Silver.’ Rei replied equally seriously, pushing up his glasses with a finger. ‘The librarians on duty will hate my guts for making them clear up the corpse.’

‘And I am supposed to share a room with you?’ Jaysen asked, incredulous. ‘This must be a conspiracy to make me a target of foul play!’ He waved his hands in the air. A group of librarian girls stared weirdly at the wildly gesticulating bandit, then giggled as they passed by.

‘Don’t say you don’t give me ideas. Rei, I’ll pay you ten thousand mesos to stab him in his sleep for me.’

‘No way, Silver. I ask for at least fifty thousand mesos.’ Rei said, over Jaysen’s yelps of ‘Hey, my noble life is definitely worth at least a million!’

‘No deal. I didn’t think he was worth even one thousand.’ Silver adjusted her bow’s strap on her shoulder. Reaching another corridor that branched off from the one they were in, Silver stopped and turned to the two boys. ‘We’ll meet at the mess hall then. We can go look for Wing after lunch.’

‘Providing he would want to meet us. I’ve heard he’s quite a difficult person to deal with.’ Rei told Silver.

‘Psht. If we can handle Hedwig, we can handle any other fairy.’ Jaysen waved Rei’s concern away.

‘What he said.’ Silver smiled. ‘See you later then.’ She disappeared into the new corridor.

‘Come.’ Rei led Jaysen in the opposite direction. After climbing a long winding staircase, and making a few more turns (Jaysen lost count of how many after the tenth one), they finally reached Rei’s room. It was furnished simply, with utilitarian pieces of furniture like a bed, two chairs, a tall cabinet and one desk. A screen separated the changing area from the rest of the room. Gentle green light illuminated the room from a small window at the far wall, which opened to a pleasant view of the forest town of Ellinia.

‘The lavatory is at the end of this corridor, it should be easy to find.’ Rei grunted as he tugged out an extra pallet from under the bed. ‘Just ask me if you need the baths. They are at another part of the wing.’

‘I knew you wouldn’t leave me to starve in this maze, my good brother Rei.’ Jaysen grinned as he dumped his backpack near the cabinet.

‘Don’t tempt me.’ Rei grinned back. ‘Come, let us get to the mess hall. You might want to get rid of your dagger: we aren’t allowed to carry weapons into common areas like the mess.’

Jaysen felt his stomach gurgle in joy as the thought of food, even as he unbuckled the belt that strapped his golden Serpent to his side. ‘Lead the way to the grub, and I will forever sing your name in praise, my brave captain!’

‘Heavens preserve my ears.’ Rei looked skyward over his glasses in mock prayer.

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More silliness What would I do without my personal Nut Jaysen, I don’t know. XD

^^ Fortune Cookies this time, dear reader! Tell me the fortune you get.

[Edit] Changed chapter number, thanks Indescane. Uh, I mean, Desomaniac. I can’t even count, ohmigawd. What is going to happen to my Math Exams?!