The Sorcerer, Part 30 - Button

The rest of Saturday evening (Percy keeps the library open later than usual, just for us, bless him) and the majority of Sunday morning and afternoon is spent holed up in the library, digging up any and all information still to be found on Geltoech, the Great Battle and this new "Grand Sorceress" character. There isn't much to be found though, as no religion or sorcerer group I can find info on have a "grand sorceress". A "grand priestess", yes, and one tribe way down south whose leader is someone called "the greatest merecat sorcerer". I don't even know how to begin to understand that one.

The faerie decided to keep hanging around the library, taking a particular liking to Percy, no doubt because he's the only one who can understand her. She tried to teach us her name, but it was very hard to pronounce, with a lot of z's and t's and d's, and in the end she gave up and told us to call her Zeze. She tends to keep hidden whenever someone else comes in, but considering it's Sunday, and the weather is amazing, hardly no one drops by in the many hours we sit in the library, and so she hangs out freely by the table we're occupying, studying and playing with our stuff. She seems very curious about, well, everything.

She also seemed extremely happy when, after ages of fidgeting, Gil finally asked if he could draw her. Apparently the amount of glowing she gives out depends on how much she's using her powers (she was glowing so much yesterday because she was straining herself to keep afloat after days of flying to get here) and now that she's just sitting on the table, the glowing is particularly nonexistent. She is about 15 centimeters in height and rather humanoid in shape, with slim limbs and a very androgynous look - no discernible sex characteristics at all. She is wearing a dress, although without any knowledge about faerie fashion, we only have Percy's word for her preferred pronouns.

What's amazing is that everything about her is some hue of green; even her skin has a greenish tint, which I find endlessly fascinating. Especially her eyes, which are an intense green, and they remind me of something, though I can't quite put my finger on what.

In the midst of research I jot down a letter to send my new friend. After meeting her yesterday I am now almost completely convinced that it was Laelia Salvai who wrote the extra letter I found on Friday. So much has happened since, it's hard to believe that was just two days ago. Still, I figure it would be best to write her now that I have some time off, because who knows when the next time that'll happen is.

I'm not sure if I should include the very end, but decide to go through with it. It's all or nothing now.

There's a soft 'cluck' on the table and I look up from the letter. Zeze is placing something on the table, something small and shiny and purple.

"What's that?" I ask, leaning in.

"Looks like a button," says Gil. I snatch it up from the table and Zeze makes a small protesting sound. Gil was right, it's a button, with a weird symbol on the front.

"That's weird, where did you get it?" I ask the faerie and she frowns.

"She said she found it on the floor in the corner," Percy shouts from the front desk. Zeze nods and points over to the back, where Percy's magic books are.

"Over there, you're sure?" I ask. No one ever goes there...

"Hey, Percy?" I shout. He peeks his head around the bookshelf. "She found it over at the, uh, the special books. Has someone been over there recently?"

Percy frowns, thinking. "Not that I know of... But I'm not here all the time, and it's not like it's a restricted area. People don't really go there, because there's not really anything worth going there for. Well, for most students anyway. I think sometimes people sneak into the back to, emh, to get some privacy. I've been trying to get people to stop it, this is a public place after all, but I guess some people get off on stuff like that."

"That... is more information than I wanted, thank you," I say and rub my forehead. Although doing it in the library doesn't seem like such a bad idea. It could be rather exciting really, in the right circumstances and the right people....

"Now I've heard everything," says Alica with a grin. "Information that Osborn Woodsham, the great intelligence hoarder, doesn't want!" Gil laughs and I think I can hear Percy sniggering at the counter. I give her a mock glare and she blows me a kiss.

There's a tug at my hand and before I have time to react Zeze has pulled the button from my fingers and hugs it tightly against her chest.

"She's saying it's her button and you have to get your own, jerk," Percy calls from the front. My mouth falls open in surprise and I give out a small laugh. Zeze sticks out her tongue (also green) and then flies over to bury herself in Percy's hair again.

"Is it just me, or is that faerie way ruder than you imagined a faerie would be?" I ask.

"Oh, don't worry, that's just a typical reaction people sometimes have when they see you," Alica says and grins again. I flick a crumpled up piece of parchment at her and hit her square in the face. Ten minutes later Percy has to come physically remove us from each other but by gods, it's been a while since I've laughed so hard.

~x~

It's almost four when the principal arrives, miss Graysmith and professor Atwell on his heel. I guess these were the teachers he wanted Percy to teach as well.

"Good afternoon, Masters," the principal says. "Are you free right now?"

"Good afternoon, sir," Percy says, not quite as tense as yesterday, but still clearly a little uncomfortable. "I think I have time, the library has been virtually empty the whole day."

"With a day like this, it's no wonder," miss Graysmith says. "I'd rather be out there too, but we need to get this dealt with."

"R-right..." Percy says and then guides them to the other tables, across from the front desk instead of behind it where we're sitting. I can just make out what they're saying, though I can't see any of them. "So... what exactly do you want me to tell you?"

"We want to be able to connect with these youngsters, to know what it's like to live with magic. To understand how they think," the principal says.

"Well, I, uh, I've read a few books on the subject, though I can't remember their names. The previous master librarian left quite a collection of, of books on the topic to me when she left," Percy says.

"Ah, yes. Good old Mrs. Phazira. She was never biased when it came to knowledge," the principal says before pausing for a moment. "She left you books, you say? On magic?"

"Oh, well, uh, yeah. Sort of," Percy tries. He clears his throat. "Anyway, for someone to grow up as a child and even a young adult in a land where a significant part of their lives, of their personality and identity is deemed illegal is, it's very hard. It's taxing, mentally and sometimes physically. You have to physically hold yourself back to make sure you don't accidentally spill your magic out in the open, and you have to concentrate all the time to not let anything slip. It can also be very lonely, because you can't know who you can trust with such information and it can make you feel like you're alone in the world. Some people handle it better than others, obviously. Some people don't feel the need to have a connection like that and some people don't mind that there is a part of them they can never share. But for some people, it's the worst thing that could happen.  To be unable to talk honestly with anyone, it's... It's unimaginably terrifying."

They are all quiet for a while. I can almost see in my head the frowning, sad face Percy is likely making.

"That was... incredibly insightful, Masters," the principal says. "I am very impressed you've been able to find information like that."

"Oh! Oh, well, most of it is just my interpretation of how I would imagine the situation going. I'm just saying, if I had a secret that big, I know it would be eating me up every second, especially if I had no one to talk to about it."

"So, we should have someone the students could talk to about these things? Like a... confidant!" professor Atwell says.

"How do you suppose we arrange that?" miss Graysmith asks. "It is our duty to inform the King's Guard if we find evidence of magic use or sorcerers and it's not like the students would trust us with something like this even if we could promise we'd keep their secret."

"But clearly we need to talk to the students about this! If they're not warned about - !"

"The students are told as little as possible," the principal says, his voice loud in the quiet library. "The last thing we need is a panic. What we need is a way to communicate with these people, the ones that have magic, and understand them. We need to snip this rebellion in the bud, before any young minds get infected with the terrible thoughts like 30 years ago."

"That... might be hard," Percy says quietly. "Well, you see, every person is, is different. Whether they are magic or not, what they want and what they need is completely different from the next person. And yes, some people need a lot of guidance, some people need someone to talk to, but some people don't need anything at all. They don't need you coddling them, nor do they need anyone to talk to about their feelings, or maybe they already have someone. The point is, you can't really make a plan and expect it to work 100% when you don't even know who these people are. It seems to me that you're trying to understand a group of people when what you have are individual persons, all different from one another, with just one common denominator. Sir."

"Well," says the principal after a while. He seems rather speechless. "I suppose you are correct... But what are we going to do about this threat of an uprising..?"

"With all due respect, sir," Percy says and I can hear the distinct screech of his chair scraping the floor. "I think you're underestimating your students. I don't belive for one second that there is anyone in this school that would join in on this madman's mission."

"You seem awfully sure about that," the principal says and three more chairs scrape the floor.

"I have faith in my peers," Percy says, and he sounds so convincing and... authoritative, it's almost weird.

"Let's hope it's not in vain," says the principal. "Thank you for your insights, Masters. I hope you'll be open for more discussions, should something come up."

"Of course."

All four of them walk back to the front desk and then the teachers leave. I get up and round the shelf. Percy looks deflated, like all the air in him had just seeped out. Zeze flies over from under the counter, where she'd hid when the principal had opened the door.

"Are you alright?"  I ask.

"I'm alright, thanks," he says. Then he sighs. "I don't think he had any bad intentions, it's just... I think he's approaching this with a wrong perspective. As if all sorcerers and magic people are this one singularity. The most dangerous thing is forgetting to view people as people. Because that's what we are, what we all are, right? People."

"Right," I say. Zeze flies up to his cheek and caresses it a few times with her tiny hand before zipping up to his hair again. With nothing more to say I leave Percy to his thoughts with a reassuring hand on his shoulder and then return to the table.

Much later we wait for Percy to close up the library before heading out for supper with him.
________________________________________________________________

Wah.

Zeze has temporarily joined the party!

Shit happens idk. Your last post tomorrow. Topic is "Wagon".

Pie out.

P.S. That's what the text was supposed to look like in the previous part whenever the faerie spoke. Sorry  for mobile users, the images are probably kinda stupid, but meh.
P.P.S. I'm probably gonna do a similar floor plan of the library like I did with Oz and Gil's room, but I've just hadn't manages yet. Also maybe a campus map who knows.