My Way To You 108 Library

Up above was an intricate railway track. A steam powered train was just about to pa.s.s and Ariana couldn't help but stare. A pine cone with stick figure arms and adorable, white, round eyes was wearing a blue conductors uniform was happily manning the train. The conductor halted the train about two feet away from the bookshelf that Ariana and Gregory we're close to.

Suddenly a group of pine cone people wearing red neckerchiefs, tiny red fascinators and red blazer vests bungee jumped from the train carts. The each did amazing acrobatics as they pulled out ma.s.sive paper hang gliders from one of the pockets of their blazer vest. They skillfully sailed through the air towards the bookshelf. Each one pumped the air in victory when they landed successful, their little cheers were so cute and sweet sounding Ariana couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

Now that each pine cone person was secured on the bookshelf the unfolded their paper gliders and read the contents of the note. Soon they started searching around. Once they found the book they were looking for they unhooked their bungee cords and brought the cord to the spine of the book. Ariana's eyes grew with wonder as she watched the pine cone people pull on the cord three times as they themselves never let go of the cord.

The books flew upwards towards the carts of the train. The moment the books were just above the train the pine cone people flipped backwards using the sheets of papers as parachutes. As the books were pulled closer towards the carts, Ariana gasped. She feared that there would be a huge collision since the train was small compared to the books. To Ariana's surprise the books shrunk into tiny thumbnail squares and disappeared into the carts. While the pine cone people landed gracefully on top of the carts. They all started to high five one another for their successful mission.

The conductor turned back and made eye contact with Ariana. There was a small pause as they held eachother's gazes. The conductor s.h.i.+vered involuntarily but held his gaze firmly in place. Ariana gave him a tiny wave and it seemed to calm him down considerably. He tipped his hat, gave her a big smile then sounded off the whistle. The pine cone people sitting on the train carts looked around in confusion and caught sight of Ariana. They looked at the conductor and saw his big smile. They each pulled off their neckerchiefs and started to wave the fabric in the air. Ariana couldn't help but smile and started to wave enthusiastically.

"Who are they?!" Ariana shouted with sparkling eyes. "They are the minny kappy. Relatives of the bush folk. They actually come from the same region as Ms. Boswell. They kinda stowed away in a s.h.i.+pment that the Headmaster received a long time ago and well, here they are." Gregory said with a slightly gently smile but it didn't last long. Ariana would have never know Gregory knew how to smile if she didn't catch the fleeting moment. She started to feel more relaxed around Gregory and thought would test how far she could go. "So they work here? Why?" Ariana asked.

"The bush folk a.s.ses 'the weeds' if you will, at the bottom. Many students think they can put on a nice act and hide their true faces. So they act as our eyes and ears when students come. They also watch the gate and alert us if someone tries to leave on foot. While the minny kappy serve as our retrieval and distribution system in the library. Students can submit their book requests at the front desk. The librarian on duty will have you fill out a request form and give it to the minny kappy. You are a.s.signed a number and if your still in the building your number will flash. If the minny kappy see your flas.h.i.+ng number they will deliver your book to you. If not it gets left at the front desk for a later pick up." Gregory explained enthusiastically.

Ariana was dumbstruck, she didn't think Gregory would actually answer her seriously. She also never knew Gregory had such a gentle looking face when his guard was down. "Did I lose you?" Gregory sneered and Ariana was about ready to face palm herself, she knew it wouldn't have lasted but she hoped it would. "No it's very straight forward." Ariana replied without much care and arrogantly stuck her nose up into the air. "I just never knew how much you liked this place." She continued to say as she took a quick peek at Gregory. "Believe what you like." Gregory answered courtly. "Thank you I will." Ariana replied with a light chuckle. "So will you tell me now why and how I owe you?" Ariana asked as she moved her hand to grab a lock of her hair. She then twirled it around in between her fingers waiting for Gregory to respond.

"Let's go find a place to sit." Gregory said as he made a quick sweep of the area with his eyes. When he spotted a quiet area he placed his hand on the small area of Ariana's back and pushed her forward. "I can't believe I have to be the one that tells you things." Gregory muttered under his breath. "Well I can't believe how you're touching me so casually! I thought you despised me." Ariana responded quietly. "Ha! Only if you knew." Gregory said as they reached the table. He then graciously pulled out a chair for Ariana.
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Ariana was momentarily stunned. Her encounter with Gregory was getting stranger and stranger. Gregory signalled with his eyes for Ariana to sit but when he saw that she wasn't moving he grabbed her wrist and forced her to sit down. He then pulled out the chair beside her and sat down. "This looks so suspicion." Ariana said with a higher then normal pitched voice. "I mean, you were supposed to show me around." She continued in a mocking tone. "Books, shelves, entrance also the exit, front desk, stairs, second floor with sitting area, third floor with sitting area. Roof up top with sitting area and bas.e.m.e.nt with archive." Gregory said as he pointed to everything.

"Thanks." Ariana said flatly as she rolled her eyes. "Now as for what happened the other night..." Gregory started.

....

Ariana was left dumbfounded. She had no idea any of this had happened. Gregory had already left her to sort of her thoughts but it was useless. She couldn't wrap her head around what had happened. She couldn't remember anything past her conversation with Vanessa. "Aroha." Ariana whispered. Aroha appeared and sat in the middle of the table looking at Ariana with indifference. "Is what he said true?" She asked. Aroha averted her gaze and let out a giant sigh. "Yes."

"So the panther cubs. What happened to them?" Loralei appeared beside Aroha, flapping her fins happily. "I gifted them to the King of Darkness." Loralei replied. "All of them?!" Ariana gasped in disbelief. "He was really happy to receive them. He has never had a creature like that before in his realm and he doesn't want just anyone to have access to them. So he said he would train then hard to be a special unit only controlled by him." Loralei said with absolute delight. "So... Aroha will you finally tell me about yourself?" Ariana asked awkwardly.

"First do your project. We can talk afterwards. My story... my story is long and I don't need to distract you anymore then you already are." Aroha said as she narrowed her gaze at Ariana. It was as if she could see through Ariana and her desire to procrastinate. "Fine... oh wait I need to check something!" Ariana said in a hurry. She then closed her eyes and looked inside herself. She found the podium and rushed up to it. To her horror she saw a some sort of gla.s.s cube over top of her red starburst. "Are you alright?!" Ariana shouted. The red starburst started to furiously stab the cube with its points. It's eyes were burning with determination.

While her other awakened starbursts looked concerned. "Don't worry, Andesine will be set free. I promise." Ariana said before she left the podiums. "Aroha, something is really weird. Andesine is locked away in a cube. Why can't she get out?" Ariana asked. Aroha looked at Ariana with a bored expression, she hoped over then picked up Ariana's pencil with her beak and tapped her books. "You won't even tell me about Andesine's imprisonment?!" Ariana asked curiously. Aroha spit out the pencil with too much force, instead of landing on the book it flew towards Ariana's forehead with a smack. 'If I do what difference will it make? You need to focus on what is in front of you right now.' Aroha said, too stubborn to apologize for her actions.

Ariana peeled the pencil from her forehead and started to rub the area while she glared at Aroha. Sparks were flying between the two. Loralei bounce in between the two to try and block the glares. 'I'm sorry Ariana but Aroha is right. At this moment you are a student and because of your actions, you are now behind. You need to remember this Academy is protecting you because of your academic achievements. So calm down and try to focus.' Loralei said as she broke out into a cold sweat. "Fine." Ariana said with a defeated sigh.

Ariana looked back at her work book. She needed to write something for her STEM project but she had no idea what to do. Her first project was already used, was there really anything she could come up with to top it? Ariana groaned as she dropped her head to her book. "What's wrong princess?" Someone asked. "I don't know what to do anymore." Ariana muttered loudly into her book. "What are you doing anyways?" Another voice asked. "Draft STEM proposal." Ariana admitted as she rolled her face to the side so she could see who she was talking too. "Oh! h.e.l.lo." Ariana said with a side smile, too lazy to actually lifted herself off of the table.

"I feel your pain." Lobo said as he looked at her with pity. "When's it do?" Xander asked as he tried to steal her book. Ariana lifted her head slightly and Xander pulled out the book. "Today." Ariana replied. "And you've done nothing?" Xander stated as he glanced at the blank page. "Been sick for the last few days." Ariana said as her eyes glazed over, she remembered what she was told and she still couldn't comprehend her own behavior. "Cayden is going to kill us if we leave her like this." Icarus said with a small sigh. Lobo pulled out a chair and sat in front of Ariana. "Can't leave her alone." Lobo said as he flashed the other two guys with a devilish smile. "A favour from Cayden is worth loosing my Friday night." Icarus stated with a shrug as he took the seat next to Ariana.

"Do you know who you want to help? Have you done any research regarding our current situation in the City? Or Kingdom?" Xander asked as he sat next to Lobo and pa.s.sed the book back to Ariana. "No... but I..." Ariana said as she slowly lifted herself from the table to look at the boys. "I had an idea of what I wanted to do for someone who needed the help but now..." Ariana said bashfully. "Spit it out then. Wanting to help someone could lead to helping hundreds." Lobo said as his pink eyes flashed with curiousity. "No. That is where the problem is. I have no idea if anyone else will need it. I mean the person I wanted to make it for doesn't need it anymore so I can't even test it. I really wanted to devote myself to it but now I lost my motivation and... well what's the point?" Ariana said right before she slumped her face back on top of the table.

"Hey! You can't just leave us hanging like that! Who could be so special to the princess that you were willing to pretty much through you project for this person!" Lobo asked as he poked his index finger against Ariana's head. "Edlyn." Ariana said as she swatted Lobo's hand away. "Edlyn? The girl Xander is-bleh!" Lobo semi asked but was instantly silenced. Ariana looked up and saw how pale Lobo had gone. She sat up fast to get a better view. Lobo has slightly hunched forward as sweat rolled down his face. "You okay?!" Ariana asked in a loud worried voice. "I'm good princess." Lobo responded in a strained voice. "Are you sure?! You look like you're in a lot of pain." Ariana said as she tried to reach out to brush aside Lobo's hair that had gone forward.

Xander caught Ariana's hand and gave her a bright smile. "You shouldn't touch a man so carelessly or else someone will get very jealous." Xander said as his eyes flashed with warning. Ariana jerked back her hand and glared at Xander. She stood up and walked around to Lobo. "If someone is going to get upset with me because I care about help those in front of me then go ahead! He's in pain and it's not right to ignore someone because of public opinion." Ariana said sternly as she squatted beside Lobo. She looked into his face and then gently placed her hand on the arm around his abdomen.

"Did you eat something bad?" She asked softly. Lobo instantly flushed. "W-w-who knows?" Lobo said with a slightly awkward laugh. "Some ginger tea might help or do you want to go see the nurse?" Ariana asked Lobo, who was starting to blush a deeper red. "Nurse! Don't worry, I-I-I-I-I can go by myself!" Lobo shouted before he ran away. "I wasn't expecting that." Ariana asked dumbfounded. Icarus covered his mouth with his right hand as he doubled over. His body was shaking as his face turned red. "Despite his looks, Lobo is a shy person. I tried to save him the embarra.s.sment but you had to have your way." Xander said coolly as he glared at Ariana.

"Shy or not, standing by is not an option." Ariana said as she looked towards the exit. "I guess if he's running at that speed I shouldn't have to worry." Ariana said with a curious look. "So tell me, how where you going to help Edlyn?" Xander asked just as Ariana walked back to her seat. "I was going to give her voice back." Ariana said nonchalantly as she placed her right elbow on the table. She then rested her head on the palm of her hand. Icarus stopped laughing instantly and looked at Ariana with wide eyes. "How?" Icarus asked. Ariana gave him a side look and sighed. "Does it matter now? She has her voice back and I don't know anyone else who is mute."

"If I can introduce you to someone... do you think you could do it?" Icarus asked as his gaze turned serious. "Is being mute a common thing? I mean, there isn't a lot of people who know sign language so I never-?!" Ariana started saying but Icarus pounded the table with his fist. He glared intensely as if her answer would save his life. Ariana straightened up her back and looked at Icarus coldly. "It doesn't matter if my project can do it or not. Will this person be willing to partic.i.p.ate? I mean I am making them into a test subject and I won't yield results until it's closer to graduation."

"What if she is willing, can you do it?" Icarus asked with urgency. "In theory yes." Ariana replied. "How do you have a theory?" Xander asked suspiciously. "I told you it was for Edlyn. So I started it a while ago." Ariana replied. "How?" Icarus said with hope sparkling in his eyes. "Do you know who my grandmother is? I spoke with her and kept the whole thing secret from Edlyn. I didn't want to raise her hopes for nothing especially when I had nothing to prove my theory." Ariana said as she started to feel a little uncomfortable. The look Xander was giving her was something murderous while Icarus was giving a look of admiration. "What if... what if that person was also blind?" Icarus asked as he leaned in towards Ariana. "I don't know. Maybe. I need to do further research. I mean a voice box is very different from an ear cannal." Ariana said as she started to scoot her chair back, creating some distance between her and Icarus.

"Look further into." Icarus ordered as he straightened up. "Why? Has no ever thought of doing something like this? I mean we live in a world of magic it should be a no brainer." Ariana said as she grabbed her pencil and book. "That's exactly it. We live in a world of magic and no one is willing to make advancements. Especially for people who are deemed favoured by spirits, magical creatures, elementals or demons. The majority of the population will look for the jewel eyed priestess to remove such 'curses' but then they are also at the mercy of the church." Xander explained. Ariana snapped the pencil in her hand in half. She looked at Icarus with fire burning in her eyes. "Who is it that needs my help?" Ariana asked.

"My grandmother." Icarus said softly as if the words were something fragile and delicate. Ariana nodded her head in understanding. She bent over slightly and retrieved a new pencil. While Aroha and Loralei smiled at each other before turning back into light and going back inside Ariana's earrings. "I need to get in touch with my grandmother... maybe there are books here regarding ears but my human body body is in my room... I need to write my ideas." Ariana muttered as she started to write furiously.