This fic is written for Hourglass of Fantasies's birthday! This is also the longest oneshot ever that I've wrote. I hope they're all in character! Well…here ya go!
Disclaimer: I actually don't own anything here. Not even the characters. They belong to Hourglass of Fantasies.
Life in the library really wasn't as great as it was cut out to be for Kuru. Sure, people treated him with respect, and sure, Kuru had a ranking role in the palace, but at the price of taking orders from anyone looking for a book! Airmore made it look easy, and he was always so patient with his clients. But Kuru had a slight suspicion that the Twili were being harder on him then on Airmore. "Oh Kuru, could you get these books in a few seconds?" "Kuru, thanks for the book, but it was the wrong one, go and fetch the right one." "Oh Kuru, wait, never mind." Sure, the last one didn't seem so bad, unless you knocked over a few bookshelves to get to that client. Sometimes, Kuru hated the palace role of librarian. Sometimes, if he felt really bad, he thought Midna just gave him the job to be cruel to him.
It was on one of those days when Midna was banished.
It took a while for the news to reach Kuru, since he was busily replacing a stack misplaced books on the shelves. He was about to put the last book on the shelf when Felt's voice called out to him. "Kuru, get your butt out of the library, Midna's been banished!" Of course, the news made Kuru flinch, and the vibrations of the flinch cause a book to fall out of the shelf. Then another. And another. Pretty soon, the shelf was empty, and Kuru was buried under a pile of heavy books.
"Um, Felt?" Kuru's voice timidly called out from under the books, "A little help please?"
Annoyed, Felt quickly swatted the books from on top of Kuru and helped him up. "You know, kid, since you're the librarian, you should be able to avoid that kind of thing."
"I-I'm sorry, it's just that the news startled me. And could you please not call me 'kid' anymore?"
"Really, kid," Felt continued, totally oblivious to Kuru's words, "A librarian should be more composed, and not flinch from the sound of someone's voice."
"Um, it wasn't your voice that made me flinch," Kuru lied, "It's just…a bug! Yeah, a big one was crawling on the shelves!"
"A bug? You're not serious, are you?"
"…"
"Well anyway, I'm pretty sure you want to deal with your fear of bugs right now, so I'll tell you how Midna got banished some other time." He made the motion to leave.
"Wait!" Kuru cried, "Please tell me! I don't want to be kept in the dark!"
"Are you sure? I don't want to scare you after your brush-in with the bug."
"Just tell me!"
"Fine," Felt took a breath. "Remember that jerk of a Twili a few weeks ago that wanted to exile Midna?"
"Yeah," Kuru said, remembering, "He wasn't very nice, he called us dimwits."
"Whatever, I don't care if he called you a dimwit."
"Um, he called all of us dimwits. Including you."
"ANYWAY," Felt said loudly, "Apparently he's right, Midna did break the Law of Twilight."
"So?" Kuru asked, "All the other Twili decided not to press charges."
"Well it's not actually up to the other Twili. You see, kid,"
"Stop with the 'kid' already!" Kuru muttered under his breath.
"Midna's fate is decided by the gods and goddesses of our land. The Law of Twilight is one of our most ancient and sacred codes, and it can't be overlooked by our people. That bastard of a Twili pleaded his case to the gods and goddesses, and now Midna only has seven days left in the palace."
"Is there any way we can save her in such a short period of time?" Kuru asked.
"Well…" Felt hesitated. "Actually, her time started four days ago, so she actually only has three days left."
"WHAT!?" Kuru shouted, startling Felt, "Three days!? Why are you just telling me this now!?"
"Um, well," Felt seemed at a loss for words, "We actually forgot all about you."
Shock showed clearly on Kuru's face. "Forget it," Kuru said, retreating into a corner, "I give up, just kill me now…"
"Hey, cheer up emo kid!" Felt said cheerfully, "You can now use 'cut' outside of battle!"
"How that supposed to cheer me up?" Kuru asked miserably.
"It's not," Felt admitted, "But it sure cheered me up!" Kuru fell to the floor in misery. "Hold up, kid," Felt picked him up, "No need to overdose on misery now, there's plenty of time after we save Midna."
"But how?" Kuru asked, "We only have seven,"
"Three," Felt corrected.
"Three days to save her," Kuru continued, "And I don't know how we can defy the Law of Twilight!"
"Hey, kid, there's an old light dweller saying that goes like this, 'A loophole a day keeps the goddesses away!'"
"A loophole?"
"That's right, kid," Felt said, "All you need to do is find a loophole to the unbreakable law! Now that doesn't sound too hard, now does it?"
"So why do I have to find the loophole?" Kuru questioned.
"Because you're the librarian, and it's your job to read books all day to find the answer. And with that, I'm leaving you to your job!"
"Wait!" Kuru cried before Felt left "Aren't you gonna help me?"
"Well…" Felt started, "I'm a warrior. And reading boring books all day doesn't exactly scream 'fearless warrior' to you. Besides, I hate reading, why do you think I forgot you?"
"But you have to help me!" Kuru pleaded, "You owe it to the princess, no, to the entire Twilight Realm to help me! Besides, it's your fault I only have three days!"
"But-"
"Felt," Kuru said menacingly, "Help me, or you'll find yourself under a pile of books for the next few years…"
"Hold on," Felt said, "Did you just threaten me?"
"Um," Kuru stuttered, "I don't know. I kinda just blacked out for a second there…"
"I like that!" Felt exclaimed, "You know, kid, you might not be that bad after all! I'll gladly help you in your quest of reading! Therefore, my name will forever go down as the one who saved the princess from exile!"
"In other words," Kuru muttered, "You want to take all the credit for yourself."
"Let's go, kid," Felt said, "It's time to save Lady Midna, one book at a time!"
Three Hours Later…
"Okay, who said that we have to save Lady Midna one book a time!?" Felt exclaimed angrily.
The pair was surrounded by stacks of books and scrolls, each manuscript becoming thicker and longer with each pile. In the middle was Kuru speed-reading though aged yellowed books, and Felt was passing book after book under Kuru's nose.
"You did," Kuru said briskly. He focused most of his attention on what he was reading. "Next."
Felt pushed a scroll in front of Kuru. "And why I'm I doing the document pushing and not the reading?"
"Because," Kuru said quickly, "You can only read four words per minute, whereas I can read four hundred per second."
"And how can you do that again?" Felt asked.
"Magical librarian's cloak gives me enhanced reading ability." Kuru stated simply. "Next."
Felt sighed and gave Kuru another manuscript.
Two Days Later…
"Haven't you found anything yet!?" Felt cried out angrily, "You've been reading for two days straight!"
"All I have is the part of the Law of Twilight that prohibits the visitation of the Light Realm." Kuru said. "Next."
"And do you care to explain what that law is?" Felt asked.
Kuru sighed. "Article VII: Claus II: Section IV: Sub-section B: The visitation of the lands of Light is prohibited due to treaties between the sages of light and the sages of twilight. Said treaties prohibit interdimensional travel through the use of any magical object other than one with association with the Mirror of Twilight. Any interdimensional travel using objects such as, but not limited to, books, pendants, garments, or living sacrifice. The punishment for interdimensional travel using any of the prohibited items is exile, though the punishment for living sacrifice is execution. Next."
"Living sacrifice?" Felt asked as he passed him a scroll.
"Usually the still beating heart of a Twili with noble blood." Kuru said. "Next."
Felt gave him a torn up scroll. "Is there any chance you could hurry up? I mean, the princess's freedom is on the line!"
"I'm doing the best I can!" Kuru said, "This scroll's no good. Next."
"No." Felt muttered.
Kuru held his hand out for the next document. "Hello? I said next."
"And I said no!" Felt said angrily. "Let me read one, I bet I can do a better job than you!"
"Hardly, Midna will be gone before you finish a single scroll!"
"Well look who's grown a temper after two nights of no sleep!" Felt yelled. "Just let me read one of the scrolls."
"Fine." Kuru said, handing Felt a scroll that he's read already. "Read this."
"But you've read this already!" Felt protested.
"So you re-read it!" Kuru retorted.
"Fine." Felt muttered as he sat down to read. Kuru did the same with a different manuscript. "WAIT!" Felt cried out, startling Kuru out of his seat.
"What?" Kuru inquired.
Felt grinned. "I found out how to save Midna."
"What?" Kuru said disbelievingly. "You've found the answer in that scroll? But I've already read that one!"
"I guess you didn't read it well enough." Felt smirked. "Slow and steady wins the race, kid."
"Slow and steady…"
"M-Mr. Airmore?" A young Kuru asked.
"No need to call me 'Mr.' Kuru," Airmore told him, "Airmore's just fine."
"Um, A-Airmore? W-why are you reading that book so slowly? I've seen you read way faster than that before."
Airmore snapped the book shut, and raised his hand. Kuru shut his eyes, expecting to be hit, but instead, Airmore's hand was patting his head. "You see, Kuru, even though I can read four hundred words per second, I prefer to read slowly."
"B-but why?" Kuru stuttered.
"Because, when I read slowly, my brain has time to fully process what I'm reading. If I speed read, then my brain only catches bits and pieces of what I'm reading. Understand, Kuru?"
"N-no, not really." Kuru admitted.
"All in good time, child." Airmore said quietly, "Maybe you'll understand when you're older."
"When I'm older…" Kuru said quietly.
"Kid?" Felt asked, "You okay?"
"Felt, I just remembered something Airmore said to me a long time ago, before he died. He told me how important it is to take things slowly, and not to rush straight through this like I've been doing. I guess I'll never have the eternal patience Airmore had…"
Felt was sleeping. "Felt? Felt! Wake up, Felt!"
"Wh-what?" Felt yawned. "Sorry, dozed off for a bit there."
"Didn't you hear a word that I said?" Kuru asked.
"Nope." Kuru fell miserably. "I'm kidding! Sheesh. Listen, kid. It's okay if you forgot about Airmore's teachings for a bit, but everyone forgets things sometimes. Besides, who said you have to have the patience Airmore did. Just because you're his successor, doesn't mean you have to be like him. So cheer up, Kuru, we have a Kingdom to save."
Kuru looked up. "You just called me by my name."
"So?"
"You never use my name!"
"Well I did now. So let's hurry up and get to Midna, before I go there myself."
--
"Princess Midna," the Twili sage spoke, "Stand up." Midna obeyed. "You are charged on entering the Light Realm though the use of an object not relating to the Mirror of Twilight. If you are found guilty, you will hereby be banished from the Twilight Realm. How do you plead?"
"Your honor," Midna pleaded, "It wasn't my choice to enter the Light Realm. It was set up by Zant's wife, Canary, I took no willing part in it!"
"Silence!" the sage said, "I asked if you were guilty of entering the Light Realm or not!"
"I did, but-"
"That's enough!" the sage yelled. "You have entered the Light Realm without permission. And we have records that show it. Now, if there is anyone with evidence to set the princess free, then speak now." No one spoke. "Very well, then. I herby announce Princess Midna, guil-"
"WAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT!!" Felt and Kuru came bursting in. "We object, your honor!"
The sage grumbled. "Very well then. Speak."
"This here," Felt said, gesturing to Kuru, "Is the palace librarian."
"Librarian?" the sage asked, "But this is not Airmore!"
"That's because Kuru is his successor! And he has found the one piece of evidence that will set Midna free!"
"And what may that be?"
"May I present," Kuru said, "Exhibit A!" Felt pulled out an old weathered scroll. "The document that reveals the material used to create the book!"
Murmurs of excitement from the crowd. "Silence!" the sage commanded. "Please continue."
"Gladly. You see, that witch Canary has written down what was used to create the book. One blank book, one dash of dark magic, a spoonful of cinnamon, and, most importantly, a shard from the Mirror of Twilight. The Law of Twilight clearly states that in Article VII: Claus II: Section IV: Sub-section B: The visitation of the lands of Light is prohibited due to treaties between the sages of light and the sages of twilight. Said treaties prohibit interdimensional travel through the use of any magical object other than one with association with the Mirror of Twilight. Any interdimensional travel using objects such as, but not limited to, books, pendants, garments, or living sacrifice. The punishment for interdimensional travel using any of the prohibited items is exile, though the punishment for living sacrifice is execution."
"Your point is?" the sage asked.
"Since the book had a shard of the mirror contained in its pages, it is therefore associated with the Mirror of Twilight. Which means Lady Midna did nothing to upset the law!"
The crowd started cheering. "Silence!" the sage yelled again. "Well, it appears that the child has done his homework. Very well, the court of sages now declares Princess Midna, not guilty! I shall take my leave now." The sage disappeared in a flash of light.
Midna leapt towards Kuru and took him in her arms. "Thank you, Kuru!" she exclaimed, "Without you I would've been exiled!" She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Kuru blushed deeply. "I-it was nothing Lady Midna."
Felt scratched his head. "I helped too, milady."
Midna stood up and looked at Felt. "I thank you too, Felt. But don't expect a kiss, I just gave Kuru one because he's so cute in Airmore's robe! Ehee hee hee!"
"Fine…whatever." Felt said. "It's not like I wanted a kiss anyway."
Midna smiled, and gave Felt a hug. "That's okay, I can still give you a thank you hug."
Felt blushed a deep shade of red. "T-thank you milady! Um, you can let go now."
And with those words, Midna and Kuru laughed, and the story has ended.
