Merry Christmas to all of you!

And a good 2008!

I know this is a really short chapter, but it's really exhausting for me to write something with this erm... qualities. It's not a short story, so I have to apley myself. And I have to force myself to write something that long.

Please have mercy with me little dummy .-.

And thanks to all thos who gave a review to poorsilly me. My thanks is all yours!

Ienzo hold his breath in pure awe and surprise. And hold it. And hold it. And suddenly his vision became blurry and his mind fogged.

His eyes teared, because remaining them open at the size of saucers wasn't very healthy for your eye sight at all.

Under the branch was that what he would call a fairy tale, a legend, a myth. Under normal circumstances. Ienzo has always been a man who trusted in facts, and the body in front of him was a damn visible fact. But still his mind refused to accept it.

The first viewable fishtail was green as the blue sea. It was a beautiful pattern of darker and lighter dots of green and blue and even some black. The tail fin had fanned out on the dusty ground and the light sky-blue looked like it was made of velvet. The whole tail formed a male hip, with little spiked fins on each side of his flank. The scales of the green glided perfectly over on lightly emerald skin.

Ienzo' s eyes, if it was at least possible, widened something further, as his gaze wandered over the now visible body.

Obviously a male. He thought. He thought that down-to-earth. Yeah, dammit.

The whole torso looked somewhat pale, even a little bit too pale, on the shoulders sprouted similar spikes and little fins like on his hips. The same colour and shape, surrounded by bigger blue and green scales, which grew down to his elbow.

There were webs between his fingers, which ended in dangerous looking claws with sharp nails.

But what really caught his attention was the face. The hair of the merman looked damp and a mess, but its colour made Ienzo's stomach clutch and little tears forming in the edges of his left eye.

There weren't any ears, but something that could be compared with it. The same formation of spikes and fins spread out of his head.

Somewhere back in his mind Ienzo combined it shows his species. But, really, very far back in his mind.

Ienzo was overwhelmed by the sight of the blue an d green, as something at least familiar but rather unwelcome caught his attention.

Red blood.

There was a huge wound in the upper region of the fin. A little deeper, and the fin would have been split in two. Some bigger fleshy wounds on his left upper arm and a collection of really ugly looking striae. Deeply cutting into the bare flesh of the unprotected torso.

The young scholar had made his decision at the moment he laid eyes on the sea creature.

But now, as he leaned forward to touch him, he felt a strange emptiness inside his stomach.

He reached out and touched the merman on the shoulder.

Immediately shot a sensation, like an electric shock, up from his fingertips, over his shoulder behind his eyes and around his heart.

His vision went white and for a couple of minutes he felt unable to move, to breath, to feel the beat of his heart. Ienzo was stuck in this feeling of sensation, the band between him and the immobile body next to him.

The feeling grew stronger, his hard went out and his eyes rolled up in their holes.

Like a little explosion it vanished, leaving him

somehow weak and dizzy and still with this prickle in his limbs and the aching craving in his chest. But craving for what?

---

The first reason he loved the library of the Bastion on the upper Hills of Radiant Garden were, of course, the enourmus amount of books gathered there.

The second was the silence, just sometimes interreptud by the other inhabitants of the castle coming and picking up some books and leaving again. Ienzo was the only one who could bear the calmness next to the dusty treasures of wisdom. The servants came sure enough seldom inside his sanctuary and the other pupils used to read in other places. He didn't know about Xehanort, but Dilan prefered to read on top of the highest tower, while Braig didn't read too much for his own good. Alaeus stopped once a day to chat with him outside the regular times. It was their private time at all. But also he went out again, to read in the mountains behind the Bastion. As steady as Alaeus was, as unsteady was Even. He came along once or twice a weak, picking up as many books he was able to carry and then vanishing inside his chambers, where he had stationed his lab. But sometimes he didn't came for a month or longer arround, but more and more books vanished, leaving big empty holes in the shelves.

Even Master Ansem prefered to send a servant and reading in his office.

And the third reason he loved the library so much was the huge with colourfull creatures filled fishtank in a hidden corner behind the books for healing spells.

Master Ansem had told him that it'd been a present from a man who lived near the sea, but he couldn't bring it over to watch them in his office, because it was so huge and colourfull and the fish inside so very irritating.

Master Ansem was right, it was irritating, if you're reading an interesting essay about the strukutre of human minds, it wasn't very helpful when tiny blue, yellow and red spots danced arround in the midair. And he was always glad that his fluffy red armchair, where he usually used to read, was placed in front of the big window, with a row of books between him and the fish.

But know he actually had felt in love with the fish tank.

I also love fish. I reall do. I had a fish once when I was a little girl. He was all blue and I called him "Bluelilo" . Inventive, isn't it? But hey! I was 7!

So btw please give me some reviews to this story. And allow yourself to show me the mistakes, which I'm sure you'll find plenty of in this short chapter.