10.
Slipping into the library under cover of night was even easier to do than say. The most difficult moment came when several of the warm fairies, now transformed into frost talents, nearly slid on the ice and into the sleeping form of Fiona, Dewey's pet Lynx. For Tinker Bell, it was an odd moment of déjà vu.
The archives were down the main hall. Here the Keeper maintained the definitive history of Pixie Hollow. Periwinkle led the way. The ancient texts were stored neatly in an alcove where Dewey was attempting to both restore and duplicate these aging tomes. Before proceeding, Periwinkle made sure to caution her friends to be as quiet as possible. "Dewey lives in a room off this main hall. He might hear us if he decides to stay up late."
Dewey sometimes found himself so immersed in his work that he would sometimes neglect to keep track of time and wouldn't get to sleep until early the next morning. Tinker Bell could relate.
Using only the glow from their dust laden wings the girls began the labor intensive process of searching, page by page, through these brittle old books for anything that might shed light on the mystery they had inadvertently stumbled into.
The process took longer than expected. No one had anticipated that these ancient books would be written in an early version of the fairy language that was at once both familiar yet foreign. Their language had evolved over time, as all languages eventually do. Definitions, context, syntax and even grammar had all changed to some degree or another since these words had been written.
Altering everyone into Scribe talents would have made this easier as any scribe would have a much easier time understanding these archaic writings. Unfortunately, Scribe was primarily a warm weather talent. Even if Zarina had thought to bring some her transforming dust, it would have been useless in the Winter Season. This meant that deciphering the ancient language of the fairies would be a slow proposition filled with lots of trial and error.
As they proceeded, the girls came across a number of Pixie Hollow's rather harmless secrets. This was knowledge which had simply fallen into disuse and could only be found in these dilapidated texts. These included such things as the origins of Pixie Dust (a magic dove and her egg were involved); the first contact with Peter Pan; and even the beginnings of fairies themselves.
"'When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies,'" Rosetta told the others, reading from one of the books. "So that's where we come from. Amazing"
"Yeah, amazing. Don't get distracted," Vidia scolded.
"Didn't you ever want to know?"
"Under different circumstances that would be truly fascinating," Iridessa replied, her voice in a hushed tone to avoid waking Dewey who slept just down the hall. "But right now we have to focus on the task."
"I wouldn't mind hearing about it later, Ro," Tinker Bell said. To the little tinker fairy, this wasn't a repository of old and outdated books, it was a treasure of information which could inform her talent and open new avenues of tinkering and invention. She made a mental note to spend more time in the library with Periwinkle at some future date.
~O~
Gliss stood watch in the hallway alone. Fawn, who at one time been her companion as lookout, had been called inside the alcove to help the others find what they were looking for. That was more than two hours ago. Gliss, who was always a bundle of excitable energy, snuck around the main hall looking for anything that might indicate another person in the library.
Suddenly, she heard a noise. Dewey was shuffling around. "Oh now where did I leave my glasses," he muttered to himself.
Gliss raced back to the alcove to alert the others. "It's Dewey. He's coming this way."
Frantically the girls replaced every book they had taken from the shelves. Tinker Bell made sure each was in its proper place before joining others as they carefully hid, motionless, either behind or on top of the bookshelves. Dewey entered the room, a yawn indicating how tired he was. "Now where could they be?"
The Keeper searched the tables and shelves for his missing spectacles. The fairies cautiously and silently snuck around him as he stumbled around half awake. "I know those accursed glasses are around here somewhere," he yawned.
Fawn spied a glint of light. She tapped her companion, Rosetta the Garden Fairy. "Look," she whispered, pointing. Stuck within the folds of Rosetta's rose petal dress were Dewey's glasses. He had indeed left them in this room and had somehow become attached. The redhead carefully dislodged the specs from her clothing and handed them to Fawn. "Now what do we do," she mouthed to the animal fairy.
Fawn just shrugged.
"Hey. Hey," someone overhead ever so faintly whispered. Rosetta and Fawn looked up and found Spike laying atop the bookshelf. She pointed to a table where Dewey could find them. Unfortunately, he was right next to it. They would be found out, as well.
"That won't work," Fawn mouthed back.
"You got a better idea?!" Spike angrily whispered in return.
Then, to everyone's relief, Dewey casually floated away from the desk.
"Go. Go!" Spike urged them with a wave of her arms. Fawn and Rosetta crept out from their hiding place and reached out to place the glasses when suddenly Dewey stopped. He hovered before a bookshelf in a dark corner. Barely awake the Keeper tapped his walking stick on the ground two times and the room instantly seemed to come to life with a low rumble that shook everything. Fawn, Rosetta and all the other fairies watched in dumbstruck awe as the seemingly plain bookshelf swung open revealing the entrance to a dark, hidden chamber concealed behind it.