Author Note: I don't know if anybody noticed the Fantasia reference in the last chapter, but the magic brooms trying to flood the school was a reference to the Sorcerer's Apprentice released as part of Disney's Fantasia in 1940. To understand what Emira was dealing with, you should look it up to watch. Another great one is Rhapsody in Blue from Fantasia 2000. It's fantastic.
Emira stood in front of her destination, scanning the windows and rooftop for any alternate entrances. Unfortunately, she didn't see any. Perhaps she could avoid scrutiny if she snuck in, though that was a long shot. There were plenty of people inside who could notice her and kick her out, which they certainly would.
She'd been banned from the library for a good reason after all.
But now she really needed to go there. Watching Viney perform her new spell and been inspiring and Emira wanted to help her, but without doing some research it wouldn't be possible.
She had no idea what kind of spell she could use to enhance the magic. Emira had asked the illusion track teacher what they thought about a spell that could be used to extend or enhance other spells, but they said there were so many that might or might not work for what Emira wanted and suggested that she do some research.
This left Emira with no choice, if she wanted to help then she would need to look in books. That meant the library.
The problem was, there was no way she'd be allowed inside. By her estimate, the odds of getting past the front desk were about 5 percent. She had known that before she walked all the way there, and she was willing to take those odds. Helping Viney with her spell was worth it.
Shaking her doubts away, Emira put on her best confident smile and walked up the stairs to the library entrance. She opened the door and went inside, closing it gently behind her. She held her head high, making sure not to look at the head librarian behind the counter, and walked past the front desk. Perhaps if she acted like she belonged he would just let her go. That was wishful thinking.
"Excuse me Ms. Blight." The head librarian called to her in a stern tone, causing her to stop mid step. She turned her head to look at him. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He said, gesturing to a small poster on the wall behind him with the Blight twins' faces on it and the word banned written over them in red ink.
Emira made sure her smile didn't slip as she turned and approached the counter. "Good afternoon." She made a point of being polite, pretending she hadn't just been trying to walk past without being noticed. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to stay and do some reading."
"It isn't." The librarian replied bluntly, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"I need to do some research for a spell, and this is the best place in the Boiling Isles to do it." Emira tried talking up the library a little, then switched her tactic. "I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."
The librarian's firm expression slipped slightly, as if he were considering it. "Your brother isn't here, is he?"
"No, he's not." Emira replied firmly. Ed always caused more trouble than her; it was a good decision not to bring him today.
The librarian thought about it for a moment, then sighed once. "Fine, but if you cause so much as a wink of trouble you'll never set foot in this building again." Phew, that was a relief. She wasn't sure what she would do if he hadn't let her in.
Now Emira was genuinely smiling. "Thank you so much!" She was about to walk away, but realized that she had only ever spent time playing pranks here, not actually reading books, so she had no idea where to even start looking. "Where can I find books on casting illusion magic?"
The librarian leaned forward to point at a set of stairs to the right. "Go up those stairs, then make a left and go straight until you reach the last row of bookshelves."
Emira thanked him again, then went to do just that. She could feel his gaze on her back as she climbed the stairs and turned left. She walked that way until she reached the last set of shelves, then turned in to look for something she could use.
Just as the librarian said, the shelves were full of books about illusion magic. An overwhelming number of them, in fact. She skimmed the titles, taking a few that could be relevant. She stuck with broader topics to start. Quickly, her arms were full of books. Emira took her pile out of the row of bookshelves and over to a nearby table, where she sat down and got to work.
The first book was a general overview text of types of illusion magic. Emira thought it would be a good place to start, since she wasn't really sure how to find the information she was looking for and this could give her some ideas. She opened to the table of contents, looking to see which type might fit best for enhancing the power of other spells. There was a chapter on layering illusions together, so Emira flipped to that page to start there.
She read through the pages, one by one, looking for any info that could help her. Reading this reminded her of how much she hated studying, but she was determined to stick with it.
Emira had only been reading for about ten minutes when someone approached her. She didn't notice them until they spoke.
"Emira?" There was no mistaking the voice behind her; Mittens had found her. "What are you doing here?" She asked in a high tone, sounding like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Emira turned her head to look at her. Mittens was carrying her school bag and had a concerned look on her face. "Doing some research." Emira answered the question honestly. She patted the chair next to her to invite Mittens to sit down.
"Really?" Mittens joined her at the table, putting her bag on the ground and sitting down in the chair. "That's not like you."
"I know, I'm not usually allowed in here." Emira chuckled.
Mittens nodded, gesturing towards the front of the building. "That must be why the librarian told me to look out for trouble."
"Good work catching me." Emira winked, bringing a slight smile to Mittens face. "I really am here to look things up though."
"What are you trying to find?" Mittens asked, shifting to a more serious expression.
Maybe Mittens could help her find the right books, or direct her to a different section of the library if she was looking in the wrong place. "One of my friends, Viney, she's one of the multi track students if you remember, is working on developing a spell." Emira had started speaking strong, but this was surprisingly embarrassing to talk about. She could feel her face warming as she continued. "I want to help her enhance it with illusion magic, so I'm researching what kind of spell might work."
Mittens' eyes were narrowed as she turned it over in her mind. "What does the spell do?"
"Give a beast temporary healing abilities. Right now, she can apply the spell and it heals once. The problem is, it wears off after one use and isn't as strong as it should be." That was the easiest way to explain it.
"Hmm." Mittens brought her hand to her chin as she thought. Emira could practically see the gears turning. "So you want to meld multiple types of magic, specifically to let a beast carry a healing spell effectively."
"That's right."
Mittens turned her eyes to the pile of books Emira had gathered. "Those books are too broad to help with that."
Emira had figured, but didn't know where else to start. "Could you help me find better ones?" She asked. Mittens spent a lot of time reading and Emira trusted her to know what she was doing.
Her sister nodded. "I'll go look." She rose from her chair, then walked back towards the same bookshelves Emira had been looking at before. While she was gone, Emira skimmed through the rest of the chapter she had been reading. She didn't want to miss anything if it was going to be useful.
It wasn't very useful, and by the time she had finished Mittens was on her way back with a couple books in her hands. Emira closed the book and put it back on top of the pile.
"Here you go." Mittens put the books in front of her. "This first one examines theories in magnifying spell power through perception. The second is studies on ways to make spells last longer after being cast." Leave it to Mittens to find just the right books.
"They're perfect." Emira stood for a moment to give Mittens a quick hug. "Thanks, you're the best."
Mittens averted her gaze as she pulled back from the embrace. "Glad I could help." She said, and then picked her bag up off the ground. "I have to get going, it's almost story time. I hope you find what you're looking for."
"I'm sure I will." Emira then said goodbye and waved as Mittens turned to walk away. Once Mittens was out of sight, she opened the book about magnifying spell power and got back to work.
She tried not to think about how many hours it might've taken her to find this book on her own, and thanked Mittens again in her head.
Emira stayed at the library for another couple of hours. She found some interesting information in the first book, and some even better stuff in the second. She went to put the first set of books she got away and found another one that would help.
By the time she left the library, Emira had a good idea of how to fix the spell. She checked the three books out of the library to keep working on it. Though the reading had been tough, she'd had a productive couple of hours and was optimistic that the spell would work.
She would perfect it and practice at home so that she could get it just right, and then show Viney when it was ready.
It was going to be great.
End Note: I've missed writing these two together.