Disclaimer: I only own Verona. Elizabeth belongs to one of my friends.
Author's note: Ninth chapter. One of my longest fics yet. Hopefully I can actually finish it.
After the Crystal Palace had been attacked, the city began its mad rush to rebuild. The sections of the castle that had been destroyed were rebuilt with stones. The large pieces of crystal that had scattered among the city could not be moved, and buildings were just simply built around them. This proved to have a very interesting effect; now the entire city seemed to sparkle, instead of just the Crystal Palace.
Everyone met up in the hotel in Denningrad, Dart explaining what had happened when he got to Neet. Afterwards, they went to a clothing store to purchase plain winter parkas for the entire group, which was necessary for the cold weather. They then proceeded to the library, upon Albert's request. As they walked, Meru slowed until she was between Verona and Elizabeth.
"This is amusing," she muttered to the two women, being sure to keep her voice quiet enough for the men ahead of them not to hear. "Albert acts like libraries are the givers of life." She grinned. "Keep an eye on him while we're in there. You could stand behind him and breathe on his neck while he's reading and he wouldn't notice."
"Takes them that seriously, eh?" asked Elizabeth quietly, smiling slightly at the image in her head of Albert sitting at a desk, reading while Meru stands directly behind him, breathing on the back of his neck while he doesn't seem to notice.
"You bet." Meru winked. "You guys just watch him. I'll show you what I mean after a little while."
As soon as they entered the library, an irrepressible smile appeared on Albert's face. He looked like he had died and gone to bookworm heaven.
Librarian Ute stood up on the second level, replacing a book to its proper place on the shelf when he heard the heavy library door open. He walked over to the guardrail to see the group of people enter. It took him a few moments to recognize the group, but then a small smile came to his face. He called down to them, despite the fact that he was in a library. Who would care? There was no one else there.
"Well, if it isn't the seven heroes! I haven't seen you since the Signet War."
"Signet War?" asked Dart, calling back up. "Is that what people call it?"
Ute nodded. "Come up, all of you; you have much to tell me!" Once all were up with him, he studied them all carefully. "Well well," he said as he nodded, folding his arms and tucking his hands into his wide sleeves. "I see you all survived. Sacred Sister Miranda!" He jumped, startled at the sight of the Sacred Sister. "I didn't know you were one of the heroes!"
The First Sacred Sister nodded curtly, pushing a stray lock of blonde hair behind her right ear, her blue eyes cold and passive. "And if you weren't so busy trying to make yourself self-righteous, you would have noticed we have a few more than last time."
The librarian adjusted his glasses, his hands and voice slightly shaky from the blow to his ego. "Well… uh… so I see! And what are your names; hmm?" He shot a glare at Hashel, who was hiding a chuckle behind his hand and trying to disguise it as a cough.
"Elizabeth," said the older female Wingly, nodding slightly.
"I'm Verona," said the female Human.
"And are you all here to look for something in particular?" he inquired.
"No." Dart shook his head. "We're here because of him." He nodded towards Albert, who was looking around at the bookshelves longingly.
"Ah! I remember you; you were the enthusiastic one! Well, feel free to look up whatever you please."
Without wasting a moment, the royal bookworm shot up the ladder to the third level, his cape and ponytail seeming caught in the space Albert had once been before trailing behind him.
Within several minutes he became absorbed in a book about politics, not noticing the two Winglies standing a distance away down the walkway and watching him.
Meru leaned over towards Elizabeth slightly, so the elder Wingly could hear her quietly speaking. "Where's Verona?"
She leaned towards the younger Wingly as well, quietly responding to the question. "I saw her go with Dart, Shana, and the librarian upstairs." She nodded her head towards the staircase that led further up the building.
"Oh well. Her loss." Meru refocused her attention on the reading king. "I'll give him a few more minutes before he'll zone out."
They both stood and watched him until he turned two pages. Then Meru grinned as she looked at Elizabeth. "Watch" she mouthed, not making any sound. She then quietly approached the preoccupied king and stood behind him. She started to call him quietly in a sing-song voice. "Al-beeeeeeert…"
He gave no reaction.
"A-aaaaaaaaaaal…"
The turn of a page.
Elizabeth grinned. This was amusing.
Meru's childish grin increased in size and she increased the volume of her voice slightly. "Your Royal Majesteeeeeeeee…"
Still no reaction.
Elizabeth was about ready to burst out laughing. Meru wasn't exaggerating when she said he took libraries seriously.
Meru moved to Albert's left, peeking around his arm.
He still didn't seem to notice her.
She turned her head at an odd angle and read a little bit of what he was reading, her grin shrinking to an amused smile and curiosity lighting her eyes. As far as she could tell, it was about Mille Seasu's political overview. She leaned back on her heels slightly, fingers laced behind her head as she shrugged. "Looks boring to me," she commented out loud.
Albert jumped slightly and quickly looked over his left shoulder, a vaguely surprised expression on his face. "Oh! Meru; you startled me."
She burst out giggling, no longer leaning back on her heels as she twirled once. Elizabeth had also burst out giggling, but was trying to hide it by trying to cover her grin with a hand.
Realizing what had been going on, his eyes narrowed and a slight smile appeared. "You were teasing me, weren't you?"
They both laughed harder.
Time passes
A few hours later, they arrived at the Crystal Palace. Queen Theresa was thrilled to see them all again, and glad that Miranda made it back, even if it was for only one day. She offered them to stay at the castle for the night, and they gladly accepted.
Once he was settled into his room, Albert seated himself at the desk, sheet of paper before him and a pen in his hand. He held up the paper slightly, thoughts buzzing though his head. There was so much he wanted to say, but how could he put them down in a way that made sense? Granted, yes, nothing terribly exciting had happened; but he had thought a great deal during their journey so far, and he wanted to put his thoughts down on the paper. After pondering for several more minutes on how to start, he set the paper down and began writing, his head and shoulders hunched over the paper as his ponytail slid over his right shoulder and land across his forearm, only to go unnoticed. He mumbled the words to himself as they were written; a habit of his when he was concentrating.
"My dearest Emille; I write this letter in the Crystal Palace of Mille Seasu…"
Time passes
In Mayfil, the two cloaked figures stood on opposite sides of the small pool of water, both of the hoods tilted downwards as they looked down. The image on the surface was of the Dragoons boarding the Queen Fury in Furni.
"Things seem peaceful," observed the figure in white, her words echoing softly around the cavern.
"For now," came the voice of the figure in black. "But the village of Gez will require their assistance if anyone is to escape."
The white hood tilted to the left slightly as Elizabeth and Verona jumped onto the docking claw, Verona being the last to board. She pauses to turn back to the town and take another fond look at it before proceeding onto the ship. "They are becoming stronger as Dragoons; and there will be a battle soon."
"They will be ready. There will be more than enough time for them to prepare for what lies ahead."
Author's note: Poor Albert. His library addiction seems to be getting worse, doesn't it?
