I totally forgot about this! My bad! D:
Erseus came in to see how they were getting on. With him, two imps they had not seen before.
The first, an olive-skinned, dark haired imp with jagged, deep purple markings, his eyes like obsidian. He was dressed mostly in black, except for his sky blue scarf. He didn't look very happy to be here; Okia got the impression he wasn't happy to be anywhere.
The second imp, a smiley woman with pink swirling marks over brown skin. Her thick, brown hair was braided with feathers over her shoulder and her eyes were a light, earthy brown, almost amber in the sunlight coming through the window. She wasn't dressed as dramatically as the other imp, a simple white dressed tucked at the waist.
"Oh, she looks like Isa too!" She cooed. "I've never been so happy!"
"Thrilling." The other imp muttered, picking something off his sleeve.
"Okia, this is my cousin, Ni. And this is Pip."
"The no-no pie lady."
"The what pie lady?" The smile tightened, eyes wide with demand. Okia felt her quip die on her tongue.
"Mama said no-no to the pie." She squeaked.
"Well," Pip relaxed slightly, turning her nose up, "I'll be having stern words with your mama when we get her back."
"I have a question." Ni announced to no-one in particular, hands in his pockets. "Why is there a fairy up there?" The other two looked up.
"Lody!" Erseus called. The fairy braked, clumsily rolling in mid-air at the sudden interruption. She looked down, tucking her book under her arm. Erseus beckoned her down and she landed at his side.
"Hello!" She beamed. "I'm Lody." She extended her hand. Pip took it, pumping eagerly and grinning.
"This is so cool. First, Isa and Nidas out of Correspondence and then their daughter- who is physically impossible- is Marked with a fairy! I'm so happy!"
"We noticed." Ni grumbled, massaging his ear. He gripped Lody's hand briefly, pointed at her book. "Find anything?"
"I was looking up imp biology, I was hoping I could find something in there. Unfortunately, it only really tells me about markings appearing and changing over time, a little about on soul marks," she waved her left hand demonstratively, "but nothing on Deprivation. Not unless you include 'it's really bad'."
"Well, W is back there, checking Bibi over."
"OK, OK." Lody nodded, tapping her chin. "Who's W?"
"My husband." Ni replied, examining the shelves to his right. Lody started to ask something and then shook her head. "What?" He challenged, raising a brow.
"Sorry, on our side, you can only partner with someone of the opposite gender. Bibi said imps aren't like that, you guys are happy with both. I'm still getting my head round it, sorry!"
"It's OK." Erseus squeezed her shoulder. "How are you two getting on?" Lody took off, searching the top shelves again. Ni was already reading, his back to them. Pip bounced over to Sa and Okia. She sat on the arm of Okia's chair, gently inspecting her braid.
"You've got Isa's hair. Has she let it grow back out?"
"Wait, it was short?"
"Yeah, she cut it after L-" Pip stopped. "After she hated it long." She finished lamely. Erseus was shaking his head. Okia sighed, resting her book on her knee.
"Do you mean after what happened with Luke?" Surprise snapped over their features.
"Who's Luke?" Sa asked.
"Mama didn't tell us the whole story, but she told us to watch out for people like him. And how to take care of them if we needed to. Luke's a horrible human who kept Mama prisoner for nearly a winter. He hurt her."
"Oh." Sa sat back, hiding behind her book.
"By the sun!" Lody cried.
"Um, it's by the moon over here." Sa rolled her eyes. Lody landed on the other side of Okia.
"Look at this!" She thrust a large, brown leather-bound book in her face. Okia frowned at the cover.
"That's not Imp."
"No, it's not!"
"Uh, why are you-?"
"It's Fae Tongue. Well, really old Fae Tongue anyway. This must be about a thousand winters old, maybe more."
"Old Fae Tongue?" Pip quizzed.
"We have a simpler version now-" Ni scoffed. Lody ignored him. "But most of our spell books are in the Old Tongue. I can read it."
"But why-?"
"Sorry," she shook her head and held the book up for them to see the cover, the gold stitching of the title glittering softly, "it basically translates into 'A Guide to Quelling Imps'."
"Sounds nice." Ni commented, turning a page. "Let me know when you're done with it, I'll take a gander at it."
"Is he being sarcastic?"
"He speaks sarcasm more than he breathes, just ignore him." Erseus advised. Ni gave a mock, slightly irritated laugh. "Is there anything in it about Deprivation?"
"Yes, but I didn't read it fully."
"Why not?" Sa frowned.
"There were only a thousand copies initially printed." Lody tapped her finger on her forehead, muttering. "If I'm right, that is. If this is the book I'm thinking of, the Imp Guard took and destroyed every copy we ever had, shortly after they won the war."
"So… how does Tia Abeth have this then?"
"Good question. Abeth!" Erseus shouted.
"What?"
"I need to pick your brain on something!" She came in, grumbling, Lum perched on her hip and dozing on her shoulder.
"Ma'am," Lody said, "how did you get this book?" She held it up. Abeth frowned at it, trying to place it.
"I think it was in a cart of books I brought, quite a few winters ago."
"Where from?" Erseus asked.
"A merchant, passing through town. Never saw him again. It was a shame, he gave me a wonderful deal." She sighed. "Why, what is it?" Lody explained. Abeth was staring at her as if she were crazy by the time she finished, shaking her head disbelievingly. "Are you sure it's the same book?"
"Mostly, ma'am."
"I… I don't know, I honestly don't know. Will it help Bibi?"
"I hope so." Lody plonked herself down on the window seat, flicking through the pages until she found the part she needed.
"Is W still helping Bibi?" Pip asked.
"He's trying," Abeth picked at her lip, "I think he's just easing her pain at the moment." Ni snapped his book shut.
"I'm going to see if he's alright." He started past Abeth, but she grabbed his arm. He snatched it away, protesting.
"No, we need you here. You and Pip. We've got a plan, but we need your help."
"To help Bibi?"
"No, to find Isa."
"And Papi." Okia fumed. "Why do I have to keep reminding you people about him?" Dark looks passed between them. Pip lay a hand on Okia's arm.
"Sweetie, before Isa and Nidas went into exile-"
"Forced into exile."
"Yes, of course. Well-"
"We had a falling out." Erseus cut in, shoulders hunched. Okia frowned. He did not look like the same man trying to help her moments earlier. He was darker, angrier. "It wasn't left on good terms, end of story."
"No, wait a second-"
"What's this plan then?" Ni interrupted. Okia glowered at him, but he paid her no mind. "And is it an Abeth plan or an Erseus plan?"
"My plan." Abeth said smugly.
"Well then, we've got less chance of it going horribly wrong-"
"Hey!"
"-do tell."