Outside Sir Plucki's Office
He knew spying wasn't a good trait for a knight, and frowned down upon heavily when squires were doing it, but Corvi was growing anxious. Not only was it becoming increasingly harder to pacify his littlest brother when it came to answering questions on where Mother was but his mind sought to diffuse any attention brought towards him so that none of the adults would yet find out that Mother had passed on, succumbing to whatever sickness she had. He bit his lip, blocking the sadness with pain. His eyes flicked up and down the hallway before he pressed his ear to the door. He had to know if Cubbi was going to tell Sir Plucki that he saw Corvi in the kitchen.
At first, he heard only mumbles. Plucki's voice, then Cubbi's, and then a great sputtering as Sir Plucki took a sip of the hot liquid.
"Great Gum! Who taught you to make tea like that?" came the hoarse voice of the knight-captain. Further coughing followed.
"Uh... No one, Sir Plucki. I... I'm sorry. I just wanted to help."
Silence. Corvi held his breath, not sure if the younger squire were about to get into trouble. Maybe he should have stopped Cubbi. Maybe-
Quiet at first, then with more gusto, Plucki's bass chuckling filtered through the closed door.
Out of relief most likely, Cubbi joined in. "I'm real sorry, Plucki. I'll ask next time."
Through the laughter, Sir Plucki said, "At least... At least you took out the leaves!"
Satisfied that he wouldn't be in their conversation, Corvi backed up a few steps and turned around, pretending he hadn't been spying at all.
Tavi stood right in his way, staring at him with a frown.
"Uh..." Corvi couldn't think of anything good to say.
Cubbi, tray in hand, exited Sir Plucki's office and found the two of them out in the hall. "Hey, Corvi. I found him first, Tavi."
"He was spying on you and Plucki. I saw him."
"I... I was just..." How could he counter the truth?
Cubbi frowned a moment, then said, "Maybe he knows, too." He headed toward the kitchen.
Tavi followed. "How could he know? We just found it!"
"Know what?" Corvi later asked himself why he followed either of them to begin with.
Cubbi slowed so he could whisper a reply. "The stuff in the Great Book, about Emi."
"No, you dumby!" Tavi socked him, nearly knocking the tray from his grasp. "I meant about Toni's mom being possessed!"
"Oh..." Yep. He'd let the cat outta the bag there. Given Corvi's white face. "Uh..."
"Y-you guys shouldn't be messing with anything like that. If the Council even THOUGHT we were curious about... her... they'd flip out."
"You don't understand," Tavi said. "She's been in my dreams. I HAVE to know if she can come back. I have to know more about her."
"She was the only gummi in history to turn evil. What more do you need to know? Going down that path... You especially, Tavi. I'm not gonna lie. Because you have gummi medallions inside you, who's to say you won't turn out like her, cuz that's what she did. And then she went mad."
Tavi grew quiet. She bit her lip. Not as if she hadn't thought the same thing herself.
"Hey, lay off! And keep quiet! Nobody can know about this yet."
"My Auntie knows. I told her already. That means the Council knows. I don't wanna scare anybody. I just want answers. I KNOW what could happen, Corvi. And... well... We need your help."
"MY help?"
"Yeah. You studied some Old Gummi. Your mom was fluent in it. I know she's sick but if you could help us translate from the Great Book, that'd do."
And he thought his life couldn't get any worse... If he refused, they might ask to speak to his mother and that was impossible. He could NOT let these two find out. No matter how scary this favor was that they asked, it would be more terrifying not to comply.
Gummadoon Library
The three cubs crept into the library. They were not alone as they had been earlier. Councilor Spinwillow was sifting through some ancient texts. Tavi signalled for the boys to hold back while she approached.
"Hi. Whatcha lookin' up?"
She'd startled Spinwillow. "Oh... Um, nothing to trouble your little head, Tavi."
She scanned the spine of the book. "Researching possession, huh?"
"Uh... well... Shouldn't you be playing?"
"I am playing. I'm playing hide-and-seek with two other cubs in here. I don't think they should know about you looking up possession though."
"Er... Likely not. I'll just borrow the book out and research in my quarters."
Councilor Spinwillow retreated from the library, casting a nervous gaze about him to try and located the other cubs.
Corvi and Cubbi met up with Tavi at the Great Book.
"You sure are devious." Corvi shook his head at her performance.
"I didn't lie at all." she defended.
"No, but you did manipulate a council member. Let's just hurry and get this done. This whole thing is givin' me the creeps."
Tavi opened the Great Book with her hand, just as before.
"Whoa..." was Corvi's response but his nose was in the book as soon as it opened. Even while Tavi turned the pages, he was scanning the text. Mother always said he was a fast reader, and fast learner. Especially with languages. Not just Old Gummi. He knew more French and Latin than most gummies twice his age. Still, with his desire to learn as well as to get on with the task at hand, he was taken aback by the picture of Emi presented on the page Tavi stopped at. Without thinking, he read the words aloud, his heart beating faster with each one.
"Ki falateh hie aouro Emi, cheh coruupei-a. Ijsh furud coruupa-a kep ijsh tandureiis. Djalk-hectet ahn-a coshiil va urrra-Destini. Ebuya-ijsh aksa'heis."
"What does that mean?" Cubbi broke the silence that followed. "That's not a spell or anything, right?"
Corvi shook his head. "It's... It just says that if you're seeking Emi, then they failed. Her prison has weakened and she'll be free. The trial's judgment put the evidence in Destini's hands. May she guide you."
"Evidence? Trial?" Cubbi looked from Corvi to Tavi.
"Well, she was a gummi. I'm sure they did have a trial, no matter what she was accused of or actually did do."
"That's still kind of obscure. They want us to sit back and let the hand of destiny help us out? That's like believing in fate. I dunno if I believe in any of that stuff."
"No, Cubbi." Corvi sighed. "It literally says Destini. As in Destini Gummi."
"... Oh. Well... If she has information on Emi, and she's... she's..."
"No longer here."
"Yeah, Corvi. No longer here. Then aren't we at a dead end?"
Cubbi and Corvi both turned to Tavi for her opinion.
"Well... Not exactly. I dreamed of Destini, too."
"But she's..." Cubbi just couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Dead. I know." Tavi sighed. "There's a spell, to let us talk to the dead, if they wanna tell us something." Unsure, she turned to her fellows. This was all getting very complicated and more than a bit scary. The things Tavi had heard about Emi weren't just stories to scare little cubs. She did horrible things to her own people and there's never been any explanation for it. Did the medallions turn Emi evil, corrupt her? Just what ARE gummi medallions made from and how are they made? Isn't gummi magic not supposed to hurt gummies? Tavi was scared but more scared NOT knowing the answers to all these questions. She had to learn about Emi first, and the medallion origins, and if that meant talking to the dead, she'd do it. She felt as if her very life depended on it. She did NOT wanna go crazy and kill everybody.
The boys saw the turn of her face from scared rabbit to determined bear and knew whatever they said wouldn't matter so they better stick by her.