“Valmyst, have you talked with many people?” Nieca asked with a masked innocence of curiosity.
Ah crap… this question…
“I ummm…” The scorpion had come to a realisation after the last few days. “I have talked to a number?” She was awful at conversations.
The trio had been making their way to the children’s home settlement. It took over a day to reach it, but the excitement of finally returning home allowed the children to move at an accelerated pace. However, a whole trip in silence would be boring for the two kids, and so they had been going back and forth talking about random things.
What they would eat when they got home, having a proper bath, seeing their parents again, and everything in between. There were many rehashes of topics that had been used during the days the trio first began travelling together. However, once the children had gotten their enjoyment out of each other, the questions were quickly directed to Valmyst.
“Hmhmm, understood. We can fix that.” Nieca stood with a concerning amount of confidence.
Sarah… Why couldn’t you teach me how to deal with children?
Sadly for Velasteros, even if Sarah did. It wouldn't have helped whatsoever.
“...Why do you ask?”
“Oh, sorry about that.” Nieca apologised as if she had forgotten something. “We are less than an hour away from our home, so I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed.”
…
The scorpion decided that today was going to be bad.
Soon they reached the settlement, basically on time from Nieca's estimate.
The scorpion heard the children refer to their home as a village, town, city, settlement, and a bunch of other words that she didn’t quite understand and was determined to look up later when she found a good book that would do so. The settlement, from what she could see was about the same size as the previous city, StoneKeep, but a lot dirtier. Dirt roads replaced the ones of gravel, and there was more space between buildings, and there were open areas behind houses where animals were stored.
A two-metre-tall wall surrounded the city, slightly smaller than the previous city’s.
The trio entered the village, and they were immediately welcomed. On sight, the moment the first person saw the two children, an army of ants emerged from all corners to meet them at the gate.
Ehh, so many people.
The voices for the scorpion blurred together. Cheers and celebrations, tears and relief, blah and blah. Too many people were talking, which caused her to completely zone out.
Some people tried to speak with Velasteros, but she was stuck in an automatic response mode of ‘yes’, 'okay', and ‘I understand’.
Thankfully, people were busy, and the group began to disperse, but there were a few people who stuck around.
Thomas asked the man with the big red beard, “Uncle Krackle, what are Mum and Dad?"
“They aren’t in the settlement at the moment…” The old uncle replied. He whistled, which caused someone else in the town to walk towards them. “They are currently out hunting, but we will go grab them.”
The two children looked at each other and nodded.
“Thank you, uncle,” Nieca said, then turned around to their dazed companion.
“Valmyst,” Nieca pulled the scorpion’s sleeve. “While we wait, can I show you a place?”
“Sure…?” The scorpion, feeling as if she had no other choice, decided to accept. She didn’t think anything bad would happen.
Controlled by the children, they took her towards a building near the edge of town and took her inside.
They climb up the small steps….
!!!
Velasteros’s eyes widened as she took in the marvellous sight as she was pulled through the door.
***
Velasteros’s mind was stunned into silence at the frightening, delightful, massive display of literature. All her noisy emotions have been zapped to complete quietness.
Am I dead? What existed in front of her was too luxurious to be real
Thomas pushed past Velasteros and turned around. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just… so many books…” The scorpion's orange eyes that sparkled like amber couldn’t hide their delight.
Nieca, “Did you not have a library at your place?”
“There were books in a few piles… but the amount here dwarfs that number.”
“Well, this is only a small library, but it is a library nonetheless, so it is an expectation that it has a number of books on a variety of topics among non-fiction and fiction,” Nieca replied, ready to gauge Velasteros’s reaction.
The scorpion's eyes widened with a clear delight that did not know embarrassment, much to the shame of embarrassment, which was trying to scream in the corner, wanting joy to behave.
The building itself was small compared to the inn. A small desk on the first floor and three rooms for books to be displayed on shelves. There was a second floor, which was accessible via a ladder that stored books in boxes for more storage.
“The library is taken care of by Aunty Mavis. Purple hair and big. Hard to miss, but she ensures it stays up-to-date and all the books stay in good condition.” Nieca continued the tour. “It was built by Mavis’s grandparents, and honestly, it is a big central piece to our home. She always tries to ensure there are books on every type of profession or expertise so people can learn whatever path they want.”
The tour concluded after Nieca and Thomas showed the organisation of books and explained the rules.
“You can’t take any books out of this library, but there are chairs in the corner that you can use to read. Of course, avoiding damage to books is another important rule.”
“Of course! It would be improper for it not to be!” Velasteros’s eyes sharpened. Yes, some of her books got a little damaged, but that was hard to prevent when she read in the wilderness and was still getting used to human hands. However, in a divine location such as this, such excuses were not allowed!
Oh my, oh my, oh my… where do I even begin!???
“So it is alright for me to read these now?”
“Of course!” Thomas replied.
“Perfect.” Velasteros snapped to a book called the ‘Great Dictionary of Words’ and decided that was the best starting point.
They didn’t bother her any longer, and the children left, and Velasteros was now completely in heaven, all alone in the wondrous place referred to as the library.
Oh, some words have two meanings… that is amazing! Cities and towns determined by population size? Then the children must be stupidly getting the correct term mixed up. Petrichor, that is a strangely specific word?
After an eternity of peaceful reading through books. “Who are you?” A deep womanly voice called out to the scorpion.
Velasteros looked up and saw a woman matching Nieca’s description, and she was certainly very tall and had the assets that one of the books described as womanly charms.
Velasteros jumped up, and her eyes sparkled. “Can I work here!?”
The librarian rolled her eyes. “Fuck it, fine.” She snapped the book she was holding shut.
The scorpion's impulse decision had landed her a job opportunity.