Celebration and cheer, it was basically a party for the children upon their successful return and their reunion with their parents. A loving family united again after a longer separation—one that a certain scorpion couldn’t care less about. Sure, it could have been something she found interesting if it were a story, but reality was a lot more stressful. Books were a comfy place.
Now Velasteros’s perfect impulse of an idea did come with consequences
'Dropping books is a no-go.' Mavis's words echoed in her mind.
Many rules.
'The building needs to be locked down by sunset.'
Many advantages.
'Be happy that you are getting paid.'
Many complications.
'Also, Thomas said he wanted to hang out again.'
Not again…
Truly, it was a life full of excitement and annoyances.
It had been two weeks since the scorpion arrived in the village, and within that time, she was getting the full human experience.
Stuck with a job, making a pitiful amount of money, while trying to ensure she had the time to do all her required activities–like eating, being in her true form, and reading. All equally important.
The scorpion had felt like running away a few times.
Mavis was similar to Sarah in a few ways. They both felt wise to Velasteros and could likely crush her if they felt like it. The woman didn’t take no for an answer or half attempts as attempts. Within the two weeks, she made sure that if Velasteros was going to be in this job, she would be doing it properly.
The outcome of being taught by such a teacher was a big headache. That made it even harder for the scorpion to enjoy her reading time. The headache could be worsened upon the sudden arrival of either child, which felt like it was completely up to chance for Velasteros.
On the fourteenth day of being in the settlement, the scorpion was in a reflective mood. It hadn’t been long since awakening, and already, technically speaking, she had spent a large percentage of her total time living in this village. It was a strange feeling, but also a good one. It was the biggest signifier of this being a new life for her.
Like most days, she was working in the library. Despite Mavis’s strict rules and lack of pay–she only found out that the pay was bad once someone overheard–but that didn’t matter! As long as the chore list was complete and there was no one she needed to help, Velasteros had free rein to read whatever book she wanted!
Of course, the actual big challenges were the balancing act. She still needed to spend a lot of time in her scorpion form. The slightly over two weeks of possessing the skill hadn’t changed that fact. Velasteros lived in a shack at the edge of town, which was very much just used for storage. She was given the opportunity to stay in someone’s house, but with the option of being alone, she would rather take that.
Though she was deeply conflicted… the thought of the superior beds in the houses. Something that Nieca would oddly bring up in their few random conversations.
I WON’T FALL INTO SUCH TEMPTATION!
The sweet fluffiness of the pillows resurfaced in her mind, and a myriad of her emotions clambered towards it, but with all her will, she pushed it back into a pit.
Sigh… I want to read some books to distract myself, but my headaches are only getting worse…
Without fail, Velasteros would leave the city once a day for her transformation, and more importantly, when she had the chance, she would hunt. Despite her lack of current understanding of many human customs. She knew frequent disappearances were suspicious. The time and means of her departures varied, day and night, publicly and privately, leaving, and the length of time before returning
Velasteros learned from the children during the travels that monsters lived close to settlements. It wasn’t as bad as areas labelled monster infested, such as the forest the scioprion emerged from and Copper Mountain. However, so far, the number of monsters seemed about the same as the number she encountered during both parts of her surface trip, before and after meeting the children.
She didn’t doubt the children. In this instance. So she took a mental note. In the end, it was beneficial for her that the monster amount didn’t decrease, as she required every speck of nutrients and practice to grow.
Skills were improving, and she gained some levels, but neither felt enough.
Sigh…
The scorpion didn’t get to lament her own weakness for long.
“Hello, Valmyst.” Nieca had walked into the library and found Velasteros, who was sorting the new books in the corner.
Not her again…
The scorpion was almost ready for a stress-induced coma. The balance of trying to keep her true form a secret seemed so much more difficult than it needed to be–in her mind–because of the two kids. They were always overly curious about her well-being and location.
“Hello, Nieca…” Velasteros said completely confidently. “Are there any books you are looking for?”
“Not at the moment.” The child wandered through the library. “Thomas just wanted to know how you were doing.”
“Still fine,” Velasteros replied. “It’s a nice job.”
“You aren’t finding it too difficult? I know a few adults who got bored and nearly damaged a few books when Mavis needed help sorting and rebinding a bunch of books for a week.”
How dare they!
Velasteros’s concern immediately jumped into action to douse anger as it caused great fiery destruction. A few other emotions jumped in, so Velasteros’s anger didn’t take hold, causing her to cause a scene.
She cleared her head and said wisely. “It is just hardship, and that will bring about opportunities."
“Which story is that from?”
“Petters Plundering–Wait! How did you know!” Velasteros panicked.
My most important secret!
“Most of your intelligent lines have been from stories. I didn’t notice originally, but ‘Sure, I will go on this journey with you, it seems fun’ and ‘The fundamentals are necessary and unskippable.’ Both are from very popular tales. Once I realised that, I noticed your expression shifted slightly when saying certain lines. Some I knew, and others I had to cross-reference with the head librarian.”
“..........Not all of my intelligent lines…” Velasteros felt completely defeated.
Just… tie me up now…
She honestly never expected it to hurt this much when she got called out on her use of story dialogue. The searing panic echoed through her body like a drum.
“It’s okay. We all have to start somewhere.” Nieca pulled herself up on Mavis's chair, watching Velasteros from the front desk.
The scorpion noticed Nieca looking through Mavis’s logbooks and wanted to criticise Nieca but had a feeling it would only go badly for her.
Nieca finished whatever she was doing with Mavis’s books. “It does seem like your idea to join Mavis’s library was the perfect one.”
“Of course, all my ideas are.”
“You sure?” Nieca stabbed back.
“...I have many perfect ideas.” The scorpion immediately retreated.
“Your jump between confident and insecure is truly incredible."
“You don’t have to be so sarcastic about it all. What, are you in a bad mood today?”
“Is that also from a story?”
“Shutt-t up!” Velasteros refused to look at the child. Feeling deeply embarrassed that she was caught out again.
Why do I keep losing to this kid?
Despite the fact that Velasteros could be considered quite a bit younger than Nieca. Velasteros did not like looking at it that way, even if it would possibly save her some embarrassment.
Argh… Though Velasteros’s internal compliments didn’t last for long, as another headache brought her mood down.
Nieca didn’t notice the pain Velasteros was going through and simply followed up on her questions. “You haven’t been around much.”
“I… hadn’t had much interaction with anyone.”
“So you used stories to try and help fill the gaps with your conversation skills.”
“Sigh, are you really a child?” The scorpion felt exhausted by this little detective and annoyed that, for some reason, she had decided today was the day she chose to be this annoying.
“Yes, to the dismay of many.” Nieca’s eyes wandered over the entrance. “I… was wondering how long you planned to stay here. You’ve mostly avoided people and have been saving money.” For the first time, Velasteros felt a sliver of anxiousness from the child.
“Until I find my footing.” Velasteros chose not to say anymore because she wasn’t fully sure herself. Of course, being in the library was great and unrestricted access to books was a supreme blessing, but it wouldn’t help her with all her goals.
Velasteros wanted a place where she could feel safe, and no matter how much the children might want her here, she never felt fully rested at night.
“Can we help with that?” Nieca asked.
“I don’t beli–No, just no.” Velasteros corrected herself and stood firm.
She had supposedly been in the settlement for two weeks, but her time here and the journey with the children felt like a blur.
Nieca felt sad and concerned at Velasteros, but the scorpion unintentionally ignored her as her mind couldn’t keep up with the multiple trains of thought.
I need to hunt for longer.
The scorpion planned for the next hunt. The cycle of hunger and intelligence had to continue after all.