The morning rays poured through the windowless fixture. Elise leaned up and stretched, letting out a soft groan. Gwynevere Grim was already sitting there with two full trays of food.
The Chosen One took a bite of her breakfast.
"Did some late-night remodeling, I see."
"Oh! Uh…" Elise nervously chuckled. "I can explain."
"Are you sure you're not the one who pushed me out my window?"
Gwyn narrowed her eyes as she took another bite of her pancakes, which she had to laboriously describe to the kitchen attendant, who made several attempts, and eventually, what Gwyn achieved was closer to bread with syrup, but close to pancakes, nonetheless.
Actually, isn't this just french toast?
"No, no. I think I may have discovered the culprit for that event."
"Last night? How?"
"Well…" Elise avoided eye contact. "Are you familiar with a black tethercat?"
Gwyn thought for a moment but then nodded.
"Yes. One was hanging around me a couple of times."
Elise's face went white.
"How many times?"
"Hmm. Three or four times, at least that I noticed." A concerned expression was on the Chosen One's face. "Is everything okay?"
Elise looked away from Gwyn.
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees... and no."
The Sylvian Princess then explained the events of last night. Sparing no details, except the part where Artero had kissed and basically declared his undying love for her again. Or at least that's how she interpreted the situation.
Gwyn was speechless when Elise finished her explanation.
"So what do you think?"
"Wishes?"
Elise nodded.
"Wishes. Which is funny, because I think I've heard you say that word before, not really knowing what it meant."
Eventually, Gwynevere let out a deep exhale.
"I see... Well, we have a direction to go in now."
"Wait... you aren't worried or mad?"
Gwyn tapped a singular finger to her lips, looking pensive.
"No, not really."
"Why?!"
"Well, Elise. I've learned a few things here on Keceo so far."
"Which are?"
"If someone wanted to kill me, they would've done so by now."
"I suppose..."
"The fact that they made attempts on my life, and then stopped, tells me I am in their plans somehow. I just need to survive long enough to figure out how and where I fit."
"Well, that's pretty grim."
A sly grin on the young woman's lips.
"That's my name, don't wear it out."
Elise rolled her eyes.
"Well, I was half expecting you to have an existential crisis once I told you all of that."
Gwynevere took another bite of her almost pancakes.
"I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?"
Although... if the King of Terror wants something to do with me, I can't imagine it's anything pleasant.
"What do you want to do now, Gwynevere?"
"Well, currently, I have no obligations. Let's see if we can find anything on wishes in the Great Library."
A short travel later, and they were in the Great Library. Mr. Keeper looked up from his book, clearly annoyed once the women finished explaining what happened.
"Bloody trusket!" Mr. Keeper shouted, nearly falling off his stool. "Why ye come to me with that fantasy bullshiet?"
"So you've heard of wishes?" Gwyn asked.
"'course I have!" He pouted. "I have some wishes here, actually."
Elise nearly fell over.
"Wait, really?!"
"Ye, I'd wish ye'd leave me the fuck alone."
Elise just appeared utterly perplexed. She hadn't heard the term "wishes" before, nor had most elves.
"So that was a joke?"
"Woman!" Mr. Keeper whipped his head so fast it looked as though it might fly off. "Ye think if the elves could've used wishes, we wouldn't be trapped in this damn Wall?!"
"I was just asking—"
It seems that Gwyn wasn't the only one Mr. Keeper liked to interrupt.
"Nah. Ye don't understand, clearly." He lifted his hand, and a book freed itself from one of the towering bookshelves and drifted to Mr. Keeper. "Read this and get back to me."
He held up the book, Gwyn snatched it and read the cover aloud.
"Has Gold Corrupted the Sanctity of ourSociety?" Gwyn threw the book over her shoulder; it clanged to the ground below. "Mr. Keeper, there is more to life than reading outdated financial literacy books!"
Mr. Keeper hopped off his stool.
"No, there is not!" He stomped. "I have lasted a thousand years reading these texts, and I will last a thousand more doing the same! I've learned a long time ago not to stick my nose in shiet it doesn't belong."
The green Lotmon knew he was exaggerating, but let the point stand.
"But—" Gwyn was cut off.
"But nothin'."
He stomped off across the bridge into the private study in the Great Library.
Elise held out her dagger, and the door Mr. Keeper tried to slam had halted.
"Ay! What are ye doin'?"
Elise strode up to the little green man.
"Listen here, you ungrateful little man. Gwynevere hasn't been here more than twenty days, and she is already doing everything she can to help our people and get back to her father." Elise raised her golden dagger to Mr. Keeper's cheek. "If you aren't going to help, I will have to assume you are a traitor to not only Gwynevere, who admires you very much, but also the elven race."
Holy shit, Elise.
Mr. Keeper swallowed hard.
"When ye put it like that..." He raised his hands in a surrendering position. "I apologize, Gwynevere. Let me show ye something."
A book sat on a pedestal in the study. Gwynevere had seen it quite some time ago, but now its purpose would be revealed to her.
Mr. Keeper raised his stubby hand up to the book.
"This is what helps organize all of our literature."
"This book? What is it, some sort of ledger?" Elise asked.
He shook his head.
"Hand me a piece of paper."
Gwyn looked around, saw another book on finances, and tore a page out indiscriminately. Mr. Keeper winced once he heard it tear from the binding, but said nothing. The Chosen One handed the little green man the paper.
"What now?"
"Just watch."
He opened the book and placed the loose paper inside. Then he closed the book. A moment later, he opened it again.
To the two women, nothing had changed.
"I'm sorry, what is this supposed to prove?" Elise asked.
"'tis gone."
"Well, where did it go?"
"I'll show ye."
Mr. Keeper led them downstairs to the Great Library's basement. A place where even the most organizationally obsessed would never dare tread.
"It went here."
He pointed to a massive wave of papers that flowed into the hallways like an avalanche.
Gwyn knelt down and picked up a loose scrap.
Dear Diary,
I had a good day today. The boy I liked kissed me! But his kiss was slobbery. It reminded me of a dog.
I don't think I'll be doing that again.
"What the fuck is this shit?" Elise exclaimed, reading over Gwyn's shoulder. "Why is this worthless diary page down here?"
"That's a first-hand account of…" Mr. Keeper swiped the paper from her hands and read it. "A young adolescent's experience with love!"
Both women gave him a blank stare and sighed at the insurmountable task before them.
"Aye, don't worry. There are only eighteen more rooms like this one."
"Eighteen! Mr. Keeper, you have to be joking."
"I've been here a couple of times, but... this is insanity. I've never thought of having to go through with all of this. So this is where all the paper goes?"
"Well, ye know how the Head Whisperer is. He was never big on organizing, his master told him, 'Reading is for nerds, except when it's not.'"
Elise snatched the worthless diary entry back from Mr. Keeper and used lesser magic to burn it to nothing. Mr. Keeper looked as though he was struck when the paper was destroyed.
"It's going to take us the rest of our lives to read all this," Gwyn said, standing before the large mountain of papers.
"How did it even get like this?" Elise asked.
"Well... people bring me paper to organize, and I read it all at first, well. I tried too. There were just too many! One day, I started to read the tome in that little study, but there were only pictures. I saw a particular." He coughed. "Informative picture, I thought I'd return to later, so I placed my bookmark in it. The next time I tried to find that page, my bookmark disappeared."
"Then you started putting in the other papers you didn't want to read," Elise deduced.
"And only read the ones that involved money," Gwyn finished.
Mr. Keeper nodded.
"I haven't been reprimanded. Sure, they give me a hard time for 'not finding anything', but I've learned that's an excuse for them to feel better about themselves for not wanting to sort all of this shiet."
"Well. No time like the present."
Gwyn immediately sat down, picked up a paper, and began to read.
Elise sighed and did the same.
"Are ye really going to read all of this?"
"Mr. Keeper," Gwyn said shortly. "I have five years. Although the source from which we have learned these 'wishes' may not be reputable, I can still go back home and see my dad again. If I have to spend the rest of my five years down here reading papers, then so be it."
The Lotman shrank.
"Aye, I understand."
It's been a thousand years. Just how many papers are down here?
Gwyn shook the thought away and looked up to the tumbling mass of papers. At least there was a place to start.