The soul is a simple concept that extends beyond our world, as Chosen Ones have dictated.
For some elves, the belief is that the soul is something that isn't given at the point of conception, but at the moment one realizes their potential.
Although I say all elves, which may be my religious training talking, I firmly believe that a soul is forged. It is not simply handed out, and where it evolves is determined by the carrier's potential and desire for success.
Such is the way of things. Some are born rich. Some are born poor.
A mountain does not wish to be a mountain.
----------------------
"What took you guys so long?"
The Chosen One complained.
Artero was dressed in a fine suit, holding flowers, and went on one knee.
"So you've decided."
"I've decided what?"
"That I'm the winner of our contract, of course, Elise had told me..."
He trailed off, glaring at his ex-girlfriend. Gwyn did the same.
Elise appeared sheepish.
"You said to make something up."
"I said, make something up! Not like..."
Gwyn groaned, not finishing her sentence. She forced her hand against her face, smudging her glasses.
"So no peach pie then?" Rodrick asked, wheeling in a cart with over a dozen steaming hot pies.
Gwyn cleaned her glasses so aggressively that she almost popped the lens out of the frame.
"In terms of this 'contract', neither person is ahead of the other." She pointed at Elise. "You know what you did."
Elise shrank.
"And you had a fit yesterday."
The Chosen One pointed to the young man in the midst of a premature proposal.
"Hey! That's not fair."
"Am I wrong?"
An uncomfortable long pause from Artero before he responded.
"Well... no."
"Exactly. Now, Artero, Mr. Book, and Mr. Keeper will all go to the basement and—"
"Basement? Of the Great Library?" Artero clarified, his voice full of worry. "Gwynevere, my dear. I don't know if you know that I am not the biggest reader, per se."
"Wow, that's unfortunate because we all are going to be doing a lot of reading because the last thing I want to do is ask the King of Terror where the hell these wishes are!"
Gwyn exploded. There was a long silence that followed. Mr. Keeper started pushing Artero by the legs.
"We'll be in the basement, don't worry!"
They disappeared shortly after, with Mr. Book flapping behind.
Gwyn rubbed her temple.
"There is one thing I regrettably want to do before we join them downstairs."
Rodrick cocked his head.
"What's that, madam?"
~
Artero, Mr. Keeper, and Mr. Book followed the winding, narrow steps down to the basement of the Great Library. Finally reaching the bottom, the documents spilled everywhere. Some of them crumpled beneath their feet.
"What the—little green man. What do you do all day anyway? How has it gotten this bad?" Artero asked, picking up a scroll in front of him. "Aren't you in charge of this mess?"
Mr. Keeper was beginning to realize that his past self really screwed over his future self when it came to "organizing" these documents.
"Aye, well…"
"Yeah! How did it get this bad, you green fuck? I had no consent in all the papers you put down here! I can't even read!" Mr. Book said.
"Shut up, ye paper back bi—"
Mr. Keeper tried to get to the book, but Artero stood in front of him.
"Wait, you can't read but...? Nevermind. Listen, Goblin man."
"I'm a Lotman."
"Sorry, Lotman. Don't all the scribes sort through this?" Artero asked.
"Some of 'em do, but most are following the Head Whisperer's orders, and ye know how he is…"
~
The Head Whisperer was in the midst of his afternoon milk bath when the three of them barged in.
"Head Whisperer, we need to ask you—Jesus Christ!"
Gwyn shielded her eyes, not wanting to see what the Head Whisperer hid under his bath.
"See." Ren held up Zepper, his beetle companion. "I leave the door unlocked one time, and people barge in on ya." He petted the beetle's carapace. "Take this as a lesson, there might be erotic sex going on."
Elise held her nose. The stench from the office was worse than usual.
"That is definitelynot what is happening."
"Well, I wasn't having sex." He pointed to a group of animals that were in the midst of mating. "But they are."
"Gods, what the fuck." Elise turned away. "Gwynevere, are you sure you want to ask him?"
Rodrick wiped his eyes.
"'tis beautiful. Mother Nature is right in front of us, ladies. Not every day when you get to witness an event like this."
I don't think I ever want to watch this, Rodrick, but thanks.
"Unfortunately, Ren may know something." Gwyn also held her nose, following the elf's example. Her voice became nasally as a result. "Head Whisperer."
Ren now followed Gwyn's example, holding his prominent nose.
"Yes?"
"Do you know anything about wishes?"
He suddenly sprang from the tub, and white foam covered his body.
"Wishes?!"
~
"I haven't interacted with him often, but I hear he can be a lot," Artero said.
"Aye, and after the Summoning, he's basically lost his fuckin' rocks." Mr. Keeper made a twirling motion with his finger next to his head. "Impossible to get anythin' done with him 'round."
"I see," Artero said, not really paying attention. The Kosmairian Prince mindlessly skimmed a news article.
"What's it say?" Mr. Keeper asked, looking up at Artero.
"Oh, just… uh… something about the upcoming festival, nothing really important."
"Are you sure?"
Mr. Keeper was wide-eyed, and the Kosmairian Prince gave a puzzled expression.
"Huh?"
"Aye, lad, you're dense as the rocks the Head Whisper don't have." He shook his head. "You have two gorgeous women around you every day, you didn't think of asking them?"
"Oh, well…"
Artero looked off. He was sure Gwyn would ask Elise, which meant he would be without a date. He certainly wasn't going alone.
Mr. Keeper kicked his shin.
"Ay, what's that look for?"
Artero yelped in pain, and Mr. Book flew at Mr. Keeper with killing intent.
"Don't hit him, you bamphoneous bistle bocker!"
"Knock it off!" Artero leaned over and rubbed his shin. "The situation is very complicated…"
~
"Wishes… wishes… wishes…"
The Head Whisperer kept repeating as if possessed. He stood naked in front of them. Stroking his face.
Zepper flew over to Rodrick and landed on his shoulder. The Kosmairian knight was so happy he could faint.
"Look, look. It landed on me. That means he likes me," Rodrick giggled giddily.
After much mouth smacking and a hundred uses of the word "wishes" from the Head Whisperer, Gwynevere finally spoke.
"So you don't know anything about wishes then?"
"Oh, I know about them." The Head Whisperer smacked his lips a few times. "My Master, Firedeath. Have I told you about her?"
Gwyn wanted to tape his mouth shut.
"Yes!" Gwyn shouted, looking to Elise as if to say, "Can you believe this?"
"Oh, well. Um…" the Head Whisperer tried to remember what he was talking about. "Wishes… my Master… she searched for them relentlessly, but she wasn't able to find them. She was certain they're real."
Finally, some information out of this old coot.
"Did she know where to look for them?"
"Ah, well. No." He looked disappointed. "She searched for how to perform the ancient magic, but never found anything. If I'm not mistaken…"
But then he paused as if frozen in time.
"If you're not mistaken?" Elise repeated for him.
"She had her documents in the storage facilities in the basement of these Towers," he said. "The little green goblin should know where they are."
~
"I'm bein' honest lad," Mr. Keeper said. "I don't give a shit about yer situation." He paused for a moment, picking up a paper. "And I ain't reading this shit."
"But isn't this your job?" Artero asked, confused at what the little green man was supposed to be doing if not keeping the library organized.
"I have very fine and particular reading tastes. I can't be wasted with such filth."
He spat on a piece of paper.
"I see…" Artero furrowed his brows as he delicately picked up the paper Mr. Keeper had spat on. It seemed to be a blank document. "I'll just burn this so no one grabs this by accident."
He started casting lesser magic to burn the paper, but Mr. Book stopped him.
"Wait!" Mr. Book flapped urgently.
"What? Is this your cousin or something?" Artero asked, stopping his magic, only the edges cindered.
"No, no." He opened himself. "Place it within me."
"We don't need more copies of shiet, ye moron." Mr. Keeper said begrudgingly.
"Just trust me, you imbecile." They seemed to glare at one another. "I don't have all day."
"You don't have all day? But aren't you a book?" Artero shook his head. The thought of what a sentient book might do all day would have sent him spiraling. "Fine."
Artero handed the paper over to the floating book. Once close enough, the paper was sucked into him.
"Great. So now what, we have another copy of fuckin' nothin'?"
"No. I... feel it inside of me."
"Huh?" Artero looked confused. "How did you do that?"
"I feel... fuller? I don't know. But I guess when I awakened, I gained the ability to store the documents inside of me."
Mr. Keeper had a far-off look in his eye.
"So yer tellin' me…"
~
Elise and Gwyn gave each other a knowing look. They saw how bad the basement was.
"I don't know about that…" Elise said.
"It's actually terrible down there," Rodrick said firmly.
"Oh…" The Head Whisperer looked disappointed. "I mean, Firedeath didn't organize that basement either, so like father like son."
Gwyn looked surprised at this comment.
"Are they related?"
The Head Whisperer gave Gwyn a confused look.
"Is who related?"
"Never mind…"
Gwyn had uncovered some information. How reliable it is is still to be determined.
The Head Whisperer whipped his head in the direction of the Sylvian Princess, suddenly looking coherent.
"Elise."
"Y-yes? Head Whisperer?"
Elise nearly bowed before the elder figure, remembering how cruel he could be.
"Have you found a date for the Ela Lunaris Festival? Zepper has been asking around, but you know how women can be."
He seemed to be offering his beetle companion up as a potential candidate.
Elise took a quick glance at Gwyn.
"No, I haven't, Head Whisperer."
"Ela Lunaris, what's that?" Gwyn asked.
~
"You've been working in the library for a thousand years, and you haven't realized the book did that?" Artero shouted, the halls echoed his voice, and he nearly slipped on a paper.
"Aye, well… no one exactly told me… and it's only closer to nine-hundred and ninety-seven years…" Mr. Keeper said sheepishly, turning to face the wall.
Artero let out a long sigh and looked at the book. It flew to the top of the pile and rested. He guessed flying all the time was exhausting. He kneeled down and placed his hand on the Lotmon's shoulder. The librarian turned to look at the elf's hand.
"No time like the present."
Mr. Keeper turned fully and looked at Artero.
"Can ye do me a favor?"
"That depends," Artero said, removing his hand and standing up fully.
"Can ye just say I had somethin' 'portant to do," Mr. Keeper said.
"Why would I do that?" Artero asked.
"'cause." Mr. Keeper crossed his arms. "I know how to get ye yer date over Ms. Sylvian."
Artero had to stop himself from lunging at the Lotmon, begging for his assistance. Instead, he put on a cool face and cleared his throat.
"Well. What's your idea?"
~
"So, who are you going to ask to the Ela Lunaris Festival, madam?" Rodrick asked through a yawn as they walked back to the basement of the library.
Gwyn suddenly flushed.
"I haven't thought about it yet."
Elise made eye contact with anything but Gwyn at that moment. The wealthier, more established individual usually asked the person they desired to attend the festival with. Elise, in a normal situation, would technically be this over Gwyn, but she was now in the contract, and Gwyn held all the power.
This caused the Sylvian Princess to hesitate in her proposal.
"You could always go with me, Rodrick," Gwyn suggested, shrugging.
Elise silently suffered at the Chosen One's suggestion.
"I'm afraid I won't be the best date, madam," Rodrick said.
Gwyn cocked her head up towards the knight.
"Why is that?"
"Oh, I can't take this armor off, per my duty," he said, patting his large crimson breastplate. "I do think I'd look quite cute in a kimono."