damned_institute | Day 27: Library

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Day 27: Library

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be. Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information. Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in.

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet? They'd all been fairly close together when they'd left Rekord, but he hadn't seen a trace of any of them. He was able to communicate easily with the people here though, which led him to believe Mokona was within a mile or so. Unless the ones running this little game had some other way to let all these other-worldly people communicate amongst themselves. In which case, the others could be very far away indeed.

The library had that wonderful smell of old books, and Fai traced his fingers along the shelves, skimming titles and pulling books that struck his fancy. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The War of the Worlds, and with a smile, he found Bram Stoker's Dracula as well. Raven had been telling the truth then, in spite of his own lies. Ought to be a good start. He sat leisurely at one of the tables and began flipping through his selections.

[waiting for Tamaki~]

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Phibrizzo was happy to see the end of lunch roll around. The incident with the fat man had been too close for his liking, though Gluttony had been sedated before he could cause much a scene. Hiding out in the library would be convenient as well- he would bury his face into a book and scheme whilst pretending to read. Hopefully the book alone would be enough to shield him from the Chimera's roaming eyes.

Still, to be safe, he barricaded himself into a corner that was Zelgadis-free at the moment. Pulling up a random book of poetry, the Mazoku lord attempted to blend in and go unnoticed.

It wasn't until Gremio stepped into the library that he realized just how long it had been since he'd been around so many books. He'd never been particularly bookish as a child--growing up in a fishing village like Kirov meant less time to read in favor of more time out on his father's boat. And after he joined the military, well... there just hadn't been any time at all for that. He'd read to Tir when he was a little boy, certainly, and he'd probably thumbed through more cookbooks than most housewives, but that was about all.

Now that he had the opportunity to flip through a few books, however, he couldn't help but be a little curious. This world was not his own, and the stories would certainly be different. He wondered what sort of information he could gather about this place here. And who knew? Maybe he'd find a few nice bedtime stories to tell Tir when he got home--

"... Oh, what on earth am I thinking?" he thought to himself with a small, internal laugh. Tir was seventeen now, and far too old for that sort of thing. He couldn't help but forget sometimes.

He made his way through the rows, finger trailing absently along the spines of the books until he found a title or two that struck him. Suddenly wanting a place to sit, he looked around until he saw the boy against sitting in the corner (good heavens, they brought people here that young?). Well, that seemed like a good a place as any?

"Excuse me," he began, careful to keep his voice low, "do you mind if I join you?"

Phibrizzo peered over the top of his book, sweeping the area and making certain Zelgadis was nowhere to be seen. Once convinced of this, he lowered the tome and presented a most amicable smile. "Sure, mister! I would love the company!"

...and the shielding. If Gremio was there and Hellmaster scooted over slightly, the only angle anyone could see him from was...

... Oh sweet lord, now Gremio's mother senses were tingling.

"Ah... thank you very much," he said, smiling warmly as he took a seat next to the boy. He couldn't help but wonder, though. Just how old was this boy? How had he ended up here in the first place? He certainly hoped his case was a rarity; it was bad enough for young girls like Miku and Haruhi (both Haruhis) to be stuck here, but for an actual child...

"If you don't mind my asking, what's your name?"

Phibrizzo grinned. "Me? I'm Lei!"

That was the second time he had to hide behind Lei Magnus's name. He probably should have done it from the start, but he hadn't expected anyone who knew (besides Xelloss, of course) to show up. It didn't make sense; why had mother put the chimera here as well, unless he had some undiscovered purpose as well. Maybe instead of running from him, the Mazoku lord decided, he should just make him look like a liar. Yes, that might be a better plan...

"I mean,..." he added sheepishly and trailed off. He looked about as if a bit concerned, but quickly held his book back up and went back to hiding. "Oh, I wish I could tell you, Mister, but I don't want him to find out!"

... Oh dear. That didn't sound good at all, now, did it? "'Him'?" Gremio repeated, tilting his head in concern. "Is there someone after you? Are you in some sort of trouble?" Other than the obvious, of course. Was there someone else here, besides the doctors and nurses and monsters, that meant to hurt this child? Someone from his own world, perhaps? "I'm afraid I'm limited in what I can do, but I'll help you in any way I can?"

Phibrizzo feigned sadness. "I...really, mister, it's not something I should involve you in. Someone...Oh, please. Forget I said anything!"

He continued to look pained, as if hiding a deep sorrow that begged Gremio to probe further and save this child. He rather hoped he would.

Thankfully for Phibrizzo, Gremio was every bit as much of a sucker as he probably looked.

"There, there, now," he said, patting the boy on the shoulder. "You can tell me, alright? I won't let anyone hurt you." There was simply no excuse for making a child look so sad. Gremio couldn't stand for it.

Phibrizzo protested once again, insisting that he didn't want to involve others, but eventually hanging his head and simply stating, "The man who murdered my parents is here."

Keeping on reeeeeellin' him in...

His parents... oh, the poor thing! Gremio brought a hand to his mouth in shock, eyes warmed with sympathy. "Good heavens, how terrible." He certainly couldn't let this rest. Not at all. "Now, now, it's alright. You don't need to be afraid of him, okay?" He smiled a little, giving that shoulder a small, soothing squeeze. "Until you're safely at home again, I'll protect you with my life, alright? Everything's going to be just fine."

Phibrizzo sniffled. "I don't understand, mister," he said, as if fighting back tears, "My father just wanted them to leave us alone and they sent him. I can still remember..." Rather than saying WHAT he remembered, Phibrizzo instead grabbed Gremio and buried his face into him. "No one ever believes me... he's so good at manipulating everyone..."

"Shh, there, there; there, there..." Gremio wrapped his arms around him, stroking the boy's back tenderly. "You don't need to worry about that now. I believe you, alright? I believe you." Of course he did. What reason would this poor boy have to lie?

"But...but..." Phibrizzo "wiped his eyes" and tilted his face up towards Gremio. "But he said such horrible things about me back home! That I was a demon lord and that I only took this form to trick people and that I was really very evil and that my parents were just as awfully and..." He buried his face back into Gremio, shuddering and "sobbing" some more. "IT'S NOT FAIR, MISTER! Everyone's always so superstitious and believes the first talk of demons they hear!"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Gremio managed a small, strained smile (how could he really smile for him, when confronted with a story like that?), absently petting the boy's hair. "You know that he's lying, don't you? So you needn't trouble yourself over things that aren't true. All you have to do is make them understand the truth. That's how a good man handles himself, right?"

Phibrizzo sobbed louder. "But I can't! No one ever believes me! I thought it was really bad to be here with the monsters and everything, but then he showed up and now I know they brought me here to kill me, because he killed my family and turned everyone against us, and he wants to do it again, I know it!" His grip tightened. "I don't know what to do, mister! If I say anything, he'll know I'm here and come after me, but if I don't say anything, he'll turn everyone against me again and THEN kill me!"

It was nice to have someone as gullible as Gremio to talk to. Phibrizzo suspected he had great potential...

"Now, now, dear, no one's going to kill you, and everyone's not going to turn against you." He didn't see how anyone could. Poor thing... he really was just a child. "Stop crying now, alright?" he said, tugging Phibrizzo a little closer. "That's not going to fix any of this. Just trust me, alright? You're going to be fine."

Again, the mazoku lord pretended to wipe away tears and looked up at his "savior". "But HOW can I fix this? What can you do to help me? And how do I know you won't just believe what he says even if you do try?"

It was important that Gremio give Zelgadis no credit- perhaps it would become contagious and others would follow suit.

Gremio simply smiled at him, patting him on the head. "Now don't be silly. I know you're not lying. I've raised children, you know; I can tell when they aren't being honest. What reason could you possibly have not to tell the truth? I'm not sure how we can fix this, but we'll find a way, alright? So please, try to calm down."

I know you're not lying.

IDIOT.

Phibrizzo looked into Gremio's eyes, his own wide. He very nearly broke out into arrogant laughter, wanting very much to crush this gullible fool's little world of trust and rainbows, but kept his act under control all the same. He needed gullible, especially in a "good" figure. If others were going to trust his word over all others, he needed to be on Hellmaster's side.

"...my name's actually Phibrizzo," he said quietly, "But don't tell anyone. Ever since Ze-er-HE showed up, I haven't been telling people it, 'cause I'm worried he'll find out I'm here. I don't know what to do, mister! Please help me!"

"Phibrizzo, you said? Alright. Just keep going by your assumed name for the time being, and if you can, try not to stay alone." He smiled a bit, hands resting on his shoulders as he gently pushed him back. "And you needn't call me 'mister,' understand? I'm nowhere near old enough for that. Just call me Gremio."

Phibrizzo nodded weakly, but still looked worried. "But Mister Gremio, what about him? If he uses his power to make everyone hate me again, it won't matter if I'm alone or not. And he still might try to kill me, just like he did my parents!"

He looked the floor. "What should I do about him?"

"Don't worry about that, alright? In the grand scheme of things, there's very little he can do." Gremio let the boy go, adjusting to sit against the wall again. "I highly doubt he was sent here to kill you. In my experience, a person's strength and powers are drastically reduced in this place. And I imagine he has far bigger things to worry about, particularly at night. The monsters here can do... quite a bit of damage. So why would he put himself at such a great disadvantage just to get to you?"

In response to the last question, Phibrizzo lip quivered and he looked sullenly at Gremio. "W-why did he murder my parents in the first place? I don't know why he's sought me out to torment me, but..."

Well, time to cry again. He latched onto Gremio once more and began to sob it out.

Gremio smiled sadly, stroking the boy's hair again. "There, there, dear, it's alright. Let it all out." If the boy needed to cry, he'd let him cry. He knew well how painful it was, to lose someone's parents. Especially someone so young. A parent felt the same kind of helplessness when separated from their child, didn't they?

He sighed, closing his eyes. ... Suddenly, more than ever, he missed his Young Master.

When the Mazoku lord felt as if he had cried for a long enough period to appear authentic, he pulled back from Gremio and apologized for his behavior.

"I'm happy to know you believe me," he said, smiling weakly, "But I won't feel any better so long as Mister Zelgadis is here."

He intentionally slipped the chimera's name into the conversation so it would seem he UNINTENTIONALLY did it. After all, what if Gremio ran across him? It would do no good to have him go in with an open mind...

"Do you really think I could make the other people here believe me over him? He's very good with words and I'm..." He looked down. "I never was the smartest."

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