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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"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."

"Zelgadis? Is that his name?" Gremio would keep that in mind. "Don't worry about him. Just focus on taking care of yourself, alright? There's far more formidable things in this place, I can promise you that." Oh dear, he hoped this boy would be alright during Nightshift? If he were to encounter any monsters, then who knew what would happen?

... Yeah, best not to think too much on that now. "Now don't say that, alright?" he said, tilting the boy's chin up. "My Young Master used to say things like that all the time when he was your age. It's only true if you allow it to be."

"A-AH!" Phibrizzo pretended to be apprehensive about Gremio knowing the chimera's name. "P-please! I didn't mean to say that! If he finds out you know who he is, he'll know I'm here and kill me! You don't know what bandits are like- they're MEAN!"

He turned away from Gremio, looking worried. "I'm sorry, but it must be true. If I had been smarter, I might have been able to...s-save my parents."

"Ah, please, don't worry!" Gremio replied, lifting his hands defensively. "I won't use that name anywhere outside this room, understand? Don't worry, don't worry!" He reached out, setting a hand on the boy's shoulders. "And please, you mustn't say things like that. No parent would ever want their child to blame themself like that. I'm sure they'd be much happier to know that you're alive and well, wouldn't they?"

"...I dunno how well I am," Phibrizzo mumbled glumly. "But I trust you, mister."

He made it look as if he was transitioning to another topic to keep from dwelling on his suffering too long. "Where are you from, Mister Gremio?"

"Ah... w-well..." Gremio smiled, leaning back against the wall. "I'm from a place called the Scarlet Moon Empire. The capitol city, to be exact." He laughed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I doubt you've heard of it. Very few people from this world have, from what I can tell."

Phibrizzo nodded. "No, I haven't heard of it. Is it nice?"

Like he cared.

He nodded once. "It used to be. Though I'm afraid it... wasn't as nice when I left it, unfortunately." Yuber had told him the Succession War ended, and in a clear victory for the Liberation Army. But he still couldn't imagine he'd been dead that long. To him, the war was still going on strong.

"Anything would be better than here, though," Phibrizzo said. Except Landels was just fine in his book- plenty of negative energy to tide the Mazoku Lord over until he managed to destroy this world. Sure, having all of his powers would have been ideal, but he had high hopes for regaining them.

And hey, he wasn't dead here.

"Yes," Gremio answered detachedly. "Yes, I suppose you're right." He would much rather be back home right now. And not Liberation Castle either. His home. The place he hadn't seen since they left Gregminster. His bed, his garden, his kitchen. He wondered if that house still stood, in the future Yuber had described to him. He wondered if Tir was staying there again.

... No, somehow he doubted that.

The Mazoku lord cocked his head and acted inquisitive. "How long have you been here, Mr. Gremio? I bet all your friends miss you."

Gremio smiled, albeit a bit sadly. "About a day and a half or so. Though to be honest, I'm... not entirely sure how long I've been away from my world." Now how to say this without scaring off the poor boy? "I was... well, the last thing I remember from my world was my own death. So unfortunately... I'm not sure if I can return, after I leave this place.

Phibrizzo feigned surprise. "Eeeeh? But if you were dead, how can you be alive now?"

He looked his companion over and over, as if looking for a hole or something. Finally, he poked him with a finger. "But you're solid! So you can't be a ghost!"

Gremio laughed a little to himself. "Well, yes, I certainly don't feel like a ghost." He tapped his chin contemplatively, trying to think. "To be fair, the circumstances behind my death were a little... different," he continued, more to himself than to Phibrizzo. "My soul should've been absorbed into my Young Master's rune, and yet it wasn't. Perhaps that has something to do with it..."

... But then why didn't he see Odessa anywhere around here? Still, it was something to think about.

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