02 | Action | Library | Open

[getsthecredit]

[Arthur is not the bookish type.

But when finding oneself in another world, with people and history and politics you know nothing about, in a strange school you've never heard of, surrounded by people who use magic freely as if it were normal, what is a king to do?

He'd already explored the school, but he needed more information, details, facts about what was beyond this place and where it came from. He wasn't accustomed to not knowing the lay of the land and what was happening in those surrounding his own- he didn't even have his own land, here. He may not be a king to anyone here (except Merlin), but he felt it his responsibility to learn what he could, and on his own terms- there were too many magic users around for him to be comfortable asking for secondhand information (although now that he'd had some time to get settled, he felt he may have been a bit hasty in the way he treated some of the strangers he'd met after his arrival).

And so Arthur (dressed more reasonably this time in his cadet uniform if just because it was more practical than his chainmail, but with the addition of his sword belt plus sword) found himself sitting in the library with a stack of books pulled from the shelves, spanning topics such as history, geography, and politics, which he proceeds to study carefully but doesn't hesitate to skim here and there.]

Comments

[nevergetscredit]

Trying something new today, Arthur? {And yes, Merlin is going to just grin in amusement at the sight of Arthur surrounded by books]

[getsthecredit]

[Dammit. He'd kind of been hoping Merlin wouldn't find him here. (Otherwise, he would have had Merlin fetch the books for him.)]

Despite what you may think, being King does entail having to occasionally read things.

[nevergetscredit]

So you never read anything until you actually became King then?

[getsthecredit]

[Slamming the book in front of him shut in order to glare at Merlin.]

As long as you're here, Merlin, why don't you make yourself useful? Sit down, I have some questions regarding your experiences here.

[nevergetscredit]

I'm not reading your books for you, you know. [Nonetheless, Merlin sits. Although he's a little bit unsure about what exact Arthur's going to ask about. Please don't ask about magic.]

[getsthecredit]

[Sorry Merlin, magic it is.]

You've been here a fair deal longer than I have. Surely you are aware of the... prominence of magic and magical beings, here. [He's trying his best to be delicate, here.]

Have you noticed any of these people... or creatures... abusing magic?

[nevergetscredit]

[You just had to ask about magic, didn't you Arthur? When Merlin answers, he's shuffling awkwardly as he talks.]

Not...really? There was the girl with the pink hair who maybe made it rain chocolate milk on me. Apparently you can actually have chocolate milk. She said that wasn't her though, and to be honest I think she's just completely mad. But at least the chocolate milk didn't hurt anybody?

[pause]

And there's the trolls. You can't trust the trolls, Arthur.

[getsthecredit]

[Just. Giving him A Look at the chocolate milk story.]

...Right. So the worst we have to worry about is chocolate milk raining down on us. Of course.

[He just nods to the part about the trolls, though.]

I believe you're right. Just how many of them are there? I ran across two the other day.

[nevergetscredit]

[It really happened! Just you wait till you meet the pink haired girl yourself, Arthur. Then you'll find out the true meaning of insanity]

At least four. And they're all trouble. Well, except for the one that keeps acting like a cat. She doesn't actually seem as bad as the others.

[youngnobelman]

Excuse me, but are you new, or studying for exams?

[Because someone with that many books on those particular topics, it could go either way. Either way, Touma's standing nearby with a book in his arms.]

[getsthecredit]

[Arthur glances up from studying a map of the world, mildly relieved to see that the person addressing him at least looked relatively normal.]

The former. I'm trying to familiarize myself with this... place.

[youngnobelman]

[Touma nods, and offers him the book he's holding: The blurb describes it as documenting the events and politics that led up to the first and second Sorceress Wars and examining the ongoing effects of Time Compression, ie. the first appearances of people from other worlds and Balamb Garden's opening its doors to them.]

This one may interest you. It's a bit more recent than what's here [well, it was published last year]; I just dropped in to recommend it to the library staff.

[So yes, that is his personal copy, as evidenced by "Property of Touma H. Norstein" neatly printed in the top right corner of the first page.]

[getsthecredit]

[He looks over the description as Touma speaks, noting the name written inside. It did sound like it covered most of the topics he needed to know about.]

You don't mind if I borrow it for a little while?

[youngnobelman]

Not at all. Just leave it in the infirmary when you're finished.

[getsthecredit]

You have my thanks. Touma, is it?

[Assuming that was his name, written in the book. Either way, he was grateful to recieve help from someone who didn't even know who he was. He stands up to offer his hand.]

Arthur Pendragon.

[youngnobelman]

[He nods, shaking Arthur's hand.] A pleasure.

[getsthecredit]

You said to leave it in the infirmary when I've finished- are you a physician?

[platinumheritance]

[Quite the place to choose, Arthur. Really convenient, actually, since Rita here absolutely loves them! Once she found this place she decided to spend a majority of her free time here. Plenty of reading, plenty of studying, learning as many basics as she could before classes started.

And that is what she is doing when she walks past Arthur, a stack of book in her arms taller than she is. Looks like she's even having some trouble balancing them, a bit. Maybe. WHAT DO YOU DO, ARTHUR?]

[getsthecredit]

[Oh great, it's her again. The wings are hard to miss, not to mention that stack of books, which he might have immediately offered to help with if not for obvious reasons (or obvious to him, at least).]

Can't you just use magic to help you carry those?

[Okay, so not the most polite of greetings. But at the least his tone is much calmer, without the vitriol of the other day.]

[platinumheritance]

[When Arthur speaks up, Rita takes a second to stop. She makes sure the books aren't going to fall, and then turns to Arthur. For a few seconds she just glares at him. He looks familiar, but she doesn't quite recognize him at first. When she does, she frowns some more.]

I don't need magic to carry some books. What are you doing here, anyway.

[getsthecredit]

[He gestures widely at the books in front of him.]

Reading, obviously.

[He pauses a moment; out of all the strange things he'd seen, she and her dragon pet were the ones he felt he could make the most sense of- in that they were clearly magical beings. He knew he couldn't trust her.

But from a more political standpoint, perhaps he should at least try to approach her a bit more diplomatically.

He stands up, hands at his hips, uncomfortably avoiding eye contact.]

I never did get your name.

[platinumheritance]

[She 'hmphs' at the gesture.]

I didn't think you were the type who could read.

[Even when Arthur was seated, Rita didn't find much difficulty in meeting his eyes. It wasn't much different when he was standing, and she was still frowning.]

Because you never asked for it.

[getsthecredit]

Yes I did. [Well.] ...I admit I didn't ask very politely. I was angry, and you're- [He gestures vaguely at her, still not making eye contact.] -Magic. Which, I do realize, is acceptable here.

[platinumheritance]

[Nope still frowning.]

And what is wrong with being magic?

[getsthecredit]

[Still being relatively calm and uncomfortable.]

You should already know, but magic is dangerous, not only when used for harm but to the user themselves. Those who choose to use it are tainted by its evil and will use it for evil. In my- where I'm from, it's against the law for this reason.