Lucky Rabbit

Two more days passed in much the same way, and all of the students settled into their routine, as did Pandy. Each evening, she passed the time improving her skills, until she reached level nineteen in both Bite and Minor Heal. In Gacha Love, twenty was the highest possible level, and Clara usually gained several extra points in the associated stat or stats when she reached it.

Pandy was excited to find out if the same was true here, and if so, what kind of reward she would get. Unfortunately, it took one hundred uses to move from level nineteen to twenty, and even though that number didn’t seem high, she could only chomp on herself and then heal the wound so many times before she just…couldn’t anymore. According to her calculations, she’d already done it more than five hundred times by then, and her patience – as well as her cheek – was wearing thin.

Friday morning, Pandy sat in her usual place at Thaniel’s feet, chewing her lettuce with the enthusiasm of a Death Row prisoner who’d asked for a burger made from gold-dusted Wagyu beef on an artisan brioche bun made with Hokkaido milk, and gotten a kid’s meal from WcDonald’s. On one side of her, Lord Winston ate his food with his usual dainty, yet crumb-intensive method, while to her left, Miss Cupcakes seemed to be struggling to choke down whatever her pâté was made from that day. Maybe it was rabbit, and the kitten was feeling guilty? Pandy shook her head, a chunk of half-eaten broccoli slipping from her lips. No, guilt wasn’t in the feline lexicon, so it must be something else.

The soft scrape of chair legs brought her back to herself just in time to see the chancellor rise from his seat. Well, more accurately she saw the now-familiar dark trousers and black shoes with just a hint of a scuff on the right toe, but when they shifted into an upright position, she knew what was going on. It was time for another speech. Not exactly a surprise, since he did this every day, and at least he tried to infuse a kind of dry dad-humor into his words, unlike the almost aggressively no-nonsense announcements Pandy had heard over the intercom during her own time in school.

She ignored the first bit, which was an admonition to obey the rules, learn lots, and have fun, but her ears twitched when she heard him say the words ‘scholarly excursion’. In Gacha Love, this was code for ‘field trip’, and several of the best events happened during one of these. There was an option to go on one every Friday, but they took a lot of Stamina, potentially leaving Clara too tired to participate in weekend activities. As a result, which scholarly excursions you went on depended on which boy you were wooing. Though in Pandy’s case, it was almost always multiple boys, thanks to her amazing luck with gacha, which allowed her to refill her Stamina multiple times each game-day without paying.

Honestly, she hadn’t expected these excursions to begin so soon, if they happened at all. In the game, they were usually opportunities to level up one or more skills, often by fighting. No one in their right mind would take six-year-olds into a dungeon, though, right? Right? Except that these events were always with the Small Group, and Thaniel’s Small Group advisor was…possibly not in her right mind. If she had a right mind to begin with.

“...and first-year Small Groups will meet behind the school, next to the stables. Now, does everyone know where they’re supposed to go?” The chancellor finished speaking, and everyone’s chairs shifted as they nodded vigorously. Pandy peered around at the students she could see, and realized that most of them looked enthusiastic. So maybe this would be all right after all? If the scholarly excursion was by year-group and not just Small Group, the children might even get something of a break from Ms. Wellington today. With that thought, Pandy was actually able to enjoy a few bites of her broccoli, in spite of the painful tingling in her cheeks that she was probably just imagining.

As chairs scraped backwards, Thaniel scooped her up, entering the flow of children heading to their homeroom class. Of course, when they arrived, it was to find that Mr. Rowe, too, had a surprise for them, and he gestured them into a line already forming along the wall, rather than allowing them to sit at their usual tables. When all twenty-five students were there, the teacher peered out into the hall, making sure it was clear, then turned back to the students.

“Today, we’re going to visit the library. Some of you have already gotten your library cards, but Professor Beeswick will explain how the library works, and then each of you may check out one book to read over the weekend. On Monday, we’ll briefly discuss our books.” He looked down the row of students, some of whom looked excited, while others most definitely didn’t.

Abbington was among the less enthusiastic, while Eleanor and Isidor were part of the excited group, and Thaniel and Geraldine were somewhere in the middle. Thaniel could read surprisingly well, probably thanks to his mother’s books and Lian’s nagging, but he really only enjoyed reading things like Pirate Pete. Geraldine, on the other hand, had been stuffed full of boring books by her tutors, and simply didn’t like reading at all anymore. At least, not unless someone else was doing the work while she listened.

No matter their personal opinions on reading and other forms of mental exertion, the students obediently traipsed down the hall and to the library door, which stood open to receive them. As they entered, a boy who looked to be around Lian’s age guided them to the side, staggering them until they were standing in three rows. Thaniel was in the back, which meant that he had to stand on his toes in order to see, and Pandy could only get glimpses between protruding elbows and uniformed backsides.

The students were just beginning to get really restless when a voice rose above their murmurs, and they all stilled like fawns who’d just sighted the Big Bad Wolf. That was a mixed metaphor, for sure, but glancing up at Thaniel, Pandy saw the same expression on his face as everyone else’s: shock.

“I’m very glad to see you all here,” the voice said. It was a light-weight sort of voice. The kind of voice that flows over you, and you only notice after it passes that it knocked your clothing askew. It was definitely masculine, but not in a particularly manly kind of way, and it was also patently insincere. The speaker was far from happy that they were there, and he didn’t mind if they knew it.

“My name is Professor Beeswick, and I am the Head Librarian. That means that what I say goes, and if I say you go, you shall,” the voice went on. “That said, it is important that you know the rules which, when broken, will lead to your expulsion. No doubt several of you will have met the minimum criteria for banishment by the end of the year, and I do not want you or your parents to wonder exactly what you did wrong.”

The children were beginning to huddle together. Elbows met sides in a hedge of silent support, and one little girl looked like she might begin crying at any moment.

“Damaging a book is forbidden,” Professor Beeswick went on. “There will be no dog-earing pages, breaking the spine by placing the book upside-down, or dropping a book. Do not eat or drink within splashing distance of a book. If you decide that someone else has done something you don’t like, you will not steal or damage their library books. Believe me, I will know, and the proper person will be punished.”

Pandy, as someone who had had her books, bags, pencils, and everything else stolen more times than she could count, found herself appreciating this warning, in spite of the tone with which it had been delivered.

“Books are for reading, and not for any other purpose. They are not to be used to build anything, including libraries, castles, or towers. They are not thrones, stepping stones, hats, or shields. When they are not being read, they are to be returned or kept somewhere safe, like your room, or a vault.”

A hand lifted into Pandy’s line of sight, above the crush of students. There was something slightly odd about the finger pointing to the levels above them, but she couldn’t tell exactly what. “This library has several floors, as well as many stairs. You do not have permission to use any of them at this time. You will stay on this level, in this room, and use only the books you are told you may use. That said, there are a limited number of books you are allowed to remove from this library until I am certain you are not one of the many, many literary locusts who have walked these halls before.”

The hand flicked, and a small, white card appeared between the fingers. Somehow, the card migrated down to the palm, where it was revealed as a library card. “Each of you will receive exactly one library card. If you lose it, you also lose access privileges for the rest of the year. You will be forced to either ask your parents to buy you books or beg your friends to risk their own access in order to borrow books for you. I will tell those friends now: it’s never worth it.”

He stopped, and there was a long silence before he prompted, “Does anyone have any questions?”

Heads were collectively shaken, and Mr. Rowe stepped up. He was apparently quite a bit taller than the librarian, because Pandy could actually see his face where the hand used to be. He looked resigned as he said, “There are several aides available to help you. Anyone who doesn’t have a library card yet, please come to the circulation counter with me. Everyone else, go find a book.”

At his familiar voice, most of the students relaxed enough to nod, and the girl who had looked like she might cry gave a deep, drippy sort of sniffle and headed toward the desk by the door. Thaniel, Geraldine, Eleanor, Isidor, and Abbington had managed to stand together, and as everyone else separated, they shifted as one toward a bookshelf behind them. When they did, Pandy was finally able to see Professor Beeswick, which instantly cleared up the mystery of why the children had looked so frightened.

The librarian was a dragon. Oh, not a ‘four legs and breathing fire’ sort of dragon, but what counted as a dragon in Gacha Love. They were a humanoid race, but with scales, clawed fingers, and wings. Like the mythological sort of dragon, they also had hoards, and Pandy had a fairly good guess at this point what Professor Beeswick hoarded. Clara really only ran into one dragon, and he was quite dead by then, having been killed by Killian and his demon when they stole a book he was… Oh. Oh.

In the game, Clara was only told that the dragon was a trusted member of the faculty whose responsibility was to protect the rarest and most dangerous tomes in the library. The librarian at Condor was named Rowan Calloway. She was a quiet and diligent woman, mentioned only on Edgar’s route, and then only in passing. He did, however, sometimes speak of the first librarian he ever met, who taught him the true value of books, and the information contained within them.

Oh. Again.

One of several older students had approached Thaniel and the others, and the conversation had already turned to Pirate Pete. Pandy, however, couldn’t tear her eyes away from the dragon. Dra-gon. There were a few non-humans in the world of Gacha Love – something which had always struck her as a little odd, since the most adventurous these games usually got was a cat-girl or two – but though they were mentioned, none were ever actually shown. Even the dead dragon was lost in a pool of shadow and red.

This dragon. This dragon, who was supposed to die in about three and a half years.

Thaniel carried Pandy past a bookshelf which had momentarily blocked her view of the librarian, and the only thing she could think was, he’s so pretty. And it was true. Most of the characters in Gacha Love were really excessively attractive, especially Clara and the boys, including Killian. But other than the scales, Professor Beeswick looked more like Pandy’s idea of a fairy.

He was small, probably little more than five feet tall, which put him a little shorter than Pandy herself had been as a human. His long hair was a sort of pale purple that looked completely unnatural, but probably wasn’t, while his irises were a silver-blue. Scales shone on his cheeks, and his ears were slightly pointed.

He was also the first person Pandy had seen wearing something that didn’t look at least slightly European. Instead of pants, shirt, and jacket, he wore a sort of robe open in the front to reveal a baggy tunic belted at the waist, with equally baggy pants that cinched around his ankles, exposing bare feet with long, taloned toes. He also had wings that were neatly folded against his back so Pandy couldn’t see what they looked like, and she really, really wanted to.

Pandy had been the sort of child who longed to be abducted by fairies. She’d known even then that she wasn’t lucky enough to be a long-lost princess or the daughter of a billionaire who’d become wealthy after losing his One True Love. No, Pandy was far more likely to be stolen away by unknown and probably murderous fae who would force her to dance until her feet bled, and then feed her fairy food so she became their servant for all eternity. And honestly, Pandy was all right with that. At least if the fairies took her, she’d know that magic was real, and there was nothing she wished for more than that.

So, while a pretty dragon wasn’t exactly a fairy, he was close enough, and Pandy wiggled until Thaniel absently put her down. He and the others were caught up in a discussion of which books they were going to check out. Thaniel and Geraldine wanted everyone to borrow Pirate Pete books, so they could read them together, while Isidor was eyeing the non-fiction section, and Abbington just looked rather overwhelmed by it all. Eleanor seemed willing to go along with whatever the group decided, though she, too, was staring longingly at the shelf containing multiple copies of Pete’s eighteen-book-long adventure.

Seeing that the children were well and truly occupied, Pandy headed back toward where she’d last seen the dragon. Dragon! Squee! To her great surprise, Miss Cupcakes trailed along after her, yellow eyes watchful and tail slightly puffier than usual. Well, if she tried to stop the kitten, Pandy had no doubt things would Go Badly, so she ignored the feline and hopped onward.