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Chapter 13
Xenia led Ingrid back into the main library and to the front of the trunk separating it from the back. She pressed her hand against a specific spot on the trunk, and the area around her hand glowed. When the faun took her hand away, that same glow drew a person-shaped rectangle, which transformed into an elevator.
“Oh damn,” Ingrid said aloud as she followed Xenia into the cabin. “Where are we going?”
“To the place that I think will unlock your power.”
“How’s that?”
“The fact that the closest you came was with the still life class, and those plants in your holy book...it’s so obvious to me now.”
Ding!
“Just a bit further.”
The elevator doors opened into a walkway protected a translucent curved dome, with plants of every kind in planters on either side of and hanging directly above the cobblestone path. Ingrid could just see the blurred outlines of the treetops outside in between the potted plants.
Xenia pressed her hand against the door at the end of the tunnel...
“It’s so obvious that this is your domain.”
And with a soft green glow, the door slid away from the entrance...
Revealing a massive greenhouse with several floors worth of plants in different stages of life and all manner of birds and insects and tiny rodents living their lives among them. In the center was a white cylindrical structure that reminded Ingrid of an upright Tower of Pisa. Through its windows, she could see thousands more birds flying to and fro inside.
The human girl walked ahead of the faun and took in this visual smorgasbord, her heart fit to burst with joy.
“Amazing, no?” Xenia said, coming up behind Ingrid and gently taking the head of a flower between her fingers. “This is the result of years of cultivation by our coven. We get to know the earth more intimately through her children all year round, here.”
Ingrid didn’t answer right away, instead continuing to stare wide-eyed at the sheer amount of greenery no matter where she looked. She turned to Xenia, absolutely bewildered, and gasped:
“I...I don’t know where to start! I don’t know where to look!”
Xenia summoned a wooden hover bike with two seats from a specialized conjuring circle and hopped into the driver’s seat.
“I can show you.”
…
Soon, Xenia and Ingrid were off, floating towards the nearest collection of flora. These were local plants, grouped according to how they best thrived in the wild. Ingrid held onto Xenia as tightly as she felt was appropriate as they floated by at a leisurely pace so the human girl could watch the flora change from the familiar to the—literally—otherworldly right in front of her.
“Do you come here a lot, Xenia?”
“Very often, when I need a different kind of silence from that of the library. Down there I use so much of my mind for books and words and their proper places. I do love it, but up here I can let my mind drift. It’s a good change of scenery, and it’s good for the soul.
So... what do you think?”
Ingrid thought for a moment, staring at a Sebia flower from Other Indiana.
“I think...I think I need to pick up some of my notebooks.”
…
Camellia arrived at the bagworm early Sunday afternoon, clearly searching for something, or someone. She set her eyes on Braalat, a goblin librarian, sipping apple tea in a café near the lift.
“Hey, ‘Lat, are you upstairs today?”
“Yeah, but I’m on break right now. What’s up?”
“You seen a human girl around here? Long hair, bangs, usually wears jean jackets and graphic tees?”
“Oh yeah! I saw her go up to the greenhouse just before I came down here.”
...Did I tell her about the greenhouse?
Frowning in thought, the human woman flew all the way up to the library and made a beeline for the elevator. Once inside the greenhouse proper, she let herself take in its relative silence before texting Ingrid:
I’m in the greenhouse. Are you here, lovey?
-Hey! Yeah, I’m in
Uh
You know what, I’ll just come down to you.
Seconds later, Camellia saw a cluster of vines sprout from the edge of the second floor, and, soon after, Ingrid similarly sprouted from among the plants, trotting leisurely along the path she made until stopping directly in front of the older woman.
“I learned that one from watching Aaverie!” Ingrid said, summoning the vines back to her. “So, what’s up? Haven’t seen you in a while!”
“Well, I... I just wanted to see how you were doing, but I think I just got my answer!”
“Xenia showed this place to me. It’s perfect here,” Ingrid replied, handing Carmellia a notebook.
The older woman flipped through the thousands of words and hundreds of sketches that covered every page from margin to margin. She’d even started writing a bit on the back cover.
Camellia looked up at Ingrid, who looked at her quizzically.
“May I hold your hand for a second?”
“Sure.”
Camellia tucked the notebook underneath her arm, grabbed Ingrid’s hand...
And was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer amount of energy coursing through her.
“Ingrid...I wasn’t sure how long it would be, but...
I think it’s safe to say you’ve found your thing.”
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