A Goat's Library

The sign of the seagoat was a delightful soul to meet, one making a nice breakfast for his two guests for before they planned to leave. Off to tell their companions what they'd discovered.

Lia and Ray both gladly followed Giles to the cozy kitchen, joining the satyr for another good meal.

Their conversation soon diverted to the stories about Tylluan and the heavy topics of the books they've read. Capricorn merely nods along in understanding, he knows his whole collection by heart. He says they aren't the only tragic and hard-to-read books he has, there's been so much hurt recorded in literature over the years, it's saddening in a way.

Lia solemnly stared into her cup of tea, pondering over the question if she'd be aware even half of those things happened.

She cannot remember much about the world's events, just vital cue's about how certain things work. Fire hurts and plants grow, you cannot fly without wings or breathe water without gills. Magic can override those rules of the earth, there's more magic than there are people walking these plains, though both come as diverse as one would be able to imagine.

"Is the fruits tea not to your taste?" Giles asked, noticing her cup was left untouched after one sip, "Leaving tea to get cold seems like such a waste."

It was still hot enough to enjoy, she thought, hands still around the cute little cup.

"No that's okay Mr. Giles, it tastes fine– 's still warm too," she began, "I was just thinking..."

Not really knowing what to disclose about her thoughts she offered no end to her sentence.

Ray waited a while to see if she'd say anything, as did Capricorn, "It's quite alright lass, I'd get lost in thought too if I my memory was torn like a crevasse," he told her, a small kind hand pat her arm.

Lia smiled at the satyr, "You've been very kind and understanding sir, thank you so much for helping us."

"It was delightful to have you two come over, although– maybe send a message beforehand next time instead of barging in unannounced like some ol' rover."

"Will do, I imagine we're gonna need to read up on some more topics if we're getting involved in something as big as the prophecy suggests, so thank you for allowing us to learn from your library Giles," Ray gave him a thankful nod.

The old satyr smiled at the two, his wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showing he often did so.

His guests appreciated the hospitality he'd shown, while Capricorn was just happy with the company. He told them they can take any of the important books back with them, as long as they'll return them when paying him another visit.

Some tiny spirits and bookworms followed Lia around as she began to select a few books together with Ray. Last night had been... an experience, one that hopefully won't be repeated any time soon. Though she couldn't help but think this trip had actually gone alright, even with all the problems they stumbled across.

They decided to leave quickly now that everyone had their stomachs filled for the trip ahead, Ray and Lia wanted to make it back before dark and didn't want to spend a full day reading tragic tales of the Zodiac.

The two had gotten what they came for.

So Giles provided them with a leather shoulder-bag for all the books as well as some food for the road, before waving them off.

"Lia, don't forget to listen to your inner spirit, maybe your friend can help teach you not to fear it," he chuckled. "Maybe you should seek out the other signs as well. What we uncovered last night you should thoroughly retell."

The pair nodded, knowing they may be the only ones aware of this worrying news. It could be a good thing to travel around and see if more memories or visions appear for Lia as well as inform people of a rising danger.

"You can keep this book lass," Capricorn handed Lia a pretty serpent covered book. "I hope it'll help you connect to you spirit when it comes to pass."

She'd seen it before, skimmed through the chapters even, but she didn't recall actually reading much of its content.

'Ophiuchus the snake bearer'

"Thank you—" Lia bowed, looking at the snowy grass as she decided on her next words– "Grandpa Gill, for everything," she looked up to see a sight that had become all to familiar.

A warm smile.

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Lia and Ray returned home after a long journey back, the sky was growing dark already, the big tree illuminated with the soft glow of multiple lights originating from the house among the leaves.

The wolf and the dragon mage's home, where the two left to investigate in town were happily awaiting their arrival.

"The treehouse looks beautiful like this," Lia heard herself mutter.

The wolf underneath her seemed to huff a soft laugh, the last leg of their travel had been on Ray's back, sprinting through the fields of tall grass.

He walked them to the bottom of the tree, lowering down just a bit so Lia could get off easier, before shifting back into his human self. He moved to use the crystal to get them up before they heard someone shout from above.

"You're back! Took ya long enough!" Kaida grinned down from the railing Ipo floating at her side.

Ray sighed, "We're back within two days time, what are you on about?" he shouted back, sounding tired.

Once they were up in the treehouse Jay perked up, "Hey, you two had a fun time reading up on–oh you guys do not look happy..." his cheery tone trailed off when he saw their less than enthralled faces.

Lia stepped forward, "We have a lot to tell you." She moved the shoulderbag in front of her, opening it to reveal it was filled with important books about the Zodiac.

Its then that everyone noticed some of the little bookworms and flying spirit creatures appearing next to Lia, apparently they followed her back.

Did tiny spirits usually do that?

Ipo inspected them with great curiosity, probably because the people Ipo knew didn't have spirits following them around... Lia's excited to see them of course, the others also don't seem to mind since they aren't really a bother to anyone, but it's still strange.

Is anyone going to address it or—

After everyone just kinda gaped at the spirits it seemed like they mutually decided to ignore the whole thing. So Lia spoke up, "That failed prophecy surrounding the Zodiac mages? It's alive again."

Now everyone is gawking at her for a different reason than cute little spirit lights.

"I know that's probably a bit much to just drop onto everyone but it's bad... Capricorn will send us letters about anything new he discovers about the prophecy. He was mumbling about sending letters to others too, like Libra... at least I think so. Maybe other signs too?"

Ray nods, apparently sharing the same thoughts on the matter. "We got the most important books with us, there were so many stories though, we skimmed through most but we may need to revisit the library some day."

Jay and Kaida were both quietly listening, the mood had shifted upon the others' arrival. They gave each other a side glance, both acknowledging this was getting serious– if not worrying.

Lia grabbed one specific book from the leather bag, "I have a book on my spirit too, Giles said I could keep it," she spoke with purpose, "I've barely read it but the spirit is said to be a great healer and as all Zodiac signs– it's supposedly a skilled warrior too. The healing magic seems to be passed down to me at least, Ray got a small wound when we encountered a Knupa on our way up the mountain. Without knowing... I think I healed him."

Jay stepped towards the brunette to put a gentle and reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad to hear you did get the information you set out to find, even if the news Alvee had expected to hear is not particularly good news."

She nodded, it was true. There was this gut feeling something had been off since she woke up in that cozy shop, was this what it felt like to have your fate connected to a tale of the stars?

Kaida held Lia's gaze with an unexpected seriousness. "So you're not just someone with great potential, you're the last piece to a prophecy that failed to come true hundreds of years ago?"

Well what do you say to that?

"Yes," Lia replied, her tone as neutral as she could manage.

Ray held her sister's gaze, "This is way bigger than we thought Kaida," he added.

What are we getting ourselves into?

Ray sighed before sitting down on one of his big pillows, "That's enough for now, it's late already and I'm sure you two want to share what you did these past two days as well..." Ray prompted.

A big grin spread on Kaida's face, making her brother cringe and Lia worry about what they'd done.

Before she can start her story Ray interrupts her with a question directed at Jay, "Did you even try to prevent Kaida from getting into fights?" He suddenly sounded even more tired than he'd been when they arrived at the tree.

The fae gave him a look of fake shock and hurt, "Really, you think I'm that stupid?" He sarcastically asked, only succeeding in setting himself up for another jab at his pride.

"Well—" Ray dragged on his taunt, knowing Jay would understand the implication that yes; He indeed thought he was that stupid.

Kaida chuckled but didn't disagree with either of their statements, instead moving onto the information they discovered.

They had asked around town, following any quick leads they could get surrounding the old prophecy or the Zodiac themselves.

Jay had apparently been capable enough to keep Kaida in line while they were questioning people.

Kaida sat on top of the small empty part of their kitchen counter, "Not much is known about the zodiac mages, much less some 13th sign– no offense. One of the centaurs in the guild did know something about Sagittarius though, she lives in a big forest not too far from here, it has been under attack by monsters and merchants can't even get close to the passage anymore without being in danger."

"Wait Sagittarius?" Lia asked, suddenly grabbing through the contents of her bag. "Giles said he knew of her, a strong soul and protector of the woods or something– but, I got a map with her clan's location!" she pulled out a pretty crumpled map to show everyone.

Whoops, should've remembered that was in there...

Oh wait, it's two marked places— that's right! "Oh and Capricorn is also the great-grandfather of Aries, she's on the map too and apparently Taurus is her partner so... small world huh," she said, talking quickly.

Silence fell over the room again, even Ipo seemed to raise an eyebrow.

"Well– okay, eh—" Jay stuttered a bit at a loss of what to say, "That's good news right? Means you can find a few signs easily right at the start of your search," he smiled, voice turning peppy again.

"Hey," the fae began, a softer smile gracing his features, "we should do something nice and calming after that trip–" his long pointed ears twitched– "not to mention the whole life-changing revelations thing," he sputtered quickly twiddling his fingers.

Ray hummed, sagging down more and more in his soft pillows "Something fun for Lia."

Kaida immediately had an idea, "Fighting!" she shouted, a fist pumped into the air, "She needs to train, let's spar!" Ready to get right into it she sprung up from her seat at the counter, bouncing on her feet.

The two boys gave her a long look before Ray spoke up, "No, I was thinking– something more like a quest?"

A quest?

Kaida wasn't deterred at all, "Yeah! One with lot's of fighting!" she happily agreed, "Oh I know, we'll see the quests on our guild's board tomorrow," she suggested, probably already planning to pick something she liked to do instead of choosing a quest suited for Lia.

Something Jay also caught onto. "It may be a better idea to seek out Sagittarius first, they may need help over there. I mean– sure we could wait to see if she can handle it herself, but the guy said it was really bad over there."

Ray nodded in agreement while Kaida looked disappointed in her own grumpy way.

Lia thought of something Capricorn had requested though, "What about Aries, will we visit her first or—?"

Ray yawned, now fully spread out on the pillows on the floor, "We can go find her after we check the situation with Sagittarius," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

Someone sure was exhausted...

The fae hummed, amused. "I think that's my cue to get back to town, sleep well wolfy," Jay teased, waving kindly at the girls.

"Skut off you candlehead," came the tired and growling retort from Ray.

Jay rolled his eyes before moving to leave, "Bye," he singsonged, being the sweet annoyance he was.

Lia and Kaida waved him off on the deck as they saw him appear at the bottom of the tree in the faint glow of the ZuZum crystal. Kaida turned to Lia, "Well Ray's out, but do you wanna eat anythin'?"

Lia could practically feel the empty space in her stomach. "Sure I could eat," she said, moving back inside alongside Kaida, "Should I try to make some dinner again?"

Kaida got quiet, a realization hitting her, "After the few buns we got in town before you left with Ray we didn't go back to shop for food..."

Well then.

"Let's see what we can make then, challenge accepted."

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Thank you for reading, chapter three is finally done! 

I can't wait for the next one :D