"Yes, we have. They demanded possession of the Living List because they didn't want the Queen to get her things. They had terrible manners. Very rude and they were very physical too. It was a good thing the guides came along to save us or we would've been in real bad trouble."
The girl seemed bothered by the experience, but it was understandable. People often balk in the face of aggression; these âLost Soulsâ may come from a different world, but at their core Avian believed that they possessed the basest instincts and emotions that every nobody has... But perhaps only that. His exposure to their ilk was relatively thin compared to that of a normal guideâs (for example Cello) so he wasnât so sure about the spectrum of human emotions, but he heard from someone that these âhommunsâ are capable of immense cruelty. Daily gang wars, ânu-clearâ bombing, âhom-ee-sideâ, manslaughter⌠Here in Nowhere the only creatures up to par to those were the ones in the Dark Side and the closest they got to the aforementioned crimes was the War.
He figured he should say something about the HF too.
âThey are a strange lot,â He murmured in agreement as they exited the bedroom, refraining from saying anything more should Jasper take notice of his words. According to Songbird, one of the Lost Souls almost beheaded a tall boy with a cleaver. He would get violet too if someone tried to slice his head off with that, to be honest, so not much sympathy for the blade-toting crazy girl. Nowhere and âEarthâ was surprisingly similar in the fact that creatures of the same species warred against each other⌠And heâd seen his own share of decapitated bodies too. Perhaps this is not the best time to talk about that.
They entered the room and the boy with the glasses, Inadi, drew his sleeve. Avian narrowed his eyes but didnât poke the issue; the boy was probably just fixing his appearance. Golden pear knows Victoria does that a lot. Anyway⌠He listened in on the young manâs explanation up to its end with a neutral expression on his face. Hmm, theyâve all garnered a good bit of information about the Midnight Man, but no way to the Stone, it seemed⌠The dragoon sighed but gave Inadi a warm smile. âGood work,â He said as they left the room, where they met Brandy and Songbird heading up the second floor as well.
Before he could greet the duo, Avian noticed a shimmering beyond and noticed a tail- Ah, Martini! The mermaid was further off the corridor, looking quite panicked as she peeked in from room to room before finally exclaiming âAh, there you are!â then bubbling in. Looks like some of the humans went over thereâŚ
âLetâs meet up with the others to share the information we found,â The soldier noted the guidesâ pale faces and the fact that Songbirdâs jaw was clenched tightly. âDid you see anything unpleasant?â Avian asked as their group headed after Martini. Before the item hunter could answer their question they were inside the library, where all the other humans were save forâŚ
âWhereâs miss Riley? And the one who hugged Temeraire?â Avian questioned as their group formed a circle for his head count. He was pretty sure they headed this way too earlier⌠To his credit, the soldier looked more and more like a bewildered single father who was tasked with babysitting all twelve of his cousinsâ children on a trip to the amusement park.
Meanwhile, Songbird was staring up at a certain shelf, his brows furrowed as he inspected the strange marks on the floor. âLooks like this thing moved around a lot,â He grumbled then called on for Avian to move the shelf. âIt looks heavy,â The dragoon winced and retorted as he angled himself to one side of the bookcase. The white-haired nobody, on the other hand, didnât seem to care much, mumbling something incoherent but resembled âwell youâre the beefcake so you do itâ. Although he heaved a lot of times, Avian was unable to move the bookshelf- he wasnât some superhero, you know- but his attempts jostled it enough for books to start falling off the cases. With the thick tomes out of the way, the party began to hear the sound of banging and angry yelling more distinctly.
âAre you sure thereâs no switch to this thing?â Avian wiped his forehead and rested against the wall as Songbird inspected the shelf yet again, only to shake his head with conviction.
âYouâre sure? Iâm not just wasting my energy here?â The dragoon pressed before heaving again- which, of course, resulted in nothing save more angry yelling from Riley. âYep, 100 percent sure about it!â Songbird noticed a dark slot hidden behind a thick dictionary and shoved the book aside, testing the space with his fingers. Looks like an average book could fit in here, but for what? He inserted a red primer inside and watched as the bookshelf moved.
Avianâs facial expression told everyone the extent of his irritation.
Though of course, he broke out of his unpleasant mood when Leila and Riley stepped forth from within the secret room. âAre you two all right!?â The soldier immediate crowed while Songbird opted to inspect the bookcase more.