“How can you find your way around this place?” I said, gesturing wildly with my arm. “I was lost for like ten minutes this morning, just trying to find the stairs down.”
“You never did have a head for directions,” William said, not even looking up from the book he was reading. “Like that time you came running into my office because you couldn't find the stairs down, even when they were the ones you'd come up. That coffee smells good, did you bring me some?”
“No!” I said emphatically, not liking to be reminded of my freshman stupidity. “And I only did that once. Well, twice, but the second time doesn't count because everyone gets lost in that other building.”
“You know, you're really charming when you first wake up.”
“I am not a morning person.”
He chuckled. “No need to state the obvious. I'm finding the most fascinating information!”
I looked around at the mounds of books. “How long have you been here? Did you even sleep?”
“Of course I slept!”
“Okay, let me rephrase that. Did you sleep in your bed?”
“Yes I did. Thanks for putting my stuff in there. And to answer your question, I've been here for three hours.”
“Three hours? When did you get up?”
“I came down here at seven. It's nearly ten now. How do you manage to sleep so late?”
Ten o'clock? No way it could be ten o'clock already, I didn't even get to sleep all that late. “You're lying.”
“No, I'm not.” He held up his watch and I walked closer to inspect it. Sure enough, it was ten already.
“How did I sleep so late?” I said, shaking my head in wonder.
“Might have had something to do with the fact that you barely slept at all the night before last. No need to get upset over it, rest is good for you. Want to hear what I've found out? It's amazing! Just pull up a chair, there's one over there.” He pointed.
I pulled the chair over to sit beside him, and took another sip of my coffee. “Okay, what did you find out?”
“There's some very interesting information on the elements and how they affect people. You do know the classic elements, right?” He looked at me expectantly.
“Earth, wind, fire, water, and heart?” I hazarded.
He gave me a funny look. “Heart?”
“Er, spirit? Is that not one of them? I'd thought it was.”
He continued to look at me a bit oddly. “I think you've been watching too many children's TV shows. The classic elements are earth, air, water and fire. Spirit is rarely listed with them. Anyway, what I've been reading about is how women who've studied it say that everyone – magic user or not – is aligned with an element, which influences their personality. It's fairly interesting stuff. This book also details which spheres a magic user are likely to be talented in, though I need to read more about the spheres. Apparently, there's five of them-”
I cut him off. “Can you start explaining from the beginning? Jumping around makes my head hurt.”
He chuckled. “Alright. So, back to the elements.”
“The first one, Earth, is strongly associated with stubborn, loyal people. They're not likely to back down, and will stand by the side of those they love. They're attracted to spheres of Healing and Protection, though oddly enough not Battle. Perhaps there's a gentle nature that isn't elaborated on much in here that makes most people attuned to Earth seek protective rather than offensive arts. At any rate, Fire is like a more aggressive form of Earth. They're less stubborn, but very loyal and can be aggressive at times. This book says they can also be skilled in Protection, but lack the touch for Healing, and so favor the Battle sphere.”
I wondered what battle sphere he was talking about. Healing and Protection sounded like types of magic, but Battle? That was something you did with swords. Perhaps he simply meant aggressive magic, such as fireballs.
He continued. “Air and Water are more gentle elements. Water shares a bit of Earth's stubbornness. While they tend to be go with the flow type people, if the need arises they can assert themselves very well. They're usually skilled in Healing or Seeing. Air is the most unique of all the elements. They're rather distracted and dreamy people, the sort that you might describe as walking about with their head in the clouds. They tend to be quiet and shy as well, so they're likely to go unnoticed among the rest of the stronger elements. Much like in the real world, actually. How often do you ever notice air, until there's a lack of it? Their skills are in Battle and Seeing.”
“So,” I said. “Are these like star signs? Like if you're born in spring you're an Air, if you're both in winter you're an Earth, and so on? Or is it more complicated, like phases of the moon? No?” William was shaking his head.
“It's not like a zodiac horoscope at all, in that when you're born determines your sign, and so your personality. I think it's actually backwards. Your personality determines your element, and so your talents. The elements seem to just be a name for a set of personality traits that influence talents anyway, at least as far as I can tell. There's still so much about this that I haven't been able to figure out – it could take years!” His eyes were lit up with excitement, like a kid in a candy store.
I flipped through a few pages of a volume he had sitting on the edge of the table. It was old, and the pages were covered with cramped handwriting. It seemed to be discussing talents, like the spheres William had mentioned. I decided to ask him about them, at the risk of becoming a victim of another long ramble. “What about those spheres you mentioned before?”
“Well, I know even less about them then I know about the elements, but I can tell you what I know so far. There are five of them, called Battle, Elemental, Seeing, Protection and Healing. They're very aptly named, at least on the surface, so there's not much explanation really needed. A magic user has one sphere that they're very talented in, and usually one or two others that they can use but aren't very skilled in. The main talent is almost always one that's aligned with their element, but there's been cases where they aren't.”
He stopped talking. I'd been expecting a long oration, but I guessed this was it. It was actually somewhat disappointing. “Sounds like you've been busy.”
“You wish you were still in bed.”
“I wish I was still in bed,” I agreed, nodding my head and taking another drink of coffee. “Unfortunately, I'm not. So I guess I'd better make the most of it.”
“Did anyone say when we'd be able to see your daughter again?”
“No,” I replied. “I don't think anyone did. I was pretty far gone last night though, so maybe they did.”
“Why don't we find someone who might know? Jenna, or that girl who was in charge of the room, what was her name?”
“Allison?” I supplied.
“Yes, her. Why don't we go find one of them?” he said, closing the book he was reading and setting it back. “Well, help me put these books away first.”
I agreed, and after a few minutes we had the books put back in their proper place on the shelf.
“Alright, let's get going,” he said.
I retrieved my mug and we started walking out of the library. As we reached the door, I heard a voice from behind us.
“Excuse me.”
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