Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (19/?) WiP 1 (Patreon)

Hey everyone! Here's the Work in Progress for Chapter 19 I hope you guys enjoy! :D

What do you get when you put a fox, an owl, a humanoid bird, and an anthropomorphic wolf all under the same non-euclidean roof alongside a power armored human? If there was anyone out there who was capable of answering this then I applaud their creativity, because personally, I was at a loss for words.

There I was yet again, sandwiched within layers of synthetic weave and metal composites, staring down an owl whose eyes betrayed a look of sullen annoyance that bordered on outright disdain. All the while the incessant unmitigable pings of push notification after push notification kept reminding me of the reality I had been thrust into, a constant reaffirmation that this was in fact my current reality, and not some fever dream stemming from a night of heavy binge reading.

The owl that had entered with the theatrics befitting of an endgame boss had now positioned itself just a few feet away from me. So close that I now felt one of the worst bouts of tonal whiplash slapping me across the face, as all of the sinister flair it’d incurred from its dramatic entrance had all but been cast aside by its short and pudgy stature.

What should have been the arrival of a beast, rivaling the scale and ferocity of a dragon, was instead replaced by a small plump owl. Not a dragon owl, mind you. Nor some sort of an owl-like beast. But a regular, almost insultingly normal-sized, owl. One that barely reached my shins if I were to be generous and count its hat as part of its total height. It was as if a dungeon master had pulled out all the stops in the buildup to an endgame boss, only to whip out a dollar store model of the boss in question, completely undermining what should have been the highlight of the entire experience.

The last remaining hope for this little guy to live up to the hype lay with its speech. Perhaps it’d have some otherworldly voice. Perhaps it’d speak through the annals of the library itself like some magical version of a PA system. Perhaps it’d even attempt a direct telepathic connection, one that’d obviously not work on me, but would more than likely incur some sort of a visceral reaction from the likes of both Thacea and Thalmin. Indeed, our staredown felt like it’d gone on for an entire minute, before finally, it grew tired of me, and walked straight past me altogether; focusing on the fox as the poor thing bowed its little head in response. Its snout all but resting on the cold marble floor of the library, whimpering out small little cries every few seconds as it stared up meekly at the owl.

“So. Buddy now, is it?” The owl finally spoke, its voice… was very much what I’d expected of a creature of its size. Sure it was deep, but only as deep as an owl’s hoot could really go, with the rest of its intonation eerily smooth and composed. Whereas the fox had an animated quality to him, each and every word punctuated with yips, yaps, and an undercurrent of excitable foxness, the owl instead carried itself more akin to a person. Dare I say it, it carried itself more in a manner more distinguished than a majority of the student body I’d met to date, Ilunor included.

“Y-yes Librarian.” The fox yipped out meekly, just before the scene took a turn for the dark. Without warning, and without any hesitation, the owl stepped forward and pressed its claw firmly against the fox’s head. Its blunted talons tightened, clenching the fox’s scalp in an iron grip, cinching up its warm orange fur in the process.

“Yours is a story of consistent inconsistence. For a great achievement has been sullied by an unsatisfactory transaction. A transaction which favors the knowledge seeker, but not the knowledge holder. An unfairness has occurred, and the library is nothing if not fair. So please, Buddy, utilize your newfound position to strike a balance where an imbalance has been incurred.” The owl spoke in a manner that sounded more like instruction than condescension. Almost as quickly as it had begun its assault on the fox, so too did it stop, as it relented, and merely positioned itself atop of the fox’s head. Using it as a perch as Buddy now approached me, staring warily at my opaque lenses.

“Cadet Emma Booker, as your personal library assistant, it is my responsibility to both represent your interests and that of the library’s. I apologize if I have not made this relationship clear at first, and I apologize if I have underperformed in my capacity as a facilitator of knowledge. It is clear at this point that I have disproportionately favored my responsibilities to you as our patron, and undervalued the knowledge bestowed upon you from this library. This is a deficit that must be corrected. In short, the library requires that a toll be paid for the services which I have rendered, and I have neglected to request that this toll be paid till now.” Buddy spoke in a manner that clearly indicated he didn't want to do this, but rather, had to do this as part of whatever hierarchy of responsibilities existed here.

A part of me would’ve been massively impressed by the fox’s ascent into business-formal eloquence, especially considering how most of our interactions up until this point had been less than business casual. However, more pressing concerns existed which more or less kept that side of me at bay.

“A toll?” I parroted back, keeping one hand firmly against my sidearm as the vibes the owl continued to give off had simply exacerbated the latent paranoia that was my current frame of mind following the whole reveal of the real and looming threat that was the null. “I did say I’m not in the market for info-brokerage, and you explicitly stated that my presence here was sufficient enough payment for granting us access to the information we were after.” I stated plainly.

It was at this point that the owl let out a series of purposefully placed breaths, each and every one carrying with it an overture of disappointment that caused the fox it was perched atop to shake and shudder.

“You have neglected to inform our new patron of the rules and standards of the library?” The owl spoke, the conversation once again directed not towards me but the fox.

“I… I have only hinted at it briefly, librarian. Although I was intending to inform her of it once-”

The owl all but shot down the fox’s attempt at an excuse with a simple remark. “There is a time and a place for apologies, and this isn’t one, Buddy.” There was a terseness to its voice, yes, but there was something else to it that I found surprising given what I’d expected from a place like this. There was a sense of genuine honesty there. It wasn’t another one of the Nexus’ thinly veiled attempts at a petty jab, nor was it some attempt at instruction coated with contempt and interpersonal rivalry. No. This was one of the few instances of a conversation that didn’t carry with it any duplicitous undertones. “I shall take the reigns as the primary conduit, and you  shall remain in my shadow. Watch carefully, and let this be a learning experience.” The owl spoke calmly, before shifting its orange face to directly face me.