William stared up at the pillars of bookshelves before him as he wandered through the library. He had managed to sneak in after âborrowingâ Royâs watch to check out some books in his name. If his brothers were going to pass the State Alchemistâs Exam, they were going to need the best material possible. Although he would still call himself a genius at the art, he had to admit, his knowledge on the subject was technically dated, despite him knowing secrets to alchemy that almost no one else knew. Unfortunately, ancient, revolutionary knowledge wouldnât be relevant to the exam. Heâd need some more recent publications. So here he now was, perusing Central Library.
As he did so, he kept finding himself getting lost. Where was that damn alchemy system. He cursed himself. Despite the fact that he literally had all the time in the world to do so, he never took the time to learn the dewey decimal system. Did this library even run on that system? To be completely honest, he had no clue. All that he did know is that he had no hope of figuring out right now on his own. He sighed as he scratched the back of his head. Looked like he was going to need to ask for some help. His shoulders slumped as he went on the search for a librarian.
He looked around for a good ten minutes before he found another person. He saw a young woman with brown hair and glasses standing on a rolling ladder, holding a book in one hand and gripping the ladder with the other. On the step of the ladder next to her head, there was a large stack of books balanced precariously, but she seemed too absorbed in her book to care. William raised an eyebrow at her. It looked like she had been putting away the books before stopping to read one. Was she allowed to do that?
âUmâŠHello?âhe called, âDo you work here orââ
âAAH!âthe girl suddenly yelped in surprise, losing balance, âI WASNâT SLACKING OFF I SWEAR! WOAH!â The girl wobbled on the ladder before dropping her book and desperately grabbing for the ladder to regain balance. In doing so, she managed to knock the large stack of precariously placed books off the ladderâŠright onto William.
The homunculusâs eyes widened as the heavy volumes tumbled through the air down upon him. He barely had time to curse before they toppled onto him, forcing him to the ground beneath the weight of their paged. William groaned in pain as he felt two cracked ribs and an oncoming concussion from the tomesâ attack.
The girl looked around for a moment, realizing with confusion her boss wasnât there. She adjusted her glasses and looked down on Will before she slapped a hand over her mouth and squeaked in horror. âOh God! Ohgod!Ohgod!Ohgod!Ohgod!Ohgod!âshe muttered fearfully as she swiftly climbed down the ladder and scrambled over to him, âI am so, so, SO sorry! I am so clumsy, please forgive me! Are you alright?! Can you breath?! Hello!â She began pushing the books off of him. William blinked as she saw her looking down on him with worry. He was glad she had missed the healing process. He didnât want to have to explain what the red lightning was or have to knock her out over it. Granted, it wouldnât have been his fault if she had. She was the one who had knocked them over onto him. If he hadnât been there, she would have probably hurt herself or someone else on accident. Surprisingly, however, he wasnât mad at her. Granted, it was mostly because he was still too shocked to, but still.
âSir, are you alright?âthe girl repeated dragging him from his thoughts, âIs your head ok? Oh no, I didnât give you a concussion, did I?â She bit her lip in worry before continuing to apologize to him and asking him how he was doing. William just blinked at her. He was drawing a blank on how to respond, not that he could have gotten a word in edgewise. For some reason he had a different strange thought running through his head: for some reason this girlâs panicking was kinda adorable and he had no idea why.
âHere, let me check,â she said, moving to force his eye open more, âI read about this in a book once and-â
âHEY!â William snapped, suddenly jerking upwards as she tried to push back his eyelids. She had leaned in close to him to get a better look, so when he did so, he accidentally ended up butting heads with her. The girl yelped in pain and lept back while William groaned and cursed while he rubbed his head.
âHey, what was that for?!âshe responded.
âExcuse me! You were trying to force my eye open! What did you expect me to do?â William snapped in response.
âI was just trying to help!âshe defended, âYou could have a concussion for all you know! I was just checking to make sure you were ok.â
âWell I appreciate that, but I assure you Iâm fine,â William said, moving to get up.
âYou donât know that!â Sheska said, putting her hands on her hips, âJust because you feel fine, doesnât mean you are fine. You know, concussions donât always come with a headache.â She then grabbed his arm. âCome on! We should go get you to a doctor of some kind to be sure,â she reasoned trying to drag him along.
William swallowed. Crap. He couldnât go see a doctor! They wouldnât find any injuries but they would surely find something else wrong with him, like the fact that his body temperature is much colder than the average human. âNO!â he cried, jerking away, âUhâŠI meanâŠThatâs really unnecessary, and I really donât have the time. Look, why donât you just check to make sure Iâm alright, huh? You said you could.â
Sheska relaxed her grip before nodding. She then set him down and went through all the typical procedures for checking for a concussion. She checked the dilation of his eyes, made sure his vision wasnât blurry, and so on. William went through the motions with her. Of course she hadnât found anything. William had healed any damage that may have happened the minute he felt a headache coming on. âAlright, it seems youâre fine,â she said, âItâs strange. I didnât even find any bruisingâŠâ
He shrugged. âI guess Iâm just lucky,â he said before smirking, âeither that, or I gut have a really thick skull.â
She snorted in amusement at that. âWell I wouldnât say that,â she said, âYou wouldnât be here otherwise. After all, only state alchemists and high ranking officers are allowed to just wander around in here. Everyone else has to wait behind the desk.â
William raised an eyebrow. âSo are you a state alchemist then?âhe asked, âYou look a little young to have a high ranking position otherwise.â
She laughed at that. âOh no! Iâm no alchemist,â she said, âI just work here.â
âReally?âhe asked, âDo they allow you to read on the job here?â
The girl paused and flushed in embarrassment. âEheheheâŠ.No,â she said scratching the back of her head, âBut I just canât stop! I love booksâŠalways have. History, Fiction, poetry, scienceâŠTheyâre all just so good!â She practically squealed the last portion before remembering herself. âS-sorryâŠPlease donât tell my supervisor I was getting distracted.â
William chuckled. âYour secretâs safe with me,â he said, âNow, out of curiosity, would you be willing to help me find the Alchemy section?â
âOh sure! Of course!âshe said before starting to run off, âItâs right this way!â He followed after her down the aisle. They walked for a few minutes with her chatting away at the selection available in the section. William was impressed by her knowledge. For someone who wasnât an alchemist, she certainly knew a lot about the subject. âAre you sure youâre not an alchemist?âhe questioned.
âNoâŠIâve just read quite a few books in the sectionâŠâ she said, âItâs interesting but I could never practice the art if I wanted. I canât draw a stick figure to save my life!â
âThatâs too bad,â William said with a shrug, âYouâd probably be really good at it. You could probably pass the state alchemistâs exam if you tried.â He was being honest. She was clearly very intelligent. Infact, aside from members of his own family, she was probably the smartest person heâd met so far. Well, who was still alive anyways. She was no Galileo or Newton, but then again, he had only just met her. She could prove him wrong.
The girl paused in surprise while she pulling out books for him. No one had ever said something like that to her before, well aside from her family. âOh, who me?âshe quiped, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face, slightly embarrassed, âOh no. Thank you, but Iâm not that clever. Iâm just really good at memorizing things. I would be able to keep track of all the equationsâŠâ
William shrugged. âYou never know,â he responded, âDonât sell yourself short. You have quite an amazing mind.â
She finished pulling out books and walked up to him, smiling warmly at his words and blushing slightly. âWell, thatâs very kind of you to say,â she said behind the large stack of heavy tomes, âHere. Be careful! Theyâre quite-â She cut herself off as William easily lifted the giant stack effortlessly. ââŠHeavyâŠâ she finished.
William smirked. âI think I can handle it,â he said, âThis will do for now. Thanks for your help. Whatâs your name?â
âOh! Sheska,â she said, holding her hand out, âMy name is Sheska.â
William stared at the hand for a few seconds before gesturing to the stack of books, causing her to immediately retract it and apologize.
He chuckled at that. âItâs fine. Everyone makes mistakes,â he said, âThe nameâs William. Iâll probably be back in a few days, so Iâll see you around ok? Thanks again.â He turned to leave.
âYouâre welcome!â she chirped back, âHave a nice day, Sir!â She smiled as she watched him leave. She didnât know why, but she really hoped she would get to see him again. He seemed nice, if a bit strange.