Chapter 3: The Forestierre Academy
I didn't hesitate going inside as there were humans studying there. Twinkle Bell told me that he couldn't come, since a tailing firefly would be weird. Also taking into consideration his size, he was as big as a human thumb. There's no ordinary firefly that's as big as he was. So I had to go inside all by myself. He strictly warned me not to talk to anyone if it's not that necessary. I had to focus on finding their library, and search for essential books.
At first I thought that this was the only thing in Forestierre that would make me feel at home. I thought the academy was the most normal thing that I'd ever see here. But I was wrong. Everything in Forestierre was weird.
Following Twinkle Bell's strict instruction, I had to keep my head down all the time by staring at the ground. I was also told that I should never meet their eyes. The tall uniformed man guarding the gates asked me a question before letting me in.
"Quid est nomen tibi?"(What is your name?)
"Ego sum mortale, Ligian Bahmatan." (I am a mortal, Ligian Bahmatan)
Upon hearing my response, he instantly let me in. In truth, I didn't understand what he had asked. But Twinkle Bell assured me that it was what he was going to ask me, so he instructed me to answer that, which I myself didn't understand as well. It didn't matter, however, since I safely got inside the academy.
As I was looking for the library, I also had a chance to glance at the people. They appeared to be very normal to me, aside from that they never talked to anybody. Everyone's weird in Forestierre, indeed.
This academy is too big! Where could it possibly be where? I mean, the library?
I didn't notice that I had stepped on a puddle. I lost my footing and fell on the floor, butt first. Instead of worrying about the pain, I shivered and got really nervous that I might've gotten everyone's attention.
I helped myself up and made side-glances at the people around me to check whether they're looking or not. How I was startled that at that instant, everybody was already glaring at me!
Dang! This is no good... no good! Everyone is looking at me! How am I supposed to escape this?
I decided to just pretend as if nothing happened. I walked briskly. At the very moment that I stepped one foot forward, everyone else moved back to their own paces-yeah, like nothing happened indeed.
Gosh. They sure are weird.
Not long after that incident, I finally saw the library. And boy, the library was so grand! It was spacious and it felt as though I had just entered the great hall at Lincoln's Inn. The shelves were high and decorated with intricate patterns. The place was just so full of books that finding the right book might be hard for me. Thank the heavens that they were using catalogs.
I searched for the shelves which contained books about Forestierre. I was awestruck that there was only one among the many shelves there that contained "few" of the books about Forestierre. Well, since the library was amazingly huge and wide, I didn't anticipate that the essentials that I was looking for would be so few.
I picked up three books randomly and brought them to the nearest table. But the librarian caught my attention as I sat on the chair. Twinkle Bell did tell me not to look at their eyes, so I pulled myself together. However, I knew, even without looking directly, that the librarian was gazing at me. Intently.
This is awkward... this makes me feel uneasy.
I told myself that I was just imagining things. I tried to ignore the librarian's piercing gaze as I opened the first book and read the contents. This book contained nothing but pictures about the natural resources here in Forestierre. I decided to go immediately to the second book and look into its content. Fortunately, I found something interesting.
