Ikshan's Library

14. Conversation With an Ex-Monster

Ikshan

Leno is calmer now when we... summon him? For lack of a better word. He understood we don't want to harm him; I mean that I don't want to and that I am willing to help him. I can't say the same about Zoé.

Now we often call for him, and then we sat in a study room in the library to talk. It's quite strange but, I mean, people like us can become accustomed to anything, right? "Normal" is not exactly in our vocabulary, especially as we are three immortals seating in a magical library.

So we talk. It seems that when Leno vanishes, he just blacks out. He doesn't remember anything. But he was conscious when he was in his monster form. That we know of.

Right now, Zoé and I face him in two comfy armchairs as I watch carefully every one of his expressions. A lock of his brown hair constantly falls into his eyes and he relentlessly pushes it off of his face. It's a mesmerizing process.

He glances around every one or two sentences, and sometimes something in the room catches his attention. Everything must be so foreign to him. But he's not that confused any longer. And I noticed he looks me in the eyes when he talks now.

Did I tell you he has green eyes? The most special green eyes I've ever seen, with a hint of blue and sparkles of yellow, as if the color were not stabilized and shimmered depending on the light.

Well, I should concentrate, because he may say something important while answering Zoé. Yes, go back to the conversation, Ikshan!

"Why did you attack me?" Zoé asks Leno in his own language, persistent in her distrust.

He smiles, half angry, half sad, and says something like: "I didn't. I was trying to communicate with you but I couldn't talk."

Zoé crosses her arms. "Umm, you didn't seem very friendly."

Leno rolls his eyes. "I was stuck in this horrible form I didn't know how to control and I had no idea where I was or who you were." Then he points a finger at her. "As a matter of fact, you attacked me. In a quite pathetic way, for sure, but still, you did. You threw a book at me, remember?"

We all stay quiet for a second, and then, for the first time, we hear him laugh, while he runs a hand in his hair. His laugh feels like crackles in a cozy fireplace, but not a boring one, an interesting one. What? I am not biased. I can assure you that it's what his voice feels like.

Zoé gasps. "You were mocking me. I knew it. I saw it in your eyes," she explodes, outraged.

"Well, it must have been funny," I can't help to say.

"So now they're talking!", she says with a grand hand gesture. It's true that I've been quieter than usual. Just a little bit. I don't talk that much usually, do I?

Anyway, what was she saying? No, what was he saying? Something about throwing a book?

I turn suddenly to Zoé and ask her in English: "Wait a minute, which book?"

"Ummm, doesn't matter." I look at her suspiciously. "And the book is fine, anyway," she adds.

"Alright," I concede.

"I don't know what you are saying, but I'm telling you, I'm not a threat," Leno says.

I nod. "Do you know how to break the spell that maintains you in this object?"

"Not exactly, but I have some ideas worth exploring."

"Alright then. As I told you, we have a great deal of knowledge stocked in here. If there is a solution, we're going to find it."

His eyes locked onto mine, and he smiles. "Thank you so much."

I'm sure I can find something, but he's got to go back to his golden piece of metal or I won't be able to have anything done. The hands, the hair, the eyes. Definitely too distracting.