Book of Fates ✔

Swords and grumblers

After a vexing chit-chat, a dozen of quips and a few rude comments, Daphne refused to talk to Nikk, banging the door closed in his face. It was nettling, but not surprising. Daph was way too emotional lately, and her brother could do nothing about it.

Thus, Nikk decided to follow Eirney's example and catch up with some sleep.

He returned to his room, washed his face quickly, threw all the books, clothes and a small statue of Egyptian pyramid—he frankly couldn't even recall how and when he'd obtained this one—off the bed, and climbed under the blanket. And shut his eyes in delight.

Was Nikk sleeping for an hour or for a split second, he knew not when his peace was ruined.

Whump.

Somebody knocked on the door. Nikk rolled on his side, intending to ignore the guest.

Whump. Whump.

"Aagh..." He pulled the blanket over his head. "Leave me alone!'

Whump. Whump. Whump!

If it's Eirn inviting me to play billiards, I'll transpassage him to a dessert, Nikk thought, dragging to his feet reluctantly.

"I swear I wouldn't disturb you, but I was told it's very important," Feerce's expectant face appeared in the doorway. He got rid of his silly jumper and now was wearing a suit of dark green color, which jacket ridiculously wrinkled on his back. "Labs asked for some dooments from Changchun Library, and 'ur the only un, who had 'en to China 'efore."

Feerce grew to gabble so rapidly by the end Nikk couldn't fully comprehend the speech. He just yawned and stared at Feerce, struggling to gather his sleepy wits. "I have to go to China?"

Feerce's forehead furrowed. "No, I have to go to China. And I need your help."

"And what's dooments?"

"Documents."

"Aah," Nikk scratched his neck, thinking of a way to wriggle out of the mission. "It was a long time ago, I don't remember much about China. And I can say my acquaintance with Changchun was rather... hasty."

"At least you know Chinese, and I can barely utter a word in that language."

Nikk sighed. "Well, if labs ask..." He could do nothing but put off his long dreamless sleep.

*

The two of them spent the entire day in the library halls, sorting and resorting old papers covered with hieroglyphs. The elderly librarian wearing a wooden skirt and large glasses was so annoyed with the bustle around her she practically shoved Nikk and Feerce out. Consequently, she hadn't noticed them snitch a few files.

"Not only did she tread on my feet, but also screamed at me afterward, remember?" Feerce complained as the both of them were back to the headquarters. "What did she say, by the way? Something that sounded like qi... buqi..."

"Duibuqi," Nikk said, trudging along the corridor. His sweater was soaked in dust that had belonged to the bookshelves, and he was constantly fighting the urge to cough. "She was saying she was sorry."

"Oh, really? Then I suppose we should bring these back one day," the co-worker raised his eyebrows mockingly and hefted a thick folder with aged yellow pages in his hand.

"Did Klliss tell you why they need these files in the lab?"

"Nope. You know Klliss," Feerce made a wavering motion with his free hand. "You can never get an extra word out of him. He just said they're studying a map or something... And they need to check out a few historical dates."