Fairy Tail: Next Generation - Volume I

Chapter 5: A Forgotten Life

Early into the morning on a quaint day in May, Liddan and Marigold ventured into the enormous library of Maniford. Their alarming sum of books left the two discouraged, and the fact that they felt they couldn't trust a single soul within the city made things even more difficult, as asking for help of anyone around them seemed dangerous.

"Okay, we're supposed to be in the 500's right?" Liddan asked. 

"What? No! It's the 400's right?" Marigold traced her finger of the countless spines of book, processing their titles to find their subject.

Liddan snarled. "Crap, whoever made the Dewey Decimal system is a sadist." 

"Don't say that!" Said a small librarian with a cart of books in front of her. She shook her head, waving her finger in the air. "The Dewey Decimal system is marvelous! It's based on the thought of a caveman stepping out of his cave and looking into the world!" 

"What now..." Liddan muttered.

"Oh, I remember Miss Caroline telling me about that...but I can't remember how it goes--" 

"THE ZEROS!!" The small librarian bellowed, raising her hands as she recited the order of the system. "The caveman emerges from his cave! He takes in all he sees! The generalities!!" 

"Um..." Marigold glanced at Liddan. "What is she doing?" 

"Is this an act or something?" 

"THE HUNDREDS!!" She continued, her hands rising above her head. "The caveman sits and thinks 'who am I?', Philosophy and Psychology!!" 

"I think she rehearses this..." 

"THE TWO-HUNDREDS!! 'Who made me?!' said the caveman! Religion!" 

"It's kind of terrifying." 

"The Three-Hundreds!!" She continued, now atop her book cart. "The caveman asks, 'Who lives next door?' Social Sciences!!"

"This is actually kinda interesting," Liddan said in a soft voice. Marigold almost gagged, turning to Liddan in utter shock. "I'm my own man Marigold! I can decide what brings me joy!" 

"Never mind--ma'am, which part of the decimal system features stuff like the history of ancient types of magic?" 

"THE NINE-HUNDREDS!!" She stretched her arm out, pointing extravagantly towards what Marigold could only assume were the 900s.

Marigold sighed in relief. "Thank goodness I asked when I did, or we'd have to sit through the whole thing..."

"'How can I leave a record?!' said the caveman! History! Geography! And Biography!"

"Alright," Liddan nodded, "which way is that?" 

"Down that aisle." The Librarian returned to her original meek persona, adjusting her glasses quietly with a nod. "The shelves are labeled, you can't miss it." 

"Thanks for the help...and education." Marigold dragged Liddan towards the 900 shelves before he could ask the librarian to finish explaining the Dewey decimal system. There were several rows of shelves consisting of books in the 900s. They stalked each shelf to find any book with a history of rare magic types. 

Marigold sat a large sum of books on a table, Liddan setting down even more.

"This is gonna take forever..." Liddan whined, rubbing his sore arms from all the heavy lifting. 

"Maybe." Marigold sighed. "But we need to figure out what the heck this guy's magic is. If not, we're completely lost in battle."

She opened each book, running her finger over the table of contents in each one, scanning for any big flashy words that could be what she was looking for. In the seventh book, she found it.