Chasing the Mists of Time

[Trout Latimer]

Trout moved through the library with a kind of manic energy, muttering to himself as he carried an open book through the aisles and tugged others out to tuck underneath it until he had a pile with one hand underneath and barely restrained from falling by his chin wedged into the middle of the still open book of myths and legends. 

"So if the mist and the fountain are the source, then one should only need to find the fountain to...yes..." 

He turned down another aisle and spotted a mostly empty table where he could set down his finds. A young woman with dark hair sat there as well, making him hesitate for just a moment, but he decided that as long as he wasn't too disruptive, it should be fine. He edged his stack onto the table carefully and gave her an apologetic smile before plunging back into the shelves to find an atlas. Of course, he returned with more than just an atlas--he'd also grabbed several older maps made by independent sources that he might compare to the official version. He set that stack on the table as well and eagerly unrolled the first map. It wound up being wider than he expected, and in his enthusiasm his wide-flung arms knocked into his massive stack of historical texts and sent them cascading down upon the book that the young woman had been reading. 

"Ah, I'm so sorry, I may have gotten carried away. I'm studying the history of magic, you see, and I'm determined to find the origin of all these strange tales. I'm Trout, by the way, Trout Latimer." He gave her a sheepish grin and offered his hand to shake, which caused the map to roll up sharply and hit him in the other hand. He gave it a dirty look for a moment. "Ouch."

(for Amelia Sellar) 

[Amelia Sellar]

Amelia was in her typical spot. Sitting prim and proper, holding her booking up in front of her. She tended to frequent the library at the castle quite often. Reading was one of her favorite past times, and she often liked to help the lirarians organize things. She already knew where most everything was, and she liked the quiet. Only, it apparently wasn't quiet today...

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the muttering that was happening in between the shelves. She could practically feel the hyper energy as the tall bean pole of a man kept going in and out of shelves. Did he not know how distracting he was being? She was nearly at the good part! Rereading one of favorite stories. She was contemplating whether or not she wanted to read it to the twins yet, or wait until they were a bit older. It would be a lot to take in at their age, and she could just imagine the questions, but still. She'd turn them into little bookworms if she any say about it.

Her dark eyes were drifted up yet again, and then going quickly down. Ignoring him as he walked forward. Thinking he was going to go down another aisle, but she was surprised to find him coming to a stop at the table. She glanced up briefly seeing his apologetic smile. She gave what could have been considered one, but it was more of a purse of her lips, and then let her eyes drift back to the page. He disappeared for a moment and then came back, and she could feel her annoyance rising. Will you just sit still?! She wanted to blurt at him, but that would be terribly rude! So, she continued to sit there in silent disapproval, trying to read, when there was a sudden stack of books clattering to the table onto her open book. She sat there for a moment, feeling her temper rising. She let a slow breath out, her shoulders visibly moving up and down with the deep breath, before she dog eared the page she was on, and promptly closed it with a loud thud. She placed it in front of her, and let a small huff out before she turned in her seat to look up at the ridiculously tall man who looked perpetually exhausted.

He was telling her what he was doing, introducing himself, and Amelia found her face showing her annoyance as she stared up at him. Despite how much she tried to school her expression, her mild irritation with him showed in those dark amber eyes of hers. Trout? What sort of name was Trout? What was his mother thinking? She nearly scoffed. He was offering his hand out to her, and she sat up a bit straighter, delicately reaching forward to place her own in his. "Amelia Sellar, If if help you find what you're looking for will you sit down and stop being disruptive?" She said introducing herself. Her tone was calm, with a sprinkle of irritation. She gave his hand one shake before letting it go, and quickly standing. "Careful, the maps bite." She said. Not even cracking a small at her own small joke. She pushed her chair in, and quickly re-stacked the books that had fallen off his stack into a neat pile. Giving him a pointed look before she turned and began to walk towards the history section.

[Trout Latimer]

Trout's grin became almost a grimace as the young woman glared at him. He truly hadn't meant to cause so much trouble, but he doubted that mattered at the moment. Thankfully, she shook his hand, and introduced himself. Amelia, Amelia, Amelia, he repeated mentally, determined to remember it.

What she said after, though, caused his bright blue eyes to widen and an excited smile to bloom. "Yes, I most certainly will!" He promised fervently, moving the hand now clamped in the map to his heart. He grinned crookedly at her joke about the maps biting as he set that particular map aside and moved to follow her into the stacks.

"So, what I'm investigating is something called either "The Fountain" or the "Wellspring," which seems to alternate between being some kind of Fountain of Youth type myth, or the source of all 'gramarye' on Earth," Trout explained, beginning quietly but becoming more and more animated as he spoke. He even gesticulated wildly with his hands as he neared the end, barely managing to keep himself from elbowing any of the shelves. "From what I've read, it's also believed to be the source of some sort of mist or fog, which can infect or imbue things with magic as well. It doesn't seem to have touched Tresteria, based on what I'm reading, but legend says that it was sourced in the 'Wilder Isles' of Aldsage, Teronna, and Arcisea. Of course, I've yet to see any believable evidence of magic, but that's beside the point. The real goal is to find if there's one central myth or event that would have originated all these spiraling tales and references that have affected so many other works. And, if there is, I'd like to pinpoint the origin location from which this diaspora began."

Belatedly, he realized he'd been rambling. His hand drifted to rub the back of his head, and he grimaced again. "Apologies, Lady Amelia. I was doing an analysis of a few myths that each tied to this central Wellspring, then I began to find more, and more, and then even historical texts were referencing the "Wilder Isles," and well... I may have gotten a bit caught up.

[Amelia Sellar]

My he was expressive... Amelia didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that she could practically read him like a book, and see how enthusiastic he was about this particular subject. And then there was that crooked smile and the way his eyes lit up. Passionate. He was passionate about this, which she supposed she could admire. 

Her pace was fast, but not to fast. More at a pace that might have showed determination. Graceful determination mind you, she was still a Lady. Amelia held her hands in front of her as she moved down the stacks, taking an abrupt right down one, and then a left once she reached the end of that isle. She might not have looked like she was listening to him as she led the way, but she was. They walked by some windows and she could see how animated his hands were as he talked in the reflection. Trout, again really what was his mother thinking? Was a great deal taller then her so it was easy to his fluid movements. She tried desperately to not judge him more on his ability to remember himself. 

He was apologizing then, she slowed her pace to look over her shoulder at him. Fixing those milk chocolate eyes of hers up at him, she arched an eyebrow. "You went down a knowledge rabbit hole Lord Latimer." She'd have to search her mental databases later on the Latimers and what she knew of them. Because why else would anyone that wasn't someone important, or have a right to be there be there? "It happens to all of us at some point." She admitted, before she looked back in front of her and came to the very back corner of the library where there wasn't as much light from the windows. "Have you thoroughly checked the mythology section?" She asked. Wanting to know if he had been thorough in his book grabbing, or if he'd just plucked whatever sounded interesting off the shelves. 

She turned the tall, towering shelves of the section she'd brought him too, placing her hands on her hips while she eyed the shelves. Looking for her target. If he was looking for the cause of the well spring, and if he was going off of what they knew about the wild isles, then he should look for a mythology book on all of the islands rather then singling them out by island.  "We should find a book on the wild isles myths if you haven't already found one." She said glancing up at him.

[Trout Latimer]

Trout kept up easily enough, thanks to his long legs. He was just glad to have some help with this, and perhaps she'd be interested in the subject, too. It would be good to have someone to talk to about it. Dove was adamant that trying to track down the cause of this unknown magic was taking the mystery out of something, and the mystery was half the fun. And if he couldn't talk to Dove, who else was he going to tell about his research? The young princes?

He straightened his posture immediately under her stern gaze and dropped his hand back down to his side. Something about Lady Amelia made him feel like he'd upset a professor, even if he was fairly sure she was younger than him. But she wasn't wrong--he had most certainly been following a rabbit hole deeper and deeper. Wait, Lord Latimer? He opened his mouth to protest, but it was too late, she was already moving on.

"Have you thoroughly checked the mythology section?"

"Well, I did go through and pull anything that was related to water--springs, rivers, fountains and the like. I found a few useful things that way. Most of it was regarding creatures, though, or legends of how certain rivers were formed from tears and other such silly things..."

He watched her stop and look at the shelves with her hands on her hips, and for a moment he lost his train of thought. She was awfully pretty, and he rather liked her determination. She was a woman on a mission. He jumped slightly when she glanced over at him, and he hurried to answer.

"R-right, that's an excellent plan. I may have been looking too narrowly."

[Amelia Sellar]

No, the answer was he hadn't thoroughly looked. She let a slow breath out, to hide her irritation. Calm thyself Amelia, not everyone thinks like you... She reminded herself calmly. She let her eyes scan the text that were in front of her. She tilted her head slightly, in concentration while she read the spines. 

"You should also do lands, you'd be surprised what you can find. What you're looking for might be hidden in a section you didn't think to look in. It's important to be thorough Lord Latimer." She told him. Her brown eyes flickered up to him. "You check, and then you double check, and sometimes you triple check, everything."  She told him. Her tone was lightly scolding, but she quickly caught herself before she turned her head back to the books, tilting her head up. "That one," She pointed. It was on one of the taller shelves. A person of her height would have had to get a ladder to reach it, but she fully believed Lord Latimer would have no problem with his long colt like legs. The book was bright red and wouldn't be that hard to miss. 

She moved down the wall then, plucking a book here, a book there. Holding them in the crook of her arm before she pointed to another one out of her reach. "That one please," She informed him, before she crouched down to one of the lower shelves, smoothing her skirts. "Ah!" She said rather pleased with herself as she pulled at a rather old, tattered one that had once had what looked like a dark green cover. She held it delicately to her chest. "Right, this should do for now." She said, rising to her feet. She held the three books securely in her and made a shooing motion with her other hand to indicate Lord Latimer was to go back the way they came. "We'll find it." She said firmly. She was sure of it. And the fast they did, the faster she could go back to her own peaceful reading. 

[Trout Latimer]

Trout nodded thoughtfully, following her as obediently as a loyal dog. He saw no reason to argue, after all; she clearly knew what she was about, and he wasn't going to resist any help she was willing to give. Not to mention this could lead to some truly fascinating discoveries. It also helped that he'd already decided he liked this petite woman with her sharp gaze and even sharper wits.

Ah, there she went calling him Lord Latimer again. He opened his mouth to protest, again, but she was still scolding, and he lamely closed it again. Better to just follow instructions for now, perhaps.

He plucked the book she pointed to down without much work, making him realize, not for the first time, that he was quite a bit taller than average. Well, at least it had its perks in making him a more useful part of this oddly-matched team.

When she crouched for the last one, he offered his hand to help her up, but she was moving before he'd even fully extended it. He awkwardly retracted his hand and shoved it into his jacket pocket. Well. He'd have to think faster the next time.

She shooed him back toward the table, and rather than be offended, he found one corner of his mouth was quirking up in the beginnings of a lopsided grin as he looked down at her. What a bossy young woman! And she thought he was a lord, too, but had no problem giving orders anyway? He couldn't really explain why he found that endearing, but he did.

"As you say, Lady Amelia," he agreed, but then took her stack of books to carry those as well without pausing to let her argue. No need to have a lady carrying things for him. He then bowed slightly before turning to head back to the table.

"But please," he called softly back over his shoulder, "Call me Trout. Or plain Latimer, if that's easier, but no title. I'm no one special."

Reaching the table, he scooted his previous stack to the far side and put the new stack down instead. He then waited quietly for the next instructions from his new boss.

[Amelia Sellar]

Yes, as she did say. Good, he could follow instructions. She thought as she passed the books over to him without a complaint. She followed him back to the table then, tilting her head slightly at he told her what she should call him. Her dark eyes blinked in surprised, and she bristled slightly. Absolutely not! Never, would she openly call him Trout. Again, what sort of woman named their child after a fish? And plain Latimer was out of the question.

No title? Was he not a Lord? Her eyes narrowed more, as she began to wonder who exactly he was then and what business he had being in the library. Who was this lanky tall stranger with the odd name? “Mr. Latimer it is then.” She said coolly, as they reached the table, she started reaching for one of the books. Plucking it up she started searching the index. Finding what she wanted, she flipped to the appropriate page and then pointed at the right section before handing it over to Trout. “Start there.” She said. He’d find it was on Teronna mythology and how the land was rumored to have been formed.

Amelia herself picked up the more tattered one, tucking it under her arm before she left the table and then came back a few minutes more with some parchment, a quill, and some ink, so she could take notes of possible interest. What could was any researcher if they didn’t document their findings? She sat down, back into her chair then and then started to read the more worn book from the front page.