For nine days and nine nights, Cheryl hangs herself upside down in the stacks of the Lethal Magnet School of Wayward Youth library in search of wisdom. She clings perilously to a rappelling rope over the maw of the library\u2019s basement beast.<\/p>\n
It flaps its pages at her. It growls prophecies. These she consciously struggles to ignore.<\/p>\n
She pulls out dusty records. She gets dust in her right eye. It\u2019s really rather unpleasant.<\/p>\n
She gets a stitch in her left side.<\/p>\n
She reads pages, upside down.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth it, though. It, and all those courses in library science \u2014 for all that they\u2019d barely touched upon the subject of rappelling or of the beast.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s found something. She\u2019s spotted <\/em>something. She\u2019s followed up on it, at first, mostly because she thought it might give her an angle on the wolf and Edmund; but when she\u2019s traced it back to the circumstances behind it there\u2019s something so much better than that<\/em> at the end.<\/p>\n She drags herself up.<\/p>\n She tumbles to the catwalk, rolls, stands, sways, falls over, and there in the library she goes to sleep.<\/p>\n The next day, she has a migraine. She babbles useless if prophetic information in her Electronics Class and attempts to teach her Prophesy teacher about circuit diagrams.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew if I came here and taught Prophesy,\u201d the Lethal Magnet Professor of Prophesy sighs, \u201cthat I would eventually understand circuit diagrams, and to my doom.\u201d<\/p>\n Cheryl blinks wearily at the Lethal Magnet Professor of Prophesy, shakes her head, and wanders off.<\/p>\n The day after that<\/em>, though, she is crisp. She is clear-headed. She aches all over but she has not lost too much time. She goes to jail. She argues with the guards. Eventually she demonstrates a peculiar folding technique that traps them in their own minds so that she may sneak into the prison and stand outside the svart-elf Joffun\u2019s cell.<\/p>\n He looks up at her.<\/p>\n \u201cBout time someone came,\u201d he says. \u201cStupid humans.\u201d<\/p>\n The floor and walls of his cell are covered with tic-tac-toe diagrams scraped carefully into the stone. She assumes he\u2019s been using them for magic. The alternative is too pathetic to imagine.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re from the olden days,\u201d she says. \u201cYou\u2019re a svart-elf.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m from my own days,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a bum rap anyway. You gonna let me out of here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know how to handle,\u201d she says. She waves vaguely towards the wall. \u201cCannibals, and wolves, and serpents, and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n She sits down cross-legged in front of his cell. \u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n He shrugs. He turns away. Then he says, \u201cTic-tac-toe,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have time to scrape one out \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n He waves a hand. \u201cI\u2019ve got most of the partial games already written down somewhere,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n She scans the walls. Eventually she points at a 9-square board that only has a single X.<\/p>\n \u201cI win,\u201d he says. \u201cGo away.\u201d<\/p>\n She squints at him.<\/p>\n He points at a game that O has won. \u201cCheck and mate,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is the worst thing I have ever heard,\u201d she tells him.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been locked up for more\u2019n twelve years,\u201d Joffun says, \u201cbecause I carried out a deal, fairly, with a giant of industry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWow,\u201d says Cheryl, who\u2019s only barely been alive that long.<\/p>\n \u201cI put footfalls on that man\u2019s cat,\u201d Joffun says. \u201cYou know. Good<\/em> footfalls. And I\u2019d have thrown in some solid bird-spittling, too, if he\u2019d just asked. But does the judge care at my trial? Does he appreciate it for a moment? No! It\u2019s all about who has more money, around here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWow,\u201d says Cheryl, again.<\/p>\n Then she shakes it off, because his tic-tac-toe offends her. She grins. She comes up with a nasty comment. Her grin, reflexively, widens. \u201cI guess you svart-elves must find false imprisonment pretty ethically offensive, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c. . . Don\u2019t be on me about that,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not hardly any Hans. I\u2019m just a smith.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re here because the world\u2019s not fair,\u201d Cheryl says. \u201cThat\u2019s all. But you\u2019ll die with the rest of us when the serpent comes. When the wolf gets loose. When the scissors fall.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got walls of stone about me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n He points at a different tic-tac-toe board. \u201cCheckmate,\u201d he says again.<\/p>\n She shrugs. She points at a winning board for X.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t see where you\u2019re pointing,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not facing you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t let you go,\u201d she says. \u201cEveryone knows your kind is tricky.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy kind?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d she says. \u201cIn fairy tales and such.\u201d<\/p>\n He turns. He looks at her.<\/p>\n \u201cThey took my tools,\u201d he says. \u201cThey took my booze. But most of all, they took back that boy\u2019s heart I\u2019d bought, and I\u2019d just gone and dumped all my power in. It\u2019s damn hard to get power back, you know, when all you\u2019ve got is a jail cell and some tic-tac-toe. I\u2019m not myself, girl. Not for twelve long years.\u201d<\/p>\n He shows a bit of avarice. He shows a bit of a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll get it back for me, though, won\u2019t you? Get it and I\u2019ll tell you everything. Get it and I\u2019ll help you, girl. I\u2019ll fight beside you. We\u2019ll get this sorted. Just get me that damn boy\u2019s heart.\u201d<\/p>\n She hesitates.<\/p>\n Then she smiles. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n She rises.<\/p>\n \u201cPardon?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want to dream,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s all. To create things, to fold things, to do science,<\/em> and to build a better world. I want to bring a higher level of organization to this mortal world. I thought you\u2019d want the same thing, being a svart and all. But if all you want is some boy\u2019s heart, I have to leave you here and forget about you, because then I just don\u2019t think that you\u2019re all that.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiles at him.<\/p>\n He lunges to the bars. He reaches for her. His eyes flare gold; they loom over her; they are larger than the world, they are like the sun, but the light falls into the blackness of her own eyes and it is lost.<\/p>\n She gets to her feet.<\/p>\n \u201cWait,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll play you a real game,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ll show you how tic-tac-toe is really played. And then you\u2019ll tell me everything. And then I\u2019ll leave you here, because I\u2019m insulted, do you understand me? I\u2019m insulted that someone like you would even claim to be a smith.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFine,\u201d he says. He points at the wall.<\/p>\n \u201cA real<\/em> game,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n She reaches into her purse. She pulls out a gun. He startles back. She unfolds the gun into an irregular piece of paper, a pen, and a flight of origami swans that scatter out upon the prison floor. She folds the paper, roughly, into a square. She marks it with six lines. She adds an X.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst move\u2019s an unfair advantage,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n She shrugs. She folds the paper over, once, twice, thrice, until a pristine configuration emerges. She draws new lines. She only needs four of them, since two of the previous lines were left over. She hands him the pen and the paper. He marks an X.<\/p>\n She marks an O.<\/p>\n X. O. X. O. X.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, there,\u201d says Joffun, smugly.<\/p>\n \u201cHold the paper,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd the pen. Close your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHuh?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n But he does it.<\/p>\n There is the sound of paper. He opens his eyes. He is holding a winning game for O.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re done here,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n He tries to unfold the paper back into the original game. He pulls up the central part like a flower. He folds it over to the edges. It is another winning game for O. He frowns. He flips it over. He twists it.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018A strange game,\u2019\u201d Cheryl quotes.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t say it,\u201d pleads Joffun. \u201cPlease don\u2019t say it.\u201d<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t want her to finish off that quote on tic-tac-toe with \u2018the only winning move is not to play.\u2019<\/p>\n Her lips pinch in amusement. Then she shrugs. She turns away.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll tell you,\u201d says Joffun. \u201cI\u2019ll tell you all I know. Listen. The wolf needs a boot to kill it. If it gets out of the chains. It needs a really big boot to kill it. Who can stomp it? I don\u2019t know. Cannibals \u2014 whatever. Shoot them? Maybe a death ray? You can teach birds to drool if you practice hard \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe snake,\u201d she interrupts.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe giant paper snake,\u201d she says. \u201cWhy can\u2019t I kill it?\u201d<\/p>\n He shrugs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re probably just too attached to it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n She squints at him.<\/p>\n She turns away. She makes an angry, dismissive gesture. She starts walking.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere did you learn to play tic-tac-toe, girl?\u201d he yells after her. \u201cWhat are you?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n She stops.<\/p>\n She hesitates, though she doesn\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll let you go,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ll go back on my word and I\u2019ll let you go. I\u2019ll forget the pride I have in being someone who makes things and builds things and someone who does rightful things, and I\u2019ll let you go, and I\u2019ll let you keep on pretending to be a smith, and I\u2019ll even let you go and try to steal that monster\u2019s heart, if you\u2019ll tell me how to save people from their own stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n He sits back down on the cot in his cell.<\/p>\n He stares at her back.<\/p>\n \u201cMy friend,\u201d she says. \u201cHe wears a hat, and he is very brilliant, and he fights to wake the dead and empty Hell and give us all a purpose and a happy ending, but I do not think that he likes what he has become.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can save people from their own stupidity,\u201d Joffun says, \u201cby smartenin\u2019 em.\u201d<\/p>\n He licks his lips.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think,\u201d he says, \u201cthat what you mean to ask is, how do you save people from their own mistakes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c. . . yes,\u201d she says, softly.<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t be done,\u201d says Joffun. \u201cThat\u2019s why we call \u2019em people.\u201d<\/p>\n Her back is stiff. She does not turn. She walks out, and her feet click on the stones.<\/p>\n He sits back.<\/p>\n He thinks, for a very long time.<\/p>\n You\u2019d think he\u2019d be angry that she left him there. He\u2019d<\/em> think he\u2019d be angry that she left him there. But he isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n He\u2019s too impressed.<\/p>\n He hadn\u2019t even known somebody could<\/em> be better than a svart like him at the noble game of tic-tac-toe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For nine days and nine nights, Cheryl hangs herself upside down in the stacks of the Lethal Magnet School of Wayward Youth library in search of wisdom. She clings perilously to a rappelling rope over the maw of the library\u2019s basement beast. It flaps its pages at her. It growls prophecies. These she consciously struggles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"series":[50],"class_list":["post-5642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vidars-boot-chapter-6","series-vidars-boot"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Icon_Serpent.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5642"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6048,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5642\/revisions\/6048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5642"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=5642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}