18 Chapter 18 (1/2)

The next day arose. Tuesday morning of October 1st, 2019. When The Rejects gathered in the classroom before class began, the rest of the group noticed Emily was acting unusually happy. She seemed excited and contempt with life. ”What's up with you today?” Aeris asks Emily. ”Did crying on Emma's shoulders help you out THAT much?”.

”My parents are back in town!” Emily cheers. ”They came back last night! They said they're gonna be in town for a little while!”.

”That must be nice” Jackson says, then yawns. ”It's still too early for me to be awake, so you might have to celebrate this one alone”.

”That's great!” Emma says, ”did you get to talk to them about that yet?”.

”Ah... uh- no...” Emily says. ”I was too focused on getting to see them, that I forgot about needing to talk to them”.

”Well, it's fine to take your time” Wyatt says. ”Worry less, be more in the moment, y'know?”.

”Yeah...” Emily says. Suddenly, Emily jerks her head up. ”Oh yeah!” She says as something suddenly comes to mind, ”I've been meaning to ask you guys this morning!”.

Emily turns to look at Aeris and Jackson. ”Us?” Jackson asks. ”Didn't I already tell you I'm not exactly awake right now?”.

”It's kinda burning in my mind though” Emily says. ”You see- my mom and dad came back with all different kinds of books about laibah, and I was wondering-”.

”Good morning!” Refus says as he enters the classroom.

”... Guess it'll have to wait then” Emily says, sitting down in disappointment.

”Saved by the bell...” Jackson says with a sigh of relief.

The morning classes pass by, as Emily was eager to ask about laibah. Eventually, lunch period began. Refus showed up at the Principal's office to speak with Ryan. ”Principal Schafold” Refus says, ”you wanted to see me?”.

”Yes” Ryan says, ”I thought this would be a good opportunity. You see, Emily's parents are back in town for a little while, and I thought you'd like to meet them. That is, since you've been helping in this situation so well, I figured it'd help you with helping her”.

”Her parents?” Refus asks, ”why'd they come back? I-I mean, not that it's a bad thing! I just mean- isn't that kind of sudden?”.

”They're scholars now” Ryan says. ”Have been for some time, or as they've said. They wanted to learn about the world, so they travel around a lot to gather research material. They came here to learn more about Terrio's history involving the laibah”.

”Are they coming up to the school?” Refus asks. ”How should I meet them?”.

”You may be able to arrange something through Emily” Ryan says. ”Getting in contact with them isn't exactly a convenient process. I'd say your best bet is asking Emily to arrange a way of meeting for you. Which brings me to another subject. You mentioned a female laibah, a first year, who never appeared to this school with her parents, yes?”.

”Y-Yeah, Emma Frey” Refus says.

”I'm sorry” Ryan says, ”I'm not very good at recalling names. I know you reported to me that she mentioned that she doesn't need living assistance, but since you're helping with this, I'd like to help you with that student as well. I'll help keep an eye out for her around the school whenever I can. If she needs help with anything, in or outside of the school, let me know”.

”Really?” Refus asks, ”I mean- I'm not sure if that's even necessary!”.

”Well, she may have troubles over the course of her attendance at Harrison” Ryan says, ”and it is also my job to look after the students, so it's not really a problem for me. Besides, I'm just trying to... make up... for things that had passed. Which girl is it? Can you describe the student?”.

”Well, uniform aside” Refus says, ”she has white hair, she's one of the shortest girls in her class, she's got purple eyes-”.

”What?” Ryan asks.

”D-did I say something wrong?” Refus asks.

”Purple eyes you say?” Ryan says as he brings his right hand under his chin and thinks.

”What's wrong?” Refus asks.

”I thought they were extinct...” Ryan says quietly to himself. ”Glad to hear that's not the case”. Ryan then looks up at Refus and says ”It's probably better if you ask the Bernnigan's about this matter. Emily's parents... they should know more about this than I do. Then again, I'm surprised that even laibah these days aren't familiar with the old tale”.

”... What old tale?” Refus asks.

”I don't know the full story” Ryan says. ”That's why it's better if you ask the Bernnigan's about this matter. That should be all for now, Refus”.

”O-oh... Alright” Refus says as he begins to leave the office.

”Purple eyes...” Ryan says to himself. ”This could potentially be worse than I had thought. If I remember correctly, they have the hardest time maintaining their human form... at least, that's what Remi told me. This Emma Frey girl just might be in trouble if we can't find a way to change the student's outlook on laibah soon”.

”So, what is it?” Jackson asks, as The Rejects sit on the rooftop again, sounding a little irritated by Emily's desire to ask about laibah.

”So, I've been wondering...” Emily says. ”How'd laibah get the name laibah? I mean- humans became known as humans because of the Latin word Gnomon, meaning indicator, and one who discerns. They named themselves this, as a sort of medal for being the first race to name themselves. The word later became humanus, and then evolved from there, but where did the word laibah come from?”.

”I'm pretty sure you're not entirely accurate there” Wyatt says, ”but that's at least... kind of true. There were a lot of terms the word human come from, and went through a lot of linguistic evolution. I'm not sure on the whole history of the word, but I'm sure you're missing a lot of the parts there”.

”Regardless” Emily says, ”I wanna know where laibah came from!”.

”Well, that's an old story” Jackson says, ”so I don't really know most of it. The way I was taught, there was a nomad. A laibah nomad who apparently was the first creature to travel around the entire world, more than two thousand years ago. When he came back, he started teaching about the different kinds of human languages. Back then, laibah typically stole their speech from the local humans, and learned their language instead. Eventually, the laibah began to travel all around the world. This was all way before The Great War, of course. After that, the laibah began to converse and live near humans in every country. When the laibah realized they didn't have a word to call themselves, this nomad suggested the name Laibah. It was a name from a different country, on the eastern side of the globe. The name now is a girl's name that means 'the prettiest woman in all the heavens' or something like that. It used to mean a woman with the most divine facial features, such as the eyes”.

”Why'd they choose a name for an entire race, if it were meant for a girl?” Emily asks.

”Because the nomad was in love” Jackson says. ”He fell in love with a woman from the dominant tribe of laibah. This tribe was called The Amethyst tribe... not sure why, that's just how the story goes. The woman he fell in love with was the heir to their chief, although he knew he would never gain the blessings of their chief”.

”But what about like... the facial features and eyes or whatever?” Emily asks, seeming very interested.

Jackson sighs and says ”I dunno. From what I've heard, that tribe was easily discerned from specific facial features. Like, they were said to have strange looking eyes and extra shape shifting abilities. They had the most power in terms of their ability, or something like that”.

”Is that it?” Emily asks.

”That's about all I know” Jackson says. After a short silence, and seeing as how Emily seemed disappointed by such a short end to the story, Jackson says ”Look... that story is ancient. It's been changed over the course of the ages. We don't even know if it's true, to be honest. That's just... all I know”.

After thinking for a moment, Emily says ”What about their shapeshift ability?”.

”What?” Jackson asks.

”You said they have a better ability, didn't you?” Emily asks.

”Well, as the story goes...” Jackson says.

”Does that also have something to do with the name laibah?” Emily asks.