Xaviers!

The Library was luckily still open. Someone had arranged for a group of students to use it for late night studying. She'd slipped in easily and moved towards the oldest section of the library holding then less scientifically sound volumes.

Sam makes her way in, a brown paper bag under her arm. It takes her a bit to navigate the shelves since she's doing so by senses most aren't privy to, but eventually she heads back towards where Viv is.

She was seated at table where a single light illuminated a large book that was obviously "private collection". Viv looked up and nodded in acknowledgement to Sam before returning her attention to the book.

"...a little light reading?" She asks, pulling up a chair at the table and setting the bag down.

"Nimue will be attracted to Fey touched land. land that has been guarded and loved by a strong fey and their magic. There will be less humans, their pollution and less risk of detection, the purity of an area would also make it easier to sense the Tainted who simply wish harm to someone like her. It's the reason her gate opened so easily here when I first arrived, the logical approach would be to research the history of the land to find out who it was that dwelled here first. They may have touched other local areas."

"What do you mean by 'tainted' then?"

She looked at Sam and took a deep breath. "Being sent into the human world is a punishment. It takes several Lords to accomplish a banishment without the aid of The Keeper of the Gates. One is literally pushed through the wall by force, it is said to be excruciatingly painful. It strips fey, weakens them, guarantees that they can never push their way back. The pain, loss of self, hostile nature of this world and the power humans have over true fey causes nearly all to become something else, something tainted. The stronger and more Light aligned fey take longer, it also hurts more, that changing. They would not push her through, that would risk her magic. They would have manipulated her into opening a gate and stepping through."

"Those who manage to hold on the longest, the changing can take centuries of human time or some how manage to manipulate humans to halt the change in themselves are referred to as Outsiders. They are still tainted, dark, dangerous but they can be...useful."

"So your mum isn't going to... change."

"Not right away but over time she will, unless she can mange to do as the Morrigan had. Though on my part that is speculation. If she still exists only she knows for sure how she managed to keep her power and survive human interaction. For Nimue, a pure environment and little to no human interaction should be much more than enough to keep her...her until we find her. As I said, the changing can take centuries, even millennia."

"Were you... close?"

"I mean, beyond all this courtly shite, she's still your mum."

Vivienne's head tilted and there was a soft swirling of pink in her skin, her eyes changing becoming human and very sad. "Yes."

"We are...half full bath tubs. In the end only one tub can be full." Her eyes returned to the dark irislessness of Fey.

"Did she know that when she had you? That one day she'd have to...?"

"I..do not know, would think so. She had to know what she was doing, to hold on to me. Nymph typically do not breed for several reasons, but the main reason is that they are essentially water. Most can not hold solid form for long, those who can, can only do so for as long as it takes to couple. If one desires a "child", for lack of a better term, she simply wills a portion of her magic to an uninhabited pool. The magic over time forms into a new nymph. Once again not many are strong enough to give up that much, even less are willing to."

"...you're like everyone else here."

"Unexpected. Something new."

"Displaced and wanting nothing more than to go home..."

"Really? You'd go back to them after everything?"

"Home was once here. It has become apparent that I must re-evaluate what that means and where that is. I do know it is not them, never again, but there are others still bound to them. I would go back for them."

"Look, I... I know what she said. Even with that, I don't think she's really going to take it well if you just... leave again."

"Things will be different...after."

"You don't... have to feel like everything's inevitable."

"Perhaps not everything, but for now much is."

Sam grits her teeth, her posture shifting as she tenses.

"...no."

"Oh? Enlighten me." She gently closed the book that had laid forgotten.

"No, I am not just going to let you lie down for the spineless curs who followed the Red Lord into the hidden hills."

"Not all followed willingly, some too weak to stand against them, some too naive to know better sooner, others just smart enough to know they would never withstand the changing. Those are the ones I will go to. Those are the ones I shall free. Once I am free. I do not plan on simply laying down for anyone ever again."

"...then I think we're going to get along like a house on fire," she says, starting to relax again.

"I have always suspected we would. Now, when did you wish to go pay your witch a visit?"

"Straight down to business, then? I suppose the bottle of wine can wait."

"Wine? Why would you bring wine?"

"She said you're fond of it."

"The witch?"

"Your ex," she smirks.

"But it can be saved for a celebration, rather than using it to try to get you to loosen up."

There was a flux of color before she spoke. "I see. Why would you wish for me to be..."loose"? It would serve very little to the true purpose to the situation, in fact intoxication may actually complicate it farther."

"Because you've been acting like you're marching to your death, and in a hurry to do so."

"Death is not my intention, I am simply anxious to be my own mistress. Emotions would only serve to get in the way."

"Maybe that's how it feels from your end, but to us it just feels like you're ready to be rid of us again."

"In a way I am. I am not needed or wanted. I have no purpose here now. I am no longer relevant to the one I hold...held dear."

"...lying to yourself won't make it easier."

"I do believe your interpretation of this situation is not the same as my own."

"You can't just flip it off like a switch."