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(Journal Entries will be listed at the bottom of the OP)

 

              Blinding brilliance entered the darkened chamber through a single aperture in the gently waving wafting curtains, which barred the majority of the sunlight. The fact that the sun was at such an angle entering the room meant it was past noon, thanks to this window being on the west side of the building. Outside, the kids would be tossing rocks along the road with sticks, the local Nunnery would be singing their afternoon Hymnals, and the playhouse would be filled with rushing thespians hoping to shove in last minute memorization as the crew set up the props on the raked stage.

 

             James Harper, though, would be late once more in waking himself up and preparing the library for visitors. It's lucky most of the Scholars have the keys to do so themselves. With a yawn, the youth peeled himself off the mattress, and gave his closet a uncaring stare.

 

             "Why do you have to be so far away...?" Shirtless, James stood, walking his way towards the twin doors that opened to his clothing storage, and picked out the shirt that seemed to be the least stuffy- it was a hotter day after all, and overheating was not on his to-do list. That is, unless the Journal said it was.

 

             The Journal! Shoving the shirt onto himself, James stumbled over to the bedside cabinet, and opened the somewhat weary Journal.

 

            Visit the Playhouse four hours after waking.

 

             Heh, simple enough, James thought. He readied the remainder of his clothes, and walked out his chamber door, and onto the library floor.

 

---------------------

 

Journal Entries:

James Harper: Visit the Playhouse four hours after waking.

 

Vanitas: Donate to the Nunnery.

 

Veran Sterben: Stop by the lighthouse.

 

Aya Elizabeth Everus: Do not lie.

 

Varis Suron: Assert yourself to law enforcement.

 

Jynn Venas: Double check the gate leading towards the woods- consider standing guard for 5 minutes after the sun leaves the sky

Edited October 6, 20178 yr by Shard the Gentleman

Varis woke up from the hard ground, and looked into his journal for an entry 'Assert yourself to law enforcement'. 'Seems easy enough' He thought to himself as he began walking towards the city. He knew he had to take care of the journal entry before almost anything else, as he was walking he decided to eat some bread for breakfast. He felt the nasty looks that people were giving him just like everywhere else he went, but he just smiled and waved at the people and as he did that they turned there heads away. He headed to the law enforcement office and slammed the door open shouting "MORNING EVERYONE!!!!" Making sure that he was noticed by everyone.

Vanitas narrowed his eyes at the entry, flipping back through the pages just to make sure he was reading the right one. He was. "Well...that's an easy one." Vanitas hummed, smiling in relief. It meant that today was going to be a good day. Some entries were easier than others. Most of the time they were rather positive. But just some of them were... annoying. Some just plain out demanding. Thankfully, today it seemed that the diary was going to go easy on him. "I'll donate on my way to the library." Vanitas said as he stored the diary away, close to his chest. He stepped out of the storage room, picking up the box of broken item he was asked to get with him as he entered the workshop. The boss was out, and helping around were the creatures known as Unversed. Three of them to be exact. One of them was jumping up and down the pair of bellows, blowing air into the fire. Another one was helping out by cleaning some of the fixed items up. The third one was...well that one was trying out different armor parts, all obviously too big for them. "Hey, no slacking off." Vanitas cooed, nudging at the third one with his foot. He settled down the box on the table, before hearing the sound of footsteps. He gasped, quickly turning to the three. "Someone's coming!" He whispered. "Hurry home!" The three Unversed scrambled, before jumping into the air and disappearing into smoke. Vanitas quickly took the place of the second one, resuming to clean up the shield right before his boss walked in. "Welcome back boss. How was the doctor?" Vanitas asked. The elderly​ blacksmith muttered something under his breath as he strapped on his apron. Vanitas chuckled. "So everything normal then." He said, standing up as he settled the shield down. "I'll go ahead and take my break now. There's some books I want to check at the library." Vanitas said, setting the shield inside of a wooden box, before standing up and making his way out. "Vanitas." The elderly man said. He paused, looking back. "Yes?" "Be careful out there. Don't want to lose my best student." Vanitas smiled, chuckling. "I can see the class walking here now. Go easy on them." "Can't promise anything." With that, Vanitas stepped out.

Edited October 6, 20178 yr by Stardustblade358

Veran

 

Veran Sterben was always awake early. Sometimes he couldn't sleep-- like he had no desire to. He never dreamed...it was just darkness. Being a servant for two households was not as easy as it sounded. He worked for the Everus family, and the Averitt family. Out the door before the sun rose, he would head to the Averitt family's house first...daring to bring the journal along the way. 

"Stop by the lighthouse, hm?" he muttered to himself, slamming the book shut in his hands.

"That will have to wait." And with a knock at the Averitt families door, he was allowed in by another servant and began his day. 

 

Aya

 

Aya's eyes blinked open, the sunlight leaking through her window and she yawned and sat up, stretching out her arms. 

"Good Morning Aya." Her mother, Elizabeth Everus came into her daughter's room. 

Usually, a woman around Aya's age would still not be living with her parents...but Aya had been lucky because she has been working with her mother.

"I have to get that suit done today for Mr. McClennan...he should be here this afternoon to pick it up..." Aya yawned again, sitting up and getting out of bed, opening up her Journal as her mother closed the door to let Aya get ready for today.

"Do not lie."

"I'll try..." 

Jynn Venas

 

Jynn awoke to the sound of Varus yelling outside, as well as the occasional neigh from his horse, Melstrome. It was time for breakfast, for Mel that is. Jynn got up and took a few minutes to get ready for the day. "I wonder what that journal has me doing today......." He readies up a bucket of grains and and another of water and heads for his horse's stall. After filling up the trough with food and water, Jynn headed to the shack next to the stall. It was quiet in there, with the saddle and bridle hung up on the side, and the journal in the center. He never brings the book inside, as his house is his happy place, and the journal only brings stress. He reads today's activity. Double check the gate leading towards the woods- consider standing guard for 5 minutes after the sun leaves the sky "Huh. Sounds easy enough I guess." He closes the journal and sets it back on the table. He waits a few minutes for Mel to finish his breakfast.

Vanitas stood in the entrance of the nunnery, listening to the choir as they practiced, their songs echoing across the halls. It was soothing. "Hello. Are you here to join one of our workshops?" A young nun asked, smiling as she looked at Vanitas. Vanitas blinked, rubbing the back of his head as he chuckled. "No, sorry. I was just listening to the song...it's beautiful." Vanitas admitted. "Thank you. Songs are like prayers, to ask for protection from evil." The nun explained. "Well, they're working. There's been no incidents around here for months." Vanitas said, reaching into his bag and dropping a few golden coins into the donation bin. "The lord still gives us trials, such as that of witchcraft." Vanitas paused for a moment, nodding. "Be wary, and don't fall into temptation, child." She said. Vanitas nodded, bowing his head. "I'll watch my back. Have a good day." Vanitas said, waving goodbye as he stepped out. "(Too late for that.)" Vanitas thought, clicking his tongue. Next stop; the library. As he reached it, Vanitas stepped into the library, quietly closing the door behind him. "(There has to be a book out here with answers...somewhere.)" Vanitas thought, glancing around as he stepped to the furthest shelf, hidden by the shadows in the back. "If you won't tell me what you are, I'll find out myself." Vanitas muttered, concentrating as he summoned three familiar Unversed, Floods. It was a big library, he figured he was going to need help to find the books he might need, especially at a low traffic hour. "Ok guys. We're looking for anything involving Witchcraft or stuff about supernatural or unnatural occurrences. Anything with mysterious diaries is a plus, ok?" Vanitas asked, the Floods nodding. "Also, be careful. No knocking stuff over, and keep away from any other people. Go." Vanitas said, smiling as the Floods saluted and ran off, searching for the books. Vanitas smirked, turning back to search for the books. He did what the diary said to do, so he should probably have good luck today.

Fennel

 

The daily life of a groundskeeper typically starts early, and Fennel was one such early bird, hard at work with the abundant plants surrounding her.  She took a pause to wipe her brow with her forearm and overlooked her handiwork, pleased that things were looking back in order.

 

The garden she was tending was of a modest size, sheltered by fine stone walls that surrounded the property and an arch laden with ivy and morning glories where the walkway was.  This was her favourite place to relax and unwind, and the well-to-do family that owned the property and lived in the nearby house allowed her unlimited access to it as long as she tended to it every now and again.  It had not been too long since the last time, yet the plants seem to grow and become unruly at an alarming rate.  Perhaps it was the limed and fertile soil or the running brook that was nearby, but it was difficult to manicure this lovely garden.

 

Her pile of fallen leaves and trimmings already collected, what came next was scooping the entirety of it with her hand rake, depositing it in the nearby burlap sack, and composting it before moving on to the next house.  Her journal would have to wait, the unfortunate thing ignored for the time being.  Whatever the task it required of her, the journal could wait until noon when she would be able to collect it and rustle up something to eat at her abode.

 

After completing such tasks, Fennel gathered her utensils in a gardening bag and moved on, heading towards town and into the streets.  Amidst the bustle, someone rowdily opened up the law enforcement door (Varis) and shrieked a loud greeting into the building, causing the girl to look at him in bewilderment for a time and afterwards break out into a giggle.  Perhaps it was a journal entry that required it of him, or maybe it was his unique personality, but she thought it spectacular.  She carried on with her day after rallying her wits, but the image of the man still clung to her.  Surely it will bring a smile whenever she sees him later, if she sees him later.

Edited October 7, 20178 yr by Vaude

Jynn Venas

 

With Mel all finished eating, Jynn saddled up and mounted the horse. The gates that led to the woods were quite a ways away. Jynn commands Mel to walk forward.

 

The town was bustling with activity, a groundskeeper (Fennel) was out working already, people were heading to church, even a few children were playing outside. Jynn even had to halt to let people pass by. "Nothing changes in this town." As soon as everything has settled down, the road was empty and straight. Jynn smiled and narrowed his eyes. He leans forward towards Mel's ears. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The horse snorts and faces forward. Jynn loosens his reins and yells out a loud "HYA!". Mel slightly rears and then gallops down the road, leaving a small trail of dust.

            Now in the lobby, James allowed himself to take a quick glance at the dimly lit sign above the information desk. It read INFORMATION AND CHECKING. If James was to be honest, there was more need for information than there were for checking out books. The library had seemed to be losing popularity recently, possible due to the playhouse. Still, there were a few visitors every day-and regulars as well.

 

            Regulars usually being Vanitas, who had happened to walk in mere moments after James pondered on the sign. He wanted to give him a wave, but it seemed like he had disappeared faster than he could get him to notice James. James took a deep breath.

 

            "Locati Vanitas" James felt a sligt wind picking up from under him as the spell began working. A few seconds later, he could see a glowing in the shape of a male body through the many bookshelves and aisles. James smirked, and picked up a stray book that was needing a placement in that same section anyhow.

 

            Pretending to happen upon the man, James appeared shocked before Vanitas.

 

            "Hey there, Vanitas! Good to see you."

Meanwhile

            "Hey, stop that!" A sheriff, a bit stocky with brown, straight hair about the length of a horses mane, came to reprimand Varis. He halted, but resumed.

 

            "Is there a reason you're causing such an alert?"

Edited October 7, 20178 yr by Shard the Gentleman

Vanitas didn't hear James walk up, jumping slightly, only to relax in a smile as he turned. "Hey there, James! Nice to see you too." Vanitas said as he glanced around at the bookshelves. "The boss has a class today, so I figured I'd come by and catch up on my reading." Vanitas hummed, glancing back at James. "(Nothing can truly hide from him in this library.)" Vanitas thought. Could he ask James about the books? Part of him was afraid to. Witchcraft and anything of the sort was heavily frowned upon...the last thing he needed was to be banned from the only library in town from being suspected of it. But then again...he might be the only person in this place who could possibly know if there were any books in the matter in the fire place. "(It's worth a shot. What's the worst that can happen?)" Vanitas thought, clearing his throat. "Oh yeah, I'm looking for something specific. I was wondering if you had anything related to...um...diaries?" He began. "It sounds strange, but I was just wondering if there was anything on that...or of supernatural occurrences that maybe have happened in past around here? Like a record book or old newspapers?" Vanitas asked, his eyes glancing around as he could see, sense the shadows of his floods running around, searching for books.

- Vincent - The Dragon - Dragon's Wing Inn -

 

Vincent's eyes slowly opened as he awoke from his night's sleep, which was actualy quite relaxing, you'd think drinking heavy ammounts of alcohol before sleeping would be bad for your health, and you'd wake up with a hangover, but his dragon physiology allowed him to drink as much alcohol as he wanted, and only the strongest drinks would ever have any effect.

 

His hand shot towards the drawyer on the side of his bed, opening it and taking the journal from it. in it, it read "Upon waking, stay inside for at least five minutes." Vincent spoke with a lazy and relaxed tone.  "Well I haven't even gotten off my bed yet...but I'l have to open up in like, ten minutes." Vincent spoke, yawning, his yawn launching quite a bit of fire out of his mouth. "Need to keep that in check..." He commented, thankfuly it didn't burn anything.

 

He waited around five minutes, before moving to the counter and cleaning the tables and bottles. Before opening the main door, and setting the sign to "Open". Signalling the Inn was open for business for the day.

Later that afternoon, Veran left the Averitt family's household and arrived at the Everus's household not much later. His knock on the door was interrupted by Alexander Everus opening it for him. The Everus family was an exceptionally close-knit family and were honorable and polite people. Through his bitter self, even Veran could not bear to be rude to them. He has been a servant for the family for...well for as long as he can remember, at least. He was drawn to them. 

"Mr. Sterben, please enter." Alexander smiled, letting the younger man in. 

"The Averitt's didn't cause you much trouble today?" he asked, closing the door behind the servant.

"No sir, thank you." He had to maintain a polite attitude with the Everus's.

"Aya and Elizabeth are in the office-- it's probably a mess in there, they have been working on clothing all day." Alexander gestured to his right.

"I'll get to it when they are completed." Veran bowed slightly and began to work...but was shortly interrupted several minutes later.  

"Veran!" Aya's voice called out to him, peeking her head out the door to the office, inside it was clearly a mess of fabrics.

"Good Afternoon, Lady Aya." he smiled at the young woman.

"It's just Aya." she returned a smile.

"Make something good to eat for me tonight." Sticking out her tongue to the bulter, she faded back into the office.

Elizabeth laughed lightly at her daughter's actions.

"He makes the best meals, you know that." she patted her daughter on the head.

"I know~" 

And with that, they all got to work.

Varius looked at the sheriff somewhat disappointed his the sheriff's reaction and bowed his head, "I am terribly sorry, I meant no harm... I was hoping it might brighten someones day. If I disturbed you in some way I have some bread for food if you want some." He takes out the piece of bread and held it out for the sheriff to take with a big smile on his face showing he has no ulterior motive. "It was a journal entry, to assert yourself to law enforcement. I decided 'what better way to assert yourself then to yell good morning', but I guess I went about it the wrong way, and I wish for your forgiveness. I hope you all have a wonderful day and wish the best of luck to the rest of your life." He hopes that is enough to get him out of trouble even though he didn't mean to and wants to read up on the history of humans with animal features, so he begins to head to the library hoping someone has written a book on something as important as that.

Edited October 8, 20178 yr by Cam1949

            The sheriff slouched in relaxation after hearing the confession of innocence.

 

            "I see," he spoke, in a much more soothing voice. Sorry to have- HOLD ON! STOP!" The Sheriff belched out a loud order, pointing to behind Varius.

 

            A thief! The sheriff chased after the brigand, who had stolen what looked like an amulet from a noble woman. The chase led the sheriff around the corner, and out of sight of Varius and the other onlookers.

 

~James Harper~

 

             "Diaries..?" James took a breather- he knew exactly what he was talking about. The Journal. Everyone had one- why did no one question it until today? "You mean the Journal, right?" James walked briskly from one end of the aisle to the other, peering over the both sides. He poked his eyes through the gaps in the shelves to be sure there was none in aisles close.

 

            "I'm.. an avid follower of the Journal. It's always led me to optimize my day, without fail. I'm not sure why you're researching into it, but I'm willing to help. Knowing the Journal a bit better seems like something that would benefit." James took a big breath, almost forgetting to warn Vanitas.

 

            "Don't tell anyone what you're about to see."

 

            "Locati Libri: Journal" James felt the air again, this time stumbling from it's power. Locati spells with a larger radius always hit James harder than usual. This meant what they were looking for would have to be a bit far from their current position. He felt dizzy, and stumbled back onto the bookshelf behind him. He opened his eyes, and looked around.

 

            What looked like three floors above, there were several glowing lights within- what seemed to be- feet of each other.

 

            "There. Three stories above us. Follow me." James forced himself off the counter, and began stumbling towards the stairs. It would take a bit to recover.

Vanitas sighed in relief. So it was going to go fine. Good. However, as he saw James activate his ability, his eyes glistened in awe. He wasn't the only one! James had magic too! Well, that was one thing less to worry about. "(How come I never noticed any of that before.)" Vanitas thought, pursing his lips as he watched James. "H-Hey! Careful now." Vanitas said as he followed him to the stairs, keeping a close distance. "That takes a lot out of you, doesn't it? Let me help." Vanitas said, offing his arm to help him up the stairs. The last thing he wanted was for James to start climbing only to fall back and break a bone, or worse. "No wonder you can find stuff so quickly in a place this big. You're amazing, ya know?" Vanitas asked as they walked up the stairs. He felt where he held his Journal with his free hand, momentarily. "I've been following my Journal since as far as I can remember. But...it's just, something seems...off. It's the best to do what it tells us but...there has to be something more to it. Maybe it's just my imagination. But I want to make sure." Vanitas explained. It was a gnawing thought in his mind, poking and probing constantly. Even when he asked the Journal itself, unsurprisingly, it didn't give him any answers. "Your secret's safe with me...you aren't the only one." Vanitas chuckled, glancing around the library. "It's ok guys. You can meet him now." Vanitas spoke. At the top of the stairs, holding multiple books in their paws, the Flood looked down on the two as they came to the fourth floor, allowing themselves to be seen. "I'm able to summon these creatures. They help me out when there's no one around to see them. My Journal told me that I should stop summoning them...but I haven't. So they're my partners. They don't have names, though." Vanitas explained, smiling. "I mean, haven't you eve felt odd following the Journal? Or in general? Like you're missing something, but you can't tell what it is? Then when you try to remember...it all goes back to the Journal."

Varius noticed the sheriff going around the corner hoping to help the sheriff as another way to apologize he followed him as well as the thief to take the thief down. He turned the corner and pulled his sword out and charged his life energy into the sword he swings the sword following the path next to the thief hoping to slow the thief down with the debris caused by the force of the cut.

Edited October 9, 20178 yr by Cam1949

Jynn Venas

 

Jynn manages to reach the gates. It was quiet, and it had a ominous feel to it, making Mel uncomfortable and anxious. He begins to jerk his head and turn his body in refusal to get closer. Jynn tries to calm him. "Whoa boy. Easy, there's nothing here." He dismounts and looks around the area with his hand clenched on his sword's hilt. "Looks like it's all clear. I guess I'll return once the sun goes down." He returns to Melstrome and remounts, heading back into town.

Fennel

 

Cutting right to the chase, Fennel started upon her work upon arrival at her next stop.  This next garden was significantly less work than the former, smaller and composed of less needy ground plants and wallflowers.  To keep herself occupied through the mundaneness, she took a peek over the waist-height stone wall that marked the boundary of the house every now and again to catch a peek of the townsfolk.

 

Unfortunately she missed the possibility of seeing Jynn freely take off on his prized mount -- she adored horses, for whatever reason -- but she did manage to spy a bit more action at the sheriff's department, and certainly not in the manner she could have expected.  The regional sheriff and the one that screamed his how-do-you-dos took off after someone in quite a rush, and she could only assume this individual was up to no good.  She withdrew her head and kept herself down below the wall, continuing her gardening.  She did not need to get involved, nor did she want to.  She had enough difficulty in her life just from deciding what to cook that day.

 

As she worked, a sickly weave of ivy caught her eye, trailing all the way down the vine.  Performing a little bit of a glance around herself and deeming the surroundings safe, she held out her hands in front of her and blew into them.  A soft golden glow emanated from her hands, or, more specifically, from her breath.  When she kneaded the plant in several locations along the length of it, the result was little short of miraculous.  The light dissipated and was absorbed by the plant before the sickness ebbed away, the purple and faded brown replaced by a healthy green.  Fennel smiled.

 

"That should prolong you a little while longer," she replied in a soft contralto, rubbing a well-healed leaf of the plant.  Not long afterward her livelihood ensued and she was hard at work, humming a ditty she heard a little while ago outside of the local establishment of the Dragon's Wing Inn.

Edited October 9, 20178 yr by Vaude

Jynn returned to town with the thief passing by, but then a bunch of debris hit Jynn and Melstrome. The latter rears, causing Jynn to fall backwards with a loud and hard thud. Mel flees, prompting Jynn to call him back. "Mel, stop!" Thankfully the horse was stopped by a nearby wall next to a garden. Jynn immediately looks towards the person who flung the debris at him, it was Varius, and then to the thief. The sheriff was chasing the thief as well.

~The Sheriff~
 

            "Woah!" The bulky man belted, as debris fell from somewhere he didn't see. He stumbled and tripped, feeling some of the rubble entrap his hair. Pulling as hard as he could, he stood back up to see the thief's leg caught under the debris.

 

           "I really gotta get a haircut..." He noticed around him now were more people than he interacts with in a day. "I hope all this attention doesn't cause another dock in my pay... Anyway!" He walked over to the thief, and tied a rope around his hands. "You're going to the station."

 

           Stumbling and rubbing his head, he walked over to Varius, with the thief in hand.

 

           "I saw what you did. You have a lot of strength! We could use someone like you. My name is Gumshoe. Lots of people call me the Sheriff, but I'm more of a detective." He looked to the side, to a horse standing nearby and it's assumed rider. "You too as well! We don't have many horses in our ranks, and we're pretty low on staff. If you make up your mind, come to our building!"

 

~James Harper~

 

           "You're amazing, ya know?" Those words resonated inside James upon hearing them- he didn't receive compliments often. He looked at Vanitas and smiled somewhat awkwardly.

 

           "Th-thanks!" James continued to listen to Vanitas, talking about his thoughts on the Journal- and James thought he was right. Why did the Journal always have an empty entry upon sleep, but was written in the next morning? How does it know what is going to make society happy?

 

           "I... never questioned the Journal before.. I always thought, 'who wouldn't want to be happy?' and followed it anyway, even when it said dumb things like 'eat one extra corn chip.'" James had recovered, and was speaking much more steadily than before. "Anyone else say anything to you?"

 

           James stopped upon seeing the glowing items glaring in front of him now. He hurriedly grabbed two, throwing one at Vanitas. "There's three more, but we will start with these.

 

           The Keepers. James began skimming through, picking out key statements and sentences. 'Avid followers of The Journal. Created by our Lord. Not human.' There wasn't a lot written on this book, which was surprising for it's size. In fact, most of the pages were empty, and the words were hastily written.

 

           The Lord...? Who would that be...? James looked to another book and picked it out.

Varius bowed "Thank you, I might just do that." He headed towards Jynn and reached his hand out to shake hands, secretly needing to drain someone's life energy "Sorry about that, I was just trying to help out the detective to catch the thief, I didn't mean to get innocent bystanders caught up in the damage, I hope you are ok."

Genesis

 

The wheels on the redhead's book cart clicked as it ran over the cracks between tiles, his red robe billowing behind him.  It had taken him all morning to get the books back in their proper order, sorting them alphabetically, and now the young librarian was making his rounds to place them all back on their proper shelves.  Genesis approached his first shelf and began to unload, slipping heavy leather-bound novels in their place, when he heard voices on the opposite side of the shelf.

 

"I was wondering if you had anything related to...um...diaries?  It sounds strange, but I was just wondering if there was anything on that...or of supernatural occurrences that maybe have happened in past around here? Like a record book or old newspapers?" 

 

His hand froze mid-air, heart hammering in his chest.  A diary?  Supernatural occurrences?  That was when a horrible thought struck him: did others know of The Journal?  Genesis had possessed it for as long as he could remember, feeling compelled to read each day's entry and stick to it.  He thought it had been his little secret, and yet here was someone inquiring about it.  This unnerved him.  Immensely.

 

"You mean the Journal, right?"  It was James' voice, and then Genesis heard footsteps.  He scurried away quickly, hoping that he wouldn't be noticed by his fellow librarian.  They were definitely referring to the Journal, and they definitely knew about it.  Genesis tried to think fast, wondering what he could possibly do.  Would they turn him over to authorities if they knew he possessed it, or burn the Journal?  Anything supernatural was heavily frowned upon, and he figured that his tampering with the journal wouldn't be much different.

 

Out of a desperate urge to attempt calming his nerves and finding a way out of this, Genesis returned to his desk, sliding the Journal out of a secret compartment of his desk.  Yes, he kept it at work with him, partially from studying it, and partially because he was just fascinated with it.

 

"Befriend the servant and his friend. You should find them rather easily."  It read.  A frown furrowed Genesis' brow; he was terrible at making friends.

 

Even still, this seemed promising; perhaps this servant and his friend would help him.  He finished sorting away the remainder of his books before leaving the library, entering the streets in search of his new servant friend.

- Fennel -

 

The gardener kept her head down for as long as she was capable, but the sounds of a nearby horse snapped her ears to attention and attracted her to it.  Standing to full height, she let loose a gasp at its splendour.  The lovely coat, the height, the twitching ears, and of course the signature soft eyes -- this was a beautiful horse, one she remembered seeing once upon a time.  She struggled with recalling where.  Unfortunately for her, her memory was not the keenest, but this had its blessings too.

 

Hearing someone call out a name, she assumed the name to be the horse, stepped outside of the garden walls, and tried coaxing the beast with her hand out.

 

"Whoa, whoa, easy now," she cooed, extending her other hand for the reins of the magnificent creature.  "Easy now, girl, or are you a boy?  Let's get you back to your master, wherever he is."

 

Unbenownst to her, due to not looking at the Journal prior, she was not able to follow the entry written within the book, which meant something would affect her later.  For now, though, she was clueless and looked about for the rider, whether or not Melstrome accepted her reach for the reins.

"No one's ever even brought it up. Which is the odd thing about it. If everyone has one and we are all meant to follow it for the sake and happiness of ourselves and one another, I'd figure there would be more talk or information about it. Like there would be lessons in schools about them, or people would casually talk about them to their friends." Vanitas said, narrowing his eyes as he let go of James. "It's an elephant in the room. It's there, and yet we don't know anything about it. It's...terrifying." Vanitas admitted, catching a book in his hands. It looked brand new, yet covered in dust. It contained pages of topics entirely indifferent from one another. It wasn't until reaching around the middle that a different handwriting caught his eye, written in hate on the paper. Some of them weren't even complete paragraphs. More like fragmented statements and entries.

 

'Writing this for future reference. In a place no one will look, but maybe a stranger will find if something happens. My name is Feliciano Vargas. Don't forget me.'

 

'My experiment is proving my theory. The more I disobey my Journal, the more bad things happen to me. I don't know if it affects those around me too, though. I'll need more time.'

 

'Someone's following me. I don't know who, but I know they are. Are they after me because of my experiment? How could they even know anyways? I can see them from here by the window. I'll wait them out.'

 

'I've seen them. The Keepers. They think I don't see them. Or they know and just haven't made a move. They're everywhere I look. Even in my house. I can see them outside the window as I write this. I don't think they know of this book yet, though. So my thoughts are safe here, at least.'

 

'IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE IT'S A LIE'

 

There were no more entries after that. Just blank pages followed by even more pages of indifferent topics, as it following where it dropped off. The mad writing of the last entry caused Vanitas' stomach to turn uneasily. It was the same handwriting, but shaky, in haste, almost as if trying to remind one self of the phrase. "I don't like where this is going, James." Vanitas admitted. What the hell was going on?

"Ahh...this is bad!" Elizabeth Everus suddenly called out, Aya rushing to her mother's side.

"What's wrong?" She asked, looking into the crate her mother was looking in. 

"I was sure we had more of this fabric but we are completely out!" Elizabeth sighed.

"Call Veran and maybe you and him can run out and grab some. You know what kind it is." she pat her daughter on her head.

"Yes ma'am." Aya grabbed her journal up from the desk in the office and ran outside the door.

"Veran!" The butler was right around the corner when Aya called for him. 

"My mother ran out of some satin she needs. Is that okay if we go get it?" Aya asked.

"That is no problem." 

 

And in just a little bit, Aya and Veran were out, in the streets and headed towards the fabric store.

"Veran, is it okay if we also maybe stop by a library before I head back home?" Aya asked kindly. 

Veran had already made dinner and his shift would be over as soon as they arrived back at the house...meaning Veran would escort Aya home, and then leave to the Lighthouse. 

"That is fine, my lady." He bowed slightly to her.

"It's just Aya! You know that~!" She teased, sticking her tongue out at the servant and entering the fabric shop. 

 

 

(CATCH THEM MYSTIC CATCH THEM) 

-Jynn Venas-

 

With the theif caught, Varius apologizes to Jynn. "I'm fine. You're just trying to catch a criminal. I'm glad he has been caught. I forgive you." He turns to Mel, who was still nervous. A young woman managed to calm Mel down, while grabbing hold of the reins. Jynn notices this and runs towards her, while apologizing to Varius. "I'm sorry to cut this introduction short, but I need to catch my horse. Good day." He nears the woman. "Ma'am, I am so terribly sorry! He spooks easily sometimes." As he grabbed hold of the reins with Fennel, he takes a moment to look at her face. Does he know her from somewhere? Something about her seems familiar. Not only that, but her expression soothed Jynn's worries, making him blush a little too. He was afraid to scare her away. "I'm sorry about that ma'am....... Anyways, are you alright?"