It was silent in the archives. A cold wind beat against the high windows, throwing snow and ice at it, but inside there was little to be seen of the battle that the weather fought outside. Rows of cabinets, several stories high, lined the walls and split the giant hall of the archives up into smaller sections. Here and there a worn ladder stood up against the cabinets. There were lines on the floor where the heavy wooden ladders had been dragged across the archives by some curious mind, eager to learn more about the mysteries of the world.

At a round table in between two rows of cabinets an Asura was seated. He wore a frown, creases pulling across his face, and idly chewed the inside of his cheek. In front of him on the table was a stack of worn books, that had roughly been shoved aside to make room for the brown package he had just pulled out of his bag. It had been sent to him after Claw Island had been retaken, but hadn't had the heart to open it until now. He stared at the package, lost in troubled thoughts, until the dust from the books started to settle on his hands.

Gixx sighed. His day hadn't been exceptionally productive in the first place, and now he had to plague himself with matters like these. With a quick movement he opened the knotted thin rope that bound the brown paper and folded it open. It held a book, its cover midnight blue, faded in places, but the corners were adorned with beautiful silver embellishments, that still shone as if they were new.

Gixx let his fingers trail over the book cover. There it was again, that hesitation, the stinging feeling in his guts that made him want to throw the book out of the window. That feeling of emptiness.

Shaking his head, he breathed in deeply and opened the book slightly. He let the pages slip through his fingers, until he stopped at a page somewhere in the middle. He recognized that cursive handwriting. Seeing it again somehow made his lips curl up into a tiny smile.

Entry #476

Today it is exactly one week and two days ago that I arrived in the Shiverpeaks. This morning I fell into the snow. It was very cold, and after a while, I could not feel my hands anymore. It was such a strange sensation, I don't think I shall ever forget it. Afterwards I climbed one of the mountains. From there, the snow looked like a white crystal sea, so bright, it almost blinded me..

Gixx found his mind trail off to memories best left alone as he read those words. He could almost hear her happy voice echoing off the walls again. He had always yelled at her, even though she had been the most good-natured creature he had ever met. Sighing, he went to another page.

Entry #561

I will not write a lot today – a nice Scholar borrowed me a book and I have simply not been able to put it down.

Entry #563

The book was amazing! I am really stoked to go and find a Dredge mining tunnel and go see it for myself. My new Scholar friend was very surprised I had finished it already. He said it was an encyclopedia, but that doesn't matter, I found it very interesting.

Gixx chuckled to himself. If only he had known beforehand what a troublemaker she would be. Of course, nobody had expected a girl this energetic to stay inside the archives all day, but steering Sieran in the right direction had proven to be quite a challenge.

Entry #727

I received a letter from Firstborn Trahearne. I can't tell you what it said, but I keep it under my pillow at night for fear of losing it.

Gixx looked up from the book. As much comfort as he had found reading the memoires of his Magister, it suddenly struck him that this was a diary, after all, and Sieran might not have been cherry with him delving into her secrets. He closed the book, and lifted it to put it on the other side of the table. When he turned it however, a small piece of cardboard fell from between the pages. Gixx put the book back in front of him and picked up the cardboard. When he turned it over, he saw it was a picture. It was faded, and slightly blurry, but he could make out what was going on. In the middle, on a table a cake stood, its candles too bright for the picture, they came out as bright white spots. On the right stood Sieran, surrounded by Scholars and Historians, wearing the biggest smile he had ever seen. The left corner of the picture was darker, but when Gixx narrowed his eyes and looked closer, he suddenly recognized himself, arms crossed, agitatedly looking away from the spectacle.

He smiled now, eyes stinging against his will. He remembered this – he had been there. He opened the book again, finding the page where the picture had been stuck.

Entry #1102

It is my birthday! I am now three years old, and incidentally, may as of today call myself Magister Sieran. I got a delicious cake for my promotion, with strawberries on it. I wonder where they got those, as I have never seen strawberries grow around here. Steward Gixx pretended to hate the party, but I bet he was the one who organized it.

Gixx laughed, a short, raspy laugh, that betrayed how choked his voice was. 'I'm sorry, Sieran, but I really had nothing to do with it..' he hummed to himself as he went further through the pages. The last section of pages was still blank, waiting for thoughts to be written on them. Gixx rubbed them gently with his hand, as if that would make the words appear. He felt ice cold as he realized how many empty pages there still were, how many things still could have been written there, but what instead would be blank forever. He swallowed, then flipped back through the pages, until he found the last entry.

Entry #1298

Tomorrow we will go to Claw Island. I cannot help but feel a little anxious at the thought. If our conclusion is correct, then Zhaitan really will attack soon. I am proud we will be able to warn everyone, but at the same time dread something like this has to happen.

However, I have the fullest faith in myself and the Magister who always works with me. We have overcome so many obstacles together already, I am sure we can bring this to a good end as well.

When I get back, I want to bring a gift to Steward Gixx, to thank him for everything he did for me.

Gixx slowly closed the book and slid it towards him over the table. He pulled it up against his chest and clamped his arms around it, letting out a shivering breath.

'You leaf-brained turnip. I should be the one thanking you.'