Chapter 3: Sweet Dreams and Ice Cream
Emily found herself surrounded by trees. Every which way she looked, all she could see were thick trunks blocking her path, creating a maze-like structure. She was walking through the dense forest, taking in the scenery. Every tree was slightly different. Whether they were actually different species, or just looked different to her was unclear, but the view was beautiful. The variety actually reminded her of a park she was at yesterday, but there was something slightly off about it. She continued her walk, eventually finding a circular clearing, hosting nothing but a gigantic tree in it's center.
The tree stood tall above everything else, making its presence intense. It seemed to stretch upwards for miles, having vibrant green leaves at its peak. The trunk was also ginormous. It's width alone would nearly be five Emily's, being an underestimate. Emily inspected the tree, being intrigued by its shape and size. What she didn't expect was what she heard as she got closer to the tree. She heard breathing.
She jolted back at hearing the ragged breaths, not expecting the tree itself to be breathing. She eventually walked back up to the tree and listened. Upon closer inspection, she found that the sound was actually coming from the other side of the trunk and not the tree itself. She walked around the trunk and was horrified by what she saw.
There, strung up to the trunk, were three beaten bodies. They were hung there, seemingly crucified, using dark black iron cuffs, bolted to the tree. There were two men and one woman. One man had bright orange hair and a brown colored top hat and jacket. He also had a purple shirt and black pants. The other man had black hair and wore a simple white shirt with yellow belts around his chest and green pants. The worst off of the three was the woman, who had shoulder length blue hair and wore a blue jacket with an exposed yellow bra, and white short pants. A strange purple emblem could be seen painted on her stomach
Emily just stood there in horror. Never before had she seen such brutality. She nearly vomited at the sight. She was shaking uncontrollably, but eventually found the courage to get closer to the bodies. She had heard breathing earlier, which meant that at least one of them was alive. If she could at least save one of them, she might be able to fight back the terror in her stomach. She slowly walked up to the woman and listened. She heard the same breathing from earlier and sighed in relief.
Emily tried with all her might to release the woman's wrists from her restraints, but the iron cuffs wouldn't budge. She also tried with the two men, who were also breathing, but nothing was working. After what felt like forever, Emily finally stopped futilely trying and sat on the grass in front of the tree. It was at that moment that the blue haired woman raised her head towards Emily and began to speak.
Even though they were quiet, Emily could hear the words perfectly. "There's no helping us here. This tragedy was meant to happen. Someone will be along shortly to help us." Emily was relieved to hear that someone would help them but was confused by the woman's wording. The woman eventually continued her speech "The only way for you to help us, is by waking up."
With those words, Emily woke up in a cold sweat. She had never had a dream that felt so real before. Not only that, but she could remember what happened vividly. That wasn't normal for her. She could never remember her dreams. She finally sat up in bed and checked her phone. It read that it was eight in the morning. She looked to the side and was subsequently blinded.
There was sunlight filling the room through an open window, presumably done by Nashi in order to naturally wake her companion up. Emily then looked around the room and noticed that the blonde was nowhere to be seen. 'I guess she already left for her first day at work,' she thought as she finally got out of bed. "Since I'm up I might as well get something to eat." she yawned as her stomach started to growl. She then descended the stairs and pushed through the side door into Titania's diner.
Looking into the diner, everything looked exactly as it had the morning prior. It was filled to the brim with colorful characters of all shapes and sizes, all of whom seemed to be having a great start to their day. The only person of interest to her was a man in the corner who seemed to be staring at her. He was dressed all in black, but as soon as he saw Emily look his way, he went back to reading his newspaper. Emily just brushed off the encounter.
A closer inspection of the surprisingly small room revealed that Nashi was sitting in the same booth as yesterday and seemed to be having a thoughtful conversation with Matilda. She began to walk over to the table and was eventually able to hear Nashi's words. "I just don't get it. It might be because I'm originally from a big city, but this town just makes no sense. I mean, how can the people here be so nice?" Emily had been thinking the same thing, but never really found time to voice her observations.
Matilda just replied with a laugh. She did eventually follow up with, "There are two main reasons for that. The first has to do with your situation. Everyone in town has been through the ringer, and even if they don't show it, they know what it feels like to be stranded, both physically and mentally." Hearing that, Emily stopped her stride and began to think about what she said. She had never thought about being stranded mentally. 'What does that even mean?' she thought. 'Something to think about later I guess.'
Matilda then continued with something that Emily slightly recollected. "The second reason is because we get very few visitors around here." Emily knew she had heard something about people not coming to Fairy Park, but she couldn't remember from where. Matilda didn't stop her rant though, saying. "Because of that, most of the townsfolk try to make a good impression so that they might decide to come back."
"Has anyone ever come back?" Nashi questioned, feeling like she knew the answer.
Matilda's expression saddened slightly, a few strands of scarlet red hair falling into her face. "I don't know. I personally can't remember anyone actually visiting town. I've heard stories though, from Howard and Rob" Matilda could see the confused look on Nashi's face. "Sorry, Rob was the original owner of the diner. He handed it down to me when he passed." A single tear fell from her left eye.
Seeing Matilda shed even a single tear surprised both girls. The extremely brash and forceful woman they met yesterday seemed to be no more, but only for that brief second. She wiped away the tear and regained her upbeat attitude. At this, Emily decided she couldn't continue to walk in slow motion and finally reached the table she had been eavesdropping on.
"Good morning, Emily." Matilda said, seemingly forgetting the somber moment from just two seconds ago. "Can I get you anything this morning?"
Emily just shrugged, replying that she'd have the same as yesterday. Matilda dashed back into the kitchen, giving the two some privacy. Matilda had given Emily one look and knew that something was wrong with her. It might have been the look in her eyes or the way she stood, almost stiff, but she could see that something wasn't right.
Nashi had also noticed something was wrong with her friend, and she didn't even need the body language clues to do so. All she needed to know was the habits of her friend. "So, what are you doing up so early? It's not like you to be an early riser. You'd definitely sleep in till way past noon if you had the choice." Nashi was sure to poke at the friend's natural tendencies, knowing it would eventually force her into telling the truth.
"It's nothing, Nash. Just woke up and was hungry. Nothing strange about that, is there?"
Nashi couldn't refute that part. If her friend loved one thing more than sleep, it was food. She honestly wondered where it all went. Nothing about her friend suggested she was a heavy eater. Nashi just assumed that she was best friends with a black hole and left it at that. Nashi only had one come back to Emily's response. "While true, I also know that your love of sleep will win over your love of food when continuing to sleep is an option. I've seen you sleep for nearly full days before, so come on. Tell me what's up."
Emily knew that there was no refuting that statement. She finally settled for the only option she had left. "Can we just drop it? Please? I'm really not in the mood for a therapy talk this early in the morning."
Nashi understood where her friend was coming from but couldn't let this issue go untreated. Emily had always been one to keep her emotions hidden within herself, not wanting to bother the rest of the world with them, but Nashi knew that was just making everything worse. She had forced Emily to talk about how she felt on multiple occasions and knew it made her friend feel better. So, knowing she'd get an earful about it, she continued to interrogate Emily. "I can't just drop it today, Em. We're stranded without a car in a strange town that neither of us planned to be in. I believe the situation calls for me to be slightly more worried about you. So please, just tell me what's bothering you."
Emily continued to try and dodge the question a few more times but eventually relented to her persistent friend. "It was just a dream, okay?" To her surprise, she actually felt better now that she had told someone, but she refused to divulge the contents of the way too realistic dream to her friend. She eventually lied, saying, "I can't really remember much of it. All I know is that it was weird and freaked me out when I woke up."
After hearing that, Nashi only had one response. "Why don't you get a dream journal?"
"A what?"
"A dream journal. If it's a dream that's bothering you so much, then maybe writing about it will help." Nashi knew it had helped her in the past. During her early days, she would have nightmares about being separated from Emily. The only thing that would make her calm down was writing about them and then saying that it would never happen.
"Really, Nashi? You think writing down my dreams will help me deal with them?" She said in a sarcastic tone, wondering if her friend really bought into that.
"I'm being serious. You should try to find something to write in from around town. I'm sure it'll help, and it'll also help you learn the layout of the town."
"I'll consider it, I guess." With that, their conversation had to come to an end as Nashi needed to get going for her first day at the library. At that moment, Matilda also came out with Emily's breakfast.
Emily was allowed to eat in peace for about ten minutes, before a red head slipped into the other side of the booth. The diner was noticeably quieter, the breakfast rush being nearly over, so Emily wasn't surprised to see Matilda taking a break. However, she did wonder why she was doing it at her table though. Emily and the diner owner just stared at each other for a few minutes.
Matilda eventually broke the silence. "I couldn't help but overhear part of your conversation earlier," she said, notably lowering her voice from what Emily thought was it's natural volume. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Emily noticed that the waitress seemed extremely sincere when asking, but she still found it extremely strange that a complete stranger would feel concern for her. She eventually responded, saying, "What's it to you? Why do you care how I'm feeling?"
Matilda only looked at her more seriously than ever. "Because, I don't want my customers to look or feel sad while eating my food." Emily thought about it and she guessed it made sense. 'Who would want someone to look unhappy while enjoying something they created?' she thought, just barely catching Matilda's words as she continued. "If you ever need someone to talk to who won't judge what they hear, I'll be here all day."
"Thanks for the offer, I guess." With that, Matilda walked away, assumedly going to prepare for lunch. Emily just stared into her pile of food. 'I get why Nashi was so confused early,' she pondered. 'Everyone in this town is too damn nice.' Emily then went about finishing her breakfast. After finishing another mound of food that seemed to go nowhere in her, she felt tired and decided to go back to their room to take a nap with Lily, forgetting what Nashi had told her to do only twenty minutes prior.
Nashi arrived outside the library with just a minute to spare before her shift started. She settled her anxiety. She was always nervous when starting a new job, but for some reason this felt almost natural. Almost as if she was meant to work here. The little bit of anxiety that she did have, she was able to easily force down. With that, she opened the library doors and prepared herself for the unknown.
However, nothing she could have done would have prepared her for the scene that graced her eyes. What she saw looked almost like a horror movie. Books were strewn about in large mounds, not in the neat stacks she had seen the day prior. Phoebe could also be seen running around frantically, as if the world was ending. Nashi finally walked in after a couple minutes of just taking in the scene and tried to get her new boss's attention.
"Hello." she tried. The small blue haired librarian didn't seem to even register her presence, so Nashi tried the same thing, just a little louder. "Hello!" She still received nothing from the short woman, so she eventually just walked up to her, hoping that a visual might catch her attention.
To Nashi's surprise, it didn't work as intended and Phoebe crashed into the blonde. They both toppled to the ground, the books that Phoebe was carrying now laid open on the floor. She finally registered that she had indeed crashed into a fellow human and sighed in relief. "Thank god you're here, Nashi!" Nashi thought she felt too relieved to have basically run over her newest employee, but she let her boss continue. "Now that you're here, you can help me with this mess. Apparently there was an earthquake last night and it caused all my beautiful stacks to come crashing down. Please help me put them away before any customers walk in."
Nashi was confused at why Phoebe hadn't just told her to do it, since she was her boss and all, but she just looked past it and began to put the books away.
It took most of the morning to fully organize and reshelf all the books. Luckily no one came in and found the mess. Nashi thought that Phoebe would have had a heart attack if that happened. The task wasn't all that bad though, since it allowed Nashi to familiarize herself with the library and where all the sections were. It also gave her a better picture of just how many books were within this one building. She didn't even know there was a second floor, and it too was filled to the brim with books of all kinds. It was almost an overload to her senses, but she powered through it.
It was almost one in the afternoon when their first customer arrived. They were greeted by Phoebe since Nashi was still new, but she was still able to catch a glimpse of one of the few bookworms Fairy Park had to offer. The customer was a woman, nicely dressed in a maroon blazer with matching pants and a white blouse. She had golden blonde hair that was done up in a bun and she had a figure similar to Nashi's, only a bit more up top. The weirdest part though, was that Nashi felt as though she could be looking in a mirror. It creeped her out, but she pushed it down and continued to organize the shelves. That was, until she heard Phoebe panicking at the front desk.
Listening closer, she could hear the blonde trying to console the librarian. "Calm down, Phoebe. I'm sure it's around here somewhere. There's no need to hyperventilate over a single book." The woman tried her best, but it would seem that there was no calming Phoebe down at this moment.
Nashi steadily got closer to the desk, trying her best not to be seen, not wanting to interrupt the two. She then heard Phoebe reply to the woman, still frantic, "But I know I left it right here. Even though the quake last night really did a number on my stacks, I always make sure your orders are in a safe place. I just don't know where that book could have gone." Nashi finally understood the situation. It would appear that their customer put some books on hold and now Phoebe couldn't find one of them.
"I'll be fine. I promise. I've read A Walk through Fairy Park plenty of times already. I mostly wanted it as a reference to make sure my data was accurate, but I'm sure my memory won't fail me that easily." Nashi froze when she heard the title of the book. She recognized it from one she had read yesterday. She must have accidentally grabbed it from a stack on the counter she shouldn't have.
Luckily, she remembered where she put it and rushed for the shelves. She found it just a minute later, hoping that the woman hadn't already left. Nashi began to walk back to the counter, and she was glad to hear the woman still talking to Phoebe. She wasn't happy that Phoebe still hadn't calmed down, but she was hoping that this book could fix that.
Hoping for the best, she walked up to the counter and placed the book next to the woman's surprisingly large stack of books. "Is this what you were looking for?" Nashi asked, a shy smile forming on her lips. As she got a closer look at the blonde woman in front of her, the resemblance became even more notable.
The woman just looked at her, surprised. "Yes it is." Nashi didn't notice that the woman had slightly flinched at seeing her. It then took her another moment to form her next words. "You must be new here. I know just about everyone here in town, and don't recognize you." She then held her hand out. "I'm Dawn Light, news anchor for channel seven and writer of the best newspaper articles in town."
Nashi looked at the outstretched hand for a moment before finally realizing what it was meant for. She took the hand and shook it, receiving a small shock from doing so. She then gave her own introduction. "I'm Nashi Astrea, new in town and an even newer library assistant." She didn't know what her actual job title was, so she made something up. She hoped that Phoebe would just go with it.
Dawn looked shocked, not at Nashi but at Phoebe. "You finally hired someone to help around here?" The question was asked with an energetic tone and in a voice too loud for a library. It caused both Nashi and Phoebe to flinch slightly. "It's about time. I've been telling you for months that this was more than a one woman job, but you refused to have anyone else 'handle your precious babies.'" Dawn said the end very sarcastically, knowing what reaction it would elicit from the panicky librarian.
"Most people wouldn't know how to handle a book with care!" she screamed even louder than Dawn had. She may have been loud, but there was no malice to be found in her voice. It almost sounded as if they were best friends trying to purposely annoy each other. "I finally found someone who's as passionate about reading and treats books with the same care that you and I would. Why wouldn't I hire her if she was willing to help out? It'd almost be criminal not to."
The two continued to playfully argue with each other while Nashi just stood there and listened. Nashi found their friend dynamic to be amusing. They obviously were great, if not best, friends, but to anyone that couldn't read the room or detect emotions, it would seem as though they were trying to continuously make the other more infuriated. It made her wonder if her and Emily made their friendship obvious or not.
Their conversation only lasted another minute or two before Dawn brought it to a close. "Well, my break is almost over. It was nice seeing you again, Phoebe, and it was nice meeting you Nashi. I hope we see each other again. I'd love to interview you." With that, she left the library carrying her large stack of books as if they were a sacred treasure.
Only a second after the door closed, Phoebe looked to Nashi with an inquisitive eye. She seemed to be in deep thought about something. Nashi was slightly frightened by the constant eye contact, but Phoebe finally broke it and began to speak. "You know, you and Dawn look pretty similar."
Nashi froze. 'So it wasn't just me then,' she thought. She really didn't know what to say, so she just blurted out the first excuse she thought of. "Oh, I get that all the time." She, in fact, had never been told she resembled someone else. Most people had told her she was as unique as unique got, but none of them had seen Dawn Light.
Phoebe just stared at Nashi for a minute, trying to read what she was actually thinking, but eventually sighed. "Well, speaking about breaks, it's about time you go on yours. There's a break room in the back. Be back in about twenty minutes, but know that I won't really be counting." Phoebe gave Nashi a quick smile before wandering out into the sea of books to presumably make sure they were all in order.
Nashi did as Phoebe had told her and went to the break room. She was quickly able to recover from meeting Dawn and finally began to relax.
She decided to use her break in order to continue reading A Fairy's Tail. She opened to where she had bookmarked and flipped the page. She was excited to reach the next chapter, but was surprised to see one more small paragraph on the next page. She had assumed last night that the story of the Black Wizard was over, but she guessed she had missed this passage once she realised how late she stayed up reading. The passage read:
Finally feeling motivated, the Black Wizard created an empire across the sea from his home land. This empire grew to become a mighty military force, even when it's emperor was absent. The Black Wizard would eventually come back to lead his armies to attack his home nation, in search of his death or the death of everyone else. He was stopped though, finally feeling the sweet relief of death he'd longed for all this time.
While reading last night, Nashi had assumed the Black Wizard's story would be left open ended, leaving the reader to wonder about his fate, but this clearly stated that he did die. This last passage also brought about more questions about him. Was he truly good or evil? Why build a nation? Why would he attack the place he called home? Nashi hoped these questions would be answered in other chapters, but knew that the book was most likely structured in a way so that her questions wouldn't be answered for a while.
While she continued to contemplate over her questions, she realized her break was coming to a close. She was saddened she wasn't able to begin the next chapter, but was glad to know she didn't miss any information from the first. With that, she placed her bookmark back, and began to daydream about what the next chapter, A Story of Water and Ice, might entail.
Another hour passed before another customer came into the library, but Nashi was too focused on putting books away to notice. The newcomer didn't go to the front desk, but simply started to browse the shelves. Eventually, Phoebe noticed her and gave Nashi a tap on her shoulder. "Okay, here's your first test. There's a customer in the next aisle down who is looking frantically around the shelves. I want you to approach her and ask if she needs any help. Think you can do that?" Nashi just looked at her boss and nodded her head, confident in her social skills.
She walked over to the shelves Phoebe had pointed to and began to approach the girl. She was slightly shorter than Nashi, but not by much. She had long blue hair, slightly darker than Phoebe's, that reached all the way down her back. Similar to Nashi, she also had pink streaks randomly scattered throughout her mane. She looked young, but not so young, possibly a freshman in high school.
Nashi, after appraising the girl, walked up to her, trying to act as friendly as possible. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked, a giant grin plastered onto her face. She wasn't new to customer service jobs, so she tried her best to act as cheerful as possible.
The girl, after a moment, finally noticed that another human had started a conversation with her and replied. "I'm sorry, I don't think I've ever seen you in here before. I don't come here the most often, but I figured I at least knew everyone that frequented the library." Her voice was quiet, but still audible. She was obviously not the best with social interactions.
"Sorry, I'm Nashi. I'm new here. I actually just started helping out at the library today." She had decided that it would probably be best to explain why she had approached her in the first place and saying she now worked here seemed to do the trick.
The girl responded, slightly louder than before, but nearly losing all timidness. "Hi, Nashi, I'm Ciel. Ciel Iris." She then proceeded to recede back into her timid persona as she started to mumble out what she needed help with. "I'm currently looking for a book on how to raise cats."
Nashi was slightly confused by the girl in front of her. She seemed so timid, but had shown interest in meeting her. She pondered over this as she looked at the shelves in front of her. "Well, you're in the animal section, but it would seem that you are currently looking through reptile care books. The ones on cats should be closer to the end of this aisle." Nashi led Ciel to one end of the shelves and helped her pick out a few books.
Both girls continued to converse while sorting through the multitude of books. The more they talked, the more calm Ciel seemed to become. After only a minute, her timid persona was gone, replaced by a confident and energetic one. Nashi figured this was due to social anxiety, but she didn't bring it up.
The longer the conversation went on, the more Nashi began to learn about her new friend. Yes, Nashi had only just met this girl and she already considered her a friend. This wasn't new for her, since she had always become fast friends with just about everyone she met.
The first thing she learned about Ciel was that they were the same age, Ciel having just graduated as well. Nashi was extremely surprised by this and even brought up the fact that she looked younger than that. The only reply she had was that she gets that a lot. Another thing Nashi learned was that there were also few others their age in town, possibly only one or two more. Nashi assumed this was due to the same reason as the elderly in town being few and far between. She did, however, feel as though the lack of people their age could have contributed to Ciel's social problems.
They continued their conversation for another few minutes before they finally made their way to the front counter. Phoebe stood there, smiling at the two. She decided to take this time to train Nashi on how to loan out books, but she knew the girl would pick it up fast.
Before Ciel could leave, Nashi asked her something that truly made the blue haired girl's day. "I get off in a couple hours, if you want to hang out." Nashi could see the excitement well up in her new friend, worried she might explode from it.
Ciel opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally saying what she wanted to. "I'd love to. Why don't we meet at Ur's Frozen Treats for some ice cream and we can talk more then." Nashi agreed, thinking that ice cream really did sound good at the moment. She then watched as the girl rushed out of the library, slightly blushing.
The remainder of Nashi's shift went by in a flash. No one else had stopped in, so it was mostly spent sorting books and talking to Phoebe about anything else the job might entail. It was about five minutes before her shift ended when Phoebe decided to speak up again. "Well, I think that's good enough for today. Why don't you leave now so that you don't leave your friend waiting for too long."
Nashi was slightly confused at being let off early since it had never happened to her before, but quickly decided to take her boss's generosity. She rushed to collect her belongings from the break room and got one step out of the library before she realized something really important. She walked back in to ask Phoebe a question. "Hey, Phoebe? I don't exactly know where Ur's is. Do you?"
Phoebe laughed but quickly gave her directions. "Just go down to the corner and take a left. There's a big sign, so you shouldn't miss it." She then got a devilish grin on her face. "Also, you might want to bring an umbrella."
Nashi was only more confused by that last statement but decided to take the advice, planning to stop back at her room quickly to grab her umbrella. With that, she finally ran out of the library, ready to become even better friends with Ciel.
Emily woke from her nap in a cold puddle of sweat. She was shivering even though the room was warm due to the summer heat. She quickly got up and went to the bathroom, trying to think of any way to calm herself back down.
She had had the exact same dream. She had been stuck in the same forest, found the same people, and had heard the same cryptic speech. There had been one difference though. She'd heard a woman's scream.
After hearing it, Emily ran straight to the same clearing, assuming it was the woman on the tree who screamed. She arrived to see the same sight as before, a grotesque showing of bruised and bloodied bodies. Emily's reaction had been the same as the time previous, and everything went as it had last time.
After about twenty minutes of just sitting in the bathroom, she finally decided she needed some fresh air. She got up and left the inn, starting on a walk with no clear destination.
While walking, she decided to try and make sense of her dream. More specifically, the words said by the blue haired woman that were burned into her brain. "There's no helping us here. This tragedy was meant to happen. Someone will be along shortly to help us. The only way for you to help us, is by waking up." She said the words to herself again. Emily had truly wanted to help them, but they were just figments of her imagination, right? How could waking up save them? Lastly, what did she mean by 'meant to happen?' Emily pondered these questions as she continued to walk aimlessly through town.
Emily eventually found herself circling back around to the inn, finding that the main downtown district of Fairy Park was quite small. It was at this moment, she remembered Nashi's advice about her dreams. She had never been one to believe in luck, fate, and the supernatural, but she was damn willing to try anything to not see that horrific scene again.
She eventually found herself in front of Pegasus Pawn Shop, a store she and Nashi had noticed during their initial walk around town. She walked into the store and was immediately hit by a cloud of dust. She powered through it though and eventually found herself browsing through the aisles of the store.
It may have labeled itself as a pawn shop, but Emily could tell that none of the items within the store were pawn worthy or used for that matter. It reminded her more of a corner drug store than anything.
Eventually bored and annoyed of looking through the shelves, she worked up the courage to ask the man working the counter. "Do you happen to sell notebooks or journals here?" She was extremely nervous talking to the stranger, but it came out cold and almost threatening.
The clerk paid it no mind, and replied simply, "We don't sell any writing material here. I know it might be weird for what's basically a convenience store, but it's my shop, so I make the rules."
Emily was slightly offended by the man's response, but decided it'd be best if she just went to look elsewhere. She didn't want to get into any unneeded, and unwanted, arguments. However, before she reached the door, she heard the man call out to her, "If you're looking for anything specific, Mr. White's Magic Shop is probably the place to go. The madman labels it as a magic store, but he pretty much sells anything, as long as he thinks he can make a profit on it."
After giving her his recommendation, he stepped out from behind the counter and began to sweep the floor. Emily thanked him but then noticed something peculiar about his sweeping. "I'm sorry, but you do know that you're being followed by a dust cloud, basically nullifying anything you sweep up, right?"
The man just looked at her with tired eyes. "I know. It'll get clean eventually. The dust in here just gets kicked up way too easily." She remembered the dust cloud she encountered as she walked in and silently agreed with the man before leaving the shop.
It was only a short walk to Mr. White's shop, but Emily was once again reminded of why she hadn't thought about trying this place, other than the misleading name of course. The front window was filled with many trinkets and objects that screamed occult. Even though she felt like this might be her last action, she pushed open the shiny glass door, and entered the store.
Once inside, she was given a sensory overload by just how cluttered the store was. Everywhere she looked, another random item caught her attention. First was a set of golden keys, with different designs, on a keyring. Next was a set of what looked to be playing cards, but with an interesting blue design on their backs. Upon closer inspection of the cards, they were not playing cards, but what looked to be handcrafted tarot cards. The next object that caught her eye only did so because it almost pierced her head. Placed haphazardly against the wall was a shiny metal sword that had wing designs where it's guard would be. Having nearly knocked the large sword over, Emily backed away slowly only to be entranced once more.
She nearly backed up into a bookshelf, which contained dozens of brown, decaying leather-bound books. Leaning against the shelf was a large bag that seemed to contain various different staves. After finally recovering from her original shock, she began to walk up to the counter, only to be distracted again by another sword which resided in a glass case built into the counter. This sword resembled a katana, but it simply exuded sharpness and power. Finally, sitting next to the katana, was a pair of folded pants which seemed to have a fire design sewn into them. Emily had barely seen half of the items held within this small shop, and she already thought she was going to faint.
Finally, she found a bell sitting on the counter, and rang it, hoping for someone to come help her. Her prayers were answered a minute later when a young looking man stepped out from behind a curtain. Emily recognized him immediately as the man who had been staring at her this morning at the diner.
Hoping he didn't remember their encounter this morning, she braced for what was to come. She, however, was not ready for the man's over the top greeting. "Welcome to the shop, Emily. I heard about your arrival in town and was just dying to meet either you or your friend."
She was immediately confused by the man, who was dressed all in black. Her first thought was how did he know her name, while the second thought she had was more to do with how he knew about their arrival in Fairy Park.
The man didn't leave her to wallow in thought for long though, as he decided to explain himself. "I'm sorry if I frightened you by my introduction. I'm sure you've heard that information spreads fast in town." Emily nodded, vaguely remembering someone saying that. "Well, I'm one of the biggest reasons for that. You see, I have eyes and ears all around this town, and no one comes or goes without me knowing." The implications of what he had just told her truly began to frighten her, but no emotion showed on her face, even though she wished she could.
The man could apparently sense the fear coming from her though, as he continued to tell her about himself, possibly hoping it might explain his previous comment. "I suppose I should explain myself. I'm the current owner of this land, and being the owner has helped me make some good connections with most of the townsfolk. I'm sure you've heard of me by now, the name's Zachary White."
Emily could find another vague recollection of the name, most likely coming from Nashi's initial investigation, but her first real thought was that Mr. White seemed way too young. He didn't even look anywhere near thirty. However, the explanation he gave for knowing about her and her situation was believable enough, so she began to calm down and finally ask the man what she was here for. "I guess you already know who I am, but a formal introduction would probably be best. Hello, I'm Emily Ferroh."
"Nice to finally meet you, Emily. Now, what can I help you with today?" He looked at her with what seemed to be caring eyes, which caused Emily to relax even more. He may have nearly scared her to death with his initial greeting, but she could see now that he meant her no harm.
"I was told that you might have something that could function as a journal here."
"For anything specific?" he asked, slowly walking out from behind the counter and going straight for the bookshelf.
Emily was slightly embarrassed by what she was about to say, but eventually said it. "It's to write my dreams in. My friend thinks it might help with my current situation." She made sure to not say she was having nightmares. She didn't want anyone else to take pity on her.
Mr. White just looked at her with a smile. "Well, your friend is right. Dream journals can help you learn a lot about yourself and can even help you remember your dreams better." Emily didn't think she wanted to remember her nightmare anymore vividly, but she let him continue regardless. "For your 'current situation' I'd recommend this book here."
What he handed Emily looked nothing like a journal, but she didn't think too hard about it. It was an old leather book, nearly crumbling from age, with the word lullaby scrawled across it in bold black letters. She opened the books to find that it was indeed a journal or sorts, being filled with normal lined paper for writing.
They both walked back towards the counter, and he packaged the book up for her, throwing in a pen for her to write with, free of charge. She then thanked him and walked out of the shop.
On her way down the street, she nearly bumped into a tall black man, dressed in a dark blue suit, who seemed to be heading straight for the magic shop. She apologized to the man, but he just continued walking, not even acknowledging her existence. She continued walking until she spotted the local ice cream parlor, deciding she'd earned a sweet treat after everything she's been through today.
Slowly approaching the store, Emily eventually spotted Nashi, who seemed to be talking with a young girl. She didn't recognize her, but still decided to walk towards the group, hoping Nashi would let her join them. However, she had not prepared herself for their appearance upon closer inspection. Both girls were drenched.
As soon as Emily had left, Zachary White let out an almost evil laugh. He continued to laugh for a few moments before saying, "Finally, one more useless piece of junk has been removed from my shop." He then took on a more serious tone. "It's a good thing these books don't work correctly in this world. Wouldn't want little Emily taken out of the equation too soon." He then continued to laugh until he felt a powerful presence approaching his shop.
As quick as turning off a faucet, his laughter stopped as the door to his shop opened and he began to greet his new customer. "Welcome to Mr. White's Magic Shop, how can I help you today?"
The man in front of him only stared at him, seemingly confused by his tone and choice of words. They both just stood there for a moment, neither breaking eye contact, almost as if they were fighting for dominance within the room.
Mr. White eventually broke his gaze, looking to his glass counter, cleaning it. "What a pleasure to see you, Mr. mayor. What brings you into my shop? As I recall, you tend to avoid it like the plague." Zachary just continued to clean his counter, not even looking up at the imposing man.
"You know exactly why I'm here, Zach. Tell me what you know about our new residents." The mayor began to move around the shop, understanding that having a face to face conversation was not in the cards.
"Not much, my friend. I've only met one of them myself. I prefer to learn about people in person.."
"You met one of them?" he looked at the shop owner inquisitively.
"Sure have. She was just here, saying she needed something to write her dreams down in. Nightmares I assume." He then looked up to the dark skinned man. "You probably passed by her on your way in." He gave him a devilish smile before taking the katana out of its case and polishing it.
The mayor just sighed in frustration. 'Or course the brat I decided to ignore was one of them,' he thought. "Well, nothing I can do about that now. Now, give me all the information you really have on those two."
Zachary sighed, resigning himself to his fate. "All I know is that they crashed here a couple nights ago. I'm sure that once their car is fixed, they'll be out of here as fast as possible. Why do you seem so weary of them?"
The mayor gave the answer he was expecting. "That's really none of your business, now is it?" Zachary only shrugged, not caring much. "You may own the land this town resides on, but I'm the one who's been running it."
With that, the mayor turned to leave the shop. He couldn't believe he actually thought he'd get any good information from that idiot. However, right before he reached the door, Zachary gave him one last tidbit of information. "By the way, since you seem so interested in them, I guess you'd want to know that they have matching birthmarks on their shoulders. Weird, isn't it?" The comment caused the mayor to freeze before walking through the door, slamming it behind him.
Zachary White looked at the door and smiled to himself. Proud of the parting shot he had given that psychopath. "I can't believe he thought he'd get any real useful information from me. Well, my job here is done. For now at least." He then proceeded to slink back behind the curtain.
Ciel had been standing outside Ur's since Nashi had invited her to hang out. She had stopped home to drop off the books she had received. While she was there, she had a short conversation with Leigh, her legal guardian, and the old doctor was surprised to hear about her pseudo-daughters plans. She knew that Ciel could be socially awkward, but she was proud that she was at least taking a step in the right direction.
Ciel had only spent a couple minutes at home before stopping at Titania's to have an early dinner before meeting with Nashi. She wasn't able to enjoy her meal though, as she worried over being late the whole time. However, she still showed up at Ur's a whole two hours early. Being this early was calming for her though. She at least knew she wouldn't be late.
However, this extra time allowed her to remember some words Leigh had said to her in the past. "I think it's time you finally went out and made some friends. You can't just be cooped up in here with an old lady for the rest of your life." This was right before she entered high school.
Although those four years weren't terrible, she couldn't say she made many friends. If she tried to count them, it really only amounted to two. One was a stray cat who would frequently stop by her house. She would feed it and it would keep coming back, but she never actually took the cat in. Her other friend was a boy from her class. Out of all her classmates, he was the only one who ever seemed to even notice she existed.
She figured people had always just avoided her. She had always been shy, scared of most social interaction. Her thoughts would always betray her. 'Who would want to be friends with a wimpy girl like me?' 'They're probably ignoring me because they know about my past.' 'They must know that my only friend is a cat.' All these thoughts would assault her whenever she would think about trying to make friends.
Those thoughts had also berated her as she talked to Nashi earlier today. But somehow, Nashi was able to push all her worries away with just a few words. The blonde haired girl just seemed to make anyone feel comfortable around her.
However, because Nashi was not currently around to stop them, more thoughts began to plague her mind. 'You probably sounded too eager. You definitely answered yes too fast.' 'How's she even going to find you? You never told her where Ur's is.' 'Don't you think she was too cool to be seen with you. You might ruin her social image.'
Ciel began to feel depressed as her own thoughts turned against her. She looked at her phone and saw the time was five past when Nashi got off her shift. Ciel knew it wouldn't take that long to reach the ice cream parlor from the library.
With a depressed sigh, she decided it'd be best to head home and forget about making any new friends.
As she started to walk away, Ciel heard a yell in the distance, "Hey, Ciel. Sorry, I'm a little late." Her negative thoughts immediately retreated from her mind as she saw Nashi running towards her, carrying a light pink umbrella.
All Ciel could do was laugh as she saw the umbrella, already knowing full well why she had it, but she still asked anyway. "So, what's with the umbrella? It's a bright sunny day, not a cloud in sight."
Nashi stopped right in front of the blue haired girl, catching her breath before answering. "Phoebe told me to bring an umbrella. Do I not need it?" She looked at Ciel with a confused look on her face.
Ciel tried her best to hold back her laughter. "I'm not saying that, but if you bring that in the shop, who knows what will happen." She then decides to add in a little helpful information about the librarian. "In fact, I'm sure that Phoebe told you to bring it to try and play a joke on Grace. You should probably just leave it out here and pray for good weather. I'll explain everything later."
With that out of the way, Nashi placed her umbrella on an outside table in order to save it, and they both walked into the building.
Upon entering, Nashi was first confronted with just how shiny everything in the store looked. It looked almost as if the floors and counter were cleaned every minute. There wasn't much in the lobby other than the counter for taking orders and making ice cream, as well as a large refrigerator to the side filled with an assortment of different beverages. The store didn't have any tables inside, presumably to allow more customers to fit in at once, but currently there was only one other customer in the store who had walked in only a second before them.
Nashi recognized the man as the literal giant from the diner. He was a hulking mass of muscles, presumably what was needed to keep him from not collapsing in on himself. He also had a head of spiky pure white hair. After analyzing his appearance, she found herself accidentally eavesdropping on the conversation in front of her. "Will it be the usual today, Griffin?"
The man responded in a low voice, "Yes, Grace. Thank you." The woman behind the counter then went to work, seemingly whipping up what looked to be two complicated sundaes out of thin air.
"No problem. Hopefully Raven can enjoy hers today as well," she said with a slightly sad voice. She wrapped the sundaes in a brown paper bag with some dry ice and gave it to the giant.
"I hope so too." He replied with the same sad tone before turning around and heading out the door, ducking his head to avoid hitting anything.
They were next in line, but Nashi had already decided she wasn't going to order anything fancy. She figured that the best way to appraise an ice cream shop's product was to try a base flavor.
However, her hopes were crushed immediately as she looked at the menu. She didn't recognize a single flavor on the list. Well, she recognizes one, but who would actually eat water flavored ice cream? The other flavors that stuck out to her were Berry Lightning, Sour Fire, Sweet Air, and Grounded Steel.
Seeing Nashi stare at the menu with glazed eyes, Ciel decided to order first. She ordered a medium sweet air with moon drip. Nashi, too confused by the menu to think anymore, simply ordered the same as Ciel, hoping it was normal ice cream.
As Grace moved to prepare their order, Nashi took a second to take a good look at her. The first thing she noticed was her blue hair. 'Why does everyone seem to have blue hair?' she thought. Said hair reached her shoulders before beginning to curl around itself, finally falling near the top of her back. She also had deep blue eyes, seeming extremely focused on her task at hand. She wore plain blue and black clothes, which finally caused Nashi to just label her as blue in her brain. 'Out of all of those with blue hair, she definitely personifies the color the most' she thought absentmindedly.
While her thoughts were running wild, Grace finished their ice cream and moved them over to the register where they paid. Ciel offered to pay for both of theirs, but Nashi refused, stating that she wouldn't be much of a friend if she forced her to pay for everything. They eventually split the cost in half and began to walk towards the door.
As they neared the door, the fire alarm in the building began to go off. Nashi started to freak out a bit, but as soon as she took one look at Grace and Ciel, she immediately calmed down. Both of them looked unsurprised by the alarm, and Grace even began to curse it, saying, "Come on. I thought today might finally be the day this didn't happen!" As soon as she finished her scream, the sprinkler system went off and everyone was doused with water.
Nashi looked at Ciel, confused as to why they were both so calm, but she just gave her a shrug before saying, "I told you I'd explain the umbrella joke, but it looks like I won't have to." It only took Nashi a moment to understand that this must have been a common occurrence and that Phoebe was trying to annoy Grace with the umbrella.
Grace, having heard Ciel explain an umbrella joke to Nashi, only erupted more. "What umbrella joke!? Who was trying to make rain jokes at my expense!?" She almost seemed to be fuming, steam practically rising from her head.
Ciel immediately tried to diffuse the situation. "Don't worry, Grace. I think Phoebe was just trying to warn Nashi about your shop's tendencies before she was surprised by it." Ciel's attempts were in vain though, as Grace looked even more enraged after.
"Oh, I'll kill that bookworm for that!" She then proceeded to start to calm down, seemingly out of nowhere. "But first, I should probably call Ash and get him to turn these accursed sprinklers off." She then stormed out of the shop.
Nashi looked to Ciel again for any context, but the girl just shrugged her shoulders and began to walk out of the shop, pretending as though this whole scene was normal. Nashi followed her blue haired friend out, and they sat down at the table Nashi had placed her umbrella on earlier.
They chatted with each other for a while after that, discussing just about everything they could think of. They discussed the town, the weather, and even each other's pasts. Ciel was sad to hear her new friend was an orphan, but was glad to know it hadn't affected her in any malicious or negative way. Nashi, on the other hand, was almost sent into a depression at hearing how Ciel grew up without friends. 'At least I had Emily,' she thought, knowing how much worse off she'd be without her companion. Their talk continued for a few minutes more, before they heard a loud conversation from just up the road.
"You know, you should really get this looked at by a professional," a very loud, masculine voice said. "The damage this is doing to your shop cannot be good for your bottom line." He sounded concerned, but not overly so.
They recognized the voice who responded, much less calm than she had been just twenty minutes ago. "Aren't you supposed to be the professional in town, Ash?" Grace had returned, and she obviously wasn't having the best time with her current conversation partner.
The man only responded to her in a confident voice, not finding anything wrong with his response. "I don't deal with too much of the machinery used to put out fires. I just handle one's that the machinery can't." He then added something else which put everything into perspective to Nashi. "I'm a volunteer firefighter after all, and this town didn't have any fancy training for the position."
The two finally passed in front of Nashi, walking into the ice cream parlor. The man who had followed Grace in didn't seem so extraordinary compared to most in town. He was muscular, but not overly so like Ramiel or the giant from before. He also was nowhere near their height, possibly coming up to Ramiel's shoulders if she had to guess. However, the most notable part of the man was his hair. Nashi had been told early on that weird hair colors were very common in town, but she had only met one other person with pink hair, and the old doctor had more gray than pink at this point. With every other color she found strange, she had at least seen one or two other townspeople with it, but not pink.
While she was considering this new information and also comparing the color of his pink hair to her highlights, a familiar voice began to speak right next to her, having a mocking but concerned tone. "So, what happened here?" Emily had walked up to their table and sat down next to Nashi like it was a spot saved for her.
Nashi finally realized her friend had entered into her bubble, and responded. "Apparently the ice cream shop has faulty wiring or something, I don't know. The sprinkler system randomly went off, and as you can see, we were caught in it." She motioned towards Ciel, forcing Emily to take notice of the other girl at the table. She had known she was there, but had simply decided to ignore her presence for the time being, hoping that Nashi would take the initiative on introducing them.
Ciel flinched back as the new girl to their table looked her way. She felt so much pressure coming from just her gaze alone. She was eventually able to squeak out a response under the intense glare. "S-sorry, I'm Ciel. I met Nashi at the library." The gaze on her seemed to soften, making her rethink her first opinion of the girl in front of her.
Emily could tell the blue haired girl was scared by her look, but she didn't know what she could say in order to alleviate her fear. She tried her hardest to contort her face into a friendlier stare, only making her feel uncomfortable with the position it now sat in. She eventually relented to her natural glare, deciding to finally respond to Ciel. "I'm Emily, Nashi's friend." She then looked to Nashi, remembering the true reason she came this way. "Are they going to reopen?" She motioned to the shop with her head, arms currently crossed.
To the short girl's surprise, Ciel was the one who answered her question, voice still slightly quiet. "They should reopen in a couple of minutes. Should be as soon as Mr. Summers has had a chance to turn off the sprinklers and Grace can mop up all the extra water. Grace has learned of ways to keep her product from ruining since this is a common occurrence." By the end of her explanation, it was obvious to Emily that Ciel was starting to feel more comfortable around her, which honestly surprised her. However, before she could truly think about this, as if on cue, the front door of the parlor opened and Grace waved goodbye to the pink haired man.
Nashi watched as Emily nearly bolted from her seat and into the shop, not fully understanding the awkward situation her friend had been in. She just looked to Ciel, who seemed to understand but refused to elaborate. It was about ten minutes before Emily emerged from the shop, holding a comically large sized bowl of ice cream. Emily saw Nashi's judgmental stare, but tried her best to ignore it. That didn't go as planned. "What? It's been a stressful day for me."
The trio then proceeded back into small talk, catching Emily up on all they had previously discussed, as well as informing Ciel about Emily's past and connection to Nashi. Ciel didn't quite understand how these two seemingly opposing forces could be so close, but that had more to do with them holding back certain information. While she didn't understand, she could tell how important they were to each other. She truly wished she had a friend like that. One that would always be by her side, no matter what.
Eventually, Nashi ran out of, what would be considered, normal topics to talk about and decided to bring out the book she was currently engrossed in. She started off by reading and explaining her interpretation of the author's note to the table. Ciel was obviously interested, having a love of fairy tales, while Emily feigned boredom, secretly listening more intently than Ciel. Nashi's explanation was surprisingly detailed but also easy to understand, showing she really had been studying the book thoroughly.
Nashi, having gone through all her points, most of which were about the lack of proper names and the writing style, began to flip through many of the early pages of the book. She wasn't prepared for what she was reminded of though. She stared at the symbol adorning the first page of the book, trying to find some meaning to it.
Reasoning that staring at the symbol won't help her understand anything, she decided to share the impossible connection with Ciel. "And, the weirdest part of this book happens to be this symbol on the first page." She turns the book to Ciel, who looks at her slightly confused, as the symbol didn't look all that strange. "I can see the confusion on your face. I will admit that the symbol isn't that unordinary, but the peculiar part has to do with its resemblance to this." She pulled up the sleeves of her and Emily's shirts and placed the book next to their shared birthmark.
Ciel was simply shocked by the two symbols' resemblance. She was stunned into silence. This gave Emily the time to look at Nashi like she was crazy. 'Nashi, you are way too trusting,' she thought, knowing her friend's tendency to trust people after only knowing them for an hour.
Ciel eventually broke out of her shock, and surprised both girls by her enthusiastic response. "They aren't just similar, Nashi! They're identical! The spikes, arms and the small hump are all in exactly the same place with exactly the same proportions." The blue haired girl seemed to be getting worked up over this, almost resembling a completely different person from the quiet and reserved girl from before. "This is freaky. Can I see the book for a minute?"
Nashi handed the book over to her friend but instantly regretted it. As soon as Ciel got a good look at the table of contents, she nearly broke again. "Your birthmark isn't everything. If you look here at some of the chapters, they seem to be references to other places in town." Ciel then went on to list many possible relations. "This chapter, The Fairy's Heart, could easily be correlated to Fairy's Heart Bar. And this chapter here, The Seven Dragons and Their Kin, could have been the inspiration for Seven Dragons Inn. And, while this one's more of a stretch, The Queen of the Fairies, could be referring to Titania's diner, since Titania was considered to be the queen of the fairies."
Nashi was stunned by everything that left Ciel's mouth. She kept on making connections between the book and the town, but eventually Nashi had to stop her. "How could so many places in town be referencing this book?" She then remembered something Phoebe had told her. "In fact, when I got this book from the library, I wasn't given a return date due to its unpopularity. I also checked the records today, and it has actually never been checked out."
"I haven't the slightest idea." Ciel said, a large smile forming on her face. "However, it sounds like a great mystery to solve," The girl then gestured to the two across from her. "And you two seem to be stuck right in the middle of it. I mean, how often do two friends have exactly the same birthmark, on nearly the same part of their bodies, with exactly the same color?"
The more Ciel began describing it, the more the two thought about how unlikely it was. They hadn't really put much thought into it and had decided that it really didn't matter. However, seeing the symbol in the book had changed that. They had both pushed the thoughts to the back of their minds, but now they needed to come to the forefront. They both then thought at the same time, 'What do our birthmarks really mean?'
The two then parted with Ciel, Nashi having promised to keep in touch and include her in the mystery that stemmed from this simple book she didn't even remember picking out. That was another thing that began to bug her. It almost felt as if the book had fallen straight into her lap. She most definitely didn't choose a book of fairy tales when doing her research, yet there it was, at the top of her stack.
She was removed from her thoughts by a ringing coming from her pocket. She looked at her phone, seeing the caller ID read 'car guys.' She hadn't really put too much effort into their contact information, so that's what she came up with. She answered the call and recognized the voice on the line as the more rotund mechanic.
"Hello, Nashi, this is Alder. I'm calling to inform you that most of the needed parts have come in." He then braced himself. Nashi could tell there was some bad news to balance out the good. "The bad news is that your new engine is still on backorder and doesn't have a delivery date. For that, I'm sorry, but, as a show of good faith, Sherwin and I have given the ladies over at Mermaid's Cove Bar and Grill a heads up that you should get a hefty discount on us."
Nashi was taken aback by the offer, however, her first thoughts were, "How do mechanics have such a huge pull on a local eatery?"
She should have expected the answer provided. "Well, you can only fix a waitresses car so many times while you're there to enjoy not working." He replied as if being asked to look at cars off hours was a regular occurrence. "Eventually, the owner just started paying for our meals so that her employees could have free car inspections."
Nashi could understand now. She thanked him for his offer and asked him where Mermaid's Cove was. The directions were simple, and before she knew it, they were standing in front of a building that looked more like an abandoned church than a restaurant.
Once inside, the girls were greeted with a stunning sight. It looked just like any other restaurant inside, tables lining the walls, a bar in the center, and so many different things hanging on the walls and ceiling. The most stunning part they saw was the second floor, which had a huge square hole in the center to allow visibility to it. The rest of the floor just seemed to be a balcony which ran around the whole restaurant, housing more tables.
"Table for two?" a sweet voice said, causing both girls to recover from their immediate shock. The voice had a small southern twang to it, and the woman in front of them looked the part. She was wearing blue denim overalls over a plaid long sleeved shirt. She was wearing dark brown boots that seemed to be worn down from actually working in fields. In short, the person in front of them looked like a farmer.
"Yes." Nashi replied.
"Okay, will that be the main floor or the balcony." Her response excited Nashi. She had already thought that, given the opportunity, she'd like to sit up there.
Without looking to Emily for confirmation, she answered. "Balcony please." The two girls were then led through the restaurant, passing right past the doors to the kitchen, and into a small elevator. The ride only took a few seconds, and they were then led to a small table sitting right next to the railing of the balcony. The woman then gave them menus and left, saying that a server would be with them shortly.
Their waitress came quickly, dressed completely differently than the woman from before, shocking both Nashi and Emily. She wore a red collared shirt, a black knee-length skirt, and black tennis shoes. However, the most astounding thing about her was her long dark black hair with a white bow seemingly sprouting from the top of her head. "Can I start you with anything to drink?" their waitress asked in a low, almost intimidating, tone. They both simply replied with water and also placed their orders, having received recommendations from the mechanics as well.
Their server left, leaving both of them in silence. It was eventually broken by Nashi. "Do you think what Ciel was suggesting had any merit?" she asked, looking seriously at her friend. They then sat in silence again.
About a minute of thinking later, Emily finally answered, frustrated with just about everything. "I don't know! First, I only talked to her for what felt like a couple of minutes, so I'm leaving any decisions about her up to you. And second, I'm not the book, puzzle, or mystery type, so if there is a big secret to uncover here, I'm sure you'll be the one to do it.
Their food arrived shortly after Emily said her piece, and they ate in silence. To both of their surprise, the food was on par with what they had been eating at Titania's, although they'd never admit that out loud. They both made a mental note to return here again, and savored the rest of their meals.
After their meal, it was only a short walk back to the inn. Emily passed out immediately, presumably from another food coma. It was still rather early, only about nine at night, so Nashi decided to take this opportunity to continue reading.
Similar to the previous chapter, she took notes on everything she found interesting. This time, however, they were more detailed and extensive. The chapter she was reading, A Story of Water and Ice, seemed darker than the previous one, which surprised her. These were the passages she considered the most intriguing.
There once was a girl cursed by rain. Everyday, it would rain around her and no one would want to come near her. She would tirelessly create charms to help dispel the storms, but they never went away. They followed her, the Rain Woman, for many years. That was until one day. That day, she found her prince charming, an ice demon. Sadly, though, they started out at odds, forced to fight each other because they were part of different factions. However, once the fighting stopped and the battle was over, the rain parted and the Rain Woman was finally able to see the sun.
The Rain Woman followed her ice prince as far as she could. She crossed oceans and climbed mountains in order to be with him. However, the Ice Demon did not reciprocate her feelings. He would try and push her away, try to make it known to her that he wasn't interested, but she never stopped. She would do anything for her beloved ice prince.
They did eventually grow close, although the Ice Demon saw it more as a friendship. They became a powerful force, the elements of water and ice combining in order to create extravagant and deadly attacks. They fought many battles together. They were even able to push back forces that entered the realm of the gods, defeating the Sky Goddess and Ice Knight with a single stellar blow. Not all their battles would end with such great victories though.
They were bound by a chain around their necks, forced to fight as they had once done at the beginning of their journey. The ice that covered the ground around them was compelling them to end the life of the other attached to the chain, but neither could bring themselves to do it. They both knew that they couldn't go on living knowing that the other had died by their hands. So, both did the only thing they could. They took their own lives. They both lay on the ground, bleeding out, but the Rain Woman couldn't bear to see her ice prince die, so she used the rest of her life in order to save him.
The Ice Demon rampaged at the death of the Rain Woman. He seethed with anger he didn't know possible. He stormed through the country, trying to find a way to ease his pain, until he was face to face with the Fire Demon, and a brawl soon started.
The woman was not allowed to die though. The benevolent Sky Dragon swooped down from the heavens and brought the Rain Woman back to life. She could not perish. Not while her ice prince, the Ice Demon, was still alive and needed her.
Having finished the chapter, and looking at the next page to make sure she had, she was satisfied. She looked at the clock and blanched. She had, again, stayed up way too late reading, and quickly prepared herself for sleep, hoping this wouldn't become a common occurrence.
Emily laid awake in bed. She had had the exact same dream again. She had rushed to save the trio, heard the woman scream, and found them strung up on the tree. The woman said her cryptic warning again, and she woke up in a cold sweat. To be honest, she was getting tired of this.
She reached down into a bag next to her bed and grabbed the book labeled Lullaby. She opened it, cursing herself for actually trying this, and wrote down exactly what happened in her dream. Once done, she placed the book on a table next to her bed and proceeded to fall back asleep.
Emily found herself in what looked to be a dimly lit hallway. It was adorned with fancy artwork and decorations, leading her to assume it was a mansion or castle of some kind. The hallway was long, with many doors branching off of it, but Emily found herself drawn to one in particular. The one at the end of the hall.
She walked towards it, not knowing why she did. The closer she got to the door, the slower she became. The distance seemed to take forever to cross, but she did eventually reach the door.
Before she could open it though, she noticed two things. First, she could hear crying coming from inside the door. The sounds were familiar, but she couldn't picture where she recognized them from. Second, she could smell smoke, although she didn't think it was coming from the room. She opened the door and was shown a disastrous sight.
The room she found herself in was fairly normal compared to the hallways. It was as dimly lit, but had no such adornments. The most extraordinary feature of the room was the large window that should have overlooked a beautiful city. However, the sight outside of the window was anything but beautiful.
The only color Emily could see was red. What she saw was a blazing inferno that showed no signs of being extinguished. The fire was burning atop mounds and mounds of debris, some of which resembled demolished buildings. There were large heaps of stone, brick, and glass, all nearly melting under the heat of the flames. The sight was so disastrous, she was almost deaf to the loud wailing at the other end of the room.
Looking towards the sound, Emily was shocked by what she saw. There, sitting at a simple wooden desk, was the same blue haired woman she had seen strung up on the giant tree. She was slightly different though. The woman was now wearing a short orange dress and had a yellow, tattered and torn head band. She also now had two separate scars on her face, one on her right cheek and one on her forehead. Her hazel-brown eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying and she continued to wail.
Emily, saddened to see the woman in such a horrible state, walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?" She wasn't great with social interactions, especially when it came to helping someone emotionally. She wasn't emotionally stable herself at most times, so she didn't believe she was qualified to help in this situation. However, she felt she had to do something. She couldn't bear to see the woman like this.
The woman didn't seem to register Emily's presence, continuing to cry. Emily couldn't think of anything else she could say, so she simply decided to walk away, knowing she would only make the situation worse.
She had nearly reached the door when she heard the crying stop. She turned around to see if the mystery woman was any better, but wasn't prepared for what happened. The woman was so close to Emily's face once she turned around, she had to pull back in order to avoid hitting her. The woman didn't step away. She only closed what little distance there was between them, their noses nearly touching.
She then spoke in a broken voice, devoid of all emotion except despair. "They are already dead in this timeline, but you can save them in yours." The voice then became less mournful, and more hopeful. "Save us so that we may one say see the light shine again." The next words out of her mouth caused Emily to nearly collapse. "Please, Emily, save your family before it's too late!"
Emily jolted out of bed. "What the hell was that?" Those were the only words she could squeak out. She immediately reached for her journal, writing down everything she could remember from the nightmare. She wrote down everything, describing the scenery, the atmosphere, and the words the woman spoke. Her pen began to falter as she wrote that woman's final words. 'Family?' she thought. The woman spoke of a family that Emily had, but she couldn't remember anything of the sort. The only family she'd ever had was Nashi, and she seemed fine for the time being.
Not wanting to think about it much more, Emily tried to fall back asleep. She then noticed that her sheets were damp with sweat. She then looked to Nashi's bed, seeing her blonde haired friend was absent from it. It was at that point that she finally realized there were streaks of light shining through the window. She proceeded to jump into Nashi's bed, pulling the covers over her head and taking to sleep quickly. She did not have any nightmares this time.
The lights in the mayor's office were blinding, a rare sight. Those lights were rarely on and never at such a luminosity. They were so bright, that a large man could easily be seen pacing back and forth across a destroyed office.
"How do I keep missing these brats by fractions of a second?!" The yell could be heard throughout the building, and even outside, causing what few people who were around so late at night to be taken aback. "First, I wasn't able to hear anything about them till the night after they arrived. Then, I missed them at Titania's, that blasted magic shop, and Ur's. I swear it's as if fate is playing me for a fool." The man then proceeded to bang his fists on his desk in frustration, causing a small fracture to occur.
A concerned voice could then be heard coming from behind his office door. "Are you alright Mr. Bomris? I thought I heard screaming." The voice belonged to his assistant, a rather tall man with spiky black hair and a cross scar under his left eye. This man was the only person the mayor trusted, but he still decided it'd be best to keep his current outburst to himself.
"I'm perfectly fine Andrew, just frustrated that I haven't been able to properly greet our new guests." He wasn't technically lying to his assistant, but he was withholding certain parts of the truth crucial to understanding the blinding rage he was currently experiencing.
Andrew took the information he was given, and decided on the best words to say that might assuage the mayor's anger. "Well sir, I'm not sure about one of them, but I know the other has taken up shifts at the library, if you'd like to meet them." He was proud of the information he had obtained for his boss. He knew that the more information he found, the more respect he'd earn from his boss.
Said boss only smiled devilishly to himself, grateful to finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. "Thank you, Andrew. I might just do that." The mayor then proceeded to tidy up his office, knowing that he had many meetings tomorrow that required his office to look pristine.