Leather Bound Book

I’m only writing in here because big sis told mom it’d be better
than grounding. I don’t want a stupid journal. And I DON’T
HAVE ANGER ISSUES. If he didn’t want to get hit, he
wouldn’t have held my shoes way up that high! This is stupid.

Mom said if I don’t write in here every day for the week im
grounded. This is dumb. I don’t even have anything to write,
maybe people who steal shoes should be writing in stupid journals
about stupid things.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Dear stupid journal,

This is the last day I have to write to not be grounded, good
riddens!

This entry is dated a few months after the previous one.

Whoa, big sis got into the big school for the Church! She’s
going to move all the way to Lispool to study! This is the
coolest thing, my sister is the best!

It’s been a long time since big sis Mira was here. The house
gets really quiet when Mom and Dad are working…I’m not sure
why I didn’t throw this thing away.

I got suspended for fighting again. She kept on calling me short,
when I told her I’d hit her if she didn’t stop! It’s not fair,
Mom and Mira aren’t short…

I found this weird thing tossed out at the park near the school.
Some sort of machine thingy. I wanted to ask Dad what it was,
but then he’d know I got suspended…

I showed the teacher the machine thingy when I got un-suspended.
He said it was for his watch, but that it was broken. I asked him if
I could please keep it, and he said I could! I am glad to be back
at school again, even though the other kids don’t talk to me.

Teacher said to leave them alone, because they’re afraid.

I found Mom’s tools downstairs and messed around with the watch
piece. I don’t remember what I did, but it started moving and
making ticking noises. How can you tell if it’s fixed?

I asked Teacher about the watch piece. He said I fixed it, which is
cool! I gave it back to him, ‘cause it isn’t mine and stealing is
bad.

Mom and Dad were all excited today for some reason. They
talked with the Teacher again, but this time they weren’t mad.
That’s good. They said something about a big city and care ten,
and kept talking about boring adult stuff.

This entry is dated two years after the last.

Mom says I have to leave home and move to Karaten. I’m
thirteen! I know I can take care of myself, but why are they
making me go?! Do they hate me? Did I do something wrong? I
don’t want to study more stuff down there, I won’t even be
able to see Mira every few months!

This entry is dated six months after the last.

Well…We moved. All of us. Mom and Dad set up shop in
Karaten, and I got enrolled in an academy for Mages. I’m not
even that good at most magic, I always mess up with fire. And
wind. And lightning. And earth. And I MESS UP ALL OF
THEM BUT LIKE ONE. I miss home.

This entry is dated a year after the last.

The first year of school ended today. I like it more than I
thought I would. I was so worried when I first came in, but it
turns out being bad with most magic is…The norm. Being good at
one thing is what most people shoot for. Guess the world picked
Cryomancy for me. A lot of the classes were boring, but math
and science weren’t so bad. One of the instructors recommended I
look into joining an engineering apprenticeship. I’m not sure. I
don’t know if I want to do what Mom and Dad do. It is really
fun, though. I don’t know why I keep this thing around. I guess
it’s just a habit to write when I’m bored. Or stressed. That
kind of thing.

This entry is dated six months after the last.

Victory! Sweet, sweet victory. Our apprenticeship won the annual
competition for electrical construction out of all the others in our
age division. We kicked ass! The final semester starts next week, I
can’t imagine how cool everyone’s gonna think I am now!

Things are….Kind of weird. It’s halfway through the final
semester, but my class schedule is all screwed up. I signed up for
instruction in Pyromancy and Aeromancy, but those didn’t go so
well. I failed the first two big tests, and they told me I couldn’t
pass no matter what anymore. They dropped me from the classes,
then enrolled me in one of the Cryomancy courses in the University.
I don’t like it. Everyone is really old, and looks at me like a kid
there. I have to walk all the way over from the Academy to the
big Uni after classes. I don’t have much time to talk with my
friends anymore…At least I still have the apprenticeship.

This entry is dated ten months after the last.

Another win! Two-time winner of the electrical construction
competition! Must be rough, facing off against people like us.
We’re all in the same year, so this team won’t lose anyone until
we graduate. No brakes! Ah, but, if I’m being honest, it’s a
hallow victory. I got dumped. Things weren’t going so great,
and he told me it was either him or this contest. All my really
old friends in the University tell me it’s not so bad when I get
older, and that I did the right thing…But…

This entry is dated two years after the last.

It would take completely moving out of the house to find this
thing. Huh. Old habits die hard. Reading about little old me back
then cracks me up. I graduated from the Academy, which is
supposed to be a big deal and all, but, it’s less an exit ceremony
than a door. I’m just moving straight to the University. Happy
18th birthday, have a box to move your stuff. Hah!

Well, only took a few weeks to realize my suspicions were right on
the money. The people who run this place are total snobs. The
bright side is we can do whatever we want, so long as what we
want is what we’re good at. The not-so-bright side is that if

anyone from a DIFFERENT University does better, suddenly
we’re a disappointment to ourselves, our family, all of humanity,

and most important of all, the University. Sheesh. Credit where
Credit is due, though, the people here are crazy smart. I can’t

wait to see what I can pick up.

This entry is dated nine months after the last.

End of the year recap with this dusty book I should’ve tossed
years ago: still can’t get anything but the lowest grade in
Pyromancy, still the victim of the upper classmen’s ice puns, and
finally sure of what I want to do with myself. I’ve submitted my
major focus to the University as Engineering, with an emphasis on
the Mechana Forest. Well, it’s a double focus, I might as well
grab Cryomancy since I’ve done all the pre-requisites and then
some. That’s what happens when you send a kid there years
early, I guess. I got some down time until the next year starts
up, so I’m hoping Mom and Dad will let me work part time for
their workshop. Enough about me! Mira was accepted full time
at the Church back down in Lispool! That girl has way too much
work ethic and compassion. It’s no wonder I got none of those,
the world had to keep itself in balance!

This entry is dated two years after the last.

Well, fuck me, it pops up again. This old journal must be an
artifact of Amiras to have survived being lost this many times.
People are going to think I have mental issues if they read how
scrambled and erratic the time of entries are. The last time I
wrote in this I was just finishing my 2nd year? What a mess.
Well, I’m free now! Made it out of the University without being
recruited as an instructor. I’m going to pack up all my stuff and
start working full time at the workshop. Thanks to a few strings
getting pulled, I finally got a core from the forest. Mom, Dad
and I are all going to work our asses off to try and build a
Mechanation. No details yet, I have to run it by them first.
They’re tinkerers at heart, there’s no way they’ll say no.

This entry is dated six years after the last. It is relatively
recent.

How many times have I forgotten about this thing? Turns out I
left this in an old box when I moved my stuff home. Mira found it
when she was going through some old things to donate, and
brought it over. That’s some nostalgia. You win, dusty journal I
never wanted, I’ll keep you. It’s like the eighteen-year-old me
said: old habits die hard.

Finally met that weird gal who hides in the tree all day. Named
Jijnasu. Pretty serious person, doesn’t really talk much. Which

leads me to my next point: SHE FUCKING STABBED HER HAIR
INTO MY HAND. That bitch had a knife as part of her hair.
Who DOES that? Can’t a girl screw up people’s hair without

getting Tetanus?

Something strange happened. I caught wind of a party being
thrown in Chaturanga, and decided to put myself on the guest list.
Everything that happened next was a blur, really. Fire,
explosions, destruction...Some crazy guy sent a number of us on a
goose chase through town to collect puzzle pieces. The next
thing I knew we were in a burning building with a pylon drenched in
the Void, this enormous abomination, and the man from before.
Things got so fucked with the orb I accidentally messed up, it
haunts me to wonder I actually thought Luan was going to die
when I saw him get hit by that thing, dude got railed! I tried to
grab the guy who was running the show, but things didn't go so
well. And by didn't go so well, really I mean they went totally
backwards. It all happened so fast, but this other massive figure
tried to take him from us. Me and this gal Vala tore down an
entire balcony and jumped out the second story window to try and
run off with him, but...Not so much. I feel stupid writing this, it
sounds fake. The guy went apeshit mutated transformed grew
wings and rushed her, and the first monstrosity did the same thing
from the burning building. We had to just drop him and run for it.
It was horrifying some pretty twisted shit. I helped the woman
with some repairs after the mess back here, then talked with her
for a little while. She's asleep right now; I couldn't really get any
rest after what happened. So here I am, rambling away on paper
like it'll stop my mind from racing. I should just lay back down.

Ran into Vala today. Well, I mean, I went looking for her, but it's
the same thing. We talked for a while, and she's about as blunt
and stoic as the last time I ran into her. I don't like prying into
other people's business, but when your only hobbies are studying
war and martial training, you either live a very dull or a very
sketchy life. Maybe she's like, an assassin? I dragged her off to
the lake outside to go skating. It probably bored her to tears,
but I couldn't help it. Reading books on war all day? I'd want to
kill myself. She seems like a pretty nice person, all things

considered. Really though, she isn't so bad. Note to self: buy
new ice skates

Several pages seem to be ripped out prior to this
entry. The remaining scraps near the spine look
ruined and coffee stained. It appears as if they were
removed after being spilled on. This page seems to
be the first that was left unstained.

Tzeek came back. A messenger dropped some orb off to me, and
it turned out to be some way for him to communicate with me. I
don't know how it worked; will be looking into, but that's more for
the technical notes than this stupid book. He said things were
going into motion again, and that this was how he would let people
know when and where. I'm not sure what to do with this. Destroy
it? I know that's not gonna happen. I should probably tell people
about it. Donal? Maybe. Then again, he might nag me to stay
out of it. I know Vala wanted to be kept up to date, so I can
probably tell her. Tzeek is...Well, I hate the guy I'm a little
curious to see I hope I don't end up like I don't know how to feel
about the guy.

The page is lightly stained from water or tears,

smudging some of the ink.

People are the worst. I just want to burn this place down, then
build it up again so I can vaporize it a second time. I'm so PISSED
OFF. I tried to fill Vala in on the situation with Tzeek. She
blew up and told me I'm gonna be responsible for more people
dying. Trying to get her help to stop him makes ME the bad
guy?! I thought that girl was supposed to be reasonable. When I
see her again, I'm going to give her a reason to think of me as the
bad guy. Things got heated.

A lot more than they should have, I guess...

The entry continues onto the next page….

I've been spying on Tzeek for two weeks now with this orb. I
spend eight hours watching him through his eyes, only to wake up
feeling like I haven't slept a second. Aside from eating, I've
consumed almost every minute of every day with this obsession. At
the very least, it helps me keep my mind off These two little girls
keep showing up in the visions. Lisa and Leslie. They look eight
or nine, and it's odd to see him treat these girls so kindly. He's
twisted, without a doubt, and the contrast concerns me deeply.
Either way, I figured out where things are going to happen. This
time, I'll just keep it to myself.

Everything hurts. I was wondering how many people were going to
be able to find this place. Not too many did, it seemed. There
was...A handful of us, at first. I thought I might see Donal. I
hoped I might see Vala. Not here, not today, it seems. Tzeek
used a child as bait. A little girl. She was delusional, suffering,
and almost dead when we first found her. He offered us a cure
for her illness if we completed his sadistic tasks. I don't
understand. He loved Lisa. People kept leaving, our forces kept
dwindling...We had to play along, none of us could let a little girl
die in good conscience. Blood...Acid...Everything hurts. Pain meant
to be shared by nine was instead divided amongst three. But we
saved her. I brought Lisa here, to rest and recover. My eyelids
feel like stones, and I just want to sleep for a few days straight.
But I can't. She needs looking after.

This entry is fairly short, and has a few words scratched
out so much they can’t be read at all.

I was able to bring Lisa to an orphanage in redacted. She’s
doing pretty well, all things considered. I’m glad we were able to
save her, even if it was painful. Now that the house is quiet
again, I find myself dwelling on that argument in Chaturanga.
Where’d you go? Maybe I should look for her.

Unforgivable. He didn't show up because he was too busy? Tzeek
grabbed Akira and tortured her because of his desertion. I
watched it happen from that godforsaken orb and it's piece of shit
visions. Tzeek took out his anger over Donal's absence on her.
That twisted psychopath is hurting my friends because of him.
This won't stand.

I talked to Donal. I didn't think I could be angrier with him than I
was before, but I was wrong. He seems like he cares about Akira,
but he doesn't blame himself even an ounce for this. Akira didn't
tell anyone what happened, so there was confusion in the room.
But I saw it. I watched it happen. I sat there, and had to watch
her skin get peeled, the taint of the Void, the After talking with
her, she asked me to tell Donal. I didn't want to, but it wasn't my
place to decide. I told him that Tzeek grabbed her, that he
tortured her, that he went to these lengths just to punish him.
But he didn't care. He deflected the blame, he tried to act
tough, he demanded to know everything about that miserable day
in the mansion. Like fucking hell. I told him I'd fill him in if he
could find Vala, but...Well, something about needles and haystacks
comes to mind.

Met that Redtail again today at the Arena. Keiichi, I think. The
guy’s hilarious, but certainly has a one-track mind. Spent a good
hour listening to two drop-dead retarded Zerans be offended by
his existence. They ran off and tried to get him ARRESTED.
Civil Correction? Oh man, I hadn’t laughed that hard in months.
Turns out a cute face isn’t good enough if the Zerans you’re
insulting are straight as paperclips. Poor Foxy.

Got a visit from Megaera today at the Arena. It was...Almost
sad, how thinly veiled her small talk was. She came to get the
details of the mansion I didn't tell Donal. First as a friend, then as
a Guard. 'You can tell me, instead of him. We're friends after all',
straight to 'This is obstruction of justice Allaina', blah blah blah.
She thinks she's hot shit, just like Donal does. I told her off just
like I told him.

I'm starting to get pissed off with those two. I told them if they
wanted the information they'd have to find her. Now they're
sending Nylise to try and trick me into walking off alone. NYLISE
IS A SHITTY ACTOR, YOU STUPID FUCKS. Unbelievable. If
they keep this up, I'm going to give them both a black eye. At
least it's good to see Nylise is doing well. Hadn't seen her in a
long time.

Things have been slow recently. No visions to note, no noise from
the squabbling Guard duo. I've been chatting more often with
someone I met a few days ago, a redhead gal named Erinn.
Apparently, she's from an out of the way village near Tannis. Has
a pretty damned high-tech gun, says it's essentially her father's
namesake. I don't think she's telling the truth about most of this
stuff some times, but if she wanted me to know she'd tell me. As
far as I can tell, she's a good person. Not quite used to the norm
at the main cities (well, and the Arena), but she's never rude. In
fact, she's freakishly agreeable, and always willing to go along
with whatever. It's kind of hot Not like that's ever bothered me,
though.

Still nothing, really. Asa has been showing up at the Arena more
often, so I've been catching up with her. To be honest, I thought
her dad finally caught up with her, and dragged her back home.
Strange that the most submissive person I know rebelled and ran
away from home. Well, I'll just keep her out of trouble, the girl
is really a bundle of innocence. It's adorable. You know what, no,
it IS adorable.

Kidnapped the good looking Redtail. Not literally, but, I thought
it’d be funny to see how he reacted to the house. It was. I

talked with him for a while and made dinner, and it turned out I
was pretty much right – he’s penniless, jobless, and his list of

hobbies is two strong: sex and socializing. Ah well, he makes a
good pillow, much to his displeasure.

Have you ever been so angry, everything turns numb? Probably
not. You're a book, after all. Then again, you're also a silly
collection of my experiences, so maybe you're the only one who
truly knows this feeling. I heard mumblings in Lispool, from my
neighbors and friends. Heard that something dangerous might be in
town. The Church Knights were called en masse, led by the
Commander of the Guard and that entitled bitch.

To my house.

They broke in while I was in Chaturanga, and sifted through
everything I own. Everything. If I didn't keep this stored away
elsewhere, surely they would have taken it. If I hadn't sent Lisa
to the orphanage to stay safe, surely they would have taken her.
They've torn away at any semblance of trust I had left in them.
To make matters worse, I have a letter at my doorstep demanding
I show up for an inquisition. We all know what that means. I will
never bend a knee to people like this. I’m almost surprised that
they didn’t find the orb, but they didn’t. They only found my
wrath.

If they want to escalate this petty fight, fine. I'll burn down the
roof and take it to new heights.

I’ve spent the last few days recounting the Guard’s escapades
to everyone who will listen. I feel like one of the many dumbasses
who complains about the law, but it can’t be helped. Their
reputation isn’t going to hold up much longer, unless they do
damage control. But by all means, keep stacking the blocks higher.
When the tower topples down, they’ll only have themselves to
blame.

As a necessary precaution to pushing back against them, I’ve
taken to sticking to public places when I’m not at home. Asa and
Erinn are on edge, and keep around me almost all the time after I
told them what happened. They’ve essentially moved in with me
for the time being – it’s cramped, but, I can fairly easily
accommodate them here if they can handle having only a bed and a
couch. It’s not ideal, but I can’t let them run into trouble for
my battle. So, I’ll just have to keep all of us safe for now.

Another vision. Tzeek gave a location, and I’m obligated to go
to try and stop him. I hate myself for chasing fish hooks every
time, but this vendetta won’t buckle under the foot of logic.
I’ve invited Erinn along with me, just in case things go awry. As
far as I can tell, it’s a small looking town.

Things didn’t go great, but I am satisfied with at least keeping

Erinn and I out of harm’s way. Donal and Megaera both showed,

and things were tense from the beginning. Tzeek wasn’t there,

but his assistant was. Mumei, from the visions. Supposedly there
was another lesson to be learned, but none of that concerns me
enough to be written here. The town was structured identically
to Cellsvich, but its inhabitants were charred, failed experiments.
We were told to absorb a destructive amount of Focus from some
pillars, or risk the town going up in an explosion. To top it all
off, there was this bleak pit of darkness in the center of the town
that was…My thoughts are jumbled. Erinn and I refrained from
putting ourselves in any danger, partly for the sake of keeping
protected from a move from the Guards after things were
resolved, partly to make them suffer for what they did. Delphia
and Alex ran into some trouble, and another member of the Guard
showed up to make a fool of himself. Erinn and I backed off once
things appeared defused. The only important question is whether
or not Mumei actually died.

I’m sleeping in a tree. A fucking tree. They cut off my access
to the Mage’s Guilds, and now I can’t go back home. I’m going
to lose it. I’m going to flip out right here, in the middle of this
empty forest. Asa and Erinn don’t have permanent residences, so
they’ve crippled my ability to watch over them. Have to focus.
If I panic or lash out now, I’m just letting the stupid bastards
get the better of me.

Found a temporary solution. Put up a hood, have someone buy a
room at an inn for me. Not great, but it beats the trees. I’ll
let Asa and Erinn know as soon as I see them. I had a chat with
Donal, who said he last saw Vala in Tannis. She isn’t there now.

Essentially, he has nothing. Please don’t be dead. You can be

angry at me, but please don’t be dead.

It finally reached the tipping point. They didn’t stop.
Everything has boiled over. They sent an army to come get me. I
had expected a scuffle to be inevitable, but something of this
scale was far beyond what I could have imagined. Asa and Erinn
jumped in to help me, along with Ada. Two of the onlookers sided
with me, and we barely slowly pushed back the oncoming force.
They sent another army. I didn’t expect to win, I just intended
to stand my ground and lose in plain sight. Break their reputation.
But the Commander called them off, and they left as if nothing
had even happened.

…And then they came back.

One of the two who supported us was a walking suit of armor. He
sucker punched one of the men in the army right before they
retreated, and one of the Guard came back to arrest him. This
blonde-haired kid I’ve seen around all the time. He refused, a lot
like I did, and they got into a fight. The suit of armor triumphed,
and more of that army came back to continue pursuing him.
It…Happened really fast. The Guard was grabbed as a hostage,
they said a few things…Then arrows flew everywhere, and there
was just a body on the ground.

The entry continues onto the next page…

They killed him. Right in front of us. I don’t know what to do.
I took Asa and Erinn back to the house, since they apparently
lifted the teleportation ban, but none of us are sleeping well.
It’s the middle of the night, and looks like they finally dozed at
least a little bit. Is this what’s going to happen to us? Are
they just going to gun Asa and Erinn down in public? I can’t let
that happen. I’m gonna have to keep them even closer. I’m
scared.

This is rough. I’m keeping Asa and Erinn with me as much as I
can, but there’s still only so much to do in one person’s house.
We have to go to the mainland, and act like nothing is bothering
us. I’m struggling to keep a straight face. I can’t sleep. I

can’t talk to the others about it. They need me to be strong,
and unwavering in my conviction. But I can feel everything wearing
me down. Cracks. Keep going, for their sake.

The bottom line of the page is grayed out, as if erased...

The kitchen is ruined. So much is destroyed, it’s almost certainly
going to take a full renovation to restore. I’ve continued
watching over Asa here, and tried my best to look like I know
what I’m doing. Guilt weighs down on my heart like an anchor,
but showing it only upsets her more. The arms race between the
Empire and I seems to have finally ended, decisively in my favor.
It was not worth it.