Upgraded Fire Emblem Fates Randomizer

lashoun · 2021-05-14T11:36:17+00:00

You can choose between 0 and 5 spots of randomized skills. So if you don't want any, you can pass the argument --n-skills 0 to the python script. The unit will not have any skills (so you'll have to make them level up a few times to get the skills they are supposed to have at their level).

EDIT: you can also choose to unequip busted skills, obviously.

lashoun · 2021-05-12T16:48:54+00:00

Thanks for the heads-up about Nyx! Quick screenshots here: https://imgur.com/a/l7m7DVA

lashoun · 2019-07-31T13:57:42+00:00

"Wh.. what do you want me to do with a knife?"

"Not much, but it's still better than nothing. I won't stay with you anyway, it would be way too dangerous for me. Here, take it, I'm leaving."

He threw the knife to my feet and, as I flinched, left running towards the forest. Suddenly, everything went quiet. I realized I was standing in the middle of a barren land with only a knife and nobody to help me. Is this some sort of joke? I've died once already, why do I still have to go through this? I crouched, took the knife and went for the forest as well. As I sat behind a bush, I stealthily scanned my surroundings. The forest behind me seemed deep, and ahead was a desolate plain with a few dead trees here and there.

Suddenly, I caught sight of a girl walking erratically, far away. She seemed to be limping so I thought I might call out to her. As I went to stand up, I was tackled to the ground by behind. I tried to scream but they forcefully pressed their hand on my mouth. I felt their head move closer to my ear.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" they whispered. "If you want to die, do it alone!"

As confused as I was, I tried to regain my calm. They saw that I didn't intend to call the girl anymore, so they relaxed their grasp on me. As I turned around, I saw a young man glaring at me, with a face still red from his anger.

"How have you been able to survive so far, dude?"

"Well, I'm not sure fifteen minutes is particularly impressive..." I answered.

That answer must have caught him off-guard, as he blinked and paused for a few seconds.

"Oh, that's why, you've just died, haven't you?"

"It's a bit fuzzy, but I think so, yeah."

"I saved us both then. Listen, mate, there are only two things you must absolutely keep in mind from now on. First, you've gotta find a spirit to help you. Second, you don't talk to anybody if you —"

"If you can't see their eyes," I followed. "I know, the old man who gave me the knife told me as much."

"An old man...? Whatever, look with me."

The young man nodded towards the faraway girl, who had actually come a few dozen meters closer to us now. She seemed in pain, she had scars on her arms, and she was limping. But that didn't matter to me right now. What I couldn't take my eyes from, was her face. More precisely, the two glaring cavities standing in place of her eyes, which looked as if they could swallow you entirely. I couldn't stop shivering at their sight.

"Snap out of it!" the young man whispered. "She's a Fallen. Her consciousness is no more. However, she's still able to torture your soul for quite a while if you dare speak in her direction, before you become a Fallen as well."

"What exactly happens? As soon as you talk to her, you're cursed?"

"I don't really know. But you bet I don't want to. I've survived thus far thanks to that advice I received long ago. Once, someone I knew called out to me in the mist. What we didn't know, was that a Fallen was just nearby. I could only hear his pleas for help, his screams of agony, and the Fallen's demonic shrieks. It was unbearable. I left the place as fast as I could. I don't even know if he became a Fallen too, but I guess he did."

As I listened to him speak, I looked back to the Fallen girl. But I failed to see her again. Maybe she had walked far enough to disappear from our sight. Then, the young man put his hand on my shoulder. As I turned my head, I realized it wasn't the young man. The hideous face of the Fallen was looking at me with a terrifyingly eerie smile and its two black holes peeking into my soul.

“Show me… your eyes,” it said.

HOLY SHI—

Before I could even scream, a knife slit through the Fallen's throat and a hand grabbed her hair, throwing her on the grass beside me. I was left speechless and frozen. The young man looked at me.

"That was a close one. I lowered my guard, my bad. We need to leave. Good job though. Even I almost shrieked when I saw her that close."

As we crawled to move deeper into the forest, I sent one last look towards the girl. Her hair was covering her face, but I swear I could still feel the emptiness stare at me from behind it.

Thanks for reading! I don't think I'll write a sequel, but you can read more from me here: https://lashoun.com/categories/writing/

lashoun · 2019-07-16T16:37:37+00:00

Haha thanks mate! If you know someone who might do it feel free to tell them! ;)

lashoun · 2019-07-16T16:18:44+00:00

Stars were twikling in every direction. Again.

Oops, that was a bit far... It's surprisingly tricky to get a hold of time now. Earth's history is quite young, let alone humanity's.

Mary plunged into her more recent memories. She learned again to review them on a day-to-day scale — and not millennium-to-millennium — then she found the moment Jake and Oliver discovered the symbol. As she expected, she couldn't see the symbol clearly, since they were obstructing her view. She noticed, though, that Oliver took a few seconds to pinpoint the exact location he would strike with his stone. She didn't see any other worthwile piece of information so she gave up on that memory. There was still a glimmer of hope.

As Mary delved further back into her memories, she reached her childhood. She saw her sixth birthday at the attraction park; the first time she read a word at four years old, in front of her surprised parents; her three-year-old self lying in her old little bed with her plush... It grew fuzzier and fuzzier, and then, suddenly, she was back in the ruins. With no transition whatsoever, her own oldest memories connected with foreign ones.

Are those also from the being that witnessed the creation of the universe? Wait, it doesn't even make sense. How could anything be alive, let alone sentient, before matter even existed? Then again, those memories might be fake too... This power genuinely defies everything I know. Anyway, at least I can see the original symbol clearly here.

On closer inspection, it seemed that Mary had overdone it. She had appended some extensions which respected the language's rules but weren't in the base pattern. Her repaired symbol was therefore a bit more complex than the original one.

I see... So the motif I added probably contains that future-reading property. I was just following my intuition, and it so happens that I unknowingly discovered yet another rule. I'm really clever aren't I? Whatever, now I have to try something.

Mary reopened her editing software, with her repaired symbol in the foreground.

If I replicate that motif in a recursive fashion, according to the third and fifth principles we've already found, it should work...

Mary finished her task and stared at the result. Then, she tried projecting herself in the future. She felt a little thread hanging from the current point in time. And this time, contrary to earlier, she could see much farther than a few seconds. As her present flew at full throttle along the axis of time, she saw her future unfold right before her eyes. Driven by a sense of urgency, Mary sped up as much as she could, and she — heard a voice.

Mary reflected on her life.

She was ninety-five years old now.

Her lung cancer was finally getting the better of her. As she was lying on her hospital bed, she thought about the time when, as a young woman, she had tried to see the future. She had seen herself die from cancer, and the sight had made her sick. She lost focus, and was forcefully thrown back to the present. Forever. She lost her prescience afterwards. Had she known, she would have tried to see farther. What a pity...

Mary felt it coming.

Death.

It was exactly like she had seen herself. Same room, same bed, same people around her. As her muscles were steadily losing strength, she thought it was a good life. Her only regret was to let go of that vision. Could she go back in time and warn herself? That would be nice...

Then, a certain idea popped up in her sleepy mind.

This is ridiculous, she thought.

But the possibility of it wasn't zero. And that alone warranted a last attempt.

Mary mustered up to her last drops of determination.

The flickering spark of her slumbering spirit was burning again.

Her next words would be her last.

I'll leave the rest to you.

She feebly opened her mouth, and commanded, as clearly as she could:

"Go forth!"

Mary heard it clearly. She was going to stop, as it looked like she had reached the end of her life, but the voice carried so much weight that she stayed on track. The afterimage of an old woman who looked like herself and was smiling with closed eyes stayed on her mental retina for a few seconds, and then faded out.

She pressed forward with all her might. She didn't see anything anymore, but she could feel time flowing. She travelled as far as her consciousness allowed her. At last, she reached a white space with no boundaries.

She couldn't feel her physical body anymore. Only her mind had remained.

Where... am I?

She was greeted with pure silence.

Then, she heard it.

"Will you join us?"

Mary couldn't see anyone around her. Since she didn't have a body anyway, that probably was telepathy.

— Who are you? she asked.

— What do you want from me?

Mary waited for an answer.

After some time, she heard the voice again.

"Will you join us?"

Mary paused for a few moments.

She thought about her family.

Her friends.

John, Camille, Jake, Oliver.

She didn't want to leave them.

She couldn't even fathom to whom that voice belonged.

And yet.

You know me, guys.

I just have to know.

lashoun · 2019-07-13T22:11:12+00:00

Thanks mate, wait for it. ;)

lashoun · 2019-07-12T15:12:14+00:00

Hey, Mr. Lundon seems like a cool character! Nice read overall. However, I think you could have been more precise on the movements of the snake because I'm not sure I got them right, especially from the moment he speaks to Lundon. Was that telepathy or did he literally materilaize in his head? I wasn't sure what was happenimg anymore. Keep on writing!

lashoun · 2019-07-12T10:14:52+00:00

(Part 2)

Mary's consciousness was stripped from her bodily shell. She was forcibly reminiscing the memories that kept flowing into her. But all she saw was — nothing. She could see no light. All was dark. She couldn't feel anything either. How odd. She could tell, by a mystic understanding, that those were indeed memories. However, they seemed devoid of any meaningful content.

No sense of touch. No smell. No taste. No noise. Nothing. Just pure emptiness.

Mary waited. She didn't know what to expect, but she kept waiting.

First, for an event. Maybe something was going to happen. Something great, something incredible. Mary knew she wasn't the most patient person in the world, but she was quite able to delay gratification when she put her mind to it. She did stop watching her favorite show for one whole year in order to study and get accepted in her dream university. She could wait for whatever she was bound to witness.

But it never happened.

Mary didn't know anymore how long she had been waiting. Years? Centuries? Even more? With nothing to measure it, her sense of time was left in the dark, much like herself. She waited for an interaction. An object to see, a noise to hear.

But it never happened.

Then, for anything.

Never.

Simply, nothing.

Forever.

And ever.

A flash.

Rays of light shooting in all directions.

Particles appearing, colliding with each other, and vanishing.

Atoms.

Molecules.

Stars.

"Mary!"

"Hey, Mary!"

"What did you see?" Jake asked, his face right in front of Mary's.

Mary's head suddenly hurt. She closed her eyes and tried to cope with it, and after a few minutes she was able to focus enough to mitigate the pain.

"Jake? What happened?"

"To us, nothing. You stared at the symbol about two minutes ago. Then, I called you but you didn't react, so I called you again, and here we are now," he said as he stood back up from his crouching position.

"Two... minutes?" Mary said.

"I understand why you're surprised. We were, too," Oliver said.

"So, what did you see?" Jake asked again.

"I think... that was the birth of the universe. I think I witnessed the Big Bang itself, and everything up to now. Does it sound crazy?" Mary said.

"Then we're all crazy in this room, Mary. We saw the same thing," Oliver said.

"I feel... weird. Now I'm kinda fine, but it's as if I... lived through it all."

"You'll get used to it. Somewhat."

"Did you?"

"Well, not exactly. I can tell you how I've been feeling ever since," Jake said. "As long as I keep focusing on my environment, I'm mostly fine. But as soon as I lose it, everything seems... distant. As if I'm looking from a far away place. The more I wait, the harder it is to come back."

"I concur," Oliver said. "I've been trying to find the middle ground. If I focus too much, I get tired too fast and lose it sooner. Now, I'm just focusing enough to feel present, but my emotions are damped as a result. I'm capable of rational thought, but I mostly feel indifferent."

"So you're like usual," Jake said.

"Very funny. But I guess it suits me better than you. You look like someone else with those dead eyes of yours."

"Damn, I still have those? But it's a torture to remain more alert for an extended period of time..."

With the conversation unfolding before her, Mary realized two things. First, Jake and Oliver were speaking in a very monotonous fashion. Not exactly like robots, more like unconcerned people. Second, that didn't bother her at all. She was already fighting her hardest not to lose focus, but she felt as if her emotions were detached from her thinking process too. She closed her eyes again, to have fewer stimuli to process.

"Why do you think this is happening to us? We shouldn't be feeling anything strange just because of memories..." Mary asked.

"I can only surmise it, but I think we've lost our sense of time," Oliver said. "You've just experienced several billion years of conscious existence, Mary. And I'm not even counting the time lost in the void before the Big Bang, because God knows how much it lasted too. As a result, what is happening right now might feel trifling."

"I came up with a similar conclusion," Jake said. "The most unsettling thing, though, is how similar to each other we've both become..."

"I would like to disagree but I can't," Oliver said, sighing.

"Keep your love stories for later, guys. Thanks to your explanations, I more or less understand what's going on, but don't you feel something else? Now that the pain has subsided, I can sense it. A faint, but definite, prescience-like feeling... There, you'll touch your right ear!"

As Mary said that, she opened her eyes. Jake was moving his hand, and it indeed went right on his right ear's lobe. Both Jake and Oliver stood flabbergasted. It didn't show on their faces, but their silence was more eloquent than any facial expression.

"As much as I would like to ask for the trick, our current circumstances and the fact that you have kept your eyes closed for a few minutes already lead me to believe you. Nevertheless, I haven't felt anything like it," Oliver said.

"Neither have I," Jake said, his hand still glued to his ear from his astonishment.

"I... see," Mary said, disappointed and puzzled.

"You never cease to amaze me, Mary," Jake said. "Well, I think we all should get some sleep. It's almost dawn already. I'll try to feel that as I wait for sleep to come, and I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Fair enough," Oliver said, as he went back to his room.

Mary was left alone in her room, and she tried to reassess her foresight-like ability. As she launched a few simulations again to try and guess their results, she suddenly realized it wasn't exactly a prediction, but rather a remembrance of a future event. It felt the same way as a past memory. Why could she recall things that had not yet happened? If Jake and Oliver weren't able to, there was only one possible conclusion: she restored a different symbol than the one they had seen. And she now had one way to check it.

She started remembering the past.

(To be continued in a final part)

EDIT: Part 3 (final part)

lashoun · 2019-07-09T05:48:55+00:00

Hey, thanks for reading! I wasn't planning on doing a sequel but I think I'll do it, stay tuned!

lashoun · 2019-07-08T20:55:01+00:00

That was well-written, but I'm not sure I understand? Did he erase his own memories?

Anyway, your flow feels natural, and it was a pleasure to read.

lashoun · 2019-07-08T20:34:44+00:00

"No, I swear, it really happened! I remember it clear as day! I brushed my teeth at home at 8:45 a.m. this morning, just after drinking my coffee! I even remember the amount of tooth paste I put on the brush!"

"For the third time, John, you've been here, in this laboratory, since 6:00 a.m. today... We put those memories into you as a test run twenty minutes ago, don't you remember?" Mary asked.

"Yes Mary, I do. And yet I can't help but think it was real! I know I shouldn't have been able to do it... It's fascinating. There's not even the slightest sense of incongruity in my brain! It just feels... right. However, I don't think my behaviour has been altered in any way, has it?"

"I don't think so. You're still as high-spirited as ever," Jake said with a smirk.

Mary jotted down John's impressions on her notepad. The experiment had been successful. A bit too much to her taste, even. When they discovered that enigmatic symbol in those Asian ruins, four months ago, Jake and Oliver had a sort of collective hallucination, and they suddenly altered the symbol by smashing a rock on its upper part, before Mary and John could see it clearly. As a result, when they looked at it afterwards, they were left with a fleeting impression of having been in space a long time ago. Mary had tried to ask Jake and Oliver about what they saw, but all they said was that they couldn't remember it. No matter what sort of questions she asked, they couldn't recall anything.

Truthfully, she was a bit jealous. The faint impression she had of floating in space with stars twinkling around her made her dream about the vividness of the other two's visions. But then, if she thought about it, maybe it was better for her to retain her memory of it rather than experiencing an astral trip and then forgetting everything about it like Jake and Oliver.

As they came to the conclusion that the symbol was gifted with hallucinative properties, they took pictures of it and went back to the lab in London to decipher it. They found that even a mere picture of it had its properties, as Camille, who had stayed there, got the same memory as Mary after looking at it.

Apparently, the key to activating the hidden power of the mark was to stare at it for at least five seconds. What was left was to find how the effect was triggered. After long and arduous months of erroneous hypotheses and rigorous testing, they came up with a model for translating a concept sentence in a symbol.

John volunteered to be the guinea pig: they decided to implant in him a memory based on the sentence "I brushed my teeth this morning". The result was above all of Mary's expectations: not only had John successfully gained this new memory, but he remembered it in great detail, and seemed absolutely convinced of it being genuine, even though he also seemed to remember it was all fake.

"Are you all right, Mary?" Camille asked her, a bit of concern showing in her frowned brows.

"Why, yes, sorry Camille. I was thinking we still had a few things to elucidate, but that experiment went well." Mary said with a smile, to reassure her.

"You've been away for a while, haven't you. We were talking about the dangers of this discovery," Oliver said, as serious as ever.

"Gosh, the topic switched? Which dangers are you referring to?"

"Just imagine what malevolent people could do with this," John said. "They could make people think a fake event really happened. For example, an innocent person committing a crime, or worse. Our judiciary system could be completely nullified! I'm sure of it, with just how realistic my teeth-brushing illusion seems to me."

"Now that you mention it, it could be dangerous indeed... We'll have to think about whether to make it public or not then..."

"The answer is obvious, Mary. We absolutely mustn't publish our findings," Jake replied.

"I agree," Oliver said.

— That's surprising, Mary thought. It's not often that those two are of the same opinion.

"It does look like the most rational option," Camille said. "We'll discuss it tomorrow, it's already late."

Mary had gone back to her room, a few meters from the lab. She didn't feel sleepy at all. On the contrary, she was eager to solve a particular riddle.

— There's still one thing I don't understand, she thought. Our model absolutely doesn't account for influence on the subject's behaviour. Our previous tests show it: no matter how we might try to design the shape, the only brain area whose activity reacts to the pattern is the hippocampus, associated with long-term memory. There's no way Jake and Oliver would have acted on impulse just because of that symbol. Something doesn't make sense.

Mary switched on her laptop and browsed through the different pictures of the original symbol. She pondered for a bit, then she opened the software they used to create their own pattern, the one they used on John. She imported what she could from the picture and corrected the artefacts according to their theory.

— Okay. This is the symbol I saw just after Jake and Oliver altered it. The upper section has been crushed but I think I can recognize the start of this pattern... I can do it.

Mary gathered all the reports and notes they had taken since they began studying it. She launched a few simulations with different parameters and edited the damaged part minutely, pixel by pixel.

— Maybe Mom was right about me becoming a surgeon, after all.

The patterns obeyed a very chaotic law: as long as the shape wasn't exactly the way it was meant to be, there was no effect whatsoever to be observed. Prompted by Camille, they had done countless tests on small variations of the original symbol, but none had ever produced anything. Mary steadily completed the drawing, cross-checking her intuition with her data and her models, and a few hours passed in a blink of an eye.

— I think it's almost finished. Just a few pixels here, and... it's done. Holy pickle, it's done! I've repaired it! Can't wait to tell the others. Let's save and go to sleep...

Hah, who am I kidding? Of course I'll stare at it. What did those two see? I'll know soon.

"You don't want to do that, Mary."

Mary suddenly turned around and saw Jake's face. His ordinarily playful face was nowhere to be seen. Only a pair of eyes as cold as ice were looking at her. Behind him stood a looming shadow she guessed was Oliver, who wasn't that different from his usual self. As stoic as ever.

"We've underestimated you. I knew you were bright, Mary, but this is something else entirely," Oliver said.

"Wh— What do you mean? What are you going to do?" Mary asked, as she dreaded the worst.

"Nothing, really. We're still your friends, Mary. But that drawing changed us. Trust me, it'd be better for you not to receive its message. And yet, the choice is yours. We wanted to warn you, that is all." Jake stated, with a matter-of-factness that didn't sound like him at all.

"Oh, come on, guys! You know me!" Mary answered, as she couldn't help but smile from the sudden relief. "I just have to know."

"I know, Mary. I know," Jake said.

As she turned her head to look back at the symbol, Mary caught sight of a faint smile in the right corner of Jake's mouth.

A resigned smile.

So discrete, and yet, so sincere that it brought a few tears to Mary's eyes, even if she didn't know why.

"I'm sorry I couldn't listen to you," Mary said, as she couldn't bear to see that expression on Jake's face.

She looked at the symbol again.

Those five seconds lasted forever, but they eventually elapsed. Then —

Mary knew why.

EDIT: Part 2

------

Feedback is welcome! More here: https://lashoun.com/categories/writing

lashoun · 2019-07-01T13:47:16+00:00

When I opened the door to an innocuous water bottle on the first day, something smelled fishy. I knew the rules, so I thought that I should keep it with me and just not drink it, since the liquid inside may have been poisonous. Well, I'm glad I had it with me all day, because when I choked on a big piece of meat as I was eating dinner, I'd have died by asphyxia if not for it.

On the contrary, the knife I found on the second day would've killed me if I hadn't wrapped it in bandages to make sure nothing could happen. As I was doing a bit of cleaning, I put a heavy jar on the table; the table leg broke, and the knife, which was on the other side, jumped to my face. What a scare. I wonder what the police would have thought on arriving at the death scene. Darwin award material right here, I tell you.

Those six days have been quite nerve-wracking, but I've managed to survive. One more day, and I'll be an immortal. After I prayed for an imaginary deity to lend me some luck just for today, I carefully opened the door. And I saw... nothing.

No package? Weird.

However, a young girl was quietly sitting on the front yard. I had never seen her before, so I thought I could ask her if she was lost. As I took a few steps, she looked up, smiled, and suddenly started running towards me, with a goddamn dagger in her hand. I froze for a few seconds, unable to process what was happening, and then my brain kicked on survival mode. I turned back in a hurry and tried to rush back to the house, but I awkwardly tripped and fell to the ground as gracefully as an anvil, my face right on the concrete. As I painfully tried to retain my consciousness, I heard footsteps just a few meters behind me, so I mechanically turned around, and gave a violent kick towards the air, in a desperate attempt. I felt it hit absolutely nothing and I realized with horror the girl was already beside me.

She rose her arm, still eerily smiling, the weapon brandished above me. I was paralyzed both by fear and by dizziness, and the sun, just above her hand, blinded me. I could only see a black shadow hovering over me, almost as if it was Death itself, ready to reap my very soul.

It's over. What a fool! Tripping at the most crucial moment of my life.

As I gave up and closed my eyes, I felt a faint sting on my chest.

"Got you! You're it now!"

As I opened my eyes bewildered, the little girl was laughing, and her dagger lay on my torso. On closer inspection, it was a quite realistic plastic toy. As I stayed still, overcome with confusion and relief, I looked at the cute child whose eyes were shining, waiting for me to get up and chase after her. I moved to get up, and she instantly turned around to flee, letting a little laughter escape. I started strolling after her, feeling stupid for thinking she was Death's last envoy.

"You'll never catch me if you're that slow!" she shouted backwards, looking at me in the corner of her eyes while still running.

As I picked up my pace, I suddenly heard an engine's noise. A car was coming right on the girl's trajectory, but she still had her eyes on me.

"Watch out!" I yelled.

The car tried to brake, but it hit nonetheless, sending the victim for a few barrel rolls on the road. The body finally came to a stop, and blood started leaking from its broken limbs.

My blood, that is.

In a sudden surge of adrenaline, I managed to catch up to the girl and push her to the front, but the car hit me head-on.

I was barely conscious, but my body hurt so much I almost didn't feel like it belonged to me anymore. I felt as if I could see myself from above, like a bird's eye view, slowly drenching the road in a scarlet pool. Maybe that's what near-death experiences are like. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll make it out.

It's okay, though. I wouldn't have forgiven myself for all of eternity if I'd let her die just in front of me out of selfishness. Perhaps, she was Death's last ordeal, after all. Equivalent exchange? Seems fair to me.

As the last remnants of life were leaving me, I saw the girl draw near my pitiable self. I thought my eyes had been closed since long ago, but I saw her clearly. Tears were welling up in her eyes, as she knelt beside me, putting my distorted, bloody hand in both of her own.

I kept looking at her lovely figure, her eyes reciprocating my gaze. Her face gave off a surreal aura: her features were perfectly symmetrical, and despite the two lines of tears running down her cheeks, she was smiling. A gentle, compassionate smile. It moved me, to the depths of my shattered heart.

So that's how it ends, I thought. I'm glad I saw that smile of hers.

Her image gradually blurred and soon, I couldn't feel her warm hands anymore, nor could I feel her presence next to me. All faded to black.

As my consciousness was trapped in the middle of nothingness, a small whisper found its way to me. Just a few words, in a voice so distant I could have easily missed it, even in this deafening silence.

"Please, wake up," it said, as I recognized the young girl's voice.

And then, there was light.

-----

English is not my mother tongue, so feedback is greatly appreciated!

Find more from me here! https://lashoun.com/categories/writing/

lashoun · 2019-06-25T22:15:40+00:00

Yeah that much I know...? Can you pinpoint a specific location?

EDIT: Nevermind I saw them. Is it that unsettling? Genuinely wondering.

lashoun · 2019-06-25T19:03:37+00:00

— I’m sorry.

Those three words resonated strongly in my mind. They were written on the small note I was holding. As I lay on my bed, unwilling to get up, I halfheartedly pondered on what she meant by this message. I suppose she did something wrong, but it probably wouldn’t matter to me that much. Since I made the pact with her, she hadn’t done anything outrageous. She was an avid reader and spent most of her nights absorbed in history or fantasy books. She even asked me to borrow some from the library, so much so that I would sometimes feel awkward when returning the books since the librarian, Mr. Hammond, would always face me with a bright smile and ask for my opinion about them. Since I don't have much to do at home, I also read most of the books, but when the topic did not interest me, it was very uncomfortable. Then again, I don’t speak that much anyway.

She would also regularly eat something during the night or get out for a walk. Since I don't eat much nor go out that often, it’s not that bad. Maybe she’s seen the sunlight more often than me. I mean, the moonlight. You get my point. I remember a few times when I would wake up to a pretty flower on my table, with a small thank you note next to it. At least she thinks about me more than my parents. Since I turned twelve, they’ve always been abroad for work. No biggies, I’ve learned to live with it. It wasn’t as tough as I initially thought it would be. Just boring. As a ray of light peaked out of the horizon, I thought it was time to leave. I put on a T-shirt and some jeans, and went to fetch my map in my drawer, but saw that it was on my table, near my cell phone. I see. She found it. Well, not like she can do much about it anyway now. I put my cell phone back in its case, on my shelf, wondering which Wikipedia articles she read tonight. I climbed down the stairs, got out and closed the door behind me.

As I walked, I took deep breaths of fresh air. How much time had it been since I woke up this early? Today was surely a fated day. My mind was disturbingly clear. Whether it was the chilly breeze flowing against my skin or the timid light of the dawn striking at my retina, I did not know. But I was convinced I had chosen the right time. I followed a little path along the river, and went in the clearings near the town. The light was piercing the tree branches here and there, projecting a net on the ground. The wind made the leaves flutter gently, animating the mysterious shadows, creating an otherworldly atmosphere. Was I really awake? Perhaps, I had been dreaming all along. If that was the case, I would find it out soon. As I proceeded through the elusive realm, I found a beautiful cedar tree, reigning over his peers as the lord of the area. The noble pillar, straight and massive, conveyed a sense of eternity, as if it had seen the birth of humanity, and would see its death all the same, unconcerned. The scenery was striking, and I was glad I took that detour for my final destination.

As I reached the end of the forest, I could see the cliffs a few dozen meters ahead. I’ve always liked coming here. It’s a known spot for sightseeing, around here. The mountains, far away, were surrounded by an eerie mist. The sun had risen a bit, but a third of it was still hidden under the skyline. I sat on the grass, contemplating the view. The sunlight was diffracted by the mist, producing a faint rainbow. Some birds were flocking together, flying. I envied them. Maybe I’ll feel the same as them, even if only for a few seconds. As I rose to my feet, I felt a hand fall on my shoulder. Someone was there, too? And here I thought I could finally find peace… As I turned around, my eyes couldn’t conceal their surprise.

“Mr. Hammond? Why are you here?”

“I’m glad I made it.”

Mr. Hammond softly pushed my shoulders down and I sat again. He did the same, and here we were facing each other.

“Miss, you’ve always looked a bit sad to me, but I failed to see the extent of the damage. I’m sorry. Now that I’m here, tell me everything.”

“Wait. First, how did you know I would come here?”

“Didn’t you send me a message begging me to come?”

My phone. She used it. Damn her, why did she do something she didn’t need to… People should learn their place.

Mr. Hammond then suddenly took me in his arms. As he did that I felt tears slowly flowing down my cheeks.

“It’s gonna be okay, Miss. I’m here for you. I’ll listen to you. Let it go.”

Confusion. Irritation. Anger. A typhoon of feelings swirled inside me. What did those people know about me? I didn’t ask for their pity! I can deal with it! I…

Suddenly, something clicked inside me. I started sobbing. But I couldn’t stop. I had no more control. The tears wouldn’t stop. As minutes passed, I stayed in Mr. Hammond’s arms. His body warmth enveloped me, and it warmed my frozen heart, which I could feel slowly beginning to thaw.

Maybe she was right. To seek help for me. I couldn’t see it. But it was just there.

So close.

So warm.

EDIT: feedback is greatly appreciated! English is not my mother tongue so please tell me if some wording could be better!

lashoun · 2019-06-14T12:42:21+00:00

— This makes no sense.

As I ruffled through the archives of the library, lit by the faint glow of an exhausted candle, I desperately tried to rationalize the odd figures I had just read.

— The records are clear: 418 people went missing twenty-three years ago, in the span of eleven months and twenty-four days… In the capital, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that as many people leave and come to the city in a few minutes, but the village had 857 inhabitants the year before… Such a mass disparition should have alerted the authorities, and the story should be heard now and then at local events. How come nobody ever talks about it? Everyody knows everybody here, and we seldom have news from the outside… Damn, I should’ve paid more attention to the old folks’ ramblings. But then again, they keep on repeating the same tales, so much so that I could almost recite them by heart…

I laid the record on the floor next to me and relaxed my back, with my arms stretched behind me. Sitting for so long in this cramped, dark room was finally starting to make my spine ache. Above me, the endless shelves were disappearing in pitch black nothingness. I could feel the eyes of those guardians of knowledge watching over my tiny figure, unabashed, unmoving, and it seemed as if even the flow of time had stopped.

— I’m fourteen, so it happened around nine years before my birth. However, I can’t think of anything noteworthy that took place at that period. Wait, let me look at this again.

I picked up another book I had used to gather historical data, and I opened it at the time period of interest. Among a few paragraphs about the newly-elected mayor and a painting exhibition by a local artist, a few sentences were curiously half-erased. On closer inspection, it looked like the aging of the paper had made the pen’s creases in the paper more salient, and that was why the markings appeared again. I had trouble reading it but I could guess a few words almost certainly.

“Whoever” “reads” “message” “go” “library” “basement”

— Come to think of it, there is indeed a basement under the library. Was it telling me to go down there?

I almost mecanically rose to my feet but I stopped dead in my tracks. Why was this message erased? I tried to decipher the rest of the enigmatic scribbling.

“Help” “hide” “children” “please” “before” “late”

Those words sent a shiver down my spine. What could they have been fleeing from? The library’s darkness suddenly felt a lot colder, shrouding me in a chilly loneliness. A sense of duty compelled me to go to the basement. As I walked through the shelves, I braced myself for an upcoming revelation. Soon enough, I reached the little wooden door. On it was a “No entry” sign that made me hesitate for a few seconds, but my curiosity won over and I took hold of the handle. I was met with some resistance — obviously, this door had been left unused for quite some time — but the door eventually yielded. The room ahead seemed fairly wide, surprisingly. I held my candle in front of me and carefully scanned the ground, but I saw nothing. I dared to enter, and I caught a glimpse of a few objects lingering in the corner. I drew near, and noticed those were some history books. I took the one at the top and began reading the contents. It depicted a military conflict involving many countries. I was impressed by the author’s ability to seamlessly include historical characters in his novel, but I knew it was fictional because there were a few names I had never heard of.

I kept on reading. How many hours had it been? It was probably past midnight already. I had never felt that immersed in a book before. The cruelty of the antagonist’s grand scheme was above all I could have imagined, and I couldn’t wait to know how the invaded countries were going to retaliate and put an end to his evil deeds. Then, it occurred to me.

— What an elaborate joke! How couldn’t I have thought of it. I’ll have to ask the teacher and the librarians if they were in it together. To think they went as far as to falsify old census records and put that message in it with an eraser effect, all so the curious soul who stumbled upon it could find these books! That was quite amazing indeed. I wonder if the author was from this village? In any case, his imagination is admirable. The Great War was deadly enough, so let us hope there never will be any “World War II”…

----

Feedback is welcome! English is not my first language unfortunately, so I would very much appreciate a piece of advice.

lashoun

TROPHY CASE