“The mysterious creature,” said Moritz. “Perhaps a dissection is in order?”
“Stop it,” replied Reinald. “We don’t understand a thing about it yet.”
The moment the duke left, Moritz seemed to feel he was free to make sinister suggestions. Meanwhile, Black Bird seemed to have taken a liking to Reinald, even though they were meeting for the first time. The bird was all over him.
What is up with this bird? It hasn’t done anything like this since it appeared, but now it’s all about expressing itself?
Moritz couldn’t hide how little he trusted the creature, but Reinald remained silent and let the bird do what it wanted. With his suggestion of dissection summarily dismissed, Moritz offered no further ideas and instead passed me a book.
“What’s in this thing?” I asked. “It’s so thick.”
“It’s from Six. He wanted us to pass it to you and said it was wise for you to have a better understanding of magic. Read it.”
“An order to study up, huh? Okay.”
“His Highness ordered Six to come too. We’ll remain until he arrives.”
That was okay with me. I didn’t have any special reason to turn them away, anyway. But Six coming also meant that magic was involved, and I assumed it had to do with Black Bird, the box, or perhaps both. Moritz didn’t want anybody listening in on the conversation, and so I suggested we speak outside, in the back garden. It wasn’t particularly spacious, but it did have an arbor, and the weather was perfect for getting a little sun. I made my suggestion without much thought, but unfortunately, it only brought to light how sleepy I was.
“You’ve looked awfully drowsy since the moment we arrived. You’re not overworking yourself, are you?” asked Reinald.
“Don’t worry about me,” I replied. “I’m getting more than enough sleep.”
But in truth, my drowsiness hit even harder the moment Reinald arrived. I thought that perhaps stepping outside and feeling the breeze on my face might help wake me up, but I didn’t even know if I’d make it that far. I turned my gaze to the book Moritz had given me instead.
“While I do wish we could have caught up, please don’t hesitate to rest in the comfort of your own room, should you wish,” Reinald said.
“I couldn’t possibly do such a thing and leave you completely unattended. In any case, I’m most curious about this book Six wants me to read. I wonder if I’m even capable of understanding it...?”
I opened the cover to find the book filled with ancient text. Even the ink itself, scratched onto the page, gave me a sense for the long passing of time. I thought it a good idea to touch on this and maybe spend some time talking about the book, but as I flipped through the pages, I found it incredibly difficult to keep my eyes open.
“Excuse me,” I uttered, “I just need a little... Just a little...”
I had only meant to close my eyes for a few moments, but as my eyelids shut, I slipped deep within myself, and everything around me changed.
I was back in the garden, once again devoid of color. But unlike the last time, on this occasion I wasn’t summarily ignored. The girl sitting opposite me shut her book, placed her hands on her knees, and looked at me.
It was like seeing the world through an old, black-and-white television, complete with static. It was weird, but this time the girl wasn’t denying my existence and seemed to know exactly what she wanted.
“Your ——, I wonder?”
I caught some of the words she spoke this time, and the girl sounded just like Ern. For an instant, I really thought she was Ern, but my instincts still wouldn’t accept it—it was like a whisper telling me I was dealing with a different person. After all, my friend was gone. This girl had to be something different. Something that only looked like Ern.
Once that fact was clear in my mind, my heart ached so much I thought it would break. You weren’t supposed to fall into illusions of reuniting with the dead, but all my hoping seemed to have brought me here.
“I caught a few words of what you spoke,” I said, “but the rest I can’t understand. Are you learning, is that it?”
“Yes. ——. Your —— complicated, —— analy——”
The pained, worried sigh she let out looked anything but natural. It was more like a gesture she’d been taught and was now acting out badly, but still her desire to communicate felt genuine. Unfortunately, while it seemed she could understand me, I still couldn’t make out the better part of what the girl was trying to say.
“One part is ——. —— seriously ——”
As the girl spoke, for each word I understood, the garden seemed to return to its original color. It sounds weird, but it felt as if time were returning to the black-and-white world, which seemed perennially on pause. That’s the only way I knew to describe the sensation.
The girl gave up and returned to her book. A cup of tea appeared out of thin air in front of her.
“Until next time.”
Her last words I understood completely, but in the next instant, I was plunged once more into darkness.
“Does the infected area hurt?”
“No. It just feels odd. Like something isn’t right.”
“In which case, the effects are minimal. It’s only scraping away a small amount of magical energy, I’d say.”
I woke gently but felt sluggish. My arms weighed a ton, and as I slowly lifted them, they were met with a hand that was covering my eyes.
“Oh, you’re awake,” said the owner of the hand. “How do you feel?”
“Not great, I think.”
“Just rest for now. Your magical energy was being drained. Whatever those symbols are, they seem to know just how much of your energy to take. I can only replenish your levels to just shy of you fainting again.”
Six looked awfully close, and I realized then that it wasn’t a pillow my head was resting on, but his thigh. In direct contrast to my lazy melancholy, Six’s eyes glimmered with excitement. He looked like a curious child who’d just made a new discovery.
“If you saw this coming, why didn’t you say anything, Six?” asked Reinald.
“Because you’re far too nice to the girl. The two of you are both affected by the symbols, and I had a feeling that something would happen if the two of you were brought together. I just didn’t know exactly what that ‘something’ was. But if I’d said anything, you would have stayed clear of Karen until you knew what it was.”
“I wish you’d trust me a little more,” muttered Reinald.