allthenotes | Night 009

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Night 009

[ Sometime early in the night, during Kaito's downtime, a series of lines begins to draw themselves across the next empty spread of pages.

The lines aren't completely straight. His busted shoulder means that even with a ruler, he can't utilise both hands to make the schematic perfect. However, his hand is steady and he works with patience to make sure everything lines up the way it's meant to. He'd practised on other non-journal sheets beforehand.

Eventually the map below takes shape, annotated in blue and red. ]

(click image for larger version)

[ In the corner, Kaito writes some notes about the watchtowers. ]

Watchtowers
There are four towers. The stairs lead to the tallest one.
They're lined up alone the side of the castle (you can see them from the Horticulturalist's room).
There's a guard room on the way up that has weapons, supplies etc.
Also a fox which can see through magic maybe.

(Disclaimer: All the above names are ones which Kaito has decided on. They are not necessarily the official names.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Um. In the common room I guess.

[ It did feel awkward being in the same room as her. Plus, he had stolen a few things from the above rooms and one of them might have been hers. He would fetch a bowl and ladle some stew for her as well before heading out of the kitchen. ]

So, you wanted to know more about the vampire room?

[She nods; there's that or going to the barracks. And that feels like intruding on the other people's space.

And the guards might overhear what Kaito was talking about which would be awkward.]

I did.

[She sighs, making sure that their bowls are well situated on the table before sitting down.]

And the others, but that one struck my interest. Especially in the face of what we know about the blood gifts, and the unicorns being here.

[ Tanner would probably start shaking him again going, "Why, kid, why."

He nudged out a chair with his foot and sat, dragging one of the bowls closer to him so he could start eating. ]

Well, I dunno if the person who lives there is actually a vampire. I didn't see any blood or anything. [ He paused. ] I did get bitten by something in one of the columns. The teeth marks looked human. Didn't break skin though, so don't worry.

[She might have done that alongside Tanner, if she didn't already think it would be useless.

In any case, she took up her spoon so she could start eating along side him. She'd need to go downstairs if it was safe later, for her food cache...or Thancred's. She liked to give them some during the day but. Well.]

You were bitten.

[Her eyes close briefly. Good grief.]

Did you get a good look, or was it just...a quick teeth snap?

Just a snap. They were hidden in the dirt.

[ Yes, yes, he knows that look of exasperation very well. But nothing bad happened!

Resting his spoon, he brings out the items he planned to have Rei 'read'. Two diaries - one bound with twine; the other badly damaged - and a hand mirror. He taps the damaged diary. ]

This one was in that room. Whoever lives there wanted to hide what they found I guess.

The dirt container you wrote about earlier?

[Ugh, gross. And really creepy. She's glad that's all that happened. But she looks to the damaged diary, and the other bound up, and considers, frowning.

And then she sighs.]

You never know what you're going to find in this place, do you?

[She'll leave the diaries for after. Those can be tricky, she finds, especially if they've been handled a lot. She instead uses the handle to carefully flip the mirror and presses her hand against the back of it.

....weird. She got nothing from this.]

Not really a container. By 'column' I mean it was a pillar. A hollow glass pillar with dirt packed inside. There were several of them and the entire room was surrounded by dirt too. All glass except for a wardrobe dug out at the back.

[ He watches her press a hand to the mirror, nervous but also eager to hear whether she gets a reading from it. What if it's a bad memory? Kaito feels guilty whenever he brings her something like that. ]

...Anything?

That doesn't sound ominous at all. Wasn't it in that story with the vampire...Dracula, that he had to bring the dirt of his birth place with him?

But I could be far too biased because of the vampire label.

[She was supposed to keep an open mind after all. But touching the back of the mirror, she glances up and shakes her head.]

Nothing. I can try it again later.

[She sighs, and shrugs.]

But...I'd still be careful. Just because nothing is coming from it, doesn't mean there's nothing there.

I never read that story. I just know that vampires generally sleep in coffins and they've got some aversion to silver bullets and holy water.

[ Popular culture tends to distort the traditional myths somewhat. ~~Okay, a lot.~~ ]

Yeah... Why did you touch the back of it? Holding the handle isn't enough?

[ His tone is light and curious. He hadn't mentioned the mirror's creepy ability to 3D replicate the looker's face and she hadn't peered into it properly either. It's almost as if she knew something might happen. ]

I did. I read some various stories once I returned from this place. In the story, Dracula took dirt from his homeland; he needed it in his coffin if he was to travel. I can't remember the reasons why, exactly.

[It's been awhile and she normally doesn't read books like that. But well, folklore, and possibly she'd meet someone of that world here.]

But that's why I'm worried.

[She sighs, and draws her hands away from the thing.]

Holding the handle would be enough. But I didn't want it to flip over. Have you ever had an encounter with the being known as the mirror man?

[ Given the rest of the contents of the room, Kaito thinks they can safely rule out an actual Dracula. A vampire wouldn't need to research ways to prolong life...right? ]

No, I haven't. When I looked into the mirror it showed my face. Literally - it was 3D! Are you saying this thing belongs to him?

[Nope. From what she recalled, he was looking for his long lost love. Kind of sad, actually.

But the mention of the 3D face had her shudder a little and push the mirror away.]

No, not at all. If we're lucky, he remains confined in the crystal doorway.

He used to be able to travel through mirrors, in the last cycle. He's not an ally. He's one of the dangers, and I know he killed people during the last cycle.

And during the dark night, he would have slit my throat.

So that's what's tapping there, huh?

[ Good thing he's never stayed too long. Kaito doesn't like the feeling of being watched. He shoots the mirror a wary look. ]

What should I do with this then? Break it? I can't just go back up and put it back now.

That's him, tapping for your attention.

[Yeah, it is. But his suggestion has her tense up.]

No. Don't break it. I don't think it does anything related to him but-be very careful.

I'll try to check again at another time, because I don't know what this, but breaking it leaves a hole. If there's anything in here, it can get out.

[ He nods, drawing the mirror back towards him but keeping the surface face-down. ]

I'll wrap it in my clothes so it can't get smashed easily. Thanks for the warning.

[ Not knowing better, he may have ended up staring into the thing trying to work out what it is. That's not going to happen any more. ]

Should we try the journals now?

[She nods.]

No problem.

[She doesn't know what it is yet, and she'd rather be cautious. She'd rather be wrong about it but...better to be careful in this place.]

Yes, though I'm not sure what I'll get from these. I've noticed that journals are tricky. Which one do you want me to try first?

Um... Either one. This one?

[ He nudges forward the journal from the lavender room. It's bound with twine and its pages look well-riffled. The contents are written in a fairly simple code but they aren't the focus here. ]

All right then.

[Well, it didn't look disturbing, but so did many innocent looking items she came across. With a mental shrug, she pressed her fingers down onto the ruffled pages and closed her eyes.]

[ Kaito didn't think she would get anything too frightening from this journal but he kept careful watch just in case. The owner hadn't written anything shocking about their captivity but there was always the chance it had been omitted. ]

[She frowned, concentrating. But...she shakes her head.]

I'm not picking up on anything. I might have to try again, later.

[She grimaced.]

Sorry.

[ He shakes his head quickly. ]

No, that's fine! Might be a good thing.

[ He laughs a little and inclines his head at the other book. ]

Wanna try the other one then?

[She raises her eyebrows, and her lips quirk briefly.]

Worried?

[That she might faint or see something bad? She can take it until she can't.]

But yes, I'll take a look at it.

[It's a minor miracle she doesn't have a headache by now. That makes her happy.]

[ He eyes her sidelong. ] Yeah, I am. I'm making you read strong emotions - that's gotta have an effect eventually.

[ The other journal gets nudged towards her and then he goes back to picking at his stew. ]

This one might have a stronger memory. Someone really wanted to make sure no-one else read what was in it...

Edited 2016-08-24 14:22 (UTC)

[Her smile widens briefly.]

No more then usual. I still need to pick up something for the headaches, but I've been through more then I tend to talk about.

[Really, she's fine. Though that last statement has her wonder.]

Because of the binding? It doesn't look as if anyone tried to burn it. I would have thought that's what they would have done, if they didn't want their information shared.

[ Rei may insist it's okay but Kaito still worries. He'll drop the subject though. ]

Well... Maybe they couldn't burn it.

[ He shoots her a meaningful glance. Weren't vampires susceptible to fire? ]

There wasn't anything in there you could use to start a fire. It was dark and cold and...ugh, creepy.

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