After a little ruminating, I divided the book in three parts using pink washi tape: the Rune section is the main meat of the book, full of untranslatable symbols; the Transcription section, which I think converts those symbols to their phonetics; and finally the Epilogue, which was the final chapter of the book, written entirely in some strange language I’ve learned is Hesperian.

It was almost eight in the night when I finally gave up trying to find any matches in Gaggle from any of the words I could catch in the Transcription section of the book. Nothing, not a single clue. With a heart full of frustration and a growing need to engage in self destructive gaming, I decided to start working with what I *could* understand: the Epilogue.

The translator was limited on the amount of words I could do at the same time so, I had to improvise and do several batches. In the end, this is the result I got:

> A long and winding road opens before you. From the moment you pick up this book, you have three options: You can ignore this challenge and give it to someone who wants to take it; You may destroy this book and be content to destroy another line that connects us with the Tree of Origin; or dare to read and seek the meaning of these symbols.

>

> This post is for you, the brave, who want to translate the untranslatable and understand the unintelligible.

>

> It is very likely that the person destined to translate this book will not be blessed with the Arcane Infection (if we can really call it such a blessing), so here are a few words of caution.

>

>  

>

> 1.- Once your mind connects signifier and signified, don't read these words aloud unless you want to confront their effects.

> 2.- Do not comment on this book to any uninitiated. They wouldn't believe you anyway.

> 3.- Your perception of reality will slowly change with each new word you identify. Don't worry, it's natural to see the colors of magic once you wake up to it.

> 4.- Look for the gold sign in your city, probably in libraries and hospitals. If you can't find it, you're safe to practice in your own home. If you find it, dig around and find the Elysium before experimenting.

> 5.- Avoid the Black Cloaks at all costs.

>

>  

>

> I don't recommend taking this book to public places, much less to the Elysée. Study him in the safety of your home, quietly, eating snacks. Take your time, this is a task that can take years, but I assure you that it is worth it.

>

>  

>

> Once you reach the end, I'll wait for you at the point where it all begins...

>

>  

>

> A couple of hints before I go:

>

>  

>

> * The title means "The Butterflies of Creation."

>

> * A circle means a single word combined.

>

> * Follow the arrows. You'll get used to the pace of reading eventually.

>

>  

>

> I wish you the best of luck.

>

>  

>

> Please survive.

>

> Humiko

Once the process of transcribing (which was honestly quite an ordeal considering this Epilogue was written in cursive by a shaky hand), translating and recording in my notebook was done, I am left staring at this nonsense for a while.

The worst part of all this? I can’t even promise the translation is faithful, Gaggle Translate is still in its baby phases…

My eyes turn to the clock on my laptop. Already thirty past ten… it’s getting a little late for this.

“Not that it ever mattered to you. What time have you been going to sleep these days anyway? Three in the morning? Maybe four?”

Sigh. The voice is getting harder to ignore, but I make an effort to just bite my lower lip and keep my focus.

There’s a lot to unpack here. Magic being the most prominent deal, this seems to be implying that magic is real? The insensitive skeptic in me wants to disregard that entirely, after all I am a person of science! But the rest of my body can’t help but want it to be real… after all, what’s the worst that could imply?

At best, hell yeah, magic is real! Neat!

At worst… there’s a lot more power in the hands of a mysterious, underground government that keeps tabs on us at all times not only with technological means but now with magical means too.

I shudder for a moment there. My head has not exploded instantaneously upon the thought so, at least I can either assume they can’t read my mind or there is no little microchip in my brain just waiting to destroy me for learning ‘The Truth’.

Then again, is that technology even possible? I–

“Focus, dear.”

Yes. Yes, I need to focus. What other concepts are introduced here that this Humiko just assumes I know what she’s talking about?

‘The Tree of Origin’. Okay that’s easy, it’s probably some ‘Tree of Knowledge’ kind of allegory in the mythology I am getting my nose into. Probably an equal to the Saints… or maybe Yggdrasil? The tree of the world? That’s another possibility they could be referencing. No idea what this goes into, but apparently it is connected to the contents of this book.

‘Arcane Infection’. Does she mean magic? Or something else? Why call it a “blessing” and then backpedal a bit? Should I be worried about my health now? I have asthma so another infection in my body wouldn’t really be welcome…

‘Signifier and Signified’. She must be talking about the runes. No idea what she’s going on about though. Maybe I have to connect each word in my mind or something? Like a huge riddle… and then, only then, something magical will happen.

“This sounds like you are entering into a cult or something…”

Look, if they start trying to convert me into a cult I will run away as fast as I can.

“If you ever realize that. It’s not like the people making cults are experts brainwashing losers and outcasts like you.”

Moving on.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

‘The Uninitiated’, clearly not-mages. So there is a separation between them and us, probably some sort of magical cloak to keep entire sections of the city hidden or something like that. Like in the Wizard Boy books! I wonder if there are magical schools and such too…

“Focus.”

Yeah, yeah.

The whole ‘Golden sign’ is pretty straightforward. I have to find some symbol hidden in the frameworks of our society. No idea what symbol, the internet is not exactly useful when I put something as vague as “golden sign” in it, but I guess I can leave that for later.

What is ‘The Elysium’ though? I mean, it probably doesn’t mean the fields from greek mythology, right? It is not telling me to go die, right?

Finally, the Black Cloaks. That’s vague, too vague. I have to avoid emo kids now? It probably will make much more sense when I get to work with deeper concepts but, it’s something to look out for…

‘The point where it all begins’. Another vague note, nonsense really.

“Most of this, if not all of it, is nonsense. You should be used to it by now… why do you pay so much attention to this when you could be studying something actually useful?”

Guilt pierces my heart like a frozen dagger. Saints damn it. It’s true. Why can’t I muster all this intense attention and initiative when it comes to my studies? It used to be so easy!

“It was never easy. You always struggled paying attention.”

And yet in highschool it was all so easy… I was the first of my generation. The most promising child to ever graduate from there, and now… look at me.

Look at all I’ve accomplished.

“You wasted your future. Now you can only do your best to pick up the pieces and beg for mercy from your parents and the world at large. Squandered your potential to the worst result possible. You know the worst part? You can’t really blame anyone but yourself…”

With a heavy sigh I stood from my chair, leaving the book, my notes and the laptop on the table.

“Are you finally giving up? Can we go to sleep now?”

Yeah… yeah I think I will.

“We can always continue tomorrow! Don’t worry, it will all be still here when you wake up!”

“Yeah, waiting, like everything you’ve left unfinished.”

My feet take the first step back towards my room.

“...Don’t you want to at least check on that last couple of hints? Particularly about the title of the book?”

My curiosity is piqued.

I stop, and turn right around to read the translation again. It says it is translated to ‘The butterflies of Creation’. That… means nothing to me.

“Signifier to signified…”

I need to make the connections… in the notebook, I quickly scribble the words side by side with the translated text.

The Asu

Butterflies tlo’ikovithiio

of

Creation

It’s easy to link ‘the’ and ‘asu’, but I am not even sure if the words can correlate in the same order, or something like that. The arrows do seem to tell me that. The rest of the word though… ‘Tlo’ikovithiio’, that could mean ‘butterflies of creation’, right?

I look for the runes in the first part. Particularly the one in the cover page

image [https://i.ibb.co/mcn16kt/rune-2.png]

I see one symbol, and then a circle containing several others. Saints damn it I am not even closer to understanding this than before, am I!?

The first one must be ‘asu’...which must mean ‘the’, right?

The rest of it is ‘tlo’ikovithiio’, Butterflies of creation…

“We are tracing circles at this point. Let’s go to sleep.”

“Shhh, they’re onto something.”

I am honestly tempted to simply give up, when suddenly it hits me: Look for patterns! Passing the pages, I may find the signs on their own!

image [https://i.ibb.co/3NgZZhw/rune-3.png]

Eureka!

“Uhhh…”

And if the transcription is faithful, which I just have to beg for it to be now, this has to be read ‘tlo’iiio’. Again ending in ‘iio’?

Now that I think about it, that symbol, the one with two dots and a line, I can only see it in circles indicating combined words.

I know for a fact these are two glyphs now, and if they are a combined word… ‘Tlo’i’ and ‘iio’ must be the particles!

Iio must be a particle you only apply to other words, to give them a quality.

“Dear, the room…”

Shh! I am focused!!

So back to our original word, ‘tlo’ikovithiio’... It would be three words! ‘tlo’i’, ‘kovith’ and ‘iio’! Three symbols. And if I really squijnt my eyes, that symbol in the middle, the ‘tlo’i’, really kinda looks like a butterfly right? Or some flying creature for sure!!

“Santino, really. Stop for a moment.”

So there’s the big U (that maybe represents a finger), the butterfly, and the particle ‘-iio’. Maybe ‘Creation’ means the literal creation of things, the act of making! So that U, that finger, is making the butterfly by touching it. Tlo’i and kovith would then be ‘Butterlfy’ and ‘Creation’. Putting them together maybe acts like a mixing of its properties. The butterflies, they are created AND create!

“Tav!!”

I snap out of my hyperfixation for a moment, only to notice that everything around me is moving. The chairs, the table, the computer, everything has been taken by sudden gusts of wind that blow around me. I am in the eye of a storm of my own making.

All that remains stationary is the old, badly bound notebook. The rune I wrote on it is shining a bright green… no, it’s purple… or golden? It shifts so quickly I can’t really tell.

“Make it stop!”

No.

Deep down, I know what I have to do… I have to finish the thought. I have to connect the signifier with the signified.

‘Asu Tlo’ikovithiio’. ‘Asu Tlo’i-kovith-iio’.

Iio must indicate something, a quality, a status.

“A plural.”

Yes. The pluralism! It indicates more than one!

“I got it!”

“Good! Now make it STOP!”

Raising my hand, I try to take a deep breath and touch the words on my notebook. Without really thinking on what will happen next, I focus.. and now with a full understanding of what I am saying, I whisper.

“Asu tlo’ikovithiio.”

Suddenly the tornado around me stops mattering at all.

I feel how the air suddenly escapes my lungs, pushed by some invisible force that also spreads an indescribable warmth from my heart and through my whole body. I see the same light of many colours spread through my veins, brightly shining as it pushes and escapes from the fingers of my raised hand.

Just as something forms on the tip of my fingers and spreads its wings, my body loses all strength. My eyes lose their focus, I feel myself trembling before falling down.

I can only feel the gentle, fragile touch of a butterfly for the faintest of instants before everything becomes black.