Arianus 14th

Aria's behaviors were much the same today as they were yesterday. I feel frustrated. I want to see her, I want to watch her, I want to be the one to keep her safe. Princess Sophianna understands my feelings, and would creep out throughout the day to look for cracks, crevices, or any way to get into the back room of her shop. Nothing. No way in. What am I going to do if she dies in her shop? How can I stop something like that.

Luckily something came along to help keep my mind off of things I can do nothing about. The young girl came back into my shop. She said that because I helped her so much last time, she would really appreciate it if I could help her again. I tell her that I don't mind, and to choose what she wants to focus on. She tell me that she wants to learn about fire and water. The way that it changes a person's personality and what most people do with those magics.

I am glad that she is interested in all of this. I am wondering if studying with her will help me in any way. Will learning about the magics help me stop those wanting to use magic against her? Help me to figure out their typical personalities so I know how to manipulate them. Play against their weaknesses.

Also, helping her reminds me of my passions, of the reason that I wanted to become a librarian.

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Growing up I lived in a bad household. Both of my parents were obsessive and cruel over different things. They were constantly yelling at each other over some perceived slight. If the other person wasn't around they would take it out on me. Saying that I am the reason that Mom is cheating, that if I wasn't such a bad kid then this wouldn't be happening. Mom would do and say the same things.

Mom was also obsessive about how clean the home is. She would tell me what to clean that day and would hit me if it wasn't done well enough. Even if I had homework that I had to get done. Nothing mattered.

Eventually I figured out that if I was out of sigh I was out of mind. I would go to the library whenever I could.

Before things got bad at home my parents would take me to the library. They would leave me there for hours to listen to the people that read stories to the children. And I loved it. I loved every moment of it. I wanted to be that person when I grew up.

When I was older and using the library to hide out the librarians were always kind to me. They would help me find the most secluded area to study, or sit with me and ask what books I was reading. The more that they learned about me, the more books they recommended. They ended up feeling more like a family to me than my own family.

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I don't know this girl's situation or why she is asking me to help her learn instead of her own family. And that doesn't matter. I will teach her and teach her well.

Today we discussed fire and water. I taught her about some common personality traits of each as well as some of the focuses that people have in those elements. Here are what those are:

Fire:

- Common Personality Traits: Energetic, competitive, throwing themselves into flings (passion burns bright, but flickers out quickly)

- Focuses: Fire (fireballs, firebolts) on an offensive basis, Fox fires (helping guide lost adventurers), Purifying Flames (helping to purify metals, etc.)

Water:

- Common Personality Traits: Calm, even tempered, gentle, can become emotional, wants a long term romance, doesn't rush into relationships

- Focuses: Helping with crops (watering large amounts of land), Purification (helping to purify water), Medic (helping to wash off and out poisons, works closely with light mages).

I offered to walk the young girl, Anise, home at the end of our study session and she accepted my offer. I let her lead the way as I have no idea where she lives. We walked past the nice areas, the lesser nice areas, and ended up in the poorer area, but not quite the slums. Her house was very small but it was obvious that her family does there best to maintain it.

It seems that her parents saw her walking up as they came out of the house and thanked me. I find out that her parents make an honest living but they still struggle with money. They are putting a good chunk of their savings aside to send Anise to school. It is a great honor to have a budding mage in the family and they want to do everything that they can to support her growth. They never got an education themselves so they aren't able to read the books with Anise. They thank me again as I walk away from the house, telling Anise I will see her tomorrow.

I make sure to walk about town before bed. No rumors of deaths. Very good. I hope it remains this way.

Arianus 15th

It seems that Aria has set a pattern. Time with Alexander Ludus, and time spend in her shop. Nothing of concern that I noticed. It still bothers me though. I almost wonder if I should sneak into her room and hide behind her curtains and watch her sleep to make sure that no one stabs her during the night. I shake off that idea. It would make more sense to break into and hide in her shop.

Although I have a strong desire to take those actions I know that they are wrong. I wonder why I feel so desperate to know her every move. I just need to know enough to keep her safe. Is the looping messing with my mind? I don't want my obsessive nature to be something that makes her afraid of me. Having her fear me would make it so much more difficult to track her, to follow her movements and make sure that she is staying safe.

To get my thought back to be reasonable to make myself a cup of tea and pull out some books to make sure that I am ready for Anise.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The first thing that she says to me when she enters is, "I'm sorry about my parents. They can be so embarrassing sometimes. You didn't need to know all that about my family."

I reply with, "I think your family is perfectly lovely. I think it is great the way they think about and care for you. Not all parents care about or support their children. No kid likes hearing this, but you seem pretty lucky."

Seem. I have to use the word seem. There are a lot of families that look okay on the surface but end up holding some damaging views, or hurting their kids in ways that are hard to see.

"Yeah, I suppose they are pretty great." she tells me. "What elements should we go over today?" she asks me.

"I was thinking that we can learn about Earth and Wind today. What do you think?" I ask her.

"That sounds like fun!" she says. "Always good to start out with learning about the basic elements. Most magic users have the basic elements anyways."

"You are a very smart girl." I tell her.

"I know I am." she chirps back happily.

Again we talk about common personality traits and focuses:

Earth:

- Common Personality Traits: Strong, steady, focused, wants a long term relationship, looks down on flings

- Focuses: Building (can help shape stones and stack them, can make cement), Woodsman (Can work in the woods, shape trees, build cabins, hunt), Furniture Maker/Craftsperson (Create furniture, wood carving, helps create art)

Wind:

- Common Personality Traits: Lively, Doesn't like to stay in the same place for too long, desires adventure, doesn't stay in relationships as they don't want to be help down, often cheerful

- Focuses: Explorer (Helps use wind to clear paths to find new places), Surgeon (helps use wind to make careful cuts), Bird Taming (helps raise messenger birds for communication)

Anise and I have some great fun talking further about Earth and Wind.. She thinks about creating golems and what she would do with them. She is torn between utter destruction of her perceived enemies and creating new and fun things. She was also very surprised about Wind mages making good surgeons. She never thought of that as she only thinks of light mages as the ones that heal people. I can understand that thought, as I had the same thought. Are there things that light magic can't heal?

We end up reading and learning until later in the evening. I walk her back home again. Her parents invite me in for dinner, and I accept. From what I can glean from Aiden's memories it is very impolite to not accept and invitation.

The inside of their home is very clean, and obviously well cared for. The walls are a light yellow, and flowers are in vases here and there. It serves to create a bright atmosphere, but it also makes the air pleasantly floral.

For dinner we have a noodle, fresh pasta dish and a salad.

"The vegetables are so fresh because we grow them ourselves." Anise's mother tells me.

"We sell some of them to make extra money, but keep as much as we can to ourselves. A healthy body equals a healthy mind." her father chips in with.

I find out that Anise has an older brother and sister. The brother casts suspicious glances at me, and the sister looks at me, cheeks aflush and giggling on occasion. I am polite to the both of them, which Anise seems to appreciate. She never mentioned her siblings before. Is she embarrassed by them as well?

After dinner I make my way through the town again. I listen for any gossip and also spend a while just walking. I look for all of the cracks and crevices that someone can hide. Admittedly there aren't that many. The kingdom seems well cared for. It seems that the poorer area is what is considered the slums, and even that area is well cared for and maintained. This will make it more difficult for someone to hide, then pop out and murder Aria. Very good.

After spending a few hours walking around I make my way back to my house. I am going to finish writing in you journal, then fall asleep quickly.

Arianus 16th

I clean the library and reshelf books before Anise comes in for our study session. She appears to be in a good mood when I see her, a big smile on her face.

"My family really likes you. They wish that you could be my permanent teacher until I am sent to the tower."

"I don't know if I am really qualified to be a teacher. But whenever you want some help researching or reading through any of the books I am more than happy to help." I tell her, flattered.

"My sister also says that you are really cute. And want to know if you are single!"

I can't help but laugh at that. Anise is so young and bright. Very innocent. She has a big bright smile, and it's obvious that she loves her sister.

"I am, but there is someone that I have feelings for."

"Oh! Can you tell me all about her?" she asks. How old is she to be interested in romance? I suppose in this world some girls are married off young, so perhaps this is normal.

"I might tell you about her. But first, let's look into some light magic."

"Oh, okay!" she says. She still eyes me, seeming a bit disappointed that I am putting off her questions.

"I'm excited about todays topic, as I am a Light magic user." I tell her. I see her eyes go wide and bright, her interest increased.

As per our usual study sessions we go over common personality traits and focuses:

Light:

- Common Personality Traits: Highly focused (possibly to the point of obsession), kind, gentle, guarded, Fixations, Wants a strong commitment from a partner / wants a permanent bond

- Focuses: healer (using healing magic to help heal and mend), Illusionist (using magic to create illusions), Priests (Helps connect people in marriage and bonding ceremonies)

Darkness:

- Common Personality Traits: Mysterious, Secretive, Gentle, Protective, Insightful

- Focuses: Occult (Can help guide lost souls to the after life), Potion Master (skilled at coming up with new potions, often doesn’t need a recipe), Charms Maker (Crafts strong charms that people use to keep them safe), Shadow Caster (uses bonds with shadows to help in fighting)

I also show her some neat tricks with light magic. I created a glowing ball and a reflection of her. I also made a light image of a cat. I hoped this would keep her from asking more questions about my love life.

"Okay, studying done. Now who is it that you like?" she asks, grinning at me.

"Alright, but remember that you asked. I genuinely have feelings for Princess Aria. I think that she is smart, hardworking and beautiful. I know that she has worked on projects to help bring more educators to children that cannot afford it, as well as brining in people for them to speak with when they are having a hard time.

"Even though she is the Princess she also holds a job. She creates her own potions and charms. Although people trash talk her, she still does her best to craft quality projects. I also feel that a lot of the gossip people spread about her are all lies."

"Oh." she says quietly. She sits there for a moment before replying. "We like her too. She is the reason that I even thought about coming to the library to learn things. I also think that she is smart and pretty. I'm not able to tell anyone that though as they are mean and cruel if I do. I'm glad that you like her. Are you going to go to her party and try to marry her?" she asks.

"Yes. Now then, shall we get you a treat before I walk you back home."

"Yes please!"

We go to a cart that is selling some sort of baked pastry with fruit and brown sugar and caramel filling. It smells good, so we each get one. It is hot, gooey, and clearly something a young girl would enjoy as I can hear Anise making some happy sounds.

As I am walking her back to her home we hear some gossip that I was hoping we wouldn't hear.

"Did you hear?" a woman asked a man standing beside her.

"No, what?" he asked in reply.

"Princess Aria killed herself! Alexander Ludus ran out of the building to try to get help but it was too late. His story was utterly bizarre. He said that he didn't try to stop her because he was frozen in shock. Apparently, she just kept stabbing herself over and over!"

"What a horrible way to go. I mean, she seemed so mean to everyone, but to do that to herself? Maybe she was just misunderstood and couldn't take it anymore." he said in response.

I don't want us to hear anymore. I didn't want to hear it in the first place, but Anise held me in place. I didn't fight her either. However, I don't like that such a young girl heard about a suicide.

"I'm sorry. And right after you told me you liked her too." she says, crying softly.

When we reach her home I apologize as I tell her family what we heard. They accept my apology and invite me in for tea. It seems that it is obvious that the news upset me as well as Anise.

Her family tells me the things that they appreciated about the Princess. It was nice to hear such positive things. I am angry for how she died though.

On the way home I keep my rage at Alexander Ludus deep inside. Maybe I will try to kill him before he can hurt her. But for now, I will give sweet little Anise my attention. Possibly plan murder later. It has to be well planned. Can't let Aria know that I would be willing to kill someone.

Aiden finishes reading his journal entries and takes in all of the information that he had just learned, and there is a lot of it. Days worth. A lot to compile and put together. However, why did her death put them back to the 11th? Hadn't it been resetting to the day of her death? It seemed that something he thought was obvious isn't quite so obvious after all.