Chapter 94 - Vena's Archive
"Mommmmy, it's not fair! Big brother broke my toy again!"
He scrambled to shut the door and ran back to her, shaking his head rapidly with a pleading look on his face. "Ari, please stop. Don't tell mom, I'll fix it right away. Just give me a few minutes."
She calmed down a little, but her eyes were already wet with tears, and it looked like one wrong move on his part and the dam would burst right open.
"Ari, please trust me. I wrote down everything, so I won't forget anything this time," he said, showing her the crude diagrams and words on a yellowing page.
Grabbing the hem of her green dress, she sniffled, her lips trembling violently. Vern walked up to her, bent down on his knees, and pulled out the handkerchief mom washed yesterday, dabbing it on her eyes.
"It's okay, Ari. Trust me this time, please?"
But soon, the handkerchief in his hands turned wet. He kept switching its sides, but her tears wouldn't stop.
He pulled back and looked at her eyes, and the tears continued to flow ceaselessly. Her arm was outstretched, and so was her finger. Soon, a ball of light appeared on the tip of her finger.
His expression scrunched up, and he embraced her in his arms instantly. But his…his body didn't move, and words slipped out of his mouth.
"I am sorry"
She was up in the air, the ball of light growing exponentially. He tried to reach out and dab the handkerchief at those eyes that shone with tears. Tears that wouldn't stop.
Tears that didn't stop.
He kept trying, but his body was frozen, and she continued to cry. Her body burned and cracked, but all he could do was watch and mumble, "I am sorry"
"I am sorry"
"I am sorry"
Then the ball of light exploded, and the world turned bright—
"I AM SORRY," he shouted, his hands launching towards…
towards…what?
Towards empty air in the training room. Vern blinked groggily, taking one short breath after another.
THUDD
The door to his right opened with a loud thud, and bright light entered the otherwise dark room. He could make out a blurry outline that said something.
He blinked rapidly and shook his head to shake away the drowsiness.
He tried again and soon heard, "Master Vern…are you okay? Do you need something? Is something the matter?"
Vern tilted his head, trying to match the voice with a face. He first thought it was De Flanc, but it wasn't, so he replied to the man in a butler's dress, "I am sorry. Just give me a minute. I'll be right outside."
The man nodded and walked out, leaving the door open, which illuminated the room. Wiping at his eyes, Vern yawned. It seemed like he was sleeping.
In the training room?
Sleeping?
He was sleeping in the training room!
His eyes suddenly snapped wide open, and his mind turned alert.
Where's Mistress Amelia?
He looked around, but the room was empty. All the candles and lights were extinguished, clearly out of fuel. He tried pushing himself up, only to feel his entire body scream at him.
Still, he gritted his teeth and lifted himself. This was not as bad as the first morning after he worked out. He wasn't feeling refreshed by any means, but the sleep seemed to have done quite some good.
When he finally stood up, his coat fell down, and he barely caught it. He scrutinized his navy blue coat and tilted his head. I don't remember draping it over myself.
Then…was it Mistress Amelia? Vern covered his face, glad that the butler wasn't here to watch him being stupid.
What would she think? he wondered. He wanted to pull out his hairs. He passed out on the very first day of the training. The first fucking day!
What the hell was wrong with him? He was doing pretty good, too.
He stood there for a while, trying to sort out his thoughts. But all that did was remind him of the dream, only worsening his mood.
.
.
.
Soon, however, he shook his head. Mistress Amelia took the time to cover him with his coat—that has to count for something. It should mean she wasn't precisely angry with him, right?
Taking a deep breath, he surveyed the room and soon found what he was looking for. It was actually right there, just beneath him. Nestled next to where he had been sitting, or more accurately, sleeping, lay a golden case.
A smile gradually formed on his face as he recalled all the progress he made today. Wait, was it today or technically yesterday? he mused. The short window in the room made way for nothing but darkness, so it was probably still midnight or something.
He picked up the Duality's case with one hand and used the other to retrieve the pocket watch from his coat.
It was three in the night. Ughh, I even kept that butler waiting for me until so late.
But soon, his attention was focused on the small piece of paper that was tucked beneath the case. Shoving the pocket watch back in the coat, he picked up the paper and read it.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
'Tomorrow, same time.
Decide on what to do about the blood infusion.
Impressive work today.
-Amelia'
He kept reading it again and again, trying to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. His lips soon curved into a smile, and he pocketed the note, walking towards the exit with all his belongings.
.
.
.
The weight in the case assured him that Duality was still inside it. He had a lot of ideas and plans for the weapon.
Like how to make it easy to carry on his person, or better integrate it with his Visions, and obviously—to figure out how the heck it worked.
How it split so smoothly, and managed to merge back without any seams. And what was up with its edge? Why did stabilizing or destabilizing it cause such a peculiar effect?
The moment he stepped out, came a voice, "I hope you had a wonderful sleep, Master Vern."
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Vern replied, "Considering I was sitting through it, it was pretty good, I guess. Also, I apologize for making you wait." It was apparent that the man had been waiting outside the room for who knows how long. Vern couldn't recall when the training had ended or how much time had passed since then.
The whole training session was so surreal.
The butler began walking in a particular direction and replied with a smile, "Please don't worry, Master Vern, I am De Vere, the night head butler of the castle. Flanc has told me all about you, and it is our duty to make sure our Observers don't have to worry about mundane aspects of life."
Vern looked at the man, amused. Were they brothers? Even their demeanors were similar. They soon crossed past the central training grounds and then a couple of other landmarks, he remembered. But obviously, it was mostly quiet.
Everyone was sleeping. De Vere then guided him to some room, giving him the combination for its lock. He also told Vern he'd send someone with food soon after.
That was indeed a good idea because he was starving. It had been more than twelve hours since he had eaten anything. He might have been fine if all he did was sit around, but his body needed nutrition to recover from the exhausting day.
So he quickly took a bath and changed into a fresh set of clothes. He really needed it, too. That training was intensive as hell.
Someone else came in with a cart of food, and he made quick work of the meal, not leaving anything unfinished.
Finally feeling right in all places, he lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He wondered whether he should go back to sleep or find something better to do.
He did feel sore but not really tired. However, he didn't want to dream again so soon. So he grabbed his coat, left Duality and its case on a table in the room, and walked out, locking the door behind him.
His destination was obvious. Vena's archive.
How could he resist the allure of knowledge any longer? The fact that he was more learned about Kingsman history than Observer's irked him to no end. Here's hoping it's not locked at night.
Maybe he could ask De Vere to open it if it's closed?
After getting lost due to the repeating architectural design of the castle, he finally found his way to Vena's archive. As he walked up to the entrance, the blue glow radiating from the windows gave him hope.
Why would the lights be on if one couldn't go in? He was more than ready for it, his heart racing with anticipation. But he still kept his calm and pushed open the large door slowly, not wanting to make any unnecessary noise.
Luckily, it wasn't locked.
The moment he laid his eyes on the elegant yet grandeur interior, his heart calmed down. Libraries always managed to do that to him, except maybe the sister library to this one. That wasn't calming at all.
Vern shook his head and walked in, only to hear a stir behind him. Glancing back, he noticed two green, indifferent eyes opening on the rack above the door's arch. However, they only fixed on him for a brief moment before closing once more.
Luna was here!
But he gritted his teeth and held himself back from trying out something creative to get the kitten to come down. He had enough sense to not disturb the little one’s sleep. He wasn't Lucian, after all.
He wondered what came of Lucian. Did he accept the blood infusion? He most probably did.
Closing the door behind him while making as little noise as possible, he walked farther into the library. Captain Shinsei told him that books and texts of importance were only available based on clearance.
And that would need him to have a shaded gem on his badge—one he didn't have right now. So he planned on exploring the library and finding something worthwhile until people woke up so he could finally go about his business.
It was a new library we were talking about. There was no way he wouldn't find something to waste a couple of hours on. And if nothing, he could even do some testing with the convergence note. The ambiance of this library was perfect for that, anyway.
So he weaved through one shelf after another, mesmerized by all the works on display. Picking a thin book on the empire's history, he perused through it, mainly focusing on the images as he continued to traverse into uncharted territories.
When this whole floor was mapped mentally, he returned the book and gladly ascended the stairs. He tried to find something, anything related to Observation, but as luck would have it, or the maintainers of this library, there was nothing.
However, he had no plans to settle down and read that book about Kingsman's gear and Von Industries unless he was sure there was nothing else left to check.
Gladly, his eyesight had gotten better, or he would have to find a ladder and slowly go through each row one by one. It would have been a nightmare, given that some of the shelves were literally two stories high.
So he perused through what was left of this floor, too, and left for even higher stairs. But there was just one small problem. There was a heavy metal door blocking the stairs. It was made up of multiple panels, the gaps between each of them teasing the path ahead.
Feeling more than a little disappointed, he walked up to the door. He wondered if there was some automated mechanism that could detect the shades on a gem and let the holder pass.
Interestingly, there was indeed something like that. Or maybe it was just a decoration and didn't actually work? Not that he could test it, even if he wanted to—his badge didn't have a gem.
Still, for curiosity's sake, he bent down and ran his hand along the curved surface of the aperture that seemed like a cast for an eye. But the moment he touched the cold metal, its hinges creaked, and the whole door swung wide open.
Vern stood there, his hand outstretched, unable to process what happened there. There was no way he broke it. It was clearly not his fault.
No. It was already open. That was the only possibility. He pondered what to do, and his mind unanimously came to a single conclusion.
Go up.
It wasn't his fault that the door was open, right? And if someone else left it open, they would be to blame, not him.
Acting as nonchalant as ever, he walked up the stairs, latching the door behind him. Funnily enough, the thing actually locked, so he couldn't go back even if he wanted to. Surely, no one can blame him for perusing through the third floor now, right?
With a smug smile plastered on his face, he ascended to the third floor that didn't have any of those blue lights. Still, it didn't even take him a moment to survey the bindings of the books on display, and his eyes shone with greed.
Many didn't even have a title, and that only made him more curious. He decided to first check out all the items on display before settling on something to read.
Rubbing his hands together, he made toward the leftmost shelf. He had to be formulaic about his approach. He couldn't just jump at this sacred task like some base beast without logic, after all.
Swish swish.
But the moment he was about to touch the shelf, it…disappeared. Vern staggered back, a flustered look in his eyes. He had heard something, too, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Not entirely sure, he turned vigilant and moved towards the source of that sound. Maybe it was some kind of protective measure that worked against 'intruders?' Not like he was one.
However, he didn't overreact like last time with Luna and decided to figure it out calmly first. He had been paranoid twice today, and both were in vain. Vigil was a safe space, he had to get that thing in his mind.
He recalled Captain Shinsei's chiding when he had scared Luna away. He wasn't about to make a fool of himself another time. So he regulated his breathing and walked towards the far end of the library.
He didn't move to touch any other shelves, and they didn't disappear. Step by step, he got closer to the other end, and when he weaved past a horizontal shelf blocking his path, his sight opened up.
Moonlight pierced through the stained glass window on the left wall, illuminating the solitary figure that sat on a high stool in the center of the wide open hall—a brush in her hand. She cast a long shadow on the floor, but longer yet, was her hair—paler than the moonlight itself.