Jenny broke the ice, “Well, we should open it and see what we have. There are also, besides the journal, a couple of trinkets your dad kept from his trips to Faelare, and some personal items, which I’m guessing you would want. I felt they were too valuable to leave lying around the house, so I stashed them here. Also. I might have to sell one or two of them, so I thought you should have a look at them first and we can decide which ones we can get rid of. I’m sure you will recognize some of them.

Andrew barely heard her. His whole focus on that metal box. A simple flip of the lid and all his answers would be there. It was so hard to take that step and face what could be a total disruption of everything he knew. Surprisingly he felt a pulse emanate from within him. It exuded comfort and familiarity. It was almost as if the egg was with him. Of course he hadn’t seen it since his incident a few days back, but the fact that it could reach out from wherever it was to give him some comfort scared him but at the same time emboldened him.

He finally took a deep breath and stepped forward to where his mom waited. She had opened the lid, which swung on a hinge, then as he passed her, she pulled the curtain and a lamp switched on. They were in a world of their own. A tiny cubicle surrounded by the banks most modern security and technology. He should feel safe and comforted. Instead he felt disjointed and nervous, but having taken that step, he followed through, and with a leaping heart leant over to peer into the opening that beckoned.

The first thing Andrew noticed was the smell emanating from the box. It smelled leathery. It reminded him immediately of his father. Not that his father smelled leathery, but he often handled that journal and his hands would be stained both by the leather oils and ink when he sat for hours filling his journal. It was a scent he came to associate with dad. He also noticed the leather belt and the strange coin purse always attached to it. He had been told never to touch it, and despite wanting to, had never had the opportunity. Now it lay here, inviting his seeking hands to grasp it. Instead of grabbing as he would have a week or two ago, he resisted the urge. Proud at his self control. It was becoming easier and easier to control his urges, which before would take precedence over everything in childish glee.

Now they were simply noted and put aside with rigid discipline. Where the discipline came from, he had no idea, but he definitely noticed this behavioral change in himself.

Jenny nudged him, perhaps she was getting impatient. “Go on, move that stuff out and unwrap the book. Lets take a look.” She was very kindly letting Andrew be the one to unwrap his present, having full understanding of how much this moment meant to him.

He stretched out and moved the few items aside, taking note of a strange wooden ornament that used to be on the highest shelf in the living room and which now lay beside the cloth wrapped journal. He hadn’t even noticed it was missing from home.

The journal itself lay bound in a simple cloth, and he knew within it he would find the leather-bound journal.

Carefully, he first took out the ornament, handling it for the first time ever and felt a tingle along his fingertips. He almost dropped it, but put it aside on the desk. Ignoring it for now. Next were some papers and a small bag which clinked with an enticing jingle when he moved it. It also felt quite heavy. The fabric was almost fluid in his fingers and he had to put it down on the desk quickly, fearing it would slide out of his hand, even though he had a firm grip. Next was the belt with the strange pouch. It was stiff and worn, and exuded the leather smell more than anything else. He remembered seeing Dad oil and polish it and it would always glisten like fresh dew on leaves before he put it in his closet. It had metal rivets all along its length and a buckle that was pock marked with the start of rust. He knew he would have to attend to that when they got home. Then, as if the mist of nostalgia was squeezed to another part of his mind, he breathed out and then calmly grabbed the cloth that wrapped the Journal and brought it forth. The other items falling away to either side. While each and every one of the items held some memory or other, he wasn’t here to remember, he was here to learn.

Finally he held it. Would this be full of answers or just full of more questions? There was only one way to find out. As he unwrapped the cloth binding, He looked up to see his mom watching him, gentle tears flowing down her face. She wiped them and smiled. “I’m not sad, don’t worry, you just remind me of him, that’s all.” she smiled and he felt the sense of love from her that made him even more determined to just get on with it. Whatever happened, it couldn’t be as bad as all this raw emotion.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Part of him wanted to comfort her, but the best way to do that was to face what they had come here for. He began to unwrap it in earnest.

At last it lay before him. The leather bound journal. The cover itself was simply that. A leather covering. No embellishments, fancy gloss or gilding, but still exuding the same leathery smell as the belt. It must have been freshly oiled before being wrapped and it glistened attractively in its plainness. He grasped it, expecting .. well expecting something. Alas, he was slightly disappointed. Not even the barest tingle trickled from the book. He heard more than felt mom’s breath of relief. They had both been worried it would trigger something magical. But now, as he placed his hand to open it, he turned to look at his mom again. “Do you think I should open it here? What if.. well you know.. what if I feint or whatever.”

“Its just a book Andrew, I handled it many times. I doubt its going to explode or anything.” Jenny’s disdain would come back to haunt her, but she smiled and nodded, encouraging Andrew to open it.

As he turned the cover over, revealing the first page, he felt a strong tingle in his fingers. It was slow and gradual, and bearable. Comforting almost. The first page was blank of course and as mom had said, she couldn’t read any part of it, and neither could he. The tingle began to increase, as a clearly disappointed Andrew began turning page after page and then more pages, all of them blank and crisp and clean and just when he reached the last page, he found an Index. It was pretty simple as Indexes go, because it only had five numbers. Five numbers and that was all.

He picked up the book as if to look under it and the moment both hands touched the cover with thumbs pressing the pages he felt a surge of electricity, but not from the book, rather it went from him into the book. And looking back at the last page he found a 6th number with his name, Andrew Thatcher written in neat prose next to the six. This time he did drop the book and stepped away from it. He had been expecting something magical to happen, but that had definitely not been it.

Andrew stumbled again when suddenly his vision turned blurry. He thought he was feinting again, but then noticed that he wasn’t getting tunnel vision, instead something was obscuring his vision. He squinted and tried to focus.

Before him, in the very air, or perhaps in his mind were the words that were obscuring his vision:

Quest Complete:

Journal and Core Bonded

You have much to learn and little time indeed to learn it, but a journal full of knowledge is certainly a step in the right direction.

It was then that the bank alarm went off and water began to spout from the ceiling and of course the lights went out. A moment later emergency lighting dimly lit the room. Andrews first instinct was to close the book and wrap the cloth around it. His second was to place the book and the items on the table back in the safety box and slam the lid. Then not knowing what else to do, Jenny and Andrew huddled in the cubicle, using the curtain to keep from getting wet. Andrew noticed that those words had gone from his vision and he had to wonder if he didn’t imagine them.

Fortunately the water turned off a short while later and Jenny immediately opened the box and placed everything that was inside it, into a small carry bag she had brought for the purpose. It bulged a little, because she hadn’t expected to take everything, but this Bank definitely didn’t feel safe at all.

Due to the wetness all around them, Andrew didn’t feel inclined to take out the journal again. At least not until they were safely home. He instead tried to make sense of what he had seen in his vision. What quest had he completed, and who was sending him those messages? The last remark has seemed not exactly scornful, but certainly it felt impatient. Even worse for Andrew was the fact that there was nothing written in the book. He knew his dad had written in it, and now that it magically showed his name, perhaps there was more to discover. Maybe he just needed more time with it, like he had spent time with the egg. Thinking about the egg gave Andrew a warm glowing feeling in the pit of his stomach and he frowned. Grabbing his stomach to feel if there was something there, under his skin.. It felt very warm indeed. Almost uncomfortable. Suddenly his attention was ripped from his inward thoughts as the emergency lights flickered then went off and the main lights returned, then locks clicked and the door to the chamber opened.

The very apologetic assistant came in to escort them out. His most profuse apology didn’t help to calm them in the least and when he told them that a server cluster in the security room had overheated and caused the fire alarm to trigger, thus needing everyone to evacuate. They felt even less safe. They had to use the stairs to leave the vault floor and the assistant ushered them breathlessly, he had a ring of keys for mechanical locks, because all the electrical stuff wasn’t able to work right now. So Andrew and his mom labored up the stairs to the ground floor while carrying everything they had in this world of value. Andrew couldn’t understand why anyone would want to leave their valuables in a place like this and was only too glad a short while later to be in the car, heading home.

His mind only adding to the millions of questions gathered there.