Beyond Eternity

DAY 4, A.M

The girl got up early, the suns' rays just peeking from beyond the horizon was all the light that illuminated the island at that moment. The girl stretched her body, prepared her writing materials and left the watchtower to head towards the castle.

The sun had already risen upon her arrival. She first went to the royal garden and plucked some grapes and an apple to eat on the way. When she got to the door that leads towards the royal bedroom, she peeked a little and found that the boy was still fast asleep.

“Well aren't you peaceful?” whispered the girl. She took a piece of paper and wrote the words “Your next clue is the silversmith.” then put the paper by the bow and quiver left on the nearby desk. She left the room and wandered a bit more, thinking thoughts to herself all the while eating what she had plucked.

The girl later left the castle to see that the sun was now shining brightly and although still low, the sky no longer had shades of yellow, orange or red, it had then been completely drenched in blue. Humming to herself a tune, the girl thought “Maybe I'll stay atop the ramparts today” and went.

Several minutes passed before the girl reached the top of one of the tall structures that made up the ramparts, she overlooked the whole island from there and felt the strong yet fresh winds rush. She stayed silent there for some time.

Rather than return back down immediately, she decided to stay up there for a while, although her thoughts were focused on the boy, she let herself stay at peace as she watched the all that was above and all that was below. As though convincing herself that the new person who arrived won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, she fought off her own paranoia and sought tranquility, at least, for that moment.

For all her attempts however, she couldn’t rid her mind of him, she was a small but stubborn fear that the boy would disappear somehow and leave her alone once more, back to the loop of days she had grown so accustomed to, and she didn’t want that.

After enough time had passed, she let her paranoia get the better of her, spoke, saying “I've been here a short while now, so how is he?”

After every few moments, she would find relief only to ask that very same question again, and for a few times, it kept repeating.

Another moment of silence passed after the girl asked the question one last time, with only the sound of the wind and the nearby birds. Unlike her previous reactions, the girl this time said, “I see, thanks.” and got down.

As the girl exited through the ramparts' door, Spotting the boy on a nearby path, she immediately hid herself behind a bush.

“Close call” she said.

The boy, while walking said out loud “That thing's really tall, I'd like to get to the top sometime. Well, for now, to do what this weird letter says is my priority.” and went on his way.

The girl peeked out of the bush to see the boy now far from her, with a sigh of relief, she said to herself “I'm surprised by how calmly he just spoke to himself, like obtaining letters at random in an uninhabited island is perfectly normal, or maybe he finally snapped? That'd be bad.”

She left from where she was and cautiously followed in the path the boy took knowing that it led to the village, “I did not specify where the silversmith is so he has to do the searching for himself, hope he doesn't get lost.”

Upon reaching the first village house she encountered, she climbed its stone roof and hopped from roof to roof, wary of the boys' presence.

The boy on the other hand, kept thinking to himself as he tried to find his destination, mildly unsettled.

“Those birds today seemed odd, I wonder why? They just perched themselves near me and watched, then flew off again like their purpose has been done. It’s not like I had any food apart from the fruits I had either and they weren’t eating that… Worse still, another one would come back every few minutes, it’s almost like there was someone who could see through their eyes or something. Now this starts to sound like witchcraft or something.”

“And now.” He continued. “There’s this new letter, there might be a connection but I’d rather not let myself fall to my assumptions right now.”

With a few turns here and there, the boy found the building that seemed to him like the silversmith, “This is it huh?” he said as he entered.

“He's quite lucky to have found that fast, especially considering how it doesn't look too different from the rest of the homes around here.” Said the girl.

“So I’m told that the next clue is the silversmith,” Said the boy. “I guess that means I have to search for something here. Probably another journal.”

The interior seemed pretty standard for a silversmith, if not a bit outdated. Looking around first, the boy soon began checking the drawers also in the hopes of finding something worth noting. In one of them, he found a book that read “Do not read!” among the tools inside.

“I guess this is it then.” He said as he sat on a stool and opened the books first page.

Nate's Journal

Hi! My name is Nate!

“Wow, as if I didn't quite catch that”, said the boy out loud.

 At this, the girl chuckled. She began writing something once more as the boy kept his reading.

I am just a poor boy from a poor family from birth till the age of 6, from then, I worked for Mr. Veneric, the silversmith to earn my living so I can care for my father, mother and little sister. Mr. Veneric is very kind, he lets me-

The boy's reading was abruptly stopped when he heard a sound, he then saw on the floor a letter with a pebble on a bag tied to it. “Just like yesterday” He thought to himself.

“Once you're done with your reading, climb to the highest point of the ramparts.” He read.

“Wow, It’s like my wish was granted” He continued.

After making sure the boy read the letter, the girl darted away from the scene.

Looking at the window from where the boy assumed the letter was thrown from, he put his head outside and looked around, finding not a soul, with this, he only sighed and returned to his seat.

Now the boy resumed his reading of Nate's diary

-eat delicious meals and even made me a bed, it is very comfortable! He even gives me extra food from time to time to share with my family, working for him is also very fun.

“Unlike the chef's journal, I find this very hard to take seriously, it’s rather cute actually, the voice in my head switches to that of a child just by reading this.” Said the boy to himself although loud enough that he'd disturb the neighbors if he had any.

The boy skimmed through the pages, “All these show no signs of being destroyed unlike the chef's journal.” He thought.

Day 1

Mr. Veneric gave me this book and said I should write down my thoughts here! I will keep it forever safe with me!

“He sure did.” Said the boy. Instead of reading the whole thing bit by bit, the boy skimmed through most of the text and only fully read the parts he found interesting.

Day 2

We had stew for dinner today, it was really good too! I was asked by Mr. Veneric what I would like to be in the future and I said-

Whenever the boy read an entry he thought would not amount to much, he stopped and immediately moved the next one, intending to find any connection to what the previous journal said.

Day 3

I brought my sister to the shop today, she really liked the place but got scared of Mr. Veneric, I told her it’s okay, he's a good person and hugged her, Mr. Veneric then made her a wooden doll, she was so happy too! After that we-

Day 4

I was told a story by my mother before bedtime, something about how this kingdom was made and who found it first, she said that-

Day 5

I was taught a new word! It is tinker, it means-

Day 6

I like tinkering with Mr.-

Day 14

My little sister hurt her knee today, she-

Day 20

The wooden doll broke! But it’s okay-

Day 33

I now know many things about smithing in just a short time, Im so happy! First-

Day 44

Something is wrong, we heard that two of the princesses were killed today, -

“Oh here we go.” Thought the boy.

- they say that it was two separate murders. Everyone is scared now, the king ordered for the guards to keep patrolling at night, to keep a “curfew” as they say it, when I asked Mom what it meant, she told me that it’s like a rule that makes it so we cannot leave the house after the time they tell us to. She also said that it’s for our safety. Tonight will be the first night of this curfew, so Mr. Veneric told me to go home to my family and gave me lots of food. I hope everything will be alright.

Day 45

The people around don’t look so happy today, maybe it’s because of the murders. I went to the shop and helped Mr. Veneric again today, but even he doesn’t okay. It makes me worried to see everyone like this. A few customers came in today, mostly regulars, they talked with Mr. Veneric about the murders too. They said some difficult words so I didn’t really understand all of it. But I think they said something about more murders that might happen. It was scary. I went home again and told Ma and Pa about it too. They told me to be more careful from now on and go home immediately after helping out at the shop.

Day 46

Today was like yesterday, but a bit worse, while I was tanning some leather, I could hear the people talk, usually they’d talk normal things, like the prices of the meat and where to buy this and that, or even make gossips about people sometimes. But today, most of everything I heard was about the murders. I think everyone is also scared, maybe they feel like more murders will happen now. I hope that’s not true though. Maybe this won’t happen again, but that’s just what I hope.

Day 47

Today was the same as yesterday. Everyone only talked about the same things, even Mr. Veneric. I helped him out again today, but there wasn’t really anything interesting that happened. I just immediately went home after that.

Day 48

Me and my family stayed inside our house today, Mr. Veneric told me to take the day off when I went to the shop, he seemed worried, I also overheard that the people at the castle are fighting among themselves now, will everything be alright? I still hope everything will be alright. But I’m also afraid that won’t happen anymore.

Day 49

My sister told asked me about what was happening, I guess she only now noticed how weird everything is. She also looked worried and sad, not like her usual self, she wasn’t smiling. I told her that whatever happens, I’ll be there to protect her. Maybe I could have also said that everything was going to be okay, that this will end soon enough, but now I’m also afraid that it won’t be just like that.