Journal Entry, Dated 17/02

Jasmine

Metadata

Reference Number: BICI/SSP/CRJ1004/013

Title: Journal Entry, Dated 17/02

Author: Jasmine

Date: Written approximately 17/02, Year 5607 A. o. W.

Extent: One journal entry, one page long

17/02

The chasm widened yesterday. 

It happened while Nico was making dinner. I was in the main room, reading some book he had on woodworking techniques, when I saw him pause out of the corner of my eye.

“The gorge is about to widen. Do you want to watch?” he asked me.

I set the book down and followed him to the doorway. From there, we could see the shadow of the chasm snaking through the meadow. A few seconds later, the tail end of the chasm widened.

It snuck under the rotten foundation of a house we had already half dismantled near the middle of the village. Within moments, the building crumbled away and fell into nothing. Then, it crept under another rotten foundation, and that crumbled away to nothing as well. Then another fell, and another still. 

The destruction was nearly silent, save for the occasional clatter of dirt and grass against what few stones we couldn’t dig out of the ground. Nico watched it all with glistening eyes. I decided against saying anything. What would pointing out his anguish accomplish?

I turned back to the sight before us and forced myself to stop watching him. If he cried a tear or two, I didn’t know.

It must be hard to watch a place you love crumble away. I wouldn’t know. I don’t care for any particular place. Without the people I love, the world is worthless.

Report From Stonesworth

Fir

Metadata

Reference Number: BICI/SSP/CRJ1004/014

Title: Report From Stonesworth

Author: Fir

Date: Written approximately in the second month of year 5607 A.o.W.

Extent: One report, two pages long

Notes: Was originally found burnt nearly beyond recognition. A version has been recreated above.

To His Eternal Warmth, Who Forged Our Bodies In Love And Strength:

Your most faithful disciple is tiring of her stubborn subordinate. If he wasn’t the best Overseer of the Tending Grounds that I’ve ever had, I’d send him off to babysit Scritta’s ridiculous Hall for a decade or two until he learned to stop questioning me so much. But I must keep my judgement clear, and I simply don’t have an Undying Ember who could perform his role half as well as he does. 

Speaking of Ash’s role, if Your most faithful disciple could be allowed a moment of presumptuousness… I believe it would be in our world’s best interest to send more Sparks to potential Undying Embers. The Tending Grounds feel so barren these days, and the amount of aberrations that stalk the land have not decreased in any meaningful way. 

Maybe this is all for a reason. An emptier camp meant that Ash had no reason to say no when I told him to train Spica. I have so much to teach Spica myself; I can’t wait around for three years just so some Undying Ember of middling rank can occasionally teach her magic. But after seeing Spica in a sparring match… the poor thing would probably need six years before I’d feel comfortable sending her across the land on her own. 

If she trains under Ash directly, then surely she’ll pick up the basics much faster. The personalized attention is good for her. And afterwards, once she’s Branded and back under my tutelage, maybe You’ll spread Your Spark far and wide across the land. I would be thrilled to see these camps awash with potential Undying Embers once more!

Though back to Spica. You know I love speaking about her! I don’t need her to be a combat expert. I won’t say it’s not beneficial, but it’s not a requirement. I have plenty of Embers ready and willing to kill aberrations. She doesn’t need to waste her time on something so trivial. I hardly fight these days, myself. A fact that Ash seems unable to wrap his head around. 

I’m tired of hearing “She’ll die out there, Flame-Feeder,” and “Branding someone as inexperienced as her besmirches the legacy of every Undying Ember that has come before us.” I reminded him that I am the one who is granted Your audience, not he. Naturally, I am closer to Your will than he is. And if You have deemed her to be my protege, then I have deemed her to be a perfect continuation to Your mighty legacy. Really. He’s getting too comfortable here…

Maybe I will send him to Scritta’s Hall.

Anyways. I haven’t spent too long around the Tending Grounds. As much as I want to watch Spica’s training, my presence will only make her a bigger target. Teenagers are cruel, and they’ll pick on her enough as it is. No need to make jealousy fuel their flame, too. 

Instead I headed up to Stonesworth. The Embers there are struggling against the aberrations. I’ll need to send a few more to help guard their walls… maybe from Strinarre. They can always do with less Embers, though I know You are often loathe to part with them there. I could always take some from Scritta.

Or I could send Ash! 

…No. He’s much better at commanding others than he is fighting aberrations himself. He’d be of little help in Stonesworth. 

But enough about Ash. I received the most interesting letter from Scritta recently… it appears that things at the Hall of Kindling and Charcoal are not going as well as she’d like. She’s invited me personally to see them, “mete out their form of justice,” as she puts it. I’m still debating whether or not I should go. On one hand, I don’t care. On the other hand, it could be a good experience for Spica…

I’ll consider further. If You have any guidance, I am of course happy to obey Your command. You’ve been quiet as of late, but I’m no stranger to these periods. I’m sure you had a multitude of reasons to select me as Your Flame-Feeder, and one of those is how You can trust me to run Embers fine in Your stead. 

Ah… I miss Spica. Maybe I’ll come see her before the Branding Ceremony, though I’ll definitely be in attendance for the actual ceremony. At that point, who cares if the other trainees hate her? The next time she sees any of them, she’ll have command over them. They wouldn’t dare harass her then.

-Fir

Journal Entry, Dated 22/02

Jasmine

Metadata

Reference Number: BICI/SSP/CRJ1004/015

Title: Journal Entry, Dated 22/02

Author: Jasmine

Date: Written approximately 22/02, Year 5607 A. o. W.

Extent: One journal entry, three pages long

22/02

The village ruins have been picked clean of spare materials. We have to go further and further into the forest to find anything worth adding to the wall. This morning, we walked for what must have been an hour before finding anything we could use.

I want to start tearing down some of the old cottages, though Nico prefers not to. It’s no trouble at all for me to swing an axe at some rotten wall until the entire thing comes down. Nico can’t. He doesn’t need to explain why; the hesitant smile he offers whenever I glance at him is explanation enough. 

We’ve already torn one down. On our way back to Nico’s cottage, I passed by another building that seemed easy enough to dismantle. I touched one of the walls, and found a clear gap between the wooden logs.

We still had some sunlight, and I still had some energy. I retrieved an axe from the weapons cottage and returned. I could feel Nico’s eyes on me, though I didn’t take much notice of his expression. 

I stepped into the cottage, through what was once a doorway. Before I could lift the axe, Nico was beside me, his hand covering my own. I pulled out of his grasp immediately, but the feeling of his fingers around mine lingered. He was so warm. His skin was oddly smooth.

I nearly jumped at the sensation. I set the axe down and my hands balled into fists. Still, his touch lingered. 

“Heh. Sorry,” Nico said, with another small laugh. I caught a brief glint of panic in his eyes as he stepped back. “I just… well. This one is special to me.”

I remembered what he told me that first morning. “Your… childhood sweetheart?”

Nico shook his head. “My best friend. She grew up here.” His eyes grew gentle, glowing a soft orange in the shadow of the broken wall. “She was my very first friend. She was shy. Had such a soft voice that sometimes, I could barely hear her. My earliest memory is of sitting next to her and telling her that we should be friends. She agreed, and said she had someone else she wanted to be my friend, too.”

Something told me that third person must have been the childhood sweetheart.

All I saw was ruin and rot, but Nico moved as if he was somewhere comforting and safe. I wondered what this place must have been like when he was young. I struggled to imagine this place full of life. 

“She was brilliant. She understood the world in a way I never could. Understood people better than I ever could, and I’m pretty good at understanding people. I felt so lost without her at my side, helping me out. She was a writer, too, and her every word was so beautiful. I loved her stories…”

I thought of Spica. She’s the furthest thing from an optimist, yes, and she’s not much of a story crafter. But all the words she’s too nervous to say come out in her writing. 

I miss her. She must be off training in the Tending Grounds now. I hope it’s going well. That she’s getting everything she ever dreamed of.

I don’t know if we’ll ever meet again. That thought hurts. 

But at the moment, Nico was still speaking, so I listened. 

“We were inseparable,” Nico continued. “Her, me, and the boy who gave me this,” he said, touching his earring. He laughed softly. “Everyone in the village knew that if they saw one of us, the other two weren’t far behind.”

I was already thinking of Spica, and a memory of something she once told me came easily. Most Undying Embers receive their Sparks as teenagers. Sometimes, someone they know will give them traditional wedding jewelry. Not as an engagement, but as a promise of their return. 

In a way, I’m glad I didn’t see Spica before she left. I would have wanted to give her something. Maybe not an earring, but… a dagger. A necklace. Something to remember me by. 

I wouldn’t make her promise to come back. That’s far too close to a trap.

“But she was… sick. Here,” he said, tapping his temple, then dragging his hand down to rest over his heart. “…and here. I wanted to help her. I tried my hardest. I cooked her food, I dragged her out of bed, and I begged her to stay with me. Then one day, she just… left.”

“She also left the village?” I asked.

He blinked at me, then smiled with no joy. “She went somewhere my letters could never reach.”

Oh.

“Sorry.” I was a fool. Trying not to make a bigger ass of myself, I asked, “Do you have anything to remember her by?”

Nico shook his head. “Just this cottage.”

Spica also told me that if the Ember does return, they usually take off the promise earring. But if the boy was dead… no one would blame Nico for memorializing him. 

If only he had something for her, too. This was too big a place to ever carry with him.

“Did you love them?” I asked.

“I still do.”

I winced. What a stupid question. “I…”

“It’s okay. I may have lost her, but at least I can carry him with me always.” He stood up and faced me. His smile was bright, some fragment of his happiness having returned, but his eyes were sad. “We can break this place down. She’d want us to use her home to protect other people.”

We did. We tore up the floorboards and dismantled the foundation. Tomorrow, we’ll carry our new materials to our wall.

His friends must have reincarnated by now. I wondered what Nico thought of that. Was it a blessing, or just another reminder of what he had lost?

I know what my answer would be.