15 The Book

Annixon looked for a rather large splinter jutting out somewhere or another. He eventually came across a piece that fulfilled those criteria. He did find some pieces but weren't large enough/ He opened the book. The pages were naturally blank. He took the large splinter and burned its tip, to make charcoal.

The first thing he wrote in the book was to ask, 'What's its name?' Annixon waited for a while, but nothing happened. He started laughing at himself. He actually believed the dream? For all he knew this could be one of the girls' book. He studies it more carefully. Mundane, nothing stood out. He even went as far as to studying the stitches, still nothing. He opened back on the page he wrote before, and to his surprise, the writing had vanished. The more he thought about it the more it looked like this belonged to one of the girls. Guess he had to wait till the morning, but he was too wide awake. The darkness was unsettling. If it wasn't for these magic crystal lights that were placed through the corridor he would have had a really hard time to navigate.

He wasn't all that tired anymore, but he went back to bed to get some sleep. He felt like an idiot. Was that dream real or was it fake? And if it was fake then why did his brain believe it would be real? Before he knew it he drifted back off into sleep.

The following morning he awoke before the girls. He was stiff as all hell. He was sleeping on the right side at the foot of Anastacia's bed. He stood up to make his way to go greet the sunlight but was stopped before he could. Anastacia had woken and called out to him, "Where are you going?"

"I am going to the deck. I was going to wait for you but…I was bored." Only then did he discover how hungry he truly was, "Oh…uuhm, how does food work on this trip."

"We get served three meals a day." She stood up and looked through the porthole, 'It still too early for breakfast, but if you are hungry we brought some dried fruits and venison, and we even have some nuts. It should last us a while. We wanted to wake you up for dinner but couldn't bring myself to wake you up. You did so much for us already and I barely even know you."

When she said dried fruits and venison he didn't hesitate, "Please, I am in real need of some sustenance. I would appreciate some food."

She produced a rather large bag filled with dried meats and fruit. He grabbed a bunch and started to gorge himself. The meat was a bit tough but the fruit went down easily enough. Anastacia placed her hands on his to stop him from eating anymore, "Take it easy. Breakfast is still on the way."

He wanted to eat more but he stopped himself. They needed to ration this in any case.

Anastacia saw him stop and smiled, "So, Annixon what do you want to do today?"

"The odds of an alchemist being available is pretty low."

Sinah woke up and greeted everyone. Her hair was a mess as she rubbed her eyes. There was still a small piece of dried venison that Annixon was lazily chewing on, "Good, isn't it? Made that myself."

Annixon smiled back, "Yes, a bit chewy but very good. Thank you."

Anastacia interrupted, "So, what are you going to do today? Probably read a book."

This made him remember about the book. They were both up so why not just go ahead and ask. He picked up the book and lifted it slightly into the air, "Whose book is this?"

They both studied the book for a bit and both confirmed it wasn't theirs. So where did the book come from?

So Annixon decided to try something else. Rather than asking for a name he asked something more magic related. A simple one, 'What is magic?'

An almost instant reply came back, -Magic is an energy that is infinitely manipulatable and can be found in all things. Be it living or dead.-

This shocking realization dawned on Annixon. His dream was real in the end. He closed the book, but as soon as he did it began to glow. He opened it up to find that something else was written in it.

-Suggestion – Find an Alchemist.-

-Suggestion – Get into the Captain's good graces.-

Annixon shook his head and chuckled. This already coincided with his initial objective, but the old man never spoke of rewards. Getting into the captain's good graces as nothing more than a passenger would be difficult. Especially if that said passenger didn't own enough money to bribe his way towards it. He needed to prove himself in some way or another. He needed to stand out.

Anastacia interrupted his train of thought, "What's so funny?"

"Is there such a thing as a god in this realm?"

"There are different kinds of gods. One of sky. One of water and so forth."

Annixon thought for a bit. So what is that entity? Let's say that gods exist. This person made it sound like he was the only of his kind and that there was just this one other malevolent entity, or is he just misinterpreting it. Could this be that this was some sort of transcended human being or a god?

Ah, he was overthinking it, "I am going out. If you girls are looking for me I will be trying my hand at fishing. I hope that's at least one activity that they've got on this ship."

"Or you could read."

"Is it academic books…"

A thought crossed his mind, "Hold that thought."

He quickly asked the book how he was able to understand and be able to read their writing. The book simply replied –Due to the Entity-.