The Past in Pages in Memories written

[ladyofstars]

[Zerase is in the library, ignoring all the fallen bookshelves unless it has a book on it she wants. She has removed her cloak and has it hanging off a corner of a still hanging shelf. The books she has stacked on a table are The History of the Scarlet Moon, The Formation of the Highland Kingdom, The Fire Bringer War and various other texts about Harmonia's history. By the books is a piece of parchment written in glyphs. In her hands she has open another history book as she paces back and forth, every once in awhile she pauses and writes something on the parchment]

That's what I thought.

[She sets the book down and goes for another]

Comments

[judgementscythe]

Not having even taken the timand comes right up to Zerase and immediately and rudely gets in her face]

You. You know something. Tell me what it is now.

[ladyofstars]

[Looks at Lorelai for a moment, and then turns away and takes a book of the shelf.]

You should already know. You've seen the Karayan boy's Rune misbehave, and you've experienced this. You're smart enough to draw your own conclusions.

[A beat] Or perhaps not.

[judgementscythe]

[Clearly panicked] You know that's not what I mean witch. That earthquake wasn't natural. Clearly someone here has True Earth. And I know Luc and Sierra both have True runes but I'm not worried about them. An Earthquake is nothing if some of the other true runes are activated. How do we stop this? You know something! You always do!

[ladyofstars]

I believe it's well known that the Harmonian Bishop Sasarai has True Earth. And I haven taken care of that for the time being.

You should worry yourself about the others. I have reason to believe they already some have acted without their bearer's consent, I am not certain.

[judgementscythe]

You know something. You know something. It's either something to do with the True Runes themselves or they are reacting to something else. What is it?

[latkje]

[ Nash comes back to the library after the earthquake, just to reassure himself that everyone got out safely. He didn't expect to find anyone else there, much less someone actually doing research. He's heard more about Zerase after their last encounter. He's curious about what she's doing, so he starts putting the library back in order, keeping an eye on the titles she seeks out in the process. When she goes for another, he asks: ]

Do you need help finding something?

[ladyofstars]

Anything that has to do with the formation of Highland and Scarlet Moon. Particularly if has a Harmonian author.

[Writes something down her parchment]

[latkje]

Hmm.

[ Something like that had caught his eye earlier, because his old tutor used it as a textbook. He'd been surprised to see it, so far from Crystal Valley. He grabs it and hands it to her. ]

Will this do?

[ From what he remembered, it was highly slanted towards the Harmonian point of view. ]

[ladyofstars]

Yes, thank you.

[opens the book and begins to read, occasionally making notes]

[latkje]

[ What the heck, he'll try: ]

What is it about Harmonia that you want to learn?

[aloof_savant]

[ Caesar has been sitting across for a while since he said he's willing to cooperate. Unfortunately he hasn't been too invested in reading these history books, mainly because Apple forced him to read them a couple of years ago. Instead he's more interested in watching Zerase at work, this is the most human and animated he has seen her the entire time. ]

What have you thought?

[ladyofstars]

That never before have more than four or five True Runes have ever been near each other for any substantial amount of time.

And that the Runes try to avoid each other when possible. At least when they don't have hosts.

[aloof_savant]

Fickle little gods, aren't they?

Then again, our knowledge of this situation is only limited to this place, isn't it? I wonder how other rune bearers around the world are faring right now. [ If they're fine, then Zerase's theory could be right and there would be a simple fix for it. If not... ]

[ladyofstars]

A valid point.

[she likes to believe she would know when the Sun Rune is acting up, but it has been years since she's been in Falena]

Your family has connections to the Dragon's Den of Goya, does it not? Could you use those connections to find out about the Dragon Rune?

[aloof_savant]

What kind of influence do you think I have? Our own people are being secretive about the runes, I highly doubt those guys are gonna collaborate. No, if it were true, nobody outside of the Dragon's Den would be allowed to know.

We need to start clearing our own mess before it's too late. I will be holding an assembly with Captain Chris Lightfellow soon.

[charming_chiketsu]

[A few hours after the quake, Jeane checked all of the usual lurking spots Zerase frequented. After fruitless searching, she was about to give up until she decided to look in the old library. Finally seeing the familiar figure, Jeane sighs in relief!]

Thank goodness. I was starting to get a little worried.

[ladyofstars]

Jeane. [whenever Jeane is this worried it's always good to pay attention]

Are you alright?

[charming_chiketsu]

There's no need to worry about me. I'm much tougher than I look.

... Did you happen to see the Bishop?

[ladyofstars]

I did. I provided him a temporary way to stop his Rune from acting out.

[charming_chiketsu]

At least, that's relief for the moment.

I'm afraid of what's to come next. If one of True Earth's spells could cause such damage, I don't wish to think what the other runes would do..

[third_liberator]

[ After the earthquake, it only seemed logical to check the library for Luc (or anyone left trapped inside). He hadn't expected to see someone actually studying there as if nothing had happened.

It was weird. And after checking around the room for any other signs of life, he was left to circle back around to Zerase. ]

What are you looking for?

[ladyofstars]

[Ah, Tir McDohl, she wondered when she would run into this one]

Answers to what might have caused the recent earthquake.

[third_liberator]

I see...

[ That makes more sense. He looks over at the books she picked out already. He can't read her notes, so he's left to assume: ]

Do you think this has happened before?

[ladyofstars]

Not that I'm aware of. Of course, that means nothing.

[third_liberator]

I guess not... But if you don't think it's happened before, what are you trying to find in these? [ Gestures to the books on the table. ]