The Overseer and the Undertaker Ch. 4 // Book 1

Instructions

Chapter 4 Aridiss + Kirone Shortly after Aris’s reunion with Avamizu, she went back out to the garden. No one else was awake to know what she was doing. This was strictly confidential, even to allies, like her girlfriend. The last time they revealed it, there were so many lives lost and stolen. She took no chances. When Aris got to the artificial stream in the garden, she took out a tiny wooden bird. In the wooden bird was a list, and on the list was a name. She gently placed the bird afloat on the stream, by dawn it would reach the woods and hopefully one of their collectors would find it. Hopefully. Aris went back inside. … When Kirone awoke the next morning, he rushed out of bed, got dressed and headed to the library. He had an insatiable itch in his brain that he needed to scratch immediately. And so, he walked as fast as he could down to his destination. Wait, no, not the library in the inn. The library that was three blocks away that supposedly had been in a forest fire, then was put out, and four years later it caught on fire again. And was put out by a flood. As he pushed open the front door, he swore could smell the must of the floodwaters and burning ashes entombed in the dry wooden walls. “Excuse me, sir?” The librarian turned around. “Do you know where I can… find information about Shards?” He stared back at him. “It’s, uh, for a school project?” He lied. After a while, the librarian spoke. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” “Information. About Shards?” He didn’t respond “...Is there something wrong? I could ask my teacher to-” “No, no…” The librarian began to fidget with his hands. “I can’t think of any reason why they would even-” He paused. “Forgive me,” he said as he regained his composure. “I tend to go on tangents. But anyways, the biology unit is on the second floor, third bookshelf. And the… other unit is in the basement, although you would need a key.” He held out his hand to shake. “I’m Ebreios, by the way, and you?” “...Kirone,” he shook his hand, and Ebreios slipped something hard and bumpy into his palm. He closed his fist around the foreign object. Clearly, the librarian didn’t want anyone to see it. Kirone’s brain was screaming at him to open his hand and see what it was, but he kept it tightly shut as he went over to the biology unit, pretending to look interested in a book with the title “How To Read Manuals: A Manual About Reading Manuals” He looked up to where Ebreios was standing a while ago, but he was gone. Why would he direct him to the biology unit in the first place? He opened the thick book, gently flipping its slightly charred pages: Reading a manual is a fairly easy task to do, in which the recipient opens it in the same way you would do with a book. However, locating a manual is somewhat harder, as the recipient has to find either: (A) a user manual (B) a installation manual (C) a maintenance manual (D) a training manual (E) all of the above, including this book. He flipped to a different page. If you choose not to follow the manuals rules, you will end up with the possible: dry mouth, drowsiness, nausea, strange rashes, itching, internal bleeding, upset stomach, vomiting, dizziness, headache, and ultimately, death. Remember! Don’t die FOLLOW THE MANUAL. “Huh, that’s weird,” he thought, then closed the book. Kirone glanced around at the library. There was no one there, only him. Safe. He opened his fist. And in his palm was a key.