The Untouched Memory Book

Scarlet, Flen, and Blackwood were moving together in the underground pathway. Although it was not a flawless escape, they were able to push through. Blackwood and Scarlet managed to trick the blob guards into releasing them. When the blob guards return to their senses, they would alert the Cosmocrats. Blackwood appeared to have a useful ability to talk to animals. It was working in their favor as he was able to communicate with the rats which provided them a better direction. He had proven to be an important member of their escape team.

When the group progressed closer to the compartment from up above. They started hearing numerous sounds coming from above. The wood was creaking as the weight of the goblins running shifted.

Thump thump thump

The goblins footsteps were heard, running back and forth. There was continuous thumping and hustling with the occasional dropped books. –Thud

They then shouted at one another, “Those are delicate literature! Would you be more careful!” The one small goblin trying to lift the large books exclaimed, “I’m trying, I’m trying!” There were bickering noises in the background.

“It seems we are underneath the Memory Bank right now,” said Blackwood.

Blackwood continued, “There used to be a room my mother frequently visited, and it was a private place owned by her. There might be a chance that we can find it and hide there in the meantime.”

Rumble Rumble

The sudden approaching sound stopped them in their tracks as they heard wheels rolling nearby.

Scarlet noticed the familiar wheelbarrow from the blind old man she had met before. His head poked out from behind the stack of books in his wheelbarrow.

Scarlet stepped forward, “Hi, it’s been awhile. What are you doing?”

He recognized her voice. “Scarlet, how are you, dear?”

He wheeled his wheelbarrow full of Memory Books. The pile of books were massive and there was several books on the brink of falling off.

“Shhh, don’t tell those goblins I’ve been intruding. My maid Rini has been disguising as a goblin so she can easily get me the books I need.”

“I sometimes release the souls from the Memory Books so they can have fresh air and then I place them back on the appropriate shelf.”

Flen moved closer to the old man. He folded his hands as an apology for interrupting.

“Sir, would you happen to know if there is another way out from here?”

“I use markers to come and go as I please. You can use them, they glow green. If you look around close enough, you will be able to see them.”

He then heard Blackwood’s voice.

“Blackwood? Well I’ll be, I thought you were dead.”

Blackwood smirked. “Now let me tell you my old man, I have more lives than you think.”

“You know each other?”

“Yes, he’s a well-known fortune teller.

Scarlet was amazed.

Fortune Teller! I did not realize he did that as an occupation.

Blackwood described to the old man the room that he wanted to find.

The old man said, “I can show you, but be careful. Even I could not get into the room without any scratches. Where you are under right now, is not the correct place.” He signaled them to follow closely behind him, and he expressed that he would show them the location. He relied on his hearing and touching of the walls.

Blackwood was assisting the old man by pushing the wheelbarrow for him. Scarlet and Flen were catching any books that fell and placed them into the pile.

He took them farther down underground and he then stopped. He felt the walls with his hands. He then unified all the noises into a single compressed sound through his hearing.

“The walls here have gone through a lot; their rough texture bears the marks of everything they have endured.”

“This is it…. I will leave you to it.” He pointed to the wooden compartment up on top.

“Would you like to come with us?” They asked him.

The old man was eerie, “No, I will never. You two take care of Scarlet, you hear?”

They bid him farewell as he went on his own way once more.

Blackwood motioned that he wanted to go there first to make sure everything was safe.

“I can go first.”

“Sir, be my guest.” Flen responded quickly.

Blackwood started to do some practicing jumps to climb up. He tried to with his nails digging into the rocks, but his grip was not good enough.

Flen then stopped him.

“Sir, no worries, I can help you.”

He held out his two swords and jammed them into the rock wall. He firmly gripped onto them tightly against the walls. Afterwards, he began to climb up by using them as his picks.

When he reached the wooden compartment, he pulled out his third blade to pry it open. It cracked it open slightly; the wooden board was heavy. He took a deep breath and pushed upwards with all his might and then it slid open completely. Then, he took a leap inward to get inside of the room.

He reached out his hand toward Blackwood and pulled him in. Blackwood rolled a little bit as he got inside.

Flen then reached out a hand to Scarlet.

“Miss Scarlet, it’s your turn now. Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.”

He pulled her in strongly. She tried her best to hang onto him tightly. It was as if she was glued to him. Her feet were dangling in the air freely.

That’s a long way down. Flen, please don’t drop me!

Blackwood helped Flen pull Scarlet safely inside.

The room was very large and elegant with fluffy carpeting and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The walls were full of shelves of Memory Books.

As they walked within the room, it was windy with twirling tornados.

Oooooahh Ooooooooooooooooo

Opera singing was deeply vibrating in the background.

The rose petals were dancing in the wind. It was hard to see what was in front of them. When they tried to walk forward, their skin was pierced and bled.

Ouch—Blackwood’s bare skin was pieced.

In the center of the chaos, there lay a giant sparkling memory book floating in the air chained up with thick steel chain links with a metallic rose shaped lock at the end. The lock could fit a small key.

The room felt ominous, and Blackwood started to feel uncomfortable.

There was a ruckus in the vault since the Cosmocrats were looking for the missing prisoners.

Blackwood thought to himself that they need a distraction. He remembered that he still had the rat in his pocket, so he released it into the hallway. The goblins heard the squeaking and panicked when they saw the little creature roaming around. The Elder goblin was standing on a bookshelf trying to threaten it with his stool, the others feared it and screamed.

Valerius happened to be in the next room, conversating with somebody.

The loud noises irritated him, since he was having a meeting. He then came out of his room to yell at the goblins.

“Settle down! Out there.”

“We are deeply sorry Sir, but there is a rat on the loose.”

“Rat?”

It was difficult to see, in the corner of the room, there were big cocoons with tightly wound-up white threads in. With all the commotion happening, the giant insects started breaking out of their cocoon and were fluttering around clumsily after hatching. There's one with a big stinger coming directly at them.

Flen raised his sword, and it emitted a sonic wave that caused the insects to leave them alone. The wave only affected insects.

The room was very chaotic. They tried to get closer to the book but was unable to.

Oooooahh Ooooooooooooooooo AOOOOoooooahhh

The opera pitch broke the glass window, and more wind blew into the room. Their hair strands and loose clothing were all fluttering in different directions. The strong winds pushed against them, making it difficult to move ahead.

Suddenly the giant Memory Book illuminated itself and it glowed red.

They heard a loud voice coming from the book: GO AWAY…. GO AWAY

Then the wind’s intensity pushed them backwards.

Flen tried using his sword technique to cut through the wind for an opening, but it was of no use.

Blackwood shouted to Scarlet and Flen, “We need to leave! This place is dangerous, too!”