To Be Proud: Revamped

Chapter 40: Digging Deeper

~Thwok~

One of my main philosophies had always been that a bit of background information could never truly hurt a monster. Pulling an all-nighter for said information, however, was more dangerous than I initially thought. As the previous day passed and a new dawn rose, I was sat by the desk in room A-8 reading off of an entry regarding Earth Island. I had read through almost the entire selection of books within the room, but what had tired me more was the constant repetition of similar information.

These authors must love copying off of each other, I thought as my eyes scanned through the final pages of yet another Earth Island book. Setting the finished piece to the side, I leaned back into the chair I was sitting in and tried to rub the exhaustion out of my eyes. As much as I wanted to rest right then and there, I knew that I had to keep reading. There was no true importance, but I told myself that it was important nonetheless. Despite the pattern of repeated or paraphrased information, some books held details that either weren't found in previous books or weren't added in new books. Trying not to think about the conflicting details too much, I grabbed a book about Earth Island's general history and started reading once more.

I had only read through a few pages of the historic novel when I heard the sound of a singular silent click. Once I realized that the sound wasn't a result of my gears clicking in place to wake me up, I felt the sudden suspense increase tenfold. Spinning around to look at the room, I glanced over to the door leading out to the rest of the hotel. Making a note of how the door was unlocked, my attention suddenly shifted towards the bed. Bona had just woken up, his fur being a ruffled mess, and he looked over at me with a tired look in his eyes.

      "Th-Thwok? Was that you?"

      "You huhrd thaht too, huh?"

      "Of course I did." He rubbed at his eye socket, standing up as he did so. Glancing at the window, he shook his head slowly and turned back towards me. "What are you doing up so late?"

      "Iht's awlmohst dawhn."

      "Thwok..." Bona looked over at me,, studying me carefully, before hanging his head and letting out a sigh. "Thwok, please don't tell me you stayed up all night."

      "..."

      "Thwok-"

      "I mihght've stahyed uhp awl night." Bona groaned in response to my confession.

      "Thwok, you can't keep doing this. Something is going to break, I'm sure of it." He glanced at what I was reading, sighing once more. "What have you been binge-reading this time?"

      "Books ohn Urth Island."

      "How convenient." I nodded.

      "Sleep whell?" He shook his head.

      "Terrible. Wanted to punch the air, and then...punch it some more."

      "Nightmahre?"

      "Vision."

      "Oh, I'm so-"

      "They got to Scargo and Fleechwurm."

      "Whaht!?" I stood up, making myself wake up completely regardless of what time it was. I stared up at Bona, praying to Galvana that he was joking, but he gave a solemn sigh.

      "I'm sorry." Thinking very carefully, I shook my head.

      "Ohkay, Urth Island cahn waiht. We need a gahme plahn fohr Wuhblin Island ASAP."