Fonos: An Esmp au

Act One Ch 4: Hunting and Scavenging

"This is quite interesting".

Scoot and Jimmy had been buried together. I don't what arrangement there was but they died holding hands. Everyone was unsure whether it was an official poly relationship between the three or Scott casually having two boyfriends. Sausage wouldn't confirm anything because he was too busy bawling his eyes out.

Lizzie had been put in charge of the investigation as she was the next qualified. I didn't think it was a great idea knowing her history of tricking authority but I didn't say anything. So far nothing had come of it as she stated herself in the latest meeting.

Now in the chill of November, I'd finally brought Pix to what I now call Skulky treasure cave. While Pix was examining the axe, I kept scavenging around in the skulk for more... I don't what.

"Whoa Pix!! I found a diadem!!" I exclaimed. It was gorgeous. Rose gold that was intertwined with what seemed like dead coral decorated with iridescent pearls. I don't even know what iridescent means.

I hacked a bit at the frame to reveal that it was just a rose gold glaze and it was really made of netherite. "And it's also made of netherite!!" I added. "The diadem looks to be tied to something" he pointed out. I didn't even notice the tied to it.

I pulled on the rope but whatever it was seemed to be stuck. I tugged harder and a book came flying out of the skulk and into my face. Thankfully I didn't fall over. I brought the book back to Pix.

"This is what I found" I said handing him the book. He flipped it open. "It's surprisingly written in English so that could imply that a good amount of the stuff here could be between 1000 to 1500 years old".

"That's... recent, what does the first page say?" I asked. "It's been months since my wife passed away, but it still feels like yesterday. I miss her more than words can express. I miss her laughter, her smile, her touch. I miss her, I miss her....". He trailed off. "Why'd you stop?" I asked. "The rest is just 'I miss her' repeatedly" he answered.

He flipped through the rest of the pages. The 'I miss hers' slowly devolved into strange symbols then the entire page covered in scribbles. On the last page written in all caps 'THEY'RE COMING'.

Pix slammed the book shut. "I'll examine that later" he mumbled stuffing it away in his shoulder bag. "That was a bit strange".

----

"What are we gonna do when the Hermits notice she's gone?".

"No one's gonna know"

"They're gonna know"

"How would they know?"

"She doesn't show up for a long time? They don't know she's a dimension hopper"

"Didn't they realise that when they crossed the rift?"

"Well with the double False, they assumed it was the same with Gem"

"Surely the emperors were smart enough to realise..."

"You have too much faith in their competence"

Our accomplice stood there like an idiot.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I regret it"

"You were fine 2 seconds ago"

They didn't respond and instead ran out the door.

"They're off to snitch"

"Well snitches get dagger wounds"

"That is not how the saying-"

"I don't care"