Two of the names, three of the locations. The rest... illegible.
She needed a way to remove the stain. A spell, a restoration spell, there had to be one. She whipped around, franctically scanning the books on her shelves before pulling out the thick book of spells she had. Surely there was a spell for restoration here. She flipped open the index, her finger dragging along the tiny words, looking for the right alphabet. She found it. There was no spell for restoration.
Fuck, it had to be under something else. But what? Mending? Cleaning? She didn't have time for this.
She slammed the book closed and dropped it to her desk. The papers on it jumped at the impact and her pen stand fell over. She didn't bother picking it up, she just grabbed the paper from the board and then she was out the door.
Down the stairs, two at a time. Down the corridor. Through a door to the right and another corridor. The door to the computer room.
"Ronja!" she shouted as she threw open the door. Ronja leapt in the air, scattering a handful of papers on the floor.
"Sweet Noivapii!" Ronja said, cluthing her chest. "Tove?! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"I need a spell," Tove said, slapping the paper down on the counter that separated the entrance to the room from the part with the computer.
It was a big computer, massive really, with dials and cables and lights that Tove couldn't begin to understand the function of. From it came a thick wad of cables that snaked towards the front of the room and attatched to another machine on the counter. "The terminal", Ronja called it. It had a keyboard not unlike a typewriter has, but instead of a paper holder, it had a black screen with a bunch of white text. Whenever Ronja wrote anything on the keyboard, a bunch more text flew across it, too fast for Tove to follow. It was the computer's way of speaking, Ronja had explained once.
"A spell?" Ronja asked. She turned the paper around and examined the coffee stain. "To clean this? Isn't there one in your spell book?"
"Probably, but I couldn't find it," Tove said. Her heart was pounding in her ears. "I'm... in a hurry." Ronja hummed softly and turned to the terminal. Her fingers glided along the keys, accompanied by a soft tak tak tak. Tove took the moment to try to calm herself. Focused on relaxing her breathing.
"So what is this paper anyway?" Ronja asked with one definite tap of the keys. The machine behind her whirred to life, a gentle groaning emitting from it as the lights in it started flicking on and off. Words were speeding past the screen but Ronja wasn't even looking at it, fixing Tove with a curious look instead.
"This is my breakthrough," Tove said. Ronja's brow furrowed for a second, before a wave of realisation washed over it.
"Oh," she said. She looked over the paper again, this time taking in the words on it, not just the state it was in. "This is your missing link, huh? Where'd you find it?"
"In the belongings of the previous Cametonian corresponent," Tove said. "Alaia is going through what he left here. I don't know what it means yet, but I'm going to find out. I'm gonna go talk to him."
"Today?" Ronja asked, glancing at the clock mounted on the wall above the door. "It's pretty late, and I doubt he'll see you without prior notice. Or without a good reason."
Damn, she was right. "You're right," Tove said, chewing on her lip. "I'll call him first thing tomorrow morning and ask if he wants to meet."
A whirring sound and a chrrk chrrk chrrk chrrk as the terminal spat out a piece of paper. Ronja tore it out of the machine and looked it through quickly.
"One of the suggested spells is in the book you have," she said, offering the paper towards Tove. "Here's the page." But she didn't let go when Tove went to take the paper. Tove tugged gently, looking confused. "Take Alaia," Ronja said. "Say she wants to know about what it was like for him to work here, if he has any tips, or whatever."
Tove blinked. "That's brilliant, Ronja," she said. Ronja grinned and let go of the paper.
"I know," she said. "Now go do the magic thing." Tove nodded and turned to leave. Before she was completely out the door, she heard Ronja shout after her, "And apologize to Alaia for storming out on her!"
Tove let out a short laugh and gave Ronja one last wave before closing the door behind her.
~X~
Tove knocked on the door again, even though it was still open. Alaia looked up.
"Oh," she said.
"Hi," said Tove. "Sorry for just running off like that." She waved the now completely restored paper and Alaia's eyes flicked to it for a moment. "I found a spell to get rid of the coffee stains."
"That's nice," Alaia said. "Though it dosn't seem like there's much of importance in the stained papers. It's mostly his notes on old news he's reported on. Nothing useful, except maybe for archiving purposes."
"Actually," Tove started, stepping properly into the office and pulling the door closed, "there might be something."
"Something?" Alaia asked.
"I'm working on a story right now on a bunch of, let's say... odd things that have happened around the city. Seemingly they have nothing in common, except they're all in the vicinity on the Old Town and Huldsborg, but aside from that... nothing. And everyone else who has investigated these oddities has agreed that they're unrelated, but I know they're not."
"How do you know that? If everyone else disagrees?" Alaia asked. It as a sensible question, Tove knew, but she was a bit tired of having to explain it to everyone.
"They have the same magical signature," she said and she knew she sounded a bit exasperated. But when every time she told someone she was met with a bunch of sceptical looks, it was bound to tire her out.
However, when Alaia said, "I see... that's interesting!" it was like a breath of fresh air, like a surge of all new energy to Tove.
"You... you believe me?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Sure," said Alaia simply. "I've noticed that the magic feels different from what it's like back home. Here it's much more warm and encompassing, while the magic in Cametonia is like a cool breeze just passing through. I kinda thought it was because here is so cold and there is warm, but I guess it could actually be physically different."
Tove stared with her mouth agape. For a moment she couldn't find words, any words. Then she broke out in a huge grin.
"Yes! Exactly!" she almost yelled. "I'm so glad you agree!"
"You're... welcome I guess?" Alaia said with amusement. "Now, what is it about these papers that make them so important?"
"Right," Tove said, clearing her throat and returning to the explanation. "There's seemingly no connection between the cases, none of the people apparently know each other, and the locations are kinda far and don't map out any particular shape or symbol. But this paper," she shook the paper again, "this paper has the names of five of the six people involved, as well as four of the locations." She handed the paper to Alaia, who looked it over. "Problem is, there's no description of who these people are to each other. There is a few more names, and I intend to look into those soon, but this is just the beginning. Which is why I need to look through all the other papers in the pile."
"There's an X on the paper," said Alaia, pointing at the paper. "Think that might be relevant?"
Tove looked over. In the bottom left corner there was indeed an X. It was drawn there with ink instead of being typed with a typewriter like the names and addresses were.
"X marks the spot," Tove said. "Whatever spot that is. I'd imagine it means something, but who knows what. We don't really have too much to go on yet."
"I think some of the other papers had an X too," Alaia said, handing the fixed paper back to Tove and walking over to where the others were drying. Tove took the moment to glance around the room and her attention was immediately drawn to the canvas flag hung above the door. The reds, greens and yellows of Cametonia were vibrant against the dull gray wall.
"Showing some patriotism?" Tove said, motioning towards the flag. "That's nice."
Alaia looked over, but to Tove's surprise she seemed confused for a while. Then she followed her line of sight to the flag and said, "Oh, that! That was left by Mr. Marqués as well. I thought I'd leave it up though, it does remind me of home." She turned back to the papers and picked out a few of them. "Look, here." She pointed at the papers. Indeed, they had a similarly inked X in them as well. Tove hummed.
"I suppose we'd better fix these and see what they all say," she said. She grinned. "Do you mind staying a bit late after all?"
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More parts!!! More mysteries!!! More everything!!!!!!!
I had several different ideas on the flag thing, butttttttt I think this is fine in the end. I think I've written enough already. Next topic is "Telescope"!! Byeeeeeeeeee
Pie out.
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