The Secret Vale Archives [Closed]

This takes place on the Sunday of the Fifth Week, second month.

The streets of Vale were close to empty as it basked in the warm orange twilight. Stalls were closing, doors were locking and windows were turning dark. By this time, the only things open would be pubs and inns. There was an exception, though.

Somewhere between two closed multi-storey buildings was a small wooden shop. The sign board was nothing remarkable in the advanced pace of today. In fact, it was nothing more than a chipped wooden one painted with deep red letters.

ROSE MADDER
Herbal and Trinket Shop

No one really ventured in there, but those who knew the storekeeper knew that it was more than just a shop. And now that the streets were close to abandoned, the cloaked owner posted a parchment paper onto the front door. It was wrinkled and burnt on the edges, but the ink on it was fresh and bright red. The sweet smell of pomegranate came to one’s nose when near it. It read:

Vega somehow had free time, which shocked him. His day of letting his specimens run throught the dorm was quickly shot down by Malina and he was exiled. "What does one do to keep busy." Vega looked at his watch and saw he had ample time. As he walked by a shop a piece of paper caught his eye. "What's this?" Vega quickly looked over the paper and his interest took the better of him. "Well that's one way to use up time." Vega opened the door to the shop. "Hello?"

The door opened to a dusty shop that strangely smelled like baked sweets. Inside one could see a small  wooden desk with a register.

Plants in jars and bottles filled the shelves and small handmade bracelets and jewelry draped from the hooks on the walls.

Behind the register was a cloaked figure with a domino fox mask. Bright red lips smiled.

"May I help you, young one?" a soft, alluring voice said.

Vega walked into the shop and had quick look around. Odd this doesn't seem like the kind of place who could pay handsomely. Vega walks over to the register. "Hello Ma'am I am here about the sign outside. I would like to offer my services should the task seem right."

The woman hummed pleasantly to herself for a minute and stood up. Her cloak opened a bit to reveal the fair body of a woman wearing a rose madder chiton. She walked from behind the register to a table with six seats. It was faintly lighted by an amber bulb. The woman slipped into a chair and motioned for the man to sit.

"Have a seat," she said gently. "If you dare..."

She then let out a small crazed laugh and then clasped her hands together on her lap.

Vega raised his eyebrow suspiciously. He stood still for a moment sending out his semblance. Well there's nobody else I'm safe from an ambush at least. "Quite an odd way to offer a seat don't you think?" Vega had a already prepared himself should anything happen and decided to take a seat. He calmly walked over to the chair he looked down at it and saw nothing strange. He finally decided there was no real helping it and sat down.

The storekeeper smiled in pleasure to see that Vega sat down.

"I like being odd," the woman said mysteriously, her voice still soft and gentle. "But anyhow, you inquire of the advert outside. May I inquire first who you are? I'm really Rosie. And I'm Rosie Real."

Vega felt a little calm hearing her voice but kept his sense his sharp in case of an attack. "My name is Vega Anansi. Good to meet you. Now that the pleasentries are over shall we discuss the matter at hand? What do you need?"

The storekeeper smiled again and let out a laugh.

"You're rather business-oriented," the woman said in a cajoling manner. Her light fingers traced the wooden table. "But...before I begin...let's wait for your future teammates, shall we?"

The woman smiled as a tall, sinewy young man came in also asking about the offer. Through her fox mask, eyes that seemed to change colors shifted in the amber light, a borderline between sanity and insanity.

"Yes, yes, come in!" she said as she pulled another chair. "I'll need a group of people. The more the merrier..mmhmm...for me, that is..."

She said this last line slowly, devouring the words like thick cake and sticky icing.

"After all..." she said to the two young men before her now. "You're just the kind of spice I need for a mission like this."

She laughed to herself up to the point she was leaning over the table to catch her breath. Of course, she cared not if her promising employees thought she was crazy.

"Do sit down," she said catching her breath. "I'll let you two listen in first. And I also repay."

The storekeeper immediately sensed Solomon's nervousness, but she kept it to herself, absorbing it little by little like it was a fragrance. To settle the issue, she placed a glass bottle in front of the two men. With her fox mask, the two eye holes stared at them with gravity.

"I am a dying woman," she said aloud. She watched for their reactions, but both remained silent. Picking up the glass bottle, she unplugged the cork from it and looked inside. It was empty.

"When a person dies," she explained. "Whether she'll pass onto the next life or not is decided on her memories. And I...have misplaced mine."

With this she gave out a mournful sigh. It was a pained sound and a sound of yearning. But could anyone really tell what this woman was really thinking. She continued. She took out a paper map and spread it across the table. It was a clear picture of Vale and a territory across a lake. She took one hand from and traced a blood-red fingernail on a marked structure.

"My memories..." she said. "Can be retrieved by an item only found here. And I need you to get it."

As the newest member for the mission opened the door, the storekeeper smiled. She looked at him and nodded. She raised her right arm this time, a long slender white arm with a golden circlet...but with a somewhat aging, decaying hand.

"Come closer," she said. "We're just getting started here. Don't be scared. I don't bite if I don't need to."

Her sweet husky voice laughed at this remark and she waited for him to join.

Somewhere miles away, in a large complex structure filled with books and people (mostly women) clothed in purple robes line with silver, a girl was being reprimanded. She was already twenty, but her eyes, one blue and one green, looked up at the one scolding with the sincerity of a child. She looked like one, too. Though she stood taller than most of the people (everyone was 5'4" here, but she was 5'7"), her dark purple hair was unkempt and her shawl wasn't clasped on properly. She looked like a toddler trying on clothes for the first time.

"I swear I'm not lying!" she said. "I saw it! Someone's going to come here to try and steal the book!"

She was addressing the head of the building who, like most of the grown women, wore silver masks to hide their expression. However, the girl could see the contempt in the woman's eyes and refusal to believe in what the girl was saying.

"You're speaking nonsense again," the woman said. "No one can possibly penetrate our fortress' core and steal the books that lie there. If this is your way of getting attention, it's not working."

The girl couldn't believe what she was hearing. She resisted the urge to speak out of line and tried to rephrase it again.

"But Head Mistress," the girl urged. "I saw it. You know that when my semblance sees something, it's always right. Please, we have to keep guard at the core tonight."[/i]



The woman looked at Marc and tilted her head in amusement.

"Why," she said softly. "The most important thing in my life, of course. And perhaps yours. You and your..."

She looked at Vega and Solomon affectionately (the way a cat looked at fish it was waiting to gro w out).

"Friends," she continued. "Are going to fetch me an important book. A book that...allows one person--and one person alone--to see their entire past."

She showed him the map and once again pointed at the structure from across the sea.

"The Vale Archives," she announced. "A place where the most secret, important and powerful books in all of the kingdom lie. It is a heavily guarded area, too. It's protected mainly by adept Dust mages. A clan called the Dormirse Family. There are also a lot of traps. Monsters. And things that could make you go...a little crazy."

She laughed at the last remark.

"Bring me that book," she continued. "And I'll pay you 50,000 Lien. Each. And..."

She paused for a while and her white teeth showed as she smiled. It was like looking at a real fox grinning and ready to bite.

"A wish...if you want."[/i]

"I don't need you to accompany me to every single shop I visit or even just for a little stroll downtown, Dunham." Shiroe said to his butler, it was night and the streets were empty but as always his butler, Dunham, insisted that he accompany him.  Shiroe was used to it but he never said he liked it.

They were walking down the street when Shiroe saw the little wooden signboard right outside a small wooden shop. Shiroe got interested but he didn't want Dunham butting in so  he ran through an alley to lose him. After a few minutes he left his hiding spot and sneaked towards the small wooden shop, Dunham was nowhere in sight.  He previously read the odd little ad posted outside on a wrinkled piece of paper.

Not exactly the best type of advertising if I could say so myself.

"Young master, I do believe you wish to get rid of me.Yes?" said a voice right behind Shiroe, Shiroe jumped at the sound and almost drew his Sabre. "Ugh. Dunham, could you at least let me be for the night? I could take care of myself pretty well." Shiroe said to his ever-persistent butler. "If that's what you wish young master, but know this, I will be right there when you need me. Just give me a call." Dunham said, he always was the odd type but he preferred to keep his master happy above all things. "Thank you, Dunham." Shiroe replied but the instant he turned towards him there was but a breeze and no one there.

Finally, some time for myself.

Shiroe saw a few people inside the shop being briefed by a odd-looking woman. He made his way inside and walked towards the group. "Excuse me but could you perhaps be the woman who posted the request outside? I mean, are you the owner of this shop?" Shiroe managed to say, being a little awkward in front of the lady and the group.

The woman already knew that the next stranger was to come and, lo and behold, here was a young noble marching into her little shop. She stood up and feigned a curtsy.

"What did I ever do to be in the presence of a noble?" the woman smiled wryly. "But yes, I am she. And you are 'he' who shall add to my little wonderful circle of new friends."

She laughed her insane laugh again. She looked at everyone and then pulled out another seat for the new guest.

"It is strange that one such as yourself would inquire on such a mission," she smiled. "But I doubt its for the Lien. After all...there's more to life than money, isn't there?"

She practically sang the last part. She went back to her seat and then she briefed him in just as she did with the rest. Including the wish she promised. She sat straightly in her seat and began carving letters into the surface of the table with her sharp nail.

I repay, it read.

"Now," she said at last. "We just need one more person and we can talk about payment."

Oh, and how she wanted to talk about payment.

Vega did not have much of an interest in this job before but the size of the payment instantly grasped his attention. "You make an interesting proposition." Vega readjusted his tie as he took a moment to think to himself. In that moment he eyes catch sight of a new arrival but Vega pays him no mind. "Ms. Real I know this does not directly pertain to the mission but I am a man of curious nature. By no means should you feel the need to answer this question and I beg your forgiveness if I overstepped my bounds but If I may ask. What happened to your memories? How does one misplace their memories?" Vega remained in his seat with a stoic expression prepared to accept rejection or learn something new.

The woman smiled at Vega's question and she stood up. Slowly, she walked towards him, pulling on his collar ever so lightly, and drawing his ear close to her red, hungry mouth.

"No one really wants to know," she said. "But you asked oh so politely! I will tell you. But first, Rosie Real is not me. I'm Madder. Vixen Madder. I just like to sing about Rosie. Rosie, whom I oh-so-miss!"

She let go of him and began waltzing around the room. Her black cloak and rose madder chiton swirling like an image of blood on a shadowed wall.

"I'm really Rosie!" she sang. "And I'm Rosie Real! Better believe me...I'm a great. Big. Deal."

She moved closer to Vega again, whispering like a mother to a child.

"Believe me."

After that, she sat down and laughed to herself. She looked at Vega and tilted her head.

"You want to know how I lost my memories?" she asked. "I lost them to another person. Another me. And now I'm left with an empty shell. But who knows? If I get my memories, I can be so much more than a shell."

And she laughed again.

"I see. I have to say that was a much different answer that I was prepared for." Vega fixes his collar where Vixen, Rose, or whatever her name is pulled at. "I wouldn't be able to call myself a gentlemen if I left a lady as lovely as your self as a shell. Should you need my help I will assist you." Vega was not completely convinced Rose had told them the whole story but his curiosity would not let leave now, he was far past the point of no return.

The woman smiled at Vega and stood up again to place a cold hand on his cheek. But it wasn't just cold. What should have been a pure creamy hand had crusted wounds and bumps. She smiled at Vega, her eyes now a strange yellow color behind the mask. Like a cat's. Or a Leopard's.

"It's dangerous to be too much of a gentleman," she smiled. "It's good, sometimes. But all the time?"

She let go of his cheek and dropped her hand to his chest. Her sharp nail pointed at his heart like a needle waiting to sew an button eye.

"It's not safe."

Vega drew his sword and pointed it at Steven. "I appreciate the concern but I can handle my own battles." Vega appeared unfazed by Rose's actions but deep inside he was calculating the odds of whether or not to attack. After careful thought Vega smiled. "I believe you are right Ms. Real. I'll be sure to keep that in mind but the fact of the matter is you still need our help and we seem to still be willing to offer it. How about we all pretend this incident didn't happen. This is work to be done and it is best to get it done in a timely manner." Vega sat waiting for Rose's reaction, his face may have seemed calm but he wasn't entirely sure his words would diffuse the situation.