[Open] The Book of Memories

[feistyflowright]

Who: Fai D. Flowright, A magical book and YOU!
What: The Book of Memories from the country of Lecourt is found in the library by the residents of the S.S. Thor. They all find and experience the magic of memories.
When: Starting in the evening.
Where: The Library
Warnings: MASS PEOPLE! Enjoy~

Comments

And so it begins.

[dr_kiriko]

He'd never seen anything like it before. Thousands of shelves of books upon books, bestsellers not only of earth, but of thousands of planets from hundreds of galaxies. Dr. Kiriko quietly entered the library, staring in awe at the size of the first shelf he saw.

Figuring it would be a good place to start as any, he began to graze his fingers across the spines of the books delicately. So many titles... Vogon Anatomy (And how to Avoid It), Apparent Religious Miracles to Expect in the Future, The Trouble With Tribbles, and....

"...Hmmm...?"

His hand stopped on a plain, nameless hardcover.
This book wasn't like the others. An embossed heart adorned the side, but no lettering. No apparent author. No title. Archaic in form, still printed on paper.

Intrigued, the Doctor seized it, and gently cracked open the cover.

The inside cover was completely blank.
The next page was blank, as well. The next one, too. And the next... Even when he held each page up to the light, nothing appeared.

"What the hell...?"He had no use for an empty book.

[justjamitin]

If there was one thing that Anemone completely hated, it was being bored. She had already bothered most of her usual victims during the day, and she raided the pastry shop for a snack for her pet. After finally giving up on the act of simply people watching, the girl asked a random alien what they enjoyed doing while on the ship. She somehow managed to translate his loud snorting to 'the library', and began to head over to it with Gulliver in tow.

Its size nearly doubled-- no, tripled the one she was familiar with back home. Anemone really wasn't the type to stand around and marvel at things like this, so she went straight to a shelf and yanked a book out. The biography of some dead dictator from some dead planet. She shoved it back, frowning. If all the books were going to end up being like this one then there was no point in even coming. She walked along the aisles, pulling volumes out of their place before setting them aside, boredom once again creeping up at her. She was just about to turn around to leave when something caught

A quick post during break

[dr_kiriko]

Immediately the landscape changed around her - the clean, sterile white library transforming into a filthy, barren wasteland. The explosions of mines and bombs can be heard in the distance - some closer than others. The ambiance of missiles and gunfire is deafening, and beside her, a remnant firebomb crackles and spits. Overhead, helicopters fly out the fresh dead. Occasionally, a chopper drops down biochemical warfare in showers - a foul, sour smell, soaking everything in sight. The bodies of decaying soldiers surround her, now - and some of the fallen are still alive, grown men begging and crying for mercy from their pain.

The book in Anemone's hand is now filled to the brim with a rushed, scrawling text; every page covered from top to bottom in only half-legible cursive. Making out the writing is nearly impossible - it can only be explained as the rushed memoirs of a soldier.

[justjamitin]

"What the...?"

Anemone had been raised by the military from a young age and had been in battlers herself, so the sound of guns didn't frighten her as much as it should. But the corpses are what caught her attention. It scratched at a memory, buried deep within her, of a time long ago. Death had surrounded her then too; death and plague and nothing.

She shook the thought away, pushing aside her own memories. The moment was over. She peered curiously at one of the fallen soldiers, faintly wondering how long it was going to take him to die before moving on. What was going on? This was definitely not Thor anymore. She didn't recognize the setting at all, actually. Even Gulliver was no longer with her. The more she looked around, the more paranoid she became.

What's happening? What's happening? What's happening? It echoed in her mind. Besides boredom, if there was one thing that the girl hated, it was being left in the dark.

[dr_kiriko]

Beside her, a unit of soldiers draw near, dragging their bodies through the mud like worms. The words `U.S. MARINES` is emblazoned on their olive uniforms. With them is a seemingly out-of-place boy with blonde hair and pale blue eyes - no older than nineteen. He is the sole soldier whose arm is encrested with a red cross - a medic.

When he looks up, he seems to look directly at Anemone.

He then struggles to his knees and looks past her, surveying the dying.

The violent wind forces the page of the book to turn. It skips pages.

Like an explosion, violence erupts immediately.

Anemone is surrounded by carnage - framing the young medic just inches away from her. He is desperately trying to save his fallen friend, ducked helplessly behind a pile of rock as the enemy army advances.

A voice behind Anemone screams desperately. "Lieutenant Geor-!"Before the medic has time to react, an enemy soldier has already come up from behind and cleaved a hole in the side of his face with a combat knife - exactly where his left eye used to be. He

[justjamitin]

This was all disgusting. It was too messy and too loud and her head was beginning to hurt. She had been following the injured soldiers when the medic caught her eye. He was... different.

"Is he looking at me?" she muttered, but soon realized the answer herself. It reminded her of her venture into the Scub, but they were actually able to interact with the things inside there. So what was going on? What did that stupid book do?

The voice made her jump. But it's what happened next that held her attention. Death on the battlefield was normal, but-- She winced.

"Oh? He's alive?" Anemone was surprised, of course. There's no way she had expected him to live from that attack, and she wondered if she was supposed to be following that guy in particular. She was just about to walk over to him to get a closer look when the bullet shot out.

And she doesn't know what to say.

[dr_kiriko]

Another wind blows past, and the pages turn again. The writing in the book has changed to a more controlled font, though still scribbled maddeningly across the pages

[justjamitin]

She really disliked hospitals. They reminded her too much of her own medication, something that she figured she would need to take as soon as this was over with the way her headache was growing. But she was starting to get used to the whole no one being able to see her thing. She didn't find the nurses' gossip particularly interesting (not like she ever really listened to nurses before) and instead she watched Kiriko at the piano. This scene was much calmer than the previous one, and she wondered how much time had passed since the war scene. Not much, probably, with all the injured around

[dr_kiriko]

The pages begin to turn by themselves. Hundreds of events fly by like seconds; over fifteen years worth of memories.

Sometimes, the memories are happy. The cursive on the book changes to the sort that a lover would use to write to his beloved. A seductive woman is seen at his side frequently. A prostitute? The writing on the book says: Michelle Rochasse.

She soon disappears, and the memories get progressively darker. Alcoholism and depression. A photograph, hung like a grave over his bedroom door. Kiriko murdering his father to keep him silent

[justjamitin]

Anemone isn't sure what to think as time progressed. She didn't care much for the woman, and would snort whenever she appeared, and she then assumed that Michelle had died when her appearances stopped. This story was horribly depressing; the girl was honestly expecting Kiriko to just kill himself as it progresses. Instead, he murdered others.

It was difficult not to raise an eyebrow at that.

Yet it was when the little boy in the wheelchair made a reappearance that caused Anemone to stand straighter, her attention once again completely captured. She almost didn't recognize him at first, and she couldn't help but stick her tongue out as his current look. Stitches were gross.

But it's his words that forced a sharp laugh out of Anemone's mouth. She couldn't stop herself now; all she could do was laugh and laugh and laugh. He wasn't a helpless little boy anymore, it seemed, and the look on Kiriko's face didn't help calm her. It was finally getting exciting.

Final memory.

[dr_kiriko]

The final chapters of the book. There are only a few pages left, and the writing has become even more eccentric and illegible than it was in the beginning. The only word capable of being made out is the word "humiliation." They play without interruption.

Kiriko is laying down in a bed with a high fever and clutching his stomach, trying to stay conscious. He's not sure when or how he got infected, all he knows is that he feels extremely sick to his stomach after his trip to Brazil.

In the first week, he's struggling to stay standing. Crippling cramps wrack his stomach occasionally, and to his shame, he's having troubles making it to the bathroom on time.
He diagnoses himself with bacillary dysentery, but he changes his mind when his skin begins to jaundice.
He checks his liver. For some reason, during the lumbar puncture, he finds a pocket of pure water embedded within it...
He flees to a quarantined cabin, just to be safe.

In the second week, his liver has swollen and his stomach is starting to bulge, and a legion of strange, flesh

[justjamitin]

She definitely did not like this part.

The more severe his sickness became, the more Anemone began to pay attention to the surroundings. Looking directly at Kiriko made her want to gag. Out of everything that she had seen so far, watching his body crumble away was the worst. It wasn't pity, no. She couldn't even feel that for this man after watching everything he had done in his life.

It was revulsion. She thought he deserved it. Anemone was sort of glad for this to be happening to him, really. She almost smiled at the thought, but the sight of his sores quickly upturned that. Even if he did deserve it, it was still grotesque and painful to watch. She loathed ugly things.

She doesn't pay much attention to his sister. It's Black Jack that causes the smirk to come back. The girl really liked him; the way he made Kiriko freeze like that. It was comical, and she had to stop herself from bursting into laughter again.

And then it was over.

[dr_kiriko]

Back in the library, the Doctor was beginning to grow a little concerned for the pink-haired girl who stood stock-still in the centre of the aisle.

Her ugly sheep-like pet scurried frantically around her, growling occasionally the book in her hand, and she hadn't payed him any notice. Could she be having a stroke...? She hadn't moved or even blinked for almost five minutes (...not that he had been watching her, or anything...), her blank lavender eyes staring directly at the scrawled writing across-

Wait a second - writing?
Hadn't the book had been blank minutes ago...?

"Hello? Are you alright?" He called to her, frowning. When she didn't respond, he drew closer. "Hello?" Confused, Kiriko put a hand to her shoulder. The writing on the book disappeared immediately. "...Miss?"

[justjamitin]

The only response she gave was closing the book. She did twitch slightly at his touch, as if the book was responding to the nearness of the man. But her grip remained tight on it, and she continued to stare down at the hard cover.

Gulliver looked relieved at the appearance of Kiriko, and he made a small grunting the noise. It seemed as if he was gesturing towards the book, trying to tell the doctor that it was the cause of the whole situation.

Which it was, it just depended on him to realize it.

[dr_kiriko]

Gulliver's reaction was what cued Kiriko in. Once warned, it didn't take a genius to discover that something was really wrong with the girl. Kiriko jumped into action.

"Are you okay?! Can you hear me?!" Feeling as if it was necessary, he stepped in front of her and knocked the book from her grasp.Putting both of his hands gently upon her shoulders for support, he looked into her eyes worriedly. "Miss?!"

[justjamitin]

The spell was broken. Once the book had fallen out of her hand, she blinked. Once. Then twice. Her head was throbbing in pain now, and it took her a few seconds to be able to focus on her surroundings. It was the library, wasn't it? She was back where she was.

And she saw him.

Her eyes widened, and Anemone instinctively took a step back. But it couldn't be, it was just some sort of illusion, right?

"Kiri--"

She couldn't finish; her consciousness had drifted away from her.