The Book of Desires-Chapter 7

Chapter 7

At Incandescent Inc ‘s reception desk, Mr YoSo was walking along side Julie, “Boss will be angry” said Julie casually as a way to mock Mr YoSo since he was the senior out of the pair. “Julie if you had checked for other doors at the bookstore, we would not be in this mess right now” Mr YoSo snapped back. They gave in their ID cards and were escorted to the lifts by the security guards, Mr YoSo walked pride fully, he was a valuable asset to Incandescent; he had worked here for five years as a field agent before finally getting promoted to Head of external Affairs. Incandescent was a large organization, and definitely a rich one. Incandescent had a number of bases around the world; the Head Quarters were located in the middle of New York City. The organization mainly worked in shipping industry and controlled a great deal of the market. However, this was only half of the story, Incandescent also worked in areas frowned upon by government, this was well covered up of course. The organization was currently working on Project Odyssey, which was top secret; this project had been inspired by the recent success of another project which resulted in the creation of the first ever half human cybernetic organism, Saek. The lifts opened, Mr YoSo and Julie looked up, despite the recent successes, failure was not accepted by the boss, and they both new that anyone who failed to recognize this would be dealt with, effectively.

Mr YoSo and Julie exited the lift, and made their way to Sarge’s office; they stopped at the door, and lowered their heads to get to the retina scanner, once done, the doors opened. Mr YoSo entered first, the room was dark, and empty apart from a few pictures; Mr YoSo knew this room was from empty, this room was rigged with secret passages and traps, the Boss was always in total control. There was a large, table in front of them, and there sat The Grand Master, Sarge. In the darkness, it was impossible for them to see Sarge completely; the only source of light was hitting them straight, blinding them as if they were in an interrogation room. Sarge spoke first, “you have the book I believe, yes?” despite this being a question, Mr YoSo knew perfectly well that Sarge knew they didn’t have the book, he was ridiculing him. Mr YoSo thought of his words carefully, Sarge was a dangerous man, “No, sir a young man ran with the book, nonetheless, we have important Intel on him, we should have the book soon.” There was a long silent, Sarge moved his head into the light slightly so they could see him, he was a well built man, short brown hair, he had an eye patch over his right eye, this combined with his terrifying scar across his face made Sarge a man to fear. “I send in two able agents, who were out smarted by an old man and a child, how shameful; to make it worse, the police were notified.

Your recklessness has cost us Saek, fortunately he isn’t beyond repair” said Sarge, “ I am sorry sir” replied Mr YoSo, but before he could finish, he was interrupted, “you’re sorry?!” shouted an enraged Sarge, he slammed his fist into the table leaving a large fracture on the table. Sarge continued, “I should kill both of you where you stand however, your services to Incandescent have been good, and all is not lost yet, Project Odyssey is still intact, through that book, Incandescent will be emitting light just like that of a Lighthouse and we will guide this world and all of humanity to a new world order.”

~

Cubone woke up to blaring noise to his neighbor’s alarm as usual, however, he did not rush out of bed like normal, for starters, he didn’t have job, and also, a lot of things had happened which rendered having a normal life impossible. Yesterday’s events had changed him in ways he could not possible imagine. On his chest was the book, it looked like any regular book, Cubone was having trouble understanding how it could have been responsible for the dangers he had faced, surely there must be a fine line between anime and reality; just then, Cubone thought back to Vapen’s words, “It’ll make your dreams a reality...” Despite him having had the book for a day, he hadn’t got a chance to actually read it. Cubone turned his head and glanced around his room, there was no sign of Meta and Sunshine. He opened the book and the first page read:

To call forth a character, hold the book and picture the character, the character will appear in a flash of light.

There are different character classes

Defence

Attack

Magic

Character Levels

Level 1(the weakest characters)

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5(the strongest characters)

At times of distress, a default Level 2 Defence character will appear, to defend the user automatically

Increased usage of the book will allow a user to access higher level characters; Also, higher usage of the book may allow the user of the book to access powerful abilities which a character may have, increasing the level which they are currently at.

Side Effects

Using the book does have side effects though, the stronger a character is, the stronger the side effects.

Time Limit

A level 1 character can stay around for a maximum of 30 minutes

A level 2 character can stay around for a maximum of 25 minutes

A level 3 character can stay around for a maximum of 20 minutes

A level 4 character can stay around for a maximum of 15 minutes

A level 5 character can stay around for a maximum of 10 minutes

Characters may override this rule if they were to fall in battle, this does not mean they’ll be unusable for another time, but they’ll return to the book. Certain characters, will not be able to use certain special abilities consistently.

Cubone shut the book; for now this was all he needed to know, his first priority was to leave this place, since he was a sitting duck. Vapen flashed across Cubone’s mind; Cubone thought carefully while packing his clothes, Vapen’s abductors would probably be monitoring Vapen incase Cubone decides to look for him. Cubone took his savings, momentarily looked at the apartment, and left, never to return.

The Book of Desires-Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As Cue thought of Vapen, Vapen thought of Cue. Sitting in his hospital bed, Vapen thought of his actions that day. After YoSo and Julie left, he had managed to get to his phone, and call an ambulance. He may have a tough time explaining why his door was in pieces and how he sustained his injuries. He had truthfully gotten away with it by playing up his injuries. He hoped the hospital staff never got around to asking because saying that he had a magic book, that he had sent his employee away to distract them, and was attacked by people in costumes and wielding swords was not a story that would go over well. They may just think he is senile......

With those cheery thoughts, he thought about the danger he had put Cubone in. Was the book really worth it? He had searched for it for a good portion of his life. He also knew that there had been a group that had also searched for it for as long as he had, but with more malign purpose. Imagine what would happen if they could bring anything to life? Just the thought of the FLEIJA bomb or some of the monsters from various works sent shivers down his spine. He may have put the young man he loved as a son in great danger, but the world was in greater danger if they grabbed hold of that book.

He looked across the room to see that Sano had fallen asleep. He had known that Cue would turn to his old friend Sano when things turned bad. Sano and Cue may have not seen each other in a while, but he was reliable and Vapen knew that Cue would turn to him. The police discovered Sano on the floor. Sano knew that YoSo could not have run far because the police sirens had caused him to flee. He may not have seen him in a while, but Sano was as Vapen remembered him. He sat there sleeping. He still had the cast from the surgery he had come from. He had been shot in the arm. It was minor and he was never in danger. However, when he came back to the room still woozy from the anesthesia and before he fell asleep, he answered the only question Vapen had without even talking. The thumbs up he gave with his unhurt arm could only mean Cue was safe. And Cue would not let go of the book while he was still breathing because he knew how much it meant to Vapen. With this he fell asleep contented. Now as Vapen watched Sano began talking in his sleep, "Stop that there's plenty of Sano to go around." Vapen could only imagine what Sano was thinking of considering his taste in manga. Well he deserves to have those sweet dreams after today, Vapen thought as he too fell asleep.

~

"Wait, how did you know there were two?!", Cue yelled. "That means you must have been at Sano's! Why did you not help me there?"

"Funny story," Sunshine said. "We saw that you were in trouble as you entered Sano's place. However, he got a little tied up...." She pointed at Meta, who was fuming. "He got his tie stuck on a nail on the rooftop."

"AFTER she got stuck on the exact same nail, and made me help her get free! THEN I got stuck on the nail!"

As Cue watched this devolved into a playful fight. Seeing this made him trust them even more because they laughed and appeared fine, as he slowly passed out from all the running and summoning he had done that day.......

They turned from their fight to see Cue fall asleep on the roof. "Should have expected it," Sunshine said.

"He has been through a lot today. We should really get him into his bedroom. It will be a pain to lift him up. That reminds me. Where is Shogun?"

"He couldn't make it up to the rooftops, so he really couldn't keep up," said Sunshine, laughing as she remembered this wasn't the first time.

As though he was summoned by their words as easily as Gaara had been summoned with the book, Shogun appeared. He was much the same as his colleague except his frame was larger, and thus he was incapable of the acrobatics they were. He wore the same red tie and black outfit.

Shogun had been the one to call the police. Normally, he would have fought it out on his own, but he had heard gunshots and knew that Sano would either need medical attention or he would soon if YoSo wasn't scared away. He watched from the shadows as Sano was lifted into the ambulance. He had looked to find any trace of YoSo, but he found none. He was tired because the extra distance and slower pace caused by foot traffic meant he had been running for longer than either of his comrades or Cue.

"I thought you guys forgot about me. Man, that was a long run. Did I miss all the action here?"

"You're just in time." They said jointly and pointed at the collapsed Cue.

"Fine, I'm on it." Shogun picked up the collapsed man and carried him downstairs, with the other two leading the way. He placed him in his bed, the book still clutched in his hand. "Should we take that? It will only lead him into a world of trouble if he keeps it."

They nodded; knowing this course of action was for the best. So Shogun attempted to pry the book away from Cue's grasp. However, Cue clutched it and fell from the bed, never letting up on his treasure. No matter how much Shogun struggled, Cue would not give up his prize.

"Look's like we would have to take off a limb before he would give that thing up," Sunshine said smiling. "Wonder why it means that much to him?"

Shogun shook his head in a defeated manner. "Hope he has that much determination when they come back..... They may be willing to do just that."

The Book of Desires-Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Saek had gotten enraged at having been fooled by this Naruto incarnate. There was sand everywhere when Gaara has disappeared meaning that Gaara could be anywhere. Saek stood still and waited for the desert ninja to come out of the sand, then he'd counter attack. He heard a small muffled sound from the sand, which showed Saek where the ninja was. He took his ebony gun out and shot at the sand. A poof of smoke came and the sand was no longer in sight, neither was the ninja. Gaara had been defeated. And because he was defeated the ninja disappeared and apparently went back into Cubone’s imagination.

“You sure are getting the hang of this book. I cannot let you live now that you know how to use it.” Saek said taking Ivory out and pointing it in the direction of Cubone’s head. Cubone squeezed the book tightly.

“Please come out... Ichigo!” Cubone thought in his head, imagining the soul reaper from one of the animes he has seen. What he received wasn't Ichigo. He received a massive headache. “Why isn't my wish coming true?” Cubone asked himself.

Saek laughed at Cubone and slightly put his gun down. “That all? One measly little conjuring and you're all bushed? At least TRY to amuse me” He laughed again and raised his Ivory gun up once more aiming for the head. “Bye-bye!” Saek said pulling the trigger and shot the gun.

“SHIELD! AID AND PROTECT!” came a female voice in the distance. A green luminescent shield appeared near Cubone right before the bullet had gone into his skull. Saek looked to the distance and saw two normal looking characters. One was a girl running up to Cubone and another was a boy trudging slowly behind her. “Water! Heed my call and come crashing down on my enemy!!!” the girl screamed once more. A bucket full of water came down on Saek, not enough to hurt him. “God! It didn't work!” the girl said getting much closer to Cubone by then. She looked a bit tired from casting too much.

She had fading blue hair that looked almost boyish. She had normal blue eyes that had a shine to them, but that was probably due to her personality. She wore what looked like a uniform for school, a black dress shirt with a red tie and a black skirt to match, she also wore shorts underneath the skirt.

“Hey, Meta, fight this guy! Pretty please?” the girl said giving the boy that was standing next to her the puppy dog eyes.

The boy had black hair that was as long as the girl’s hair, his hair was spiked up in the back though. He had pitch black eyes, but they didn't look like demon eyes, in fact they looked like normal black eyes. He wore the same style clothes as the girl; a black dress shirt with a red tie and black pants.” I don't like taking orders. I should be the one giving orders around here.” came the boys reply.

Saek became angry at the two characters and aimed his two guns at the pair. The boy took out a blade quickly and spun it around fast enough to deflect the bullets. He dashed toward Saek and said, “You shouldn't have done that” as he swung his blade. A tiny splotch of blood came out of Saek’s chest and he coughed some up. The boy was fast and effective. He looked at the boy, then at Cubone and had a defeated look as he turned around and ran away from them. The boy just stood in the same spot, not showing any desire to stop Saek.

“Why didn't you stop him?” Cubone asked holding his own head, getting over his headache slowly.

“I’ve got one person that cant fight at the moment and a girl who's used too much of her magic. I couldn't just leave you guys alone. It's a big city. You'd probably get caught by someone and killed. In fact, I'm almost certain.” came the boys reply upfront with little emotion.

“That makes the second person today who was after this book?” came the tired girl. Cubone remembered there were three people, at least to his knowledge. YoSo, Julie and Saek.

Cubone looked the two over. “So... why did you help me?”

The girl gasped a little and sprung up. “Oh! Yeah we haven't explained ourselves, huh?” she said looking at her companion who had no definite expression. “Heheheeee... we're knights of justice!” the girl said making a heroic pose. The boy next to her sighed and shook his head.

“Well...not really. But that'd be cool! You don't need to worry about us for now. We're not going to hurt you, believe me! In fact, that guy you summoned looked strong! I don't want to fight him!” the girl saw that that just made Cubone more nervous. “he he! My names Sunshine! This is my friend Metazoxan! You can just call him Meta though.” She introduced them to make Cubone a bit more relaxed but Cubone still wasn't convinced the two were good. He didn't have any allies, and now that he knows when he summons something, he has side effects he'd need companions more than ever.

“I can believe in you for now. But I'm watching you two carefully. I’ve got to beat those guys and give this book back to Vapen! I can’t waste time worrying.” Cubone said holding the book tight in his arms. A look of sadness on his face. “I wonder how he is..” he thought.

The Book of Desires-Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Cubone was tired of running, he was tired of being pushed around by everyone around him, and he wanted to take a stand. The Old Man had sacrificed himself so Cubone could have escaped, if Cubone allowed himself to be taken by these criminals then Vapen’s sacrifice would have been in vain.

“Is this what your after” said Cubone waving the book in the air, Mr YoSo looked up, “give it to me, and I might let you live” Mr YoSo said, desperately, Cubone ran for the back door he knew all too well that this was his fight not Sano’s; he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if anything happened to him. Mr YoSo, smiled, “I gave you a chance” he said before tugging out a small pistol from under his coat, he aimed, “bye bye” he whispered, however, before he had the chance to shoot Sano tackled him, crashing them both into the door, YoSo pulled the Trigger creating a deafening roar. Cubone ran on shaken; he did not have any time to see whether Sano was dead or not, this was the point of no return. A few minutes later, Mr YoSo appeared, he dialed a number and blurted, “Yes yes, I understand, bring him in”.

Half an hour had passed since the incident at Sano’s house, again, someone had to sacrifice himself for Cubone; he was upset about the fact he couldn’t even help his best friend, let alone call an ambulance. This needed to end, fast. Cubone got off the bus at his apartment. He entered the reception and made his way towards the elevators. As he pressed the button for the elevator to come down, bullets flew through the automatic glass doors, Cubone ducked as the bullets recoiled off the ceilings. At the entrance, stood a muscular stylish man, with silver hair and clad in a red leather jacket; in his hands were two firearms, with “Ebony and Ivory” scribbled on them. Quietly he made his way towards Cubone, just in time however, the elevator had arrived, and Cubone threw himself in and frantically pressed the 5th floor button. Seeing this, the man hurried his steps, however, the doors closed before he could get to him. Once the elevator had arrived at the 5th floor, Cubone made his way up to the rooftops.

“This is it,” muttered Cubone, he walked up towards the edge of the rooftop, “Contemplating suicide are we?” Cubone turned around only to see the man standing at the other edge of the rooftop. “I am Saek,” said the man, heading for Cubone with small steps, slowly but surely closing the distance between them. “I don’t want to hurt you kid” said Saek as he got closer, all I want is that book you have on you, hand it over and I’ll promise you it’ll be quick” he said ironically. Cubone looked over the edge once more “I don’t want anything to do with you, I haven’t done anything wrong” whispered Cubone, “ I am so sorry kid” retorted Saek before he revealed his twin firearms once more; he reloaded them and swiftly aimed them at Cue, and fired, Cubone braced himself only to see a blinding flash envelope the whole rooftop.

Saek looked up, shocked at what had happened, “impossible” he thought. Cubone was equally as shocked, the person standing before him was Gaara of the Desert himself.

Gaara poured out a swarm of sand from his gourd and surrounded Saek with it, with a few hand seals, Saek was on the verge of being crushed to death. Using his strength however, Saek withdrew his sword sending a flash of lightning through the sand ripping another explosion throughout the rooftops. He took this as a chance to gracefully glide next to Gaara in the blink of an eye; he withdrew his gun and fired at point blank, sending a bullet coursing through Gaara’s head. Saek’s eyes went momentarily red before they returned to their normal color. He looked at his opponent’s body once more, only to realize something was wrong and to his alarm, his opponent’s body had begun to turn into sand, and the kid was nowhere near in sight, he had been deceived.

The Book of Desires-Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As Cue ran, he worried about Vapen. Yes, the old man would get cross, but Vapen truly cared about what happened to Cubone and vice versa. However, he also knew that he had told Cue to run, and so he followed that wish and ran as far and as fast as he could. However, as expected from a person who watches too much anime, he was no Olympic athlete in terms of endurance or speed. So he decided that he would just have to hide until he got his strength back to run.

But where would he hide? He thought back, and realized one of his friends from high school lived near here. So with that in mind, Cubone set off for the home of his friend, Sano.

He did not know just how much trouble he had gotten himself into, as YoSo followed in the shadows, also tired from all of his running. There were too many witnesses to kill him here, he thought, especially with my flamboyant appearance; I would be identified for sure. So he skulked just out of view of Cue, careful to keep a vigilant watch on his prey.

As Cue entered the home of Sano, Mr. YoSo was just as excited as Cue was. Cue was happy to meet his old friend. They both watched anime, but Sano was able to make it into college, and had just gotten his degree recently. Sano was just as friendly as the day they left high school. Of course, Cue was much more relieved when he saw that his library had its fair share of manga. "Still read manga, huh?" Cubone stated. "I may have been busy, but not THAT busy," retorted Sano.

Sano may not be able to claim he had read every manga, but he read more than the average. He especially loved harems, to the point that at least 3/4 of his manga collection was Harems.

"While we're on the subject of books, what is that at your side?" Cubone, distracted with catching up with his old friend, had forgotten about the reason he had arrived momentarily.

"Vapen told me to take it and run," stated Cubone.

"Have you even bothered to look inside?" This question was to be a trigger that no one could have expected.

"If you so much as crack the binding, you will die where you stand." Mr. YoSo said emerging from the next room. He had broken in because here he could steal the book and no one would know what had happened to Cubone or Sano until he had gone. No witnesses would be present. This haven had turned into a trap.

"Why is this book worth dying for?" Cubone thought.

The Book of Desires- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Open up! Or we'll come in!” Came a loud booming voice from beyond the door.

“Oh no... It's them...” Came Vapen’s low shaking voice still frozen in place.

“Huh? What are you talking about Vapen? Are they customers?” Asked Cubone; unaware of the danger they were in.

“They're anything BUT customers” he replied, “Take the book and go out the other way. I'll try and hold them down for a little bit.”

“Uh? I don't underst-”

“JUST GO NOW!!” screamed Vapen. It had been awhile since Cubone heard Vapen yell so loudly, he may have a demanding voice, but he rarely shouted like that. “Vapen's really serious.” Thought Cubone. “I better get out of here” as he said that, Cubone high-tailed it and ran out and into the streets of New York.

~

Right after Cubone got out of the store safely, the door for the front entrance came down. And in its place two figures emerged from the dust of the now cut down door. “Where’s the book Old man?!” Came one of the two figures voice, it was the same voice from earlier. He had long reddish-brown hair, and demonic black eyes that could possibly frighten the devil itself. He had no shirt, but he wore a long white cape. He had on two red gloves with stars on them and red pants that also had stars on them. Since he had on gloves that were meant for brawling, he wasn't the one that cut down the door.

“What do you mean Mr. YoSo? Are you looking for a new read? We just got in some new romance novels this week...” Vapen said shaking, trying to distract them for a while. He went over to some boxes with the words 'New Shipment' on them and rummaged through the books, even though he knew what book they were looking for.

“Don't play dumb with me old man! Do you take me for an idiot?!” YoSo said grabbing Vapen and glaring at him, clearly showing that he's not playing around. He then pushed him to the ground hard and put his leg on Vapen’s head.

“Uh... YoSo? You sure you're not taking this too far?” came the other voice. Unlike YoSo, the new character was a girl and she wasn't as scantily clad as the boy. Her eyes also had some shine in them, a bright golden hue in them making herself looks like a saint, unlike his piercingly demonic eyes. She had long bright blue hair too, which made her look even more angel-like as her hair almost looked luminescent. She wore a neon blue tank top and a skirt of the same color. She had a black chocker with a ruby in the center of it, and tied around her neck was a white ribbon that stretched almost touching the floor. On her hip was a sword holder, meaning she was the one that tore down the door.

“You know what that book can do, Julie! It can bring forth anyone’s desires! I MUST have it! And if this man doesn't have it...” Mr.YoSo said bringing his foot harder on Vapen’s head. “Then we'll just kill him and find where that boy that ran out of here is!”

“AHHH!” Screamed Vapen in pain a little trickle of blood coming down his forehead.

“W-Wait! I'll take care of him! Why should the both of us stay here while that boy is running to who knows where? It would be a waste of time and energy!” Julie said stepping closer to Vapen and YoSo.

“... Good point. I'll leave this piece of garbage to you. See you later” YoSo said lifting his foot up.

“Yes! I'll be right with you!” Julie said as YoSo dashed out of the store.

When he was out of sight, Julie let out a sigh. “Thank goodness.” Vapen looked up confused. “Why did you save me from that guy?” Julie stiffened and turned around.

“It wasn't for your benefit! Consider yourself lucky!” Julie said running out the door, leaving Vapen a little shocked and worried about what Cubone may have to face in the time to come...

The Book of Desires-Chapter 1

ok, so even though I'm 16 I love to write. I decided to write a story.I was hoping to one day get this published but since I'm 16 I have no way of publishing it myself. :'( It's mostly Fiction and also for many people who enjoy anime might love this too.Please leave comments on each chapter, I've written a few chapters already so please enjoy! ^.^

Chapter 1

New York City, a leading global city; New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment. Cubone was just a water droplet in the Ocean as he went about doing his daily routines. Unfortunately, Cubone could not make the grades needed to go unto College; his parents blamed this on the long hours he spent on his computer, and the constant cartoons he would watch. Cubone didn’t object, he knew what they were saying was indeed true, however, he believed this was worth it; in fact Cubone had seen every English dubbed cartoon and through his art, he was able to bring to life some of them and share them through online Communities.

Years went by, Cubone was now 22, and was struggling to support himself financially; the time he saved up each day for anime grew shorter and shorter. Things however took a turn for the better as Cubone had landed a job at his favorite Bookstore, “The Book Smith”. Although the pay wasn’t great, he was allowed to read some of their comics free of charge! He took advantage of this and he started feeling much more positive about himself. The store owner, “Vapen” was in his late 60s, had a lean body and his eyes had become greyer with age; curls of white hair sprouted from his hair as time moved and because of this, he would wear a black top hat completing his image of someone straight out of the 20s. He had worked on his own until he decided that he wasn’t fit enough to carry out his day to day tasks, therefore needing an assistant to help him with tasks. Despite Cubone having only worked at the store for just little over a year, him and Vapen had formed a father son bond; maybe this was because Cubone had an actual interest in what the bookstore sold.

Cubone woke up to the blaring sound of his Neighbor’s alarm clock, he took a shower and quickly got dressed up, and he was late. Cubone hadn’t learnt to drive yet, however, he was saving up money so that he could one day take lessons; for now he had to get put up with the bus. He quickly paid his fare and took a seat at the front. Cubone constantly peeked at his watch, Vapen was an impatient man and therefore he didn’t like being behind schedule. Unfortunately for him, Cubone was his only worker, and therefore the responsibilities on Cubone’s shoulders were great. He got off the bus on the street adjacent to the Book Smith. The shop was located on the middle of a highly used street and therefore it received a lot of visibility; a lot of the visitors were mainly students, some of them were deeply into the “Naruto” manga, each week a new chapter would be released and The Book Smith was one of the first few to acquire copies. However, Business was bad now since the rising popularity of the Internet meant that people could get the chapters for free; this was bad news for Vapen.

Cubone entered the shop, quietly as possible and locked the door behind him. Vapen would leave the door open for Cubone and he in turn would close and then open once it was opening time. Cubone made for the till and put his bag behind the counter, and started making preparations, Cubone turned around to see the old man staring at him, his eyes burning into his skin. “What have told you about being late, boy?” His old voice creaked, Cubone not knowing what to say blurted out “it was the bus sir, you know how incompetent it is”, “then it’s time you get a car young man, are you always going to rely on others for the rest of your life?” said Vapen, “No sir”, Cubone could see that Vapen’s expression’s softened. Today was meant to be a special day; something the old man had been looking for had arrived. “Bring over the box into my basement, boy”, Cubone did as he was told, he was surprised however, how light the box was, for something needing that kind of packaging, Cubone would have expected a bit more to be inside it; what could the old man be up to Cubone wondered as he headed towards the basement.

“Be wary of the steps, what you carry in there is irreplaceable boy” uttered Vapen, “Yes sir” said Cubone obediently, as he placed the box down where Vapen wanted it. The basement was a small room, and had not been cleaned for a long time, the single light bulb which gave the room an orange tint, would go on and off at random intervals, but this seemed to have no affect on the old man who had his attention fully on the box. He started opening the box, nervously. What could possibly be inside to make the old man go like this questioned Cubone. Finally, the box was opened and whatever was inside raised Vapen’s eyes; wanting to take a peek, Cubone walked over and glanced, inside the box was a black book, no bigger than a notebook. After minutes of silence, Vapen finally spoke, “I’ve been looking for this, for three decades; I’ve spent the best part of my life, looking for this, I thought I’d never find it but I was wrong” he said gently. “What is it exactly?” said Cubone still confused by everything that had transpired over the past few minutes, Vapen looked up with an excited look on his face “this book boy, will make your dreams become a reality, this...” Before he could finish, there was loud banging on the door, Vapen looked up, no one ever came at this time Cubone thought, besides the “we are closed sign” was up. Cubone looked to Vapen for assistance but to his unease, he saw that the old man’s face was no longer eager, but terrified