The Task:

Upon further reflection, Puck came to the conclusion that she had to be the world’s best daughter.

Oh, sure, there might be other candidates out there. There might be a few that made grand gestures for their families and parents. Maybe they bought them a house, or struck it so rich that no one would have to work a day more for the rest of their lives. Perhaps they invented a cure for some kind of disease with the intention to help an ailing grandparent, or accomplished something so grand that they were the talk of their line for generations to come. And yeah, maybe Puck would have loved to be one of those kinda people, but she wasn’t. Instead she was on Shadowmoon Island, investigating a haunted house.

To be fair it wasn’t entirely her father’s fault. His name wasn’t exactly out of the mud either, what with his admitting interference in his daughter’s military career to help her get to a more comfortable (and safe) spot so he didn’t have to worry about her so much. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that it backfired spectacularly, with more than a few of Puck’s comrades turning on the dark skinned woman as she rose higher and higher in the ranks. Her consequent demotion, with her father toeing a very thin line, meant that any assignment thrown her way was one she took, with forced gusto is necessary. Protection details? They were boring but cushy, so she didn’t mind those. Stakeouts on certain pirates to keep an eye on movements? Sure thing, she was all over it. They all had the same problem with the young martial artists, however, in that they were all boring as all hell.

So when she was asked to go investigate a haunted island, she jumped.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty, however, and the very next time she decided not to just accept an assignment without looking a bit harder at it. While investigating something as cool sounding as a haunted house was cool in books and comics, actually investigating a haunted house was just as boring as any of the other jobs she’d taken to help get back in the good graces of the marine hierarchy. Shadowmoon Island felt…crowded to Puck, and she’d grown up on marine bases her whole life. Still, the people were friendly and the local historian was informative and helpful. On the brighter side…

“Ara, hola Puck,” the sing-song voice that Puck had come to adore rang from the doorway of the room she was in. “Would you like some tea?”

Lilly Fujino was tall and statuesque, her golden blond hair curly and long, easily falling down to her waistline. Bright cerulean eyes almost always seemed closed in perpetual pleasure, her smile never faltering. She seemed to be built to serve, her nature more of that of a maid than a librarian, which she was. She ran the place with her father, who had collected books his entire life and had returned to the place of his birth to open a library in an effort to educate those that wished to be enlightened about life outside of Shadowmoon. It was a task they took very seriously, and Puck had been readily welcomed when she’d gone to ask for information regarding the ‘haunted house’.

“Please,” Puck practically purred, her yellow eyes half lidded at the beautiful sight of this woman serving her tea. “Yer too good’fer meh, Lilly.”

“Nonsense,” the taller woman said, though the light lilt of her voice betrayed her amusement. “My father wanted to know of your progress.”

Baito Fujino, named after the founder of the island they were on, wasn’t a fool by any means. He was a short man, compared to his taller daughter, but the fire he held was undeniable. He loved books and education in general, considering himself a ‘man of the world’. As such any claim of a ‘haunted house’ should have been laughed at by any educated person of the world, but Baito wasn’t laughing. In fact he’d been petitioning the marines for some kind of assistance for quite a while, claiming that the house that was haunted held a much more sinister secret built into the very foundations of Shadowmoon Island itself. What that was, however, was lost in the gargantuan library he’d built.

Easily the tallest building on the island, though not by much, it also went on for many floors underground. Lilly oversaw the running of the library, leaving her father to leave and collect more and more books to bring home. They had a practical army of helpers and aides, some local but most that had followed Baito to Shadowmoon Island with the intention of helping him maintain the vast collection, to keep it in good order for future generations to come. He’d even returned with dials that had entire volumes of books stored inside, as someone had recorded their voice onto it, though Baito assured Puck that none of them had any information pertaining to their investigation.

“Slow,” Puck yawned, accepting the outstretched offering of tea. She never knew what kind Lilly was going to bring her, but it was always excellent. “Though ah’know why yer’so pale now, Lilly. Always undah’ground an’ outta da sunlight. Ah feel mahself shrinkin’ in’here.”

The taller woman giggled into the back of her hand, before she took a look around the room. It was one of several dozen that were underground, though it was in this room that Baito had brought all information he’d dug up so far on the haunted house that was the object of his obsession. Over a week ago Baito had the room cleared out with Sara and Puck’s arrival, with his aides, Lilly and himself scouring every book they had for almost a week to bring any and all that mentioned the house on Shadowmoon Island to this room. Periodically someone would bring in a book to add to the collection, or Baito would while grumbling about the ineptitude of his followers. Almost every waking moment since saw Puck down here, reading and taking down notes into her own empty notebook. It was a menial task, but Sara was…insistent that Puck take the detail. A part of her didn’t want to disappoint the taller brunette, so Puck bit her tongue on any complaints.

“You exaggerate far too much for someone of your station,” Lilly teased, holding out a finger and poking Puck on the nose. “It’s unbecoming.”

Puck plucked Lilly’s hand from the air and took it into her own, marveling at the contrast in their skin tones before she brought her lips down and kissed the top of her delicate hand. “Ya wanna know what’beh really unbecomin’? Dem sounds ya’make when-”

Whap!!

“Puck~” Lilly giggled again, eyes sparkling as she looked down at the marine. “You’re terrible.”

“Ah try,” the dark skinned woman smiled before looking back to her work station. “Howevah…ah feel like ah’ll nevah git done’here. Dere be too much. Tellin’ da difference ‘tween da tales an’ facts is gon’be impossible. Hell, ah’m writin’ mah own book about dis whole shindig an’ all ah wanted was some notes ta go’by. Yer father man, he dun half’ass nuttin’.”

“Nope!!” Lilly smiled, with no hint of sarcasm in her voice. “He always says, if you’re going do something…”

“Do’it right, ya. Ah got it.” Puck finished Baito’s motto before grumbling and letting her head fall to the table she was sitting at, her forehead clunking rather loudly. “Ah miss da sun.”

“Then let’s go out.” Lilly said after a moment, watching as Puck’s head turned slightly. She marveled at those amber gold eyes and gave a sort of shy shrug. “You and I, I mean. There’s a spot on the coast…”

“PUCK!!” the loud, roaring voice made them both jump. Even Lilly took a second to look somewhat irritated as her shorter father came barreling into the room, something that made Puck snort in amusement. “Oh, Lilly. Good, you’re here. Look!!”

The giant tome he’d been holding above his head came crashing down onto the table, thankfully missing Puck’s own fledgling book and the ink that was being used to write it. He dashed away to get a step stool and dragged it back, slapping his daughter’s hands of assistance away in light irritation. The book was massive, easily double the size of the small man, with thick covers and pages that gave Puck an uneasy feeling. The most noticeable thing about the tome was the front cover, which was leather molded into what looked like a screaming face. Lilly and Puck gave each other incredulous looks, then focused their attention on Baito, who had opened it up to a bookmarked page.

“The Book of the Dead,” he explained, his face excited as he quickly scanned the pages with a practiced eye. “Nonsense, I thought. Got it by trading a jeweled dagger I’d found in the desert. Gypsy told me she’d come by it on a battlefield in a war fought by two kingdoms. Thousands of corpses were strewn about with no clear indication of who had won. Told me a priest held it in his arms, clutching it with a face similar to the one on the cover of the book and just what are you nincompoops doing?! Stop gawking!!”

Both Lilly and Puck looked at each other before realizing they’d both been slowly backing away from Baito and the creepy looking book, their faces getting more and more apprehensive as Baito’s tale went on. At the moment, however, Baito was being significantly more scary than the book so both came back to the table, though they were still keeping a wary eye on the large tome, as it could come alive at any moment and bite them.

“Aight, so…” Puck held out a hand and poked the book, pulling her hand back quickly and wiping it on her shirt. “Did’tha book das made from human skin tell’ya anyting?”

“Good eye, Puck!!” Baito beamed, then slapped Puck’s hand away as she went in for a second poke. “And…well, not as much as I’d like. But it makes a reference to Shadowmoon Island, but long before it was settled. In fact, if what’s written down is to be true, the island had inhabitants over a hundred years before Shadowmoon stepped foot on our great shores. But they weren’t settlers like we were, no. They were, lesse here…” He took a moment to put on the spectacles that rested on the top of his head and brought them to the bridge of his nose, his eyes scrunched. “‘Dwellers in the Darkness’, people who sought only to seek the comfort of the ‘Eternal Void’, to live and see what ‘Lay beyond Eternity’.”

“They…wanted to live forever?” Lilly spoke, blinking rapidly for a moment before bringing a pale hand to her lips. “Oh, that never ends well, at least not in any of the books I’ve read.”

“Darn tootin’ it didn’t end well.” Baito huffed as he stood up straight, still not even waist high compared to his daughter while standing on the step stool. “Were it anywhere else I probably wouldn’t have paid it any mind. But the descriptions given could only be Shadowmoon Island. The various landmarks that we still see today have stood for hundreds of years. It mentions the giant Gaia Tree at the center of the forest, though not by that name, but you bet yer bottom beli I recognized it.”

“What else it’say?” Puck asked, genuinely curious now. “Ah mean…none’a what yer tellin’ meh sounds tha least bit’a fun, Baito. Dat book woulda’made lessah folk run on’da spot, an’ now it be talkin’ ‘bout dis here island ‘fore it was even founded? How is dat even possible?”

“Good question,” Baito pondered, holding a hand to his chin in contemplation. Puck and Lilly both watched him for a few moments, which turned into a minute…then two. He suddenly looked up, slamming a fist into his outstretched hand, a look of pure determination on his face. “I…have no idea!!”

“Father, you’re terrible,” Lilly gave an exasperated sigh as Puck quickly picked herself up from her faceplant. “Absolutely no other information could be found?”

“Not quite,” Baito continued, ignoring the deadpan look Puck was giving him. “There is something else, but I can’t make heads or tails of it.” He flipped the book towards it’s back pages and stopped when the writing became indecipherable. “I believe this is a code of some kind, but the writing is different from the rest of the book. The ink is different as well. One can tell these things when books are your life,” his glare interrupted Puck, who was just about to ask how he could tell. He continued after her mouth snapped shut. “But to break something like this you need some sort of cipher, which we don’t have.”

“What could the cipher be?” Lilly wondered, her curiosity now overtaking her apprehension of touching the book. She pulled it closer to look at the writing, eyes bright as she looked down on it. “Maybe another book?”

“I’d say, but it could honestly be anything,” Baito shrugged, stepping down from the step stool and walking towards the door to the room before pacing back and forth. “The book does mention The Book of the Living, but tan my hide if I’ve ever seen it. I have people all over the world keeping an eye out for it, though. Been years now, no luck. Odds are that book has the cipher we need to translate. If I’m correct, I’d say this book,” Baito points to the book on the table. “Also holds a cipher for the other.”

“Well…mebbe dey’be kept apart fer’a reason?” Puck said, drawing long stares from the father and daughter duo. The question hung in the air, making it seem heavy before Puck suddenly yawned. “Sorreh, ah’m dead tired. An’ hungry.”

“Go rest,” Lilly held out a hand and touched Puck’s shoulder, a look of worry in those bright blue eyes. “I’ll bring you something to eat.”

“Stop spoiling her Lilly,” Baito grumbled as he walked off, though there was hardly any bite to his words. “But while you’re at it, I could use something to eat as well. Tea too, please.”

He was off without another word, leaving the two women in the room alone. Almost immediately they both looked back at the book, their eyes drawn to its ominous and creepy nature. It was Lilly’s hand that made Puck start a bit, but the welcoming look she gave made Puck smile. Together they left the room to get something to eat and rest, unaware that the now unattended book was slowly turning its pages before it stopped. The words on the page it had gone to glowed lightly, then stopped just as suddenly as it had started.

The wind barely blew as usual on the island, the trees was as from a novel about death, all crumpled up and black even though petals was still hugging the treetops and branches. The petals had a dark, grimy green color to them as well as the grass, but at certain places flowers sprouted up of all kinds of colors in the dark segment of the circle. To say the least, it wasn't a happy looking place, especially with the mist over the island overhanging it for awhile even if someone were to escape it out to seas.

Sara had just talked to a few citizens about more information regarding the island, and especially the weird house that keeps popping up in conversations all over again and again. Everyone seemed to have their stir to them about that old thing. It's said to be built on one of the many sub islands out of Shadowmoons coastline. It's also said to be really old and has barely any people visit unless it's for reasons beyond themselves. Most of the people living in town even resent their children from going as they think it's haunted, rightfully so, many people which don't even believe in anything other than the power of thinking and science has agreed on it, it's something about that place that haunts every one of us deep inside.

Just being in the presence of that place is said to give you bad dreams among with other bad omens, the place is simply something one should stay clear off to say the least. As the wind blew, at least of what little of it that existed on the island Sara started to think about going and getting Puck, she was said to have been trying to find information in a nearby library after all, one which seemed to overhead the rest of the buildings on the old fashioned island. She could see if even over treetops as she wandered from one part of the town to the other. The house wasn't shabby at all actually, it was a respectable building with finesse on the outside and hopefully inside. As she got closer and closer her feelings from realizing that she was going to see Puck again started to sprinkle all around, maybe she was a bit curious in her?

Well of course not! They're only here for work, stop thinking about it as something else... She got closer and closer and eventually got introduced to the big double door that was the entryway into the giant library of sorts, right inside it was the one that documents who takes books and what not, she introduced it by saying it was a library made up by 3 floors, and as soon as she asked for Puck the girl instantly knew her. "She's in the kitchen over on the other side in the corner over there by the birch bookcases direction." she told her with a passionate tone in her voice. "Thanks for your help!" she said right in time for the secretary of sorts to have looked down again to her work with the books.

Which seems to be pretty intricate and caring in this place, the library of sorts had all sorts of places and stations, little nitpicks and the like which made it more like a monastery than a library. A kitchen, living spaces, work for people of all the ages to repair the books and copy them to keep them immortal of sorts. To make it so that they never fade in history. She noticed many books, and by that I mean many that didn't seem to belong in the right shelves, or maybe that was just the point, it might have just become a library with too many books to sort them, so they might just be everywhere and anywhere. The books flew by at both of her sides as she ran towards the right part of the library, she really wanted to be done on this island after all, it wasn't her liking to be shrouded by mists, especially not in such a shady looking town not that they did something wrong, but it all just seems to.. unsafe and not worth it, she could be back at paradise by now, clearing up big leagues of bad people, and maybe even earning herself some good money to propel her people further.


As she reached the kitchen she saw a few people come and go, some made their own food while some referred to the cafeteria like section. As she saw the person that had been stuck in her mind for the past hours she blushed a bit as she went to see her, with someone else mind you. But she didn't really care, did she? All they were was bundled by work after all. As she got closer she started to throw out her words to her underling.. Oh yeah she's her underling after all she started to say inside her mind, maybe she should act like it.

"Hey Puck, so have you found out anything or are you just here dining because it's fun?" she said with a cold heart inside of her, maybe she was a bit torn about her when she hung out with others, was it jealousy? Plus the fact of course that she might not have done any work, which would piss her off even more, maybe even making her pissed to begin with. "And by the way, hello, my name's Sara, I'm her boss so to speak." she said towards the blonde sitting idly by with a warm tone in her voice, instantly changing it as she spoke towards her.

"Ah'course ah'd beh workin', long'as yer mah commandin' officah, savvy?" Puck said with a tone to her voice that Sara didn't immediately recognize, maybe it was something between a try at being serious mixed with something flirty? She could never know with this gal after all. "By the way, have you found anyone to guide us to the house yet? We really need to get going after all, the less work I miss in Paradise the better." She said to her accompanying friend. As they lingered thoughtfully she started to think about the house again, maybe it actually was haunted, if it can get a whole island to stay away from it somethings gotta be up after all.

It didn't seem like something unusual in the world they lived in either honestly, fruits existed that gave people mysterious powers, someone could actually destroy an island in an attack probably if they were strong enough, there are snails that act like an operating device to be able to call people from across the seas. It was kind off, weird to say the least. "Well I could always take you..." the mysterious girl said before even coming the across the thought of giving her name to the marine, blatantly ignoring her. As a tick of annoyance grew to Sara's forehead she spoke with an irritated voice towards the girl. "HEY, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DISRESPECTING A MARINE LIKE THAT? WE SERVE TO PROTECT YOU PEOPLE!!.

Btw, staff look at this:

The food wasn’t bad, though Puck was never the picky type when it came to the things she ate.

And of course Lily was the one to pick out the food, servicing the marine with the care one would associate with a mother or older sister. Which was weird, but Puck brushed it off, not really minding either way. She ended up with a plateful of meat and fruit, which was just fine with her. She was famished, and she inhaled the food with gusto with Lily watching in amusement. Puck preferred water with meals but the wine that Lily brought over was delicious and barely tasted like alcohol, a more fruity tastes lingering as she drank it. They chatted idly as they ate, though it was more bouncing ideas off of each other than anything else. Puck believed that discussing work over food tended to give one an upset stomach, so she regaled in telling her blonde companion about the sparring session that she and her ice-Admiral had the other day.

“But…how could she do such a thing?” Lily questioned, her normally happy countenance looking troubled. “She could have injured you.”

“Well, she did,” Puck responded, taking a moment to swallow some of the savory meat Lily had brought over. “But, keep dis in mind; mah Vice-Admiral is’lots strangah dan ah am. Coulda been worse, but dat ladeh is’a professional. Ah’m tinkin’ she jes wanted’ta gauge meh. Test’ta see if ah’d gotten any strangah.”

“Irresponsible is more like it,” Lily huffed, drawing a laugh from Puck. “What if she’d injured you more and you couldn’t help Shadowmoon with this…” she waved her hand in the air as she struggled to find the words. “This problem.”

“Naw,” Puck dismissed her worry with a wink and her usual half assed cocky grin. “Sara’s top notch, trus’meh. If’n she wanted’ta hurt me, she coulda. An’ speak’a da devil, here she’be.”

It always warmed her heart to see her Vice-Admiral, these last few days drawing the two closer together. Shame she was coupled with some guy back in Paradise, or at least that’s what she’d heard through alcohol induced scuttlebutt. While she wasn’t exactly…relationship material, Puck would have liked to experience the taller woman at least once, or a few times, depending. Engaged women were usually her favorite, falling into second place only behind married ones but Puck honestly respected Sara Dooperman and she didn’t need to ruin the friendship they had.

Lily’s request at being their guide, coupled with Sara’s annoyed bark at how Lily seemed to ignore the Vice-Admiral’s presence, made Puck take a few seconds to process what had just happened. She’d seen Sara annoyed, even at her, but never to civilians. And as far as Lily being their guide, well!! Baito would probably kill Puck on the spot if he’d heard. Still, one situation at a time. Puck reached a foot and nudged Lily’s own, a signal that Lily seemed to understand well enough. The blond woman stood up and bowed to Sara, her expression reverting back to the polite and sincere one that Puck was used to, though she’d spent enough time to know that this was a bit more forced than usual.

“Ara, apologies,” Lily said, clasping her hands together and holding them by her waist. “My name is Lily Fujino, and I know very well who you are. Amelia speaks very highly of you. Would you like some food?” Sara waved to the meal they’d just eaten before turning her perpetually closed eyes back to Sara. “I shall fetch some more of what I served Amelia, if you don’t mind. She’s still hungry.”

“Wine, if’n you dun mind,” Puck held up her empty wine glass and gave what she hoped was a winning smile. “More’a da same, please.”

Lily bowed again, taking time to put a hand on Puck’s shoulder as she left to complete her task. Puck smiled and watched as she left before she turned to her Vice-Admiral, eyes twinkling. She wasn’t certain, but if she had to guess it almost sounded like the taller woman was a bit jealous. It was a passing though, however, and she held out a hand to indicate that the other woman should sit down. Sara did so, looking around the huge kitchen area with obvious curiosity.

“Baito, Lily’s fatha, built dis place.” Puck explained, picking a grape from a nearby plate and popping it into her mouth. “Impressive, if’ya tink ‘bout’it. Got’a buncha people ta’help him, lives here wit’all dese folk dat wanna ‘preserve history’ an’ all dat. Odd’ta me dat da marines dun come here more. Lotsa information, all in one place. But nuttin’ on’da one ting we lookin’fer. Well, not nuttin’, but close’ta zilch. Couple’a mentions’of dis house though, so we’s tinkin’ dats’da place ta’go.”

She stopped, taking a moment to purse her lips and move them side to side as she thought. Lily would be insistent on being their guide, and as much as Puck hated the idea there really wasn’t anyone else that would do it. Baito would be mad but Puck had seen him cave in to Lily’s demands more than once, the first time being when Puck showed up at The Library to ask for help. It wasn’t that he wanted to prevent the marines from finding out exactly what was happening in Shadowmoon, but he didn’t think a ‘brutish thug’ like Puck could handle books without destroying them. After Lily scolded him he caved, but this was a lot different.

The sub island that the house was on wasn’t very large but the stories that surrounded it made Puck squirm, especially since there were real live cases of what going to the place did. People with no memories and broken minds were still alive today even though no one’s been to the house in years. Puck had suggested talking to one of them but Lily had told her that they didn’t speak and simply…existed, though no one knew why or how. They were taken care of though, and that’s all they could really do. The path to take it was probably overgrown now, and Lily had told her that no matter what time of day they went the Forest of the Haunted Song made it almost perpetually night. And that was mentioning nothing of the mist that seemed to cling not just to the forest but to the entire island, with the City of Shadowmoon being the only exception, the mist never really rolling in.

“Lily’ll do it, if’yas wonderin’,” Puck said, her yellow eyes resting on the shapely figure of her Vice-Admiral. “Her pop wun like’it, but she’ll do it. She’d good peoples, trustworthy.” A beat. “But if’ya still cautious, jes know ah trust’her, and ah like’ta tink Imma good judge’a character.” She winked before taking another drink of her wine, savoring the taste before swallowing it. “Ain’t gonna be’da least bit safe, das fer’sure. But you’an I…we got’dis, yeah?”