Stray

The entire stone room was illuminated by a long-standing lamp on the stone wall. The blue flame was very faint, not much brighter than moonlight. The pale trunk of the tree stood among the white bones and remnant feathers and fused to the Bluebird at the top that looked thin and lifeless. She barely could keep her eyelids open, and her breathing was almost undetectable. A few strands of large feathers fell to the ground, falling between two Bluebird skulls that were close to each other. In this patch of blue and white, only two things were particularly conscious; a neatly dressed human skeleton leaning on the tree trunk, in a posture as it was taking a serene nap.

A particularly eye-catching thick leather book laid quietly near the hands of the skeleton. The spine of the book was embedded with lots of precious ores, shining with a warm and dark red luster in the dimness.

“…Lavinia.” Nemo moved his gaze away from the unusually dazzling book and repeated the name in a murmur. “Is this your own translation on a whim? Don’t make such a joke, Dylan.”

“Oh, of course not.” Jesse shouted. “How dare I? It’s not that you don’t know what this name means— Yes, it’s the Lavinia you’re thinking of.”

The “God” of Vincent Town.

But she was obviously not a real God as Nemo could vaguely perceive this. She was too weak, fragile like a crystal statue full of cracks that could turn into small fragments once touched.

“Do you know how much these are worth?” Jesse raised his chins towards the bones that were scattered all over the ground. “I finally got to this place that day. To tell you the truth, I’d almost lost my life— and then she conjured a forest ballad. Oh, that emotion was really tragic. It was so miserable that I couldn’t stand it and offered my help.”

He rubbed the weird neck ornament on his chest with his slender and beautiful fingers. “This gadget allows me to understand their words. It’s a pity that she’s dying and there’s no way to use it to give each of you a ‘revelation’. Otherwise, I would have brought you to her early this morning.”

Nemo ignored Jesse who sighed loudly. He exchanged glances with Oliver and cautiously approached the alienlike tree bird. His movements were so light that he didn’t step on even a single bone. Lavinia’s eyes had no pupils, and it was difficult to find her actual line of sight from just starlight.