oh noes

Chapter 10

. . .
Oh. Okay.
That’s…definitely something I should take note of.
Is that why everything was almost untouched? Because every adventurer who came here just…exploded upon entry? Is that what happened to most of the other animals, too?
Wait, then…why am I not dead? I should’ve exploded, too…
I…uh…I don’t wanna risk going back to the town anymore…or at least, not until I figure out what the conditions for exploding are.
Well…since I’m not gonna be doing much exploring…I guess I should take the time to write stuff down, I guess.
Big, very expensive manor house in pine forest.
Trees in pine forest halfway fallen. Less of these trees the further I get from town.
Bird from outside halfway fallen area explodes upon coming near said area.
Town and Prist. Forest affected by strange force. Most living outsiders will explode upon contact (assumed.)
Well, excluding me. Thankfully.
So…that means that the creature making the noise never came in from the outside. If I’m lucky, it left the area and then tried to return, thus becoming a bloody puddle…but then that brings up another question.
How come the squirrel is frozen but the creature isn’t?
Also, unrelated question - since I would expect adventurers to come in through this path or from the docks, why aren’t there bloodstains and abandoned clothing all over the area? Or…did no one come visiting?
There’s also the possibility of them coming from other places where their bloodstains won’t be as visible, but I just can’t imagine why…hmm. Did no one think to visit this place once the Calamity was over?
But then again, with how things have been going in this new, constantly changing world…I take it no one’s going to come here until they wanna dig up some resources. And besides, it’s not like that mansion back there was something everyone knew about…or else there would’ve been a lot of bloodstains by now.
Hnngh…I’m just worried about how I’m going to give Lowell that squirrel and the other stuff now. Of course, with my way back blocked by the invisible make-things-explode barrier, I can’t just waltz back in…
And while I didn’t explode when I left the area, that squirrel might just turn into a clump of blood and fur when it leaves the area…and even if I’m immune to the barrier, I’m not exactly willing to test how close Lowell can get to the affected area without exploding.
Well, it’s not like I’m stuck with the decision of “stay here and live off of random animals or turn into bloody vapor…” I can always head to Mayrill and try to meet the crew there. I’ll probably get mauled by wolves before I get there, though…
If I make it past that invisible barrier…hm. It technically acts as a shield from everything bad, so that would be a better option than staying out here and getting mauled by wolves anywhere else. I can die now, die later, or make it to Mayrill…
This is probably a really bad idea…but I survived once without any side effects, so who’s to say I won’t survive again?
I probably won’t feel the pain. I won’t know I’m dead until I see heaven. And besides, the crew just gets to think I’m missing…but it would also be…unfortunate if they exploded, too.
I begin to inch towards the affected area again. Looking at the bright side…I definitely won’t get mauled to death by wolves, regardless of the outcome.
I really hope this is a good idea…I push my finger towards the place where the bird exploded and take step after step, squeezing my eyes shut.
Wait, why am I even using my finger, anyway? My entire body’s going to explode on impact, so there’s not really a point.
…oh, hey. These trees are all halfway-fallen.

Wait, what? I made it?
I look back, seeing the bird’s bloodstain a couple of meters behind me. I really did…

So…Am I immune or something? I should get back to town before something screws me over…
I sprint back down the path and stop when I’m out of breath. More questions! Hooray! I pull my journal out of my bag and open it, preparing to write on a new page.
Now that I’m alive (hooray,) I can start figuring out what can or can’t pass the barrier. First things first…
Can’t Pass: Animals (excluding humans)
Can Pass: Humans
Although, it might only let certain types of humans pass. Considering that the Oblivion started to infect people after the Calamity started and that this is the place where the Calamity was said to have begun…it might’ve only let me through since I’m an Oblivian.
Humans (Oblivians only?)
But then again, I was also living here at some point, according to Birch…so maybe it only applies to natural born citizens of this place?
Humans (Oblivians or citizens only?)
Or maybe it’s because I’m young or whatever.
Actually, anything about me could apply to this barrier thing…this is just pointless. Ugh…
Would the corpses explode if I took them out and dragged them back in? Wait, let’s not test that…
Well, I guess the only thing I can be certain about is that any objects taken through the barrier won’t explode. As for the trees…those probably can’t pass. There’d probably be some weird-looking trees stuck halfway through the barrier if they could pass, but there haven’t been any.
Since I’m on the road back to the town, I might as well look around before heading back to my camp…
I also wonder who owned that mansion. I didn’t see any paintings of people in there…or maybe I just skimmed right past that after I got tired of looking at that wealth.
Now that I think about it…those rooms looked more like they were for decoration. They didn’t really feel…lived in. Nothing was different about most of those rooms…
Except the third bedroom, I think. The third bedroom seemed a little more messy. Maybe the second one was also sort of messy, but I didn’t really take the time to absorb the details…
I guess I can always go look at those rooms first. It doesn’t really take that long to get to the mansion from the split in the path…just a couple of minutes, compared to the hour I just spent walking to the barrier.
…I wonder how the crew is doing. Did they find any more information on the mother’s kid yet?
I let my mind drift for a few moments. I guess, right about now…if they were on the ship…
Turner would definitely be lurking somewhere on the upper decks, just like usual. Lily might be…around the wheel? She’d probably be saying something like “Tuuuuurner…that’s daaaaaangerooooous…”
I guess Lowell would be in his lab, pretending to be a scientist again. Or maybe he opened up to the crew? Probably not, but I’m sure they’d accept him if he did.
Marie would be in her studio. I guess she’d be pestering Lowell…she does seem particularly close to him. They’d be a really bad match, though - if his desire to have everything clean and tidy sticks with him, Marie’s gonna ruin his life…
Daniel…Daniel would just be sleeping behind the door for his room. Not much else I can imagine him doing. Or he’ll be tapping away at his weird…machine thing. I forgot what it was called…
Alicia would be talking with some of the crew members. Maybe yelling at Nova, talking with the Captain, or asking one of the other crew members about something. I can’t really imagine her working in her area all the time.
Nova would definitely be hopping around being an annoying ball of energy. Maybe she’d try to help out with something…but then again, she’d probably fail at whatever she’s supposed to do in some clumsy way. I can definitely imagine her tripping and falling flat on her face. I laugh at the thought.
The Captain would probably be in his study. Making him do normal stuff just doesn’t feel right…it feels more like he just lives inside his cabin and comes out only sometimes. Maybe that’s just a ‘me’ thing, though…the other crew members could probably beg to differ.
Birch would be…oh. Right.
I guess…if he was alive…he’d be with me, right now. After all, he did say he would come along in that letter of his…

…it’s lonely out here.
I miss being with the crew…even if it’s only been two days. I can’t wait to see them again, even if some of them are annoying to hell and back.
I sigh. Well, there’s no use in thinking about it…they’ll come back and visit me when they’re ready. Then, after that…who knows when I’ll see them again.
I wish I could leave all this behind and go back to the crew, but I have to find out who I was. I feel like I owe Birch at least that much…even if he never really pushed me to go.
As the split in the path appears, I stop to take a look at the forest around me. It’s actually pretty strange…how come the house isn’t as affected as the town? They’re both behind the barrier separating this place from the outside world, but this house is virtually unaffected.
Nngh…more questions. If only I could actually get some answers…
I walk up the path leading to the mansion and step inside before making my way back up the stairs. From there, I begin to check the bedrooms.
The first bedroom…probably wasn’t used very much. Everything is organized neatly, and nothing has been used. The ink bottle on the desk in the corner is completely full, and the quills have no ink stains whatsoever. It’s pretty dusty in here, too…
The second bedroom looks a lot more lived in. It’s still pretty organized, but some items are strewn about, as if the owner of this bedroom just couldn’t care for cleaning. Maybe they left it behind for their servants or planned on doing it later.
The third bedroom is really messy, though…I’m not sure how I didn’t do a double take the first time. The bed is unmade and a bunch of the pillows are lying on the floor. A couple of them have indents in the middle.
Aside from how messy it is, there’s not really much else…
I walk towards the desk in the corner, trying to find anything of interest. I open a couple of the shelves, look around it a little more, and then step back. Is there really nothing in here? I just don’t think they would leave the place all empty of attachments like this…
As a last resort, I check under the bed…and what do you know, there’s a paper of some sort under there. I wriggle my hand into the space underneath the bed and just barely snag the paper with the tips of my fingers.
I pull it out and dust off my arm and the paper. On the front…is a family? I think…
A smiling man with fair skin and short, dark brown hair has his arm around a gentle-looking woman. Her son is pushing her long, green hair out of his way while his…
A large splotch of ink covers the second kid’s face, leaving only their smile and the ends of their hair exposed. Wow, the owner must’ve hated that kid to blotch them out like that…
In the background is the ocean…I think that’s a harbor behind them? I don’t know where that is…
Weird hair color…it probably wasn’t hair dye, since both the kids and the mother have it. I guess the mother, father, and unblotched kid were living here…Their clothes are pretty simple, though. I can’t imagine any of them living in this place.
Well, guess we can save this for another time…it’s not exactly at the top of my priority list right now. I put the paper in my bag and leave the mansion.
It’s getting pretty dark outside…I guess I’ll stop here for today. I wanna read more of those journal entries, too…
I walk all the way back to the Pristine Forest and hole up inside my camp, cuddling the blanket as I settle in for another night of reading…