oh noes

Journal 2

Hey, Journey! I’m back…
To be honest…it wasn’t as bad as they said it would be. I could’ve gotten used to it, actually…up until the end.
I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the outsider…he told me to call him Glenn, by the way. Just so you know!
He was really nice to me. He let me live in his house, he fed me every day, and he’d let me wash up in the wooden tub he had! Master has one too, but he never lets me use it…
There were other kids there with me. We were all pretty happy - I always felt like they were about to snap, though…
The only thing I was concerned about was Glenn’s…religion, I guess. Only in the slightest.
He and his friends worshipped Gurrund, pretty much. He thought that humanity was destroying the nature that Gurrund so loved, and he believed that if all of humanity was to disappear, then Gurrund would be happy.
I didn’t really think much of it at the time…he wasn’t obsessed with murder or anything, so I thought it was just a phase of sorts. Like the ones that everyone goes through.
While I lived out my contract, most of the other kids I’d met at first…disappeared. At the time, it felt more like they were replaced…Glenn told us that he let them go. He said he was going to raise us properly, buy us out completely, and then let us go free. Most of us were excited…I remember how we would talk about what we would do after he let us go.
The other kids were always annoyed at me, though… their words are still in my head.
“Aw, come on. Don’t be such a wuss. It’s not like you’ll get in trouble for leaving.”
“You’re selling yourself right back? Are you serious?”
“I hope you realize, someday…that there’s better things out there.”
I guess…it was just a dream for all of us, anyway. In the end…all of us who had that conversation…probably passed away.
…did you know, Journey? If I die while I’m on the contract…the outsider isn’t forced to pay damages.
It really drives in the idea that I’m expendable. That no one would miss me.

If the knights had been any later…I’d be dead, you know?

He nailed the mask onto my face. He told me I’d be the perfect sacrifice…that Gurrund would be satisfied with my blood.
“You’ve been blessed by Gurrund. Be grateful, boy…returning your blood to his earth will bring the day of reckoning upon us.”
His friends were all standing there. Watching him slam the nails through the mask and into my head. Smiling, chanting…I was just lying there. The pain was just another feeling to me.
I was wondering…if what he said about letting us go was true for any one of those kids. Did he sacrifice all of them?

The knights burst in just as Glenn grabbed his ritual dagger…I’m lucky no one tried to stab me before they were arrested. One of the knights carried me to a cleric and had them heal me.
And then, they said I couldn’t remove the mask. It would grow to fit me, it would mold itself into a shape that wouldn’t hurt me…but if I removed it…
…They said Glenn had been getting support from one of the Cursed. That every mask he’d given to his sacrifices would curse its wearer when removed…that the curse would act on someone’s worse fears.
At least I got off easy…I saw some of the knights dig up a body. The mask had smothered their entire face…
The kids who were still alive…they wouldn’t look at me. No matter how much I tried to talk to them…they’d just look away and mumble something…
Master looked me dead in the eye once the knight took me back. I smiled at him, just like usual…and he smiled back. I don’t think it was for the reasons I can think of…
Tomorrow, I’ll go back to my usual duties. It’ll be nice to see everyone again…
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They were all staring at me when I woke up. I pretended like I didn’t care, but it felt like they were goring holes into me…
I felt really uncomfortable, so I just watched the house when I finished everything.
On the bright side, Master did come out and tell me to get inside the house. And then, when I finished my chores…he let me sit on one of the armchairs in the living room!
So now, I’m perched on the edge, trying very hard to sit down as much as possible while trying to nudge my dirty clothes out of the way…I don’t want to contaminate anything he owns.
Ehehe…these pillows look so very huggable!
It’s been a long time since I last read one of the entries in the book I got, so I guess I’ll read you one.
Hmmm…how about a ritual?
Let’s see…this one is for granting other people happiness.
Make a straw doll while imagining someone you want to make happy…do this for each person who you wish happiness upon. Make sure to remember which doll is which.
Then, spread them out in a semicircle in front of you. Sit down, if you haven’t already…
Take each doll and think about what you want them to have. For example, if you have a sick child and want them to be well, take their doll and think, “I want my child to be cured of illness.”
When you’re done, take the dolls and burn them. This way, your hopes will drift throughout the world, flowing until they reach the hands of the merciful gods.
This one sounds kinda…shady. The burning part, that is…wouldn’t it be better to focus on getting your wishes heard by a single god? Like…throwing the dolls into a lake to try and get Hindralia’s attention. Wouldn’t that be better than leaving it up to fate?
Ehehe…I probably shouldn’t think too hard about these. They’re just the stuff of fantasy, anyway…
See you tomorrow, Journey!
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Master said I could take the day off today! It’s rare of him to say I can slack off like this…I’ll take the chance while I still can, though!
I’m scribbling this down while walking to the Pristine Forest…I wanna see the lake for myself. The locals say it never freezes - can you believe it?
But while the lake is my primary goal…this walk is also pretty good, too. I don’t have to think about my troubles when I’m walking around in this refreshing air…
Well, just one trouble. The only downside is that it’s very…cold. I wish I had some sort of cloth to wrap around myself or something. I’m sure I’ll get used to it at some point…
It’s always pretty around here. The sparkling snow and the squirrels that run around here every now and then seem like they all come straight from a fairytale. It just seems like a place where fairies would visit often.