Mysteries of Aurora - The Manuscript Part 4

 

Back at the Library, Janara had found something. “There are some matches here.”

 

“Matches with what?” Olivia asked.

 

“Some obscure Nordic runes,” Janara answered. “You would know more about that than I.”

 

“I guess,” Olivia said. She brought up her tablet and accepted Janara’s connection request. The files loaded, and she looked at the comparison between Freya’s original sketches and the additional data Janara had added. “There is definitely something here.”

 

“What have you found?” Talia asked.

 

“The obfuscation, at least Freya’s impression of it, matches Nordic runes, which I can barely make out,” Olivia explained. “It’s probably in Auroric, or Old Norse, but I only speak Auroran.”

 

“Same here,” Janara said.

 

“Another thing Freya may help us with,” Olivia said.

 

“She may seem Auroric, but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Janara said.

 

“Besides, the linguistic diversity of AAUA is similar to that of Aurora overall,” Talia said.

 

“So, we probably don’t need her,” Janara said.

 

“Probably not,” Olivia said. “But I’ll ask her in the morning.”

 

 

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Olivia looked at the time after she clambered out of bed yet again. It was still quite early. ‘5:23!’ She looked out the window and saw that the early dawn was barely visible. ‘Good thing Aurora doesn’t do daylight saving.’ She was also thankful that Aurora followed it’s own time zone. (UTC -0:30)

 

She looked at where Janara was sleeping. “I know you will be rested.”

 

She went over to her laptop and opened it. She brought up a copy of Freya’s sketches, and the runes that the patterns resembled. “This doesn’t make sense? Why use Norse runes when the manuscript is nearly two millennia older?” She wasn’t sure what to make of that. ‘It just deepens the mystery. Maybe I’ll ask Flavia when I see her in class next, or maybe Freya will have an opinion.’ She wrote that down.

 

But she realised that she probably wasn’t getting back to sleep anytime soon. She ran a search on the runes Freya had uncovered, but found that there were thousands of results, most of them from the Auroric regions to the northeast of Urbs Aeterna. ‘That’s way too many!’ she thought. She wasn’t sure how to narrow it down. ‘Another thing to talk to Freya about, maybe.’

 

 

She then got up and went for a walk, as she had found that usually helped clear her mind before trying to go back to sleep.

 

 

As she wandered the western courtyards around Janus Hadrian Hall, she thought about the patterns she had found. ‘I need to find out more.’

 

 

She returned to the dorm room as the sun was rising. She found that Janara was up.

 

“I had an idea,” Janara said, as she turned her laptop around.

 

Olivia looked and saw that Janara had overlaid a map of the campus on one of Freya’s sketches. “Some of the buildings match the rune?” she asked.

 

“Some of the buildings,” Janara confirmed. “But more specifically, buildings that were in existence prior to the Nordic Era.”

 

“So, before the Nordic Era, but using a Nordic Rune.”

 

“What I do know about Aurora’s history is that the Norse brought about as much change as the Romans did.”

 

“That is definitely true,” Olivia said a she looked closely at the new image. “Can you print it out?”

 

“Certainly. I can also 3D print a tactile version for Freya.”

 

Olivia nodded. ‘I’m certain she was squinting because it was bright.’

 

 

At the same time, Freya stirred. She stretched as she opened her eyes and recalled the mystery in the Library. ‘It’s certainly a mystery,’ she thought as she switched on her computer.

 

“Now, more on Auroric art traditions,” she murmured in Auroric.

 

There was a lot of sites found, as she expected. “This is going to take ages, and I might lose interest. In the meantime, the manuscript could be anywhere.” She then looked at a map of the AAUA campus.

 

“Maybe not the present day map,” she considered. She then looked at the historical maps. But she was bored before she reached the Renaissance, and started sketching something different.

 

 

Olivia was ready to go to breakfast when Janara said that the 3d printed image was ready. “But will she be there? She could have class.”

 

“Maybe,” Janara considered. “But we’ll wait. I don’t have classes until the afternoon.”

 

“Neither do I.”

 

 

Freya had an Advanced Music Theory class early. She met her friend, Alexia, outside the lecture theater. “Alexia!”

 

“Hi, Freya,” Alexia said as Freya bounded up. “I see you’re exited about something.”

 

“More like, it’s a mystery,” Freya responded.

 

“A mystery?” Alexia asked with curiosity.

 

Freya then started explaining about the manuscript before Professor Ingurman arrived.

 

 

At the same time. Olivia and Janara entered the Ancient Section and saw that Talia was waiting for them.

 

“You have found out more?” Talia asked.

 

“Yes,” Janara answered.

 

Olivia handed her the printout of the map overlaid on Freya’s sketch of the obfuscation. “We found that the rune lines up with a map of the campus as it existed during the early medieval period.”

 

Talia took the sketch. “This just gets more convoluted,” she commented.

 

“So, why are Nordic runes connected to a manuscript from two thousand years earlier?” Olivia asked.