Mysteries of Aurora - The Manuscript Part 1

 

Monday, September 9, 2024

After a couple of classes, Olivia Marcus was back in the Nordic Section of the Main Library. She had taken a break over Sunday, talking with Janara as she gamed and listening to various audiobooks. She was into a book on the situation in Urbs Aeterna in the decades leading up to the Capture when she heard something in the distance.

 

“What was that?” She looked around and saw a couple of people arguing near one of the doorways between the Nordic Section and the Ancient Section.

 

“Something’s happening,” she murmured.

 

 

She went up to the two. “What’s happening?” she asked.

 

One of the two was an assistant she had seen the previous week. “Something is missing,” he answered.

 

“Missing?” she asked.

 

The, other, an older lady, answered. “A manuscript that was supposed to be written before 1000 BC is missing.”

 

“How could something like that go missing?” Olivia asked.

 

“We have no idea,” the older lady answered.

 

“It could be an inside job,” the assistant, David, said.

 

“That’s not possible!” the older librarian said. “Those stories of secret societies within AAUA are just that, stories.”

 

“But still, it’s missing, right?” Olivia said.

 

“Yes. The Head Librarian noticed that it was missing this morning,” David said.

 

“Should we be telling her?” the other librarian asked.

 

“She wanted to know,” David said.

 

“I guess,” the other said.

 

“Olivia, and I met David last week.”

 

“You can call me Talia.”

 

“Talia,” Olivia considered. “Can I have a look at where it was?”

 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Olivia,” Talia said.

 

“I may be able to help. I have a way of noticing things,” Olivia said.

 

“At least we should give it a try,” David said.

 

“Fine!”

 

 

The trio went into the Ancient Section. The manuscript was stored in a nook on the second floor not far from the Geography Section. The ancient stone walls were more rough, as though the nook was an afterthought for the original builders over two or three millennia before.

 

“It was here,” David said as he pointed to a spot on a shelf.

 

Olivia looked at the shelf. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was the stand the manuscript had been on, and other manuscripts on the shelf and on the shelves above and below it. She recognised the patterns of the script as the pre-Roman Auroralic Script, even if the dyslexia made her unable to see the individual letters. “Sorry. But maybe some other new student could.”

 

“What do you mean?” Talia asked.

 

“I haven’t met her, but I heard that there is an artistic synesthete somewhere,” Olivia said. ‘It is just a rumor, but if they are actually at AAUA, they can help,’ she thought.

 

“Synaesthesia,” Talia considered. “Are you saying that they might pick up something?”

 

Olivia shrugged. “It may be possible.”

 

“Then go, try to find her, while we continue looking,” David said.

 

 

In the Art Department, Freya Andersson looked around the First Year Art Studio. The space was half filled with other art students, many of whom were dressed colourfully in different ways. ‘That’s to be expected,’ she thought before she turned back to her current project. She then closed her eyes as she painted by touch. ‘Something abstract, about new beginnings, given that I am now here, at AAUA.’

 

 

It didn’t take Olivia long to get to the Art Department. She found herself feeling out of place amongst the students who expressed themselves in the way they dressed as well as their unconventional hair colours. But at least there weren’t all that many of them. She looked at the directory, which was quite easy to read. “First Year Art Studio, up ahead.”

 

But when she got there, she saw that there were a large number of students. ‘Ugh!’ she thought as her heart beat faster.

 

“May I help you?” a student with short electric blue hair asked.

 

“I was looking for someone.”

 

“What is her name?”

 

“I haven’t heard her name,” Olivia admitted. “Just that I heard that there is an outgoing creative synesthete.”

 

“Oh, you must mean Freya; she has made quite a splash already.”

 

“Freya,” Olivia considered. “Could you get her?”

 

“She’s just in there, somewhere.”

 

“There’s too many people.”

 

 

Xenia saw that this dark haired student was anxious. “I’ll find Freya for you.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

 

“Freya!”

 

Freya paused her painting, turned and opened her eyes. “Yes, Xenia?”

 

“There is someone asking for you.”

 

“Who is it?”

 

“She didn’t give her name,” Xenia admitted. “But it must be important.”

 

Freya considered her response. “She can come here and ask me,” she said.

 

“But it seems that she’s overwhelmed by the number of people in here.”

 

“Oh,” Freya, said as she looked around. ‘There are a lot of people here,’ she thought. All the colours of the artworks in progress and their clothing were a little overwhelming for her. “Lead the way.”

 

 

Olivia didn’t have to wait long. Even so, she closed her eyes as she waited.

 

“Here she is,” the blue haired girl said.

 

She opened her eyes and saw a pink haired girl with her own eyes closed. ‘Is it the same one who helped me with that map?’ she wondered. “I’m Olivia.”

 

“Freya,” the pink haired girl said. “So, what is it you want help with?”

 

Olivia then explained about the missing manuscript.

 

 

Freya had to admit, she was interested in trying to find that manuscript, but she wanted to finish what she was working on first. “I’ll help,” she said.

 

“You will?” Olivia asked.

 

“You will? Xenia repeated.

 

“But I will finish what I was working on first,” Freya said.

 

“Oh,” Olivia said.

 

“It should be less than an hour,” Freya added.

 

“I can wait,” Olivia said.

 

“You don’t have to,” Freya said.

 

“I’ll go back to the Library, and say that you’re coming,” Olivia said.

 

 

“Are you sure?” Xenia asked after Olivia had gone.

 

“Yes,” Freya answered. “It is interesting. And It’s another way I can challenge myself. I’d like to see if I can solve this mystery.”

 

“It’s the pushing your boundaries thing, isn’t it?”

 

“Absolutely!” Freya said as she bounced up and down.

 

Xenia sighed. “I see that you’re excited.”

 

“Of course,” Freya said as she rushed back to her painting.

 

 

Olivia returned to the Ancient Section. “You didn’t find her?” David asked.

 

“I did,” Olivia responded. “She was busy working on something, but she will be here soon.”

 

“Got it,” David said. “Talia has continued to look, to see if it has been misplaced.”

“I’ll go and help,” She said.

 

“Sure.”

 

 

Talia was looking in other nooks nearby. “It’s looking like it has definitely has been taken,” she said when she saw Olivia coming.

 

“I’ll help.”

 

“What about the synesthete?”

 

“She’s coming,” Olivia said. “But I have another class soon.”

 

 

Freya and Xenia entered the Ancient Section from the Early Roman section. “Are you sure the directions are accurate? This Library is like a maze,” Xenia said.

 

“I was here last week,” Freya said. “Looking up a lake that no longer exists.”

 

“Where was it.”

 

“Upstream of Urbs Aeterna, along the Aterana River.”

 

“The Aterana River, Aurora’s center of population,” Xenia stated.

 

“I’m sure it’s further south,” Freya said as they came up to the Geography Section.

 

“Wait, it’s the center of population of the Northern Provinces,” Xenia clarified.

 

“I guess so,” Freya said as she looked around.

 

 

“Is one of you Freya?” an older lady asked.

 

“I’m Freya and this is Xenia. Where’s Olivia?”

 

“She had to go to class,” the older lady answered. “You can call me Talia.”

 

“OK, show me where this manuscript was taken from,” Freya said after a few moments thought.

 

“Right this way.”