[This page is different from the others, as it seems a new writing method came into play. It's segmented with timestamps and dates written before the segments begin. A coffee stain rests in one corner along with what looks to be a smidge of oil diagonally from it. The first timestamp is illegible, but if you squint it looks like an early hour of the morning.]
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I forgot how much I hate mornings... especially when some certain someones won't stop talking my ear off until sunrise. Whatever. I had almost a whole carton of eggs for breakfast, so I think it balances out just fine with the four shots of espresso. If I don't manage to sleep through the trip, it'll be a miracle among miracles. I will admit, I probably looked like an idiot walking into the morning meeting with almost a dozen hardboiled eggs, but who wouldn't?
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I don't even think I remember half of what was said in the meeting. Something about diseases, dead residents, stuff like that. Everyone was loud enough that I stopped paying attention entirely... Except for when the cowboy called me Lilliana like... Where did the extra L's come from??? Whatever... Anyway, it was over pretty quick and we were all on our way out to this place called Hollownest. So here I am, half awake and on the verge of panicking in my seat at the slightest jolt of the ship. Maybe I'll just nap in here a while...
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[The next timestamp reads... actually, it doesn't. It was so speedily written that it got horrendously smudged, leaving a nice streak to mark the new segment.]
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THEY LEFT ME HERE. ALONE. ON THE SHIP. Great first day, Iliana, you got ditched because you overslept... Again. They wouldn't have completely forgotten I was here, right??? There's no way I'm that stupid, getting left behind to keep an eye on a whole SHIP. Even Irene agreed when I started panicking about it, there's no way! They've gotta be outside waiting on my sorry ass... I'M WASTING TIME WRITING THIS ALL DOWN WHEN I SHOULD BE CHECKING. Seers almighty, put me out of my misery...
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Yeah, they're completely gone. No sign of them ANYWHERE. I got spooked by my odd little bug hands for a second, but other than that absolutely nothing. Guess I'm stuck here until they get back. Great job, Iliana, once again on screwing things up for yourself... Man, what is there to do in a Gummi ship anyway...? Hmm. Russell would tell me to check things out, so check things out I shall.
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[The next timestamp seems to be for the following morning, a little neater compared to the previous mess.]
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I hope the cow man doesn't mind that I messed around with some of his equipment. He's really gotta get better locks on these things. I was tempted to force my way into his room with a bobby pin, but decided to cut him some slack. I mean, I did turn his engine room pink by using that technique he taught us last night, so... Maybe not enough slack. Might just try hotwiring this thing. Will update if I get any results.
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[Another time, later in the day. There's a question mark next to it followed by a doodle of two funky bugs. A sidenote reads: remember to restock cow man's snacks - all out With a frowny face drawn next to it.]
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No luck on the hotwiring yet, I got interrupted by... I wouldn't call it knocking, more like a series of thuds. Two bugs decided to waltz in when I went to check what it was, and I was tempted to field goal kick them right outta here. They're both... friendly? One sits and giggles when I talk to it while the other is a straight up Heartless, which I almost considered squashing like, y'know, a bug. Yet it made no move to make me suffer, so... Is it like the other Heartless back at the castle? What was the little guy's name again? Fernando? Renaldo? OH. IT'S PABLO. Yeah, it's like Pablo! I think anyway.
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Bugs aside, when I let them in, I noticed some sort of rift on the horizon. I think. It might have been the sugar intake messing with my brain. Either way, something felt... off. Might just be the world's atmosphere or my own paranoia... maybe both. There's just deeprooted sadness and anger in the air today. I should close the ramp, that would help tremendously. They did say this world carries diseases, if I remember correctly.
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[One last timestamp, sometime the next day? Hard to tell.]
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FINALLY. One of the leaders came back! The shady one... Warren, I think? Wallace? I'll get it eventually. At least he caught me while I was busy cleaning up my crime scene. Didn't say much of anything to me, simply told me we were taking a detour to go pick up some new members. That's a good thing... right? I think it is, anyway.
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Well, this is gonna be a long trip. Gonna take a nap now, not that I earned it or anything. It's just to stay out of this poor man's hair. Seers knows he probably needs it.
YOU ARE READING
Journal of a Rose
AdventureA series of journal entries written from the POV of Iliana Beradon'na, a runaway turned mercenary trying to pave her own path through her doomed destiny. This collection follows her hasty reconstruction of events she witnessed during her employment...
