The World's End | ONC 2024

ੈ✩‧₊˚ |𝟭𝟯| 𝗔𝘅𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲'𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁

"𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚊 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝟸.𝟸 - 𝙰𝚡𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎'𝚜 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛t"

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

Papa left me with nothing but a list of names of children he likely saved from Veridonia. He also felt that there was no need to warn me, or send me a message or try to rescue me from wherever he was. He felt that I was intelligent enough to figure out how everything worked with a simple sheet of paper.

However, it still didn't make sense. It was like another piece of a puzzle that didn't fit at all. There were so many questions in my mind, ringing through my brain cells.

Wylan was excited, or enthusiastic about the discovery. He enjoyed finding out the mysteries, the part where we could get to the next step of the answer. Even if he didn't know what he'd do with that answer once he got it.

I was glad that Keira was at least skeptical about it.

I knew that Wylan had to be hopeful. It was all that he wanted. From what I knew about him, he lost something. Maybe finding the answer would be one step closer t finding whoever he lost.

It'd be the same for me, I'd find Papa.

I kept searching through Mama's room, where she put her private files. Wylan and Keira had gone to Baby Alissa's room by now, and they were fast asleep. I decided that asking Wylan's father about it tomorrow would be the best idea. He would probably have more clue about what this list was trying to tell me than I did. Baby Alissa was dozing off in my room, and I made my way to Mama's soon after.

Mama's room was so much different to when it was Mama and Papa's room. I should've known that when Papa moved his things out of their room to the guest one that something was wrong. But I was eleven, how was I to know anything?

Guilt washed over me as I rummaged through Mama's belongings. I remembered this room for what it once was. There used to be colored wallpaper here, the walls decorated with flower designs that Papa, Mama and I painted with a multi-color palette in the summer time. Now, that color was removed and replaced by the beige that decorated the walls of the entire house.

I rifled through the drawers and cabinets, searching for anything that might help understand Papa's disappearance or that mysterious list of names. Papa would've written Mama a letter, or a letter to me that Mama confiscated and kept here. The most heart wrenching thought saw Mama burning everything that had any relation to Papa. That would leave no trace of him anywhere. The more I searched, the more frustrated I became. I realized there would be no answers here, only memories of a time long gone.

I paused, my fingers tracing the edge of a faded photograph tucked away in a corner of Mama's dresser. It was a picture of the three of us, taken years ago before everything changed. Mama's smile was bright, Papa's arms wrapped around her, and I stood in between them, a happy little girl with no idea of the pain that lay ahead.

Tears formed in my eyes as I clutched the photograph to my chest, longing for the love again, for the comfort of Mama's embrace, for the reassurance of Papa's presence.

With a determined sigh, I wiped away my tears and continued my search, scouring every inch of Mama's room for any clue that might lead me closer to the truth.

Then, as I reached the bottom of a dusty old trunk hidden beneath Mama's bed, my heart skipped a beat. Nestled among old clothes and forgotten trinkets, I found forty leather journals, all different in color, shape and size. I opened one of them to see the Year Melinus 04 - that was the year Mama would've turned ten. The pages were yellowed with age but the contents were intact, but hard to decipher.