Just an Old Book

4 years had passed since Grim entered the Anakira mansion.

As the two strode into the mansion, Grim wondered if fate could truly be changed. What if fate was already written down, and we just believe that we changed it?

"We're home," said the two as they made their way up to their rooms. After a change of clothes, they met each other in the dining hall where they had lunch. After that, they entered the library to study. The graduation exams weren't that far away. In a few months, the two would have graduated from high school.

"Hey Julius," Grim had a question in his mind, "can fate truly be changed, or are we just made to think it can be changed?" Julius looked at him confused. He did not understand where he was going with this, but gave a not so satisfactory answer. "I don't know," he said, "it would be quite difficult to get the answer to that."

"Well," said Grim, "the sentence 'to be fated to change fate' sounds, well, weird, so I asked."

"Well I guess they are just bad at making quotes. I'm pretty sure 'with great power comes great stupidity' is much more accurate than 'with great power comes great responsibility', don't you think?"

To that, Grim just nodded his head, as if saying "alright, now let's return to our studies."

After quite some time, the two finally finished. "Hey," Grim looked at Julius, "how bout a match of tennis?"

"Sounds fun."

And so the two made their way to the courtyard for a nice old match of tennis. They launched the ball towards each other at high speeds. A normal person should not be able to catch up, but both were clearly not normal people. The two were champions in Junior-High Interschool Championships. The two were in fact the most experienced players in the locality.

As they exchanged the tennis ball, they had a friendly conversation that was irrelevant to the match and had to do with the graduation exams.

"Hey Julius, if it is asked to tell if Eria changed her fate or not, what should I answer?"

"Well, in the book it is written that she did so there you go."

"I see, alright!"

They kept launching the ball at each other, but neither was able to score a point. The match was as equal as it could be. 2 hours in, the scoreboard still read 0 - 0. 4 hours in, it was still 0 - 0. Then, somehow, Julius managed to score a point, though he had to thank luck for that. The only reason he managed to do so was because Grim's hands were sweaty, and his racket slipped from his hands before he could launch the ball back.

1 - 0. With that the match ended. The two shared a fist bump and headed to their rooms. The two took a shower and entered the dining hall. After dinner, the two returned to their rooms, but not before getting a scolding from their father for dropping food on the table.

The two soon made their way back to their rooms. While Julius slept in his room, Grim wondered what 'fate' truly is. The day after was a holiday. "I'm gonna spend the day in the library" was his decision. After that, he went to sleep.

The next day, after breakfast, Grim browsed through the library in search of a book that could tell him something about fate. He browsed and browsed, but couldn't find any. A few minutes later, Julius entered the library to study. "So this is where you are," he said, "I searched the whole house for you."

The two sat down and began their studies. The novel they were reading was titled: 'The Everlasting War', which was apparently about a girl named Erina who managed to change fate.

After Julius left, Grim started browsing again, but there was no book in the library that satisfied him.

"Why did I not go there?!"

A thought pierced through his brain as he searched for his father who was in his room.

He knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Grim entered the office-like room. An old man sat on a chair with a pen in his hand. The table in front of him had a stack of books on one side, and some paper in the middle.

"I am sure you are busy now, so please forgive my interjection."

"Don't worry about it."

"Thank you, father, now, the reason I came here. I wish to know where the keys to the forbidden archives are."

A glimpse of shock could be seen on his face, but it disappeared right after. The man looked at his son, and asked: "Why do you need them?"

"I have a few doubts I intend to clear up."

He had a feeling that this won't go well, but he knew that his son would not do something stupid. "They are in my drawer."

He took the keys and exited. "That was easy." He thought as he made his way to the archives. He opened the door and entered. A book laid on a table at the exact center of the spherical library.

He felt as if the book was calling him. He walked straight to it, he could not stop. The door behind him shut itself, but he did not notice. The book itself emitted a purple radiance that gave the room an eerie look. It was the only light in the entire room— there were no windows. He walked and walked. Soon he stood just an inch away from the table. He picked up the book, and came back to his senses.

"W-what happened?"

The book had stopped glowing, making the room pitch black. He rushed out the door, threw the keys in front of his father's office, and entered his room. As soon as he entered, he locked his door and sat in the chair, sweating. "Why was I—?"

He knew not what he was scared of. He could not understand what was going on. He was scared of something, but knew not what it was. He took a breath, and managed to calm himself down. Then he saw something. A book with a black cover lay on his desk. He did not remember having a book like this. He touched the book. For some reason, the texture felt extremely familiar, as if he touched it moments ago.

He decided to open the book. The yellow pages were quite empty. "Just an old book, huh?" He wondered if it belonged to his father. Whatever the case, it was nothing more than an old book, or so he thought.