Chapter 15: A Book with no letters.

"Say, Kid..Do you even know what a Runner is?"

.

.

.

Previously, After V gets his ass handed down to him, V gets the recognition of the people in The Organization. V stumbles upon a large library and in it finds a book that piques his interest…

V-" The return of the Hero's wish…"

Scratching his head, V kept looking over to the book that was just sitting on top of the countless piled-up books, V picked up the book feeling the grainy texture of it, flipping the pages with a raised eyebrow, only to find that it was written in a way that only muddled him. V squinted, tilting his head in countless different positions trying to make sense of whatever was written in that book, he inhaled deeply before letting it all out as he glummed about the book..flipping the pages the frown on his face would sometimes momentarily go away from looking at the pictures.

V-" How does anyone even read this…I don't get it at all..hmmmm…"

Shallow steps behind, warm air breathed behind V's neck, his neck muscles twitching from the sudden change, he jolts back, turning his head,

Unknown person-" WAH!"

Silky brown hair, long hair yet just long enough to cover his eyes, with freckles on his face, a long robe draped over his body, looking up while rubbing his lower back from suddenly falling to the floor.

V-" Oh!.. I'm so sorry I didn't see ya there…you ok?"

V puts out his hand, Grasping his hands, pulling this unknown person up from the floor, the unknown person pats off his buttocks, grasping the hand tighter as he waves his hand up and down.

Unknown person-" Ah..sorry for coming up behind you"

V-" No no, I'm the one who startled you, I'm V"

Unknown Person-" I'm…Yuji... It's nice to me meet Mr.V"

Letting their hands, V rubbed the back of my neck, still having some lingering feelings, like something was close enough to taste the nape of his neck, The Unknown man's voice, shaky yet stumbling over his clothes and appearance, fidgeting around, V's lips widen a little, reassuring the unknown man's fidgety nature with an amiable smile,

V-" Just V will do."

Yuji-" I-I haven't seen you before…a-are you a new recruit?"

V-" Ah no, my friends work for this place, I'm just a guest, What about you?"

Yuji-" M-me? I-I work for the research department…. A lot of the research department spent their time here since this place has all the known information."

V-" I see…makes sense of its size then"

Yuji-" Y-Yep, n-newbies like me are usually instructed to learn from this library to gather on their picked topics and w-whatnot"

V-" I see…It sure sounds hard… there are so many books and paper here…I'd imagine anyone would lose their minds if they spent way too much time here"

Yuji- "Haha…I guess you can say us bookworms have a strong mental fortitude"

Yuji notices the book V is reading, growing curious about it, he glances at what kind of book he is reading. His cheekbones arise, and he abruptly takes the book out of V's hands paying great attention to it,

Yuji-" Ah!..this is a light novel…I didn't know they had something like this"

V looked at him with my eyebrow raised, seeing the reaction on this unknown man's face made his curiosity itch. V scooted over to the side making some room for him to take a seat,

V-" You can read it?"

Noticing V's curiosity about the book, Yuji reverts to fidgeting with his clothes again, squirmish, he'd reluctantly taken the sit offered to him,

Yuji-" I-It's written in Japanese…it's the language of my homeland, Japan.."

V-" Japanese?... I see, I didn't know languages this complex existed"

Yuji-" E-Eh?… I-I see..where did you come from V?"

V-" Hmm…I guess a grimy and dark labyrinth?"

Yuji-" Y-Yeah, definitely the l-last place I'd think of"

V-" I'm sorry…I'm known to be scatter-brain"

Though Yuji had his skepticism from hearing such uncanny details, some part of him didn't feel the qualm he would feel when meeting someone from such an odd past, despite V having the expression of a halfwit,

Yuji-" Yeah…I can see that..like really see that.."

V scootched over a bit, his cheek nearing Yujis shoulder as he tried to look over the faded picture on the book, having an almost translucent afterimage and This odd language language,

V-" Hey!, what does it say?"

One's being timid and one kicking his feet against the ground from his curiosity, Despite the awkward first impression, Yuji started to glance his eyes over the texts of the pages. 

Yuji-" Hmm.. Let's see…Long ago, A young boy used to live in a remote village near the Kingdom of Alcrux, It was a peaceful village where everyone would enjoy each other's company and the streets would always be full of life and the crisp smell of freshly baked bread…"

Yuji kept on reading and reading, Not even a single muscle of the 2 of them would flinch, the only thing that kept waving was Yuji's fingers glazing over each word on the grainy pages, The sunlight started to grow dim, and soon the lights would turn on over their table, time would be the least of their concerns,

Yuji-" One day, Demons came and brought great terrors into our village, and sooner or later, all the residents were killed, slaughtered, raped, or eaten alive, and…only I remained"

Hearing just a bit of the novel at hand, for V, tears comically burst out like a broken faucet, while Yuji kept looking over the pages with a somber frown,

V-"*hic* t-that's so…*hic* so sad.."

Yuji-" yeah…I guess so" 

V-" What do you mean you guess so? It's so sad and unfair *hic*"

Yuji glanced over at V from the corner of my eyes, wiping off the tears and the loud sound of him blowing into his handkerchief,

Yuji-" Yeah but…it's not so different from reality…maybe that's why I don't feel much empathy toward this" 

V-" What?"

Yuji-" I mean.. The backstory here…it's not that different from us…as of now so many people get killed by monsters and what not…and so many get killed by Their kind…betrayal, lies and deceit, envy and jealousy, back-biting…all of these things exists still to this day…so have empathy towards this when you know you're the same as "Them" ?"

Seeing the stern look on Yuji's face made him think about the current situation of the humans. 

V-" But doesn't having empathy make you Human?"

Hearing this sudden statement, yuji flinches. Lifting his head, looking over the soft yet firm expression on V's face, Yuji leered at V as those words came out of his mouth, he looked down at his hands, fidgeting as the crease on his forehead worsened and he silently gritted his teeth,

Yuji-" B-But... Having those sorts of emotions like empathy and whatnot…that'll get you killed in a world that's created off of Lies, you can't just-"

V speaks out, Touching the book, feeling the cover scratched up the surface, He stares back at Yuji with a somber face,

V-" If the world is created based on lies then shouldn't it be our job to be true?" 

Yuji flinches back after getting V's statement, looking down at his hands clenched out of frustration, grabbing onto his clothes as he bit his lower lip, but letting it go, softening his grasp, 

Yuji-" You…you really are naive…aren't you…"

V Scratching the back of his head,

V-" Ahaha…am I? Sorry about me babbling on ahaha.."

Yuji stands up from his chair, handing off the book to V,

Yuji-" I-I think I'll be taking my leave now…I hope we cross paths again V…if God wills it.."

V-" Yeah likewise…I'll see ya later" 

Sending each other off with a gentle smile on their new profound friendship, And with that Yuji left, Leaving V in the dim-litted library, while he wanted to read the book a bit more, another book came across the corner of his eye, It was a very worn-out book almost ruined with us covered scratched, dirty, and paper turned yellow with the edges being covered in dust and grim. At first glance the book didn't seem special, It was getting dark so V intended to leave.

"Read-"

Dread, That same familiar yet unknown voice whispered to his ear, he looked at the book again, and with a stern expression, picked up the torn-down book as he flipped through the pages, 

"Chapter 01-Genesis"

V started to read the book, and with each page unfolding, He felt different, all the words on the pages felt as if he'd read them before or rather..written them before...

Librarian-" Ahem sir... it's time to close the place,"

V-" Huh?!.. Oh yeah, I'm sorry…look at the time I was so engrossed in this-"

The librarian looks over his shoulder, Seeing the book in his hands the librarian looks at him with a raised eyebrow, looking septical at hearing V's notions.

Librarian-" Sir..that book doesn't have anything written on it.."

Hearing this, V felt a strange sting, he looked over the book again, filled with letters and characters.

V-" Huh?..what do you mean..you can't read it?.."

Handing off to the librarian, looking at the cover the skepticism the librarian increased,

Librarian-" Ah..this is The Cronix"

V-" The wha?... What's that?"

Hearing V's questions made the librarian stutter on her feet, with a vague smile and a soft expression, The librarian stood in front of V,

Librarian-" You don't know what the cronix is? You must be far from home huh.. let's see.."

"The Cronix is known to be the book of God, passed down to countless messengers and prophets to guide humanity to the righteous path filled with humility and peace. Back when there were terms like religion and places of worship, this book was the template and set the standard of how a human should live according to the will of their creator"

V-" I-I see..this must be a very important book then…"

Librarian-" It used to be…believe it or not there were even people who memorized the whole book"

V comically waves the book up and down while pinching it, with a dumbfounded look he wriggles the book around,

V-" Eh? This thick book?"

The librarian-" Yes…they were very devout of their creator and wanted to live the way they were intended to.. because to them...God was the only one who listened"

Hearing the librarian's disheartening voice, V stared at the book, looking at its features, its thickness, its wear and tear.

V-" What…What happened to those people?..."

The librarian faces V, with a crooked smile, trying her best not to sound any more depressing,

Librarian-" Well…I guess hearing the news that the very creator they wanted to live according to had died somehow..they were heartbroken…and lost…They tried everything..looked into prior prophecies but it was too late…every copy of the Cronix..every letter had been lifted off of their pages..and from their hearts…"

Hearing this stunned V, what did the librarian mean by "Every letter lifted off of their pages"...The letters were still there…in the book V was holding.

V-" Hold on…you can't see the letters?"

V hastily showed off the book, showing it to her, expecting…

V-" Take a good look at the letters, The chapters it's all there!"

Nothing…the librarian saw the book but it had nothing in it, nothing but empty pages. Disappointed the Librarian started to stroll away, pausing for a brief moment, telling him to leave as the library was closing soon. But V wanted to know more.

V-" Ah can I borrow the book for the time being?"

Librarian-" You can have it, it is an empty book anyways, now if you would be kind enough…"

V-" Ah yes.."

V stands up, as he walks up to the front door, V halts, taking a step back, asking the librarian,

V-"..Do you think…those people…still exist?...the people who still have some sort of hope..the people that still live by how they're intended?"

The librarian looks down at her feet..she tilts her head up, giving a firm answer with a gentle smile.

Librarian-" I think so…I'm one of them...at least I try to be"

Hearing this gave V a sense of relief. As V was walking along the corridor he kept looking at the book, pondering about its content and how it seemed nostalgic, V met up with Eve for the last time and checked on Lily to see if she was sleeping properly or not, Finally, he came back to his room.

 He freshened up, took the book to his bed and, as he got ready to read it..he got knocked out and went to sleep immediately.

.

.

.

Steps could be heard, followed by a loud bang on the table, It was Eve with her arms crossed over her chest and wrinkles forming on her forehead as she snorted out,

Eve-" DUDE JUST FUCKING KILL ME ALREADY,"

Sitting alongside the table, V and Lily, munching to their heart's content.

Lily-"The foob hbere shure iz Gud Rbight broh?"

Taking another bite of her sandwich,

V-"Youb shure gob' a boint-"

The munching resumes, Eve's eyes fidgeting from the sight of these 2, Her feet jittering against the ground, She shoves herself beside V, Noticing her manner, V puts the sandwich in front of her face, taking a bite, the jittering of her feat lessen and the frown on her face had softened, Eve stretches her hand onto the table, breathing out her fatigue,

Eve-" Man~..Why do I get first-row seats to my uncle and Erika flirting huh? HUH??"

Her frown had started to return a bit, tapping the table vigorously,

Lily-"Ah!~ Young love…or old love?...LOVE~"

Eve-" And here we have someone who likes all that mushy shit..great!..just great.."

Eve flails around her hands, giving great attention to the ants below her feet as to why she had nothing better to do, V notices the clock on the left-hand side wall of the cafeteria, with an illuminated face he jumps up from his seat, steps into gear and darts out the cafeteria. Noticing this Eve tilts her face towards the front door,

Eve-" What's up with him? What's he in a rush for?"

Lily throws away the parchment paper, picking up her tray,

Lily-" I don't know, he's been bolting off to somewhere recently, OOO MAYBE HE FOUND A GIRL-"

Eve twitches from hearing the suggestion, her eye jerking while she vigorously beat the table,

Eve-" THE FUCKS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?????"

.

.

.

Days passed like this, the reception hall filled with noises and chats, the training field filled with slashes and fists collision with each other, and yet there was only one place devoid of any sounds nor bantering, Where V and Yuji would meet up again. 

The both of them smiled and laughed as they flipped each page of the novel they shared an interest in. The day's progress, the sun shining brighter than ever, the smell of lavender, birds chirping outside with minimal requirement, laughter can be heard from the bickering of people but soon enough the rain would follow as one day, Yuji…had vanished.

The next day came, A sense of heat could be felt on V's face, Opening his eyes the sun ray illuminating his room throughout, his stomach started to hurt and his chest tightened, gasping for air, as he sat on his bed, Looking up from the bedside window.his eyes widening, out of words to describe what was in front of him, as a man was dangling, covered in bruises, and turned blue from the noose around his neck.

V-" WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON??"

A few hours had passed. People started to mumble amongst each other about what happened this morning, people were on their feet, and V and the rest of his friends were called on short notice to John's office.

Old man John-" I presume you all know why I called you?"

The man(Kevin)-" It's the dead body that was found this morning, we've investigated the sights and the body, His name was Max Ronald, he worked as a Regular Hunter and was also recently involved with the research department"

Eve-" Do we have any prior records of him? Like where he came from and if had any bad connections?"

The man(Kevin)-" For the most part he's clean…but one thing that does stick out..he was recently connected with the discovery of the new Regalia"

Hearing this John stood up from his chair, Looking out the window without uttering a single word.

 V had a stern look on his face, looking down at the floor looking at all the details on the floor but not taking in any of it, the scene of the man's face covered with a bad while hanging flashes again and again in his eyes, He felt a shake from his side, he looks to side with Eve, a frown on her face.

V-" I'm fine…What's a Regalia?"

The man(Kevin)-" Simply spoken, A Regalia is a tool that was created by God or by his Angels.. there's a lot of regalia that range up from, weapons to even tools that hold vast amounts of knowledge.. They can even tamper with the human psyche, They're also what the Runners search for…by now The Runners Hold the most amount of Regalias..though we don't know why they would want so many.."

Eve-" Then you think a Runner was the cause of this murder?"

The room felt cold after hearing Eve's suggestion, A stern expression of johns reflected off the window, With everyone in the room looking at Eve from the corner of their eyes, breaking the silence The man(Kevin) speaks out,

The Man(Kevin)-" While we can't be sure of that..there has been a sighting of a boy with brown hair and freckles..he was last scene with the victim…and he was last seen snooping around the vault too"

V's eyes widen, his gut-wrenching over, his fingers tightening. clenching hard into fists as his nails dig in, drips of red fall on the blood, teeth biting down his lower lip, V bolts out, and hastily slams open the doors of John's office.

Eve-" Wh-WHA V!? WHERE ARE YOU GOING?? HEY WAI-"

V's vision tunneled, as he sprinted over to the research department, not caring who he bumped into, V frantically slammed the door open and cried out,

V-" YUJI!! COME OUT!! NOW!"

Eve and the others caught up, panting, gritting his teeth as his chest was puffing out, something grabbed on from V's blind spot, and he jolts back, sweating profusely, a man holding out his hand onto his shoulder, it was Baldwin the head of the research department,

Baldwin-" Calm down kid…take a breath"

Despite his saying, V couldn't, he grabbed onto his shirt, refusing to elaborate further,

V-" BALDWIN..WHERE'S YUji??"

Baldwin-" Yuji?... Who's YUji?"

V's eyes widened, his grittiness gone as he stared at Baldwin, his grip lost on his shirt, V wobbled back, before falling on the floor on his knees, 

The sounds of bantering could be heard again,

" Yuji? Who's that?", 

"Did someone named Yuji work here? Beats me".....

It was happening all over again….again...all V could hear right now...

Was static noise......…

.

.

.

_____________________________Chapter End_____________________________