A Series of Knocks

A serene summer night experienced only when two revolutions connect is Flinn Abhain's last night in Crotton City Cathedral. From where he is sitting, a table and a simple bed can be seen as he writes his last diary entry for the current revolution.

"31st Entry, Month of Capricorn

I extended my stay long enough. I am required to move away by midnight. My things will be left here but Syth can take care of them. I am still not sure what to expect of the so-called domain but that does matter none to me anymore. A last ditch. A formality. This is the purpose of this last entry. If my assumptions are correct, since belongings are not required, it can be judged that there is at the very least, the danger of losing my life. Or maybe this is mere overthinking that got me up to this point. Heh, I'm quite old, eh. But an urgent notice huh... How ironic for the church of the goddess of balance to be urgent..... The fear of the unknown is the fear of everything. Taurus, you... "

Flinn unconsciously lost consciousness.

***

Knock. Knock.

Ayre heard two soft knocks. Although she's new, the servant already grasped the guides of every procedure in the Bushnell estate including the format of knocking.

Still tired, Ayre tried to get up from his bed but splendidly failed. Having no choice, in his thoughts at least, but to keep laying down, Ayre let the servant in.

"What is it? Dinner already over?"

"Not quite...yet Sir Ayre, but yes it's already starting as we speak."

"Then don't mind them."

"My apologies but I am not here for that. I quite know how you do things Sir, ehehe."

Like a flirty hormonal girl in her teens, the servant let out a little giggle after that statement. But...

"Alright get to the point."

A cold reply. Poor girl. Press F.

"Uhmm, about the letter you handed me earlier, it was blank. I-I-I didn't mean to look into it but it slipped from my hand while I was in the hallway earlier and since the envelope was already opened, it just slipped out of it."

Ayre felt like doing a face palm as he listened to the servant's explanation. Although the servant received no scolding, Ayre still told her to be careful the next time or she will be in trouble. Well, since it was his stupidity that almost got him trouble, and the girl's klutziness that saved his face.

The woman let out a very curious smile as she turned around and left the dimly lit room.

...Come to think of it, isn't this room a bit too dim? Ayre who just fully awakened after his short nap, realized this strange fact. It was not strange for a room to be dimly lit deep in the night however, since it was just minutes after twilight, it is indeed a bit puzzling.

Still holding the blank letter in his hand, Ayre headed towards the lamps at the wall sides. He did not think too hard about the matter since it could just be anyone from the estate who turned them off.

Hmm? What? Ayre found another strange thing. He noticed a shade on the blank paper. The room is supposed to be dimly lit but it feels like the shade did not mind it at all. It was like a living thing that as long as light is present, no matter how dark a room is, it will still have an inequality of shade on the paper's surface.

He headed towards the single light source in the whole bedroom. A single candle. As he got closer and closer, the shade started getting darker and darker until something was formed. Something could be make out of it.

"What? Words?"

Characters of the current Lithinian alphabet was what Ayre saw on the paper. The blank paper that was supposed to be empty now contained words and these words combined to form sentences until full paragraphs were formed.

He started reading the letter. Although it mainly constituted of a request in basic format for normal summons, like the ones you find in courts during trials, Ayre thought that the last sentences seemed out of place.

"...And if the mission is completed successfully, we shall bestow upon you the highest honor bestowed by the combined authority of the Church of the Twelve Gods. Thank you for you cooperation."

"What could be higher? Flinn is already a cardinal and there's something higher than...than that...? And combined authority of the twelve churches? It seems like something's going to be rocking the town for a while and...in a while."

Ayre, thinking he was thinking too much, just swallowed his vomiting curiousity while frowning. Swallowing it all is disgusting but since he couldn't find where to sate it and throw it all up, there was nothing he could do about it. Instead, he looked at the candle sitting on the study table.

The candle is in a cylindrical container about three inches in height and two inches in diameter. It looks similar to the candles used during masses. If a normal person is to see it, he or she would not think twice before returning it to the church.

It was emitting a normal bright yellow orange light you can see from candles anywhere. He tried moving the letter away from the candle. Indeed, as he expected, the characters became less visible the more he moved the paper away but as long as the candle light is present, it did not vanish completely.

Is it the type of ink? Not the light since it's from a normal candle...or maybe the paper? They haven't used ink but put the characters using another way in the paper used? Like the principle of cutting paper in the shape of characters so you can create readable sentences without using ink...

Theories flooded his mind. He got curious as to how this vanishing magic happens and it is quite comparable to the curiousity of a child towards the rotation of the earth and thinking he can see it rotating since the clouds are moving.

However, he did not find anything weird with the paper's composition. He compared it to Flinn's diary page's paper but it was almost identical.

"...Is it the light?"

After his simple compare and contrast experiment, a thought he discarded the very first entered his mind.

"But how...? The candle itself? Is something special about the candle itself that its light can make an ink react wi-"

Knock...knock...knock...

Ironically, Ayre was startled by the three soft knocks the door produced while he was considering what the candle is.

"Who is it?"

The answer seemed to come from the farthest star still travelling the cosmos as he heard nothing but silence.

Knock.

Another knock was what that answer is. But the star is nearer than he thought...