Find The Book

Luna took a step into the infamous village. Known for the calm aura it gives off, Luna took her first breath inside the village, exhaling a calm, relaxed breath in return. The word peace in the name Peace Village really did has a meaning behind its existence. All she could see made Luna look like she was in some kind of 70s film. With the classic black and white screen, and all the settings that made the village itself looked old. Luna liked it, however. It was calm, and with this kind of atmosphere surrounding the village, there was no way a fight could break between 2 people.

Taking out the flyer in her bag, Luna got back to her business; the real goal for her arrival at the village. As usual, Luna would make finding her client or the client’s house her first priority, as she needed to know what did she has to do and stuffs. Walking down the dirt path of the village, Luna thought it would not be wrong to take several short glances as she walk to enjoy the view.

Luna walked down the pathway, and did as the old woman told her to. At first she could not find the house with a book sign in front of it, and started to think that maybe the old woman from earlier did forget something after all. But her assumptions were proven to be swayed as she realized she had not been looking for it carefully. “Ah, there it was.” Relieved that she could find it, Luna slowly approached the house. The old house had some broken windows here and there, and some patched holes on the roof. But in the end, the house itself could still sustain life inside it.

Knocking the door a few times, Luna waited eagerly to meet her client. A slow clank could be heard moments before the door opened. “Oh my! A hottie took my request!” Luna chuckled, the old woman knew how to respond well to things. “Hello there, I am Luna, and I am here for your request.” Politely introducing herself, Luna kept her smile as sweetest as she could. The old woman looked at her for a few moments before inviting the maiden in.

“Come in, girl.”

The inside of the house was very neat, much to Luna’s surprise. Old Jeannette could still take care of her house as well as Luna herself could. Heck, maybe Jeannette was better. Luna looked around, so many things and old photos. “Nostalgic, I see.” The short comment made Jeannette smile. “Ahaha I’m glad you’d think of all those as that.” The old woman halted her steps before heading towards the small kitchen just near the living room itself. “Cause you know, most of the young ones would look at them as aged rubbish and all. It’s really hard to find a young man who appreciates these kind of things.” Luna nodded in agreement, taking a seat on the old lady’s sofa.

“So.. you live here alone?” There was a short silence after Luna asked. “Y-yeah.. My husband died three years ago. John had a heart failure..” Luna, guilty, looked down, mocking herself for not thinking her words through before actually saying them. “Ah, I’m.. sorry.” “Nah it’s fine. We can’t just stay sad for something that’s already happened.” Luna kept quiet, focusing to the old lady’s words.

“It’s good to remember the past regardless if it hurts or not, but it’s not good to easily be saddened by the remembrance of the same thing over and over again.” Jeannette paused. “Except when you know you need to get saddened by it over and over again.”

“So.. about this one book..” Luna took a sip from the tea Old Jeannette had serve; it was tastier than the teas she had given trials before. “Mhm. I really hope you could get it in the library.” Jeannette excitedly answered, before pausing for a sigh. “You see, I am too old to move much. I can’t even stay longer than 5 minutes outdoors.” Luna gave her an assuring smile. “Hm. I’ll try my best to get it.”

Taking another sip of the tea, Luna went on with the topic. “So what is there about the book?” Jeannette stayed silent for a while, maybe to recall all the things she knew about the book.

“The book is about the ocean. John liked very much to sail, and that he told me I should read a book about the vast blue liquid space one day.” “I see. What could the title be?” The old woman again, paused to recall. “If I’m not mistaken, it’s The Sailing Diaries of the Blue Armada.” Luna nodded, having the book’s title confirmed.

“Don’t you worry. I’ll get it for you. Totally.”

The time was 1:30 PM. Luna could find herself in the village’s library. It looked old, but there were approximately 23 shelves of books in the building. For a village library, that was quite the amazing number of shelves they had. “H-hey. Are you kidding me…?”

Luna stood beside the two female librarians, namely Lizbeth and Grisella. Lizbeth had a pair of glasses with her, her blonde hair tied in a bun. Grisella, on the other hand, was a tall beauty with brunette coloured hair. “We’re very sorry..” “We tried keeping the kids out, but..” “Geez. You two do know that it would be hard to find for one single book when everything is shuffled from their respective shelves, right?” the two librarians nodded, feeling guilty upon hearing such complaint from the pink haired maiden.

“Whatever. Complaining won’t get anything done.” Luna looked at the two, which still had their gloomy faces on. “Hey you two.. Can you help me with something? Uhm, two things.” The two nodded at the same time, barely looking at Luna on the face.

“First, help me find that book.” Luna paused, smiling. “And second, please, I will run away from the library if you two won’t start smiling anytime now.” The second favour made the two chuckle, they smiled just like how Luna demanded, and the maiden herself said that she was okay about everything that happened to the library.

“We’ll deal with the mischievous kids later.”

Sounds of tired panting could be heard. It was the kid that ran off with the book Luna needed to find earlier. Hugging the book, the kid peeked from behind the walls of the house he was hiding behind for the maiden. He knew he needed to run when the girl gets in sight. Now that she was still nowhere to be seen, the kid decided to sit down on the ground, catching his breath as he laughed.

“Geez. Kids and their desires to play.” The feminine voice made the boy jump in shock. The book fell onto the ground, the boy leaving it as he backed away from the approaching pink-haired maiden. “Do you know just how many people I needed to ask only to locate you?” Luna sighed. “Six, do you know? Six.” Sighing again, Luna took the book, the kid too scared to move, afraid that Luna would scold him for the mischief and trouble he had caused.

“I-I’m sorry miss, I only do it for fun. I mean, me and my friends did.” Luna nodded, smiling. “I know. Just don’t do something so troublesome just to have fun. Find some more.. healthy games to play, okay?” The boy nodded, relieved that the maiden would forgive him and his friends.

“Grisella, Lizbeth, I found the book!” The two librarians turned around to the entrance. They looked like they had waited for a long time for Luna’s glorious return. “Ah! You found it!” “And what’s better, we managed to rearrange the books back in position!” Luna paused, looking very amazed. “How.. So fast?” The two girls laughed as they looked at Luna’s reaction. “We are mages too, you know.” Luna facepalmed after, forgetting that she was not the only mage there was in the whole nation of Fiore.

“I’m borrowing this book, can I?” “What? Borrow? You can take it! Absolutely free!” Luna was taken aback by Grisella’s offer. She was grateful for it, truly. But it was public property and she could not just take it and go home with it. Or can she?

Luna took a step out of the library. Turning back to the two librarians, the three bid their own goodbyes. Luna left the library, smiling. Slowly, she took out the book from her bag, blowing the dust on its cover page. “The Sailing Diary of The Blue Armada..” Luna smiled as she read the title, satisfied with her accomplishment.

“You did it, sweetie!” Old Jeannette looked very happy upon the sight of the book she always wanted to read. Opening the first page, the old woman stopped after reading the third line. Luna watched, wondering what was wrong. Suddenly, black patches of drops of wet liquid could be seen appearing one by one on the page. Jeannette was crying. Luna sat next to her, gave her a few consoling pats on the old lady’s sides. “John was 30 when he wrote this book.. Now it’s done. He gave it to the library, but during that time no one cared about sailing, and so had ignored the existence of this very book.” Luna listened carefully, sympathizing as she continued patting Jeannette on the sides.

“I’m very grateful to have it.. to know it still exists..” She wiped off the tears from her eyes, sniffing a few times before continuing. “If no one is going to read it and care about its existence, then I will do both.” Luna did not realize when did she started crying. Not that the book itself brought the touching atmosphere, but the display of love from Old Jeannette to her husband itself did.

“Yeah, I’m sure your husband would like it if you would.” Jeannette nodded in agreement.

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“Thank you, young lady for your help.” “Hm it’s my client’s request, after all.” Luna paused, exchanging smiles with the old lady. “I’ll do my best to get my clients to smile. It is, for my satisfaction after all.” Luna thanked the old lady for sharing the story, and told her to take good care of the book.

Exiting, Luna turned back towards the Peace Village, appreciating its view one last time before leaving it behind and treasuring all the memories and lessons she had learnt from this one mission.

-END-