Book Four – Chapter Five – Part Three – Surrounded by Love

Hello, my dairy! Or my journal… Or whatever the heck I’m calling this thing.

I know… I know… I said I would write more regularly, but that was a big lie. My excuse? Well, her name is Servy, and we’ve practically been connected at the hip for over a week. Yes, that includes our adventure to the theatre hall today.

OH!!!! OH!!!! OH!!! Before that, I need to write something down before it’s gone. Well, should have scribbled it down yesterday, but…

It isn’t my fault Servy is just too darn cute! How could I write at all when all I want is to hold her against me? It’s impossible, I say!

Even right now, as I’m sitting in bed, leaning against the backrest and jotting this down, she’s taking a lovely little nap on my lap while curled up like an adorable puppy. I really want to join her, but I’ve been putting this off for too long. And I have to write this down now because tonight is when we're having a small party at Claire’s house. When I saw her this morning, she said she would get us when she clocks out. Until then, I'm just hanging out with Servy.

About the party… Yay! It’s August 2nd!!! I’ve been waiting for this day for a while!!! Srassa, Claire, Servy, and I will have ALL the fun! My lovely little lap puppy needs it, too. I really want her to know that she’s touched the hearts of a good number of people, and she really, truly has friends waiting for her recovery.

And if I can get a little bit depressing, I know that this probably won’t stay when they find out that she’s a murderer… It’s harsh from me, but splitting hairs might just cause misunderstandings. Even I know it’s naïve to think they will all take her side in this… Just imagining Claire and Srassa saying they hate Servy… Or that she’s a monster will break my heart… Dineria said she knew what Servi was going through, but she really doesn’t…

What are the odds all three of them will continue to support Servy? How many will turn on her? No, I say turn on her, but…I think that’s the wrong phrase.

Grampy, is it wrong if I think it’ll be fine if we take this to our grave? Do they really need to know all of the details? Then again, I don’t want any secrets in our friendships… Maybe Servy will know what to do… Though if I know her, and I know I do, she would prefer there to be no secrets at all.

If you aren’t friends with the real person—without knowing—truly, truly knowing them—then are you friends at all? That might be a topic for another time, but it’s one that definitely needs to be answered sooner than later.

Ah, guess I should get on with it, shouldn’t I? Well, I put it off for so long, so what’s another five seconds while I pat Servy’s head? Hehe, her hair is just so soft. She hasn’t taken a shower in days, but she smells so clean…

That’s pretty amazing… And I’m kind of jealous…

Dang it, Momo… Stick to the plan, yeah?

Yesterday, Servy and I were walking near one of the city entrances when there was a commotion. We checked it out and saw Fisher talking to some of his guards who had a Koena. Well, it looked like he bought the poor boy and immediately freed him. The guards didn’t like it and attacked him, and Fisher handled it.

Honestly, I was impressed by him. From what I know, he used to be all about the Humans. The good ones, the bad ones… Even the evil ones. It was like the worst of the Humans came before the nicest Demi-Human, but now he’s at a point where I think he’s really fighting for justice. True justice, that is. I did mouth the words ‘thank you,’ and can you guess what Itarr did? I would say she read my mind, but I don’t know if that’s one of her abilities. I don't think it is...

She absorbed the slave bracelet clasped around the Koena’s wrist. Fisher didn’t realize it at first, but I kinda helped him out with my eyes. We left soon after, so I don’t know what happened. Still, I hope that poor boy gets the help he needs … He does have his freedom, which is really good, and I do hope it stays that way.

If Fisher was the old him, I don’t think he would have done that… But I am proud of him. I really am… I don’t know if he will ever tell his children his past, but I can’t imagine that conversation is going to be easy…

I wonder if he has anything to say about what I wrote above? Like if we really need to tell everything? Maybe… That’s probably going to be an intense topic of discussion for Servy and Fisher…

But the rest of that day went off fairly well. We ran into that Koena who operates the shrimp stall Servy and I love.

I have been porking out like a gluttonous kitten, so maybe it’s time for me to hold back for a while and eat some leafy greens… I don’t want to gain a lot of weight because I have to be fast, nimble, and speedy like a… Well, like a cat. Cause I am a cat. Well, I have the ears and tail of one…

Speaking of that, cats meow like crazy, but I’ve never felt the need to. There was that odd sound coming from me a while back. It almost sounded like a purr… Should I meow?

“Meow…? Meow? Meow meow meow meow. Meow meow!! Meow?!”

Umm… Yeah… That was a little bit too silly, even for me…  But if Servy wants me to meow, then...

Well, I have to keep an open mind.

Cymbal told us some more about the Dwarf she likes. His name is Qnair, apparently. It’s pronounced ‘Nair’, and her eyes sparkled like mine does whenever I gush about Servy. You know, it is comforting to know I have a close ally in this fight of interspecies-love… Dineria might be another friend in that department… She didn’t explicitly say she had relations with someone that’s not an Elf, but…

Well, I don’t want to pry into her love life… What I do want to pry into, however, is the thing that happened today.

Today was the day we met the other cast members who will perform The Lift of a Butterfly Will Cure Our Ailing Hearts. It was so nice seeing Myrabel, Denaire, and Grid again. Instead of being all dolled up and professionally dressed to impress, they wore something fun and casual while still looking quite noble.

You know, Servy and I almost didn’t feel underdressed.

Almost…

Myrabel greeted me and Servy with a cute smile. Heck, she even asked about Servi’s recovery. And even mentioned that we could ask her for any help or advice.

Wyima and Bartholomew were obviously there. They sat at a desk on the stage, and it was me, Servy, and all of the others sitting in the audience. I didn’t get a good count, but there were about 25 or 30 people there. He called us up one by one to receive a script and a schedule, so when Servy’s name was said, we both went up there. As for the schedule? It is pretty heavy on the rehearsals. It’s four times a week, which kind of makes sense since we have less than a month. I did find it funny that Servy’s ‘character’ for the play is literally Crying Noise…

I was happy for Myrabel, Denaire, and Grid since they snagged the roles of the three main characters. That pretty much means they have the most lines, and they’ll be on the stage more than the others.

But it wasn’t all smiles and butterflies. A couple of the people there were bigots… Not for what you might think, but because Servy and I were the only non-nobles. They kept saying that common trash should stay with the rest since only the affluent has the right to experience art.

Yeah… Their tune changed when Bartholomew led the cast through a readthrough. We all went to the stage and sat down in a giant circle, and the director stood in the middle.

You know, it is really…weird? If not weird, then odd…? I can’t really explain it, but the moment Bartholomew read out the opening paragraph to set the stage for the play, it was like the atmosphere changed. I guess since I was a country bumpkin, I didn’t quite get it. Servy almost did, I think. She stayed as quiet as a mouse as everyone became super serious.

Ah, that’s another thing. It seemed like no one had a problem with Servy and me holding hands. Wyima didn’t care, Bartholomew didn’t care, absolutely no one cared, and that felt kinda nice… A few cared about our ‘peasant’ status, but at least they didn’t try to rip me away from Servy.

But what was also absolutely spectacular was when Myrabel read her line for the first time. Her character, Shika, had just lost her husband in a war, and the play opened at his funeral.

Yeah… Servy was up to the plate right away, and now I had a chance to learn how she was supposed to carry out her role as Crying Noise. Bartholomew told Servy she needed to memorize the whole script, or rather the female parts, and mouth the words along with the actress. Then whenever it gets to a part where crying is needed, she must match the speaker's volume and cadence as best possible while crying. This way, the actress just needs to focus on making the right facial expressions and not the crying.

And I was like…

Wait, what?

How the heck does he expect Servy to do all that when she can barely talk?! To make it worse, the few who didn’t like me or Servy started to mouth off. Yeah, I was pretty embarrassed and just wanted to crawl back to my bed and sleep the rest of the day, but Servy surprised me once again. I held the script between us so we both could read it, and out of nowhere, she started speaking Myrabel’s character’s—speaking Shika’s lines.

It was still her speaking, and I knew that was Servy’s voice flowing from her lips that I really want to kiss, but at the same time…

It wasn’t her. I dunno if it has something to do with her past…but it was really like Servy became a different person. She really aced it, though. There was this part near the end of Shika’s opening monologue where her crying was so powerful she just collapses on top of the casket and shouts into her dead husband’s face about how he had the gall to leave her alone in the world…

It was an intense scene, especially because Shika was the mother of two girls and a young boy, who were sitting right in front. Their mother just ignored them during their father’s funeral, and it really plucked my heartstrings… Not only that, but Shika and her husband had been married for over five hundred years… he was truly her first love… So much so that she didn’t even regard her children’s feelings and pretended they weren’t there…

Even I could tell this play was going to hit a lot of dark notes about society and how we communicate and treat one another… It had a happy ending, though… So that’s good.

But Servy? She completely nailed it, and when Shika was supposed to grab her husband’s corpse and unsuccessfully try to shake him awake, she turned me and grasped my shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing, you idiot?! Why did you die before me?! If I don’t have you in my life, then I have nothing!! Please… Just wake up…” she said. During her whole scene, she never did stop crying for a moment. True Immortality probably guaranteed an unlimited amount of tears…

I didn’t say anything since I guess I was supposed to be the dead husband, and corpses can’t talk, but dang…I don’t even know how to explain just what I felt… And writing it down can’t do it justice… Well, a better writer probably could… I’m doing my best, and I really think I’m getting better.

Bartholomew was over the moon in his praise, and he exploded out into another outburst involving darkness of the heart and some other stuff that went way past my head. But I did understand that he wanted Servy to mouth the script and provide all of the ‘sadness.’ He said if she could match her heartfelt display with everyone, then he had no hesitation in claiming this production would be his best one yet.

Our new theatre friends—Myrabel, Denaire, and Grid, were all smiles and full of happiness. There were a lot of unscrupulous (?) stares, possibly full of jealously because Servy received so much praise from the director.

Bartholomew restarted the readthrough, and it was time to see Servy in action once more. This time, she had to match up with Myrabel, but Myrabel was like the queen of hesitation. It seemed she wanted to match Servy’s pace rather than it being the other way around. That led to a lot of suddenly stopping and starting, and we were getting nowhere fast.

It looked like our new Elven friend was getting frustrated, but the director finally told her to just go for it without looking at Servy. She had difficulty with that, so Wyima then brought out the blanket enchanted with invisibility. He just threw over us, and I felt a bit…odd.

The Shadow’s Embrace kind of ‘erases’ the user from reality… That’s what Servy said, and I’ve checked the skill’s description on her ID. And Wyima described this blanket as something that allows light to always pass through instead of bouncing off… I didn’t understand or get it… It was impressive, I guess. And I’m sure something like his blanket went for hundreds of thousands of dupla since invisibility was a powerful ability that needed a ton of Skill Energy to sustain. To have it in a physical form, one that anyone could use? And the fact it didn’t require the user to give it any Skill Energy?

Yeah, it was definitely a highly sought-after item. Wyima would definitely have to keep an eye on it, not that Servy and I had any intention of stealing it. He was standing right behind us with a metal pole embedded into the blanket, so yeah… Only the things under it are invisible. During the show, he said that since Servi was going to be right in front of the curtain, she had to walk side to side so that the pole remained hidden from the audience.

It really does sound like a lot of trouble, but the director seemed to be a man who didn’t care about the cost as long as he got the best…

Since we could see outside from under the blanket, I guess Servy just matched(?) or followed along with Myrabel the best she could, and as odd as it sounded, I actually thought the director’s weird desire made sense.

Because it actually sounded really good in how their two voices combined during the moments of emotional despair.

Like, it was crazy how perfectly synced Servy and Myrabel were… And as the readthrough progressed, Servy accomplished her task, matching the cries of Humans, Kobolds, Koena, Dwarves, and Elves—people she had never talked to before today— as if she had known them all her life. It doesn’t make that much sense because she is a Human, but I swear I was sitting next to a being that could morph between different races. Her cries as a female Dwarf were completely different than when she wept as a Human…

And here’s something else I was thinking about as I stared at Servy’s pretty face and flipped the script for her.

There has to be people out there who can’t fake cry to save their life. And I’m sure there are people who can’t act at all, yet they can bring down the waterworks at a moment’s notice.

Was Servy like that?

Her whole past is encased in mystery. I know what I’m about to write down can possibly be attributed to Itarr’s emotional manipulation, which was done out of love… Really, nothing about her makes sense…

She’s a fighter, a killer, a torturer, and now an actress?

Just what kind of life did you live before waking up near Canary? That’s definitely the biggest mystery on my mind…

Wait…

What if Servy… Because of what happened to her… I’m sure she had to fight against every race there is… If they started crying, begging to survive…then is that the experience Servy is tapping into? She might just be mimicking the last moments of her foes’ life, and that’s why it’s so convincing…

That’s…disturbing to think about…

Wait, crying to want to live is different than crying because your husband has passed away…

So I guess my little theory is wrong… That’s a good thing, right? But the mystery is still there…

But even if you combine everything, you end up with a whole lot of something that doesn’t make a lick of sense.

We didn’t get done with the entire readthrough, but Bartholomew said that was to be expected. He did tell us that we will be putting in the hours to get this play ready for our one-and-only grand debut. All in all, we spent about six hours there. Myrabel, Denaire, and Grid wanted us to stay so we could mingle with the other cast members, but Servy tugged on my shirt and rubbed her eyes. I know it’s technically impossible for her to ‘get’ sleepy since she doesn’t need to sleep, but I still found it adorable all the same. And if I was being honest, this gave me the perfect excuse to leave.

I really only waved goodbye to the three I actually liked, then nearly skipped all the way back while holding Servy’s hand. We did run into Claire, who was really working hard. She didn’t see us, though, since she was too busy sitting behind one of the receptionist windows. I did happen to see a giant stack of papers and the beginning of an existential crisis forming on her face.

You can do it, Claire!!! Don’t give up!!!

After finally reaching my room, I crawled into bed and stretched my legs. Before I knew it, my little Servy had laid down and rested her head on my lap. Between scribbling something down in my journal diary, I’ve been patting her head and rubbing my fingers through her hair.

And she’s been asleep the entire time… I probably should tell her this, but I did squeeze and poke her sleeping cheeks…

She really is beautiful… And I don’t know what it is, but I just feel so powerful when she’s relying on me. Like right now, the most powerful girl in Lando—possibly the world—is depending on me to keep her safe…

That is the biggest honor some backwater country cat like me is ever going to get…and I will do my best!

In fact, I think I might contribute to her safety by finishing this entry and snuggling next to her.

Hey, if I’m literally beside her, hugging her close to my body, then nothing should happen, right?

As another excuse, it might be nice for me to get some Servy Time. On the flip side, she could do with an extra helping of Mosie Time as well, right? Especially since we’re gonna have some Fun Time!

When she does return to normal… I still plan on confessing… It might not be right away, but definitely within the week.

Grampy… I’d like to think that you wouldn’t mind me showing up back home with Servy, right? I’m sure you’ll love her… And I certainly can’t forget Itarr. Me and them… A Singi, Human, and a Goddess, strolling back into my village? I just know you’d approve of them after seeing how much they care, love, and protect me…

I do miss you a lot, grampy. I know I can’t depend on you forever, so I am trying my hardest to become a Singi you’d be proud of…

Sometimes, that’s really, really hard…

I don’t ways choose the right things to say…

I don’t always choose the best action…

I’ve made a ton of costly mistakes…

Even after 18 years, I’m just as lost as I was when I was a little kitten stumbling through the kitchen… But I’m still here, standing—sitting, I guess—and I’m ready to face each day with a smile… Being with Servy and Itarr has taught me a lot about myself… And I’m glad I’m not the old me anymore.

Or maybe I should be glad that I used to be the old me. The Momo I am now couldn’t possibly exist without the me of then, so… I think I just wrote myself into a circle, but I think you get what I mean.

Grampy, I love you. I’m taking excellent care of your bag and sword. When I’m eventually stronger than you, I’ll return them back to their rightful owner… You can count on it!

And with that, I can flip the page and mark this as the end of this entry. I am running a little bit low on pages… Might be time to get a new notebook… If I can, I’d want to get one with a lily flower on it.

AH! That’s perfect! What better way to set the mood than to give Servy a flower that I love? I better be on the lookout for one… And that gives me even more ideas to set the perfect mood for my second confession…

Hehehe!!! Well, I’m going to have a lot of fun thinking and planning it while I cuddle with my lovely Servy.

Until next time, grampy.

Momo.