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Chapter Nineteen
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Ceri
C eri was growing increasingly frustrated with this journal.
She had gone all the way back to the beginning, but the entries over the summer had been inscrutable. It was all tedious observations about the objects and more numbers and calculations than seemed strictly sane. The script was incredibly neat, but that was about the only thing that kept if from looking like the ravings of a madman.
She finally found the first mention of LBB on the day of their library collision. It was definitely her, then.
But infuriatingly, there was no explanation for the initialism.
What could it possibly mean? Lonely Book Boy? No, she was a girl. ‘Lectric Back Burner? What did that even mean?
And then there were strange calculations in the margins. In all the other pages, the calculations were done in line, generally with explanations of their reasoning and meaning.
But here they stood alone. Far simpler calculations without all the strange symbols Ceri didn’t recognize:
66/5 + 7 = 20.2
66/6 + 11 = 22
66/3 = 22
66 – 50 + 7 = 23
There were “X”s next to each equation.
Did that relate to her in some way? Was this part of some kind of code, tied to the Gallic alphabet or something? Oh, what if LBB was Gallic? Le Beurre Blanc ? Why didn’t she pay better attention to her Gallic tutor?
She was losing it.
“Ceri, are you in here?”
Ceri snapped the journal shut, hoping Ana hadn’t heard it.
“Ana?”
“Yeah, it’s me. I woke up and saw you weren’t there. I figured I’d try to find you before they sent out the search and rescue team again.”
“I’m okay,” she said. She hoped no one else had noticed she was gone yet. “Just a little indigestion. I’ll be out soon.”
Godsdammit, she was lying again.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll leave you to it,” said Ana.
Ceri heard the door swing shut.
She opened the journal again. She had made it to the night of the meteor shower.
Her pulse raced as she read.
Friday, 9 days before Autumn Term
Entry 3
I’ve just returned from one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. But hold on. I’m getting ahead of myself.
LBB agreed to assist me with my research this very evening. I couldn’t believe my luck—to be able to record observations not just of the enchanted objects, but of a magic wielder themselves on the same night? I couldn’t have asked for more.
The night, however, was almost over before it began by two separate circumstances of objects nearly falling on me. That makes twelve total over the summer. I’d say we’ve gone from strange coincidence to unmistakable pattern at this point. After some trial and error, I seem to have narrowed the culprit down to either the doll or the locket. I haven’t been able to identify any pattern in the falling objects themselves, nor can I make any determination about how or why the objects fall, just that they seem to invariably do so on days where I’ve interacted with the doll, the locket, or both.
The second circumstance afforded a rare opportunity: LBB saved me (and perhaps herself) with her magic. Oh, but if I could have measured it! The force of it was astonishing. The branch practically disintegrated when she sent it careening from us.
(Of course, the danger to LBB was unforgivable. I must be careful to avoid handling the doll or locket in her presence or when her presence is anticipated. The idea that something could happen to her on my behalf? No research is worth such a cost.)
When we reached the observatory, I had expected to be most excited about the meteor shower or measuring the objects, but the promise of LBB—the potential of her power, of course—was on my mind more than anything else. I must have said something clumsy to her because she took off, quite literally! I’d heard of the Loegrian monarchs, of course. (Who hadn’t heard tales of the dragons of Loegria’s court?) But to see it in the flesh? I’m convinced if Gallia had been ruled by dragons rather than elves, the monarchy would not have been abolished at all. No one would have dared defy such power.
She returned to me with little explanation, but knowing myself, I was not owed much of one.
That stung to read. She hated that he felt he was at fault for her little outburst. She would have to find a way to apologize for it once they found him.
I began to realize my error as I set out the blanket. I had planned to make my observations alone, and with no time to secure more materials, I had to make do with what I had on hand. The blanket was far too small for us both. I should have offered it to her, but I didn’t. I know why I didn’t—no need to document that here.
“Yes, you did need to document it here!” Ceri muttered. “Stupid elf.”
We took the initial measurements per the table above. Note how high the reading is for even such a small bit of spellwork. Perhaps the trick to the enchantments is that they are sustained by a low level of magic over a great period of time.
The entry went on about his magic theory for some time. Ceri skimmed ahead.
When we went to lie down on the blanket, well. How should I put it? As a student of ‘Lectrics, I feel equipped to say there was a spark between us. Perhaps it was merely the camaraderie of doing important work together. Despite my efforts to be objective, research can bring out a great deal of emotion in me. I undoubtedly read too much into that moment—
He hadn’t.
—but it had quite the impact on me. It is difficult to describe LBB.
Here it was. Ceri’s heart was in her throat.
She’s clearly brilliant. Even without undergraduate studies, she already has a firm grasp of experimental methods. I imagine if she went into research, she would be a force to be reckoned with.
And the name I have given her. The abbreviation which I dare not reveal here. It is apt.
The next few phrases were marked out, but poorly. Ceri could make out every word.
She is perfect, starlit and stunning. A miracle.
Ceri could barely breathe. This was the first day they met. She had felt the attraction—there, she admitted it. She had hoped he returned it—there, another truth. She had lied to herself in the moment, but she knew.
But to read it here in his own words? It was a degree of intimacy she had never shared with someone.
She hoped he would forgive her for this violation. Because she knew right then she was going to read every word in the rest of the journal.
And she hoped he’d forgive her for what she had to do next.
Ceri ripped the page from the journal. It was simply too revealing. If it had been her journal, she would have wanted him to do the same before showing it to the others.
She hoped he’d understand.
She folded the page and placed it into the pocket of her skirt for safekeeping.
Then she read on.
There were four more folded pages in her pocket by the time she reached the end of the journal. The afternoon when he’d given her the egg tarts, the same night after he’d been ‘lectrocuted, and two other moments in the laboratory that Ceri hadn’t even noticed but that Leo described in a level of detail that was charged, no pun intended.
It took everything she had not to pull the pages back out and reread them immediately.
The candle was burning low by the time she’d finished. She must have been in here for an hour or more. She hoped Ana had gone back to sleep.
As she flipped the journal closed, something caught her attention on the last page.
It couldn’t be. Could it?
Friday? Day 5? of Autumn Term
Entry 2
Ceri looked at the first entry she had read earlier; the most recent one in the journal. It was still there on the page before, but how could she have missed this one?
She scanned through the words, and then something remarkable happened.
A new line appeared at the bottom of the text in his own hand.
Leo was alive, and wherever he was, he was writing in this very journal right now.