Holt was not awakened by either of his parents the next morning. Instead of shuffling out of bed to see the coming dawn, he lazily opened his eyes to find the early morning sun still making its way up into the sky. Usually when no one woke him up, he took it as his parents were going to let him sleep in that day. Which meant his dad had taken a day off from the mines.
Remembering what he had heard last night, Holt scrambled out of bed, barely getting his pants on as he stumbled out his door. He could smell fresh breakfast. Apparently everyone in the house decided to sleep in that morning. As he made his way down the stairs, he looked into the family room. No parents. And no Den either.
"Mom!" Holt called out as he reached the foot of the stairs, searching around the corner to assure himself that indeed, no one was in the family room. "Where's Dad? And where's Den?"
When he entered the kitchen, he saw his mother at work by the stove. She was cooking eggs in her little black skillet that Holt thought she loved more than him. When she turned to face her son, Holt could see the lack of sleep in her eyes.
"Den and your father are out in town right now," Mrs. Percher said as she tried in vain to fight back yawns. "He's going to see if Mr. Hans can help him out."
Holt did his best to hide a confused look. Mr. Hans was the town doctor. But if what he had heard his parents and Den talk about last night was true, Den shouldn't need to see another doctor. However, his parents didn't know about his eavesdropping. Best to avoid trouble like that.
"Sit child." Mrs. Percher's arms were a whirlwind as she prepared a plate of eggs and grits and sat it on the table. Holt obeyed, quickly wolfing down his breakfast and looking back at his mother.
"Do you need me for anything today?" Holt asked. "I wanted to go see Melissa and tell her about Den. She might have a book somewhere that can help him out."
"Den's going to need more than just some library books, Holt." His mother let out a little sigh. "But. No I don't. Go play with your girlfriend today, honey. Just be back before dark."
"Mommmmmm," Holt groaned as he got up and made for the door. "Melissa's just my friend. We're too young for stuff like that."
"Oh I don't know. Your father and I weren't that much older when we-."
Holt gave a little gagging noise before walking out the door. He almost wanted to hear his mother finish that thought, but he figured she wouldn't give him any juicy details about their past. He had never thought much about what his parents had been like before he had come along. However, now he knew. His father was a soldier. He had been in war. And off world, too! Surely he had amazing stories that he could tell Holt. He couldn't wait until his father returned home to begin telling him stories.
--
Melissa's "home" as Holt called it was actually the library of Lod. The huge whitestone building was the largest one in Lod, standing three stories high. The front of the library was covered in windows, perfect for providing lots of natural sunlight for people to read. On either side of the large wooden doorway were statues of intelligent looking Abellans, reading their stone books peacefully. Melissa had told Holt before that the library was also the oldest building in the entire Lod region, though it hardly looked that way as the whitestone shined in the late morning sun.
Pushing open the door to the library proper, Holt was greeted by the now familiar smell of aged books and the cool air that Melissa kept the library at. Speaking of her, she was sitting where she always sat during work. Behind a desk that towered over any person that came in, giving her a clear sight line of the top of the bookshelves. She was busy at work, each of her four hands alternating between writing things down and turning the pages of the numerous tomes Holt could spot in front of her.
Melissa was the same age as Holt. Much like him, none of her light green scales had the faintest trace of drying out yet. Her eyes were also smaller, but that was normal for girls. Same with how she had one less row of gills on her neck. She also wore a rather plain blue dress. Holt knew she had at least five of the same dress. She loved it so much and would look none too happy wearing anything else.
"Melissa!" Holt called out, ignoring any rules of the peaceful library as he circled around and began scaling the ladder up to the platform behind the desk. His friend looked as if she hadn't heard him, still hurrying away with her work. So Holt did as he always had. He stood right beside her, kept his mouth next to his ear, then suddenly shouted "BOO!"
Melissa yelped and in response threw two of her three pens at Holt, all the time hollering at her best friend. "Dammit Holt! Don't sneak up on me at work! I've told you that!"
Holt merely chuckled, gathering up the pens and other materials that were scattered about by Melissa. He got them in as organized a manner as he could before handing them back to her.
"You won't believe what happened last night," Holt stated, taking his normal seat on the desk beside her.
"A starship crashed into the forest and you worried your mother sick," Melissa replied. Before Holt could even ask her, she was already answering. "I was in the crowd when your mom was yelling at everyone to go home."
"Oh. Well. Guess what else happened once we got inside."
So Holt regaled her with the story of the previous night. At first, Melissa didn't take much interest while Holt was talking about the simple medical procedure. However, she seemed to halt all progress as Holt brought up what he had overheard. Melissa always found the idea of going off world fascinating, and the light in her eyes told Holt he wouldn't be the only one bombarding his father with questions.
"I can't believe Mister Hollis was a soldier," Melissa said, idly chewing on one of her pens. "You guys could have gone anywhere on Lamp End. Wonder why they'd come somewhere like Lod? There's nothing here but dirt and grass."
Holt just shook his head. "Not really sure. I think my dad told me once that he had grown up in Lod. But I never met my grandparents or anything. Dad said they passed away when he was young."
"Maybe that's why he went off world?"
"Could be. Won't know until I ask him." Holt took a moment to think. He was beginning to really wonder why his parents chose to keep this all secret. Did they think he wasn't mature enough? But those important questions paled in comparison to the big one on his mind.
"Have you ever read anything about that 'Fool' stuff?" Holt asked. "My mom looked really freaked out by Den's tattoo. That's gotta be something."
"It sounds like something I've seen before," Melissa replied. Reaching down beside her feet, she grabbed her handy 'Back in a minute sign' and hanging it over the edge of the desk. "Follow me."
Holt followed behind Melissa down the ladder to the library floor and into the sea of stacked bookshelves. They walked further and further, reaching a section of the library Holt himself had never been. In this dimly lit corner, Melissa grabbed one of the step ladders and set it in place so she could grab the specific book. As she stepped down she handed the slim, unmarked, black leather bound journal to Holt.
"No formal title on the cover," Melissa explained. "Though we have it archived as a diary. It's one of the first things that was ever put in the library. I've never read through it all. But check out the first page."
Holt nodded as he opened it up. Stitched into the inside cover was an all black version of the very same picture that was tattooed on Den's shoulder.
"I've got time," Melissa said. "Let's look through it."