The night before…

A candle flickers upon the desk of a young girl lost deep in thought, casting light across an otherwise dark bedroom late into the night. The girl is so focused on what's in front of her that she fails to notice what's behind her.

"What are you doing, sis?" Caula asks as she stands behind Maroka, who is seated at her desk.

Maroka was lost in thought, attempting to make sense of a dark blue book atop her desk. Caught by surprise, she springs to her feet before quickly spinning around to face her sister.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Maroka shouted as she realized it was Caula's voice.

"You know I've been here for a while now, right?" Caula jokes back at her startled sister as she takes a seat on her bed. "I don't know why you bother with that old thing; even Gildar thinks it's gibberish," she states flatly.

"Well, say something sooner next time. You had me worried I was in some sort of trouble." She laughs back nervously. "I think Gildar is wrong, though. All the writing has to mean something, right? Otherwise, why waste all that time writing it all?" Maroka ponders aloud.

"I don't think so. Think about how you draw pictures in your Simply Magic book; do those have a meaning?" Caula responds, sounding reasonably confident.

"I guess they don't mean anything, but they still serve a purpose. Maybe that's what's bothering me about it." Maroka answers.

"You shouldn't spend all night worrying about it. Gildar wants us at the forge early tomorrow to help out, so get some sleep." Caula lectures her sister before laying back in her bed for the night.

"Says the one who spends almost every morning asleep." Maroka thinks to herself jokingly as she closes the book and slides it underneath her bed before blowing out the candle and heading to bed.