"Pull this book twice." Uncle said so as he pointed at the old book.
"I don't feel like reading that, thank you."
"Just do it, Ivan. The book is just the key, it's not what I want to give you."
"Then, why don't you pull the book yourself, uncle?"
"I can't do that anymore. There is a special mechanism that only reacts to the holder of the Lucero family's power. That is you, now."
Where is the need for such a mechanism? No one would want to read a book with such a title as 'The History and Growth of the Amazing Lucero Family'. Thinking so, I did as uncle Igor said, and I pulled the old book twice. Well, I just tilted it a little but it was enough.
The second time I set the book down, the hand touching the book got warm and a faint light showed up. Then, a low sound came from my left side and I looked down. A small gap showed up on the floor on my left side, half a step away.
I crouched and looked into the gap. There was a book without a title inside. I looked back at uncle.
"So, it is still a book."
"That is a book that only the person with the Lucero power can read or write on. It is said that God gave the book to our ancestor at the same time as the time reversing power. It is supposed to be passed on to the new power holder during the ceremony. Obviously, that did not happen this time."
I took the book out of its nook and looked at it. It didn't look old, and it was slim. No one would think that this is an old book written on by generations of Lucero men and women for more than one thousand years. But uncle would not lie about it now. Probably.
I decided to open the book.
It was a journal. As I quickly skipped the pages, I could see that there were different handwritings. Definitely, many different people had written here. The most impressive was the amount of writing in it. From the outside it was very slim, like a normal school notebook. But, once opened it was almost infinite. No matter how many pages I skipped, there were always more pages ahead. Thousands and thousands of pages filled to the brim.
"Amazing" I was so stunned, that word just left my mouth.
"So, uncle, from all of these pages. Where is the reason for such a rush in giving me this damned power?"
"hmm" Uncle looked like he was seriously trying to remember something. "Well, don't you like to study, Ivan? You can just study that book. Haha."
What? Uncle Igor just laughed and ran away. I recovered from the shock too late. That sh*tty uncle. Couldn't he just make things a little easier for once? I'll punch him when I catch him!
I closed the library door that uncle had left wide open in his escape.
I took the book in my hands and sat down on an armchair next to a big window. I looked outside into the garden and the street. It's such a beautiful weather today.
I don't like to study. But I guess there's no choice this time. I will have to study this encyclopaedia like journal. Thousands of pages long. My head starts to hurt before I even open the book.
The first entry is from the Lucero family founder, Vladimir Lucero.
«My name is Vladimir Lucero. Today, I met an entity who says they are a god. I was crying in front of my dear baby daughter's grave. She tragically died in a freak accident a month ago. It was so sudden and random that no one could have predicted it at the time. Everyone says it was inevitable, but I don't want to believe that. If only I could go back on time… I said so out loud, and this self-proclaimed god showed up in front of me. They said that they were going to grant my wish but I had to wait until midnight. It was just a few hours away. I gratefully accepted. I could wait.
«Today I woke up, but didn't feel anything different. I thought everything was just a dream. I was still in an inn close to my hometown and it was drizzling just like yesterday. Throughout the day I had a very strong dejà-vu. When I reached my hometown's cemetery at late afternoon, I realized the truth. The exact same family was burying the same person in the same plot. I was living the same day twice. As my confusion grew, I headed to my daughter's grave once again. There, the self-proclaimed god showed up in front of me again. I yelled my frustrations at him. What was the use of living this day again? What I wanted was to save my daughter a month ago! The entity did not like my reaction.
«Apparently, it was my fault. I should have been more specific the first time. My fault? I launched myself at this god, but they vanished and appeared behind me. 'I felt pity for you. But you dared to attack me. This power shall now stay with you forever…' The entity continued talking to me, but I blanked out. Before disappearing, the entity pointed at this journal saying it would be my companion from now on. I fell to the ground. Looking at me while, they added 'Your bloodline still continues. You may give them this power, but will never get it back. When you so choose, the method will show on your mind'»
Ha, I knew my grandfather had romanticized the origin of the Lucero's power. What god, and what gift? It was obviously a devil giving a curse!
Those were just the first two entries, so I turned the page. Hopefully this book has some useful information.
The next few entries were useless to me. It was just Vladimir Lucero detailing his day and realizing how every single day was being repeated.