"Where did you get that", Milton asked.
the mug took the book from Gerrik's hands.
the best father mug was glowing orange now.
The mug said to Milton, "I don't know why but I feel that you and this book have some sort of connection."
Gerrik didn't see anything special between the book and the pencil, but he decided to take the cup's word for it.
"It seems to be-", Milton paused in the air lost in thought.
"It's a journal from a long time ago. The stories I used to write."
a silence fell over all of them. Gerrik and the mug waiting for Milton to continue.
soon the flipping of pages could be heard, Milton was reading the book they handed over.
"I found it, I remember now!", Milton said to both of them.
"I was once a story, written by a literary youth. There were many writers, Jae-hyun; readers- Nihar, and lurkers zero & reyland. There were lots of young people like meow trixie kate & rainy.
I am merely a fragment of an unfinished story, The adventures of Noweh, GCC, and the dreams book. However, the final story that was left unfinished was an Academy of the ancients. Now I've much work to do before I depart, but I owe you two a favor."
Suddenly Milton had an aura of green surrounding him. Gerrik felt as if he was starting to rediscover color again, like the great dragon explorer Carmensia. However the memories eluded him.
The mug was equally confused, it felt like someone just wrote a scenario and tried to explain it away. He smelled the hand of a writer responsible for such a hastily closure to a scenario.
The writers were a bunch of lazy gods who could never write on a schedule and wrote for other's enjoyment.
As if they knew what he was thinking a small raincloud started to pour dark grey rain over them all.
However Gerrik was entranced with the changes to Milton's appearance. Milton felt more solid, more real as he wrote in the book.
Before, behind the desk Milton was quite non-descript and didn't seem to have a presence. Now a yellow lacquer seemed to shine just a little brighter and the red rubber eraser at the end seemed just a little bit more sharper. The graphite point was rounded, but various spots and grains could be seen.
"Let's get out of here", Milton said to the two. "I know of a shop nearby!"
Milton started to walk in front and lead them to a brightly lit store.
"This is the guild of dungeoneering. The guards have nothing on us, their storehouse is full of imagination while our bellies are full with food and drink. A toast to hearty appetite and the wealth of the living", a white haired man announced. His presence commanded the room.
In Gerrik's eyes, his figure was surrounded by a gray and black haze, various trails of smoke and fog were at his feet.
"Milton!", a patron of the guild said to the pencil.
"Frederick", Milton responded to the bearded stranger.
Meanwhile, Gerrik and his mug acquaintence stood at the door for a moment before walking off to the side near the bar and stools.
The sound of drinks being poured and cups being clean sounded behind them. An empty banner was mixing drinks and doing the tasks of a bartender.
"Friends of Milton, yeah?", the ghostly etherial banner asked the two.
the mug replied, "yeah, you could say that."
they talked for a little bit to get to know each other. Gerrik just sat next to them listening and looking around.
"So what would you two like to drink?", the banner asked
"Coffee", the best father's mug replied
"Some ginger ale", Gerrik Forcheese answered.
"One pot of coffee and a can on ginger ale coming up", the banner acknowledging their requests as it floated away.
Gerrik and the mug watched as Milton was busy writing in his journal, he wrote slowly as if pondering over everything he wrote.
Soon the bartender returned and They received their drinks.
"So it looks like Milton found his conclusion", The bartender sighed.
"The conclusion to what?", Gerrik asked.
The bartender reached down below the counter and grabbed a glass box.
"The conclusion to what he was missing.", The bartender explained.
"If I know Milton, which I do, he's not very good at explaining. So I'll do it for him.
When I arrived I found Milton laying near a small stream under a bridge. He thought he was a troll. I thought I was a carpet. As we started to remember things, we slowly changed our appearance.
I became a banner and he was a pen. Soon we started to recall a few things and certain buildings and doors were open to us. Eventually after working for a while, we made what you see know.
However we felt that we both were missing something... something essential, something complete. We called that thing the conclusion and looking at Milton's appearance. He's very close to finding it, maybe he'll write it for himself. Maybe whatever is inside that book is the conclusion. However, he looks cleaner more grounded. "
The bartender banner walked away looking to serve more drinks to customers.
The mug and Gerrik sipped on their drinks watching the excitement.
"So what now?", Gerrik asked the mug
"Let's go find our conclusion", the mug replied.