Entry #1 - 03/10/2019
Arch's log
My name is Arch, and me and my group are working on an experiment on the feasibility of the safe large scale removal of algae from large bodies of water without hurting species biodiversity
The goals of the experiment are to create a new hybrid species of plant that is able to stop algae blooms from occurring without killing Algae to extinction.
Currently, we are currently residing in a lighthouse inherited from my grandfather, on one of the many islands in the West of Canada.
Our mobile base, the Chlorophyta is being fitted with professional equipment by resident Engineer Davis so that we may take samples of algae residing in salt waters without damaging the ships propellers.
But for the time being, we are still in the preparation phase.
---
Arch let out a sigh as he put down the pen, shoulder length black hair draping against his forehead.
Staring at the wooden ceiling he let out a long, tired sigh as his eyes traced the peeling paint on the banisters, fluorescent and outdated lights flickering with the age of twenty years without a replacement, he thought about the property
It had been... roughly twenty years now since his Grandfather had disappeared and he had inherited the piece of property West of Canada.
It was an odd piece of land that was close enough to West Canada that it was technically a part of Canadian soil, but was also far enough that it was actually more suited to be part of the North Pole no matter how strange that would be
And strangely enough, instead of handing the inherited piece of property to his father who was alive and well at the time and was all the next in line for inheritance, his Grandfather had made the strange decision to hand the lighthouse to the ten year old child at the time for some strange reason.
This piece of land was of course held by in conjunction by the government and his guardian named Dad for the time being until he came of age and could properly inherit the old lighthouse that used to guide ships.
Keyword, used to guide ships.
Since now radars and high tech mapping technologies were a thing, Lighthouse keepers and lighthouses in general were phased out of modernity, leaving behind only the famous lighthouses to serve as tourist attractions.
Very poor tourist attractions, but it is what it is.
Fortunately or unfortunately enough, since Arch's grandfathers lighthouse was still privately owned while also not being famous enough for the general public, the lighthouse was still in a relatively intact state.
Of course, as Arch and his group were using the Lighthouse as a temporary base for the foreseeable future, it made sense to make the lighthouse more liveable.
And as the owner of this lighthouse, he had the fortune/ misfortune of being able to take the room near the top for himself.
Not that he was happy climbing all of those damned steps, but at the least the view was to die for.
Especially if you were suicidal.
*Bang!
"Hey! Frowny face mcgee!"
Arch grimaced as he heard the signature piercing voice of the one he particularly loathed in the mornings.
Rubbing the front of his head, he turned to look at the intruder who had invaded his quiet sanctum with relish and watched as the little ball of chaos quickly walked up towards him through the doorway.
Blonde puffy hair bouncing up towards him annoyingly close, a pair of twinkling green eyes snuck up to him with as much grace as a whale.
Which if you knew the fact that the clicks that they made could literally vibrate someone to death, then it really wasn't quiet
Lightly tanned face poking up right into his personal space, Arch uncomfortably moved himself from the little cretin that didn't seem to know the concept of personal space.
And he made sure to let her know that.
"Lia Argent, I would like my personal space back you little gremlin."
Hand pushing her away from him, Lia seemed completely unperturbed by the rough handling as she chirped. "Well what if I also like your personal space?"
"Lia no."
"Lia yes!"
Letting out a sigh, Arch got up from his seat before making sure to literally keep Lia at arms length.
It really helped that she was very short for a lady her age.
"So why are yo-" On the verge of asking her a question, Lia interrupted him with the answer, moving away from the palm as large as her head as she did so.
"Me and the guys want to visit the land of your forefathers forefathers forefather, or was if forefathers forefather?"
Pondering on that tiny fact, Lia's mind went through the equivalent of a brain fart and gave up.
"Well it doesn't matter, I just came up here to ask, do you want to see the land that your grandfather owns and grew up in?"
Arch narrowed his eyes while staring at Lia who was observing his room with unabashed curiosity.
"...What's the actual goal here?"
"To get you out of the lighthouse before you become a vampire."
Arch blinked at the pure honesty emanating from the tiny little woman in front of him that had an almost blinding smile shining right into his eyes.
"I'll disintegrate if you keep smiling like that so stop it."
"Oh... you don't like my smile?"
'...God damnit.'
Groaning as Lia somehow transitioned from the happy go lucky golden retriever to a wet cat dumped into the rain, he tried to comfort her.
"Look, Lia."
"Yes...?"
Twiddling her fingers together like as if he had just caught her in the act of burning his notes in a drunken fit of coldness, he felt his eye twitch at the memory of that day.
But since today wasn't that cursed day, he took in a deep breath and looked straight into Lia's sea green eyes which reflected his own ocean blue ones.
Lia was... 24 this year, but despite being an adult, it seemed that her height completely forgot about that fact as everything else but her height grew.
And as he stared at the head of puffy gold hair, he felt the inviolable urge to rough it up and did just that, placing the flat of his palms against her head and just went to town with it.
"Ah!"
"Next time, instead of barging into my room in the wee hours of the day like you own the place, knock on the damn door you little pipsqueak."
"Ack! Okay! Okay! Leave me alone you suicidal Vampire!"
Arch felt a vein pop up on his head.
"Hey! Five more minutes of head rubbing for you!"
"Nyooo!!!!" A loud cry left through the windows eves and was carried along by the wind causing all that heard it to spread the story of the Lighthouses crying girl
It told the story of a young lovestruck woman who lost the love of her life to the sea and committed suicide at the top of the lighthouse, leaving behind only her tortured spirit that to this day cried out at dawn.
But back to the top of the lighthouse where Lia forcefully removed the hand that was shaking her head so forcefully that she seemed to see triple.
"OoOohh... My head."
"Oh lighten up, I didn't shake you that hard did I?"
"You diID!"
She collapsed onto his bed, pointing her finger accusingly at Arch as he rested his back against the packed bricks causing him to shrug as she stared at him with teary eyes.
"So are you going to compensate me by exploring the town with me?"
"..."
On second thought, he was mistaken to think that this little mink could ever cry as he now realized the tears were nothing more than mischievous sparkles in the eyes.
Oh how a little mink could evolve to be so manipulative from her previous form of a pure mink was beyond him.
And as he wondered about the mysteries of life, he slowly nodded.
"...Fine."
"Is that a promise?"
"Have you ever seen me break a promise?"
Arch sighed as she joyfully clapped her hands together and stood up quickly, golden hair bouncing along with her as she bounced towards Arch.
"Great! It's a date then!"
Making a movement to hug him but instantly pivoting on one foot and grabbing the pen on his table, she gleefully giggled like the little demon she was.
Grabbing the coat hanging on the hanger on the way out, Lia joyfully bounced away. "Don't break your promise Arch!"
Leaving behind Arch in his own thoughts as he wondered what the hell had just happened.
'...Did she just steal my jacket?'
Of course that wasn't the crux of the problem that had just occurred since his pen was just as important since that was literally his only pen, but since it meant death to walk out in the cold without a jacket, he wondered how to solve this problem.
'I'll just take hers, its oversized anyways.'
---
"Greetings mister vampire."
A balding middle aged man with a prominently chiseled chest barely hidden by the checkered flannel stroked his beard as he read something next to the fireplace.
Ways to eat a whale it read.
Mildly concerning as books went, but Arch had seen stranger in the hands of the muscled bald man.
"I know you aren't speaking you bloody ogre."
"Hey, at the least I'm a loud and proud ogre unlike you mister vampire." The bald man gave a scrutinizing black stare as Arch. "Who the hell lives off of bloody blocks of lizard blood? Just be glad we ain't calling you lizard sucker you bloody vampire."
Arch rolled his eyes as he rubbed his arms. "Yeah, as if what you did to that poor pig is any better, you stuffed the poor thing until it burst before eating the whole thing in a day you crazed scotsman."
"And I still remember it like it was yesterday you vampiric bastard, it was delicious, not my fault that you're too wuss to eat my grandmama's self made recipe, may she rest her soul." He made gestured quickly, forming a cross on his chest.
"I honestly wonder what your grandmama was on when she made that damned recipe." Complaining lightly, Arch gestured towards the doorway.
"Anyways, are you coming to explore the port town?"
"Nah" the ogre waved Arch off. "I already explored it during dawn, nice people, poor people, but nice people."
"Well no need to shame them for their situation." Rolling his eyes he grabbed the hem of a large red coat. "Anyways, since your not coming with, do you know which is Lia's?"
"What happened to your own jacket you vampire?"
"It got took"
"By who?"
"Lia."
"The gremlin?"
"You know it"
"The black one on the third hook." The Ogre waved Arch away as he touched his tongue before flipping the page over, adjusting his thick glasses as he did so. "Just so you know, by the time you get back for lunch I'll be fixing the boat in preparation for our trip"
"Thanks Davis, want anything?"
"My coat."
Shaking his head, Arch donned the large red coat that snugly wrapped around his body, something that didn't make sense on the small build of Lia, but she seemed to prefer incredibly large things for some strange reason although he didn't mind it since it allowed him to wear it properly without being suffocated.
"Which one is yours?"
"The black one."
"Got it"
Tossing the big black coat that could fit a bear towards Davis, he made no move as it gracefully coated his legs resting on the table.
'Ninety points for execution.'
Opening the doorway, a blast of cold slammed into his face as the heat of the fireplace surged forwards to counteract it.
"Well bye then"
"Yeah yeah, have fun on your date."
"..."
Glancing back to the bald headed man who was peacefully reading the book, he was tempted to give a bit of his mind before slapping a piece of cheese onto his bald head.
But once Arch recalled that Davis had once bent a metal bar into a pretzel with the strength of one hand, he wisely decided against his suicidal decision and walked outside, shutting the door behind him as he did so.
Leaving behind a balding middle aged man that couldn't suppress the smirk on his face as whipped out his phone and immediately began typing into the digital communication device.
[The Bloody Vampire and Gremlin are---]
---
Outside in the white cold, Arch took in a deep breath of the piercing air, allowing it to ravage and poke at his lungs, allowing him to savor the uniquely crisp air of the coldness.
Eyes closed as he savored the coldness, the cold winds surrounded his form as they silently whistled in his ears.
He had been here on and off several times as a child, and almost every time he came here there were only two things happening here.
Snow and more snow.
The benefits of being in Canadian soil as his Grandfather would say, he was a patriotic man.
And although Arch wasn't purely Canadian thanks to being born in Australia, the upside down country where they lost to birds twice, he agreed that Canada was a nice place.
If one ignored the fact that it was the source of several major war crimes of course, but they were nice, and the maple syrup they were famous for was incredibly good although much could be desired with the literal milk bags.
Eyes reopening and being assaulted by the chill, blue eyes scanned the ground as they drew a line towards the steps made in the inch tall layer of snow.
All things considered it was considered a rather average day on the island as the snow could pile up to as high as seven inches of snow on particularly chilly days.
But as he dragged his eyes across the snow, he couldn't help but notice that there were only five sets of footsteps.
One that was belonged to the ogre as it was partially gone and had returned, matching his story of going to visit the island town at dawn.
The other three belonging to the other scientists that most likely were exploring the island at this very moment.
Picking out a packet from his winter pants and opening it with unfeeling fingers, Arch pulled out a red cube of specially treated blood.
'In hindsight I actually do seem like a vampire but...'
He shrugged his shoulders before popping the blood red cube into his mouth like one would with a piece of candy.
'I don't care.'
'And I don't think she cares either.'
Noting that Lia definitely didn't have the time to walk far enough that he couldn't see her anymore as all around the lighthouse it was nothing more than rocks, snow, tree stumps and the odd pile of snow, he turned around to see a figure that had just leapt onto him.
Bracing himself for impact, the damnable Gremlin smiled wickedly as she quickly latched onto his body, hanging off of him like the handsy mink she was.
Arch, fully annoyed by Lia's antics but completely helpless to stop them since she was a key researcher of his team made sure to keep her grubby little hands away from his face.
"Predictable you little gremlin, try harder next time"
"What if I don't want to?"
Hearing her signature cheeky voice as she stuck her tongue out playfully at him, he shook his head softly before gently shaking down the tiny girl a head shorter than him in a way that wasn't gentle at all.
In other words, he shook his body like a dog trying to unwet them self.
"Ah!"
Falling onto the ground from his abrupt movement, Arch made a token effort to save her head before completely dropping Lia into the snow, leaving behind a snow demon.
But as if that wasn't enough to stop her energetic body, she quickly bounced up with zeal before shouting at Arch. "So are you coming with or not? I'll leave you behind!"
Quickly hopping away with the movements of a little bunny rabbit, Arch shook his head in wonder, it was a miracle that so much energy could be held in that tiny body of a meter 60 centimeters although she swore it was a meter seventy.
That was a lie of course, because of the strange reason that the science institution required their heights to be input.
But he swore that she was 150 centimeters.
And now that he recalled the fact that his CEO's daughter had used cardboard cutouts of his team to form a nightmarish chimera like building, he wondered just why in the hell did the kid do such a thing
Shaking his head in an effort to get rid of the terrible memory that appeared like a dreaded enemy, Arch snuck out another blood block and popped it into his mouth, savoring the salty red cube as it spread its taste across his tongue as he followed Lia on the stone path.
A delightful taste as he would call it, but sadly enough he never did find others that shared his tastes.
A shame that this delicious treat would in the end never get to be shared.
"Hey Arch! Are you coming?"
Piercing voice waking him out of his revery of savoring the bloody cube, he shook his head before following the trail of footsteps.
Nostalgia leaving him slightly breathless as memories came surging in like a tide, his hand twitched as memories came surging in like a tide.
It had been roughly twenty years since he had been here, being nothing more than a young impressionable child of ten years at his last visit.
And from his memories, because the port town had been fashioned from an abandoned fortress, many of the buildings carried an almost oppressive aura to them as the only two shops available in the place were a fishmongers that barely anyone used since they were neighbours and a smithy who's fire seemed to never go out.
'Now that I think about it, we usually didn't spend time amongst the locals since they seemed scary.'
Recalling how the fond memories were usually located far from the town and were located in the sea or the lighthouse, he thanked the lord that at the least the children there were fun although he never did see them again.
'I honestly wonder what happened to them?'
Rubbing his hairless chin, he realized that no feeling was transmitted into his fingers.
'I should've worn gloves' he belatedly thought as he slowly walked closer and closer to the plot of land inherited by his grandfather.
+++
Tree that wonders if this is to long while also telling you the magic part hasn't happened yet