"Does it surprise you that much?" he asked.

Well, no one else has been able to hear us before-

-although I guess there has to be a 'first time for everything'.

"That's right. It's an extremely old - but still relevant - piece of advice." The old man smiled as he smoke. In fact, that was the first thing to notice about him, namely his smile.

"You're not the first either, I'm afraid."

What? With another word, Kate and Lynne continued to squeeze Josua out of the conversation.

"You're not the first pair I've met who could communicate with only thoughts. There's actually a tradition of such people from the country where I come from."

Where did you come from?

At this point, paid-little-heed Josua began to be very fed-up. "I still wear a crown on my head! I'm important! Why don't they pay attention to me?" he thought, but he didn't immediately speak aloud.

As if to appease him, the grimoire - yes, it was still his - it replied to him. It spelled out a beautiful word, with enough letters that Josua construed each as a puzzle; it was up to him to discover what they meant.

"Anti-quarian!" This time he shouted.

The man's beaming face swung sharply to Josua. "Ah, an old word! I love that too! Anything of the past, anything from older times appeals to me. Is that the next word that wonderfully old book has given you?"

Josua heard threat in that question, but if the old man thought he could take his book he was sadly mistaken.

"Are you a quarian, sir? Because it seems that I should be awfully careful around quarians. The grimoire is suggesting that I be anti-quarian, even. So are you friend or foe? Are you here to help or hinder? Will you talk to me, or will you keep wasting time with the twins?"

"Ah, the impetuousness of youth. I can admire that, in my old age. But I don't wish to make an enemy of you, Josua. You want me to help? Perhaps you wish me to explain my earlier statement, of foolishness, and of silliness to come?"

"Please. Before I sic my ________ on you!"

What did he say?

Where did he learn a word like that?

The old man crinkled his face in amusement, until his entire visage became a semblance of a smile.

"Do you really have a _________? Do you know how to properly use it?"

RATE THIS BRANCH!

Author guidance for This story

Prepare yourself for an exploration in vocabulary! And beside you in this exploration are Josua, Kate, and Lynne: the discoverers of a dusty old book filled with pages upon pages of nothing.

For the time being, at least.

The trio is in their house, having found the curious book in the attic, where you always find curious things. Where else would they be? But upon opening it, they release something strange into their otherwise almost-normal world. What is it? What will happen? And who will they meet before these questions are answered?

the Rules:Each branch is given a title of a peculiar or interesting word, with the ensuing branch making use of that word (in any form so long as it is still recognizable as the original word). However, the story must still continue, albeit in a somewhat spontaneous fashion.

Although no absolute ages are given, assume that all three are between nine and eleven years of age. They are children, and should behave, react, and speak in the manner that children often do.

p.s. I am completely aware of the fact that some branches are in a different tense than the first one. To avoid further confusion, please stick to the tense that the author previous to you used. That means you may be writing in the present tense or the past tense. I've yet to see a future tense story pop up. Let's hope one doesn't, 'aight?

Footnote: Yes, his name is Josua. No H. I fully intended this, it is not a glorified typo. And have fun with Kate and Lynne's names being said together.

updated Oct 22 '10 by Jackerbie