The two young men lay in the infirmary, bandaged up following their fierce fight.
Kyle looked over to Muna. He tried to figure out what he was doing.
"What are you doing?" he asked his friend.
"I'm thinking. Its been very boring in this place. I feel like I could die of boredom. It was better worrying about my fight then laying in bed all day" Muna responded.
"Well, I would not have been here, if someone wasn't a sore loser." Kyle readily added.
It was followed by a quick awkward silence. The two had just remembered the fight prior. The pain, spectators. The talk of 'brotherhood'. They instinctively turned away from each other.
"W-Whatever. Did you use the book like I told you?"
"Yes, I did. You said just to keep it on me. It was pretty easy. It tuned into a ring for me." Muna replied.
"Good. So it didn't reject you. Give it to me."
Muna turned to face him, his face full of betrayal. The book was a feeling of pride, something he didn't want to lose. For him it meant that he was the star of the show. Now, Kyle was asking for it back.
He promptly coughed.
"Back? You sure no one else can read all of this?" he asked, making sure his many secrets would be kept as such.
"I'm sure. What fun would it be if we unveiled the story half baked? The point of this is to make sure that its as exciting as it is mysterious. That's why we we're giving it to Kainan. We wont be be very exciting laying in bed for two weeks."
Just as Kyle was done talking, Kainan was seeing walking in to their ward. He visited them everyday as they lay, bringing gifts, jokes, and a whole lot of "definitely not alcohol" as he would put it.
"Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear."
Muna sat up to welcome him. Kainan brought a stool he managed to flirt off a nurse and sat between the bed-ridden two. He had especially targeted that nurse. 'A young-spirited, gullible target is always the one that is caught', he insisted.
Young? Debatable, but gullible? No. To Kyle and Muna, she was their guardian angel. She was the only one who agreed to feed and cater to them. All the other nurses were either too full of themselves, or to afraid to get too close to the two troublemakers.
Her name was Martha, a happy and equally skilled nurse. She always claimed was 50 years old, despite having such flair and body that any man with a good pair of eyes could believe her if she said she was twenty. Thanks to this, she had gained a following among the male cadets in the Academy, all of them admiring her for all the wrong reasons. Apart from attending to the many patients in the infimary, she was frequently spotted with her trainee, a 30 year old Janet who resembled Martha in every way. From beauty to expertise.
"Friend, why do you trouble Miss Martha so much?" Kyle said, as Kainan chuckled.
"This guy. I haven't given him anything yet and he's already out of his head. I suppose he'll have to skip out of today's special 'tasty water'. We dont want him talking like he's some country lad next!" Kainan scoffed.
The ward rippled with laughter and giggles. Muna was already clutching his stomach, out of breath.
"Alright, alright. We have something important to discuss." Kyle said sitting up.
Kainan brought out the 'tasting water' and gave some to each of us, and some the guys around, to keep their mouth shut and eyes closed. We all thanked him, after all alcohol was banned in the school. It was thanks to Miss Martha and Janet that he wasn't received an invitation from the YCB.
"So, what did you so seriously want to talk about?" he said in still a joking tone.
"Do you see a smile on my face?" Kyle asked him, his face straight as stone.
Kainan sat up, the smile wiped from his face. Muna only focused on the 'water' and some food that Miss Martha served him a while ago.
Kyle handed him an old rusty book.
As Kainan received it, it disappeared. Five seconds later, there was a faint glow on his ear. The book formed as an earring.
"Weird. It almost always forms as a ring. Well, whatever. That is the book that I was recording our adventures with. It'll record all you do in a novel, as long as you wear it. I decided writing was too much of a hassle, so, with a little help from Jaden, we created that. No, it doesn't smell. Yes, it was on Muna up until now, and no, it no one will be able to read your input until the book is full. The book will be full in about 20 years. It would also open when it is 'fated' to, according to the artifact it was forged from. And yes, it was one of the artifacts we stole on our voyages."
Kainan just sat there with his mouth open.
"Pick up your jaw. Any questions?" Kyle asked him.
"All I have to do is wear it? I wont come off, say if I were in a fight?" Kainan responded.
"No. Its bonded for now. It will not come off, unless its taken off by the one who wears it. It can also come off by superior magic, but not like that will happen. That artifact it is forged from is from 'that' clan. No one will take it off in a million years" Kyle replied.
"Alright. I suppose you'll have it back in two weeks" I asked.
"Yes, spot on."
I looked around, saw Muna sleeping, and Kyle getting ready to do same. It was the first time that I was involved in something like this. I said my goodbyes, put my 'water' in my pouch, and made my way for the door.