Kalendae: 8th of Maiestos.

The innards of the Angorian antelope told me EVERYTHING! Its death wasn't wasted, not at all. The blood it spewed might actually prevent all of us from dying! The Oracle ruined the fabric of reality and it is up to someone now to use my resources to stop him. Finally... all the things my dreams foreshadowed... all of my life's work will finally be used... this is my one true calling. I have never felt this kind of euphoria in my whole life! I am not going to die worthless! Once I find the one, I am ready to die!

Those were the last sentences written in the journal. Exuberant acceptance of death. Xinran did not know how to relate or even feel about it; for her death is a neutral occurrence that should not be disturbed or heavy consequences would arise. However, she wished her heart too would openly accept her demise as gladly as the old lady did.

Xinran checked the scrolls afterward. 'Twas a collection of paragraphs visibly written with more haste and uncertainty than the ones in the journal. Inky erasures and quivering handwritings and question marks and obscure illustrations peppered aplenty all over the scrolls which told Xinran the writer (in this case the old lady) was dubious about what she wrote. A sot frown appeared on her face when she worked harder to decipher the words under a mixture of colored light from the giant stained glass windows and chunky candles.

"A sesiot is one of the seventy-eight divine beasts, native in the southern part of Archaion originating in the nation of Reauxnan. They are giant tortoises without any internal organs for inside their humongous shells are billions of e.nergy orbs as hot as the core of Sol each. It is said that the orbs inside the sesiots are essentially wishing balls; they help you locate everything you ask them to. Once they find their target, they melt and dissolve in contact but instead of feeling like the scorching sun penetrating your chest, you will feel too rejuvenated and purged to the degree of believing you are one with the clouds for a second. One second is enough for someone to feel the effects of a sesiot orb. At least that's how I felt years ago when an orb dissolved in me. That is why sesiots are illegally hunted so their orbs can be harvested. Sadly, all divine beasts are."

"Now how did you obtain those orbs, let alone twelve of them?" Xinran whispered as she unscrolled more papers. She shot a look straight ahead to check on the beggar. He remained unmoved. 

The beggar radiated a soft xanthous aura all over his body as he sat a few benches away from Xinran's position and closer to the altar. He was not scintillating but people in the monastery should have seen him glowing, or was it just Xinran who could? The beggar's head was lowered as he whispered under his delicate breathing. His musty tattered clothes barely clung onto his bony structure and the sallowness of his face showed his overpowering exhaustion and hunger. 

One of the scrolls contained scriptures about the deceased old lady's ceaselessly recurring dreams. Sentences were initially just one word at a time until it gradually became more vivid as she pictured the image better. It was also evident that she didn't finish the stanzas in one go; different handwriting techniques and utilized pens telling the reader it took much longer for her to fully grasp what the dreams showed the old lady. In that piece of tarnished paper written about twelve tarot cards being reversed and reversed tarot cards occasionally had chaotic correspondences. It spoke of these cards: The Magician; The Emperor; The Hierophant; The Hermit; The Chariot; Justice; The Hanged Man; Death; Temperance; The Star; Judgement; and The World. 

"There must be memorandums about the tarots jotted somewhere in the journal. I don't have much knowledge about this kind of magic," concerned Xinran, "and how will I detect who's who? Will I see the other eleven glowing too?"

The girl gazed down at the right side of her eyes as she felt a tiny prickling sensation on her neck.

"Calmly stand up and go to that nearest confession booth," murmured a male voice behind Xinran.

She exhaled the air she hardly held onto when she pictured a sharp object pressing onto her neck. The assailant had the guts to do such thing inside a holy place. The girl bit her lower lip and submitted herself, quietly standing up while the assailant softly dragged the point of the sharp object down to her lower back. The unknown person urged Xinran to enter a side of the confession booth and glanced around the spot before heading inside together with the girl.

I can't keep up if things keep stacking up and overlapping one another, Xinran worried with her back pressed against the wooden wall. The cloaked person unveiled his face before softly releasing a moan as he rotated his neck. The man sighed and stared at Xinran with a tilted head and a curious pair of crimson eyes. He waited for the girl to talk but she seemed dazed.

"I know, I'm handsome. But that's out of the question right now. What the hell did you just released earlier at the town square, huh? One of those yellow flying baby chicks touched me and dissolved, what are they? A tracker?"

He's glowing too, Xinran thought, "Of some sort, yes."

"I have sworn to never lay harm on a maiden unless terminally compromised so I apologize because I might have to kill yo