#cracking the code!

((WARNING: Graphic talk about death, decay, and gore. And creepy little girls))

You know what I said about me cracking the code? It only worked for the first few pages. The assholes switched up their code every chunk, probably changing the code so people would be thrown a curveball. Like me. I'm the one who had the curve ball thrown at her.

I did get a small bit of information from the start of the book. There were no Client names. If there was a cipher for the names, it wasn't able to be cracked with the information I had from the book. The next thing I realized was just how old these records were. Many of the entries near the start of the book could be dated before Sil'dih fell if not when it was still thriving.

I spent a good day or two copying the passages I needed to be translated. Then I did the thing everyone at the house had warned me not to do. I left Ishgard, without another person with me. More other people they could see. I made sure to take two different aetherites before I went to my official destination. 

How I got home, I'm not going to explain that. As my hands grazed over the rough rock that would lead me home the heat of the island invaded the thick sweater I was wearing. Pulling it off I let out a long breath. Cold was a reminder of horrible days, but now on the island, I could let the heat of the tropical environment seep into my skin. 

A shadow raced past me as I left the boundary. The shadow transformed in front of me, the Miqo'te girl with sage green hair and pure white pupilless eyes ran forward her arms up. Anne could experiment with how she looked when she was here. I'm surprised she didn't pick something else, but maybe she liked having cat ears? No matter what she tried though, she couldn’t get eyes on people right.

"Can you tell Vaymond I'm here?" I called after her.

She stopped her dress forming, it looked far too pretty to belong to a being like her. Like a princess grown in sage green and gold. "Why can't you get him?"

A lump formed in the pit of my stomach. "Because he's probably at the house."

"Oh." She looked in the direction of the house and frowned. "He's going to ask you to join him in there."

"I know." But I couldn't tell him why. Since we refound each other, I had made excuse after excuse to not walk into the house. I know there is a large number of boons I could use to save me, but that meant going through the front door.

My guts twisted like someone had stuck a fork through me and was trying to twirl up my intestines like pasta. Would there be stains still? Would my father's blood have left a mark on this world? A world he didn't belong to but decided to join? Would my mother's sword marks still be left in the wood from her trying to defend us?

Anne poked my cheek with a warm finger. "You're thinking too much." She said and then grinned, her mouth stretching too much on the skull she had chosen. "You're in no real danger!"

"You can say that, but my mind won't believe that yet," I muttered and looked in the direction of the house. "Can you get Vaymond?"

She frowned and nodded. “Fine.” But she didn't say another word as she skipped ahead of me to get my brother out.

I took my time to get closer to the house. My feet found the well-walked trail, one that once had been dotted by stones my father had a hand placed. He wanted us to have a secure way back home. Though that didn't work out well for us in the end. Not when we couldn't run far enough to get to safety.

Our house was a sprawling one story building that had a thick thatched roof and open windows. I could see white draps blowing, and in a dark part of my mind, I thought I saw my father. His pale face looking out from the window.

Did our family have ghosts?

I shook the thought as my brother walked out of the front door. He looked more like our father, angular features and thin nose. Though he had the same coloration as our mother. Grey hair, blue eyes, and tan skin. Seeing me he grinned with white teeth.

"Cal!" He called and launched into our family dialect. "Why did you send Anne?"

"I wanted to go to the beach?" But I had used that excuse recently. Holding my breath I waited to see if he'd catch me in my bluff.

Vaymond strolled up closer, he was a tall man. I'm tall for a Hyur but he's even taller than me. "You always want to go to the beach. Let's get some drinks in the house then go to the beach?" He started to turn towards the house but I froze.

"Vay-" My voice sounded like someone had put a boot on my throat. 

He paused and maybe the sudden shift in my tone caught his attention. "Cal. You don't want to go inside, do you?"

If I admitted that, I would have to admit other things that were hard for me to accept. "It, it's complicated."

His lips shifted into a small frown as he took a few steps closer and pulled me in for a tight hug. At first, I wanted to hit him, to push him off. But then he spoke quietly. "It took me two years till I was able to stay inside for any length of time."

Why would he have such a problem? I looked to meet his eyes. "You weren't here when they died."

A bitter sound escaped his mouth. "No, I didn't get to see a fresh corps. I found them. Liquified, animals eating them, some of their limbs were never recovered. I smelled death in that house for months after I gave them a burial. And then I left. I didn't come back for years and finally, when I did, I knew I needed to, or you and the others wouldn't find me. Our tormentors don't deserve to destroy our family like that."

My heart had claws digging into it. I hadn't thought about how my parent's bodies had probably been left to rot. It was a horrible fate for them. In our culture, we believed death was another stage of life. That being with a dead body was an honor, a way to mourn the family we lost. We would bury them with all they needed in their next life, and we could always call on them if we needed them. They weren't gone. They simply weren't here to easily speak to them.

Tears rose up and stung my eyes. "I'm sorry Vaymond." My voice cracked as I realized I hadn't thought about what he had gone through.

"Thank you." He then gave me one last squeeze of the hug before he took a step back. "Will you retake this with me? This is our haven. Our Forest. They were hunters who got lucky with a pack of wolves. Don't let them take our heritage from us."

That house, it was more than a place where my family had lived. My family had been on this island since we came here. All of my ancestors were buried here. My parents were buried here. I might be buried here with them one day. Our blood was a part of this island as much as it was a part of us. The house carried our inheritance. 

"I'm scared," I whispered.

Vaymond nodded and pulled my hand to follow. I did this time and we got closer to the stairs that lead up to the wrap-around porch. He didn’t push me forward. We instead stood looking at the stairs, waiting for me to choose my next move. “What does fear teach us?"

It was an old lesson. Fear, chaos, instability, and horror were not things we should suffer for long. What separates us from others that look like us is fear was a reaction. Chaos cannot be controlled but accepted as it is gives you boons. Instability like chaos must be met at face value. Horror... Horror is all the other things combined and should not be feared, but accepted as it is.

"That we suffered something we were not ready for," I said and slowly I put my hand on the wood railing, it was soft, butter-like in how worn the wood was. "Did their blood stain the wood?"

Vaymond stood beside me and I watched his jaw tense and intense. "They left their mark, and they would be proud. Predators took their fill of their bodies."

At least that was good. If we couldn't be buried properly, at least a fellow predator took their fill of any calories they could get. "Good." I could barely say a word as my foot found the first step.

Each step felt like it took a life time. Would I see them? Would their memories stain this home?

As I came up the step I looked to where my father had been split open in front of me. His last moments he had tried to fight off the men who attacked him. But he fell to the ground, his guts spilt and his blood everywhere. I could see myself, wearing my sleep clothes, may hair braided and in a scarf for while I slept. 

"Deep breaths," Vaymond whispered and I found I had stopped breathing the moment I had gotten to the top step.

"He fought till the end you know? For being married into the family, he took on being a Beast well." I whispered. "He told me once that he would kill anyone who'd touch us. He took out two of their men before he fell."

"He wasn't a trained fighter." Vaymond crossed his arms and looked at the spot I was looking at. "I know being away saved me, but if I was there I might have-"

"Been killed along with them. You weren't able to be manipulated like the rest of us were." I shook my head. "I'm glad you're here."

Taking a few steps towards the house I walked over the spot my father died and felt. Nothing. There was no shiver, no sense of dread. It was a spot. Every inch of the world had someone or something die on it. There is no great difference.

On the wood there was an impression, but I didn’t feel anything. His spirit did not stain the ground. It was only his blood that had perminately stained the wood. Vaymond’s children will know their grandfather died there to keep the family safe.

Letting out a breath I took in the first room, the walls had painted murals of the island. To an outsider there would be no way to know we were anything but some island dwellers. I reached up and touched a drawing of a palm tree and tried to breath. My mind told me I could still smell blood, but it wasn't there.

"Cal." Vaymond took a step closer. "I got a room ready for you. You know you can always be here."

Even if I could walk into the house, I listened to the window blowing through the windows from the sea. I knew this wasn't the safe haven Raymond saw. At least it wasn't for me. Not anymore.

"Can I get some Chai?" I asked and then reached into my pouch and held up my notebook I had copied some passages in. "I also need your eyes on something."

Vaymond frowned, but it was small, barely a twitch of his lips. He must be catching on to how I deflect now. One day he'll call me out for it, but he waved a hand to follow him to the kitchen. "I'll make some stew, you're staying for dinner."

I wanted to protest, but refusing to eat with him would be rude after I took the chance to walk into the house. And I know he had a lot of food he was working through and it would be wrong to not help him.

-

Dinner was made and laid out between the three of us. Vaymond, Anne, and I sat at the table that was tucked into the corner of the kitchen, an open window blowing in the smell of tropical flowers and the brine of the sea. A thick stew of savory spices was to be shared between us. A tower of flat bread, and a portion of rice between us made our meal.

I ripped up some of the flatbread and dipped it deeply in the stew before fishing out a good amount with a long strip of meat. Popping it into my mouth I nodded to the open book beside Vaymond. "See, the code goes to a number cipher."

Vaymond had pulled out a separate book for him to take some notes. He took some rice with his right hand and then scooped up some stew as well. "Yup, interesting in construction."

"It's been nothing but annoying." I admitted.

“I told her if you couldn’t do it, I could call my Auntie.” Anne said her tone peppy. I only knew a limited amount about her ‘Auntie’, the woman or entity was not something I wanted to invite into my life.

"But you got the first round of ciphers done," Vaymond smirked and winked at Anne. Her disturbing eyes didn’t affect him. "You know, when we were kids you would go off with Rumple and figure out our riddles. I always wondered if you would take to it or not."

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I ate more of the stew with some rice this time. The meat fell apart in my mouth and I gratefully swallowed it. Being able to eat meant I was able to have this chance with my brother. "Thanks, but what do I do now?"

"There are only so many things that can be done. You made copies of the pages?" He said as he nodded to my book.

"I did." I leaned closer to him to see if I could see anything from upside down. "Why?"

He turned a page and pointed. One of the pages that baffled me was a long string of numbers that then had a grid at the end. "Why is there a grid," He asked and a thick eyebrow quirked up as if he had unlocked what was happening. What I had missed.

"I don't know," I said though that couldn't be right.

“It’s for tic-tac-toe,” Anne said nodding though there were too many squares for it.

"Do you remember the Playfair Cypher?" He drew it out on his notebook and gestured to the grid. "Focus on this here." He pointed to the chain of numbers and started to write them down. "There are two repeating numbers. Thirty, three, zero. Why do you think that's important?"

I blinked a few times before it became too clear to me. "They're spaces."

"Bingo. Did you make a cipher for each variation of the Ceaser Cypher?" He asked and took another large portion of stew as I flipped through the pages.

"Of course." I then started to shake my head. "Why didn't I see that?"

"You're good at following you're gut, also we never played too much with the Playfair cipher, mom told me it was unfair to use it on all of you when you were so much younger than me." He shrugged and kept eating.

I started to translate the block of numbers into letters. It was the Playfair cypher with a devious twist. The letters were not placed in alphabetical order, but at random, via the code written in a standard Ceascar cypher, or replacement cypher. Putting the next bit down I gleefully did my translations again.

“See!” Anne pointed at my translation. “Tic-Tac-Toe.” She grinned and for one of many times, I had no idea if she actually knew what was happening or not.

“Good job,” Vaymond said his smile far fonder of her. “You’re Auntie is going to be proud.”

“Mom is going to be proud.” Anne nodded and watched me continue my work.

For a long moment, my work became my focus until Vaymond coughed and got my attention. "Your stew is getting cooler by the minute. And you don't want it to go cold again." He smirked and nodded to the stew.

Part of me wanted to kick him under the table for the horrible joke, but I chose not to as he did mean well. I kept eating and read out the translation until a passage hit me.

'Captain Cornilius Harborn'

My heart lurched. "Vay." I suddenly lost my appetite.

Looking at the translation my brother had no context for the man who was named in this book. He hadn't been hunting for our brothers. His job was to look after the estate, the island, the vault, and the way home. I'm the one who knew who this man was.

"This was the Captain I'd been looking for. Rumple, was once on his ship. From what I learned our attackers sold him…” I shook my head and closed the book. "He's not mentioned in any of the human trafficking sections. The client number isn't the same. Why would they be going after him?"

"A person who sells and ships people is being hunted." Vaymond shook his head his eyes unblinking. "Why is this a problem? Other than we can't kill him."

"I need him alive to know where Rumple is," I said and pointed to the name. "What if I lose my lead?"

Vaymond then frowned and nodded, the dots connecting. "He must have angered someone. Is there any way to intercept?"

It wasn't like cutting through a path in the wood. Finding a sailor on the open ocean was like finding a wave before it crashed back into the sea. "No." I admitted and leaned back in my seat. "If I lose this, I'll find another lead. Rumple's been the easiest to track."

"His stupid nickname really makes him stand out." Vaymond groaned and shook his head. "I never should have told him that story."

I took the bread, and my appitite returned, though for a new reason. If Black Fall was dealing with my brother's captor, then I would need to find out what happened to the man. If he's captured, then we can still get justice.

"I need to leave here early in the morning." I took a large bite of the stew-covered bread. "I need to tell the others I cracked most of the book."

"Will you tell them about this?" He nodded to the passage about our brother's captor. Human trafficking had been one of my fears for my siblings. I know I had been kept as a doll for nobles to mold and corrupt. But my brothers could have worse fates.

I shook my head. "I'll tell them about the kind of people they are acquiring for jobs but," I shook my head. "I can't tell them about Rumple. It means explaining too much about who I am. “

Vaymond picked up another round of flatbread and ripped off a piece. Fishing out some of the stew he looked at it, like the stew would answer a question that’s been simmering in his mind. “What if we told them? Everything? Where I've been, people are accepting.”

My hand gripped the edge of the table as I watched him. “You’re joking.”

“If we are open about our situation, maybe they can help locate the others?” Vaymond then looked to Anne. Like she would be a good person to ask. “Do you think they would accept us?”

Anne opened her mouth then closed it as if she could sense my anger rising.

Vaymond was sheltered in his island. He never had to deal with the outside world. He got to walk in places we were safe. If he said something out of place, people understood what he meant. I knew what my group was like. I had seen them look at me like I had lost my mind.

“They recently released a prisoner. Because one person made an agreement with said prisoner, they let them go. I don’t know if the person even remembers who we are, what we do, what the inside of the house looks like. I don’t know… And I’m too low in the group to point out these things.” I licked my lips, some of the gravy had lingered there and the salt and spices fueled my mind. “From what I know right now. They are all nice people. Good people. Not heroes. But not Beasts. I’ve met only two Beasts and one has begged to not know what’s going on. The other, I still need to prove myself to.”

“You don’t have to prove you’re a monster to a monster,” Anne muttered before she fished out a piece of stewed meat and gleefully took a bite and hummed happily.

My brother let out a small understanding ‘ah’ sound. “I thought they were more like the people…” He paused and waved a hand. “You’re the one who knows outsiders. I’m sorry. If you think they’d ever understand?”

“I think they’ll be good allies, but nothing closer than that. I don't know if I'd ever trust them to come here. Traveling here.” I knew it was harsh for me to say it. That I had to clinically look at the people who swore to stand beside me and know if monsters came to their door, I would stand with them. But if I went out to seek my own vengeance, I wouldn’t want them there. They didn’t need to see my true self. They needed the bard, the kind smile, the person who could dance at a club, and the extra face in a crowd. 

They didn’t need what I really was.