Recorded by Finnegan Lionhartt,
Of the events which took place on the 18th day of Radia after the sun had risen, year of Pinnikle: 1,229.

And all that came before was not yet the beginning. The start, you see, is only in the first steps made with intention.

— Ignis Lionhartt, our father.

We, a now united trio, took a moment to acknowledge the journey ahead. Much had happened, and quickly. King Leon had lost his girls just days ago, but we stood before him as two successors, like long-lost children. A King, his princess, and his prince: Together, we must have appeared not as royals, but ragged from the events until then. I supposed we would set out that day, on a journey to defeat darkness; though I had not expected we may be leaving so suddenly.

While Sophie and I stood under the morning sun, looking out at the village below, Leon ushered us toward our first steps. His words carried whimsy: "So Lofie wrote a book... And I read it," said the king, smiling.

"What was it about?" Sophie asked.

"And how'd you know the book was from him?" I followed up.

"Lofi only had one book in the royal library," Leon explained. "The cover was scarlet... and its pages were empty; all but one page, near the middle. That page was marked with a scarlet, red ribbon - like the one you dreamed about, Fin. On the page, words glimmered in magic ink! And only wizards write in magic ink, that's how I knew the wizard wrote it,". Leon's eyes glossed over as he reflected.

"Why do you think there was only one page?" Sophie asked.

"I did not know," the king replied. "I think Lofi's book had been in the royal library for a very long time. Many must have overlooked it, because it did not have a title, and many nix do not flip through blank books, lacking titles."

"Well then... Why did you pick it up?" I asked.

Leon squinted, remembering the moment, and told us: "My eyes were drawn to it. My heart raced upon opening it. I felt it was meant for me to read, and before I even flipped through the pages, I saw Lofi in my imagination."

"So, uh... What'd those shimmering words say?" I asked intently, putting a fist to my chin in curiosity.

"Lofi's only written words were a riddle," Leon responded." It said this: 'The night terrors were but an advent. Follow the scarlet thread and come with me to see the end of the beast. Follow the red ribbon when the mirrorman starts to fade,'. And after I read Lofi's words, a scarlet ribbon appeared, magically, under the text. It rotated like a compass, and its tassels pointed toward Plummet Valley..."

Leon's description caused Sophie and I to have wide eyes. I cleared my throat and asked: "So... You followed it, and that's how you ended up in the river?"

Leon looked over Luca. As he watched villagers emerge from little huts, he told us, "I did not follow the ribbon. The day I found Lofi's book was my daughters birthday. I came home early that night to celebrate her... but...". He stopped speaking as a tear fell from his face.

"Hey now," Sophie said gently. She put a hand to his shoulder and asked a question I already knew the answer to: "Did something happen to your daughter?"

"It would be good for Sophie to know," I told him. 

Together, we sat at the edge of the stone our home was built on. Leon recounted the events to us about how he ended up in the water: How the monster, Fear, had stepped into his home, and blew it out, in an explosion that threw him into End's Lake. From there, he was pulled by one of those shadows, through the river, End's Spill. Leon recounted how he did not fight, even knowing the shadow intended to pull him off the waterfall, End's Drop. He told us about how his life flashed before his eyes: How Fear taunted him with feelings of inferiority, but somehow his mind was filled with very good things after that.

Then we talked about the box that is owned by fear, and wondered how such a thing could ever come into existence. We wondered if Fear collects people in his box, and if those he collects ever die, or if they only cease to exist. We concluded: perhaps the monster wants to keep people in his box - in a place where nothing exists - where there is only endless hopelessness. We wondered if the king's family was there, or if they had died. We would not know, because we were not going back to Lucidia, the kingom-city. We were going to find Lofi, and hoped he could tell us what to do next.

After it was decided, we fell into silence. It is strange, how we had decided to set out on a quest to defeat Fear. I say it is strange, because the world of Pinnikle did not know the threat of Fear: what things it might do, and what lives it could take. It is odd, deciding to save the world from a threat they have not acknowledged. We sat in silence. Below, in Luca village, children crossed the village bridges on their way to the school-house. The place was so peaceful: every nix in their own routine, and children racing each other up a path, past the river and up a hill.

Perhaps Lucida and its citizens were in a clamour about the missing king. The news would take days to cross End's Lake, and even longer to spread to the reaches of Plummet Valley, and whatever is beyond that. We felt as if we were the only ones (aside from Tiko, and possibly few others) who knew that Fear was on the rise in Pinnikle. Maybe the stars knew, but we had not yet heard from them. It is odd: the feeling of setting out to save the world from a threat they have not yet acknowledged. I did not think heroes - if that is what we were - should ever know such a feeling.

"What do we now?" I asked.

"We begin," Leon answered, "Where the riddle would have us begin."

"Only one problem..." Sophie said, "We don't have Lofi's book... So even if there were some magical ribbon-compass, we don't have any way to follow it."

"Yeah..." I said. "Leon, you took the book home from the library, which means..."

Leon, still looking over the landscape, answered the question I had not asked: "The book was destroyed, along with my home." 

He said the words so factually, I thought he must have been numb to the fact. Sophie gasped, and my gut sank, but Leon only pulled off his right boot. After a few shakes, a little page fell into his lap. The king smirked as he unfolded the paper, and and told us: "The book was certainly destroyed, no doubts, but I tore out the magic page." 

"Why!? When!?" I asked.

"You sly guy!" Sophie exclaimed.

He did not answer, but unfolded the battered page. It was blank at first, but quickly lit up with the same glowing words, and a faint scarlet ribbon magically appeared, like a compass, under the riddle. Its tail pointed toward Plummet Valley before our eyes.
 Sophie jumped up and scurried over to Leon. Curiously and clumsily, she put her face very close to the page in his hands. It was hard not to chuckle, and we were both amazed at the magic page.

 Without moving her head an inch from the paper, she asked, in a half-whisper: "What do we do now?"

"We wait for the mirrorman to fade," answered Leon.

"The mirrorman?" Sophie asked, and stepped back.

We all huddled around the page, as Leon read the riddle:

"The night terrors were but an advent. Follow the scarlet thread and come with me to see the end of the beast. Follow the red ribbon when the mirrorman starts to fade,".

"Fin, didn't you say a mirrorman saved you from the waterfall?" Sophie asked.

"Yes... But—"

"—And what happened after?" she asked.

"He just walked away, across thin air," I said, then I remembered: "He did fade away! It was like he vanished into thin air!" 

"So..." Sophie plotted, "Lofi wanted to bring us all together! He wanted to us find him, together! This is so exciting!". She paced exhilerantly on grass, and could not withhold her enthusiasm. "We're going to see Lofi!" she yelled, "This is real!"

There was nothing left to talk about, and nothing left to do but begin the journey. Abruptly, we departed under the morning sun - a united trio. We left without notice to the nix around us: villagers who would not believe the need for such a journey, let alone the caper's call from a magic page. Many of them did not even believe a whisper (that is, a rumor) that had been told about Fear, and certainly did not believe in wizards, or monsters (even though they had seen glimpses of such things). Everyone believed Sophie and I to be annoying, young nix. We were anxious to leave behind the opinions of those who would not understand.

Our entire lives had led to that moment: having clear purpose to find a wizard, and finally put an end to the terror known as Fear. We had no bags to bring, but only the clothing we wore and the tools given to each: a girl with her lasso, a young man with his dagger, and a King with his magic compass on page written by a wizard. Through the village, Sophie and I walked barefoot, on either side of Leon; striding in his boots. Thus began our journey together, a trio.