Dawnsx
Majestic Dinosaur
Varona, Juli decided, was a welcomed presence to his expedition to the garden. The novelty of the mansion quickly wore off as the quiet chattering of the other Elegies was replaced by eerie silence. Don't get him wrong—under the orange hues of the setting sun, the path to the garden, yet untouched by the construction work, looked like it could belong in one of his old photography magazines. But the way that the air is filled only by the calls of cicadas and their footfalls made him felt chills despite the summer heat. Juli was immensely grateful that Varona was around to stave off some of his paranoia.
As they neared the garden entrance, Juli lifted his camera again, both to capture the imposing gates and to distract himself from the ominous rustling of the leaves above them.
"Did you hear that?" Varona suddenly spoke, jolting Juli out of his skin. "I could have sworn there was a splash... do you think we'll find a swimming pool back there maybe?"
"Oh, uh, I was a little distracted," Juli said sheepishly, hoping Varona didn't notice him jumping three feet into the air. "But yeah, I can see them owning a swimming pool. Or a fountain, maybe? That also seems rich people-esque."
By silent agreement, the duo paused in front of the gate to wait for potential stragglers who might've decided to join them. At Varona's request, Juli gladly pulled up the photos that he took on their way here.
"I didn't take much, to be honest. I know Emma gave me permission and all, but still feels a little rude to be snapping too many pictures of someone's home, y'know?" Juli prattled, swiping to a closeup of a glowing firefly resting on drying leaf, then one of the lights hanging over the porch that they passed by. "Maybe later we can get a selfie in the garden, if you're cool with that? For now..." he glanced back at the way they came. Seeing no one coming their way, he turned back to Varona. "...let's go in and check out if any spookies are in there."
Juli took a quick look at the gate, and, finding no lock, opened it in one push.
Inside the garden, he immediately took in the tall tree standing in the heart of the wide courtyard, without a single flower coloring its lonely existence. That seemed to be a common theme in the entire estate. Shrubs and trees were planted in each section of the courtyard, and the edge of the pathways were accentuated with bushes. Yet contrary to his expectations, there were no flowers in bloom. Perhaps in another season, the garden would be a magnificent sight to behold, but in its current state, all the greenery felt rather monotone and dull.
"Huh, not really what I expected... But hey, maybe that's the splashing that you heard?" Juli pointed down at the waterways at the perimeter. Despite feeling a little disappointed by the garden, he still lifted his camera to snap a quick photo for memory's sake before walking down the pathway, straight towards the towering tree at the center. If they were going to investigate (which, he realized, he had little idea how to do), might as well start at the most obvious place, right?
Nearing the center, Juli noted that the tree was actually planted in a round depression, surrounded by a plot of dirt.
"I wonder if they're going to plant some flowers here," he mused out loud. It'd certainly be a nice addition. Maybe he'll ask Emma about it later. Spying nothing immediately peculiar about the tree, Juli went down the set of stairs closest to him. He slowly circled the tree, and paused halfway through when something caught his eye. "Varona, check this out."
He pointed at a part of the tree trunk. Several horizontal lines were carved into it, with the letters "E" or "L" next to each.
"Detective Varona, what are your thoughts on this?" Juli said playfully, if only because he had no idea what they were looking at. He felt like he'd seen these sort of markings before, and could figure out what they were if he thought hard enough... but nope, he couldn't make the mental connection. He finished circling the tree while keeping an ear open for whatever Varona had to say, but found himself back at the carvings anyway when he spotted nothing else worth noting. "So uh, do you know what we're supposed to be looking for, or—"
Juli paused mid-sentence, head snapping up towards the foliage above them. He squinted and craned his head. Huh, he could've sworn he just saw something moving out of the corner of his eyes...
Another gust of wind blew past them, gently rustling the leaves. Juli stared up, unblinking, despite the wind making his eyes water, and then—
"I see something!" he exclaimed, pointing up towards one of the lower branches. If Varona looked up in time, she might be able to see a flash of white before it disappeared again behind the curtain of green. Juli made an aborted move to climb the tree (abruptly remembering that he'd never climbed a tree before and would probably fall on his ass before even getting close to whatever was up there), then fumbled to pick up his camera. He pointed it towards the general direction of where he'd seen the odd movement and zoomed in. It took a lot of frustrated sighs and shuffling about to adjust his angle, but then finally, he spotted it.
"Is... is that a notebook?" he asked incredulously, passing his camera to Varona for her to take a look.
As they neared the garden entrance, Juli lifted his camera again, both to capture the imposing gates and to distract himself from the ominous rustling of the leaves above them.
"Did you hear that?" Varona suddenly spoke, jolting Juli out of his skin. "I could have sworn there was a splash... do you think we'll find a swimming pool back there maybe?"
"Oh, uh, I was a little distracted," Juli said sheepishly, hoping Varona didn't notice him jumping three feet into the air. "But yeah, I can see them owning a swimming pool. Or a fountain, maybe? That also seems rich people-esque."
By silent agreement, the duo paused in front of the gate to wait for potential stragglers who might've decided to join them. At Varona's request, Juli gladly pulled up the photos that he took on their way here.
"I didn't take much, to be honest. I know Emma gave me permission and all, but still feels a little rude to be snapping too many pictures of someone's home, y'know?" Juli prattled, swiping to a closeup of a glowing firefly resting on drying leaf, then one of the lights hanging over the porch that they passed by. "Maybe later we can get a selfie in the garden, if you're cool with that? For now..." he glanced back at the way they came. Seeing no one coming their way, he turned back to Varona. "...let's go in and check out if any spookies are in there."
Juli took a quick look at the gate, and, finding no lock, opened it in one push.
Inside the garden, he immediately took in the tall tree standing in the heart of the wide courtyard, without a single flower coloring its lonely existence. That seemed to be a common theme in the entire estate. Shrubs and trees were planted in each section of the courtyard, and the edge of the pathways were accentuated with bushes. Yet contrary to his expectations, there were no flowers in bloom. Perhaps in another season, the garden would be a magnificent sight to behold, but in its current state, all the greenery felt rather monotone and dull.
"Huh, not really what I expected... But hey, maybe that's the splashing that you heard?" Juli pointed down at the waterways at the perimeter. Despite feeling a little disappointed by the garden, he still lifted his camera to snap a quick photo for memory's sake before walking down the pathway, straight towards the towering tree at the center. If they were going to investigate (which, he realized, he had little idea how to do), might as well start at the most obvious place, right?
Nearing the center, Juli noted that the tree was actually planted in a round depression, surrounded by a plot of dirt.
"I wonder if they're going to plant some flowers here," he mused out loud. It'd certainly be a nice addition. Maybe he'll ask Emma about it later. Spying nothing immediately peculiar about the tree, Juli went down the set of stairs closest to him. He slowly circled the tree, and paused halfway through when something caught his eye. "Varona, check this out."
He pointed at a part of the tree trunk. Several horizontal lines were carved into it, with the letters "E" or "L" next to each.
"Detective Varona, what are your thoughts on this?" Juli said playfully, if only because he had no idea what they were looking at. He felt like he'd seen these sort of markings before, and could figure out what they were if he thought hard enough... but nope, he couldn't make the mental connection. He finished circling the tree while keeping an ear open for whatever Varona had to say, but found himself back at the carvings anyway when he spotted nothing else worth noting. "So uh, do you know what we're supposed to be looking for, or—"
Juli paused mid-sentence, head snapping up towards the foliage above them. He squinted and craned his head. Huh, he could've sworn he just saw something moving out of the corner of his eyes...
Another gust of wind blew past them, gently rustling the leaves. Juli stared up, unblinking, despite the wind making his eyes water, and then—
"I see something!" he exclaimed, pointing up towards one of the lower branches. If Varona looked up in time, she might be able to see a flash of white before it disappeared again behind the curtain of green. Juli made an aborted move to climb the tree (abruptly remembering that he'd never climbed a tree before and would probably fall on his ass before even getting close to whatever was up there), then fumbled to pick up his camera. He pointed it towards the general direction of where he'd seen the odd movement and zoomed in. It took a lot of frustrated sighs and shuffling about to adjust his angle, but then finally, he spotted it.
"Is... is that a notebook?" he asked incredulously, passing his camera to Varona for her to take a look.
