The World's End | ONC 2024 ✔

ੈ✩‧₊˚ |𝟭𝟰| 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿

Wylan

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

 Vancouver, Canada.

Keira, Axelle, and I kept searching for what felt like hours. Madame Henderson's journals were crucial for understanding her story, but they lacked honesty. By no honesty, I meant that Madame Henderson carefully omitted details, or meticulously scribbled them out when she felt like it. As determined as I was to read through those scribbles, that was an impossible task.

Who is Vancouver— or what is Vancouver? Was this a reference to the outside world? Instead of focusing on the worthless contents of Madame Henderson's journals, we searched them for any reference to Vancouver. If she was getting a letter from someone called Vancouver, or referencing something called Vancouver...it was imperative that Madame Henderson mentioned it somewhere.

"Vancouver...Van-cower? or Van-coover? This doesn't make any sense," Keira grumbled as she fed Miles some mango slices. "Who even is Caity? It'd be nice if Melissa Henderson mentioned her in her later life. I mean...what's the lore?"

Axelle flicked through the pages of the journals, pausing to read the contents carefully. "Caity was mentioned twice. Once in this entry where Mama felt that Caity was taking bad pictures of her, and this piece of paper."

It is a very artistic image of a building with glass tower aesthetics, and Keira said it was something that her brother would paint sometimes—just large buildings and houses with clear skies, the sun, and clean air.

"That doesn't tell us much. We know that your mother may have conned your father but that doesn't tell us anything about Vancouver."

This puzzle felt like chasing shadows in the dark, with elusive clues slipping through our fingers like grains of sand.

Madame Henderson collected the most surprising things —but they helped us with our research. I came across a particularly interesting Veridonian tabloid article from years ago. She cut it out and stuck it into a scrapbook where she collected the most odd images, or thoughts.

★・・・・・・★

GOLD-DIGGER MELISSA DAWSON

The recent addition to the Council trainees saw the admission of a young woman from The National University of Veridonia. She graduated with high honors and has been appointed as a council trainee. Her sudden rise to prominence as the first woman to enter the council has sparked speculation among Veridonia's elite circles, with many questioning her background and motives. 

One of the very clear indications of this is her long-term relationship with Kaz Henderson, the son of Councilman Nicholas Henderson. Some sources claim that Melissa Dawson comes from humble beginnings and provides immense value, while others suggest that she got this job solely due to the influence of her boyfriend's father. Regardless of her origins, one thing is clear: Melissa Dawson's ascent to power in the Dominion Council has been a topic of great interest.

★・・・・・・★

I was struggling to understand what the truth was. If Madame Henderson stapled this into her scrapbook, it could mean two things. 1) She knew that this was true and decided to commemorate her ascent to power or 2) she found it incredibly hilarious and decided to commemorate it as a slap to the face for everyone who believed she couldn't do it.

"I got it, Axelle. Your mom made your dad fall in love with her and then got him to get her a seat on the Council. Then, they got married and she became a Councilwoman and they made her the head of the Verids. Your dad was jealous of the power that your mom got, and your dad probably found out from this Caity person that Veridonia is an evil place," Keira ranted, without stopping for a breath. "Then, your dad decided to leave this place with the help of Caity and this Vancouver person. Your mom then ratted on your dad...um, but your dad got revenge by smuggling the children out."