Dara, Page, and the Secrets of the Multiverse

▷ 11.4

The shovel bit into the soil, and with a grunt, jerked up with clumps of dirt to the side of the grave.Page wiped his brow against his sleeve, sniffing at the amount of work he had mustered up the past few hours. After finding a spare spade lying around the cemetery, he figured the only thing left to do was to unearth the past and discover why his grandfather led him into this place. It couldn't be to order a hit on Page and bury him here, could it? That was more of his brothers' gig than the big ol' man's.

He struck the ground again, the tip of the spade thumping against something solid. It wasn't even that deep. Not enough to bury a dead body, at least those who put thought on doing so. He used the spade to brush the remnant soil to what appeared to be leather.

Frowning, he tugged on his gloves to bite the spaces between his fingers tighter and crouched by the mystery material. He cleared more of the dirt to reveal a box big enough to be a suitcase. He braced the sides and pulled. It budged easily, the weight almost throwing him back. He lugged the case to flat ground, searching for a lock. None. The latches popped without resistance, and the top gave way to a deep crevice filled with stacks upon stacks of...files.

The body must be somewhere deeper, and Page wasn't keen on discovering for himself. This suitcase and its trove of mysteries were enough.

He fished out the first file and opened it. His own face greeted him, albeit younger and more innocent. His hair had been gelled to submission across his forehead, making him look like a premature adult. That was the case inside the family. A child wasn't supposed to be in the business. He flipped through the yellowing pages, scanning the typewritten words.

The gist leaped out in a span of a few paragraphs. These were investigation files that belonged in a crime registry somewhere, and for some reason, they featured him and were buried underground for them to be forgotten. He couldn't remember being part of a crime in his childhood, and something this big should have imprinted itself into his mind and never let go. Right?

On the eve of the treaty signing between the rival families, the youngest heir led the victim to a secluded section of the garden. The victim was later found dead in the same spot. Autopsy reports say the cause of death was from a poison from the thorns of an iqareen berry, one of the most fatal plant-based poison in the world. The youngest heir, with his family behind him, pleaded innocence, claiming the incident was an accident. The victim's family also rescinded the case after a few days, requesting the world to give them the time to grieve. As of this report, both families have agreed to never interact under any circumstances. Of course, developments are bound to happen, hence a request for continued surveillance is necessary.

Page might be young, but he wasn't the youngest. He checked the date the report was filed. Yup. He was the youngest at that time. But...what of this incident? Why would his grandfather go through such lengths getting his hands on reports and evidence like this, only to give it to Page after passing? Additionally, why couldn't he remember this if he was involved?