My Muse || READER X RAY || The Promised Neverland

📷 My Muse || Chapter Twenty Eight

Don pulled something out his pocket. A small silver pen. 

"Where'd you get that from, Don?" Norman asked, the boy dropping it in his hands. 

"In Isabella's office." Don replied. "Gilda and I... Saw a lot of things." He shuddered, Gilda gently holding his hand. "This pen... I don't know why... But I felt like I had to take it." 

We were all clumped up in the forest, staring at the pen in Norman's hands. "Open it." Emma said, poking Norman's fingers. The white haired boy gulped, slowly pulling the cap off. But it didn't budge. "Twist it!" I exclaimed. The cap slowly came loose, but not coming off. "Huh?" Don asked, shaking it. Inside the pen was a small code, carved into the barrel. "B06-32?" I read. "What does that mean?" A bright flash of light blinded us all, Norman dropping the pen onto the floor. A screen of light was displayed in front of us, projected by the pen. "B01-12?" Gilda read. The code like combination was brightly pasted at the top of the screen, a familiar drawing of an owl in the middle. A strange pattern of dots and lines surrounded it. 

I reached out to touch it, but a loud rustling behind us drew near. Ray grabbed the pen, twisting the cap back onto it tightly. "Hi, guys!" Phil ran into Emma's arms, smiling. "What are you playing?" We all breathed a sigh of relief. "We're telling each other secrets." Emma replied, patting his cheek. "What secrets?" The little boy asked, looking at Norman and I. 

"That... Don likes Gilda!" I blurted out. 

Ray shoved the pen into my hand while they distracted Phil. The smooth surface of the pen in my hands was disrupted by a small carving on it's clip. I peaked into my pocket. "It says W.M." I mouthed to Norman and Ray. 

"I'm going to go study." I announced, a little too loud. Emma, Don and Gilda nodded at the three of us who headed to the library. For some reason, those two letters sounded familiar. If there was going to be anything about them, any clues would probably be in the library. 

We split up, thoroughly searching every shelf. "These books were donated by the Minerva Foundation." Norman called from a few shelves down. "Same here." Ray replied. 

I grimaced. We were on the brink of a breakthrough. "Then we have to find a book that wasn't." 

Ray wandered off, deeper into a corner. Norman flipped through a dictionary. A book that wasn't written by the Minerva Foundation... 

"I'm Ugo the adventurer!" A small voice, probably Yvette's shrieked happily in the yard. 

I laughed, leaning on the windowsill. "The Adventures of Ugo." I said to myself. 

The Adventures of Ugo... Which was written by... I ran to the children's bookshelf, rumaging through the piles of fairytales. I looked for the faded yellow cover. Where is it, where is it? "Here!" I exclaimed. Ray and Norman came rushing to me. I pulled out the book. "William Minerva." Ray whispered. 

"W.M." I replied. "This is William Minerva's pen."

Gilda, Don and Emma came rushing into the room. I explained what we found and their faces lit up with hope. "Minerva will guide us!" Emma exclaimed. She pulled me into a warm hug and everyone piled on. Suddenly, a bright flash of light blinded all of us. "What? Did I drop the pen?" I asked, rummaging in my pocket. Ray chuckled distantly, the flimsy noises of a sheet of paper with him. 

"What did you do?" Gilda asked. Ray held up the small film to our hug pile. "I wanted to use it one last time before I started making the nullifying chips." On the photo in Ray's hands, we were all smiling, looking like the happiest family in the world. I clenched my fists. I would do anything to keep this family like this, happy. The feeling ran through my blood.