Accession || Ongoing ||

Twenty-Five: Operation Get Our Butts Whooped

"I can't believe I did that," Alyxia breathed as she knelt in the snow in front of a carefully pruned bush. "I can't believe I actually did it." She just wanted to collapse into her hammock and pretend like nothing had happened. She doubted whether she could call it her hammock anymore, though; after that scene she created in the hall, no doubt she would be kicked out in disgrace and left to fend for herself. 

Well you've practically been fending for yourself for the past month or so, ever since you left the palace, her mind reasoned. If you stay here any longer, they'll try to control your destiny and you know it.

Has it really been a month since my life spiralled downward? Alyxia thought to herself as she heard footsteps approaching. She constantly found herself losing track of time, days blurring into weeks of uncertainty and fear. She thought she would finally be free from worry with her family, but it turned out that all they seemed to care about was the fact that she was the princess, not their relative.

"What are you doing?" 

Alyxia whipped around in surprise, nearly falling into the snow in the process. Standing in front of her were the group of older kids who were privy to her outburst; Beau and Reiley stood with their arms crossed, Farron and Lia suppressed the urge to laugh and even the normally morose Mel cracked a smile as Khi and Arion nudged her from either side.

"Oh, you know, just trying to be one with nature," Alyxia drawled in what she hoped was a casual tone. She patted the bush, but quickly pulled her hand away with a yelp of pain as one of the thorns pierced her skin. "So far it's been going well," She continued, her voice higher pitched than usual.

"I can see that," Beau griped with a single raised eyebrow, indicating that he was not buying it. "Back in the hall, were you serious?"

Alyxia's mind raced with potential excuses she could give. Could she go for an insanity plea? Could she play the grief card? But at the end, she simply stammered, "Yes... I was."

Reiley stepped forward with a concerned look on her face. "You should have told us earlier."

"I know," Alyxia sighed as she hung her head. "I didn't mean to go off like that, it's just that I couldn't let them steamroll me anymore."

"I don't care about that," Reiley snapped. "If you'd told me earlier, I could have drawn up plans for gaining a support base!"

Alyxia blinked, and then proceeded to speak eloquently. "Um, uh, I see."

"You know I'm right," Reiley continued, her pacing creating a noticeable track in the snow. "We need some form of transportation, supplies and resources. And a base."

"I've got the answer for one of those," Arion offered. "I remember seeing a black car in the old stables, though I can't be sure because there was a whole bunch of hay on top of it."

"We had a car this whole time?" Mel whined, the exasperation clear in her voice. "I haven't been out in weeks!"

"A black car..." Farron considered. "Maybe that's the same one which we took to get here. I always wondered where it had gone. Our stuff has gotta be in there too."

"Then that's our way out, right?" Alyxia pointed out as she rose to her feet, brushing the snow off her legs. "We get our valuables from inside and speed away like our lives depend on it. Because it does."

"But it isn't that easy, is it?" Reiley guessed as she directed a look towards Beau, who nodded in the affirmative.

"The safes set off a notification and activate a camera if anyone opens them, so that the adults and the staff can monitor what is kept in them from the central control room," Beau explained. "The staff communicate with the control room via earpiece, and if they see you taking everything out, they'll know something's up and they wouldn't let you go without a fight."