𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 ♛ ꜱᴘʏ ✗ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ

ೃ⁀➷𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 / 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨

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Lia wasn't sure how she'd arrived at this point in her life, becoming an advocate of studying of all things.

It wasn't that she viewed it in a positive light (at all) but Loid seemed to be hell bent on getting them into Even (or was it Edan?) Academy.

She was legitimately worried for his mental state if they fell short.

Though this begged the question, why Eden Academy? According to Loid, it was a prestigious school and top ranked in the country.

But if it was truly about education, schools with a far less snobby principles existed. Lia couldn't see what made it so special for Loid to have such a hyper fixation on it.

She could only conclude that it wasn't the school itself that he was interested in, but what was in it.

Either way, getting Anya to study was like trying to connect a power plug in the dark. In other words, impossible.

"I don't wanna study!"

A sharp pain stabbed at her head as Lia swore she'd heard that from somewhere before.

Must just be a headache.

Nevertheless, she shared this sentiment but doubted she'd have as much trouble passing an entrance exams made for 6 year olds.

Now, Anya on the other hand. She wasn't sure how she'd done it but somehow she'd fooled Loid into believing she was a genius. Or at least that she was hiding some untapped potential.

One look at her and she could tell you this wasn't the case. Lia didn't even think she was actually 6.

"I can just read other people's-" she snapped her mouth shut, avoiding eye contact.

"You plan on cheating?"

Anya let a guilty look slide onto her face, waiting to be lectured.

"Well, don't let me stop you," she shrugged nonchalantly.

"You're...letting Anya cheat?"

"I'm not sure what gave off the impression that I was a saint," Lia drawled, "I have dubious morals."

"Dooby uss?" Anya blinked at her.

"Basically as long as you don't get caught, I won't say anything."

"Cheating isn't bad?"

"Think of it as survival of the fittest. Sometimes you have to break a few rules to emerge a winner."

"Anya doesn't understand," she pouted.

"Look at it like this, you have two options." Lia holds up two fingers. "Either you get in or you get sent back. Don't go for the second option or-"

I'll be overwhelmed with guilt for essentially abandoning an orphan with abandonment issues that I'll probably follow soon after.

What actually came out of her mouth was:

"-I'll eat all your peanuts."

Anya made a noise of indignation but seemed more agreeable than before.

"So get in, or we're both screwed." She slapped the papers down on the desk for emphasis.

"Ow," she muttered a second later. "Watch out, that table has splinters."

"What're you two talking about?" Loid returns from reading yet another book titled studying tips for your orphans or something equally mundane.

"Anya was just telling me how much she wants to study."

Anya looked ready to jump out the nearest window.

"Really?" His skeptic expression spoke volumes of how much he believed her.

Anya crossed her arms and huffed petulantly.

"...it's a work in progress."

"I'm heading out anyways. Lia, stay here to keep watch on Anya."

Lia opened her mouth to voice consent but Anya was already rushing to the door before Loid could close it.

"You're not coming with me today," he said firmly. "No matter what."

He managed to shut the door this time and Lia thought that would be the end of it, that Anya would give up.

She was sorely mistaken.

What ensued was what Lia could only describe as an elaborate one sided game of hide and seek. Dragged into a series of crouching behind laundry bins, under staircases, and even in air ducts.

Aside from the time she spotted a spider in the air duct, Loid was able to find them every time despite not knowing he was playing.

Eventually he took extreme measures and barricaded the front door to keep them in.

"Hey," Lia called through the door. "Isn't this a bit excessive?"

No answer.

"If this gets back to CPS, and believe me it will, you could get sued for child abuse."

That's when she realised him presence was no longer there. She pressed her ear to the door, listening to his steps fade away.

"I guess it's just me and you..." she trailed off.

Anya was gone.

Lia sighed. Keeping track of her was a full time job that she was not equipped to handle.

Just as she was about to head off in search of her, a shrill ring cut through the air. She jumped, looking around for the source. A tiffany blue telephone sat innocuously atop one of the cabinets.

She approached it cautiously. The thing looked archaic to her and she was momentarily struck by how heavy it was when she picked it up.

Surely it wouldn't hurt to answer it?

Before considering the consequences, she brought it up to her ear.

"Hello? This is the Forager- oops Forger residence." She hoped her little slip up would go unnoticed.

There was a faint crackling of static on the other end but nothing that could be made out.

"Er, hello?" She laughed nervously. "Is this a misdial?"

"̶̧̜͇̩̖̤͎̳̊̃̚ͅW̸̥̙̙̲̺̮̩̦̉͊͆̅͝ͅë̸̝͖̥͍̭̰́̃̓͆̅̀ǎ̴̛̘͎̱̪̓͋̏́̿̏̈́̕r̵̛̘̥͇̲̞̋i̶̡̫̬̤̯̋̽̍̓͜ṇ̵̢̡̜̠̺͉̻̮͋͂͑͐͊̆͘ğ̴̜͈̔̃̇͑̊ ̷̛̩̳̩͑̇͂̐̈́̕̚ͅa̷͉͎̪̠͕̣͑͐́̈̎̔͐̇̽͂͜n̶̪̞̫̱̭̤̳̱̂̎̍͆̕͠͝o̵̲͕͒t̵̤̭͚͒̊̅͊̑̂̑̓͘̕h̵̢̠̰̑̃̅́̒͝ẽ̸͚͇̥̫̬̀̿̀̐͂̍̐͠r̵̢̛̻̤̱͇̂͛̐'̴̗̳̤͚̭̦̞̲͈̐̑̒̿͋͌͛̽̕͜͝ş̸̢̌̓͋̏̚͘ ̶̢̡̒̋͛̅̋̿̈͠f̸̡̛̦̉͛̓͠ͅa̸̺̻͕͙͇͑̔͆̏͘c̴̘̻̲̺̜̭͔̄̍́̏͠ë̸͎͍́͒̊ ̴̛͎̾̐̐̏̌͝ẇ̷̱̖̪̣͙̌͛́͝ͅŏ̵̯̹̞̥̤n̴̨̨̙̹͕͉̔͗̍́̕͜'̵̞̦̗̻̔̏͗̀̄́͠͝t̸̮̰̅̍̀͛ ̵̢̛͓͒̍̑̓̋́m̵̰͎̣̱̻̲̠̱̯͑̆̎͐̽a̵̧̬̥̞̳̽̂́͗́̕͝ǩ̸̜̭͝e̶͔͉̺͉̐́͐ ̸̭͎̺͕͉̦͊͋̈́͂y̷̙͂o̸̗͕͛ủ̷͉̎͗̓̕͜ ̷̠̝̬̪̝͗͋̉̚ͅf̴͓̼͉̫̼͑́͆͋i̴̧̢̥͍̣̘̇̋̐t̵̘͎̠̗͈͗ ̴̙̫́̓̏̾́̒i̴͓̜͐͂͊́͜n̴̤̠͎̬̟͙̯͕̂̈̎̀̋̕͘͜͜͝ ̴̺̲̦͙͓͈̪͒̓͐̈́͛͋w̸͙̩̳̬̩̣̳̖̃̇͜ḧ̵͕̘͜è̶͔͕͎̰̳̖r̴̛̞̬̮͓̤̪̾̀̈́̑̾̓̕͝e̵̬̞͓̯̞̟͐̀͗̍̓͝ ̸̺̪̈́̎͐͐͘ý̸̝͎͙̝̜̺̇̂̓̏͗͘̕ớ̷̟̂͌̃́͌̃͂̍ų̶͖̞͖̗̿́̿́̓͂̂͝͝ ̶͕̯̤̱̎̈́͛̔͜ͅd̶̜̪̠̞͇̮͎̀ǒ̷̡͙̯̓̑́̎̓̈́̚n̸̺̟͚̞͉̰̲̋͆̓́̌̆͘'̶̜̈́͛̿͌͑̃͜t̵̨̬̝̖̝͖̠͙̓͌ ̶̢̥́͐̈́͂͠b̴̞̗̗̹̹͕͚͐ͅe̶̻̺̗̪͚̯̞͖̯̦͋̈̎̿͌̿̔͗̑̀l̵̩͚͉̹̐̓̇̈̅̓̍͋͜ó̸̧̧͇̳͐̃̃͌̾̂ͅn̵̦̣̞̂̄͊͗͗̈́̽̑̓͋g̶͔͉͝͝.̶̻̗̤̻͓͔̟̭̿̈́̾̉̽́̚̚͝"̴͕̯̤̩̯̉͌͒̈́̀́̈̀͝

"Wearing another's face won't make you fit in where you don't belong."

The line went dead.

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