Beneath The Light

13. Till The End Of Time

Till The End Of Time

It'd been three days.

Alice was aware that Topaz hadn't slept, hadn't eaten. Topaz had been patrolling London since Aden left, determined to find him and make everything better. Robert told Topaz they were both overacting. Zac ignored her and continued to train himself to take the Nightingale heir. Alice helped Topaz whenever she could, and when she couldn't she was trying to track a member of the gang who'd murdered the Nightingale rulers. Everyone was beginning to believe they'd never find the murderous gang or the Worlders who had the Nightingale papers Aden had almost been killed for. "Why don't you ever give up?" Topaz asked the remaining Angel as they patrolled the streets of lively London three nights after Aden's disappearance. "Give up on what?" Alice asked in wonder, squinting at a pair of drunken teens staggering in front of them. "On searching for the people who killed my parents? You care more than I do." Alice smiled. "I'm an Angel, it's my job." Topaz shook her head, her sharp nails rattling off the metal dagger hanging from her belt. "But you do more than your job, Al, you actually care, you want to find them..."

"Because I know how much it means to the Dark World. With your parents' murderers still out there, the Angel knows what might happen." Topaz nodded her head in agreement. "You know, it's weird," She said quietly. "It's as if they're not even gone... They were never really around, never cared about anything. It'd see them on occasion and speak to them only if I'd done something I shouldn't've... But other than that, it was as if they didn't really exist in the first place." Alice gave the mermaid a sympathetic smile. "You know Topaz, me and you," She sighed. "It would seem like we have more in common than what we first thought." Topaz smiled tearfully. "I think I've known that for a while now... I've just been too ashamed to admit it..." There was a pause before Topaz whispered, "I'm sorry Alice, for being so horrible to you in the beginning... I didn't give you a chance... I knew you were seeing my brother, I'd had a feeling he'd been keeping something from me, and when you came along, it all suddenly made sense... And then as I began to fall for Aden, I became jealous of you... I realised how similar we were and how proud you were as a person and as a Worlder. I began to realise that I could never be that proud, or that inspirational. I'm just me, I'm nothing interesting... How could I ever be as special as you are?" The Angel felt a lump rise in her throat and knew her vision was blurring because of her tears. "Topaz-" The mermaid held a hand up, smiling brightly at the Angel. "There's no need to protest, Al, it's in your blood to disagree with that, but it's how I feel. I feel stupid for being ashamed to admit my true feelings in the beginning. I feel stupid for turning my back on Aden in the beginning and then kicking him in the teeth for simply showing me affection. I feel stupid for telling him that I was in love with him and then telling him we could never be together. And I feel stupid for believing that I could seriously live without him. I've made such a huge mistake, Alice," The mermaid whimpered. "And I have no idea how to fix it." Alice pushed her fingertips to her lips to stop the whimper from escaping. She looked down at the tormented mermaid before putting an arm around her shoulders. She was glad the mermaid couldn't see her expression as she said, "Aden will come back, Paz, and when he does, he'll fall at your feet and never think twice about forgiving you." The Angel was sure of her words. She was simply unsure of when.

Alice left Topaz on the streets, patrolling and returned to their hotel room to go over the paperwork for the rented flat they'd decided to move into. Topaz was unhappy with this decision. What if Aden returns to the hotel and finds them gone? What if a Worlder needs to track them and they're not at the hotel? What if they're attacked by a Rogue Worlder at the flat, they won't ever be able to return there? But they couldn't continue living in a hotel. It wasn't practical, and it wasn't cheap. They'd already spent so much on the investigation already, not even taking into consideration travel or their accommodation. Robert was sound asleep in his room as Alice threw herself infront of the dresser to sort last minute details. She pulled her long locks back behind her head and sighed at her reflection. Her eyes were so tired looking with shadows beginning to form beneath her eyes. She wasn't one for wearing makeup, and beside Topaz this made her look closer to Topaz's young age than her own. Sometimes, Alice felt too young to be doing what she was doing. It still shocked her to think she'd been in love with Zac for so long. She felt like a proper adult... She was a proper adult. "Admiring yourself?" her mother's tone broke Alice's calm thoughts, raising goose bumps on her arms before her eyes focused on her mother's face in the mirror before her. "M-M-Mum?" Alice stuttered in disbelief. She wanted to scream for help, get Robert in here with a sledgehammer, smash the mirror to smithereens. But that would only work until the next time her mother decided to contact her. No matter where she went, she'd still be traceable. "Hello sweetheart, how are you?" her mother's voice was layered with authority and superiority, her eyes boring into Alice's with a fierce sense of intimidation. "F-f-fine." Alice stuttered; unable to answer clearly. "It would appear we have some good news for you," Her mother grinned wildly. "We have found your brother." Alice's mouth fell open. "What?!" She yelled without meaning to. "Indeed," Her mother nodded her head, her tone dripping in sarcasm as she continued, "He was badly hurt when we found him, going out of his mind and delirious. He was asking for someone called Topaz, can you believe the coincidence?" It took Alice a few seconds to register that her mother had just asked her a question. "Coincidence mother?" She stuttered. "Yes, coincidental that your brother should be asking after the Nightingale's only daughter... Assuming that was who he was asking for, of course..." Alice wasn't paying attention to her mother's words. She just kept imaging her baby brother badly hurt on a street corner, being found by their parents, being taken home... He'd wake up in agony, terrified and alone. He'd think he'd betrayed them... He'd think they'd betrayed him... "Where is he?" Alice blurted without realising her mother had been talking. She threw Alice a displeased look before answering, "He's sleeping in the infirmary right now, dear," Her tone was dripping with fake concern, patronising Alice in a way she never had before. But Alice wasn't interested in that. She just had to make sure Aden was okay. "I-I-I need to see him." She was already moving, swapping her black shoes for white ballet pumps. "Certainly darling," Her mother grinned happily. "If you portal to the library, I'll meet you there." And then her mother had disappeared from the mirror, and Alice was ready. She'd swapped her black clothes for a white dressed and was scribbling a note when the air by the window began to fizzle with the portal her mother was creating for her from the Light World. She didn't have time to elaborate for Zac, Robert or Topaz. She didn't have time to say goodbye. But she'd be back. The Angel knew, Alice would be back.