Crimson

Chapter 40: The Plan of Attack

"How long have you known?" Theo asked.

"A while," replied Eleanor. After confronting his roommate, Theodore was finally exposed. His sorrowful smile shone bleakly in the night.

"I didn't expect anything less from Maurice's brother. Where do I begin?"

~
It started with the boy as a child, brief flashes of him with his younger brother. Mourning the loss of his parents; one taken by illness, the other, of heartbreak. But the memories of Maurice starting Arcadia were brighter, the colours more vivid. The younger Maurice with his rounder face and wider eyes, following and eventually running ahead of his older friends. Maurice becoming instantly well-liked. Joining the night patrol. And all the while, sifted in like sugar throughout the years was Theodore, the kitsune who saved Maurice from drowning in Arcadia forest.

Suddenly, as you saw Maurice laugh with his friends one minute and disappear with his secrets the next, you felt it. An immediate remorse and affinity for Eleanor's older brother. Because right now, you weren't much different from him.

You watched Maurice, hands in his long coat pockets, walking through the same woods. Beside his ankles trotted a beautiful red fox.

As the memories progressed, you saw less and less of Eleanor. It was Maurice, trespassing on the night student grounds, pushing up his glasses in Jack O Lantern's with his older friends, and scribbling religiously in what you had a feeling would eventually become the Creatures Almanac.

Suddenly, you felt a wide shift in time. This wasn't long ago. The violet sky hung over Arcadia as if someone had mixed too much black paint in it, and you not only saw the sense of urgency as Theodore burst into the store, you felt it.

"It's gone, they've been stolen." He said frantically. The door shut behind him.

"What's been-"

"My kitsunebi, they're gone," he said, canine teeth barred in fury. Maurice turned white.

"I was in the forest and someone or something was strong enough to knock me right out-"

"How is that possible-"

"I'm not hurt or injured, I just- I blacked out," he growled impatiently. Theodore ran to Maurice by the counter. A sheet of paper was suddenly slapped atop the wood, right next to the umber glowing candle.

Maurice quickly held it to his eyes as Theodore paced back and forth, tailless. Before you could watch the resolution, the foggy exterior of your subconscious began to swirl and swirl until you were aware that you were blinking. Each time your eyes opened the scene was one colour closer to reality, until Jack O Lantern's was replaced by the cottage with Maurice sitting across from you.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "How do you feel?"

It took you a while to process everything you'd seen.

"How many hours have passed?"

Maurice turned his head to the ticking clock above the kitchenette.

"About five minutes."

"Five minutes?" you repeated. It felt like, not even hours, but days, weeks, years had gone by. Like watching the biggest collection of home movies you had seen.

Maurice raised a silent hand.
"That's not important, we can get into the kioku tree specifics in a minute. What is important is that you understand what is going on here and what's at stake."