The Metaphorical Key Book II- Forge the Path

Chapter III

Dulcie cleared her throat, wincing at the wet, guttural sound that came out when she coughed.

Damn you, Aiden...

Somewhere deep down, she knew she was being a little hard on him - Curtis' death had been hard on all of them, and Aiden was no exception, especially considering the fact that he was blaming it on himself.

Still, it didn't make his plan any less idiotic. He was going to end up dead or in serious trouble if he pulled that stunt, that much she knew.

With a sigh, Dulcie raised her hand and rappe on Rico's door.

There was a groan from inside, and an exhausted sounding "I'm coming..."

Creaky footsteps sounded across the floor, and the doorknob shook up, down, right, left, before it turned to the left and the door swung open to reveal Rico standing there, looking as though he was about to fall asleep on his feet.

"Gah, it's so late... what is it?"

Dulcie took a deep breath.

"Aiden is planning to leave and go to Italon. That might not sound like a big deal but he's planning to break into the Records there. He's planning to cover it up as a vacation for his birthday, but it's not. I think he might be taking Pollux with him and Idon't know what to do."

She heard a breath hiss through Rico's teeth, and he braced himself on the side of the door to keep from toppling over.

"Did they say when they're leaving?"

Dulcie nodded.
"I - I'm pretty sure Aiden's planning to leave on the weekend. Ir's Thursday night so you have some time Friday to try to convince them. I think Aiden's leaving tomorrow but I'm not sure? I don't think they'd leave on Saturday..."

She felt bile crawl its way up her throat, and she too leaned against the wall.

"I... it'll be alright, Dulcie. I can convince him, and if I can't..."

There was another sharp breath.

"We'll have to... I don't know, lock him in a room until he comes to his sentences? Either way, I promise you that Aiden won't be leaving tomorrow, and neither will Pollux, okay? Do you trust me?"

Dulcie nodded, sniffling. Gods, she hated feeling so damn helpless.
"Yeah. Yeah, I trust you. Thanks."

Although she was still shaking, Dulcie made her way down the hallway back to her room.

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"Errr... Pollux?"

With a yelp of surprise, he dropped the items he was holding, hissing through his teeth as they clattered to the ground. He dropped to his knees, mumbling as he tried to gather them all up.

"Hey, Rico..."

Pollux didn't turn back as he spoke to the Ravens' leader, just picked his stuff up and crammed it all into his suitcase. All he had to do right now was pack before Rico noticed the very not recreational items he was stuffing into his bag, he could sort them all later.

"What're you packing for?"

Pollux tucked his sheathed knife into his suitcase before grabbing a random shirt and throwing it on top of it.

"Oh, Aiden and I were planning to ask you if we could leave for the weekend, y'know, for his birthday and stuff. Normally I would've only packed once you said yes, but Aiden figured that since everybody wanted him to take a break, I should pack ahead of time."

He heard Rico shift onto the floor beside him.

"Here, I'll give you a hand."
"No, no, that's quite alright, I can do it myself."

Pollux tried to shoo Rico away from his haphazardly thrown shirt, but the older man ignored him and picked it up as if to fold it, but instead tossed it aside and picked up Pollux's knife.