CHAPTER FOUR
ପଓ
Out of a Movie
•••
Life just never goes in his favor, does it?
New York City was an incredibly loud place in the morning. All this people, all awake so early, doing things so early.
Who hurt them?
Perhaps he is not the only one who the world distastes.
Walking to the laboratories had been torture for him, especially so early. Lysander was a morning person, truly, he just isn't on weekends. Weekends are for sleep and nothing else.
Who the heck would wake up at seven in the morning on a Saturday? The people in this city, what a pity.
When the Scamanders arrived at M.A.C.U.SA. Laboratories, Lysander intention was to stop by the cafeteria first; however, Lorcan stopped him and guided him to the elevator.
Not only a flying origami bird hit him in the face as soon as the doors opened, but his evil twin made him work for hours without breakfast.
Evil. Just evil.
The fact, in all truth, was actually an exaggeration. They had barely worked for an hour before Lysander's nagging had annoyed Lorcan enough to go get breakfast.
Once his tummy was happily full, Lysander complied to whatever his brother said.
It wasn't difficult to convince him anyways. As soon as Lysander sat down and read the documents, fully awake, he became consumed by them.
All these cases, all these weird behaviors, all these creatures, and all of them within his reach. To say he was excited was an understatement.
He read every single paper, making mental notes and highlighting the most interesting ones. His brain was working overtime, his mind almost immediately forming patterns between the investigations. He voiced his thoughts out loud for Lorcan, who happily listened with shy glances at his excited form.
He was glad, this was exactly what he had wanted: for Lysander to be comfortable doing what he likes. Lorcan couldn't help the small smile in his lips.
"Do you remember the illegal dragon reserve Grandad Newt told us about?" Lysander asked after a while.
"The one in Australia or Ukraine?"
"Australia" Lysander smiled, "Apparently, it existed under a different name years before he visited it.There was an explosion caused by one of the hybrid eggs, burning half of the reserve. It was closed down, and the mother of the egg that exploded became so depressed that she had to be sent to a Japanese reserve instead of her native home."
Lorcan made a face of distraught, "That's horrible, is she still there?"
"I think she was sent back to the Australian reserve when it reopened, hoping she would try retaking her immigrating path towards New Zealand, but she stayed put and never left." Lysander crossed his arms, "If I make the math right... she's about 200 years? Give or take."
He turned to Lorcan with a look he knew too well, "Can you believe that? A small egg to cause such tragedy? At the time, knowledge in caretaking dragon eggs was limited, but imagine if they had the information we now have. Both the egg and the mother would have had such different destinies, we could have helped them more." He twirled in his wheeled chair and sighed.
"Oh Sander" Lorcan gave him a sympathetic look, "Don't stress over it, we can't do anything about it. Perhaps one day our world will be blessed with such unique egg, and who knows, you may be the one to save it," he gave his brother a big smile, which made him feel better. "What was the hybrid cross anyways? Most have been a powerful one."
"That's the thing, this documents are so old that the father's species is not specific. It's most likely another hybrid, but I'm pretty sure the mother is an Antipodean Opaleye."
"Where did you find all of this?"
"In the pile you gave me."
"What?" asked Lorcan, "The pile I gave you was information about the Nebula plant."
"I know."
Lorcan gave a puzzled look to his brother, "What does the dragons have anything to do with the plant?"
"Oh, they follow the same pattern." Lysander shrugged at that piece of information.
"What do you mean?"
"The Opaleye originates from valleys in New Zealand, in which you can find Nebulas," he explained, "In Australia, to where they immigrate, there were found more, and a few years back they were found in Japan too. A pattern."
"So they follow each other?" Lorcan questioned his brother, trying to make sense of the information he provided him.
"Yeah, they must be attracted to it or something." Lysander kept twirling in his chair, nonchalant about what he was saying, "Or the Opaleye acts as a pollinator for the plant. You know, like bees and birds."
There was a bit of silence as the information downed on both brothers, moving paper and Lysander's chair the only sound in the room.
In an instant, both brothers looked at each other in bewilderment, repeating the words just said,"Or they act as pollinators!"
Lorcan reached across the table for his badge while Lysander stood up to follow him, "Where are you going?"
"If we want to know wether one of our theories is right, I have to compare habitats and regions, as well as learn more about the Opaleye species." Lorcan guided his brother from the office to the laboratory, "How much do you know about the species? Hmm perhaps I should write to Grandad Newt."
Once they arrived at Lorcan's lab, he turned on the lights and immediately went to his equipment. Lysander looked around, taking in the view. Behind the crystal wall, a purple flower resembling a dandelion could be seen, yellow rays moving around it.
The view of it was simply hypnotizing.
"Wow" Lysander sighed from behind.
"I know" Lorcan smiled as he finished setting up his lab safety apparel. "Still can't believe I get to work with it."
"How did you even come across it?"
"I had trouble figuring out what to do with a project for a class," Lorcan explained, "I wrote to Uncle Neville, and he mentioned it. He said he heard about it in a Herbology conference he attended."
"Those exist?"
"Of course." Lorcan smiled, "I'm going in, do you want to stay outside and go over the documents?"
"Oh please, I need to take notes." Lysander smiled as he sat in one of the metal cold tables, "Is it alright if I draw it while you work?"
Lorcan laughed, "When have I ever stopped you Lys. For old time's sake?"
Lysander smiled at his brother's retreating figure as he entered the crystal room, mumbling to himself, "for old time's sake."
They had stayed most of the day inside the lab. While Lorcan went over his usual routine, Lysander watched from outside the crystal room, taking the opportunity to illustrate the plant in his sketchbook .
He went over the papers again, highlighting what he reckoned was important, adding small notes in the outlines. He also wrote a few descriptions and characteristics in his sketchbook, with some of his own questions in the back.
Lorcan allowed him to take copies of the documents he was most interested about, specifically the ones about the dragons. He considered he could make it his own little investigation.
Once they left the building, the brothers made a stop at the grocery shop as they had agreed on.
The sunset was closing in, the light softly reflecting on the cars and buildings' windows.
If Lysander thought New York streets were busy in the morning, it was nothing compared to the late evening. Hundreds of buildings were bleeding people out into the streets. Everyone trying to make their way away from the crowd.
He wondered who could be wandering there. What could be going on in the life of these strangers that differed from his.
Lysander was quiet as he looked outside the window of the store. He had chatted with Lorcan the whole way there, but now his silence appeared as a rude interruption to his once enthusiastic voice.
His brother was going over their grocery list out loud, but Lysander wasn't really paying attention as he answered in automatic pilot.
"Dragons are no the only thing on your mind, are they?"
"Hm?" Lysander turned towards his brother, who appeared to have stop talking to him before this moment.
Lorcan didn't spare him a glance, reading over the ingredients of the two cans in his hands, "You have been hiding an awful lot in the apartment. Earlier this week, you came home shaking and made a beeline to your room. On Thursday, you called Jane to tell her you wouldn't join your group mates at the restaurant you had been talking for days before, claiming you were busy even though I saw you slumped on the couch."
Lysander stared at his brother with his mouth slightly ajar, trying to make sense of his claims.
Lorcan left one of the cans back in the stand while putting the other one inside the cart, finally looking up at his brother, "And this morning, you panicked at the idea of being at the Academy, despite it being one of your favorite places in the world. You've been avoiding it and everything related to it the whole week."
Lysander's eye twitched and quickly tried to come up with an excuse. He stuttered before saying "I have no idea what you are talking about."
He winced at that. It was a terrible lie.
Lorcan just stared at him unimpressed. "I'm your twin Lys, I know you better than anybody. I know when something is troubling you, and I know something happened in the Academy." Lorcan started to move towards the register and scanned their groceries through, "You are usually chill about any problem, and you only panic if it's something you don't know how to solve. I hope you know I'm here for you to talk about it once you feel ready, I'll always will, okay?"
Lysander just helped his brother with the register and silently nodded at his words. There was no use denying it now, not even to himself. He was shaken up, and it truly was taking a toll on him.
"Alright" Lorcan said once they had bagged all the items and placed them back in the cart, "give me your credit card."
He made a quick motion with his hand, gesturing at Lysander to give him his card.
Lysander just rolled his eyes and reached at his coat for his wallet. He didn't find it there, so he looked in the other pocket. When he couldn't feel it, he reached into the back pockets of his pants, having no luck.
He turned around on the spot, as if he had dropped it somewhere in the store.
Lorcan sighed, and reached for his own wallet once Lysander turned to him with a nervous grin, "Of course you lost it again."
When Lysander saw him pulling his card, he protested, "Hey! I thought I lost that!"
"And I found it," Lorcan mocked his brother, "There is a reason I was a Hufflepuff you know."
"Then you didn't actually need mine!"
"I had to bring you out of the apartment somehow, didn't I?" Lorcan went to pay as he said, "Go wait outside, will you?"
Lysander just huffed as he grabbed half of the bags and went through the front doors. The cold air of the early year brushed his face, making a soft pink blush rise in his cheeks.
He softly let out air through his mouth and looked around the street before him.
Lorcan was right about him, but not completely. He wasn't avoiding the Academy, he was avoiding the inevitable. The academy, and everything related to it, was the only commonplace they had— for now.
He was scared to confront what he has been avoiding for years, ignoring everything that led to it. But now, he found himself cornered at the end of hallway, the inevitable approaching closer and closer to engulf him.
He didn't know how to react, how to act. What would he do once he saw those soft hazel eyes which are burned in his mind?
Laughter echoed from the store across the street, catching his attention.
His eyes followed a girl with brown hair who seemed familiar, almost as he knew her personally. She turned towards a girl behind her, and she was quickly forgotten once he saw the girl walking out from the store right across from him.
Red hair hidden in a white wool hat, and an echoing laugher worth belonging as the masterpiece from an orchestra.
The same hazel eyes he was trying to hide from found his pale blue ones, and he couldn't stop staring.
It was as if everything else went into slow motion. Blurry figures walking around them insignificant compared to the view ahead of him. Time seemed to stop, and he felt a strange sense of calm when he laid his eyes on her.
He had the urge to run away again, but it seemed impossible for him to do so. His feet were glued to the ground, and his eyes unable to look away.
Nothing was clear other than the girl across the street.
She kept looking at him as well, as if they were trying to communicate in the language of glances and windy voices. Neither of them moved, or looked away.
If he thought the nebula plant was hypnotizing, it was nothing against her.
Suddenly, he was taken out from his bubble by a hand on his shoulder.
"Lys?" his brother's voice cut through, "Are you alright? I've been calling your name. What are you looking at..."
His voice died down as he looked across the street, and it was then Lysander snapped out completely from his trance.
"Is that.." Lorcan was unable to finish his sentence as Lysander pulled his arm.
He rushed both of them towards the apparating station around the street, running as if their lives depended on it.
So much for trusting the universe
The odds were clearly not on his favor.
ପଓ
a/n
happy new years!
A little gift as we hit the 2 years anniversary of this book. I'm grateful for anyone who has stuck around with me.
I started writing this chapter a long time ago, so my writing has changed a bit since the last time I published anything. Just in case anyone noticed a weird change throughout your reading.
I missed writing so much and I'm happy I'm giving this story another few shots, even tho I publish more in other platforms.
What did you all think of the chapter?
Do you guys like the relationship between Lorcan and Lysander?
Who do you think the two girls were?