Edward Dace.
4. September.
Saturday, 1:00 p.m.
Makati City.
LUMALABAS SI Laevateinn nang walang dalang wallet, phone, at hiya sa katawan. Naiintindihan kaya ng taong 'to ang konsepto ng kapitalismo o nabubuhay s'ya sa isang Disney movie kung saan kakanta lang s'ya bitbit ang aso n'ya at bibigyan na s'ya ng mga taga-barrio ng pagkain?
Kanina ay may nadaanan kaming fruit stand at kumaway lang s'ya roon sa tindera ay nakakuha na s'ya ng isang plastic ng mansanas!
Tapos kapag ako, batang hamog?!
"If you're interested, Futhark called earlier and suspiciously ended it," sabi ko sa kanya habang naghihintay ng jeep pauwi.
He stopped playing hopscotch with Fenrir to spare me a look I can't read. Was he concerned? Did he want me to continue talking? Was he uninterested? Let's take a guess!
"Maybe his phone died or he lost signal," I tried again. Awkwardly.
Laevateinn kept the stare.
"Are we communicating telepathically?" I ventured, furrowing my brows and narrowing my eyes. It surely must be that.
Ring, ring, ring.
"Thank fuck!" I accidentally exclaimed, taking my phone out. I wasn't exactly glad that Joyeuse was calling, I was simply relieved that there's something to take me out of the awkward one-sided telepathic conversation Laevateinn and I were having.
I answered the call. "Yo, drama queen?"
"Where are you? Murder on the Orchid Street, I need your skills."
"Was that an Agatha Christie pun?"
"I said something about a bloody murder and what registered in your brain was a bloody pun?"
"OH. Right, murder. Yes. I mean," I cringed and hissed between my teeth, "I have a very bad defence mechanism. Maybe I should go get therapy?"
"Be here in five minutes."
"We'll be there in 30. Si Futhark ba?"
He ended the call. Hindi ba talaga ako pwedeng kausapin nang hindi pinuputol ang tawag? Hindi na ako nakarinig ng "Bye, Edward!" mula sa kanila.
I turned to Laevateinn. "So... somebody was murdered and Joyeuse needs our help." I let out a shaky laugh. "I don't even know why we're needed, we're not the fucking police."
Laevateinn called a taxi. I guess he knew the severity of our situation and wanted to be there quickly. I was worried the driver wouldn't let the wolfdog in—nope, hindi kasya si Fenrir. Hindi kami tumuloy sa taxi.
••• FIMBULWINTER •••
ISANG ORAS ang nakalipas bago kami masundo ni Sir Arthur at ng maangas n'yang Ford Ranger. Wala kaming nasakyang jeep pauwi (punuan at walang may gustong magpasakay kay Fenrir) kaya napilitan akong tawagan ang isa sa mga tatay namin.
Sa likod ng pick-up sumakay si Lae at si Fenrir, dahil feeling nila may motorcade na nagaganap whilst I called shotgun.
"Was your trip successful?" Sir Arthur asked.
I nodded. "Yep."
"You went there because you're looking for...?"
"For Winter Hexagon. I told Sir Lance about it, he didn't tell you?"
"No, why would he? It's none of my business."
And yet he's asking me about my trip—oh, maybe he's asking for the sake of conversing. It would be awkward if we didn't talk for the entirety of the trip.
"We planted a camera and a microphone to track everyone who goes in and out of the café, then I connected my phone to the café's internet. From there I could hack into Winter Hexagon once again."
"Once again," Sir Arthur repeated.
I flinched. "I—I forgot to mention that I was a member but I swear I left the group and I..." I trailed off. I hoped I didn't come out as defensive. I didn't want Sir Arthur to suspect me or my affiliations.
"Thank you," he said.
That caught me off-guard. "Why are you thanking me?"
"You're doing this to catch the hacker who hacked Lance's phone, aren't you?"
Yeah, well, also that. But mainly I just wanted to hack into Wonderland Org.
"Para sa buong SMS po ang ginagawa ko," I said.
I caught a glimpse of a smile on the corner of his lips. "You finally found real friends, huh, Dave?"
The way he called me Dave triggered lots of unpleasant memories, but it was comforting—knowing that those days of being the friendless Dave Casedale Drew was finally over.
I nodded, smiling. "Abnormal po sila but I'm sure they're my friends."
"When you find someone important, people who care for you, treasure them and don't throw them away."
"I won't."
I won't throw SMS away like I how I threw Error away. It's time to make it right.
A "Sir Ducere calling..." flashed on the car's screen. Sir Arthur pressed answer and quickly said, "You're on loud speaker and Edward's sitting beside me. Be decent."
There was a hearty laugh on the other side of the line. Sir Lance's laugh echoed throughout the car since it was connected to the car's speakers.
"When was I not decent? I'm just calling to tell ya we're not at Orchid Street anymore. Cassandra came and took over the scene so we went home."
"How's Uresonderry taking that?"
"Not good. He hasn't said a word since we came home. He's a ticking time bomb."
I tried not to laugh. Ticking time bomb.
"Don't pick on the boy, he's having a bad enough day."
"Pft."
"We're almost there. See you."
"Right. I love you."
Sir Arthur chuckled fondly. "Audrey Hepburn." Then he ended the call, looking completely flushed. Buti pa si Sir Arthur hindi binababaan ng phone.
"I'm sorry you have to hear such indecency," Sir Arthur said.
I scoffed. "Sir Lance said I love you and you replied with Audrey Hepburn. His name on your contacts is "Sir Ducere". And you're apologising for indecency?"
He grinned. "You and Macey don't use a different word?"
I blinked and hoped I didn't turn as red as I could feel. "Macey and I aren't dating."
"Oh. Is that so. She speaks so fondly of you and you of her, so I thought you're dating."
"She speaks fondly of me?"
"Like one would speak of a childhood sweetheart."
"Hanggang childhood lang kami, sir."
He was silent. After a while, he spoke, "I don't think you should give up."
Tinapat ko ang mukha ko sa aircon ng sasakyan.
"I won't."
4. September.
Saturday, 3:00 p.m.
372A High Street.
I DIDN'T know what to expect when we got home, but Sir Lance was standing by the bird cage, watching Joyeuse intently. A raven was perched on Sir Lance's shoulder, and it seemed like the bird was watching Joyeuse too. Or judging. Judging was more appropriate.
I followed Sir Arthur, who trod to Sir Lance, eyeing Joyeuse suspiciously. I heard him whisper, "What's he doing now?"
Sir Lance suppressed laughter. "He hasn't moved for the past fifteen minutes. He's been staring at his coffee mug."
"And you stood there for fifteen minutes, just watching him?"
"Why do you think people buy goldfish in a tank? This boy is blond, the only thing left is for him to grow a pair—"
"I can hear you," Joyeuse said, standing up. His scowl was worse than the usual.
"Right. Then grow a pair, son." Sir Lance crossed his arms, smirking. "You haven't changed at all. You still have that same sulky scowl whenever things don't go your way."
"He combusted, Lance." Joyeuse clenched his fist. "If I didn't follow Futhark, I could've seen what happened or I could've saved him from combusting." He paused, blowing fringes away from his eyes. "Then I could've thrown him into jail for murder."
Nanghihinayang ba s'ya dahil hindi n'ya nahuli 'yong lalaking namatay?
"Cassandra's on the case, she's just as good as you," Sir Lance said. The raven on his shoulder cawed in scorn.
Joyeuse didn't like that. He glared daggers at Sir Lance. Sir Arthur stepped forward and hushed in a calm, soothing voice, "I don't know what happened, but sulking and moping aren't going to help you, Uresonderry."
"He's also thinking," Sir Lance told Sir Arthur, leaning a bit sideways. "His mind can multitask. On the contrary, him sulking and moping aren't going to help us. We're the ones who will suffer the full effect of his grouchiness."
"Where's Futhark?" I asked, remembering that Futhark's usually the one suffering from Joyeuse's whole drama queen shebang.
"Yeah, where's Futhark, Jule?" Sir Lance asked. The raven cawed once more. "You said "pick us up" but when I came to pick you two up, you're the only one there."
"Dude, iniwan mo si Futhark dahil nag-away kayo, ano?" I accused.
Joyeuse turned his back on us. Nag-away nga sila ni Futhark. Hindi naman ako nagtaka dahil kahapon pa sila magkaaway.
"Forget him," Joyeuse said, stomping towards the staircase. "He doesn't belong here anyway."
"Futhark is a brilliant student, that's why he's chosen for the initiative." Sir Lance sat on the couch, and the raven flew outside the open window. I figured the clever bird would come back.
"He's not chosen because he's brilliant," Joyeuse concluded with utmost certainty. He slammed his hand against the stair's railings. "He was chosen because of his father."
Sir Lance didn't reply. He kept a straight face, musing at Joyeuse.
"Like Edward, like Laevateinn." Joyeuse continued glaring at the railings. "You think I haven't figured that out? You chose us because you knew our family would be useful for the police. You don't need efficient, smart detectives. You need detectives who has connection to the criminal underworld, like Edward's father. Who has connections to the mainstream media, like Futhark's father. Probably someone who has the strength of an actual policeman, like Laevateinn."
Bumalik 'yung seryoso't nakakatakot na aura ni Sir Lance noong bago pa lang kami magkakilala. He leant forward, intertwining his fingers, and resting his elbows on his thighs. "Following your logic, Jule... Are you infuriated because you're actually the most useless member of the initiative? No one from your family is a big shot. You're the most average member of Seven-Minute Semblance, and you can't even get one case closed."
Joyeuse gave Sir Lance the surliest, most hateful glare I've ever seen.
"Are you mad because you couldn't save Melissa, and your rebound case literally and figuratively went to ashes?"
"You're mad because you couldn't save my mum?" I asked.
Joyeuse scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself, Edward Dace. My enemy is the Wonderland Org."
"B-But if we worked together we can save her, you know—"
"I'm not working with you. Computer and linguistic prowess simply do not make a detective."
I frowned, watching Joyeuse storm upstairs.
Sir Arthur gave Sir Lance a meaningful look and followed the drama queen. Hopefully he would knock some sense into that Irish's thick skull. I sighed and glanced at Sir Lance, who seemed to be sinking deeper into his thoughts.
He sensed my glance. He spoke, "How's Winter Hexagon?"
"They're still operating," I answered. "Nakausap po namin ni Lae 'yong isa kanina. Although, weirdly, bigla n'ya po kaming pinaalis. May kumausap sa kanya sa phone tapos biglang nag-iba 'yung ihip ng hangin."
Kumunot ang noo ni Sir Lance. "Who do you think it was?"
"Rigel was about to give us Betelgeuse's contact details. It must've been Betelgeuse. He must've seen us from the café's cameras, so he called Rigel to stop him. Siguro galit sa 'kin si Betelgeuse dahil umalis ako sa grupo."
"Now asking them for help is off the table, huh?"
"Oh, totally. But Laevateinn and I were expecting a cold shoulder anyway, so we set up something to help us hack into Winter Hexagon's network."
Sir Lance nodded approvingly. I somewhat felt proud. Then bad, because of what happened with Joyeuse earlier. Then I also thought that Joyeuse deserved it. He was mean.
"Jule has always loved puzzles and cases ever since I've met him," Sir Lance said after a brief moment of silence. I blinked, and it prompted him to continue talking. "When he was a child, he said his world was chaotic and confusing and all the questions he had gave him a hard time."
"Questions, huh," I repeated. "So wala s'yang nakukuhang mga sagot?"
"Sabihin na lang natin na marami talaga s'yang tanong na hindi nasasagot. Solving puzzles and closing cases gave him the satisfaction and closure his brain didn't."
"At dahil hindi s'ya maka-solve ng kaso ngayon ay naiirita s'ya?" I guessed.
Sir Lance smiled fondly. "You're an understanding kid. You see, when I met Jule—he was seven at the time—and he had this curious look on his face. Hinusgahan n'ya ang buong pagkatao ko kahit ilang minuto pa lang kami magkasama." He chuckled.
"Paano at saan po kayo unang nagkita?"
He pursed his lips and paused to reminisce. "In Ireland, when I was assigned to look after Nicholas James."
I stifled a loud gasp and let him continue. I sat on a chair, dahil mukhang mahaba-habang backstory ang ikukwento ni Sir Lance.
"Jule and Nicholas were inseparable before. They played together, studied together... they were noticeably different from the other kids, and maybe that's why they stuck together. Your father personally asked me to be Nicholas's body guard and"—he laughed—"boy I can't believe I had Tweedledumb and Tweedledumbass's job before."
Gusto kong itanong kung anong nararamdaman ni Sir Lance ngayong mas tarantado pa sa hayop 'yung dalawang pinalaki n'ya, pero ayokong mailibing nang buhay kaya nanahimik ako.
"I was studying to be a police that time and your father thought it'd be helpful to reassign me from the heavy jobs to something easy like making sure two idiots didn't die or did something stupid."
"Nakapag-aral naman po ba kayo nang ayos?"
"Oh, totally. I made Jule do all my notes and Nicholas made a very good book holder. Plus Jule actually volunteered to help me study because he was fascinated with police work. That time I knew that he was gifted, and in fear that his intelligence might go to waste, I took him in as my apprentice."
"Apprentice?"
"He called himself my apprentice, I called him my errand-boy; but he learned a lot so he didn't mind." He sighed and shook his head, combing curly fringes away from his eyes with his fingers. "But the real reason was because he said he will be useful."
"Useful, huh?"
He nodded. "You might think he's being cocky—"
"What, he wasn't?"
"He was 7."
"That doesn't mean he can't be cocky."
"I meant his cockiness was innocent and adorable before."
"So you took him in because he's useful?"
"Quite the contrary. I took him as an apprentice because I didn't want him to be useful. Rather, I didn't want him to settle for being useful."
"Why not? I can't make friends with my personality so I settled for being useful."
Horror tinged his gaze.
I cleared my throat. "Bakit ayaw n'yo pong mag-settle sa pagiging useful si Joyeuse?"
"Because I made that mistake and life wasn't very nice to me."
I raised my eyebrows. "Really? But you're cool and successful and you have a—"
"Life wasn't very nice to me back then," he corrected. "I didn't want Jule to feel what the young rebellious Heimdall felt."
"Young rebellious Heimdall," I repeated. "That's you, right? You were rebellious back then? I mean, I sure know that you went against your organisation, called the Luciano Lukas "mum", and you told the drama queen to grow a pair, but I can't believe—actually I see it now, you're right—you're quite the rebel. A cool rebel, for that matter."
At sa inyo nagmana ng katarantaduhan si Joyeuse.
"Remember I told you I was adopted?"
I nodded. "Uh-huh, and I remember Futhark saying that you never knew a father's love."
"He was right, but that was entirely my fault. I was the one who isolated myself from Njal, from the family that took care of me."
"Kagaya rin po ba sila ni Luciano?"
Sir Lance laughed under his breath. "Oh, no. Ang layo. They were caring, kind, loving, and Njal was the best parent one could ever have... But I felt like I didn't belong, you know?"
"Why?"
"I just didn't. Like I wasn't that strong compared to my older brothers—who, by the way were also adopted—so I slept outside the turf house to guard and look after them, I did lots of chores, I studied harder... all because I didn't want to be useless to Njal."
Is this Njal the same person they call the Alfadur?
"And then there's Balder." He grinned ruefully. So Njal did name his adopted kids after Norse gods.
"You said," I recalled, "you're tired of living in Balder's shadow. Who is he?"
"He's Njal's real, perfect son. He's strong, he's smart, he's handsome, he's good, he's—he's everything you could ask for a son. He's the first White Rabbit. I replaced him after he died in a mission. Well, his son was supposed to replace him, but Forseti was a little kid back then, so I did. That's when I realised that I was only envious of Balder because he's the golden child and I was the fuck up."
Hindi ako makapaniwala na ang taong hinahangaan ko ay isang fuck up din ang tingin sa sarili n'ya.
"I hated Balder even though he was good to me." He took out the black notebook I knew I hated. "He even gave me this and said I should write down everything beautiful I see."
"Because he didn't want you to see only the ugly ones?" I asked even before I could catch myself.
"Precisely."
"Nag-iba naman po ba ang tingin sa inyo ni Njal noong naging White Rabbit kayo?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, I never asked. But I was unhappy when Balder died. At first I thought I would be happy because I hated him, but it turned out, it was even worse. Balder set the bar too high—no, I've built this image of Balder in my head and I grew up believing nothing I've done and will ever do would be enough. I have this belief that to Njal, I will never be the golden child. I'm just... Heimdall. Heimdall, the useful one. Useful, but never enough."
"I really think you should ask Njal."
He shook his head again and laughed. Somehow, there's this fond look on his face. "It's all right, I'm happier now. And that's why I didn't want Jule to settle for being useful. He'd grow up living a hateful life and that usually does not end well."
"Are you sure he's not living a hateful life? Parang mas marami pa sa section namin ang lahat ng may galit sa kanya. Like if—if you looked up "hate at first sight" on the dictionary, he'd be right down at its etymology."
"Jule is kind of an ass but he doesn't really mean to be an asshole. I don't know how to say this, but he's a good person deep inside. Way too deep inside that we might need a drill to dig deeper. He's like that only because his brain functions differently than ours."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Yeaaah," I drawled. "I understand that Joyeuse is a very special child." I had a thought. "Pero bakit po nag-away sina Nicholas at Joyeuse? Parang sa kwento n'yo, best buddies po sila?"
"Nicholas brought a real gun one day and Jule accidentally shot his brother," Sir Lance replied gravely. "I was talking to the boss, giving him a report, when I heard the gunshot at the Uresonderry's residence. Cole Rey survived, but Jule was convinced that everyone thought he's a psychopath and hated him. Nicholas convinced him, to pass the blame. And it didn't help that Jule's parents berated and punished him."
"Oh," was all I could say. I thought among the four of us, Joyeuse had the sweetest relations with his parents.
"Jule ran away from home, yanno," Sir Lance continued. "But I returned him to the Uresonderries the next day. I spoke with them and told them it was an accident and that Nicholas found his father's gun and played with it and all that. They forgave Jule and apologised to him too, but Jule didn't forget. He was nine. He grew distant from the Uresonderries and blamed Nicholas for it."
"So that's why Joyeuse said Nicholas ruined his family..."
"The more reason why the child pestered me everyday for nine years. I thought I was done babysitting him but two years after, here we are."
"Kailan po n'ya nalaman ang tungkol sa Wonderland Org?"
"Nalaman n'ya 'yon through Nicholas so I think when he's eight? Nicholas would mention it to him, although they didn't know I was a member. Nicholas thought I was a simple bodyguard his father hired."
"Kaya hindi rin po kilala ni Joyeuse si Sir Arthur?"
"Arthur knew I was taking care of Jule, but he wasn't interested. And org work was during the night so Jule really had no idea. Oh, and your father knew about Jule too. When I told him what Nicholas did to the Uresonderries, he reassigned me to the Philippines and here I continued being a police and eventually, a professor."
"And after that, our adviser," I added, stopping myself from calling him Sir Dad once again. Although speaking of fathers... "'Yong tinutukoy n'yo pong Alfadur, si Njal... s'ya rin po ba ang tinutukoy na Alfadur ni Lae? Inampon din po ba ni Njal si Lae?"
I noticed the raven cawing and flying back inside the room, perching on Laevateinn's shoulder. Nagulat ako sa presensya n'ya dahil akala ko ay nasa labas sila ni Fenrir.
"That's for Laevateinn to answer," Sir Lance said.
Laevateinn glanced sideways. He knew we're talking about him, and he knew we're looking at him. He smiled at us. I felt awkward so I looked away.
I still didn't know what to do with all the information and backstory Sir Lance told me, and I have no idea why he told me that.
Sir Lance noticed the furrowing of my brows. He asked, "Are you wondering why I told you Joyeuse's past?"
I swallowed. "Well now I'm wondering if you're a mind reader."
He grinned. "I'm not. I just felt like this superhero lair needs a little room for more understanding."
More understanding.
"I'm sorry for what happened to Balder," I said. "A-And for what happened to your childhood."
He scoffed. "You don't have to apologise. If none of those happened, I wouldn't have been found."
I could only reply a smile. He's right.
"And I hope you understand why Jule was grouchy today."
I nodded. "Because he's on his period."
Sir Lance laughed, stood, and then he tousled my hair. "Oh, and before I leave for the staff meeting," he pulled out a photo from his chest pocket and handed it over to me, "this is Njal. I thought I'd introduce him to you."
I hesitantly took the photo and gave Sir Lance a doubtful look before studying this person called Njal.
Parang bigla akong binuhusan ng malamig na tubig.
'Yong nasa photo. Naaalala ko ang nasa photo.
The silver hair, those gentle green eyes that seemed like they've seen everything in the world... and the youth that emanated from his tired smile.
I've met this person before. He's the dude with the white hair that I recalled when I ran to Cypress Street and met Nicholas for the first time.
"T-This Njal, sir," I stammered, my eyes still glued on the photo. "S'ya po 'yong tinutukoy kong white-haired dude na Nordic god in disguise na-na dahilan kung bakit ako nag-quit sa Winter Hexagon!"
When I looked up, Sir Lance was just smiling—as if he's expected everything.
"I—I... I can't believe the person who made me do a right turn in my life is your father! And, and..." I took a deep breath, completely overwhelmed. "Akala ko noon ay mas matanda lang s'ya sa 'kin ng ilang taon. This is amazing."
"Njal says hi, by the way," Sir Lance said, walking towards the door. "See you later."
I waved goodbye at him and spared Njal's photo a few more seconds, until Laevateinn peeked through my shoulder and spoke, spooking me, "Njal lives in just a floor above 372A High Street, you know."
I jumped away from him. "He's here?"
"No, 372A. Your dorm."
"He does?!" I squawked in disbelief.
"Yes. That's where I stayed too."
I scowled. "May kwarto ka pala sa dorm, hindi mo sinasabi?"
"You didn't ask."
"Tapos lagi ka pang nakatambay sa 372A?"
"It's playtime."
"No it's not, we were solving cases—where are you going, I'm still talking!"
Halfway through my sentence, he realised he was bored and wanted nothing to do with my complaints. He and Fenrir went to the garden to play. In hindsight, he mustn't have been actually paying attention to me but instead his mind was in playtime with Fenrir.
I shrugged and decided to go upstairs to our room.
Pagkatapos ay nadatnan kong nakaupo sa hagdan sina Joyeuse at Sir Arthur, parehong nagtatago mula sa paningin naming nasa sala at parehong mukhang naghihintay ng araw ng paghuhukom.
Ibinigay ko sa kanilang dalawa ang pinakanasusuklam kong simangot. "Mga dudes, anong ginagawa n'yo r'yan?"
Tumuro si Joyeuse kay Sir Arthur. "He said if I sat still here for five minutes, he'll buy me coffee for two weeks."
I slowly nodded in suspicion. "Oh yeah? And that bought you off?"
"This is about honour, Edward Dace."
"He actually wanted to eavesdrop," Sir Arthur said. "I was worried so I had to watch over him."
Joyeuse rolled his eyes, stood up, and brushed his jeans. He gave me a contemplative stare before he sputtered like a contemptuous aristocrat. "Don't feel cocky because Lance trusts you enough to tell you things about his past."
Then he went to his room and left me alone with Sir Arthur, who stood and took a few steps down to get to my eye-level. "Congratulations for earning Lance's trust," he said.
I scratched my head. "I don't think it's like that. Plus, why would he tell me Joyeuse's past too?"
Sir Arthur smiled subtly. "He told you Uresonderry's past because he wants you to understand Uresonderry."
This superhero lair needs a little room for more understanding.
"Oh!" I clasped my hands together. "And you made Joyeuse eavesdrop on purpose to let him know that I could be trusted?" Naningkit ang mata ko sa bandang dulo ng sinasabi ko dahil hindi na ako sigurado kung tama ang naisip ko.
Sir Arthur nodded. "To understand is to believe, and to believe is to trust. Do you believe Uresonderry is a good person?"
"I mean... hindi naman n'ya ako ipapahamak, but he isn't really good-good. Tarantado po kasi ang hinayupak na 'yon, but I trust him. Him, Futhark, Laevateinn. I trust them."
Sir Arthur took a step closer so I thought he'd tousle my hair like how Sir Lance used to. Instead he put a hand on my shoulder and asked in an audible whisper and with a smile on his face:
"Promise me you won't betray Lance's trust."
I swallowed and nodded. He was gentle, but I was still shaken. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ako natakot.
Sir Arthur and I parted ways and I went straight to our room. There I saw Joyeuse sitting on the double-deck's ladder, reading a notebook with his narrowed eyes.
Without even breaking eye contact with the notebook, he said, "If you made a big deal about my past, I will investigate yours and make fun of you."
"I think it's cool," I said, turning my laptop on. I sat on the bed. "You're like one of those special smart kids who don't know they're being an asshole and I'm like those smart kids who are gifted with compassion."
"Who are you kidding, you still don't make a good detective."
I raised an eyebrow. "I think I'm just as good as you in being a detective."
"Oh really? What does a detective do, Edward Dace?"
Sasagot pa lang ako, aba ang hinayupak biglang nagbilang.
"Five, four, three—"
"T-They detect!" I blurted out in panic.
Joyeuse and I stared at each other, savouring the stupidity in the air. Then I scowled and he smirked triumphantly.
"Whatever, you have three unsolved cases." I blew raspberries at him.
"Wanna bet?" He jumped off the ladder and strutted across the room to sit at the table at start writing. He continued the conversation with his back turned against me. "Let's see how good of a "detector" you are."
"If I won, magso-sorry ka kay Futhark." I kept a straight face and a deeper voice to show him how serious I am.
"And if I won, you'd owe me one favour."
"Deal."
"Should I create a contract?"
"Para saan pa? Magpupustahan lang naman tayo."
"It's better if it's binding." He pointed at his head. "It would give me peace of mind knowing you legally have to owe me a favour once I win."
"Dude, can you hear me rolling my eyes?"
"Actually? Yes." He finally turned. "You said you're just as good a detective as I am?"
I nodded, uncertainty slowly crawling up from my knees.
"That means you can catch any criminal, correct?"
I shrugged. "I mean, unless they're my friend's mother's abductor or unless they combusted on the spot—I can."
He crossed his arms and his legs, raising his chin up so he'd still have to look down at me despite just sitting on a chair. "Then here's the case, Edward Dace. I will be a cyber criminal in the next 48 hours. You have to catch my accomplice to stop me."
"Cyber criminal?"
"Yes. I'm posting an embarrassing photo of you passed out in Casey's car on a university confession page, hence, prompting cyberbullying. Unless, of course, you catch my accomplice, who has the photo."
"Are you serious? Perkele, noong hinimatay ako sa San Lazaro?"
He nodded enthusiastically. "Can you imagine waiting for weeks to use that photo?"
"But why that?"
"Scared? Can't use your "detective skills" to find out who's my accomplice? Do you want to back out?"
I hopped off the bed and faced him, glaring. "I'm not scared of you. I can hack into your phone and accounts."
He grinned wolfishly. "The photo was not in my phone or any of my accounts."
I scratched my head. "Then maybe it's in... no it can't be Futhark's, I've seen his phone. Then maybe Sir Lance?"
He kept the grin. "Your 48 hours starts now. At exactly 3:30 pm on Monday, I'm asking my accomplice to post the photo. Delete the photo and you win."
"Kapag nanalo ako, siguraduhin mong magso-sorry ka kay Futhark!"
"Of course. It's a deal."
••• FIMBULWINTER •••
GABI NA at hindi pa rin umuuwi si Futhark. Si Sir Lance ang nagluto ng hapunan at ako naman ang naghugas ng pinggan, dahil nahiya ako. Nasaan na kaya si Futhark? Hindi pa n'ya sinasagot ang mga text at tawag ko. Baka talagang galit s'ya kay drama queen?
Pero kung galit s'ya kay drama queen, pwede namang 'wag akong idamay.
Nagla-laptop ako sa sala nang maupo sa tabi ko si Sir Lance (dahil nanonood ng Young Justice 'yung magkapatid na Lukas). Kung s'ya ang kasabwat ni Joyeuse at nasa kanya 'yung picture, paano ko mabubura 'yung file? Nasa phone ba n'ya o nasa laptop n'ya?
Sinira n'ya 'yong phone n'ya noong isang araw, pero baka may Cloud s'ya or back-up phone. Baka nga nasa laptop. Paano ako makaka-hack sa mga file ni Sir Lance...
"Lance, do you like Young Justice?" tanong ni Lae, habang nakahiga sa sahig at nakaunan kay Fenrir.
"I'm not really fond of them," sagot naman ni Sir Lance na nagdala ng babasahing libro at isang bote ng beer.
"Sir Lance, may picture po ba ako sa inyo?" I asked, trying hard to sound casual to avoid suspicion. I figured I could be like Laevateinn and simply ask them.
He narrowed his eyes and knitted his eyebrows together. "Your student I.D., a 1x1 picture with an index card, what picture are you looking for?"
"May picture po kasi ako noong hinimatay ako sa San Lazaro tapos hindi ko alam kung sinong may copy."
"If we had a copy of it, we wouldn't tell you," sabi ni Sir Arthur kahit nakatutok ang tingin n'ya sa TV. "Embarrassing photos make good blackmail content."
"Kasabwat po ba kayo ni Joyeuse?"
"If I were, I wouldn't tell you." Sir Arthur has a point. But I doubt he'd work with Joyeuse though. He doesn't seem to be the type to put up with such nonsense.
"Nakipagpustahan ka ba kay Jule, Edward?" Sir Lance asked. Somehow, the tone and the message it implied seemed insulting. Like as if it had the subtext: Are you really that stupid to wager against Jule?
I frowned and heaved a sigh. "Yeah."
"Anong pinagpustahan n'yo?"
I lightly tapped the keys of my laptop's keyboard. "I have to delete an embarrassing photo of mine before 3:30 p.m. on Monday or Joyeuse will spread it online. If I won, he'll apologise to Futhark. And it's not that easy to win because he has an accomplice."
"What's with the accomplice?" Sir Lance asked.
"They have the photo."
"It's not on Uresonderry's phone?" Arthur asked.
"He said it wasn't."
"And you believed him?"
I stopped. "Son of a bitch," I muttered. "Pero bakit pa n'ya sasabihing may kasabwat s'ya?"
"He's probably testing you." Sir Lance shrugged and took a sip of his beer. "Do you have a plan?"
"Iniisip ko po ngayon ang lahat ng posible n'yang gawing accomplice, at ang lahat ng posibleng may kopya ng picture ko. So far I've narrowed it down to everyone in 372A, D.I. of Hotness, and his family. But he's not that close with his family, tapos kaaway n'ya halos lahat ng nandito sa 372A, at sigurado akong hindi hahayaan ni Ate Cassandra na ma-bully ako ni Joyeuse. I also thought of his ex-girlfriends, but nobody in their right mind would actually agree to being their ex's accomplice."
"So you have no leads," Sir Arthur concluded.
"I have no leads." I gave up.
"The mistake you've made is you assumed and didn't observe," Sir Lance weighed in. "Did you consider Jule's classmates?"
I pursed my lips before I answered, "I assumed they all hated him too."
"That's true, but Jule can pay someone to do it."
"Are you saying I should stalk him?"
"But you're tiny so you'll look like a kid following an ice cream truck," Laevateinn said.
"Investigate, Edward Dace." Sir Lance took out his black notebook and started writing. "Know your enemy and how he works. Observe his behaviour and note every single change in it."
I slowly nodded and whispered quietly, "So like... stalking him. . ."
"I'd say put yourself in his shoes and try to think like him but," Sir Lance chortled, "we wouldn't want another drama queen here and we wouldn't want you exhausting your brain."
"I feel like that's an insult but at the same time I feel like I shouldn't be insulted with the truth."
"But if you're Jule, who would you choose as an accomplice?"
I crossed my arms. "Well I'd choose you, but I think that'll be obvious but then because I'll think it'll be obvious, the more reason I should choose you and wow now I am having an existential crisis and trust issues at the same time." I winced. "Not a great feeling."
"Why do you think he gave you 48 hours?" Sir Lance asked again. Bumalik na sa panonood ng Young Justice 'yung dalawang Lukas.
"Hmm, that's suspicious."
"Bakit hindi 24 hours, kung gusto ka talaga n'yang pahirapan? Madali lang namang mag-message sa confession pages at sa kasabwat n'ya."
Light bulb.
"Because he's bluffing that he has an accomplice and we have school on Monday and there he can randomly pick someone to do the dirty work for him!"
"Or...?"
"Or?" Akala ko pa naman na-bullseye ko na.
"Or he's avoiding to message his accomplice because you can easily hack into his phone so he's waiting for Monday to talk to the accomplice personally."
"So ibig sabihin, wala nga sa phone n'ya ang picture."
Sir Lance scowled at me and hit the back of my head. "Stop assuming things and jumping into conclusions without proper investigation and enough evidences, Edward."
"Huh. Funny how Joyeuse used to tell me the same thing."
"When Jule thinks, he thinks. He'll exhaust every means and every theory to get to one ultimate truth. He creates at least ten theories and analyses them."
"Pero hindi po kaya ng utak ko ang ganon!"
"Then think at your pace and do what you think you can do."
A notification appeared on my screen. It was the camera I've set up at Betelgeuse's cafe. It's working and it's auto-saving. I decided I'd check them later.
But... If I were from Winter Hexagon, how would I delete a picture from a device about which I have no idea?
OH.
I know what to do.
5. September.
Sunday, 8:00 a.m.
372A High Street.
WHEN I woke up, I saw Sir Lance in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Then I checked the living room. Doon na nakatulog ang magkapatid na Lukas; sina Lae at Fenrir ay nasa sahig at si Sir Arthur naman ay nakabalot ng kumot sa couch. May mga comic books na nakakalat sa sahig.
Kung si Sir Lance ang nagluluto at wala sa ayos ang bahay, ibig sabihin hindi umuwi si Futhark kagabi. Lumapit ako sa butihing amang hari ni drama queen at nagtanong, "Good morning, sir, si Futhark po?"
He shrugged. "Hindi nag-text?"
Umiling ako. "Hindi po."
"Then maybe it's his choice to avoid Jule for now."
"Magkikita naman kami bukas sa klase so I'll give him space." Naupo ako sa kitchen island at nagsalin ng orange juice sa isang baso.
"Where are you in the hacker case?" Sir Lance asked, without taking his eyes off the frying pan.
I almost choked. "A-Ano po, hinihintay ko pa pong maka-ano, aaahhh—"
Sir Lance chuckled. "Na-distract ka sa pustahan n'yo ni Jule at nakalimutan mo ang tungkol sa hacker."
"No, I'm just working to reconnect to Winter Hexagon," I let out a nervous, breathy laugh, "and yeah, maybe that too."
"Relax, work on your bet with Jule first." He served pancakes, which were neatly stacked on top of each other. It's amazing.
I squinted my eyes at him in suspicion. "You're being incredibly chill about this, why are you chill? Aren't you worried? It's your phone and your organisation's privacy."
"On the contrary," he sat down and joined me in eating, "it's pretty obvious that it was the organisation who deleted the files so why would I care about their privacy? Second, I'm chill because I know you're the one working on it. You knew it, didn't you? That tracing the hacker means finding a way in to infiltrate the organisation."
I nodded and acted interested with my pancakes. "You put too much trust on me."
"You don't know how worried I am for you, but I believe in you and remember, Edward, you can always ask for my help."
I smiled sheepishly and voiced out a thought I have had since Wednesday: "Can I... Can I ask more things about my father? For example... what's he like? Mabait po ba s'ya... Or salbahe dahil Mafioso s'ya?"
He bit the tip of his fork meditatively for a while. Then he grinned and said, "He's most certainly like you."
Gusto kong itanong ang height ng tatay ko but that felt like digging my own grave. Maybe he's talented or smart or maybe he repressed unwanted feelings and memories too. Or maybe he's a coward who ran away from things too.
"He's the bravest idiot we knew," Sir Lance continued. Well that was surprising. "And he will never let you down. He's not afraid to say the craziest ideas, too, because sometimes, they're the actual solutions."
How was that most certainly like me? He sounded more like Nicholas, and that made me hate him now.
"Bakit n'ya kami iniwan kay Luciano?" Sinubukan kong 'wag magtunog nanunumbat.
"He didn't know he had you."
That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
Sir Lance laughed at my reaction. "I told you he's an idiot. But the main reason for that was the fact that Luciano hid you and your mother for years. I didn't even know Arthur has met you before."
"Why would Luciano do that?"
"Luciano is a snake. According to Arthur, when Melissa had you, Luciano saw you as a trump card and didn't want the other members of the organisation to know about your existence."
"Because...?"
"Because they'll kill you."
My mouth went dry and no amount of maple syrup made the pancakes taste less like wet foam. "I was a baby, why would they kill me?"
"You're the heir to Wonderland Org, because your father, the former Hatter, created it. Along with Luciano, the former King of Hearts; Henrik Whitdur, the former Cheshire Cat... And a fourth member. Lumawak at lumaki ang nasasakupan ng org dahil kay NJ at sa galing ng first generation and you know what happened next."
"All members got hungry for power and betrayed each other?" I guessed. "Pero bakit po si Nicholas?"
"They didn't have to worry about Nicholas taking over the organisation because the child was an idiot who could be controlled by anyone. Nobody thinks he's a threat. And again, Luciano was right." Sir Lance sighed and slapped his knee. "Damn, I hate it when that bastard's right."
"I mean, he's an asshole, so saan at paano po s'ya naging tama?"
"When he said he protected you. He knew people will come after you and they did and he was right. Hindi ka nakita ng mga may gustong pumatay sa 'yo dahil tinago kang mabuti ni Luciano."
"Pero pinalayas n'ya po kami! Kahit na nagmakaawa si Mama!"
"That was brave of Melissa to stay with a tiny hope that she'll meet NJ again."
"Kung trump card po pala ako ni Luciano, bakit bigla n'ya kaming pinalayas? Kung pinoprotektahan n'ya po pala kami, bakit biglang nagbago ang ihip ng hangin?"
"Because the organisation betrayed father," another voice chimed in. It was Sir Arthur. He grabbed a glass of water and sat down beside Sir Lance, who fell silent after Sir Arthur said the bit about the org betraying Luciano.
Part of me didn't want to believe that Luciano was the victim here. Again, he's a full-tilt asshole.
"Father was loyal to the organisation, but what did they do?" Sir Arthur paused and drank water.
I blinked. "A-Am I supposed to answer, recitation po ba 'to d-dahil hindi ko po alam ang sagot."
"I'm sorry my throat is just sore."
Ayokong sabihin na dahil po 'yan sa lahat ng matamis na kinakain n'yo.
The brief pause was to prepare me for the bomb he dropped soon after. Sir Arthur spoke, "They kidnapped my brother."
I almost choked. "W-Which brother? May pang-apat na Lukas po ba kaming dapat makilala?"
Medyo lumaki ang boses ni Sir Lance. "They didn't kidnap Siegfried. You misunderstood."
I actually felt the tension rising. The awkward part of my brain started composing excuses to leave the kitchen. A part of my brain didn't want to leave because I didn't want the conversation to turn into a fight. For some reasons, I felt that my presence would stop them from fighting.
Sir Arthur tightened his grip of the glass. "Father and mother were devastated when Siegfried went missing. Father had to quit the organisation he fought for, just to look for Siegfried. I had to be in the organisation even if I—"
"Arthur," Sir Lance warned, his voice firm. It was as if he didn't want Sir Arthur to carelessly blurt secrets in front of me.
Sir Arthur bit his lip so hard, they almost turned white. Sir Lance combed Sir Arthur's bangs with his fingers and clipped them with this weird B-shaped clip. Then he smiled at Sir Arthur and said:
"Look, I hate the organisation, too. I didn't want to be there to replace Balder. You didn't want to be there to replace Luciano. But if we didn't join Wonderland, we wouldn't have met and I think that's the best thing that has happened to me."
Sir Arthur frowned. "You bullied me and used your position as the White Rabbit to make fun of me."
Sir Lance cupped Sir Arthur's cheeks and squeezed them. "And look where we are now! You made me a better person and I, erm," Sir Lance uncertainly ran his eyes over Sir Arthur from head to toe, "made you a... I made you dye your hair red and people think you're cool!"
Majority of my brain cells urged me to just walk out of the kitchen without a word, but my mouth which had a mind of its own, asked, "Paano po namatay ang papa ko?"
That caught the two of them off-guard. Sir Arthur gave me a nervous look that screamed, "You shouldn't have asked." and Sir Lance placed both of his hands on the table and intertwined his fingers. What's wrong with asking? You two were at the verge of fighting; please tell me how I can make things even more awkward.
"I was on duty at the police station that day," Sir Lance started. Sir Arthur chose to be silent and decided to eat the pancakes on Sir Lance's plate. "Cassandra called and told me there was an emergency at Everlasting Street, so I had to rush there. Minutes later, Arthur called and told me the boss was gone."
"He was ambushed," Sir Arthur continued. "I wasn't there too, but my father was."
My heart started beating fast. "Your father killed my father?" I asked in a whisper.
"Just how evil is my father in your imagination?"
"Guy-who-kicks-puppies-for-fun kind of evil?"
"No." Sir Arthur puffed his cheeks for a second. "Father tried to save NJ."
"He didn't," Sir Lance coughed.
"You weren't there. Reports said three people rushed to save him from the ambush: that's father, Christian Coronado, and—" Sir Arthur held himself back after realising he actually said Christian Coronado.
"Christian Coronado," I repeated. "Like, owner of Coronado University?"
"The ambush was coincidentally near Harriet Medical City, which was also owned by Christian Coronado."
"Why would he rush there? Didn't he have bodyguards? Security guards?"
"Yeah, those bodyguards actually stopped them from risking their lives to save your father."
"Bakit naman maa-ambush ang papa ko?"
"Like what you said," Sir Lance answered. "People got hungry for power and betrayed each other."
I scowled and muttered, "This is an ugly, ugly world..."
There were nods of agreement, but nothing was said after that and we finished breakfast quietly. I washed the dishes again and afterwards headed to the living room. I saw Joyeuse sitting by the stairs again, hugging his knees and squinting suspiciously at the kitchen.
"Mi scusi, naka-schedule ba ang update ng operating system mo ngayong umaga, drama queen?" I scoffed, enjoying looking down at him.
He didn't bother looking up. "On Earth, we say "Good morning", Edward Dace."
"Nah, mas gusto ko 'yong maiinsulto ka. Ang laki mo kasing harang sa daan."
"Implying I'm a robot does not insult me, as I indeed have an operating system. It's called the nervous system, genius, and mine is actually operating. And speaking of operating"—he finally looked up and smirked—"have you found my accomplice yet? You only have roughly 31 hours left."
I sputtered. "31 hours are a lot."
"We'll see then."
I kicked his foot. "Why are you so smug? Because you know I won't be able to find out who's your accomplice?"
"Oh, look at that, you're actually smart enough to know that."
"Jokes on you because I know you have the photo on your phone and once I hacked into your phone, you're dead."
He nonchalantly handed me his phone. "Here. Check."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You don't have to give me that, I can hack your—"
"I'm actually giving you the opportunity to check and see for yourself. My phone is as empty as your brain."
I snatched the phone from his hand and started browsing. I actually got tempted to restore his phone to factory settings, but I felt like I didn't to do that. Even his wallpaper was set in default. He had no apps, no pictures, no...
"You restored your phone to factory settings yesterday, didn't you?" I asked.
"Huh," he scoffed, bobbing his head. He seemed impressed. "You're actually smarter than I thought."
I hit him with his phone. "How stupid did you think I was?"
"On a scale of Futhark and Einstein? You're a Eudoxus." He stood and walked to the kitchen, laughing to himself.
I glared at his back and yelled, "Well that didn't insult me because I don't know who Eudoxus is!" I stomped my way to our room and felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I can't believe Macey actually texted me first. She said...
Oh no.
Sender: Macey Velasquez
Receiver: The Great and Power
Ed? Puwede magpatrace sa 'yo ng fb acc? May stalker yata ako. D: