Where Our Loyalty Lies
Chapter 2
"Have We Been Forgotten?"
Theodore began to wonder what was taking Quinn so long to hit him. The older boy wasn't one to hesitate and Theodore felt he had been bracing for the attack for a while. He risked opening his eyes slightly to see what could be going on.
To Theodore's surprise, Quinn's fist had been stopped by the redhead, who had grabbed tightly onto his arm.
"You going to get involved, Red?" growled Quinn. "What is he to you? You just got here, you don't know anything about these snitches. Trust me, this was long coming."
"I don't care about the bookworm." grunted the redhead, shoving Quinn away. "I just don't like bullies. And it looks to me like you're ganging up on the little guy. That makes me all sorts of mad."
Quinn looked over at the boys with them and singled them over. They dropped Theodore to the ground and joined Quinn.
"You are sourly going to regret this." Quinn cracked his knuckles. "Unlike most of those you beat about, we've got actually training."
The redhead charged at Quinn, who quickly side stepped her. He grabbed her arm and yanked her down, slamming his knee into her stomach.
"You leave yourself open, Red." Quinn's cocky attitude was immediately responded with the redhead pulling her arm from him and bashing her head against his, knocking the older boy over. The other boys with Quinn jumped the girl, grabbing her arms to hold her down, though they found she was a lot more difficult to control as she thrashed about.
"Keep her down!" yelled Quinn as he got up, hand on his nose which had started to bleed. "I'm going to enjoy this."
"Quinn, stop!"
Quinn's temper flared when he saw Theodore try to get between him and the redhead. "You are a moron, you know that, Bronev? She just gave you an out and you didn't take it?"
Theodore stood in Quinn's way, refusing to move. He was trying his hardest to keep his body from shaking to keep up a good front that he wasn't afraid of Quinn.
"This is pointless, Quinn." Theodore said, barely keeping his voice from cracking. "There has to be a reason that this fighting has been allowed to continue and it can only end with everyone getting in trouble. Can't you see that?"
"Beat it, bookworm!" screamed the redhead, who was still trying to get the two off her. "Don't be stupid and don't get in my way! I have to do this myself!"
"This isn't right." Theodore wondered if the girl knew exactly what was going on.
"Fine, Bronev. Let's try this again." Quinn grabbed Theodore's collar to hit him this time. However Quinn was interrupted again as a Targent cap came flying at his face, hitting his already bruised nose.
Theodore looked over to where the cap came from to see Hershel rushing up to them. "Hershel?"
"Great..." growled Quinn, tightening his grip on Theodore's collar. "I thought you'd be gone longer. Guess the Professor was in a good mood today."
"Let Theodore go now." Hershel voice was hard, Theodore could tell he was furious, but holding back.
Quinn smirked. "What are you going to do about it? Doesn't seem like Targent cares what we do. You going to finally fight me, Bronev?"
"Wait, Hershel!" Last thing Theodore wanted was for Hershel to add to this. Something strange was going on and Theodore began to wonder if the chaos was only fueling it. What the girl said was so telling that she knew why this was allowed.
Just then Theodore could see the girl had tossed off the two boys and was heading straight for Quinn. "Q-Quinn-"
"Huh?" Quinn's pulled Theodore closer, glaring at him. "What do you want?"
"Look out!" Theodore barely chocked those words out, Theodore's coat collar tightening around his neck with how hard Quinn was holding it. Though it was too late for Quinn, the redhead hitting him square in the face when he turned to see what Theodore was talking about, knocking him right to the ground and pulling Theodore down with him.
"Theodore!" Hershel rushed over, but was stopped as the girl turned to him and started attacking him next, making it impossible to get to his little brother.
Theodore groaned, his head having hit the ground hard. He looked over to see Quinn was knocked out cold, his grip on Theodore was gone. The older boy didn't appear to be moving, which frighten Theodore. He quickly scrambled to his knees and over to Quinn. He checked on Quinn to see if he was still breathing, which he was, much to Theodore's relief.
"You okay, Theodore?"
Theodore looked up to see Julien making his way over, stepping in between him and the two boys who were heading over to Theodore and Quinn. Julien wasn't sure if they were there to check on Quinn or to hurt Theodore and he wasn't about to sit back and find out.
"I'm fine." Theodore slowly stood up, dusting the dirt off his knees.
"What is going on?" Julien placed a hand on Theodore's shoulder and moved him away from Quinn so the boys could check on their fallen leader and so Julien could get Theodore to a safer distance away from the fighting. Though he wanted to get out of the circle, it looked like that would be difficult.
"I'm not quite sure, to be honest." Theodore looked over to see Hershel having to deal with the girl now, much to his dismay. "But continuing this can't possibly be good. I think all of this is for her."
Julien's attention went to Hershel, who had his hands full with the very agitated American. "For what purpose?"
"I don't know." Theodore frowned. "We need too-"
A loud sound shot through the air, everyone coming to a stop. Everyone except the new girl knew what the sound was and who it belonged too. It was a whistle belonging to head of Targent's educational facilities.
"Stop all of this!"
Hershel took this chance to head over to Theodore and Julien, ignoring the redhead who was confused. The circle of kids started to break up, a tall blonde woman making her way through.
It was Miss Gray, coming in with several Targent guards behind her. She looked very crossed.
"What in the world is going on here!?" Gray whipped out her riding crop, which made every single student flinch in fear. "Where the hell are the guards that were suppose to be stationed here?!"
Theodore found himself trembling with fear, he had never seen the woman so angry in his life. He had seen her mad before, which lead to some of the worst punishments he had ever seen anyone face, but nothing like right now. He couldn't imagination what she would do in this state of rage.
Hershel stood in front of Theodore, letting his little brother hide behind him as if that would shield him from the woman's wrath.
"Which one of you wants to explain why you all decided to act like a bunch of animals?" Gray held the center of the riding crop, eying every single child there as if expecting one of them to try to answer her. Instead it was deathly silent, no one wanting to make a move or sound.
"I apologize, Miss Gray. That would be my doing."
Gray looked back to see two men coming up.
One man stood in all white, not in the normal Targent uniform or even an altered version. He wore a white hat and coat, a long white scarf wrapped around his neck. He carried a cane with a small bird carved at the top of it. He looked around his late forties or early fifties and he had a slightly gray goatee, his original color looked like it was red. He had a very thick Irish accent. He was someone none of the children had seen before.
However the man next to him was dressed in a red Targent uniform, a uniform everyone recognized. This man was part of Targent's elite, their best assassins. The way his uniform was designed suggested he was high ranking, which made everyone even more nervous and afraid if someone like that was here.
Gray took in a deep breath, trying to suppress her anger which was only getting worse. "You...Corrin, sir. What are you doing here?"
The older man in white tipped his hat to Gray and smiled. "Doing a favor for a friend. So sorry it got in the way of your little program here."
"A favor?"
The redhead walked right up to the red uniformed Targent agent and stood at attention. The man in red smiled at her and patted her head, much to the girl's embarrassment.
"Who is this?" Gray looked at the girl, not recognizing her at all. "I know every single child here and I have never seen her."
"She will be joining your little program." Corrin leaned on his cane, looking at the girl. "Her name is Anna Carver."
"Urm..." Gray looked displeased. "Well.. Are her parents here?"
"No, no." Corrin shook his head. "She's not here for the... normal reasons. See, she was hand picked by Kale over here when he was in America for a while."
The man in red nodded, though did not pull his attention away from Anna. "I rather choose my team personally. Rarely do I find anyone already here in The Nest that I want. She's a natural, fights very well without proper training. I'm eager to see what she will accomplish after being trained here for a few years."
"Yes..." Corrin smirked. "I tried to explain to Kale that we're a bit full right now. Lately we've been wasting resources on people who aren't worthy of Targent and I was reluctant to let him have his new little charge. I refused to add anyone else without reason and, well, we decided to test her skills out."
"On children?" said Gray in disgust.
"Well of course." Corrin came off as if that should be reasonable. "She's still a child, I wouldn't have her go against grown men. That's just crazy."
"You could have informed me." Gray eyed Anna. "We could have set something up."
"In an environment controlled by you?" Corrin scoffed at this. "Please, Miss Gray. I wanted real results. Besides, you should be grateful. After all, you just saw how little control you have over these children. It didn't take much to get them all riled up, now did it? Such little respect and discipline... Makes me wonder if someone else should be in charge."
"That's not your decision to make." Gray's voice became cold and deeper, her gaze now fixated on Corrin. "Mister Gearald made it very clear this place is mine."
"While he's alive, that is true." Corrin smiled brightly at Gray. "However, the man is getting on in his years... Well, let's talk about this another time. Sorry to have interrupted your classes. You can ask Kale for all the information you need on Anna."
Corrin turned and walked over to Kale. "Answer her questions, I'll make sure everything is arranged that you'll have her by the time she's trained and old enough. Don't worry about the paper work, I'll take care of it."
"Thank you, sir." Kale nodded to Corrin, who walked off, heading out of the Free Area.
"Do as she says, Anna." said Kale, the young girl nodding in response. "Keep your nose clean and focus on your training and studies. I'll be keeping an eye on you."
"Yes sir."
"I don't care if she was under orders." growled Gray. "She is going to be punished like everyone else." She smacked the middle of the riding crop on her left hand and turned to all the children. "The rest of your lessons are canceled. The injured will be taken to the infirmary and will be dealt with later. The rest of you, everyone, hands behind your head and up against the wall. You will spend what could have been your last few classes there and then returned to your rooms. No one will be allowed out until tomorrow morning, is that clear?"
Terrified and in shock, no one moved, which enraged Gray. "NOW!"
The children quickly scattered, heading towards the walls of the Free Area to do as they were told. Anna slowly made her way over to the wall, Kale finally turning to Gray to talk to her.
Theodore found that when he got to the wall, on his left was Hershel and Julien and to his surprise, Anna was on his right. The girl looked very pleased with herself, despite having to take on the punishment like everyone else.
Anna noticed Theodore looking at her and shrugged her shoulders. "So, Bookworm... Sorry about earlier, you weren't my target. I figured every school has bullies, so if I had to fight anyone, I could get them to come at me easy."
"Theodore Bronev."
"Huh?"
"That's my name." Theodore smiled at her.
"Eh..." Anna looked uncomfortable. "Just call me Red while we're talkin'."
Theodore was confused by this. "That-"
"Look, I don't like my last name because my foster parents gave it to me." Anna grunted. "Also my first name is too... girly for what I want. I'll take the nickname."
"All right..." Theodore wasn't sure about it, but if that was what Anna wanted, he would oblige. "You-"
Anna interrupted him again. "Let's make somethin' clear. I am not here to make friends. I'm just here to join Targent, no other reason. It's gunna be a long stand here and I get bored easy. I don't mind talkin' to you even if you did nearly ruin my chances. Tryin' to play hero and all."
"You actually want to join?" Hershel looked at Anna in disbelief.
"I was talking to Theo, not you." Anna glared at Hershel.
Theodore raised a brow at Anna's nickname to him. Didn't she just say she didn't want to be friends? What was with the nickname then?
"Anyway, Theo, is it true you're a snitch? Or was Pretty Boy lying? That's the last thing I kind of need to know that if I'm gunna keep talkin' to you."
Julien rolled his eyes. "Of course you heard about that."
Anna ignored Julien. "Well?"
Theodore shook his head. "Quinn believes that because of my friend. He thinks everything that goes wrong is because one of of us told on him. I rather not know what he's doing, personally."
"Typical bully." Anna nearly spat that out. "I mean, you could be lyin', but... I don't know many snitches who put themselves in between people fightin'... You seem okay, I don't know about anyone else here."
Theodore was surprised that Anna believed him. Most new kids decide it would be easier just to listen to Quinn or anyone else than risk talking to him.
"No talking at the wall!" yelled Gray, causing everyone to stiffen up.
Everyone fell silent and stared at the wall as Gray walked by them, not wanting to get caught talking amongst themselves.
Once Gray got far enough away, Anna shifted around, getting irritated and anxious. "Say..." Anna grinned and leaned over to Theodore, her voice going to a whisper. "I've got an idea, Theo. You're bullied, right? Well, I can take care of that if you inform me about every little thing about this school. Kale didn't give me all the details and I could use an inside man."
"That's fine, Red." Theodore smiled meekly at Anna, who had moved just a tad to close. "I wouldn't mind helping you anyway. Also, this place isn't a sch-"
"I don't like owing people." Anna once again stopped Theodore. "So let's work something out, okay? You really should have someone watching your back."
"Excuse me?" Hershel moved closer to Theodore. He didn't trust this girl in the slightest, nor did he like her talking to his little brother. "Leave Theodore alone, you've caused enough trouble."
"I didn't do nothin' but what I was told." Anna stood up straight and scowled at Hershel. "So sorry if I ruined your school day, but I'm busy talkin' to my new buddy here, so back off."
Hershel grit his teeth, fuming at this new girl. "Are you stupid? This isn't some boarding school you joined."
"Isn't that why everyone..." Anna trailed off when she saw the looks on Theodore and Hershel's faces. "You aren't here because you want too or because your parents...?"
"No one is." said Julien, bitterly. "We're all prisoners here."
"Kind of a over dramatic way of puttin' it, don't ya think?..." Anna uneasy grew worse, as well as her confusion. "...Never been to one of those livin' in schools, maybe I donno how hard it is, but you don't need to put it like that. Can't be worse than where I was."
"You are completely clueless." Hershel was now sure he knew how little Anna really understood what was to be expected of her.
"Look, I don't wanna talk to you." Anna went back to Theodore. "So about that deal..."
"Hey." Hershel wanted to get in the girl's face, but knew he couldn't move much closer without Gray noticing. "I'm not going to stand here and watch someone try to use Theodore."
"Please stop." Theodore looked back and forth between the two, getting very uncomfortable of the hostility building between them, himself stuck in the middle.
"I'm not usin' anyone."
"Doesn't seem like that to me."
"Well maybe you need your eyes checked."
"You don't even know what Targent's elite is, do you?"
"Of course I do! They-"
Anna was cut short as her head was grabbed by Gray, pushing her against the wall. Gray looked at Hershel. "What did I say about talking?"
"S-sorry ma'am..." mumbled Hershel and looked back at the wall.
Gray let go of Anna and went back to walking along the wall, the girl glaring at Gray before turning back to Hershel.
"That was your fault." Anna whispered.
"You don't learn, do you?" whispered Hershel back, but refused to look at her.
"Theo, who's this guy?" Anna's patience was running thin with Hershel. "He keeps runnin' his mouth at me, you know each other?"
Theodore sighed. "That's my brother, Hershel."
Anna's eyes widen and she looked between the two of them. "Really? Jeez, where were you when he needed help?"
Hershel frowned, but refused to answer Anna, deciding it would be best to keep quiet. However that struck a nerve with him, feeling terrible because she was right. He wasn't anywhere when Theodore needed his help.
"Sorry, Hershel..." Julien noticed Hershel's frustration.
"We'll talk about this later." said Anna to Theodore before looking back at the wall.
For the remainder of the punishment, everyone was quiet.
"Good, you're still here."
Leon was startled awake as a case was slammed on his desk, right in front of his face. He looked up to see it was Jin, who beamed a large smile at him.
"You seem to be in a good mood." Leon rubbed his eyes and sat up.
Jin nodded before placing a cup of tea in front of Leon. "Mm-hmm. I sure am. Can you guess why?"
Leon was half awake and wasn't up to dealing with Jin's games. He had spent a good amount of the day working and now at the end he had stayed behind, busy filing a permission slip to see his sons. The last three had been declined, much to his dismay and confusion as he's never had that many refused before. It seemed lately he had less and less contact with his children.
"Can we just get to the point?"
Jin was put off by Leon's dismissal. He patted the case. "You don't recognize this?"
Leon looked at the case which looked like every other that Targent owned. "Really, Jin..."
"Fine!" Jin tossed his hands in the air. "Ruin my fun. At least drink that, I need you awake."
Leon groaned and reluctantly took the tea. He learned early on that Jin never did anything without a motive behind it, any act of kindness was just to mask what he really wanted. Well, from most people, surprisingly Jin was brutally honest with Leon for whatever reason. Not that it changed much in Jin getting what he wanted, arguing or fighting back was pointless. Leon was just aware of the real reasons.
Jin put gloves on and then opened to case. Leon nearly dropped his cup when he saw what was inside.
"I see you remember now." Jin grinned and pulled out the Azran figurine, the one that Leon had found years ago. "We're finally going to get permission to go."
Leon's heart sank at this. "So... that means..."
"The murder investigation has finally been shelved, according to our men inside Scotland Yard. Took long enough, they were getting nowhere."
"What made them finally stop?" While Leon didn't like the idea that he was the prime suspect, the idea that the investigation was done meant that no one would be looking for them anymore.
Jin looked at the figurine, turning it over to see the whole thing. "Well... It's not really over per say, but the original detective isn't on it anymore and it's been given to one of our guys. So we have control over it now. From what I heard the original detective just wouldn't let it go, he felt very strongly about finding your family."
Leon slowly nodded to this. "What happened to the detective?"
"He passed away." Jin smirked when he saw how upset that seemed to make Leon. "Targent didn't... remove him, Leon. He died on his own. I promise. We want this case to disappear, not build more suspicion."
Leon decided for his own sanity to believe Jin. "So when are we going?"
"Probably in a month." Jin frowned. "I'd like to go as soon as possible, but even with the case having died down to almost nothing, we need to be careful." Jin placed the artifact back into the case and closed it. "Do you remember the combination?"
Leon opened a drawer in his desk, looking through it. "Possibly, however I also wrote it down." He pulled out a folder and placed it on the desk. "Is that the only reason you're here?"
Jin tilted his head to side, thinking over the question. Leon felt uneasy with how long Jin was taking to answer, having gone silent. He regretted saying anything.
After a while, Jin finally smiled crookedly, as if a mischievous thought occurred to him. "Well... I suppose since I am here, we should discuss your future here in Targent. I think it's been long enough."
"Pardon?" Leon wasn't sure what Jin meant by that.
"You are not a real member of Targent, I hope you're aware of that."
Leon was, Jin had made that very clear from the beginning.
"We need to change that."
"We?"
Jin chuckled. "Yes, we. You won't be able to do it on your own. You need to prove that you are trust worthy and not still just an archaeologist that we have working under us."
Leon looked away. "Why would I want to join Targent, officially?"
Jin walked up behind Leon. "The benefits, of course. You could have a bit more freedom and most importantly..." Jin reached over and snatched the permission slip Leon was working on. "...have more say in what happens to your children."
Leon looked over his shoulder, glaring at Jin. "Why would you care about that?"
"About that? I care very little. You becoming a real member of Targent who can rise in ranks?" Jin laughed, a high pitch, quick laugh that was just unnerving. "I have plans, Leon. Very important plans and they involve you. You have passed my expectation, yes, you have..."
Jin mumbled to himself, trailing off into his own thoughts. Leon wanted that permission slip back, however Jin was keeping it just out of his reach.
What Jin said was something that did interest Leon. Though how much control Jin meant, he wasn't sure.
Leon glanced at the case with the artifact in it. A part of him wanted nothing more than to break that cursed object that had ruined his life. While another part of him was very curious as to what could be on the other side of the locked door that was found years ago.
That part of Leon made him feel sick.
"I'll admit, you probably won't like what you have to do."
Leon took a deep breath and hoped he wouldn't regret what he asked next. "And what would that be?"
Jin again went quiet, thinking that over. He answer much faster this time. "We'll talk about that later. I haven't set anything up yet. I have to make sure it's guaranteed to get you in..."
"I'm not going to agree to anything when I don't know the conditions." Making deals with Jin was risky enough when he knew what Jin wanted. Leon wasn't going to put himself into a position that would jeopardize himself or him family.
Jin chuckled again. "Oh Leon. It won't matter because you will do it in the end." Jin waved the permission slip at Leon. "Family... They are our greatest strength and our greatest weakness, don't you agree? I know everything I have is all because of Mister Fin, all my drive and my life. And yet all my ambitions are connected to him, which might even lead me to losing it all if I'm not careful. Strange, isn't it? Same as you. Your children are your life and are all you have. There's nothing you won't do for them, despite the fact you might also lose everything in the process."
Leon didn't foresee all of that. Jin didn't normally get so personal.
Jin appeared annoyed with himself. "Said too much... Anyway, Leon, I'll take care of this for you. You see if you can remember the combination, then put away the artifact when you're done." Jin waved the permission slip again as Leon was about to object. "Don't worry, there's no strings attached to this favor."
Leon was skeptical. "Then why?"
Jin looked insulted. "Fine, you want the selfish answer? I want you focusing on the expedition, not worrying about your kids. Happy?"
Leon didn't answer, so Jin just turned and left the room without a word.
Theodore blinked his eyes open, realizing he had nodded off for probably the third time in the span of what felt like five minutes. He yawned and placed a bookmark in his new book, closing it. As much as he wanted to keep reading, he needed to get some sleep. His arms and legs were still sore from standing at the wall for what felt like forever. Hopefully tomorrow would be a more peaceful day.
Theodore got up off his bed and went to place the book on the dresser in the room, a few books lined up there already, being held up by an old teddy bear and the one small lamp they had in the room. Theodore pushed the book into the stack, but didn't notice how much the bear was on the edge, knocking it over. He glanced at his older brother to see if he had woken him up, which to his relief he hadn't.
Theodore knelt down to pick up the bear to put it back when he heard a small thump noise. He looked at the ground to see something had fallen out of the back of the bear, much to his confusion.
Picking the item up, Theodore felt like he had seen it before. However, his memory was very fuzzy and not all too clear, like it was just out of his reach. It was frustrating and Theodore was far too tired to be spending his time trying to figure out this mystery. He would ask Hershel if he knew, but he was asleep and Theodore wasn't going to bother him this late.
Though Theodore's curiosity did get the better of him most of the time and he knew he would have trouble sleeping until he knew what this was. He looked over the small silver colored item, finding he could open it.
Clicking the small item open he was surprised to see one end of it was a clock. He had seen only a few in his life. On the other side was a photo.
Examining the picture Theodore recognized his father in it, which made him wonder how he could forget that he had such an item. He could guess the two young children were him and Hershel, but the woman...
Theodore strained to remember who that was, her face wasn't recognizable to him. He stopped trying to use his memory and thought about it more logically. Who else could it be?
At that moment, Theodore felt stupid. Of course it had to be his mother.
Theodore clutched the watch tightly, suddenly feeling very terrible. Had he forgotten completely what his mother looked like? He didn't know this woman at all, not a single memory of her, not a moment, nothing.
Theodore barely knew why she wasn't around anymore, she had passed away when he was much younger, all he had now was his older brother and father.
How could he had forgotten about her?
Theodore closed the watch up and held it close, finding it hard to get himself to put it back in it's hiding spot, so it would be less likely to be taken away. It would be better, but he wanted to hang onto it just a little longer. He put the bear back onto the dresser and decided to think about it later. At least try too.
He went to turn the lamp off and found it was hard to see where the switch was. His vision became blurry, a throbbing sensation building up in his throat.
Theodore rubbed his eyes and felt his way on the lamp to finally switch it off before heading to bed, pulling the covers over his head. He shut his eyes, in hopes of falling asleep, but found it was very difficult. Before he was so tired and ready for sleep, but now his mind was plagued with thoughts of a past he couldn't remember. A time before Targent, when his family was together. He couldn't even picture what life was like outside.
He swallowed hard, hiccups now coming up. This couldn't be a normal life. He had heard stories of the outside world before and it sounded so at odds with what Theodore was use too. Even the books he read made the world outside of The Nest sound so strange.
Theodore opened his eyes when heard the light switch turned back on and felt a presence nearby, knowing exactly who it was. He was hesitant, but soon pulled down the covers to see Hershel kneeling by his bed, a concerned look about him.
Theodore looked away, becoming very embarrassed. Hershel hadn't checked on him in the middle of the night since he was nine years old, when he was missing their father so much he couldn't help but cry or he had a nightmare. He felt he was getting too old for Hershel to be doing that.
Hershel placed a hand on Theodore's shoulder. Theodore pulled away and sat up, irritated, but couldn't bring himself to say anything to Hershel. He was afraid he would break down if he did.
Hershel moved to sit on the bed instead, wrapping his arm around his little brother despite how he was acting. Too tired and in truth he didn't wish Hershel to go, Theodore decided not to pull away this time and leaned against his older brother.
Hershel wanted to ask what had brought this on, but he didn't want to upset Theodore more than he already was. Then again the day had been pretty rough and Hershel hadn't seen everything that happened.
Still Hershel didn't feel like that was the problem, most days were hard to get through.
Hershel shifted around so he could lean against the wall, laying Theodore's head on his shoulder. He rubbed Theodore's back, the way he remembered his father would do to calm them down when they were little.
"This isn't normal, is it?"
Hershel almost didn't hear Theodore, his voice so quiet and cracking. "What?"
"This life isn't normal."
Hershel shook his head. "No. It's not normal at all."
"You remember what normal is. I don't."
Hershel wasn't expecting that. Nothing that happened recently that he could think of that would have brought this up.
"Do you think Dad has forgotten us?"
Hershel was taken aback by the question. "What do you mean?"
"He hasn't come to see us in so long. He...takes longer to come and see us every time. Maybe he's forgetting about us."
"No, of course not." Hershel squeezed Theodore's shoulder. "But we can't rely on dad."
"Then what can we do? Just go along with Targent? Are you fine with that?"
Hershel wasn't sure how to answer that. He had been wondering what to do himself for a long time now. The only plan he ever had was keeping Theodore safe and getting by one day at a time. The more he thought about it though, the more he worried that he wasn't going to be able to keep protecting his little brother. Especially since in a few years when he'll be leaving the educational facilities. After that, he would be working for Targent, which was something he was completely against.
Hershel needed a new plan. "We need to get out of here."
Theodore shook his head. "That won't happen."
"I'll make it happen." said Hershel, dead serious. "One day I'm going to get us an airship and get us both away from here."
"Where would we even go?" Theodore wasn't convinced, even if the idea sounded nice.
"Anywhere, Theodore. Everywhere and anywhere. We'll see the world. We'll find ourselves a new home. Or none at all and just keep going, as long as it's nowhere near here."
"What about... everyone else? Dad and Julien...?" Theodore's voice became more quiet as he grew more tired, unable to keep his eyes open anymore.
"We could always come back for them. But first we need to escape if we are going to help anyone. That will be hard enough. They would understand."
"Then you should leave me behind too. It would be easier..."
"No, we're leaving together." Hershel refused to even entertain the thought of abandoning his little brother. "I just need you to tough it out, Theodore. When we're older, we'll get out of here. I promise."
Hershel waited for a response, but didn't get one. When he looked down he saw that Theodore had fallen asleep. He thought about laying his brother down, but worried that any large movements might wake him up. Instead Hershel grabbed Theodore's pillow and lined it up against the wall behind him, then pulled the blanket over them both, deciding to settle there and get whatever sleep he could.
Before he could get comfortable, Hershel saw something fall out of Theodore's hand. He picked it up to find it was a pocket watch, much to his surprise.
It looked familiar to him, as if he had seen it before a long time ago.
Hershel wondered if it still worked, so he carefully started to wind it, slowly as to not wake Theodore up. He then clicked it open. While he he wanted to check the clock, his eyes were drawn in by the photo inside.
Hershel now knew what had upset Theodore so much, feeling quite emotional himself. This was the watch his father gave him when they first came here. The fact that it hadn't been found in all these years was shocking to say the least.
The photo was taken probably a year before Targent had kidnapped them, Hershel barely remembering it. It was a bit hazy, but he recalled a few small details.
This made Hershel think back at what Theodore said, that he didn't remember being normal. Did he not remember anything from before Targent? He knew Theodore was young when they were taken, but he should remember something...
Hershel wondered if that was how Theodore coped with it all. If he had nothing to compare his life to, he couldn't miss it. Maybe he couldn't allow himself to remember.
Closing the pocket watch, Hershel placed it nearby. He had to remember to put it back in it's hiding place later before anyone saw it. He then finally let himself try to get some asleep.
Tomorrow was going to be an exhausting day.
Author Notes: Thanks again everyone, glad people are enjoying this. The comments are always welcomed. This one was a bit long, hope that's okay.
Here's hoping for a happier next chapter?
I hope to make more artwork for this soon. I hope you like my art as much as the story.