Consider this a record posting. :3 R&R? Story will pick up next chapter in the Wastelands. Going to be a fun chapter. Can't wait!
-Oly
The Mar home was not very large. It's a cozy house just three blocks away from Freedom HQ; a convenience for Jak and Ashelin. The Mar family lived the simple life as Jak and Ashelin were always far too busy and humble to want an extravagant house or anything fancy really. Ashelin did decorate here and there, some flowers on the coffee table, fine china in the dining room, pictures of the family in the living room and hallways of the house.
Most of the decorations were rare guns or swords that they had collected over the years of hopping from city to city and from Jak's long stint with the Wastelanders. Jak's racing trophies were displayed in Ashelin's office. Aiden rubbed at the small scar gracing the side of her right wrist as she ascended the staircase remembering the day she had cut herself on Jak's sword he had once proudly displayed on the stairway wall - it now sat locked behind a glass case away from her prying hands. After that, Aiden could only look and not touch the trophies and gifts, in awe of her father's abilities and strength. Growing up, Aiden wanted to be just like her father, and the irony of it all was that she truly was.
Aiden walked down the dark hallway to the spare bedroom. She opened the door; light from an end table filtered through the room making it easy for Aiden to make out the small figure sleeping on a four-poster bed. Soft mumbling reached Aiden's ears as she padded up to Delilah. Delilah laid facing the wall, curled into a ball, and talking in her sleep. "Bow down to me-" Delilah trailed off and began snoring softly again. Aiden sat on the bed amused at her friend's never ending extreme ego that even found its way into her dreams.
Will she ever stop talking? Aiden mused. She grabbed a pillow and threw it on top of the sleeping form startling the ottsel awake. It was revenge for all the times Delilah woke her up in the middle of night to try to get her to sneak out with her and to go partying. "Get up. We're leaving soon." Aiden stood up and turned around as the disgruntled ottsel crawled out from under the pillow.
"Five more minutes. . . " Delilah mumbled. She stopped moving half way from under the pillow, sleeping again.
Aiden walked out the room and bumped right into Jak. She stepped back, startled at his sudden appearance. Ashelin stood behind him looking fairly disgruntled. Aiden scrunched up her nose as a foul odor reached her senses. "Geez, you stink!" She waved a hand in her face and stepped back away from Jak.
"All in a day's work, Aid. Dax and I were in the sewers pretty much all night." Jak grinned at Aiden highlighting the dark circles under his eyes. "Dax's fur is going to stink forever."
"He's probably sleeping on my carpet as we speak." Ashelin glared at Jak.
"The smell sure soaked in." Aiden replied. She eyed Jak warily at the possibility that her health was in danger standing so close to father. "You should probably scrub up and get checked for diseases."
"Oh, ha ha."
Ashelin slid past Jak and cupped Aiden's face searching her eyes and looking her up and down. "How are you feeling?"
"Feeling better. Head hurts though." Aiden rubbed her temple.
"Where's Torn?" Jak narrowed his eyes in curiosity. "I told him to stay here with you. Did you see him when you woke up?"
"I don't know how you could have missed him," Aiden replied. "He was in the kitchen making coffee."
"You look chipper." Delilah grumbled at Aiden. She leaned against the doorway and yawned, "Hi Aunt Red, Uncle J." Delilah waved feebly at Ashelin and Jak and turned back to Aiden. "You weren't too swift last night, Aid. I stayed up watching over you and protecting you."
"Did a damn good job at it too." Jak smirked at Delilah. "Dee slept on your stomach. Great watch dog isn't she?"
"Hey!" Delilah glared at Jak. "I was saving up my energy for the real enemies' thank you very much, and I'm not a dog. I'm a hot elf in an ottsel's body." Aiden rolled her eyes. The zany creature was almost as bad as Daxter. . . almost.
"I was only kidding, Dee." Jak grinned apologetically. "Your parents are downstairs if you want to see them."
"As much as I want to say no thank you, I shall leave this happy little family gathering." Delilah stopped next to Jak and started gagging. "Uck!" She looked up at Jak. "Did you going wrestling with yakkows or what? Take a shower, dirtball." She scuttled past Jak and tripped over a rug falling flat on her face. Laughter filled the hallway as Delilah stood up and glared at the Mar family. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She turned around and stalked down the hallway.
The comic relief seemed to lessen the tension that happened to find its way into each family member. Aiden finally stopped laughing to look directly at her father.
"Did you find out anything?" Aiden was curious as to if they made any progress over the long night. She leaned against the wall, waiting for her parent's answers.
"All we know is that they are humanoid, and they've got a lot of dark eco running through their bodies." Jak spoke first.
"How is that possible though? I thought you were the only one?"
Jak nodded in agreement. "I'm sure they weren't in the dark warrior program because I'm the only one who made it out alive. It seems like this person absorbed a lot of dark eco over a long period of time."
"Aiden, when you go to Spargus," Ashelin sighed and interrupted, impatient with where the conversation was going. She changed the subject entirely. "We want you, Delilah and Torn to watch over the city. Sig is going to have guards out at all times of course, but you might see the signs much easier than they can."
"Do you think this thing might go out there?" Aiden stared at Ashelin as if she lost her mind. Aiden didn't know what to look for and if she did, would she be able to doing anything about it? "I don't know what I'm looking for."
"I think you will."
Aiden looked doubtfully between her parents. She sighed. "Alright - this should be an interesting trip. I'm going to get a shower and pack my bag."
"Okay, sweetie. I'll get a cup of coffee ready for you." Ashelin turned to retreat downstairs.
"You'll be fine." Jak replied. "I have all the confidence in you, kid." He walked up to Aiden and kissed her on the forehead. He turned and walked out the door. "I guess I'll go scrub a couple layers of skin off. Hopefully I'll stop stinking."
"Hopefully." Aiden scoffed. "Or you won't be seeing me for awhile."
"Ha Ha." Jak laughed sarcastically and disappeared into the master bedroom.
Aiden hurried down the stairs, showered, and feeling excited even with her hearing looming closer by the minute. She wore light traveling clothes - khakis, combat boots, a black tank top and her bomber jacket. Her pack was strapped on with her gun and hover board on the pack. She clipped her communicator to her jacket and walked into the living room where everyone congregated. Her gaze fell upon the brooding character in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall and staring out the window.
Torn looked out the window at the rainy weather, away from those blue prying eyes that watched him as they entered the room.
"Aiden."
Aiden looked to her right where her mother waited with a cup of coffee. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" She took the steaming mug from her mother and sipped. "My mana." She breathed dreamily.
"Drink it slowly." Ashelin snapped. "You'll burn your mouth."
Aiden gave her mother a serious look. "I'm good, mother. No need to be overbearing." She chugged half of her drink before returning to the living room. She noticed her father had moved into the room, also freshly showered and clothed, and he was speaking quietly with Torn by the back door. The rain she had predicted was falling heavily behind the duo. How miserable.
"About time you got down here." Daxter looked up at Aiden. "I'd like to clean myself up soon and go to bed." Tess smacked the back of his head and smiled sweetly at Aiden.
"I'm going to miss you and Delilah, Aiden."
Aiden bent down and hugged Tess. "I'll miss you too, Aunt Tess."
"Be careful." Tess warned. She leaned in to Aiden's ear whispering. "Make sure you keep Dee out of trouble." Aiden smiled at the inevitable request. She nodded and promised.
"I'm sitting right here." Delilah growled from the arm of the couch as far away from her smelly father she could manage.
Aiden stood up straight and eyed Daxter. "I'll miss you Uncle Dax, but I am so not hugging you right now."
Daxter scoffed, crossing his arms moodily. "Fine by me, kid. I'll miss you too. Keep my brat in line."
"Still here!" Delilah sang sarcastically from the floor, she climbed Aiden's leg to sit on her shoulder. "Almost not here! Very excited."
Aiden finally looked over at Torn again. She walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Torn's shoulders stiffened in apprehensiveness, pausing in his conversation with Jak. He turned and looked at the smiling girl.
"Ready to go Torn. Let's get this over with." Aiden moved to her father who spoke softly to his daughter out of Torn's range of hearing. Torn watched him give her and Delilah what he could only call a bear hug. Delilah squeaked from the pressure, her eyes bulging - it brought a smile to the Commander's face. Aiden turned and briefly glanced at Torn before leaving the room with bags in hand. She could see a muddle of emotions storming through his eyes as he vainly smiled back at her before she retreated from the room.
Torn sighed and looked down at the coffee table where Aiden's coffee sat - her name scribbled in black calligraphy across the mug. He bent down and picked up the mug, not finding it amusing that she left the cup where it didn't belong. "Torn." Torn stood straight noticing Jake standing in front of him, arms cross, a stern look in place on his face. Everyone had left the room - suddenly, Torn didn't feel at all comfortable with being alone in the room with the Dark Warrior.
"Take care of Aiden for me." Jak finally spoke again. "I hate to say this to you, but if anything happens to her. . . I will kill you."
Torn gulped at the threat, if he were making threats now, just imagine what would happen if he knew that Torn had sex dreams about his daughter? He patted Jak on the shoulder. "You have my word man." He smiled genuinely at Jak. "I'm ready to spend four "wonderful" weeks with two teenagers. What more can I ask for?"
Jak laughed. "Have fun keeping Aiden from killing everyone in sight. Oh, and make sure you call me after the hearing. I want to know how it goes."
"That won't be problem." He pointed at Jak. "Don't forget - I want 24/7 updates on the dark eco murders. Just because I'm in another city, doesn't mean I'm not working."
"You're on vacation, asshole." Jak mused.
"That doesn't mean anything to Haven City." He left the room to place Aiden's mug in the sink and grabbed his suitcase sitting on the washing machine, Jak waited patiently near the stairs.
The two men walked out the front door. There was a battle zoomer ready for travel. It was pouring as Torn stepped off the front porch. "Damn weather." He muttered, tossing his bag into the back of the zoomer, closing the doors before running around the side. He hopped up front with the driver barking instructions at him as he did so.
He turned around and looked Aiden and Delilah. Dee was soaked. She shook her fur our, throwing water throughout the zoomer and on Torn and Aiden. Aiden crowed at Dee, wiping the water off her face and arms angrily. Torn merely closed his eyes and sighed, trying not to throttle the ottsel spawn already.
"Do me a favor Dee." Torn finally spoke opening his eyes to look at Delilah. "Stay away from me these next four weeks or I will find a way to kill you so it looked like an accident." The Commander was perfectly fine with threatening the obnoxious creature. He did it quite often to Daxter.
Delilah smirked at him and blew Torn a kiss. "Love you too, sweet cheeks."
Torn turned back around scowling. He gazed out the window as the zoomer lifted up into the storm. Delilah started to chatter again in the back. It was too damn early for her theatrics. Torn groaned and leaned his head back against the headrest. At least he'd get about two or three hours of silence at the academy. Thank the precursors.
Torn had instructed her to stay in the gym until she was summoned by the disciplinary committee. The gym was surprisingly empty; being surrounded by boxing dummies, she took the opportunity to calm her nerves. Her fist made contact with a dummy's stomach, shoving it back against the red concrete wall almost effortlessly. Praying to the precursors wasn't going to calm her nerves; hitting something always did. Maybe the day won't go from shit to shittier . . . Or at least she hoped.
"You should be taking it easy." Delilah lounged on her stomach on a bench seat across the room, examining her claws in boredom. Her legs were crossed and kicking up and down behind her. "Getting yourself worked up will not help the situation."
"I'm not getting worked up, I'm loosening up." Aiden gritted her teeth as she kicked out and made contact with the dummy again. "Getting rid of my aggression now so I don't knock some heads together in the conference room."
Delilah laughed shortly. "Yeah, right. I don't see that happening."
Aiden paused, breathing hard, hands planted on her hips. Delilah was right. She respected the authorities too much now to commit to that thought, but all the same, this one sided sparring session was making her feel much better. Sometimes she wasn't very good at handling anxiety and if memory served her right, this disciplinary committee didn't take to kindly to any type of mischief no matter how minor. Let's hope Torn was working his miracles. She thought.
"Dee, would you want me here any other way? Sitting still is an option I can't take. I got to move or I'll pull my hair out stressing over this hearing. These people aren't nice and most likely will give it to me real good."
"Not with Tattooed Wonder at your back." Dee flipped over and observed her friend while lying upside down. A blue figure in the corner of her eye caught her attention at the door. "Umm, Aiden." Dee pointed at the Freedom League guard.
Aiden paused in her movement and followed the direction of Dee's pointed hand. She stood at attention at the sight of the guard. "Sir?" Was it really time for her hearing already? Her stomach flip flopped in a mild anxiety. Maybe she wasn't ready for this like she had hoped.
"Follow me, Cadet." The Guard replied. "Your friend will stay here."
Dee narrowed her eyes at the man before skulking back onto the bench. "Might as well take a nap," She grumbled. "Good luck, Aid."
Aiden didn't reply as she followed the Guard out of the room. He brought her to a conference room a floor down. The Guard stood at the door and opened it for her, motioning for her to continue. Without hesitation, she walked through the threshold to stand in the middle of the room.
The disciplinary committee was a position held by three individuals influenced to the politics of the city. Two men and one woman, and in Delilah's well known opinion, were "older than yesterday's bread." The woman was an elementary school teacher. The head of the Committee was a civil engineer who was tasked to rebuilding Haven after Baron Praxis' fall. The man to the Head's right was the best medical doctor Haven could ask for.
Torn was sitting at the end of the table sorting through paper work that was systematically spread out in front of him. He didn't look up or acknowledge her presence; the sober look on his face didn't make Aiden feel any better.
The leader of the committee, she knew as Master Otis, cleared his throat and pulled his reading glasses off his face to look at Aiden sternly. "I'm beginning to wonder if allowing you to join the Freedom League will be of any service to this city, Cadet Mar." A minute pause filled the room as he glanced back down at the paperwork in front of him. "Seeing you in this room at all shows disgrace upon your family name, and sadly, I have seen you more than I could count on both hands in the last five years." He shook his head in dismay. "Explain your reasoning for assaulting your classmate April 21, 205 A.M. at approximately 1600 hours."
"Yes, Sir." Aiden began. "Cadet Whal sexually abused me, physically and verbally. I bent down on the front staircase of the academy to pick up my school bag when I heard Cadet Whal moved behind me. He whistled suggestively at me and asked if Commander Nolan was sharing - then he proceeded to grope me from behind. I knew that if I didn't get the upper hand, he would continue his actions not only with me, but with other female cadets as well. I apologize for my actions, but I believe they were completely just."
More silence followed her answer as Master Otis wrote in her files.
"If I may, Master Otis." The Doctor, Master Euguene stepped in, giving Aiden a bewildered look. "Why would Cadet Whal ask if 'Commander Nolan was sharing?'"
Aiden could feel her ears going hot at the question. Torn's broke his concentration at the sound of his name, his gaze was immediately fixed on her, boring into her face. She wished she could read the thoughts going through his mind. If only she hadn't said anything related to Torn, but if she were to get out of this unscathed, she needed to be honest. No harm would come to Torn - she hoped. "A few people in my class believe that Commander Nolan and I are in a romantic relationship which is far from the case, Sir."
"Let us rest for a moment." Mistress Ella spoke immediately after. "Commander Nolan, " She looked at the confused man at the edge of the table. "A word with you." The committee stood, along with Torn. Last in line he looked over at the blonde woman standing in the middle of the room, questions blazing in his eyes.
"I'm sorry." Aiden mouthed to him. The group filed out of the room and Aiden watched Torn close the door behind him. With the click of the door being shut, she let out an exasperated sigh. "Shit! Fuck!" She said out loud to no one in the room. She laid her hands on top of her head; the different scenarios of what would happen next play over and over through her mind. Well, her day just got much worse. She hoped to the Precursors that this isn't taken out of context for Torn.
"Commander Nolan, are you or have you been in a sexual relationship with Cadet Aiden Mar?"
Torn was leaning against the wall beside the door, arms crossed and he was staring at the floor in thought. At the Head's question, he looked up and shook his head no. He was still silently geeking out over the subject at hand. "No, Sir." He replied bluntly. "I've only heard of these accusations as of today."
"Truthfully, I want to believe you Commander Nolan." Master Eugene spoke, his eyes never leaving the files in his hands as he leaned into the desk behind him. He flipped the page studiously, "From what I have seen and read, you haven't treated this girl any differently from the other Cadets, but you have subject her to far more disciplinary hearings than the average Cadet," He whistled at the note, "And quite a lot of guard duty. It's almost as if you're trying too hard." He closed the file and looked up at Torn's stoic appearance, dropping the file on the desk behind him. "Why are you trying so hard, Sir?"
"It's a favor from her parents. Cadet Mar has had major violent, anger and respect issues in the past that needed adjusted. Strict adherent discipline was the only route that her parents and I could take to mold her into an upstanding citizen. It would be unfair and rather unwise of me to treat her any different now."
"It seems that the academy has been doing a most significant job taking care of this Cadet." Ella spoke directly to the two men on the committee, "I do recall many times in which she had caused some form of. . . mayhem before her time began with the academy, and during the first two years. She was my student at one time and believe me, she has improved in every aspect."
Mistress Ella smiled tightly, remembering the muggy Saturday morning Aiden was chased through the streets by the Freedom League for allowing two metal head lurkers into the slums.
Ella watched the girl sprint passed her while she shopped at a produce stand. A dismal look was plastered on the eleven year's face as she leapt onto a ramp into the business section. Her furry orange friend was attached to her shoulder, and screaming at the top of her lunges - taunting the Guards hot on their tails. The teacher watched the young blonde shove her way through the crowds on the upper levels without as much as an 'excuse me' before disappearing from her sight. Ella had turned to the produce stand owner."My goodness I sweat that child will always be such a firecracker."
The produce worker grunted his response, disdain dripping from his words. "She's that daughter of the freak. She shouldn't be left out of a cage."
"I think what we were discussing here is an act of insubordination on the part of the Commander. We already know the fate of our young Cadet." Otis drawled out, "This will need to be investigated further within the hearings today. Until it is over, Commander Nolan, if you would please return to your office; We will find you there. Please leave your reports on the table in the conference room for us to assess."
"Yes, Sir." Torn clipped before turning on his heel and retreating out of the room. Aiden was still standing in the middle of the room at attention. Torn would not look at her as he passed. He opened the door to leave, slamming it behind him causing the girl to flinch. That was definitely an angry Torn door slam. Fantastic.
"Cadet Mar." Master Otis returned to his position at the head of the table, "Having read the reports on the matter, we have come to an unanimous conclusion prior to the hearing that you are not at fault; However, you are still required to have increased guard duty and will assist the kitchens upon your return to Haven City in one month's time. Time and date will be noted by your counselor. Your easy punishment is thanks to your Commander's quick actions. Do you have any questions for the council?"
"No, Sir."
"Then you are dismissed. Thank you." Aiden immediately turned around and tracked her way to the door in an awkward fast walk. She needed to get out of the suffocation of the committee chambers and quickly. Returning to the gym, she scooped the sleeping Ottsel into her arms and made for the front door. So caught up in her thoughts, she blindly walked two blocks away, unaware of her surroundings before searching for a secluded wall. She slid down the wall and sighed heavily, looking down at her still sleeping friend. Some days she couldn't understand why things constantly went wrong for her. It was as if fate had just enjoyed stringing her along. All she wanted was normalcy. No prophecies, no dark eco, no one constantly harassing her. NORMALCY.
She watched zoomers speed high above her head as she scratched down Delilah's back to the pleasure of her small friend who moaned softly in her sleep. Dee's parents were once elves, and Jak was once an innocent man - his innocence lost at such a young age, younger than she was now. She really had no right to complain until she suffered as much as he did. Life had thrown its best at her family and they all turned out to be happy. Now if she could only find her own ray of sunshine.
She stood up and exhaled heavily - she had to return to the zoomer and wait for Torn. Who knew what would occur now that she had spoken of the rumors. "It is what it is." She mumbled. Hearing the words crawl out of Jinx's mouth on more than one occasion, she was beginning to realize that explosives expert was a lot smarter than he let on.
Aiden leaned against the zoomer, watching Delilah entertain herself by attempting to weave through cadets legs and tripping them. She had ignored Delilah's pertinent questions until the ottsel walked away to play in traffic, realizing that Aiden wouldn't budge. Aiden didn't see a guard approach her from the rear of the vehicle.
"Cadet Mar. Come with me." The masked woman demanded.
Aiden followed silently. The Guard marched back into the school with Aiden in tow. She followed her until they entered Torn's office where the committee waited for the young woman. Torn was no where to be seen.
"Hello again, Cadet." Mistress Ella smiled softly at Aiden as she stood at attention.
"At ease." Master Otis boomed, he stood and walked around Torn's desk to stand in front of the young woman. "Let's cut straight to the chase. Cadet Mar, I've told your parents of the information you have passed on. I appreciate your honesty. It is unfortunate to inform you that Commander Nolan will not be your instructor nor your guardian until an investigation has been conducted."
"But, some good news comes to light regarding your trip." Ella continued speaking. "Your parents have given Commander Nolan full permission to escort you to Spargus along with two of guards. You may not make any personal contact with him outside of your travels until further notice. I would prefer if you make little contact with him during the trip - it'd be best for you to not speak to him unless necessary. Your parents understand the nature of our investigation; They also believe that the accusations to be false. Do you deny a relationship with your instructor?"
"Yes, Ma'am. We had nothing but a student- instructor relationship since I can remember." Aiden replied miserably.
"Wonderful. That is noted. Also, the matter regarding Cadet Whal has been resolved. He has been pushed back from graduating by six months as punishment. If he makes contact with you, inform a Freedom Guard, and he shall be dealt with appropriately. You are dismissed. Have a wonderful trip, and good luck."
Aiden closed the door softly behind her, and turned around to find Torn sitting at his secretary's desk. He turned around in the chair the the sound of the door closing.
The hallway was deathly silent as the pair stared at each other - one in apprehension, the other in betrayed anger.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Torn spoke so softly she almost had to lean in to hear him, but she refused to step closer. "This whole thing could have been resolved quietly. I could have sent you to a different instructor, or moved our lessons somewhere public. Now look what has happened." He waved his hand at his office door.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to know what my class was saying about us."
Torn tensed up, standing to pace back and forth in front of Aiden. "My job is on the fucking line because you had to keep your mouth shut until you want in front of the god damn committee." He tapped sharply at his temple. "Real good thinking there, kid."
"Do you realize how embarrassing it would have been for me to come up to you and say, 'My class thinks we're fucking?' I'm sorry, Commander, but my intentions weren't to get you fired. I am still embarrassed to even be talking about this with you."
"Holding back information like that from me only makes me trust you less. If I can't trust you in the privacy of our friendship, how can I trust you to make sound decisions as part of the Freedom Guard?"
"You trust a lot of morons in this military to do their job. Morons just like Whal." Aiden seethed back.
Torn couldn't retort as the elevator door opened at the end of the hallway revealing two Guard waiting for the duo."This is bullshit." He muttered and and began walking away from Aiden. "Let's go. We need to get your to Spargus by 1300 hours."
She followed Torn at a distance to the battle zoomer. He would not look at her nor speak, especially now that they were in public. His image and job were very much tarnished because of her sudden unusual desire to be honest, and damn it did it piss him off.
They paused at the zoomer. Aiden stood next to him and allowed Delilah to crawl down her arm to stand on the back of the zoomer. Aiden stepped back and watched Torn check over his gear sitting in the back of the vehicle. Maybe she should apologize one last time.
"Torn, I-"
She stepped away as Torn wheeled around and to growl into her face, his index finger pointed at her with every word. The vein running down his inked forehead jutted out in his rage "Just shut the fuck up, Aiden. I don't want to hear anything out of your mouth, or the rats, directed toward me for the entire trip." He turned back around and stuffed his jacket into his bag with an unholy vengeance. "And it's Commander Nolan. You've lost the right to call me anything else when they stripped my instructing rights."
Aiden blanched at his harsh words. Unable to look at him or speak, she nodded in reply. Tossing his bag in the middle of the zoomer, Torn turned and moved around the vehicle, disappearing from her sight, and not once did he look at her as he left. Her gaze fell upon Delilah who stood in awe at the words that spilled from Torn's mouth. She gave Aiden a distinct look of surprise, mouth agape, eyebrows high and questions burning in her eyes.
Aiden gave Delilah a grim look as she stepped into the back of the battle zoomer. "I'll explain later", she spoke softly to the confused Ottsel. She found her seat and slid in quietly as the doors closed.
Torn opened the passenger door and slipped into the front seat next to the driver. He made a quick glance behind his shoulder. Both girls were in and strapped to their seats, one of the escorts sat with his back toward him on the left side of Aiden, the other sat at the back of the zoomer near the door. Aiden was looking out the window, a sad look on her face - her arms and legs crossed telling anyone who tried to talk to her to leave her alone.
Torn faced the front of the zoomer and sighed heavily, gripping his forehead with the onset of a migraine. "Let's roll," He grumbled to the driver. This was going to be a long drive
Aiden made an attempt to not dwell on the issue with Torn. She was already miserable enough. Instead, she concerned herself with the prophecy she was given not even 24 hours ago. She slipped her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out the folded paper she had scribbled the prophecy on.
"What's that about?" Delilah appeared over Aiden's shoulder, clinging to the seat.
"Dee!" Aiden exclaimed.
"Why are you out of your seat, Delilah?" Torn turned to glare at the furball.
"Cool it, Tattooed Wonder." Delilah snapped back. "I'm visiting my friend." She then promptly ignored the man and crawled onto Aiden's lap, snatching the paper from her hands.
Aiden sighed and let Delilah read it. "What the hell is this, Aid?"
"A prophecy . . . for me." Aiden muttered, she sunk lower into her seat as she spoke.
"WHAT!?"
"Shut up Delilah." Aiden smoldered, seething through her teeth. She smacked Dee on the back of her head. She looked up to see if Torn was watching.
Dee rubbed at her head, and dropped her voice. "Are you seriously telling me this is from Onin?"
"Yes, and I haven't figured out what it's about yet."
"Did you want to take it to Seem? Maybe his latex will be able to tell us."
"Be serious Dee. Prophecy is not a laughing matter." Rolling her eyes, she snatched the paper out of Delilah's claws. Folding in into a square she placed it into the safety of her pocket.
"But I was being serious, minus the latex thing. . . of course."
"We can. It's just a matter of getting out of the palace without Sig knowing. You know he's close to my dad. Every little move I make is going to be reported to my parents."
"So now that you and the Crab Ass are fighting, who is going to be your Guardian?"
"I don't know. The committee told me he'd be back if the investigation came out in our favor. Probably will be stuck with the Queen for the next week which I really don't mind at all."
Delilah fell into the seat next to Aiden and sighed dreamily. "I hope she makes those delicious grilled yakkow cheese sandwiches she always makes when we visit."
"Only you would be excited for food over a visit with the Queen."
Delilah's dreamy smile fell away from her face as she realized what Aiden had said about Torn. "Whoa, time out." She sat up and inched toward Aiden's face, whispering. "Tell me what happened with the Committee. Why is Torn under investigation? I thought this was about another student?"
Aiden told her everything.