Last Chapter: We've seen the previous generation of the Black and White Wings while in Chapter 10, Princess Grace just warned Shade and Bright. How will this affect their respective goals? Let's find out!
Chapter 12:
Morning has arrived for the first day of the school's one-week trip on the island and the sun has already risen a few hours ago. It's rays found themselves between the curtains of a certain room and finally landing on Rein's sleeping face. She blinked once then twice after finally getting up. The girl rubbed her eyes as she recalled what happened yesterday…
They just checked in their rooms and the teachers repeated the rules they and to follow and the schedule of the activities that they will be doing. After that… she together with Fine and Auler went to the sun Mansion to hopefully see Eclipse but unfortunately they went back without personally meeting him.
'Wait. Something's not right,' Rein thought, 'I feel like I'm missing something.'
From beside her, Fine woke up. She said a surprising "Ah!" and abruptly sat up with her eyes wide open. Rein giggled.
"Did you have a dream?" Rein asked though she already knew the answer.
Fine's face frowned as she nodded, "Yeah… I dreamt of Eclipse."
"Well, that's odd," rein commented as she noted Fine's hatred for the thief, "What happened?"
"We were just flying around," Fine said, not elaborating her dream, "It's a nightmare."
"No it's not! I wish I had your dream."
"Why? Is yours that bad?"
"Well, no…" Rein said as she tried to remember her own dream, "I recall a dance in the rain… but I can't remember who was my partner."
"Maybe it's Eclipse," Fine suggested.
"Hmmm…"
Just then Rein noticed the time on the wall clock, "Fine! We're late! We're late!"
"Huh? Wh-what?" Fine said as Rein quickly stood up and made her bed. Her blue-haired twin was already tossing their clothes on the floor as she gave Fine her garments for the day.
"We're late for the assembly!" Rein yelled.
Fine soon vanished on her bed within seconds and got their toothbrushes, "Why didn't you say that sooner?"
"Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!" they chanted as they raced past the hotel staffs on the hallway. Finally, they reached the room where the assembly for their year was held. Without any knock or warning, they opened the door but unfortunately, the twins tripped on the carpet. Fine and Rein fell down on each other and briefly wondered on why do they always encounter these kind of situations – the trips, the falls, the crashes. Clumsiness doesn't even begin to describe it.
"Miss Fine, Miss Rein," the teacher addressed them, "Thank you for that grand entrance but you're still an hour late for the assembly."
"We're sorry," they replied in unison.
"The classes for your year level have already finished the meeting so you'll have to ask your representative about the details of today's activity. As for your punishment, I think a paper about the island's history would be enough. Ten pages, font size 12, Arial Narrow and don't forget to include the references."
Internally, the twins were already waving their arms to the beat of their 'I Hate It' dance but they obediently responded with a "Yes, ma'am!"
When their teacher left, the two faced each other and sighed. They already felt that this day would drag on the long run and they had started it with a bad tone.
"So what should we do now?" Rein asked her twin, "Should we find our representative first?"
Fine shook her head, "We may have missed out the class assembly but I'm definitely not going to miss breakfast."
The Soleil hotel's buffet area was located on the northern part of the ground floor. It was a large place that extends to the outdoors where it overlooks the vast sea. The seats were cushioned and the tables were clothed in white silk patterned with intricate embroidery. On each table, different types of flower arrangements could be spotted. The clattering noise of utensils was heard together with the various voices of the students.
Shade was looking for an available seat as he carried his tray. A pair of arms was waving at him and then he saw the pale yellow – almost white hair of Tio. The junior was sitting beside his classmate Solo and there was one empty chair on their table. Tio is an avid fan of Eclipse but at the same time he is also fond of Shade. In fact, he has so much admiration for him that instead of 'sempai (senior)' he grew accustomed of calling Shade his 'master'. A master of what? Only Tio could answer that. Beside him, Solo offered a timid bow to his upperclassman and pointed to the unoccupied seat.
Shade was about to go to their direction when a hand clamped his shoulder. He turned around to see Bright.
"We need to talk," he simply said.
The thief immediately knew what that meant. He faced his juniors and made an apologetic expression. The disappointment in Tio's eyes was evident but Solo's confusion was more striking. In Solo's mind, he was trying to think of when did Bright and Shade became close.
The young inspector led the thief to a more secluded area. They placed their trays on the table and settled down on their seats.
"What do you want?" Shade immediately asked. There was no point in small talks and pleasantries. Despite that, his voice wasn't mean or cold, it was even and fine though the seriousness was there.
Bright took a sip from his hot chocolate, "What did your mother told you when you reported the events that happened last night?"
The boy in question sighed, "She was more upset that I didn't stole the crown than the fact that you finally uncovered my identity."
An amused smile formed on Bright's lips. Shade noticed this with a surprised expression though he hid it, "What I meant was about Princess Grace's warning."
"Ah… yes," Shade took a bite of his bacon, "She told me to be careful that's all."
"That's all?" Bright repeated, "Do you know the weight of her premonition?"
"I do, Bright. I know. If one of us takes a wrong step towards our fear then the curse of the wings will never be broken," he pointed his fork towards Bright, "If I were you, I would be more nervous since you have your issues."
"You're like implying that I'm a drama queen."
"I didn't say that," Shade teasingly replied, "Though you did act like one when you caught me."
"Why? Don't you have something that you fear of?" Bright asked.
"None that I know of," Shade replied with a shrug.
"Her warning was addressed to the both of us," the inspector reminded him, "You could be the one to slip up."
"I never slip up."
"I found out that you're Eclipse."
"That was a small mistake. I won't do anything that would compromise our situation."
"But you're still worried that I would be the one to mess up," Bright voiced out Shade's thoughts.
"Yes. I'm afraid of what you would do," Shade confirmed.
"Don't worry. I have a proposition."
"And that is?"
"A truce."
"A truce?"
"You heard me right. It's simple. I'll stop chasing after you for the time being but I will still monitor your moves when you're Eclipse. In return, you'll also monitor me. It's being accountable with each other. That way, we can avoid Princess Grace's warning."
"No one could avoid a premonition."
"Then delay it until we could find the solution to our curse."
"So it's being there for each other and helping each other to find a way to break the curse," Shade summarized, "It's basically being a friend."
"Yes – Wait, what? A friend? I was thinking more in the lines of being a temporary comrade in arms."
The thief made a lopsided smile that made him look like he knows more than Bright, "Whatever you say, Inspector…"
"Good. Then I'll be leaving now –"
"Stop right there."
"Huh?"
"We still have another matter in our hands."
"And that would be?"
Shade stared at him, "It's about the Dancing Statue."
Bright visibly froze and he asked in a low lethal whisper, "What about it?"
"It's gone from the Jewelry Museum. My mother informed me earlier this morning."
"So?"
Shade crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat, "Aren't you at least a bit curious where it went?"
"Why should I?"
"Because it was one of those artworks that were made by your ancestor that wasn't created in selfishness or greed," the thief reminded Bright, "It was made with love and care."
The boy was about to say something but a rude "Excuse me" was heard.
Bright and shade turned their heads towards the source of the voice and almost fell on their seats. They both went pale and speechless as they behold the girl in front of them. It was none other than the Dancing Statue – Altezza.
The girl huffed indignantly and sat on the third chair in the table. The boys were still staring at her.
"If you're going to talk about me at least be more enthusiastic. I am worthy of being praised and adored as a topic in a conversation, right?" Altezza said.
"Wha-wha…" Bright tried to form a sentence.
"What my friend is trying to say here is that what the hell are you doing here?" Shade asked as he eyed the statue.
"Hmmm… let's see…" Altezza began as she examined her polished nails; "I became alive, obviously and happened to wake up finding myself in this place."
"Yeah, we could see," Shade replied, matching the girl's sassiness, "The question is why?"
"My heart is here."
"Your heart…?"
"It's the statue's necklace," Bright informed Shade, "When this thing –"
"Correction, I am a she not a thing," Altezza retorted, obviously offended.
Bright eyed her then continued, "When she was created a secret compartment on her chest was made for a golden heart-shaped necklace."
The thief internally sighed. First a crown, now a necklace.
"That necklace was a heirloom for a daughter but my bastard ancestor sired a son."
Altezza continued, "And so he gave it to me – not knowing that it would grant me consciousness."
Shade nodded. He remembered that Bright's clan was a master in creating things that were so close to reality and the Dancing Statue was one of them. Everything they made had a mind and power of their own and their wings were no exception in this.
"But why are you moving?" he inquired.
"I believe it was out of sheer will," Altezza replied.
"Sheer will?"
"Yes. That is because my heart is here," she answered, implying something different than the necklace. The boys could just stare her in question but the statue plastered her mysterious smile.
"So why do you need us?" Bright asked.
"Isn't it obvious? I need you two to steal it."
"What?!" the two said in unison.
"Why not just ask Shade? Why would I be in it too?"
"Because" she said in an impatient tone, "It's a family heirloom. No one and I tell you – no one could touch it especially if it's a thief."
"Then why is it here in the first place?"
"Aaron took it and placed it here."
Shade saw the shift in Bright's posture, "My father? B-But why did he do that?"
"Geez! So many questions! I'll answer that if you both agree to steal it."
In a heartbeat, Shade confirmed his participation while Bright nodded though he couldn't know the motive of the thief to join in this heist.
"We'll do it."
"Perfect! Good luck to the both of you!" Altezza beamed.
After eating a pile of chicken wings, carrot soup, assortments of viands, extra orders of rice and other meals too many to mention, Fine was already stuffed.
"Hmmm… Maybe I'll go get some pudding for dessert," she said. Fine glanced at her sister, "What do you think, Rein?"
"Huh? Oh yeah," Rein automatically replied.
"Hey…" Fine worriedly said as she put her fork down, the pudding now forgotten, "What's wrong?"
"It's just that… I couldn't shake the feeling that I should be remembering something… a really, really important something for that matter."
"Is there anything I could do to help?" Fine asked, beaming in happiness on the prospect of helping Rein but the later shook her head.
"Maybe I'll remember it next time…" she hopefully said, "For now, we need to find our representative for the list of activities."
"Our representative? Then that would be…"
"Bright!" they said at the same time and then giggled.
"I think I saw him a while ago…" Fine said as she closed her eyes to think. Unfortunately, her head drifted back to the pudding. She sheepishly smiled at her companion, "Uh… I forgot the exact location but he was totally here in the buffet area."
"Really? Then let's find him!"
The twins were up and about within seconds and scurried the place for the young inspector.
"Ah! There he is!" Fine said as she pointed to the boy. He was in a less crowded area talking to a certain girl and Shade. The red-haired girl became hesitant all of a sudden.
"What are you waiting for?" Rein asked, baffled as to why Fine froze in her place, "Let's go!" she said as she pushed her sister from the back.
"Hey! Wait! There's something that I remembered I should do –"
Too late.
They were now standing in front of the group. When Rein saw Shade, she immediately knew why Fine became stiff as a stick.
And then the atmosphere became too thick… The layers and emotions touching every individual in the little group. The secret was right in front of the twins yet they could not see it. The boys on the other hand, did not know what to do. On the corner, Altezza was quietly enjoying the scene, half-expecting one of them to burst out.
Finally, Shade coughed and the previous atmosphere dispersed. It was replaced by a casual, more normal feeling but the tension was there.
"What do you want?" Bright asked in his monotone voice.
Something in Rein's mind flickered.
"Did we… Did we talk last night?" she asked. Bright's eyes showed the panic he was desperately trying to hide but Rein saw it.
"We did… didn't we?" she asked with more certainty.
Altezza was smirking behind her flamboyant fan.
"No…" Bright's voice was authoritative and dismissive, "We didn't," he said while hating the fact on how Rein could easily read him.
"Yes," Rein said, not backing down, "We did."
"Hey…" Shade said, standing up from his seat, "If Bright said he doesn't then he means it. Why would he lie on something like that?"
"You're covering him up," Fine suddenly spoke up.
The boy remained calm in his position as he shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "That's not true. What would I gain on 'covering him up'?"
"It's because you two are hiding something," Fine retorted.
Silence fell upon them.
Seconds felt like eons…
And any movement was frozen in place.
The two masters of the wings knew that if they uttered the wrong word, everything will break apart as the twin's memories would be recollected from the previous night, making the matters more complicated. Besides, since when did the twins became this observant and intuitive? Is this what they call a female's sixth sense?
Just when all hell would break lose, Alteza made a fake (though convincing) angry huff. Four set of faces turned to her. The Dancing Statue stood up from her seat, made a point to look disgustedly at the twins and positioned herself beside Bright. She then clung her hands around his arms and with a voice laced with accusatory she told the twins this:
"What are you doing to my dearest big brother?!"
Each of their faces went to different degrees of astonishment.
"Big brother?" the twins repeated.
"Big brother?" Bright echoed, confusion in his eyes.
Altezza elbowed him and he suppressed the urge to yelp in pain.
"Oh dearest brother~" she said, implying that he should just get along with the current situation, "They're bullying you!"
"No! That's not it…" Rein protested, "It's just that… well…"
"Well?" Altezza mirrored, her face furrowed in a frown. She looked up to the twins as if to say, 'Thanks for ruining my time with my brother.'
The twins suddenly became guilty.
"W-We're sorry," Fine said, "I-It was rude of us to barge in like that."
"We just came here for the list of schedule and activities," Rein explained.
"You should have said it sooner," Bright said as he handed them the paper.
The twins gladly accepted it and apologized some more before leaving. But their eyes were still haunting the boys… they were already suspicious of them; a misstep will lead to a disaster beyond comprehension. Is this the warning Princess Grace was talking about? The fear of finding out the truth by others? No… it doesn't seem that way.
"You should thank me, you know," Altezza said, breaking their line of thought.
Shade eyed the statue, "Why didn't you did that earlier?"
"That's because I was enjoying the show," was her reply.
And the third heart was Altezza's! Really sorry for the late update! Life, Responsibilities and Laziness came at my front door. xD
Next Chapter: The first activity is gonna start! It's going to be Capture the Flag!
