Disclaimer: I do not own The Promised Neverland. It is property of Posuka Demizu and Kaiu Shirai.
Act 17
"I hid the new notebook you gave me after reading it, but in it, you mentioned the allies that I'd collected in the original story, by going to the Lambda plant. You said your information stopped pretty soon after they were introduced, but what if they're essential to us escaping from this demon's world? If they are, and I were to go with you guys… how would we know where to start looking for Lambda in order to collect them.?" Norman spoke, his voice becoming tighter as he came to a realisation; he'd have to take that leap of faith and let himself be shipped out.
His head dipped slightly, and he continued, "We have no maps of the demon's world. It'd be like looking for a needle in a haystack. And there's no guarantee they'll be alive when we finally find the plant to retrieve them from. That's why… ugh…" Norman finished, and rested his head in his hand.
I bit my lip, my heart twisting.
Ahh…. I'm so sorry, Norman… Because I told you about everything…
"I've put so much pressure on you…" I sighed out.
At my words, Norman lifted his head to look at me, eyes widening, "That's…" he faltered and I cut him off while shaking my head.
"I don't even know if Zazie, Vincent and the others are important enough to condemn you to that place, after all. My information only goes up until they're introduced! I know that they're strong, and all, but…! Is it worth what you're going to be put through…?!" I clutched at the bedsheets covering me.
I felt Norman's hand land on mine, and his smile appeared, though it was shaky, "I think they are," he told me, and I stared at him, "Don't get me wrong. I'm scared of going there, but I'm not as afraid as I would have been if you hadn't told me. Thanks to you, I feel like I can be brave. Because you've given me hope that I'll definitely be able to return you guys' side." He said as his other hand found mine, and gripped them tightly.
"Norman…" I said softly, and furrowed my brows in worry, "Are you sure you want to do this? We can try to do Emma and Ray's plan, even though I don't like the idea of them breaking their arms…" I trailed off.
Norman smiled, "I don't want that either. And I'm sure. With your information, I can face the future with courage. I'll gather our allies from Lambda, and I'll come and find you as soon as possible. Maybe we can even prevent some deaths and injuries along the way, right?" Norman replied, his voice filled with determination.
Prevent some injuries… and deaths… The vague, distant image of a grumpy older male with a teacup… The blurred form of a one-armed man with a scar… Mark, suffering and unconscious…
Yes… those are some things I want to prevent. There's one other injury I want to try to prevent, too, while we're at it.
I squeezed Norman's hands back, in agreement, and met his eyes, feeling a little more determined, myself.
"Yeah. Let's work hard and meet back up with each other with more friends at our side!" I agreed with him.
Norman grinned, looking glad to see that I'd cheered up a little bit, at least.
"Right!" he nodded his head.
I hummed, a new thought coming to mind as we let each-others' hands go.
"But how will you find us? Try as I may, I couldn't remember the exact coordinates of the shelter. The most I can recall is that it starts with the letter B, and has a 0, somewhere." I questioned him.
"Even if you can't remember that part, we can come up with a new way for me to find you guys. Like a symbol that only we can interpret correctly, or something… but it has to be something the demons won't be able to track…" Norman trailed off, going deep into thought.
But before we could really work out a good idea for it, Phil burst in the room with the bell, ringing it excitedly. We both jumped in surprise, having forgotten that we weren't exactly alone in the House. We'd been too absorbed in our conversation.
"Norman! It's dinner time! Mama said she'd bring Anna's dinner over here!" he called over from his spot in the doorway.
Norman plastered on a quick smile, and stood up, "Thank you, Phil," he said, and the little boy nodded, running off; Norman turned back to look down at me, "I'll come by later this evening. Try to come up with something on your end, and I'll keep thinking, too," he told me.
"Okay," I nodded, and watched the white-haired boy make his way out of the infirmary. Before dinner, Isabella would probably announce Norman's 'adoption,' but I wouldn't get to see it.
…
As promised, Norman returned under the inky blanket of night, shutting the door carefully behind him as he arrived in the infirmary. Expecting him, I had lit the oil lamp on my bedside table and had some scraps of paper that I'd written some of my ideas down on.
While Norman was gone, I'd come up with something promising, and I was kind of excited to share it with him.
But it looked like there was something he wanted to share with me, too. He held it out in front of him for me to see, as he sat down next to me.
As I gazed down at the items, my eyes widened. It was the mould of the key, and the promised pen that Sister Krone left behind for us.
"They were right where your notes said they'd be… so this pen will really help guide you towards that shelter? How does it work?" he asked, fiddling with it; he ended up pulling it open while trying to remove the lid, and jumped, startled when a hologram lit up from within it, "Whoa… is this…?" he muttered.
"It's a map of the outside world," I noted, gazing at it.
"So, this is what the world outside looks like… It's different to the ones we had in the library," he commented, and I nodded; he closed it and the hologram shut off, "Anyway, I'll hide these in your bedside drawer when I get back. Getting back to a way for me and our new allies to track you… Did you come up with anything?" Norman asked me.
I nodded while smiling eagerly, "I think so. Do you remember my codenames in my first notebook I showed you; Black is Demons, and White is Humankind. In order words, they're Darkness and Light, respectively." I asked him, excited to tell him my idea.
"Yes…?" Norman prompted, willing to hear me out on my idea.
"Therefore, we should use the symbols for Yami and Hikari!" I said, and he looked like he was caught off guard. After all, he's never heard Japanese before.
"Huh? Yam…ee?" the boy tilted his head
His confusion was understandable. But I should really start explaining it to him, so he understands my plan.
"Oh… um… Sorry, I got ahead of myself! Listen, Norman," I began, "Since I was able to, I've been reading almost every book in this House's library, and not one of them has had anything on a language called Japanese. So, the Demons won't realise I understand that language, right?" I prompted.
"You do? Was that what those words were? Japanese words?" Norman leaned in, curious.
"Yes! They mean Darkness and Light respectively. And Japanese uses different characters to anything we would have seen in this house before. But in my previous life, I was actually studying it in my free time so I can still understand a bit. But what do you think would happen if I carved them in the trees, supposedly randomly, as we travelled towards the shelter?" I asked him a leading question.
Norman put his hand to his chin, thinking about it, before his eyes lit up with fascination.
His eyes darted back to me, "They wouldn't expect us to know what the symbols mean, so they wouldn't think to rely on them to guide them… That's genius! Okay. Show me the symbols for, uh, yam-ee and he-car-ee…?" he asked, and as instructed, I produced the scrap of paper I'd noted down the kanji symbols and their meanings on.
Norman took it, his eyes running over the symbols with an intense focus.
I licked my lips, "You should destroy it before leaving. If Mama finds it, she'll surely inform her higher-ups about it. Then it'll be all for naught," I said, and blinked when he gave the piece of paper back to me within seconds, "Eh?" I uttered.
Norman grinned, "Don't worry. I've already memorized them," he said, as if that were the simplest thing in the world.
"Already!?" My eyes nearly bulged out. Wow! Norman really is a genius, after all…!
Norman sat up straight, folding his hands over his lap, "We can use these as breadcrumbs to find you guys. We'll use Hikari to say 'you're getting warmer' and Yami to say 'you're getting colder.' Okay?" he asked me, and I thought about it.
"But… what if, on the off chance, our pursuers do know the symbols? They might figure that Hikari will relate to humans and end up using it to track us after all. So what if we reverse it. And say that Yami is 'you're getting warmer,' instead…?" I put forward.
"Alright. That might happen, so we'll reverse the symbols' meaning." After a moment, Norman nodded his head in consent, and I smiled; "… Thanks, Anna," he added.
"…Happy to help." I said after a moment, letting out a sigh of relief.
Hopefully, this reverse psychology would save us a lot of trouble, in the future, as well as throw off our pursuers.
But… Now that this has all been sorted and finalised, I ended up feeling a pit in my stomach, and I sighed again.
"What's wrong?" Norman asked me softly.
I shook my head, furrowing my brows, "It's nothing… just… I'm going to miss you, Norman." I revealed to him.
In response, I felt his arms wrap around my shoulders as I was pulled into a warm hug. His cheek brushed against my ear;
"I'll miss you guys, too… Look after everyone for me while I'm gone, okay?" he said quietly.
"I will…!" I nodded, wrapping my arms around my 'Chief Big Brother' in return. We sat like that for a few moments, before he pulled away.
"Also… It's been on my mind, since you told me you'd lived a previous life. Could you tell me more about what it was like? About your family, and school… and… What was your name, back then?" he asked, his thumb rubbing my back lightly.
I widened my eyes in surprise.
I both did and didn't expect a question like that. I licked my lips again, feeling them dry up again.
"You want to know about all of that?" I asked him, my voice smaller than I thought it'd be. I'd been doing my best to not think about my time as her. It just made me feel homesick, these days.
Norman didn't know that, and that's why he got curious, probably.
He nodded his head, "Yeah. I want to know the real you. Will you tell me?" he asked me innocently.
I sighed inwardly, wanting to repress it, but giving into his curiosity.
I nodded, "Mmhm… Okay. My name… was Lucy Gardner," I began with my name, and the boy smiled widely.
"Lucy…" that name slipped out from his lips, his voice full of wonder, "That's a great name," he added gently.
I bit my lip, "Thanks."
"And your family?" he prompted, and again, I gave into him. I ended up answering all the questions he had for me, until eventually, we both became tired.
He soon snuck back to his room, and we both retired for the night.
The next day, though it should have dragged over with me stuck in my infirmary bed, was actually quite productive. I'd gotten a flash of determination, and with it, inspiration.
Norman was leaving today, but I'd made him a promise. Several, actually, but there was one in particular that I wanted to get over my anxieties for completing.
Telling everyone the truth about me.
I'd had an idea, while I was eating breakfast in bed, that I should make a list of things I needed to explain to everyone, as well as reasons to motivate me to get over my hesitation and spill.
It had proved therapeutic, in a way.
I felt better about telling everyone, once we're out of this place. I just hoped that they'd take it as well as Norman did.
The fact that Norman still trusted and believed in me after I unloaded the whole truth of who I was, before I was Anna, was immensely encouraging.
Also, another remedy for a boring day of bedrest was that some of the kids, like Phil, Conny, Yvette and Jemima, came to visit and played with me. I ended up telling them their favourite story, about a certain queen with ice powers.
It was a good day.
But I had to temper my smile, when Don came in.
"Anna! How're you holding up?" he started off enthusiastic, before becoming a bit more sombre. The fact that Norman was leaving today, and what that really meant, surely dampened his mood. So, I had to match it, so was to not upset them.
They don't know yet… And I don't know if I should just tell them part of the truth to spare them their feelings, or hold out until we're completely free from the House.
I gave a small smile; a token of encouragement; "Hi, Don. I'm okay. The kids have made today more bearable, at least," I replied, and noticed that he had two white, sealed envelopes in his hand.
He saw me eyeballing the envelopes, and held them out for me to see, "I'm here to help you outside, for some fresh air, since Mama said it was okay. But I passed Norman on the way, in the hallway, and he asked me to give these to you. Said not to open them, and just to pass them on," he said, and I nodded, taking the envelopes and looking at them.
One of them had the symbol for 'Light' and one of them had 'Anna' written on it.
Norman probably used the unfamiliar Japanese kanji to dissuade Don from snooping, just in case.
I nodded, and shifted to slide them underneath my pillow.
I then turned to Don and spoke, "Can you help me get up?" I asked him with a smile and he nodded, giving me his hand.
I carefully slid my legs, both good and bad, out from under the covers and took Don's hand, letting him pull me to my feet.
"Thanks," I said, turning to pull the covers back up to the pillow after me.
"You're not gonna read them?" he asked me curiously.
"I'll read them later… I want to see Norman, while I still can. He didn't visit me once today," I answered Don.
Don scratched his cheek, "Yeah… Sorry, we were all busy with the plan, ya know? We didn't mean to leave you alone, really," he admitted, and handed me the crutches.
I took them, nodding, "It's okay. Norman's safety is the priority…" I agreed, and tilted my head towards the door, "Let's go?"
Don nodded, and hovered beside me was we headed outside.
After making it outside, I hobbled over to join Emma and Ray, by the big tree. Hearing my crunching footsteps in the grass, Emma and Ray's heads turned to spot me.
Emma immediately bounded over to meet me half way, grabbing my shoulder with one hand,
"Anna, how are you doing? Sorry, today's been so busy," she said to me, and I nodded.
"Don't worry. I had a great day, with Phil, Conny, Yvette and Jemima, telling stories." I reassured her.
Emma's eyes lit in recognition, "Ahhh… Frozen, right?" she guessed.
"You got it in one," I nodded in agreement.
Emma smiled, "That one's their favourite, after all. It's pretty good," she commented, as the two of us made it back to the tree, where Ray was standing.
I nodded my head to Ray, "Norman is…?" I asked him.
Ray nodded in return, "…already out of here," he said confidently, and I forced my smile to stay on my face, even though I knew the contrary had happened and Norman would be back any minute now.
"That's good. I'm glad." I said softly, and Ray grunted in agreement, lifting his hand to pat my head. Again. He used to do that a lot, when we were smaller, but suddenly he stopped doing it.
But it seems lately, he's okay with doing it again. I let him. Head pats are nice, after all.
"How's the leg?" he asked me nonchalantly.
"Still broken," I quipped, and he snorted.
"Right. But once it's healed, we'll join Norman," Ray replied, and Emma, Don and Gilda who was nearby nodded in agreement.
After a few minutes, I head Thoma and Lannion speaking.
"Eh? That's weird…" Lannion commented, followed by Thoma, who wondered; "Where's Norman?"
Next to them, Isabella frowned and brought out her compact to check Norman's location. I heard Ray huff out a laugh, and I glanced to him to see him smirking.
But then, his smirk was wiped right off of his face, and I returned my gaze to Isabella to see why. Isabella was smiling, looking calm. She then turned to face Norman, who was returning from the forest with a resigned look on his face.
It seemed as though, even though he'd been reassured by the information that I shared with him, it didn't stop him from feeling anxious.
"Welcome back. Norman." Isabella said to him, and he nodded.
A bunch of kids, including Sherry and Phil, ran up to greet Norman, and he smiled and greeted them in return.
"No… Why…?" Emma's small voice slipped out next to me.
My heart throbbed painfully, and I lowered my gaze, sighing out. Only an hour or so left, now, Norman.
"What the heck are you up to? If you stay here, you're going to die. Run away now. Disappear!" Ray snapped at Norman, after he, Emma and I had brought him back to the infirmary for a little 'talk.' Norman had already donned the waist-coat of his 'adoption clothes,' and I watched everything from a seat nearby.
"No." Norman firmly rebutted, "I have no intention of running away. There are too many risks to me doing so after all," he said.
"…Huh?" Ray's voice wavered as he asked for an explanation of some sort.
"Anyway, you need to listen to me. We don't have a lot of time left. I have to report what I saw while inspecting the escape route," Norman continued; sucking in a breath, he steeled himself before adding, "There was a cliff. And you couldn't see the bottom of it." He told us.
Just like I'd described, it looked like Norman was thinking as he glanced to me.
"What?" Emma and Ray's response echoed each other.
"Sister Krone wasn't lying. And the Demons weren't taking us lightly. There's no security because there's no way kids like us would be able to escape over that wall. At least, not by jumping." Norman explained, "That's why, instead, I decided to run along the wall. The wall split in two, to about a 60-degree angle. The sections inside the wall were identical, and on the other side of the wall, it's a sheer drop. Thanks to Ray, I wasn't confused. So, it's like this;
The plants are connected one each side of the walls. And there are six lots. We're plant three, and the lot directly east of us is probably headquarters. I can deduce that because even though we're surrounded by cliffs, only that lot had a bridge. If you're going to escape, you'll have to use that bridge." Norman finished, showing a drawn diagram of the farms' layout that he'd been making as he told us all the information he'd gathered.
Almost as soon as he'd finished speaking, there was a small knock at the door, before it opened and Phil bounced in, a tearful Sherry in tow to see Norman again.
"Norman! Mama's calling you!" Phil said cheerfully as ever, his eyes twinkling as he smiled cutely at Norman.
Norman returned the smile in kind, "Let her know that I'll be right over," he told Phil, who nodded.
He left, Sherry hesitantly following behind after glancing at Norman a few times.
At that, Norman dutifully shrugged on his blazer jacket, and went over to his suitcase to close it shut. As I remembered, the only thing in it was the paper-cup phones we'd played with as kids.
He picked something up from next to it, and handed it to Ray, "I'll give this back to you," he said, as Ray hesitantly took it, looking chagrinned.
It was Ray's gadget for breaking the tracking devices.
"I didn't use it, but you still can. Use it when you guys get out of here," he told us.
"You…" Ray uttered, displeased, "So you were planning on coming back here from the beginning! With how you were acting yesterday, I shouldn't have been fooled into thinking you would…! You didn't return just to tell us about the cliff. You could have easily reported that to us while you were in hiding!" he was nearly shouting;
"Then… w-why…? You said we were going to survive together, but you were already planning to…!" Ray's voice died down, becoming heavy.
Norman smiled, "You're right. Sorry, I lied. Like I thought, I can't risk making a mistake or it could ruin you guys' future. I refuse to let anyone else die. If I ran away, the plan might have been ruined. It'd be harder to escape. Even if it's just by a little, that's a problem for me. I can't lose, no matter what," Norman said, and gave a sigh, "It'd be pointless to argue this with me any further, Ray. I've already made my decision and I'm going to stick to it, for you guys' sake," he added gently.
Ray sighed, and fell back to sit on my bed, next to Emma.
"I did what I could today. I'm leaving the rest to you, to make it successful," Norman added, and stepped forward, pulling Emma and Ray into a tight hug; "Thank you for everything. I'm sure we'll meet again one day, so please don't cry for me," he said warmly.
I saw Ray and Emma tearing up.
"What are… you even saying… you idiot…? That's impossible if you go now…!" Ray strangled out his words, burying his face into Norman's neck, hiding his tears from my sight.
"Come on, Norman… I-It's not too late, to run and hide in the forest…!" Emma insisted. Norman shook his head.
"Like I've just said," Norman pulled away from the two of them, leaving them at a loss; "I've already made up my mind." He said, and turned away, facing me with a smile.
He stepped towards me, opening up his arms for a hug, and I hurriedly pushed myself up, hopping on one leg and he caught me.
"Whoa, be careful Anna!" he gasped, wrapping his arms around me for one last hug, "Please take care of those two for me, okay? Thank you, for all the years we had together so far. I've enjoyed them immensely," Norman told me.
I smiled sadly and nodded into his shoulder, "I've loved every day, too. I'm going to miss you…!" I replied.
"Thank you," Norman repeated, and lowered his voice to a whisper, "Did Don deliver them to you?" he asked me, and I nodded again.
"Yes," I said.
"Good. The one with the symbol, is something I wrote for everyone else. Please give it to them when you've escaped. Or whenever you think it would best help." Norman said quietly to me, and my heart twisted.
I hugged him tighter, "I will. Thank you so much, Norman…!" I whispered back, and after a few moments, we let each other go. Norman reached out and handed me my crutches, before grabbing his suitcase and adjusting his tie.
"Well… I'd better go to Mama," Norman decided, and left the three of us behind in the infirmary.
Onigiriri: I hope you liked this chapter, even though it was dialogue-heavy, yet again. I also want to make it clear, if it wasn't already, that this story is strictly following the manga and won't be covering Season 2's anime-original plot. Thus, Norman will be gone for a while in this story, for much longer than in the anime according to what I've heard on Youtube. So, if you don't want to be spoiled on arguably one of the best shonen battle arcs ever, aka, Goldy Pond arc, I highly suggest you find and read the manga before we get to the part where they meet Mujika and Sonju from S2.
Thank you for reading. If you've got the time, please leave a review. The last chapter didn't get a lot of response which was a little sad, for me. xxx
(Posted, February 11th, 2021.)
