TWs: Imminent danger, secrets, intrusive thoughts, slight blood, weapons. Stay safe :)

"The eclipse?" Tord raised an eyebrow, "But that's in..." His gaze shifted towards his dad.

"Two—" Pat hesitated, staring at his laptop screen with blank eyes, "Two days..."

Tord grunted, stuffing his face into his hands, "Looks like we'll have to pack everything up tonight."

Pau turned to him, his arms across his chest as he gave him a look, "Tonight?"

"I don't want to take any chances," Tord uttered, his eyebrows furrowing, "Pat, your group heads for the lab tomorrow."

"Alright." Pat nodded, "I'll tell You and Yan then."

"Thank you, Jon," Tord spoke, looking at the apparition with tired eyes.

"No problem, Tord! I also flew by Arthur and Larry's room; they're doing fine as far as I can tell." The ghost continued, "Besides looking a bit thinner... I think they only get one meal a day."

"I'm not surprised." Tord muttered, "Jon, can you tell Eduardo and Mark about the changes? They should still be outside."

"On it!"

"What do we tell the others?" Pau asked when the ghost left.

"Tell them we're leaving first thing in the morning." Tord stood up, grabbing his coat, "I still need to get maintenance done on my arm."

"Right. I suppose I have to be the one to pack your things as well, then?"

"What can I say? Maintaining the arm takes a lot of time." Tord flexed his metal hand, a few squeaks coming out of it.

"Make sure to take breaks." Pau ruffled Tord's caramel locks, "Can't have you almost die on us again."

Tord grumbled, swatting his arm away, "Oi! Quit it!"

They went their separate ways, Pau heading for the bunkers and Tord walking to the maintenance room. He found Pat, You, and Yan in there, standing before a blueprint of the sewers.

"We can always split off here." You pointed out an area on the blueprint, "Pat can go through there while Yan and I move forward and split off here."

"But what about this part down here? It's just an open space that Yan is going through. He can't run through it without being seen by a camera." Pat opposed.

"It can't be that hard." Yan shrugged, "I can take out all the cameras simultaneously. I just need the right device."

Pat opened his mouth, giving him an incredulous look, "It's a miracle you both survived this long."

Tord averted his gaze from them to his workstation. Various tools and blueprints were scattered along the table, covering about every inch of the space. He noted that Bing and the drone he found were also nearby. Tord had no idea what the guy was doing, but he seemed to be talking to himself. That was a normal occasion, so Tord shrugged it off and went to his workstation.

'Alright, so first, I'll need to refurbish the metal... maybe replace some parts with steel for more durability.' Tord twisted the end of the arm, pressing a few buttons. He winced as the arm popped off, laying it on the table before him. He massaged the stump of his arm, grunting at the soreness that resided. It was a side effect of wearing the prosthetic for too long. He would never get used to how uncomfortable the aching was.

Huffing, Tord brought his toolbox closer. He wasn't left-handed, but he had to learn to use it more when losing his right arm. It came in handy more than he thought it would.

"...and then before this all happened, like five years ago," Bing's voice reached the leader's ears as he reached for a towel on the rack. He shifted his eyes to where the brunette was sitting, "I convinced Larry to take a break for once in his life. He never took a break; he always worked overtime to clean up after me, even though we're toge-"

"Bing," Tord spoke up, startling the director.

"Yes? What can I, the Evil Director, do for you?" Bing looked at him, his emerald eyes twitching.

"Are you talking to a drone...?"

Bing glanced at Primis, who sat on the counter next to him, "Uh, yes...?" Primis made a chirping sound.

Tord looked at him, then the drone, "Alright then..." He uttered as he turned back to his work.

Bing watched as the caramel-headed leader returned to what he was doing, huffing a slight sigh. His emerald eyes shifted back to the counter, where his hands were fiddling with a small navy blue box.

Bing continued, his voice whispering, "Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if we didn't get that call from Arthur... would I have done it, or would I have chickened out again?"

Primis let out a low hum, its red eye flickering as it analyzed the properties within the box.

"Bing, how's Primis' repair coming along?" You called out to him.

"Wha-? Oh, great! It's coming along great!" Bing straightened up in his seat as he grabbed a set of tweezers, "Just a few more tweaks, and it should work better in no time."

Bing slid the small box into his pocket while grabbing a small flashlight. He tested it a few times before shining it into the inner works of the drone before him.

"Or maybe it was the world saying it wasn't time yet..." Bing mumbled to himself as he started to tweeze a few things around, "Or even worse, we just aren't meant to be together..."

The thoughts scared the director, causing his hands to shake for the rest of the repair. He knew he did a measly job at repairing Primis. He couldn't stop overthinking for the rest of the day. No matter what, the thoughts kept coming back to him. He didn't say anything to anyone; he just ignored them. Matt was especially worried when his uncle didn't return his affectionate greeting.

"It's happening..." He heard Matt whisper at a nearby table in the mess hall.

"Calm down, Mattie... I'm sure it's nothing." Tom tried to reassure him, taking his hands into his own.

Bing frowned; he never meant to worry his favorite nephew, but he couldn't bring himself to tell him.

Juniper eyes scanned the door that was previously vacant. Swiftly, the tall brunette walked up to the door, only to be stopped by the soldiers guarding it.

"We can't let you in." One spoke, their spear pointing directly at the guest's neck.

"Let me guess; under the king's orders, right?" The spear didn't phase him, instead, he took a step forward, letting the spear poke him, "I was told I was allowed anywhere in this bloody palace, and if I don't get what I want, the king will be the least of your worries." The brunette towered over the soldier, scowling at him with a deep sense of revulsion. He didn't seem to know, or at least care, that the soldier's spear had cut through into his skin, now drawing a line of blood.

There was a beat of silence.

Larry was digging into the dresser with a sharp object he found, counting the days they had been in the room. Arthur was sitting on the bed, adjusting C's settings. It was easier to get a signal, but it seemed that Hellucard knew when he was trying to send a message to the others. All he got was static now.

"How many days have we been here?" Arthur asked, hearing the sound of a knife scraping against wood.

"Almost-"

SLAM!

The door of the room flew open, colliding against the wall, "Get down!"

Larry ducked as a red laser shot the camera, "What the fuck-!?"

"You two!" The person stormed over to Larry, yanking the shorter up by the collar of his shirt. Juniper met bronze, "Tell me about him, now!" Edd shouted.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧NOTE✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

What if I ended this story on a cliffhanger...?

JK, I would never do that.

Unless...

Nah.

Maybe.

Comments are appreciated 3