.·✧☆Stellarium☆✧·.

Chapter 10

Arthur, Changing Tides | 2,955 words

I walk up to Violet’s study, her own private room to just think and relax in. I’d been called in earlier to meet her here to talk, never a good thing. Standing in front of the heavy wooden door always elicits a feeling of dread in me, but it could always be good news. No, I shouldn’t think that, even if it maybe possibly could be her offering me a spot on the lab 3 team. I struggle to stifle the idea she is calling me in here to congratulate me on my good work and maybe even offer me a spot on her elite team. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves as I open the door to see her inside, sitting in her large cushioned chair by the fireplace. She’s thumbing through two files, one noticeably larger than the other.

“Do you want to know what I just got word of Arthur?” Violet asks me, her voice as calm and cold as ever. My heart beats faster as my stomach drops. “No, not really” is all I can manage to squeak out. “I just got word that the princess is on your trail, just one city over. I thought you said they had no idea of our operation.” I get lightheaded as my heart rate continues to spike, both of us are now aware the jig is up. “Maybe she’s here in Forra on some other official business?” Violet seems completely unamused and unconvinced at this idea.

“I don’t think that’s possible. See, I had someone run some background checks on not just her, but who she’s with.” She holds up the two files that were in her off-hand, “One of them is an up and coming junior investigator, the other has no traceable history outside of being her lady in waiting.” She places them on the small table between us that's been keeping me safe. “And I almost forgot to mention how sloppy you were getting your last artifact as well, now I have word the local police in Arkael are searching for you. There are multiple eye witness accounts of you fighting on top of a train.”

I know exactly where this is going, “Look, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” I breathe out. “I can still help you, I can still be useful, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it,” I plead with her. Her expression remains unmoved from the glare she had set on her face when I was called in. “You have single-handedly led the most dangerous people to my life’s work directly to our doorstep and you still think you have something to offer me?” She sounded somewhat amused just saying that, finally cracking a slight smile. She stands up and tosses the files in her hand onto the coffee table between us. “Why don’t you go ahead and read those? It seems you don't understand the gravity of this situation.”

I pick up the files and thumb through them lightly, Sybyll’s being extraordinarily light, and it contained some strange pictures of her. The dark ginger haired guys’ file was much heavier, it contained an amount of data that makes my head spin.

This isn’t fair though, I was only following orders. “The only reason you even have the Crystalian sword in your labs is because of me.” I stowed my blatant and obvious fear to just say anything. I’ve given my entire existence to her, and her work from the first day she took me in. “I am the only person here who could have gone in there, befriended her and played the long game. Violet, I have spent my whole life paying back what you’ve done for me.” I know I’m only putting my foot in my mouth further but I just can’t stop myself.

“I am easily your best, and I can continue to be your best, just please let me stay.” My voice embarrassingly cracks at the end of that sentence. She breaks her composure and somewhat stifles a laugh at me. “You don’t know what I’ve sacrificed to raise you as my own. Any kind of good will you may have earned is gone now, my actual best and brightest are being put to good work right now on chromaglobin transfers. You have only been more trouble than you’re worth since you've come here.” I refuse to move away from her as she makes her way closer. “You are no different from the sniveling weak little boy who I first took care of, out of the goodness in my heart. I’ve obviously raised you too kindly, for you to feel so entitled to my work.”

“Violet, I have put my life on the line multiple times for you! For your research! All I’ve wanted is to be helpful to you.” I step forward. “What did those people do for you to put them on the lab 3 team? Have they put their own lives out for the sake of your research? I deserved to be put on that team and you know it.” By the time I am up in her face, I feel it happen before I see it, a tightness in my chest prevents me from breathing properly. Violet’s multicolored eyes light up as I notice it's her using her magic. I crumple to the floor in pain, even though we’ve been through this so many times before. “You are an extremely ungrateful child, I thought you had grown out of it by now.” I’m making horrible noises gasping for air, but it doesn’t matter to me. “This power isn’t even yours,” I wheeze out. “I know what you did to get it.” She picks me up and slams me into the opposing wall using her magic, knocking out the small amount of air left in me. “You know nothing” I take a few moments to sputter and cough, I catch my breath and get myself out of her office.

Now that she’s obviously going to get rid of me, nothing really matters here anymore. Fuck it, I mean this is really stupid of me but I don’t care anymore. I make my way to my soon-to-be-ex-room and gather the small amount of things I actually own into a bag, and a few nice things that aren't mine I plan to pawn for cash later. I’ll see how she does without me, nobody to go out into the field and find her precious fennagon garbage. I grab my lockpicking tools, for one last hurrah I’m breaking into lab 3 and I’m wrecking it, lets see her best and brightest fix this.

I can’t let anyone see that I’m doing this, Vi is never going to let me come home. I could always not do this… but she’s probably planning to send me away anyways. I use one of my tools to tilt the lock and press up against the pins. Nothing on one, nothing on two, and three clicks into place. I repeat the process of going in order to push all the pins into place successfully and the door unlocks. I feel my heartbeat in my arms as a shaky hand raises to open the door. I let out a shaky breath as I open the door.

I stood in the doorway in shock for a few seconds, it was nothing like I was expecting. There’s an observation room attached to the top of the lab that I was unaware of, machinery whirring and beeping on the sides of the room. In the back was a girl, staring at me with wild yellow eyes through messy short blonde hair. Chains clatter as she attempts to rush towards me, the clasp around her neck holding her back the most. She lets out an animalistic growl-yelp sound as she claws at the clasp on her neck. I take a few steps in and try to understand what exactly is going on here. My confusion is only amplified when I notice the clasps around the base of her wings. “Hey, hey, I’m not here to hurt you.” Saying that does absolutely nothing and I’m not sure what to do now. I don't want to leave without doing anything but this is weird. “I can take those chains off you? Let you out?” she stops moving as I take a few shaky steps closer to her.

I choose to take the stillness as a show of good faith and look for how to take those shackles off of her. I get close enough behind her to try and unlock the clasp around her neck first. It's got enough breathing room to somewhat see the welts and scar tissue from the contact to her skin. Unfortunately my lockpicking tools wont work on this kind of lock, I’ve never even encountered it before. I should try to unlock it magically then, I could undo the mechanism from the inside. My palm glows green as I attempt to use it on the lock, but the shackles are made of pure silver. Genuine pure silver. Violet wouldn't even spare that for bullets, they were all made from an alloy.

This is actually insane, I mean who keeps someone locked up like this? Would this have happened to me??? Granted, she is weird with the wings and all, but we nearly exclusively take in people who don't have the ability to do magic. She seems like the exact opposite of that. What possibly could be the reason to literally shackle someone? I hear a rustle from the observation room and look up, someone I can't quite make out leaves the room in a hurry. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. Okay if someone saw me they’re going to tell Violet, if that wasn’t Violet herself. I need to get out of here immediately before I get shackled too, but I can’t just leave someone here. I desperately claw at and try to break the chains to no avail. My breakout attempt is cut short when I hear her footsteps approaching. “I’m sorry,” I say in a hushed voice to the girl before using my magic to turn invisible and press myself against the nearest wall.

Her eyes see through me as Violet slams open the door. She is visibly seething, her hair is a mess, her lab coat sleeves usually neat and clean messily rolled up her arms. I still my breathing as a cold sweat rolls down my body. “He’s been in here hasn’t he,” she says to the girl. The girl says nothing back to her as I try to quietly shuffle along the wall out of the lab. She stares through violet the same way she stared through me, which is strange because I am invisible. “Speak to me, is he still in this room?” She smoothes out her hair, as I continue to try to make as little sound as possible. The girl looks away from her, annoyed. Violet slaps her using the back of her hand “You will answer when I ask” the girl snarls and lunges at her, only for the exposed skin hitting the shackles to make a sizzling noise. She steps back away from Violet, who hasn’t moved an inch. “We both know that didn’t hurt, now is he here?”

I hear a barely audible “no” from the girl when I look to the doorway and see that I’m closer to the door than to Violet. I decided to just make a break for it. A shaky breath is let out of me as I run, immediately alerting her to my presence. I bump into bystanders as I make my escape with pretty much everything I have ever owned on my back. This, of course, breaks my illusion spell and everyone can see me now being run down by Vi. I’m running through people and knocking stuff down to try and get away. Decorative table? Thrown into the middle of the hallway to try and slow down Violet, who is way too fast for a woman her age. She’s gaining on me constantly, but I pull through the exit before her. Shoving a mountain of furniture to block it before she inevitably makes it through. Feeling my nerves in every appendage, I walk out of the front calmly in case there are people around. Of course there aren't though, it's an abandoned building in the side of the city nobody lives in anymore.

I start walking to nowhere, anywhere but here. It's kind of dawning on me that I am somewhat homeless now, with almost no money. Maybe I could become a fisherman. Grow a big fuzzy beard and settle down in Arkael? Violet wouldn’t be able to find me on the high seas, catching fish all day. Yeah, maybe that would be nice, minus the smell. Would I ever be able to clean it out of my clothes? I settle down on an empty park bench. I am so fucked. A fugitive on the run from the entire kingdom of crystalia, personal enemies with the princess and her creepy lady in waiting AND ALSO my evil mom boss thing, doing crazy experiments. Violet is probably hunting me for sport now. Maybe I could turn myself in. Ask for some kind of plea deal or whatever and get the police involved. Nova would never reasonably trust me again though, she’d probably run herself ragged just keeping an eye on me.

The previously overcast sky grows darker as rain begins to fall. Perfect honestly, I need to go buy a room to sleep in for tonight. At least I need to get out of the rain. I find a quaint run down inn and pay the woman at the front nearly all I have in cash for a single night. I get to my room and set my things down. I've got around 5 mix and match outfits including my fancy attire from my time in the castle. Some junk and textbooks, a dip pen and an inkwell. At least I can pawn some of my junk.

I lay down on top of the bed flat, just trying to rest my eyes. I fell asleep at some point, on top of the covers and still in my uncomfortable clothes. My body finally comes down from the adrenaline and relaxes slowly into nothingness. It's calm for once, without any dreams.

My practical coma was only broken out by a loud thud. My brain hadn’t caught up to my eyes, as I shot up from where I slept on the bed I was immediately tackled. I was on the floor in an instant with my hands cuffed behind my back and head on the floor. “This is our guy?” a man further away spoke. I hear a paper rustling as they move me around to compare to a poster. The man closer to me looks between the paper and my scowling face and says “Yeah this is him.” I am shoved out of the room and herded through the lobby like a spectacle to get to the criminal carriage. I actually have no idea what it's called but I think of it like the criminal carriage. It smells really bad here, seriously. But the journey to whatever jail there is here has given me more time to reflect. Like, for instance, how can I bargain with Nova to let me live?

I am shoved into a cell and uncuffed. I can hear the guards mumble and talk to each other about something but I’m not sure what. All of my stuff is in that room in the inn. If I make it out of here at any point I guess I have nothing! Great! Wonderful! You know what? I never even needed that stuff anyways. Who needs money or clothes or… I don't think I actually brought food with me. Anyways I think at this point death would be preferable to whatever punishment is being created specifically for me. “Hey kid.” a gruff looking man wanders over to my cell. “D’ya mind smilin’? We need a picture for tha paper,” He sits down on a wooden stool, camera in hand, and flashes me with the stupid bright light. I can’t help but squint and scowl. “Ya look gorgeous” he lets out a deep laugh and leaves. This is probably the worst day in the history of the entire world.

I flop back over onto the bed, face down and think about screaming into the pillow. I don't. I do think about it though. I eventually go back to sleep like this, kind of hoping I suffocate in my sleep. Once more, dreamless slumber carries me away, only to be woken up some time later. I have no idea what day it is or when, there are no windows here. The sound of the door to the jail opening is what makes me get up. They gave me a hearty serving of slop for apparently breakfast, which in all actuality was much better than the stuff we had in the lab. I didn’t want to make it look like I enjoyed it though. The hours ticked by, I had taken to using a stray stone to draw crudely on the floor. This was actually not as bad as I was expecting. I was drawing anything and everything I could think of. Mostly images from memory in my anatomy textbooks.

The jingling of keys makes my ears perk up as the door opens again, this time a woman, “You have visitors, so play nice.” And who do I see other than the three people I wanted to see the least behind Violet.