Ilias was tired of being stuck in a room with a small guy in a neon colored wizard's hat. As they both decided that sitting in a classroom would be boring, they went to training. But since the lockdown and the blaring sounds, he felt claustrophobic. It didn't help that he heard an explosion. It also didn't help that said guy and his partner were looking for him with bloodthirsty intent. Nevermind justice, if they found out he'd be shot on site. But it was interesting that some things that you search for are right there in front of you, speaking to you and occasionally insulting and annoying you. He paced back and forth in the room from one side to the other.
"If you keep pacing, there's going to be a 6 ft line by the time that this is done. Good thing is I won't have to dig the graves if anyone's dead." Mid quipped from the ceiling.
"How much longer will we be stuck in here?" Ilias asked.
"Until the threat is deemed clear and done."
"Can we pull a spy movie and get into the air ducts?" There was one such air duct above Ilias and a few feet to his right.
"Oh! Like pulling a Skids!"
"What?" Ilias paused his pacing for a second, looking perplexed.
"Nevermind. But the point is, these airducts are sectioned off. You won't get far."
"Is there anything that we can do to get out?"
"Well, unless you can smash through very solid walls, not really."
Ilias found a small table to drag over and stand on. He removed the plate of the duct and looked into it.
He was greeted by a bread roll to the face. He blinked, surprised. The bread roll rolled away, revealing Mari. She put a finger to her lips and looked past Ilias at Mid. Then she softly tapped out,
Intruder. Assassin. You or director.
Go to director. I'll be fine. Thank you. He tapped back. Him or the director. He really just couldn't get a break, could he?
She nodded and crawled away.
"What's so interesting up there?" Mid asked. "Have the pearl pigeons returned to roost in the ducts?"
"Well, I see metal, and I'm pretty sure I see the dividers. It looks like they've been cut though. They aren't supposed to have a big gaping hole, right?"
"No, that's about as unusual as me not talking." Mid peered down towards the ducts. "Well, mah dear Watson, only one way to solve this mystery!" He pulled out a neon blue deerstalker from nowhere and replaced his wizard hat with it.
"You've got to tell me where you're getting those hats."
Mid waggled his eyebrows. "A pocket dimension. No biggie. Now, sidekick, onward and upward! To find the duct-muncher!"
"Are you coming with?" Ilias asked, debating how to get in the duct without looking ridiculous. Then he got in the vents, going in the opposite direction of Mari.
"Do you think the Magnificent Midnightravenguard the Glorious would turn down such an intriguing adventure? Of course I'm coming!" And with that, he strolled over to the grate and hopped down into it.
"Great. Let's find out where this goes." Ilias replied, crawling forward.
Mid crawled on the ceiling of the duct. He started humming a catchy tune. "Bop dee bee bop doo doo... Crawling in an air duct, me 'n' you..."
"Please tell me that isn't an actual song."
"'Air Duct' by the Enthusiastic Emeralds," Mid said with a straight face. "A minor hit in some areas of the astral plane. Bap bee dee doo doo bap... Shuffle along, stomp and clap..."
"Interesting." Well, they definitely were being the opposite of sneaky. The grate they were passing showed a lab. People were slumped in various positions, looking like they had abruptly fallen asleep. Ilias paused to look, squinting.
"Helloooooooooo!" Mid called. No one stirred.
"This isn't normal, right?"
"Nopity nope. Last I checked, it wasn't 'Take a Nap at Work Day.'" Mid stuck out his tongue at the sleepers.
"Great. Onwards we go. These guys aren't going anywhere."
"Onwards, upwards, downwards, sidewards, wards words wyrds." Mid hummed as he continued along the duct.
The gravity suddenly flipped, and Ilias found himself lying on what was the top of the vent. Mid fell (was lifted?) to the bottom of the vent. He continued humming, seemingly unconcerned. Ilias turned around and continued crawling. Eventually, the laser cut dividers ended, and there was a single grate. Ilias opened it and slipped out.
Mid followed, doing a somersault in mid-air before landing with a soft thump. He glanced around and whistled. "So, the void way?"
"It appears so. Now what?"
"Now we chase the void of sound and go round and round to where silence abounds."
"In layman terms that even celebrities can understand?"
"Find the strange quiet." Mid pointed into the air, twirled a bit, then pointed down an empty hallway.
"Make it more obvious Mid."
"We hunt down the intruder." Mid tapped his deerstalker.
"Uh huh. And how do you intend that we do so?"
"Go the void way." Mid marched down the corridor he'd pointed to.
Ilias just groaned, and dramatically crumpled to the floor. "You're killing me with nonsense."
"Ah, just wait until you see me on a Fried Day. Fried clams and oysters for miles." Mid skipped down the wall. Ilias picked himself up off the ground and followed, jogging a little to catch up.
There was a bang from the room next to them. Mid froze. It was the director's office.
The door opened, and a short person strolled out. Their brown eyes flicked between Mid and Ilias, then lingered on Ilias. The upper half of their face was covered in a mask, but their manic grin was quite visible. Ilias instinctively locked into a position of stiff and ready to fight.
But the person simply fluttered their fingers in a cheeky goodbye and darted down the hall.
Mid rushed into the room. Ilias followed him instead of the assassin. It wasn't him, this time. Only Darkness knew about next time.
Inside the room, Director Pan's blue eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling. There were signs of a fight, but it appeared to have been brief. Mid stood there, silent and motionless, as if someone had frozen time just for Mid.
Ilias just stood there silently for a second. Then he went over and closed the former director's eyes before going back over to Mid, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
Mid stared at Director Pan--no, at his sister. His gaze was as vacant as hers had been in death.
They stood in silence for a minute. Then emotion came crashing down on Mid, and he fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. His tears spoke volumes more than any words he could have said. Ilias just was there, with him, being a shoulder to lean on.
Finally, the sound voices and footsteps from down the hall grew louder. Mid hastily wiped the tears from his face. A security team entered the room.
"We heard a gunshot..." The leader trailed off as he took in the scene. His face grew grim. "An assassin," he gritted out.
Mid just nodded, not looking back at the security team. His eyes were glued on his sister's corpse.
Efficiently, the security team started to cordon off the crime scene. One of them tapped Ilias on the shoulder. They sounded slightly apologetic as they asked whether he had any more information on the assassination.
He gave them the description of the assassin, refusing to leave Mid's side. Mid had stopped sobbing, but now he was stonily silent, and somehow that was worse. Much worse. Ilias decided that it was his mission to stick with Mid.
The security team called more people, who came to photograph and analyze the crime scene. During the time it took to document the death of the director and write up a preliminary assessment of the crime, Mid said nothing.
Convenient time for Agent Potash to show up. She strode into the room, took one look at Mid, and tossed a garishly silver wizard hat at him. He grabbed it, and stared at it for a few times before looking up at her. He made a sound somewhere between a hiccup, a sob, and a laugh.
Agent Potash looked almost sorry for a moment as she turned to Ilias and said, "Take him to his room. Make sure he eats and stays hydrated." Then she got to business and began discussing the crime with a member of the security team.
Ilias just nodded, and started coaxing Mid to stand up. "Come on. I've got orders to see through."
Mid kept clutching the wizard hat. His mouth opened and closed as if trying to form words, but then he simply nodded weakly and staggered to his feet. Ilias led him out of the room, and stood in the hall for a second to get his bearings before leading Mid to the right. Mid followed him quietly, worrying the edge of the hat with his fingertips.
They reached Mid's room, which unlike Ilias', was decorated. Ilias would look later. For now, he led Mid to his bed. Mid sank into the hot pink blanket and promptly collapsed backwards onto the mattress. Ilias went over to the kitchen, and searched for food. There was a banana as well as some mangoes on the counter. Ilias grabbed the banana, and found a bottle of water. He took it over to Mid.
Mid had been staring at the ceiling, but he glanced over at Ilias when he returned and attempted a smile. It wobbled and became more of a shy frown. The expression did not suit Mid. Ilias just sort of awkwardly watched in silence, his brain spinning as he tried to think of something to do.
Mid coughed, then whispered, "You can go. I'll be okay." He patted the tacky silver wizard hat. "Wizanda here will keep me company."
"No pulling stupid stuff, yeah?"
Mid nodded. "When have I ever?" He attempted a smirk. "Don't answer that."
"You know where my room is. Visit if you need to." Ilias smiled back, and exited the room.
Gender:
Points: 399
Reviews: 3