Chained by Flaw pt 3

A ~ K ~ I ~ M ~ I

Two days passed without anything else exciting. Above me the moon waned with the passing nights, but I didn’t get to see from the cage where I remained after being shut back inside by Yern. Ferrin seemed to have no clue of Pan’s infiltration of the grounds, and greeted me with exactly the same smile as before. She always reminded me to tuck my feathers in, and never once mentioned anything of the flaxen-haired, spectacled guard that still remained just near my cage.

            Hours passed during which I sat in my corner just beside the grand staircase. All I could think about was those eyes, orange and flaming, boring into my skull and slipping into my dreams. Through all that time of being beneath such a vivid gaze was spent in fear, I still didn’t hate Pan for any of it. It was obvious there was something about him, maybe a split personality, that caused him to have such a dramatic change between a shy boy to one that couldn’t seem to get close enough to my face while throwing insults at me.

            Yern, on the other hand, didn’t want to speak about that night at all, and even when it was just us two and I would end up talking about it for an hour, he would stay there silent as a petrified tree and didn’t once move his gaze from the glittering crystal chandelier above us. For the first time this sense of being the only one willing to accept a secret…it made me feel lonely. Like I was in my own world with this knowledge, and everyone else was innocent, walking around me as I tried to tell them. But no one would believe me.

            Once I even tried to get a reaction from Ferrin. I mentioned something about the moon being pretty when it was full, and then about some noises I had heard a few nights ago on the roof. She seemed confused and told me it was probably just a flock of birds strutting around. I wasn’t sure if her words had any ulterior meaning, me with my wings and all, but the best I could do was smile back at her and be the same quiet, curious boy that I had always been for her.

            The second day of wallowing away, Ferrin had to go out to a meeting and the house became very quiet. Most of the guards took the day off, and only a few were left for my protection and to make sure no one decided to wander in past the security. Yern stood, silent as always, just beyond the thin gold bars of my cage, staring straight ahead from his post at the foot of the staircase. Faint dark circles rounded the bottom of his dull amber eyes. It was the only obvious sign of his distress, but I saw much more past that.

            Ever since that night meeting Pan, I began noticing different things about people. The little details that gave away everything, from their emotions to where they’d been to bits and pieces of their past. Yern was a difficult one to read compared to some others, but I saw how concerned yet angry he was. From the slight raising of his shoulders in stiffness compared to before Pan’s infiltration to the way his glasses never stayed quite so pristinely spotless when they used to glint like twin sheets of diamond. Even the way he held his hands behind his back told me that he was loyal and never disobeyed his orders, keeping true despite being so unsettled at the moment.

            Nothing came through on his past, though. Everything seemed to be in the way of the details I needed to see. It was slightly upsetting that I couldn’t see all I wanted, but I didn’t try to pry. It was bad enough seeing what I did when those around me tried so hard to hide their emotions from me. Especially Ferrin. I saw her emotions so clearly on her face that it was as though there was nothing left to see beyond that. But when I tried to see past, something happened. My head started to hurt and my vision got a little blurry. I stopped there every time I tried, even though I wanted to push and push until I could find that secret that Ferrin was trying to hide.

            “Master,” came a soft voice.

            “What is it, Yern?” I sighed, curling my legs tighter against my chest. Being that Ferrin was gone, I had removed my shirt and let my wings rest lightly around me, allowing them to stretch.

            “Do you want to leave this place, Master?”

            I couldn’t help but giggle a little. “Why would you think that?” I said, peering over to find Yern as stony-faced as ever.

            “You had a certain look on your face when you watched that boy leave,” he explained in a near whisper. “And since then you never looked at Ferrin in the same way. I always see you thinking, and searching for a window to peer through. You always acted content before. But now you seem like you’re constantly searching for a way out.”

            “Humans are naturally curious beings,” I said. “Pan gave me a lot of new things to be curious about. Isn’t it just a natural reaction to want to know more about something that you’ve only been given hints of?”

            “Master, I’m sorry if I’m being a bit too straight forward, but you aren’t exactly a natural case. Maybe your reactions are human. But your curiosity is far beyond that of a human’s.”

            “What are you trying to tell me, Yern?”

            “I’m trying to say that you’re making it look like you’re willing to do anything to satisfy your curiosity. I’ve seen you looking at me, and looking at Ferrin. You’re trying to figure us out, aren’t you? Trying to search through our auras to find the answers you’re looking for.”

            “How can I look for answers when I don’t know what questions I’m supposed to ask? How can I figure you guys out when the information I get has no point of connection?”

            “You’re a smart boy, Akimi,” Yern sighed, pushing his glasses up with a dexterous finger. With a small start I realized it was the finger he’d been holding on the trigger the night Pan had intruded. “There are many things you can figure out, no matter how well we hide away the answers you’re looking for. Eventually I’m sure you’ll find something intelligent to ask, and somehow you’ll get your answer. Flaws are ruthless by nature. You were brought up well, but there’s no stopping what nature intended. Ferrin won’t always be able to keep you locked up in here. There’s a world out there that needs to be changed. And someone like you can change it if you have the right person backing you up.”

            “Yern,” I interrupted warily, making him flinch slightly and look at me with wide eyes. Shakily he pushed his glasses up once more, setting them at an angle that caught the light and reflected it directly at me.

            “I’ve said too much,” he muttered, turning so he faced the doorway once more and stiffening his posture. “Forgive me, Master Akimi. Just forget I said anything. It would do you well.”

            “But—”

            A soft knocking on the door cut me short. Even Yern seemed surprised, and his breath momentarily caught before it came hissing out in a quick burst. No one visited when Ferrin was away. The guards weren’t supposed to allow anyone within the gates.

            The knocking came again. It was much louder. Two fists now banged away.

            Yern shot a quick glance over his shoulder at me, his expression unreadable. No other guards were immediately nearby. Answering the door was up to him, but I saw how reluctant he was to leave my side, especially under these circumstances. Someone must’ve gotten past the security. Even deliveries were postponed when Ferrin was going to be away. No one, absolutely no one, was allowed in. No one could even make it past the front gate. The security on the mansion was beyond perfect, and the only time it ever went lax was the nights of the full moon when I was allowed free.

            It was the middle of the day now.

            Ferrin wasn’t expected home until late at night.

            So who could possibly be at the door?

C ~ L ~ U ~ E

Curses flowed freely from my mouth like a roaring waterfall as I paced around the alley, holding my aching head. Pan was perched silently at the top of the basement stairs, staring off into space as he usually did and rubbing his knuckles nervously. Now and then his eyes would momentarily glance to me and he would lean forward like he wanted to say something, but as soon as I returned his gaze his mouth snapped shut and he fell right back into still silence.

            “I’m such an idiot!” I hissed, slamming my foot against the brick wall. “That bastard. Why didn’t I notice it earlier?”

            “Don’t blame yourself, Clue,” Pan soothed softly, but I wasn’t listening. This time, not even Pan was going to be able to comfort me.

            Last night I had thought it was perfectly safe, tucked away in my shirt where no one would go for it. But that girl must’ve grabbed it somehow when she had tried to give me a nose job with her fist. The pendant was missing from around my neck, the one that I had promised Pan I would keep safe if it cost my life to protect it. But some silly little girl who couldn’t even talk had slipped it from my neck without me noticing. And now she was gone, vanished from the face of the earth for all we knew.

            Letting out a strangled cry, I roundhouse kicked a trashcan and sent it skittering down the alley, the lid bouncing away and trash spilling to the pavement with each roll of the can. Pan was at my arm in an instant, tugging at me.

            “Clue, please. Don’t get so angry.” His eyes pleaded with me, but I saw the pain shining in those dark irises. “Look, they said themselves they were trying to reunite all these Flaws, right? And we’re two of them. So they’re going to come back to find us eventually. Which means we’ll probably get it back soon.”

            “You’re so naïve,” I laughed, shaking away Pan’s gentle grip. “Don’t you see? They’ll probably sell it. Get quite a price off of it, too. And all they’ll use it on is donuts and coffee. We can’t let them just toss it away like that.”

            “You don’t know they would—”

            “Pan, I just know, okay?” I turned my back to the shivering boy, leaning my hands against the wall and trying to calm my stuttering heart. “I’ve spent my whole life dealing with these kinds of people. They don’t care about others and their belongings. They will do anything and everything just to get what they want, even if it means bulldozing over someone’s life in the process. If they need money, then trust me, we won’t be seeing that necklace again.”

            My voice cracked at the last few words, and silence dropped through the alley. It was still early in the morning, and few people were out on the streets yet. A drunken man who must’ve come from the pub we lived beneath stumbled by. He peered down towards Pan and I, grunted, mumbled something to himself, and staggered on.

My hands clenched into fists against the brick. Was no one going to look at us and appreciate us as equal humans? Everyone looked down on us. Even those who were just like us. Those siblings came from where we came from. Yet they stole from us and probably lied, too. They looked down on us, though we were idiots. And maybe we had been. No, maybe I had been an idiot.

            “C-Clue, wait…”

            Sighing, I turned and folded my arms, leaning my back against the wall, giving Pan my most generic get-the-bloody-hell-away-from-me glare. “I wasn’t planning on going anywhere, if that’s what you’re after.”

            Pan shook his head, looking intently at the ground just in front of my feet. I had to glance down to make sure there wasn’t some alien growth down there before listening to Pan continue. “They seemed specifically interested in Akimi, right?”

            Slowly, I nodded, wondering where this pale-faced boy could be getting at by mentioning the rich lady’s pet bird-boy.

            “So that means they’ll go looking for him soon, maybe even today. Maybe even right now.” Pan looked to me hopefully, but I couldn’t help my eyebrow as it rose skeptically. Immediately I could see the brightness of his eyes snuffed out like a forgotten birthday candle, and I tried opening my mouth to reassure him, but nothing came out.

            Pan and I had been through a long history of being hopeful, and being disappointed. It seemed our luck was not one often looked well upon, and not just in the case of our living or our standing in society. Pan had nearly killed all of his caretakers, and had the government after him for it. My own history was very shudder-worthy, and not something I enjoyed remembering, no matter how many good skills I had taken from my experiences. In the long run, the skills weren’t worth the deceit and the lies.

            Even with this small case of the necklace, which to Pan was much bigger than just finding and returning a trinket or knick-knack, I could already feel the black cloud lurking over us, waiting to rain out our hope and douse any spark of an idea to motivate us further. But there was something in Pan’s eyes this time, something that wasn’t flammable. It was a hope that couldn’t be burnt like the others, blown away like ash into the wind. He wasn’t going to give up this time, and from the look, I could tell that he would follow this hope even if he had to leave me behind him in the process. It was a look that found a way through my armor, that made my sea green eyes tremble from the effort of keeping his gaze as my insides slowly melted like ice cream left in the sun too long. I couldn’t bear to be left behind by the only other being who had never lied to me. And so very slowly, I stood from the wall and faced Pan squarely, looking back at him without wavering.

            “It’s worth a shot,” I said, forcing a steady smile.