A:N: I'm on mobile ATM.
Short chapter, but I figured it was best left where it is c:
Also, take a look at the reader questions! I'd love to see your answers
After much conversation, it was decided that Ada and the children would stay at the headquarters until they wiped Ada from the records and created a fake identity for her.
Eventually, Ada Carr became Maddy Grey. There were a lot of other details, but Aiden didn’t remember many of them. Ada was supplied with contacts and permanent hair dye (her hair was now red.)
The Ravens bid farewell to the woman and her children as she went to get a new license.
It was a little odd, putting it simply, to see the woman he’d grown up under with a new name, eyes, and hair.
Aiden just hoped that she wouldn’t change who she was and forget about her previous life.
Aiden didn’t want to be forgotten, not by Ada or anyone.
The next morning, Aiden ticked off another day until his fifteenth birthday when Loren forced his door open by picking the lock.
“Rico’s looking for you,” he said.
Aiden rolled his eyes.
“You’re a master of knocking.”
He walked out of the room, having to shout back at Loren to close his door.
Sometimes the guy just annoyed him to no end.
---
When Aiden reached Rico’s room, the man clasped his hands.
“Aiden! Thank you. Uhh… do you remember when I mentioned a prophecy in my letter?”
“Yes! Are you finally going to tell me?’
Rico nodded, but shrugged at the same time.
“What does that mean?” Aiden asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rico sighed.
“Well, prophecy isn’t quite the right word, I guess. It was more of an… explanation. There are… according to the prophecy, three gems. Each of them allows the user to harness a different power. The one you’ll be retrieving is Fire.”
Aiden blinked.
“Huh?”
Rico put his head in his hands and sighed.
“I’ve never been good at this talking thing,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Thing is, my dad apparently ran into this… thing. My father called it the Dareau when he returned. He said it told him about the gems, and you. Very detailed. He wondered if it was true, and found you in the records, and everything the creature said was true.”
Aiden was taken aback by this news, his eyes widening and his mouth falling agape.
“Did it say how to get the Fire gem?”
Rico nodded.
“Yes, but…”
Aiden's face fell.
“But what?”
Rico clasped his hands together and took a deep breath.
“Thing is, you'll have to find another one of these creatures.”
The young man grabbed a map and slid it towards Aiden.
They was a red line drawn across one of it, and Rico pointed there.
“That line, that's your route.”
“Is there a catch?”
It didn't take a genius to spot that Rico still looked unsettled.
He took a deep breath.
“I can't come with you. Loren can't come either.”
“What?! Why not?”
Rico put his hand to his head.
“Nobody quite knows. That's why no one’s gotten the gem. In order to even reach the thing you need to solve a bunch of puzzles. And then when you actually get to it, you’ve got to figure out why it doesn't allow anyone over seventeen into its home.”
“And if I guess wrong?”
Rico's face fell.
“You get three guesses.”
“What happens if you get all three wrong?”
Rico's face said it all.
---
Aiden took a deep breath, shuddered, and put his head in his hands.
“Will you be taking anyone with you?”
“Maybe Pollux and Dulcie, if they're okay with… what's at stake.”
Rico nodded gravely.
“Good luck. I suggest you leave sooner rather than later. A Catago patrol will be sent there soon as well.”
Aiden stood up and speed walked out the door, blood roaring in his ears.
He found Dulcie and Pollux in the cafeteria.
“Hey,” Aiden muttered, shuffling his feet.
“Something wrong?” Pollux asked.
Aiden shrugged.
“There's this thing that I have to go get. It's a gem that controls fire. I have to get it from a creature-”
“Okay we’ll be coming with you. When do we leave?”
It was Dulcie who asked this in her usual, blunt fashion.
It would've been so easy for Aiden to just thank them and be on their merry way, but he had to tell them what they were risking.
“If you come with me… you'll be risking your lives. The creature… we have to guess why it doesn't allow anyone over the age of seventeen into its home. If we guess wrong three times, we'll-”
“Your point?” Dulcie asked. “If I was afraid of death, would I be here right now?”
Aiden smiled.
“Pollux?”
The ginger-haired boy shrugged.
“I won't pretend this isn't terrifying, but I'll come.”
Aiden's smile widened. “Alright, the map is with Rico, come on!”
They started to head back to Rico, but someone stopped them.
It was Curtis.
“Look, Aiden.”
The blond sighed.
“I'm sorry for what I said a while back. I didn't mean anything by it.”
“You're forgiven,” Aiden said simply.
“Wait, there's something else.”
Dulcie raised her eyebrows.
“And what would that be?”
“I spoke with Rico about the mission you guys are going in, and…”
He took a deep breath.
“I want to come with you.”