Arin's heart shattered as he buried his two children, his wife still lying unconscious, blood pooling beneath her. At this point, there was nothing left in him but sorrow, agony, and bitterness. The chains that once held back his hatred for the world were gone. He clutched her fragile form, the stone tablet he'd found pressed to his chest. He didn't know how, but this stone, this key, qqwould be the answer. His soul screamed, torn apart by grief. As he wandered through the desolate ruins of war, carrying her in his arms, he searched for somewhere untouched by the devastation. And then, he found it. A place oozing with mystery, cloaked in darkness, but something in his bones told him it was home. It was here he would make the world pay.
***
"What????" Goldie shouted, eyes wide, face scrunching up like she'd just bitten into something sour. "What if he snaps and kills them???? What do I do????"
Yeah, you heard that right. Goldie. You probably thought we were still in the middle of some epic battle, but nope, now we're dealing with this. How did we go from taking down a fat pig to Goldie flipping out like she lost her favorite pair of heels? Well, don't worry, we're just taking a little detour. You know, building the suspense and keeping it interesting. Smirks.
"You mean... Jacob???" she asked, looking like she just realized she stepped in a puddle of something really gross.
"Yeah, didn't you see him at the party?" Spencer asked, clearly confused by her reaction.
"Yeah, I saw him. But I didn't know that was him?!?!" Goldie yelled, waving her hands dramatically. "He didn't look like a murderer!!!"
"Shut the hell up, Goldie. Lyra and Levi aren't exactly the type to get killed easily, so chill" Michelle snapped, cutting her off before she could start a full meltdown.
"And besides, Jacob hasn't even been convicted of that murder, those are just baseless rumours" Camille said, trying to make some sense of it.
But Goldie was already done with hearing logic. "Guys, we gotta go. I don't feel right. Something's off," she said, her voice dropping a few octaves, like she was trying to sound all serious.
"We don't even know where they went or where they are," Spencer and Michelle said, trying to calm her down.
"Actually, I have an idea," Camille said, suddenly acting like she just found the secret to the universe.
"Well, thank you, Camille, for finally joining the conversation," Goldie replied, giving her the side-eye.
"Well…" Camille hesitated, trying to look all mysterious. "The government keeps tabs on its officials. They put trackers in mission briefings and some other stuff, so they can find them if needed. So all we need to do is find the monitor"
"Well?? Where is it????" Goldie asked. "Safely kept in the Virtuoso's office." Camille replied "wonderful Camille, so we just have to rob the STRONGEST MAN IN THE COUNTRY!" Michelle said, rolling her eyes. "Brilliant plan, Camille."
"Actually, he's not in his office right now. He's at lunch," Spencer chimed in, dropping a bombshell.
Goldie's eyes lit up like someone had just handed her a free ticket to paradise. "How do you know that?" Michelle demanded, raising an eyebrow.
"Dude, I'm a DJ. I hear everything. Even the tiniest sounds. Like, I could probably hear you breathing from a mile away," Spencer said, flexing his ear skills like it was his superpower.
"Shut up, Spencer. Let's just go," Goldie cut him off before he could go on about his "talent."
"Why aren't you coming, Camille?" she asked, turning to her.
"Leaving the country without an official reason is a crime. We could get into serious trouble," Camille said, looking way too serious for this moment.