Pendulum || TAENNIE FF

⚔Chapter 25: Tick's broken

A U T H O R

"Is that dinner?" Heather asked the moment Maya came in with a tray of meat and fruits. "Why didn't we have that yesterday? I was cold and starving." Maya sat on Heather's bed and gave her a plate of meat and an apple. 

"We decide if we want to have dinner or not. I wasn't in my best mood yesterday so I didn't get one. You're new so I understand why you don't know this stuff. I also figured that you might be hungry so I bought one for you." Heather smiled and took the apple.

"Thanks, Maya." She said and bit into the fruit. Maya went to her bed and started eating her part of the dinner too. Heather suddenly had a thought of asking her about Flake. "Hey, Maya?" Maya turned to her. "What do you know about that Flake Kim?"

"Why are you interested? Do you also like him?" Heather quickly shook her head. "I don't really know. We weren't in the same class last year so I only started knowing him yesterday. But if you're talking about the stories about him, I know a few ones." 

Heather crossed her legs and turned in Maya's direction. "Go on. I'm listening."

Maya was confused why Heather wants to hear it but she shrugged the thought off and just told her. "It happened last year, according to my friends. We were in our first years back then and they were in the same class as Flake. This is where the rumors began. They were walking home after class when they saw Flake enter the Unlighted Forest. We were told that it's dangerous to go there so they wanted to warn him. They followed Flake and that's where they saw him with a stoned creature. We all know that there are only two petrifiers left; the queen and the lost prince. Since that day, everyone started thinking he might be that lost royal."

"Wait a minute. Why was Flake wandering in that closed forest in the first place and who's the creature?"

"They identified the creature as George Moon, the brother of Greg. Remember that pathetic moron I told you about yesterday? His older brother is the one who was turned into stone. If Greg's a shameless bastard, his brother is twice his personality. We think that Flake probably found him harassing some girl and decided to step in."

Heather got more confused and curious. "Yeah. But the headmaster said that the forest was closed. How did Flake and that George and the girl get in?"

"Heather, closing the forest means we're not supposed to go in there, but that doesn't mean it's locked or protected by a strong enchantment. Anyone could go there." Why would Flake go there knowing it's risky? Did he follow George or the girl? Or he had something else planned? "But that's not all about him. Some say that he lives really close to the palace. Only close relatives of the royal family can live near the palace so why is Flake there?"

Right... Every detail is pointing to him but they're all just rumors. There's a big possibility that they're only made-up stories. "What do you think, though? Do you believe he's the prince?"

Maya shrugged. "I don't really know and I don't really care at all. Prince or not, he's still one of us." I don't think so. He's getting many advantages because everyone thinks he's royal. "Why do you really want to know, Heather?"

"When I get curious about something, I go completely dedicated to finding answers. I don't know about you but for me, it matters if he's royal or not. You talk about fairness on first day and this is why I'm doing this. Flake has Jadis Lavender wrapped around his hands. He's like her very own son--"