Clef x Bright

Everything explained

A stood for a moment before conjuring a portal and stepping through, while the two of them stood there. After a few moments, Jack stepped forwards, almost stepping through before Alto grabbed his arm.

"Huh?"

"I don't trust this shit."

"What?" he sounded almost hurt.

"I said I don't trust this shit. I don't trust them."

Jack frowned, "And I do, I've known them longer than you have, Al, I know what they're like, they aren't dangerous, not to us anyway."

Alto scowled and looked at the portal, "If I die, you're paying for my funeral. And giving  all of my money to Meri."

"Fine with me." Jack huffed and stepped through the portal, Alto following soon after. They emerged in an alleyway behind a couple of small shops, the bricks now covered in Ivy, and the pavement being slowly split apart by weeds.

"Cmon." A began to walk out, Jack following closely, and Alto hesitantly trailing behind. They emerged next to a familiar café.

"E&Ms? Great!" Jack smiled at A and began to walk towards the small building, Alto briefly paused. Was he trying to piss him off? Because it's working. It's working a lot.

The three of them entered the building. The previously warm and cozy atmosphere felt dense and cold, getting stuck in his lungs and feeling as if it could choke him. They sat down at one of the sofas, A sat opposite Alto and Jack, avoiding eye contact entirely, even with Edith as she took their orders.

"A! It's been a while, Not that you'd know by looking at you! Are you doing alright?"

"Mhm."

"Oh, are you sure?"

They nodded

"How about you two, are you alright?"

"I'm doing great, E." Jack's voice sounded flat and fake, and he knew it, but it wasn't questioned any further.

"I'm alright."

"Good! So that's 1 black coffee, 1 mocha, 2 slices of chocolate cake and a cream tea?"

"Yep, thanks E!"

"It's no problem Jack." She smiled warmly and walked over into the kitchen to help prepare the order.

"So...what... The letter..." A looked up from their hands and at Jack, "what was that all about?"

"Unspoken words I guess. I just feel so awful... Even after however long it's been, I still feel so guilty about it." They paused, "I meant everything yknow. Every word. He would be so proud of you, no matter who you are."

Jack smiled, "Yeah, thanks."

Alto looked down at his hands, "So, A, how come you've never been mentioned in the history books?" He looked up, only to be nudged by Jack.

"Well," A sighed, "When I was exiled, I Kinda wanted to be forgotten, so no one...would...know..."

"Surely," Clef continued, "As a type black, a sorta...divine deity, you could've, y'know, done so much good in the world."

A looked up at him and paused, emotion flashing through their eyes, "It's not that simple, there's a balance that must be kept between mortal and magic, right and wrong, good and evil. Without evil, what is there to define good, if there is only right, how do we define what is wrong, if there is only peace, how do we define what is war, am I making sense or do I sound completely mad?"

Clef paused and ran what he deemed to be the important parts in his head a couple times before responding, "I guess."

"Besides, things like war and chaos aren't really my jurisdiction."

"Ah." Clef looked at them, "Still, why work at the foundation?"

"I guess I didn't have a choice, a bit like you, found by the foundation,classified as an anomaly and then recruited."

Clef sighed, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was...off. He had so many questions he wanted to ask. Why stay? surely their banishment had been lifted. Why settle for only being a senior researcher? Why not 05 or administrator? Why did they work for Jack's father? How well did they actually know him? then a thought crossed his mind. He fixated on that thought and wouldn't let it go. What if they killed him? They had motive. he was an 05, he had respect, a close relationship with his family, and was close with A. People would take sympathy on them, possibly their family would feel as if they had suffered enough and lift the banishment. possibly, they knew that they could get his position as an 05. He shook it off. he didn't want to believe that someone he had known since he transferred to site-17, who had been kind and accepting all this time, would do something like that to someone who trusted them.

but then again...

That's what Lily did.