𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

FIFTY-SIX| a pediatric dose goes a long way

EDEN doesn't have time to scream before the Cross of Santo Domingo came crashing down onto the cushions Pope had been laying on.

Despite being in a hazy mind after falling off the ceiling, Pope knew he wasn't dreaming when he saw the cross leaning eagerly forward out of its wooden shelter; certainly not when he saw the hunk of gold falling straight towards him and his friends. 

 Luck seemed to dash in to save him, the boy instinctively tensing up and rolling off the cushion as the cross toppled over the edge.

"Hey, hey—Pope! Don't move your..." Eden begins to reprimand the boy for moving so fast after falling so hard, especially after not speaking to the group on how he felt, but she suddenly sees a small amount of debris falling from the ceiling and looks up to see the cross mere feet from her face. "....head!"

Everything happens rather quickly. The Pogues all let out panicked exclaims and scramble to their feet, up and away from the cushions. 

JJ abruptly yells, "Eden, move!"

Eden barely has time to process the fact that the cross is falling towards the group and swiftly scooches back as far as she can in the seconds she has, placing her head down in between her knees with her hands, shielding her head and face with her arms as if it were a tornado drill. 

The cross hits the cushions where Pope had been lying milliseconds before with a thud, gold clattering against the wood. Debris and chunks of wood fly out to the side as the Pogues collectively pant, adrenaline rushing through their veins at what almost happened.

Realizing she was not indeed under a giant cross, Eden slowly uncurls her hands from around the back of her neck. She peeks upwards to see the cross mere inches away from her feet, Converse brushing against the thick gold. 

"Holy shit." the Bexley breathes, eyes wide. She was almost crushed by a giant, gold cross. Gazing over at John B. she manages a light chuckle, "So much for being gator food, I was almost crushed by a giant ass cross." 

John B. breathlessly states, "You're clearly fine—Pope?"

Pope lies curled up near the cushions, hands wrapped around his head in protection. Unlike the Bexley, however, he hadn't gotten up, which causes the group to show concern once more.

JJ bends down, rubbing his back, "Hey, you good?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Pope manages, slightly out of breath as he chokes out,  "Just give me, like, one second to, like, catch my breath." 

John B. stares at the cross lying before them, rubbing the boys calf, "You did it, Pope."

Eden begins to rise to her feet, staring at the cross in front of her. The gold was beautiful, intricate designs engraved over the item making it even more delicate and alluring than before. If there wasn't a healing garment inside, the Bexley felt as if the cross itself was enough.   

JJ delicately grazes his hands over the cross, running them all over the bumps and grooves of the item, unable to tear his gaze away from it, "Pope, she's....she's beautiful."

"I've never seen anything like it." Sarah humbly agrees.

"Man, the detail's insane." 

John B. runs a hand over a keyhole in the center of the cross, "Well, here's why Limbrey wanted that key so bad."

 Eden gently brushes her hand against the top of the object, "Well, too bad she's not getting it." 

"How much do you think she's worth?" JJ looked between the two brunettes beside him, hands still grazing over the cross' surface as he tried to picture the amount of cash they could get out of this. "Like, if we melted her old bones down, dude, I'm talking like high billions—"