Cairo

Chapter 41: A Father's Mistake

Darkness and rubble were what was left of the once state of the art laboratory. Frizzled wires lined the ground, along with ruined and crumpled papers from the littered debris and moisture that was no doubt growing mold. Stone walls with marks and gouges, experiment tables that still had the straps to hold the person being experimented on, and even some beakers from previous experiments when people used to use this place were still around.

Cairo lifted up his hand. Fire swirled around his hand. The fire branched off into little balls and flew into different corners of the room until the entire area was covered in a dim light.

Under Cairo's feet was a small puddle of water. He lifted his foot, and after inspecting it for a moment, gently set it back down on the ground. Upon feeling the stiff muscles in his shoulder, Cairo cupped his shoulder in his hand and rubbed it a few times. "Yun, remind me to not step anywhere near those wires. I guarantee that if I die down here there's going to be no one finding my corpse. Ever."

Yun nodded his head, but Cairo kept watching for a few moments afterwards. It seemed like he had wanted to say something. Despite giving him silent approval, Yun still didn't say anything, and Cairo turned around. There wasn't time to dilly dally anymore.

"If you don't have time to spend on me, why are we even here?" Yun asked, refusing to move off the stairs into the damp room. "Shouldn't we be focusing on saving Aerie?"

"You heard what Xiucoalt said. There's something here about what happened to Aerie. She called her a monster, and I want to know why. There should be documents or something here, at the very least. Look for those first."

Conjuring up another wisp, Cairo bent over to get a better look at the damp, soggy ground. There he found a bundle of papers held together by an almost rusted paper clip he tore off within seconds of seeing. He held it closer to the wisp until he could see what what was printed on it.

The first paper was torn newspaper clipping in black and white. In bold print the heading read MONARCH'S DAUGHTER STILL MISSING NO CLUES HAVE BEEN FOUND. Cairo squinted his eyes as he continued to read the text.

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After two weeks of the initial bulletin, the Monarch's daughter (left), Aerie, is still reported to be missing. There have been no clues to her whereabouts.

Suspicions have arisen by few that this is an inside conspiracy by the monarchy itself. Others assume the young princess has run away with rumors of an illicit love affair after recent news of her engagement. Still, some say it was simply 'the work of the perfect kidnapping' leaving the monarchy in good name yet again.

The Monarch has declined to give any further statement about the issue, and we were informed later that day during a speech by the Monarch addressing the kingdom that as long as his daughter is missing, he would do whatever it takes to find her. No soul in the kingdom would rest until she was brought back safe and sound. The kingdom, as a whole, is very much in favor of finding the young princess and bringing her back.

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On the side next to the print, scribbled in a thick layer of dried blood, were the words, "I'm sorry, my love." Cairo brushed his fingers over the words, but the blood didn't smear; it didn't even smell.

Yun leaned over from his cloud he was perched on, knocking his head against Cairo's. "My love?" he murmured. "You think it's from the 'illicit lover' in the story? He killed her because he didn't want to see her love another man, you think? Tragic tale, if that's true, that is. Quite a bad judge of character, if you ask me."

Cairo looked over to Yun, flipping the newspaper clipping to the bottom of the other two papers in the bundle. "First, we don't even know if the Aerie here is our Aerie; and, second,if she died, how did she become a Kleptos in the first place? Isn't it more logical to assume she had a transfusion done on her?"