Underground

31

Estelle
2 weeks later, and I was in Logan's car. August doesn't know where I am.
"Wipe that scared look off your face." Marilane says. "Papa isn't that bad."
"Not too bad." Celine repeats, staring out the window.
Marilane was riding passanger and Celine was beside me.
"I get it." I say, checking my phone.
My phone chimes with my text notification.
Where the hell are you? August types.
I'm with Logan I reply.
I thought we didn't like logan wtf is going on? He responds.
i may never be 20 again. I type.
Is it ur birthday?? He replies.
No, Bye Aug. I type then power off my phone, sliding it into the pocket of my jeans.
"We're here." Marilane says, before pushing the door open.
In front of us stood a cottage, an old people's home, not some maniacal cottage.
Marilane led us inside, talking to the receptionist, who, with questioning, let us go through.
Marilane led us to the most secluded room in the whole place, it was even guarded by some nurse playing om their phone.
Marilane does that little nod before pushing open the door.
There the great Titanios laid, hooked to multiple machines.
"Is she here?" He wheezes to Marilane who nods, beckoning me over.
"I can't see you, young one." He rasps, reaching a hand forward.
"I'm not getting any closer." I say firmly.
"I guess I could explain from here." He sighs. "I actually look like Mel Gibson by the way, you just see the shape my soul's in."
"So you're actually dying?" I ask.
"Dude!" Marilane says from behind me.
Grimly, he nods.
"Thats why I'm not coming closer, you're gonna suck my soul." I sass.
"I've been alive for 269 years, I'm ready to die." He says.
I turn to look at the other girls.
Marilane was steaming, Celine was trying her best to calm her down, and Logan had her hand on her left pocket, like she was gonna pull out something.
"Marilane, take Celine and go, you don't need to be here for this." Titanios orders.
The sound of footsteps and a door slamming confirms that they obeyed.
"What do you need?" I ask.
Titanios tries to sit up, only to fail and flop back down. "You have the Oura konnes."
"I'm a twin." I say. "That's impossible."
"The oxygen up here has affected you." Titanios says.
I grunt. "How would you know?"
"I can feel your Oura konnes leaking out of you." He explains.
"If I were to have it, how would I activate it?" I ask.
He looks at the wall behind me. "Emotion, rage, sadness, happiness, just a strong emotion. Or, I could forcefully put it into you."
"Is there anything else? Because you could've told me that over the phone." I sass.
"Come closer." He murmurs. "I'll give this visit a purpose."
Reluctantly, I step toward him, standing by the side of his bed, just out of his grip. "Yes?"
"There's other Pangaeans than just us." He says. "Above ground." "Really?" I ask hopefully.
He sighs. "I can feel them all."
"How many?"
"357." He quotes from memory. "I made a list."
"Where's the list?" I ask, looking around.
"The drawers, second from the left, their names and appearances." He says, pointing a withered finger toward the drawer.
I walk over to find a drawer full of papers, with hastily written names and rough sketches. "Woah." I gawk, pulling out the sketch of myself.
It looked older than most of the other ones, the paper slightly crumpled.
"You started an uprising." He says. "156 people have left in the 9 months you've been up here."
"I did that?" I ask.
"Indeed." He answers. "And counting, by the way."
I turn back to him. "So what do I do with this new information?"
"Find them." He says. "You'll need an army sooner or later."
"What?"
"Paper." He blurts. "Paper! I need paper!"
The guard from outside comes in and fixes his hospital bed so Titanios is sitting, then he attatches the table, laying five pieces of paper in front of him.
Titanios grabs a pencil from the cup on the sidetable before getting to work.
5 minutes later, we had 4 drawings.
One was Michoon Jeels
a dark haired, grey eyed, young teenager, he looked about 14.
The next, Yeeva Jeels, She had equally as dark haired, same colored eyes, obviously Michoon's twin.
After that, we had Harpy Sheas, a chubby-faced, white-haired kid.
And the last. Leeciy Propkin, a freckly, white-haired guy, right around August's age.
"Mark Of Aegis." Titanios says, staring at Leeciy. "He doesn't have a twin, and his Oura konnes is very strong."
"What's his Oura konnes?" I ask.
"I'm not sure, I can just feel his mark."
"Can I take these?" I ask, pointing to the freshly and the drawer.
He nods. "I'll have Marilane bring Logan the newer ones."
"Great idea." I say, walking over to Logan, grabbing her backpack.
"Don't forget to call." Titanios says, right before passing out.
"I'll grab these ones." Logan says, walking over to the desk.
I walk to the drawer and start filling the bag, being sure not to crumple the drawings.
"That was wild." Logan laughs.
I nod. "Pretty influential."
Marilane and Celine walk back into the room.
"Wow, he tires quickly." Celine jokes, only to be shot down by Marilane.
"We're done here, can I go home now?" I ask.
"Will you just be quiet for a minute!" Marilane says, walking over to her grandfather, checking his pulse and such.
"Is he okay?" Celine asks.
Marilane nods. "He's asleep."
"That's always good." I say, zipping up the backpack and putting it onto one of my shoulders.
"Yeah, we should go." I say.
"Shotgun." Marilane mumbles, walking out of the room, Celine following.
"I feel like I've just about given everyone a heart attack at this point." I say, looking over at Logan.
"Who knows? Maybe it's your thing?" She laughs, walking out.