the Pain of Truth [Ray X Reader] (the Promised Neverland)

19

3rd Person Pov:

"This symbol is..." started Norman. "A bookplate." said Emma. Ray said: "A label that indicates the book's owner before it came here." "And what's that certain message?" asked Norman. Emma said: "Look carefully." And so he did. He scanned the symbols of the owl, saying: "They all look like the same owl. No. This circle... Morse code!" "Correct." said Ray, pointing at him.

(Y/N) eyes were scanning the room they found as Don closed the bookshelve-door behind them. Gilda opened a closet door, looking at spare clothing for the children. Don walked around for a bit, before stepping onto a trapdoor. He opened it, gaining the attention of the two girls. (Y/N) walked over to Don, looking down, only seeing a set of stairs. She nodded at her younger siblings, going down the stairs. Gilda lit up a lamp for them to see down there.

"Run. Doubt. Danger. Truth." read Norman. "But with just this..." "What about these?" asked Emma, bringing a few other books over. Norman continued to read the Morse dode out loud: "Harvest. Monster. Farm." Ray said: "This is a message from the outside to us, hidden from the demons and the adults. I think we can at least trust that." "Trust that?" "Unlike her, I'm more suspicious." Ray lightly hit Emma's head, saying: "This man named Minerva could be an ally to us. But we don't know if he's dead or alive. We shouldn't get our hopes up too much." "Why are you always like that?" asked Emma. "William Minerva. This man is outside and knows our farm exists. And though indirectly, he's trying to help us." said Norman. "Yes!" "There was an ally on the outside. And he might still be there. If that's true, then there could be a society of humans outside." "Exactly!"

"Just... What is this room?" asked (Y/N), more herself than the other two. Don held the lantern as they looked around. He shone the light onto some toys from other children, one of them being Little Bunny. His eyes were wide as he looked at it. (Y/N) put a hand on his shoulder, saying: "I know what you're feeling. But whatever you do, don't touch anything." Don slowly nodded as they continued to look through the hidden room.

"These kinds of messages can only be found in Minerva's books. I don't know when these labels were attached, but I at least know this one was attached after the year 2015." explained Emma. "I see. Is there anything else we could know? Like something in common between the contents or the type of books?" asked Norman. Ray answered: "Not much. The genres are varied. The publishers and the years were-" Emma cut him off: "But what about that thing? Uh, which one was it? I didn't understand the Morse code on these two books." She showed the books to the two boys. "For the content, one is a typical adventure novel, and a mythology book that I didn't really understand." noted Ray as Norman took a closer look at one of the books. He said: "There's no Morse code o nthis. And the other one is... Promise. Promise?"

"Why is this here though?" asked Don. Gilda said: "So it was ture, what they said. Mama was lying. No one was sent to foster families." "But why?" "Because if they were, there's no way this would be here. It would have been delivered to Conny. It's not just Little Bunny. They were all snatched away from them by Mama when they left, and they were all taken away by bad people." "Stop it." said Don, taking a few steps back. Suddenly, the bookshelve behind him opened itself, revealing something they haven't seen before. (Y/N) eyed the odd-looking device.

"I think these have a meaning." said Emma. "Like how one book doesn't have the Morse code, and there were others with ripped pages. And the message of 'promise'." Norman asked: "So you think these two books are special?" "Yeah. I feel like... these will become some kind of an important guide for us." "What's your reasoning?" asked Ray, looking at Emma. "My hunch!" she answered, smiling at him. He looked at her with an 'are you kidding me'-look, to which she yelled: "Don't give me that look!"

"Who is Mama communicating with?" asked Don. "The base Ray was talking about? Are they the bad people?" He turned around, facing Gila. "That's right, he said he had Mama under control, but we're doomed if Sister finds out. What did he mean by doomed?" (Y/N) froze as she felt their eyes on the back of her head. Don asked: "If they find out, is Mama or Sister going to do something to us? What if Mama is much more dangerous, and Conny and our siblings are already..." "Stop it. Norman said he doesn't know what happened to Conny." tried Gilda. Don shook his head, saying: "No. They're just hiding it from us." (Y/N) slowly stood up from her crouching position, turning to face Don with an emotionless face. Gilda said: "They probably have a reason and can't tell us. Right, (Y/N)?" Before she could answer, Don said: "I can't believe them like that." He glared at (Y/N) as he said: "Because they don't believe in us." "Don..." tried (Y/N), but his glare made her feel uneasy.

Norman said: "But I think it's worth looking into. Minerva-san and the mystery of his books." "We're not just running away. Let's find a way for us to survive in this world." said Emma. "Yeah. Let's run away. Let's live. No matter what the world is like." Emma smiled at Norman. It was silent for a few moments. Emma was the one to break it, by saying: "What's wrong, Ray?" He looked at her, asking: "Huh?" "You've been so silent." "It's just... I have a bad feeling." he honestly admitted. "A bad... feeling?" He turned his head to glance at the door, saying: "It's about (Y/N)."

A squeak of the wooden floor above us turned all of the three siblings' attention towards it. They quickly sushed down and listened. "Hold on, Phil. I'll be there in a moment." said their Mother. With that, they all held terrefied expressions as the her footsteps were heard just above them. Without much hesitation, (Y/N) took the lamp from Gilda and turned the light off.

"By the way." started Emma. "(Y/N) wasn't the only one to notice the Morse code." Norman and Ray looked at her as they continued their way. "Phil found them and told me, too." "Phil?" asked Norman. "Yeah. He was reading a children's book and it was one of Minerva-san's. It was a book that had Morse code in the story." Two children ran past the trio, playing loudly in the process. As the three entered the dining room, they immediately knew something was off. "Can you get the plates?" asked a younger child another. "Thank you." "Where are (Y/N), Don, and Gilda?" asked Emma, looking around frantically. "They're not here either." said Norman, after he already checked the room next to the dining room. Ray stood frozen in places as he went through his thoughts. "They can't be..." said Emma, turning to look at the other two.

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Picture from:

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/323062973268836520/