Meliora - Extricate - 57

[lady_mab]

Jun Zhou

The stop to Zoné’s place is first because it is closer. I let him pack his things as I call my uncle.

“Jun,” Uncle Bao says, terse. “Your school has called and said you are not in class.”

My voice cracks on the first attempt to speak. “Bao-bofu. Meliora has ended.”

He goes silent, and the anger and concern in his tone melts away. I can practically feel the tension easing from his posture. “You are going to go home?”

“I think it is best. I can’t… my hands don’t work as well. I can’t work like I used to.”

“Are you going to stop here before you leave?”

My heart squeezes a little at the thought that he might expect me to have left without saying anything. "Of course. We have a few hours before the train leaves. I'm just helping Zoné pack right now."

He makes a sound of understanding on the other end of the line. "What did you learn?"

What did I learn? That's a very broad question, and I'm not too sure how I'm supposed to answer it. "I learned that people are very petty, and that they do petty things when they think that someone is better than them."

Uncle Bao chuckles. "That is true. I will see you soon. Lily should be back by then, too."

My stomach lurches again and I nod, even though he can't see me. "Alright. I'll see you soon."

We hang up, and I look up to find Zoné sitting on his couch, bag at his feet, and glasses in his hands. I move across the room and drop down onto the spot next to him.

He doesn't move, except to turn the glasses over and over again in his hands. "I'm going to have to tell our parents."

"What are you going to tell them?" I slip my arm through his and rest my head on his shoulder. He's lost so much in such a short amount of time. There's nothing I know how to do to lift the pressure from him.

"I don't... I don't really know. I don't know if I’ll tell them everything, or if I just simplify it." Zoné taps the glasses into the palm of his hand and then closes his fingers around them. "A part of me even wonders if I should say that I found him."

"What will be easiest for you?"

His laugh is a short huff of breath and his shoulder shakes with the motion. "Honestly? I would like a formal report to be written by someone else that I can just pass over to them and say 'this is the complete story of my asshole brother and the shit that he got into so that I could leave a fucked up city'."

I tighten my grip on his arm and he pats my hand.

"They probably didn't expect much of anything from me. They never really did. My parents are very hands-off when it comes to us, which is why Catoir was practically raised by our grandfather. He thought that at least one of the kids deserved a heavy-handed education, and Catoir was the oldest, so..." He trails off and shrugs. "Then one day Catoir was just gone. Without a trace, without a note. Mom and Dad didn't care. Yutifu didn't really care either. I felt like I was the only one who cared."

"You left and you found him. That has to count for something, does it not?"

"Does it? Did I really find him?" He sets the glasses down on top of his bag and rakes a hand back through his hair. "He told me to just pretend like he doesn't exist. That Catoir was gone and there was only Fletcher. He had a tattoo, too, you know." Zoné reaches up and taps the side of his neck. "We all got one. Family meant a lot to us."

I had never found out about the star tattoo, because I hadn't known how to ask. A lot of the workers in the restaurant have tattoos, and even Lily has one that she thinks is a secret from Uncle Bao. But I never thought to ask anyone what they meant. "He kept it covered, yes?"

"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe he thought it was stylish to wear that collar thing or turtlenecks, but he looked dumb." Zoné frowns and shakes his head again. But the motion doesn't stop and he keeps shaking his head until he covers his face and sighs into his palm. "Whatever. Whatever! I have to go home and explain what happened to our parents and our sister and then I have to deal with whatever happens next."

I hadn't put much thought into what I was going to be doing after leaving Eminence. I didn't think it would happen so quickly. "Do you want to go to Beijing with me? We can see the aquarium."

His expression is blank when he looks at me, and then it immediately brightens and his eyes regain some of their usual spark. "All the food..." he mutters, already planning the tour his stomach would take.

I laugh, though the sound is weak and unconvincing. "Yeah, all the food. And everything else, of course. I don't know, staying in one place for too long sounds a bit boring."

"We can take a page from Lysander's book. Go tour the world."

"We should finish school first."

Zoné draws out a long and exaggerated 'psssssh'. "School is for fools."

I shift my grip to place my hand in his and rise to my feet. "Alright. We will think about it."

He follows as I tug on his hand. He tucks the glasses into the bag and grasps the straps. "Yeah. We'll have some time."

We take the train over to the stop by my uncle's restaurant. Up the side stairs to the apartment. Inside, Uncle Bao and Lily sit at the kitchen table, silent, grim-faced.

Lily jumps to her feet as soon as she sees me, pulling me into a hug and kissing the side of my face. She speaks in rapid Mandarin. "You only just got here and already you're leaving! I'm jealous, I want to go traveling. Will you send me pictures wherever you go?"

I somehow manage a laugh, even though my heart is breaking a little each second. My hug is far weaker than hers. "Yeah, of course. You'll be able to visit soon. I'm sure the family will love to meet you."

"I should think so. I'm a perfect example of what a cousin should be." She tosses her hair over her shoulder.

Zoné stands awkwardly in the living room, bag in his hands, shifting his weight from foot to foot. His face says 'I'll just wait here' as I glance towards him.

Uncle Bao rises to his feet as well, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "Are you heading straight back home?"

"I don't know yet. Maybe. I'll spend a few days in New Oxford to figure out what I am doing, and then I will decide."

"And is he going to go with you?" Lily asks conspiratorially, glancing back at Zoné.

"Maybe." I don't bother telling her that 'it's not like that' because she would just have her own assumptions.

I don’t have much to pack. The clothes I brought with me, a few thought I bought here. A few books, a few notes and knick-knacks. Everything fits well enough into my suitcase.

There’s one more round of fierce hugs, and I promise to call as soon as I arrive in New Oxford, and to send Uncle Bao any information I can so that he can hold on to it for safe keeping. Just in case ALICE does not do what they promise. He also promises to call the school for me, to inform them that I am dropping out due to a family emergency.

With that, Zoné and I get back on the train towards the City Center.

“What are we supposed to tell the others?” I ask suddenly. “That we are leaving so suddenly. We have to let them know.”

Zoné picks at a spot on his jeans. “I don’t really know. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since this morning. Should I just tell them that I had to move home as well? I’ll be in New Ox for a bit. Once people are allowed to leave Eminence, they’ll be able to visit. I think I’ll have to wait to tell them everything, though.”

I nod, once. “We should definitely tell them,” I say, making sure that I put some of that responsibility onto myself as well. I can’t leave the job to him. I broke after what happened to Glen, and I left a lot of the weight for having to deal with our friends forgetting on his shoulders.

I don’t want a repeat of that.

Everyone else is already at the station by the time we arrive, though it is still fairly early compared to the timeline that Ayn had given us.

Lionel and Liala are the first to spot us. She waves us over, eyeing the bag that Zoné’s carrying.

He shrugs and tries for a grin. “Not like I live far away or anything. It’s an hour by train.” His apartment never had that much stuff in it to begin with.

At the head of the group, Ayn sighs. Tension leaks from her shoulders now that we’re all together. “Now it’s just a matter of which train is ours…”

“Why us?” Liala asks suddenly.

Ayn’s response is a curious tick of her head. “Why not?”

“You could have selected any number of teams. You could have selected all of them. Why is it just us?”

She never did explain her choices, only that she wanted us all to be there. I hadn’t been aware that she even knew the Darcys, but there does seem to be a small degree of familiarity between them. “It won’t be much longer before the ban on travel is dropped, I think. When asked to make a choice, I thought about who needed it most. And who better than us?"

We’re the ones who have been wrapped up in so much of the action, though I’m sure any team would think that. But I think after the events of the last few hours, we have proven ourselves to be worthy of attention.

In a game where that attention is very dangerous, getting out seems like the best option.

“Besides,” Ayn adds. “You have all contributed to the conclusion of this game. I want to thank all of you for your assistance, for not hesitating when asked to make a stand.”

At my side, Zoné tenses, uncertain. A strangled sound works its way up his throat but doesn’t make it much further. So I speak for both of us.

“You took a stand for the rest of us. Thank you, as well.” Just like Zoné, she’s lost a lot for it to come to this moment.

She gives me a tired but grateful smile. Crossing the platform towards Rhys, Ayn puts a hand on his arm and says, “I understand that you might not have a place to stay right away. My parents have a lot of space. You're welcome to stay with us until you have your feet back underneath you. I know I am asking a lot of you suddenly, leaving the city and your jobs. It's a temporary solution, but the best I can offer.”

He takes her hand in his and squeezes it.

A dainty cough brings everyone’s attention to Henrik, who stands with his hands behind him. His suit is too clean, too pressed, and stands out from all the others on the platform who are dressed in suits as well. “Is this all of you then?”

Ayn’s expression shifts to something unreadable. “It is.”

There’s a trace of an argument in his gaze, but instead, he waves a hand and starts off down the platform. “Follow me.”

We trail behind him, an exhausted crew carrying a strange collection of luggage.

Henrik is trying to keep up a conversation by explaining the process of the trains, but no one really seems to be paying attention. “It’s very difficult to have to control the population of a city,” he summarizes. “We don’t want too many people arriving, because we will run out of space for them.”

“Or out of drugs to poison them with,” Zoné adds, not even bothering to disguise his voice.

Ayn steps in before anyone else can respond. “It’s a good thing that’s not going to be a concern much longer, isn’t it, Mr Braum?” Her voice is light, though it does little to relieve the unease and nervousness in my chest. “Soon people will be able to come and go as they please.”

He snorts, hands tensing, looking for something to hold on to. “If you would just give me the documents--”

She turns away. “Should have thought of that before you decided to interfere.”

“A--Miss Starling--”

I think if she hadn’t been trying to maintain an image of calm and collected, she might have gone off of him right there. She certainly looks like she wants to smack him. “Is this our train then?” she asks when we reach the very end of the platform.

There are no other commuters down here. One lone train rests on the rails, humming with life.

Our passage out of the city.

“This is it,” Henrik agrees. “It will carry you out of the city as far as New Oxford. From there, it is up to you to make arrangements to wherever you are going." He levels each of us with a careful stare. "Seeing as you all managed to arrive here in one piece, I don't imagine that will prove much of a challenge."

There’s a pause as he holds a fob up to a panel on the door, and it slides open. The lights inside the car come alive.

Ayn picks up her suitcases and is the first one on, not bothering to spare a glance back. Zoné and I follow behind her.

The train looks so lonely, every seat empty and clean, the bright lights overhead chasing away any lingering shadows.

Exchanging a glance with Zoné, we pick a seat at random. He helps me settle my suitcase overhead, and, without pausing, helps Ayn with hers as well.

Lysander boards, looking like a man finally able to breathe fresh air after being locked in a dark room -- despite the fact that we’re still in the underground station. He picks a seat across the aisle from Ayn, and tosses a half-smile in my direction.

The twins are the next to board, and Liala drops into a seat near the front almost immediately. Between Lionel and, as he finally boards, Rhys, they store the luggage away and take a seat on either side of their sister.

Henrik steps in to ensure that everything is in order. He gives Ayn one last lingering glance before leaving.

The door whines softly as it slides shut. Then, a beat, and the train lurches into movement.

I settle in against Zoné, comforted by his presence at my side. Behind us, Ayn makes a strangled sound as the train picks up speed.

There’s silence in the car as the rattling of the tracks turns into a barely noticeable noise. The lights flicker, but stay on as we disappear into the tunnel leading out of the city.

Liala’s voice, soft, awed, rises from the front of the car. “We’re going home.”

I still have a lot longer to go before I can reach home, and I don’t even know where that will be. Instead, it’s easier to think that we’re leaving a city that has tried to trap us.

I close my eyes, and breathe out a silent goodbye to those I am leaving behind.

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