19 Resignation (3)

She was late.

Leon didn't know why, but the girl called 373 was late. She was almost always never late. On the rare occasion that she was late, the girl would explain that something had happened. But as soon as she arrived, the only thing the brown-haired girl did was stare at him in a daze. There were no explanations. Leon could only stare back at the female who either had her head in the clouds or had left her head in a completely different place.

"Ah," When she finally noticed him looking at her, her blank expression turned sheepish. "I forgot to get bread."

Electric blue eyes blinked. Leon felt his heart fall. The boy tried to keep the disappointment from showing on his face and crossed his arms around his midsection. "It's okay," he said with a tone that said everything was beneath him. "After all, stealing is wrong."

"I won't steal food for you then." A brown eyebrow shot up and Leon could make out a smirk on the little girl's face as she emphasized the word 'steal'.

"No… NO! That's not what I meant," He scrambled. The more he stuttered, the more satisfied 373's expression became. "I meant that I'm,full- that's right! I'm really, really not hung-"

A gurgling noise coming from stomach cut him short. The corner of his lips twitched as he slowly looked away to keep the girl from seeing the blush creeping up to his cheeks. He tried to sneak a peek to look at the female's reaction. His curious gaze found an empty space and nothing but air.

"This was outside." 373 appeared right next to him with sparks dancing around her.

Leon's hands automatically went up to his mouth to silence the scream that attempted to escape his lips. The chain's restraining him clinked at the sudden motion. His eyes were as wide as watermelons. His heart was beating so fast it sounded like a stampede of horses was running on his chest. When he felt that the yell in his throat had faded, he shot the female a glare and hissed. "Stop doing that!"

373 shoved something towards him. In her hands was a bowl filled with sloshing liquid. The girl's face was scrunched up, probably because of the disgusting odor coming from the bowl. As she eyed the blobs that were bobbing up and down in what looked like soup, the girl's complexion turned slightly green. "Are you going to eat this?"

The boy took the bowl. When his stomach growled for the second time, he opened his mouth and gulped the questionable liquid from the bowl. He ignored the odd stench coming from the soup. Having something to eat was better than dying from starvation.

He finished everything without leaving a single drop in the bowl. The girl's lips were pursed tightly as she took the bowl. She disappeared with the container and reappeared without the bowl. Her gaze met his gaze and for a few seconds they stared at each other in silence.

"Those things," she said quietly as she pointed to the shackles on his hands. "Are they really indestructible?"

He replied with a shrug and plopped down on the rough concrete floor. "I guess. Even the adults need a special key to unlock the fetters when they're pulling me out of the cell. And the special key is mostly in the hands of Silas Fidi."

Her eyes scanned the restraints that kept him shackled to the wall. The chains were long enough for him to move around in his cell and were made of a special material Leon couldn't identify. She made her way towards the wall, her hand slowly inching towards the chains. The scene made Leon's heart thump harder than when 373 had appeared beside him like a ghost.

Her fingers were only a few centimeters away from the wall when the girl suddenly stopped. She inhaled sharply. Her eyes widened in shock. The girl instantly withdrew her hand and took a few steps back. Her breathing was heavy, like someone who had just stared at death and had narrowly avoided it.

"What's wrong?" Leon's heart still hadn't stopped rampaging and now it seemed to pound against his ribcage with a war hammer. "Hurry up and tell me."

"A detection spell overlaid with a tracking spell is on this part of the wall." The girl exhaled and stared at section of wall with a gleam in her black orbs. "Amazing. If I tried to cast a spell on the chains or the fetters, we would have been found out."

"Amazing? Amazing?" Leon hissed, his voice a low whisper. "Are you insane? Why do you still have time to admire that?"

She didn't answer him. Instead, her eyes seemed glued to him as 373 stared at him intently. There was something about the way she looked at him that told Leon the girl was probably thinking of something difficult.

"What? Is there soup on my face?" He joked. The girl shook her head and looked beyond his cell, towards the never-ending maze of hallways that led to the rest of Elisium.

"Someone… is going to help me escape."

Leon's ears perked up at her statement. "Who?"

"A friend," was her half-hearted reply.

The golden-haired boy's eyes narrowed. "A student? Someone from Elisium?"

Brown hair swayed as the little girl shook her head and looked at him. "He's an outsider who's an intern here."

"An… adult? A white coat? Is he a researcher here?" The boy blinked. When she nodded, a scowl made its way to Leon's face. "Why would he help you? He doesn't have a reason to."

Normally, 373 would roll her eyes and flash him a bored look. But she didn't. She spent a few breaths mulling over the words she wanted to say before she uttered three syllables.

"He knew me."

"He's lying," Leon mumbled.

"He's not," she replied.

"All the white-coats are liars," the ten-year-old boy said. Although his voice was barely a whisper, his tone was sharp. "All the adults can't be trusted."

"He's different," she rebutted calmly.

Her eyes left his face as footsteps echoed in the hallway. The two children kept their silence as a researcher passed by them without sparing them a glance. As soon as the white-coat was out of earshot, Leon glared at the girl hiding in the shadows.

"You're defending him. Why are you defending him?"

373's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not."

"You're defending him." The boy huffed and crossed his arms.

The girl's eyes narrowed. "I'm not."

"I said he was a liar, you said he isn't. I said that he's like the white coats, you said he's different", he recounted. He stared at her intently. "Do you like him?"

"Idiot." This time, the girl rolled her eyes. Because of the darkness of the room, Leon missed the slight tinge of pink that rose up to her cheeks. 373 crossed her arms and quirked up an eyebrow. "What's my talent?"

"You can read- … oh." He nodded. Leon finally understood why 373 was defending the white-coat. Her Talent told her everything she needed to know. "What's his name? If you trust him, you should go with him."

"Michael Caelum," She muttered quietly as she took a glimpse towards an empty part of his cell.

Leon expected to see excitement and hopefulness in her eyes. But her black orbs were dark and unfathomable like the underground prison he and the other unlucky children were fate to live the rest, and the last, of their days. There was an emptiness in her gaze and an unwillingness to leave the boy couldn't understand. If he had to make the choice, he would run away from Elisium the second the opportunity exposed itself. If he could, he would run away as far and as fast as he can towards the ends of the earth.

"You found someone you could trust and a chance to save yourself. Aren't you happy?" He asked as he studied 373's face in the darkness of his cell. "Shouldn't you be happy?"

373 met his gaze and he found himself drowning in her black orbs and a sudden tempest of emotions that surged through his entire being. He felt an inexplicable sadness coursing through his veins as he couldn't help but feel waves of loneliness pulling him under.

Soft feathery eyelashes fluttered as the little girl blinked. The emotions disappeared as quickly as they appeared. There was a tremble in her voice that was difficult to catch. But in the silence of his cell, Leon heard it quite clearly.

"I want to leave with you."

Six words. They were so simple even a four-year-old would understand them. Leon was at a loss to what he was supposed to say. But at the same time, he found himself asking her, "Why?"

"We're friends." She replied with a seriousness that made Leon sober.

"Ah," the boy muttered dumbly. He felt a tingling feeling in his chest and a longing he had never felt before. All his life, the children around him had avoided him because he couldn't control his Talent. He didn't have friends – had never met someone who wasn't scared of what he was capable of. His lips curved upward but his eyes were melancholic.

His smile was like his favorite dark chocolate: it was bittersweet.

"Leave with him." There was a firmness in Leon's voice that surprised the young boy with bright blue eyes. "This godforsaken Talent won't let me die easily. It's fine if I stay here a little bit longer."

Pain flashed through her obsidian colored eyes. "Maybe there's a way to break the chains-"

"I… already tried. I went ballistic. It didn't work," he admitted as he cut her off. He could make out the guilt and stubbornness that was written all over her face.

There was a lump in his throat that made it difficult for him to speak. He wanted to go with her. He wanted to know how it felt to be free. He wanted to try to break free from the shadows of his cell and leave Elisium. But the words never left his lips. Leon closed his eyes and swallowed. He forced the lump back down to his stomach, opened his eyes and faced the truth – he couldn't escape Elisium, not unless all hell broke loose, not unless Silas Fidi let him go.

Not unless he died.

Leon looked down at the blasted fetters on his wrists and the chains that clinked and clamored as he moved his arms. He didn't hold her hand. He was too afraid he'd find her warmth comforting enough that he couldn't bear to let go. "You won't forget me, right?"

The girl's eyebrows knit. "Of course."

"Then, if I'm still alive in a few years," Leon turned his head up to gaze at her and gave her the most beautiful smile he could muster, "- promise you'll come back and save me, alright?"

Black orbs widened, and Leon could almost see tears pooling in her dark eyes. 373's expression remained indignant – irritable. But her eyes reflected strength, resolve, and brutal honesty as she opened her mouth and said, "Of course."