Chapter 3| Running In The Halls

Aidan stares at the ceiling blankly as he rests on his bed. He simply can't stop playing the events from last night over and over again in his head. The repugnant stench from his burnt gloves, Alejandro's screams, and his hands that remained unscathed after bursting into flames all linger in his mind.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? He sits up and begins to dial a number into his phone. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘈𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? He looks at his phone screen with uncertainty. 𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳? 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

Putting these thoughts away, he gets up and begins his daily routine. As someone with a passion for fighting, he does his best to maintain a fit build. He begins to arduously do as many push-ups and sit-ups as he physically can. Only stopping when his body refuses to let him go any further, he showers, gets breakfast from a local deli, and heads to school.

Arriving earlier than the other students, he decides to sit down on a bench to enjoy his food. He becomes engrossed in his meal to the point that he doesn't notice Mr. Johnson nearby staring at him.

𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴… 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵. Nolan steps out of his car and approaches Aidan.

"Hello, Aidan."

Aidan looks up from his breakfast to his teacher and quickly swallows his food.

"Good morning, Mr. Johnson."

"You're here pretty early, aren't you?" Nolan asks, sitting next to Aidan on the bench. Aidan feels something peculiar about him. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭.

"Yeah well, the early bird gets the worm. Am I right?" Aidan replies sarcastically. Nolan chuckles.

"Listen, Aidan, there's something I need to--" Nolan is cut off by someone suddenly snatching Aidan's lunch bag and patting his shoulder. Casually pulling a sandwich out of the bag, Ian happily sits down with his newly found breakfast.

"Thanks man." Ian cheers as he takes a bite out of the sandwich. It's only after he gets comfortable that he finally catches sight of Nolan's stern face. "Hey, Mr. Johnson. You're here early."

"So are you, buddy." Mr. Johnson stands up. 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘱. 𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦. "Well, I'm going to head in."

"Mr. Johnson, you sounded like you had something you needed to tell me." Aidan quickly interjects as Mr. Johnson prepares to leave. Nolan snaps his fingers in response.

"Right. Right. I need to see you after class. You're not in trouble, mind you. I just have to talk to you about something." Nolan is satisfied to see Aidan nod is head. Relieved, he walks away with a smile.

"What do you think that was all about?" Ian asks with his mouth full, still munching on his sandwich.

"Who knows. I just hope he's not going to lecture me on something."

"Best of luck."

Aidan and Ian continue with their breakfast. Just as they are about to finish, a car pulls up next to them. Chloe and Joan step out while talking and laughing. Aidan is immediately transfixed. Chloe's hair, which is normally tied up in ponytail, hangs all the way down to her waist. The light blonde color, together with the rays of the sun, make it seem as if a warm glow is enveloping her. This only serves to accentuate the beautiful short grey dress adorning her. Aidan's mouth must be hanging open because he feels a sharp pain in his side as Ian elbows him, chuckling. Aidan shoves him back in response.

"You guys are here early." Chloe states with a smile.

"We could say the same for you." Ian replies back.

"My mom had to go to work early," Chloe claims, sitting down on the bench next to Aidan.

He holds out her sandwich to her.

"Want a bite?" Aidan asks.

"No, thank you." Chloe chuckles in response. Joan stands, eyebrow raised at Ian. Ian swallows down the last bite of his sandwich and turns to her.

"I'd have offered you some, but… I kinda ate all of it."

"That is quite alright. Chloe's mother actually made breakfast."

Once Aidan is done with his meal, the four head into the school. Walking past the display case, he is yet again caught in the clutches of the sword.

"Really interested in that, huh?" Chloe asks, trying to get his attention.

"It's just, really neat. That's all."

"It's Germanian," Chloe informs them.

"No, Chloe. Look closer," Joan tells her. Chloe looks at the sword again.

"Romanian." Chloe realizes.

"Correct." Joan praises. "Looks like it's from…5 AD, by my estimate." Something about the way Joan mentions the sword's age rouses Aidan's suspicion. She looks like she's just realized something troubling, as if the sword is cursed and is about to attack at her.

"That's scary accurate." Ian praises her.

"My father is a historian. I've learned quite a bit." Joan boasts. The boys disregard the comment and return their gazes to the sword. The bell rings, separating them as they go towards their respective first period classes. Aidan sits in the back of the classroom and starts pulling out assignments from his backpack. With all the excitement from last night, he had forgotten about his homework. Aidan begins to haphazardly fill in random answers. Unfortunately, the homeroom teacher walks in before he can make any real progress.

"Alright class, settle down. Settle down." Mr. Adams, a short man in his mid 30s, orders while tossing a black messenger bag onto his desk. "Can everyone please pass up the assignment from last night?"

𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵. Aidan randomly fills in the rest of the multiple choice answers as fast as he can before passing it to the person in front of him. Mr. Adams goes around to the first desk of each row grabbing the piles of paper.

"I hope that you all put an appropriate amount of -" The lecture he had prepared is abruptly interrupted by a shocking message.

"Attention, this is an emergency. At this time, please secure everyone in your classrooms and take roll. If not in a classroom, report directly to the nearest room with a staff member." A stern voice resounds from the classroom speakers, repeating itself twice more.

"Everyone, just remain calm." Mr. Adams attempts to soothe the class before anyone panics. His efforts are rendered useless, however, as shattered wood fires in all directions together with the classroom door that is launched off of its hinges. Everyone scatters towards the back of the room away from the man now walking through where the door once was. The man's entire face is concealed by a glistening silver gladiator helmet. Equipped on him are metal bracers and a chest piece covering what appears to be a black bodysuit. He wields in his hands a gladius blade, remarkably similar to the one in the display case, and a round Roman shield.

"Son, put the weapon down. No one has to get hurt here." Mr. Adams pleads in an attempt to defuse The Gladiator. The Gladiator appears as though he is looking for something, or someone. "Come on, just… hand me the weapon, and let's talk through this." Mr. Adams reaches for the sword, but The Gladiator jerks his hand back.

"Back away!" He commands, still searching through the crowd of students. "I don't want to hurt anyone that I don't have to."

"You don't need to hurt anyone." Mr. Adams implores. "Just put the weapon down and leave. Nobody will pursue you. You have my word!" The Gladiator shoots an intimidating glance at Mr. Adams to silence him. Not seeing what he's looking for, he turns to exit the classroom. But just as he's about to move on to the next room, he sees Aidan.

"Found you." He utters. Noticing that The Gladiator's attention falls onto one of his students, Mr. Adams leaps at the sword to grab it, only to have his face meet with a shield that sends him barreling against the wall. The class breaks into pandemonium. Ignoring the students running around him, The Gladiator chucks his shield like a Frisbee at Aidan. Aidan instinctively dodges just in time to see the massive shield go over his head and lodge into the cement wall behind him. He has no time to celebrate the avoided catastrophe, though. The Gladiator rushes him with his sword swinging down like an asteroid ready to devastate a planet. The floor itself crumbles at impact when Aidan throws his body to the side in a hopeful attempt at evasion. This hope is crushed as his neck is grabbed by The Gladiator's free hand and his body is slammed around like a rag doll. The Gladiator adjusts his grip and tightens it around Aidan's throat. The class chaotically flees the classroom.

"Let go!" Aidan chokes out a muffled scream. He struggles to pry off The Gladiator's iron grip, but to no avail. The Gladiator moves to thrust his sword into Aidan's heart, but Aidan's flailing causes him to miss his intended target and to pierce through his shoulder instead. Aidan lets out a miserable cry of pain. "Why are you doing this!? What did I ever do to you!?" The Gladiator remains silent as he pulls the sword out of Aidan's shoulder. "Just let me go, man. You don't have to do this, man. Please." The Gladiator tilts his head at Aidan, the only noticeable feature of his face unobscured by his helmet being a pair of regret filled eyes.

"It's not about what I want." He replies, raising his sword up high. Feeling scared and angry, Aidan lifts his arms in defense. Moments before contact is made, fire explodes forth from Aidan's hands. The Gladiator and his sword are swallowed by the flames as he is sent across the room. The top of his bodysuit under his chest piece catches on fire. As he furiously pats at it to smother the flames, Aidan makes a dash for the door. He blends in with the other students as they flood the halls. The Gladiator rips off the top half portion of the body armor that caught fire, retrieves his shield, and charges into the hallway. Aidan tries to remain inconspicuous, but The Gladiator spots him when he nervously glances back. He forcefully removes all of the students in the way and bashes Aidan with his shield, toying with him at this point. Whether it be coincidence or destiny, Aidan crashes into the display case containing the Gladius sword.

"Hey!" A voice calls out. The Gladiator turns around to see Chloe standing down the hall. He begins to approach her. Looking at this monster of a man coming towards her, she finds herself paralyzed with fear. Suddenly, a trophy hits the back of the Gladiator's helmet. He turns around to see Aidan holding a sword.

"Come on, ugly. You were after me, right? Let's go!" As if it's his signature move, The Gladiator decides to chuck his shield at Aidan again. More used to it this time, Aidan readily dodges and charges towards his opponent. He's relieved to see Joan dragging Chloe out of the hallway from the corner of his vision, allowing him one less thing to stress over. The two men swing their swords at each other. Little does The Gladiator expect Aidan to suddenly jerk his arm back and duck down. Governed by momentum, he and his sword continue forward. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. Aidan charges underneath the sword with his shoulder ramming against The Gladiator's gut. He successfully makes him lose his footing and collapse to the floor, using this opportunity to run away.

Once he's certain that he's put enough distance between them, he turns behind him to make sure that he isn't being followed by that behemoth. Relieved that nobody is in sight, he slows his pace to catch his breath. To his side, the wall bursts open with rubble barraging his body. The Gladiator grabs Aidan and slams him against the lockers. In response, Aidan throws a flurry of punches. One of which manages to send a burst of fire into the Gladiator's shoulder. He throws Aidan down the hallway then grabs his shoulder in pain.

Aidan's body crashes into a plexiglass panel. The panel compresses inwards, but manages to hold as he indents into it. He drops his sword and begins to wheeze. His mind is flooded with pain. Every ounce of his body signals to him the immense damage that it has taken. The smell of his own blood fills his nostrils as he slides down the glass onto the floor, fighting to maintain consciousness. The Gladiator grabs his sword, eager now to finish Aidan off. Aidan coughs up blood as he tries to stand up. He falls back to the floor and slips into unconsciousness. The last thing he sees is The Gladiator as he approaches. 𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘰𝘮.

The Gladiator nears his prey. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘱. As this thought emerges, an enormous wall of fire abruptly blocks his path.

"You're not supposed to interfere." The Gladiator turns around to face Arminius, who's relaxing against the wall with his arms folded.

"The rules state that I'm not allowed to strike or kill you. They say nothing about defending my contestant." Arminius replies. "Now, I haven't struck you. I obviously haven't killed you. So, I am within my rights. But of course, this means that you are also not allowed to strike me."

The Gladiator sheathes his weapon. "Julius gets what he wants, and he wants you out."

Arminius scoffs. "Christ, it's been about 2,000 years. Tell him to get over it."

"You can't be around all the time." The Gladiator responds, glancing through the dancing flames at Aidan lying on the floor. It sounded more like a warning than a threat. It's as if what he meant to say was, "He'll make me try again."

Distant police sirens gradually get louder as the two talk.

"Better hurry." Arminius warns. He drops the wall of fire and goes to check on Aidan as he sees The Gladiator finally leave. Nolan rounds the corner.

"I got here as soon as I could. I had to get the students out."

"Understood."

"So what's the plan?" Nolan asks. Arminius begins to think of something. He takes a coin out of his pocket.

"Take the boy back to the house and bandage him up. I'll deal with the situation here." Nolan nods and tries to pick Aidan up. Ian comes out of nowhere and helps Nolan.

"I got him." Ian and Nolan help Aidan to his feet.

"What are you doing here?" Nolan asks.

"I'll explain later, Mr. Johnson." Nolan looks at Ian and chuckles.

"You're one of them, aren't you? A contestant?" Ian looks at Nolan, knowing full well what he meant. He nods his head. As they open the door, Chloe and Joan run in from an entrance to the side. Ian and Nolan turn their heads to face them. Chloe is dumbfounded.

"You too?" Nolan asks.

Chloe tries to stutter up a response, not knowing how to explain.

"Joan," Arminius calls from the side.

"Arminius," Joan replies. "Good to see you again."

"And you, as well." He replies.

"This your contender?" He asks, pointing to Chloe.

"She is." Joan looks at the bloody, unconscious Aidan. "And I suppose he's yours?"

Arminius nods.

"I told you there was something about that boy, Chloe."

Chloe runs up to check on Aidan. Joan walks over to Arminius. "About to use it, huh?" She asks, gesturing to the coin.

"Might as well." Arminius looks at Joan. "I'm surprised you came to assist another contender, Joan. It's a bit out of character."

"It was not my choice. She heard that it was that boy and came running." Chloe looks to Joan, embarrassed.

"Joan!"

"Well, it's true. You couldn't have run faster. You're infatuated with that boy."

"Joan!"

"Ha! Knew it!' Ian mocks, still holding Aidan.

"Stop this lollygagging. Get him back to the house so that I can do this." Arminius scolds.

Ian and Nolan start dragging Aidan out of the school. Arminius throws the coin to the ground. A crisp ring sounds as it bounces upwards. The ring seems to drown out all other noise; the sirens, the yells of the panicked students from outside the school, and eventually the ring itself disappears. Everything enters a state of complete silence. The coin gradually stops its descent and becomes frozen mid air. Time itself comes to a halt for the world. Only the five people and the unconscious Aidan remain unaffected.

"Hear me, all-powerful Deurom." Arminius snatches the coin out of the air. "I call to you in the name of secrecy. Grant me the ability to resolve my troubles, and restore the order that has been disturbed." The coin emanates a radiant glow that illuminates the entire hallway. Arminius lets out a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you, all-powerful Deurom." He closes his eyes tightly, contemplating how to handle the situation. He opens his eyes and reveals a confident smile. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵. He winds his arm back and pitches the coin like a baseball. The coin soars through the air, lighting the surroundings with a stunning golden light. The group watches as even the sky above the school accepts the golden tinge.

"So, what did you come up with?" Joan asks.

"Water heater explosion. It should be able to explain why there's so much damage."

"And what of the boy?" Joan inquires. "How do you explain his disappearance?"

"What disappearance?" Arminius replies. "Aidan didn't even come to school today."

"Smart." Joan compliments, taking in the sight of the coin.

"May I make a proposal?" Arminius asks.

Joan looks up with intrigue. "I'm listening."

"What happens in Nirvana, happens. But maybe… here, on Earth, we can look after one another."

Joan scoffs with shock. "An alliance? Really?"

Arminius tries to reason with her. "We can train together, look after one another. It'll give us better odds."

Joan doesn't appear to be taking it into consideration. "Think if it was your contender he came after. Would she have survived as mine did?"

Joan finally shows an actual reaction as worry comes over her. 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘭𝘰𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥?

"I'll think about it," Joan claims, walking out the door.

Arminius smirks as the coin flies back into his pocket. He snaps his fingers and everything returns to normal.

Chloe opens the door to Aidan's apartment, allowing Ian and Nolan to carry Aidan inside while she carries a black duffel bag.

"Bedroom?" Nolan asks. Ian tilts his head to the direction of Aidan's room. The two carry Aidan to the bed. Nolan takes the bag from Chloe. "You two wait in the living room. If I need you, I'll call." Ian and Chloe nod and walk into the living room. Ian plops down into one of the chairs while Chloe begins to pace around. She picks up a photo of a young Aidan and his mother.

"So, this is his mom?" Chloe asks Ian, showing him the picture.

"Yeah, his mom and my mom were childhood best friends."

"Which led to you guys being friends." Chloe concludes.

"He's like a brother to me." Ian replies, his voice riddled with concern. Chloe puts the picture back and looks at Ian who is staring at the floor.

"He's gonna be okay. Mr. Johnson's got this." Chloe tries to assure him.

"For now, but we both know what's gonna end up happening later on." Ian stares at Chloe, who picks up another picture. It's a more recent photo of Aidan and his mother, along with a man in his mid 20's with dirty blonde hair.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Chloe holds the picture up to Ian. "Who's that guy with Aidan and his mom?"

Ian looks up at the photo.

"That's his older brother, Adonis."

Chloe looks surprised. "I didn't know he had an older brother."

"He's technically Aidan's guardian, but he's never around. He's always away for work. He pops by every once in a while to check on him. But besides that, he's just here by himself."

"That's sad." Chloe puts the picture back where she found it.

The door opens and Arminius and Joan enter the living room.

"Where are they?" Arminius asks.

"Bedroom" Replies Ian, waving his thumb behind him.

Arminius runs to the bedroom. Aidan's sheets are stained with blood. His unconscious body lies face down on his bed while Nolan gently pulls shards of glass from it.

"How is he?" Arminius asks concernedly.

"He's gonna live. But… these are bad, Arminius." Nolan pauses. "His ribs are broken. The shoulder that was punctured is definitely dislocated… It's gonna be quite a while before he can do any type of training."

Arminius looks down at Aidan. "As long as he heals up, we'll be fine. Just finish patching him up."

He looks around the room. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺. Aside from the queen sized bed, there's also a dresser holding a small TV and a desk in the corner by the closet. There are some pictures on the wall along with a few posters that appear to be for some sort of video game or movie franchise. He decides to search through the desk a bit, only to find neatly organized stacks of paper. He pulls out one of the drawers to reveal multiple files. Past report cards, paid statements for bills, bank transactions, and his mother's medical records all tidily arranged together.

"Are we sure we're in the right place, Nolan?"

"Of course. Ian brought us here. Why?"

"Because, the impression you gave me of this kid was that he was the bright, lazy type. He keeps records of his bills, his room's not a pigsty, and the house looks well maintained. If it weren't for the gaming console in the living room and the posters on the wall, I would never have guessed a teenager lived here."

"With all due respect sir, adults play video games too." Nolan sarcastically replies.

"Not the point."

"If you think about it though, it makes sense." Nolan says, pulling out another piece of glass."

"How so?"

"Well, his brother left home when he was around Aidan's age and only came back once and a while to help their sick mother. But mostly it was Aidan doing everything. He had to grow up pretty quickly." Nolan concludes.

"It shows. Not sure if that's gonna make this harder or easier." Arminius ponders. Picking up a photograph on Aidan's desk of him and his mother. "I swear she looks so familiar."

"Can you help me with the bandages, sir?" Nolan quickly asks. Arminius puts down the photograph and helps Nolan gently lift up Aidan so he can bandage his ribs. Aidan groans in pain. Nolan moves as fast as he can and finishes, allowing Arminius to lay Aidan back on the bed. "I'll let him sleep for a bit before I move him again. We should probably clean the sheets." Arminius nods and walks out of the bedroom and into the living room where Chloe, Joan, and Ian are waiting.

"He'll be ok. He's got some broken ribs, his shoulder's dislocated, had to stitch it up… but he's gonna fine." Chloe and Ian let out sighs of relief with the news of the friends impending recovery. Nolan closes the door to the bedroom and walks out.

"I'm gonna run and grab something to eat. Like a pizza or something. I'll be back." Arminius gives him a nod of approval before he leaves. Arminius then turns his attention to Ian.

"So kid. Joan's with the girl--"

"Chloe." Chloe interrupts. Arminius turns to her. "My name is Chloe." Arminius nods, annoyed he was interrupted, and turns back to Ian.

"Joan is with…Chloe. So who are you with?"

Ian begins to look nervously from Arminius to Chloe to Joan. "Come on kid, out with it. She's the only one that could kill you and I doubt that'll happen. So spill it." Ian takes a deep breath.

"Wallace." He replies. Arminius winces.

"Ouch, I hear he's a pain in the ass."

"You've got no idea," Ian replies. Arminius sits down in one of the chairs.

"So, Chloe right?"

"Yeah."

"Joan tell you about my little proposal?"

Joan scoffs in response.

"What proposal?" Chloe asks.

"Arminius has suggested…that we… look after each other, here on Earth." Joan replies with an agitated tone in her voice.

"Really?" Chloe excitedly asks.

"That's what I said. I also believe I mentioned training together as well but..." Arminius trails off, knowing if these contestants want to look after each other they won't care about what their mentors say.

"Can I get in on that?" Ian asks. Arminius looks at him, intrigued. "Wallace keeps stressing about the whole safety thing. And after today, I think it's a good idea. We're not strangers, we can trust each other."

"Oh really? Is that why none of you knew about the others' involvement until today." Joan comments. "Can you really trust one another?"

"Joan." Chloe turns to her. "I wanna do this."

Joan looks back to Chloe, searching her eyes for some kind of doubt, but not finding it.

"Chloe. This is not a game. This is a very serious situation. I need you to look deep inside yourself and ask. 'Can I really trust these men?' And you need to be absolutely sure of your answer." Joan councils Chloe. "If you can truthfully answer that question with a yes. Then I will agree with Arminius." Chloe thinks back to Aidan saving her in the school. He had distracted a man out to kill him so she could escape. Chloe looks Joan right in the eyes.

"I can trust them." Joan looks at Chloe and knows she is genuine. Joan takes a deep breath.

"Alright, then Arminius. Let's go along with your plan." Arminius smirks, victorious.

"So." Ian intrudes. "Can I uh, get in on this little alliance?"

"Is that what we're calling it?" Joan asks.

"Sure." Arminius answers. "Why the hell not."

Joan looks shocked.

"Are we just going to include everyone in this?"

"No. But Ian knows Aidan… Chloe too, at least that's what I assume" Arminius explains. "Why not add another set of eyes or two. Call Wallace and have him meet us here."

"Yeah, I can't do that…right now."

"Why the hell not?"

"Said he has something to take care of for a few days."

"He just left you to yourself?" Joan asks.

"Yeah," Ian replies.

"Not a big deal." Arminius gestures to Joan to follow him and the two walk off to the kitchen.

"So it looks like Wallace is uhh… not present." Arminius states.

"I don't know anyone who would ever leave their representative alone."

"All the more reason to look after the kid. He goes, our reps are gonna get distracted and lose their focus."

"And he could die," Joan adds.

"Yeah, that too." Arminius walks back into the living room. "Alright, kid. You're in. Let us know when Wallace is back and we'll pitch him the idea and see what he says." Arminius plops back in the chair. "Now we just gotta wait for Aidan to wake up." 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨.