Chapter 27 - Picking a Side

The next few weeks became busy. Too busy, according to Flo. She had started complaining that I was always somewhere else. She was not wrong.

My uncle needed more help with Authority work and I was being given more responsibility. There were more reports to review, more field assignments and more cases involving ability users who could not be handled through conventional containment.

One afternoon, while I was working through a stack of reports, a DuskComm crystal on the corner of my desk activated.

"Caecilius?"

It was someone named Trista, Flo’s friend.

"Yes?"

"Flo wants to know if you're busy."

"I am."

There was a pause. Then I asked, "Can I talk with Flo?"

The connection ended. I looked at the crystal. Apparently, she had decided that was enough information. I returned to my report.

A few minutes later, I caught myself wondering what Flo had wanted. Probably another research question. Probably something about the disturbances. Probably something strange.

This had become common. She would say something during class and I would remember it hours later while reading an Authority report. She would recommend some ridiculous food and I would notice it on a menu days afterward.

She would complain about being tired and the next time I saw her, I would notice whether she still looked exhausted. It was inefficient yet, I did not stop.

-.-.-

The 150th Anniversary of the Active Ability Academy arrived. I had told Flo beforehand that I might not be able to stay for the entire celebration because my uncle would be there.

She had looked at me in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You never asked." She stared at me.

"That is such a Caecilius answer."

"So I have been told."

She laughed.

I had not understood what was particularly funny about it.

-.-.-

The day of the celebration, the Academy looked completely different from usual. Banners hung across the old stone buildings, magical lights floated over the courtyard and long tables had been arranged for the guests.

My uncle spent most of the ceremony speaking with officials. I stayed beside him for a while. Then I heard someone calling my name.

"Cae!"

I turned. Flo was waving at me from across the courtyard. I walked over. She was dressed differently from her usual Academy clothes. I looked at her for a moment.

"You look pretty."

She stopped moving. Her face turned red almost immediately. Flo looked away.

"Ah... thank you."

I nodded. It was simply true.

Later, my uncle asked me about her.

"Who was that?"

"Florentine."

"I have heard that name before."

I thought about that. Apparently, I had mentioned her to him several times. I had not realised it. That was becoming a recurring problem.

-.-.-

After the festival, my Authority work increased. My uncle began giving me assignments directly. Sometimes they were straightforward. Sometimes they were not.

There were people who looked exactly like the reports described them:violent, reckless and openly hostile. There were others who looked confused when I arrived. A few insisted they had done nothing wrong. I still followed the procedure.

I had been taught that reports existed for a reason. My uncle had access to information I did not. There could be witness statements, previous incidents or investigations I had never seen. That did not stop me from remembering some of those faces.

One man asked whether he would see his daughter again. Another kept repeating that he had not attacked anyone. A woman said almost nothing at all.

I completed each assignment.I submitted each report. And I moved on. At least, that was what I was supposed to do.

Sometimes I wondered about them afterward. Not enough to distrust the Authority. Enough to remember that a report was still a report. Then I would remember something Flo had said.

People weren't just the worst thing they had done. She had told Raphael something similar. I had not been there when she said it. But when I heard about the conversation later, I could almost hear her voice.

That was another thing I had started doing without noticing. I could predict what Flo would say. I was not sure whether that was useful. It usually was.

-.-.-

Around the same time, Flo and Mr.Hugo submitted their proposal to expand their research. I reviewed it. The proposal was reasonable.

They wanted better equipment to identify patterns in the recent disturbances. I pushed it through the proper channels. The funding was approved.

Flo was delighted. "You got it!"

"I submitted it."

"You got it through!"

"That is not the same thing."

"It is to me!"

She grinned. I handed her the approval document.

"Try not to spend all of it on pastel ink."

She gasped.

"I would never."

I looked at her. She looked away.

"You have no proof."

"I have seen your desk."

"That is different." I almost laughed. Almost.

-.-.-

I continued working at the Authority. Flo in the Observatory was very busy too. The two of us were getting busier day by day. That was when I started noticing patterns. My reports were increasing. I took one of the files to my uncle.

"These locations keep appearing."

He read through the pages.

"Researchers are looking into it."

"Should the Authority investigate too?"

"We are."

I looked at him. He tapped the report.

"Your job is not to solve every problem yourself."

"I know."

"Then let them do their work."

I nodded. That answer made sense. It usually did.

-.-.-

A few days later, I was at the Observatory. Flo was working over a large map covered in coloured lines. She looked up when I entered.

"We're getting somewhere."

"Where?"

She pointed at the map.

"That."

I stepped closer. There were lines crossing almost the entire city. Some overlapped. Some disappeared. Some seemed to follow the same general paths.

"You understand this?"

"Mostly."

"That is not what I asked."

She smiled.

"No."

I looked at her. She laughed. Then she went back to the map. I stayed longer than I intended. That had also become common.

-.-.-

By now, Raphael had become part of the Observatory as well. I had met him only briefly but I knew enough about his situation.

Flo had found him alone. He had believed his life was already over. He had called himself a loser. Flo had told him he was not one. I remembered that.

She could have simply comforted him. Instead, she had sat there and argued with him until he began questioning the way he saw himself. That was very Flo.

She did that with everything. Lost Beings. Ability theory. Authority procedures. People. Especially people. She seemed incapable of looking at someone else's pain and deciding that it was somebody else's problem.

I did not always understand her. I was beginning to understand that I did not need to.

-.-.-

The reports continued. And my uncle continued answering my questions.

When I asked why certain ability users had been separated from their bodies, he explained the danger they posed. When I asked why some had to be contained more carefully, he showed me their records.

When I asked why the Authority kept some information restricted, he told me that sensitive investigations could not be discussed freely.

There was always an explanation. Sometimes it was incomplete. But it was never impossible. That mattered to me.

-.-.-

I found myself noticing how comfortable I had become at the Observatory. I knew where Flo kept the tea. I knew which chair she preferred. I knew Puff would eventually steal something. I knew Mr.Hugo would pretend to be annoyed. I knew Flo would cry if someone was especially kind to her. I did not remember deciding to learn any of that. I simply had.

-.-.-

I was at the night market buying sweets for my little cousin brother when I heard my name being called in a familiar voice.

It was Flo.

She was as happy as ever. Her smile could probably bring warmth to someone having a bad day.

Amelia told me she had gotten into the Defence Squad. I congratulated her.

I could have left after that but they asked me to join them. I politely accepted.

I found myself looking towards Flo from time to time while everyone talked.

I liked that about her.

She pointed towards a small white stuffed animal at one of the stalls. It had tiny ears and a rather ridiculous expression.

Flo had a habit of liking cute, small things. I bought it for her. She clearly wanted it. She had been looking at it for seven minutes. I had counted.

It looked cute tucked into her arms afterwards. She held it carefully, as though she had been given something far more valuable than a little stuffed animal.

She looked happy. I felt light seeing her happy. Later, we went and sat beside the river.

Being alongside everyone felt normal. It was loud, even louder than the night market. Perry was proudly showing off his Peri Peri Fries. Amelia was talking loudly about her new Defence Squad life and all the things she wanted to do. Mr.Hugo was complaining about everything Puff did while Puff continued stealing his food. Trista was smiling gently, contributing to the conversation every now and then.

And then there was Flo. Her face was shining brightly.

She seemed even more excited than Amelia. She was always like that. Whenever someone she cared about accomplished something, she celebrated as though it had happened to her.

For some reason, I wanted to sit beside her. There was plenty of space elsewhere but the space beside Flo felt like the most comfortable place to be.

She was still hugging the little plushie. I teased her about it a little.

Her reactions were always amusing. They were usually at the extreme ends of everything. She could become incredibly excited over something small and she could cry over emotions that most people would simply keep to themselves.

She cried a lot. But somehow, I never found it annoying.

I found myself smiling a lot when I was around her. Well, she had that impact.

Flo made people feel like they had done something worth being proud of. It was strange that someone, who was so good at complimenting others, became shy whenever the attention turned towards her. I noticed that.

I don't know why I noticed so many things about her. Perhaps I simply spend too much time around her. Or perhaps Flo is just difficult not to notice.

When our shoulders touched, I felt an electric shock run through me. My whole body went still for half a second. The weather suddenly felt warmer. It was probably because of the crowded market. Or perhaps the heat from the people around us.

Perry was yelling something about his fries from behind us and everyone was talking over one another but somehow I could still hear Flo laughing. Her laugh was soft and bright. Sweet. Melodious.

I don't think I had ever paid attention to someone's laugh before. With Flo, I seemed to notice everything.

She caught me smiling and pointed it out. I denied it. She was right. I had smiled quite a lot that day. I suppose she had that effect on me too.

She is soo different than me. She is everything I am not.

-.-.-

Then Flo said my name.

"Cae." I turned towards her.

She was serious. "We will bring the Authority down."

For a moment, I did not answer. I looked at her.

She told me enough for me to understand that she had found something serious. She did not tell me everything.

I was more shocked by the fact that someone else also had a dual ability and it was Flo, herself. I thought we had nothing in common.

But then, I thought about my uncle sitting behind his desk. The reports spread across the wood. The explanations. The procedures. The people I had contained. The people I had been told would be reunited with their bodies.

I thought about the laboratory she had shown me. The records. The Lost Beings. The possibility that the disturbances had been deliberately created.

Then I thought about Flo. She was not making a wild guess. She believed what she had seen. And that was precisely the problem. Because if she was right, then everything I had been told required another explanation.

And if she was wrong, she was about to put herself directly against the most powerful institution in Cirnia.

Neither possibility was acceptable. Not yet. I looked at her.

"I need to understand what you found."

"I wasn’t planning to but i think I should. You deserve to know. I'll show you."

She explained everything that she had been up to lately.

I believed her. That was the part that made this difficult. She had earned that much. But whatever she intended to do next, I could not simply watch.

"Flo."

"Hmm?"

"Don't do anything yet."

She frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I need to know what you're asking me to fight."

She was quiet for a moment. Then she nodded.

"Okay."

I hoped she meant it. I had spent years learning to follow orders. I had spent even longer believing I understood why those orders existed.

Now I had two people I trusted standing on opposite sides of the same question.

My uncle had told me what the Authority was for.

Flo had shown me what she believed it had become.

I still did not know which explanation was true.

My uncle had never told me that I was not allowed to think. He had taught me to think carefully. That was different. So I trusted him.

Perhaps that was why Flo's discovery was so difficult to process. Because I trusted her too. Not in the same way. But I did.

But I knew I could not let Flo walk into danger without trying to stop her. Not because I wanted to fight her. Because I want to protect her.

And for the first time, I understood that doing that might put me directly against someone I had become unwilling to leave alone.