* * *
Perseus was unsure of what to do. Hours had passed since the assassination, but nobody in the Sun-Young had recovered from the shock that Koris had been killed.
On the television Chief Nikhita Kothari was being interviewed about the whole situation. She explained how she had let the downtowner into her home until he was able to find another job. Unfortunately, he was connected to the Rebellion and made plans to bring anarchy by killing the new chairperson. The news then danced over to the story about Lord Jordanis being arrested for suspected sexual abuse of Olympians. All the news channels were having a field day. Two jaw-dropping stories in one day!
He heard Melody crying in Andromeda’s bedroom. The two were just lying on the bed trying to come to terms with what had happened. Flick, however, was concerning the Olympian greatly. He did not react when he watched Koris get shot. He just sat there, blank-faced, and watched the blood pool around the dead man’s head.
His reaction to his father-figure’s death is unusual and alarming. I shall go check on him.
He found the boy lying on his bed staring up at the stars on the ceiling. He was just as expressionless as he had been when he watched Koris die.
“Are you alright, Flick?” he asked in a concerned tone.
“No,” he replied robotically.
“Would you like to talk about what you’re feeling? It may help.”
“I can’t tell ya anything,” he said bluntly. “I can’t even trust ya to keep my secrets.”
Perseus, unsure of what else to do, left and went about his chores. He made the three remaining members of the house dinner and put it in the fridge in case they got hungry. There would be no family dinner that night.
When he finally returned to his room he found that Flick had gone to sleep. It made sense, it was very late. Almost morning, in fact.
I will sleep as well, he thought. Usually he would ask Andromeda if it was a good time to sleep, but he did not want to bother her after everything that had happened.
When he woke three hours later he discovered the house was silent. Melody and Andromeda had eventually drifted off to sleep, but he was not sure when.
Looking across the room, he realised Flick was not in his bed. It was odd that he had not heard the boy leave. He must’ve been incredibly quit. The Olympian assumed the boy had gone for a walk – which was a healthy thing to do after everything that had happened.
He stared up at the starry ceiling as there was nothing else to do. He would not start his chores for at least another two hours.
The Olympian was almost in a daze as he stared at the stars, but then, much to his surprise, a shadowy creature blocked out most of the stars. Only its underbelly could be seen. It was three times larger than the average shuttle and had the most beautiful dark blue underbelly speckled with jewel-like green spots that glowed.
A skyray, he realised instantly. I must inform Flick so that he may see it.
He was under the assumption that Flick was on a walk, in which case he would miss his chance to see the skyray, but Perseus still checked the main area just in case he was there.
What caught his attention was the fact that the dog was waiting outside the bathroom door. Kiddo whimpered as the Olympian neared the bathroom.
Something has caused the dog to become distressed, he noted.
He pressed his ear to the door. The sloshing of water in the bathtub could be heard.
“Flick?” he said in a voice loud enough that anyone on the other side of the door could hear, but quiet enough that he would not wake Andromeda or Melody.
The dog whimpered again, followed by a little yelp.
“Hush, Kiddo,” Perseus whispered.
I sense something is wrong with Flick.
He tested the door lock which, to his surprise, was unlocked.
It could be very rude to open the door if Flick is doing his private business, he thought. But I also sense that Flick is at risk and not checking on him could have fatal consequences.
The dog yelped again.
Perseus made his decision: he was going to check on Flick.
“Flick?” he said as he opened the door.
The dog ran in as soon as the door opened and over to the bathtub. There sat Flick, paler than ever. His blood had coloured the water a rich red and the dog was lapping up as if he’d gone days without satisfying his thirst.
Perseus noted the bloodied multi-tool lying near the bathtub and understood the situation. Olympians had not been taught much about suicide, but he knew enough to know that this was a suicide attempt. The question now was what he could do.
Flick slowly turned to look at him. His eyes bloodshot and his face drained of all colour. He looked as if he was about to say something, but instead he fell forward, slamming his head on the rim of the bathtub.
“Flick?” he asked, hoping the boy was still conscious, but the water suggested that quite a large amount of blood had been lost.
Perhaps I should tell Andromeda, he considered as he stood, confused as a child, in the doorway. No, I cannot disturb her while she is grieving. Maybe I should call the ambulance, but I should ask Andromeda if I have permission to use the phone.
Maybe I should try to stop Flick’s bleeding and when Andromeda wakes up tomorrow morning I will ask what I should do.
… But why would Flick do this to himself? If he wanted my assistance he would have asked for it, so maybe he does not want me to help him. If I called the ambulance or stopped the bleeding, would I be going against his desires? And if I didn’t save him, would I be disobeying Andromeda? Surely she would want him to remain alive. If only I could ask her.
As Perseus continued to ponder the situation over, Flick’s life essence slowly ebbed from his body and into the warm water that Kiddo happily drank.
16
The great star in the sky had just sunk below the orange peaks in the distance. Nikhita poured her svellik friend a drink as they watched the news. The city of Manticore was in complete chaos. No stand-in chairperson had been decided, the only eligible chairman had to fight sexual assault claims, and the disgruntled downtowners were a growing threat to the uptowner way of life.
“You do rrrealissse yourrr plan rrruined yourrr own rrreputation?” Ghoad asked. “Rrrevealing that you had sssex with the downtownerrr and let him ssstay in yourrr home may have not been a good idea.”
“My reputation will only take a slight hit,” she explained as she handed Ghoad a glass of apple cider. “Yes, the things I did are looked down upon by this society, but the spotlight is on the late Koris Young and Lysander Jordanis. The damage to my reputation is a blip in history.”
The news showed fires spreading through downtown and even climbing through some buildings.
“How long do you think it will be until the sssvellik contrrrol Manticorrre Metrrropolisss again?”
Nikhita shrugged.
“Years, I would say. You can’t destroy a whole society in just one day. Oh no. It’s a gradual deterioration. And, when these people are spent, you svellik may swoop in and reclaim what is yours.”
The svellik bowed her head sadly.
“Let usss hope you arrre rrright.”
“Hey, if I’m wrong then you can have my head on a silver platter, okay?”
“I do not want that.”
Nikhita laughed.
“I’m messing with you, don’t worry.”
They sat in silence and continued to watch the news. All news channels were feasting on the juicy stories Nikhita had so graciously provided them with.
“Wherrre is Prrroteusss?” Ghoad asked when an image of an Olympian was shown.
“Still at the Jordanis estate,” Nikhita stated calmly. “Being an Olympian allows to slip by everyone unnoticed. I doubt Lysander, given everything else that is going on, has noticed that he has one extra Olympian working for him.”
“It isss unlikely,” the svellik agreed.
After another long silence Nikhita paused the news on the
image of Lady Andromeda Sun sobbing. She raised her glass and gestured for Ghoad to do the same.
“To anarchy,” she said as their glasses clinked.
“To anarrrchy,” Ghoad echoed before taking a sip of the apple cider.
Nikhita then unpaused the news so that they could continue to watch their society crumble.
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