Then Rhydric. "And you," Theo said, shaking his head, "you say nothing and expect silence to fix what you broke."
Theo spread his hands, voice cracking despite himself. "Why should I always be the one holding this friendship together when things get ssy? When things hurt? When soone’s missing?"
The room went dead quiet.
"I didn’t ask to be the peacekeeper," Theo said more softly now. "But I’m the only one here actually thinking about Athena instead of your pride."
He exhaled, shoulders sagging. "So if any of you have sothing useful, sothing real to say about where she could be... say it."
No one spoke..And that hurt more than the yelling ever had.
Theo shook his head. "You know what?" he said, stepping back. "I’m done here."
He looked around the room, eyes blazing. "I’ll look for Athena by myself. Clearly, I’m the only one who rembers what actually matters."
He turned on his heel and started for the door.
"Wait." Rhydric’s voice cut through the room.
Theo paused at the door, his hand still on the handle. For a mont, it looked like he might ignore him completely.
"Let’s look for her together," Rhydric said again, quieter this ti. "Please."
Theo finally turned around. His eyes were sharp, hurt sitting right beneath the anger. "Together?" he echoed. "Now you want together?"
Rhydric nodded once. "Yes. Because whatever this is." he gestured vaguely between all of them, "—it doesn’t matter if she’s not safe."
Theo muttered as he turned back and dropped into his seat. "You better not fight again," he said flatly, eyes cutting between them. "Or I’m done here."
No one argued. "Now," Theo continued, rubbing his temples, "let’s talk."
He looked at Azrael first. "Did you try calling her friends? There’s a chance she’s with one of them."
Azrael shook his head. "We didn’t. But there’s a high chance she isn’t."
"Still," Theo said, already reaching for his phone, "we call them first."
There was a brief pause.
"...Okay," Azrael said slowly. "But I don’t have any of their numbers."
Rhydric frowned. "Neither do I."
Eryx scoffed. " neither."
Theo looked around the room, incredulous. "OMG you’re kidding."
Theo let his head fall back against the couch. "Great," he muttered. "None of us have her friends’ numbers."
Azrael ran a hand through his hair, frustration clawing at his chest. "How did we all miss that?"
"Because we were too busy assuming she’d always be right where we left her," Eryx said bitterly.
Rhydric’s jaw tightened. "Or that she’d be fine."
Theo snapped his fingers suddenly. "Wait...hold on. We can get their WhatsApp contacts from the school group, right?"
Everyone froze for half a second.
Azrael blinked. "The general class group?"
"Yes, everyone is in the group" Theo said. "Her friends are definitely there too."
"...Yeah," Rhydric admitted slowly. "That’s actually a great idea."
Eryx scoffed under his breath. "Finally. Sothing that makes sense."
Theo shot him a look. "Don’t start."
"I’m not," Eryx said, hands raised. "I’m agreeing."
Azrael leaned over Theo’s shoulder as Theo opened the group chat, scrolling fast. His jaw was tight as his eyes scanned the nas like he was afraid he’d miss sothing important.
"There," Theo said, tapping the screen. "Felicia.
"Wait," Azrael said, frowning. "We can’t call Felicia, rember? They fought. She’s not going to be with her."
"Okay... but we can call Armand, right?" Theo suggested, hope creeping into his voice.
"No." Eryx and Azrael said in unison, their tone sharp. Even Rhydric looked away.
Theo froze for a second, disbelief flashing across his face. "...Are you guys serious right now?" he snapped.
Rhydric finally t his gaze, his expression unreadable. "We should act carefully. We can’t make this worse by asking them."
Theo let out a frustrated groan. "Carefully isn’t going to find her fast enough. God... she’s out there sowhere, and we’re sitting here arguing about Armand?"
Azrael’s voice cut in, sharp and tense. "You know those guys are weird. They’re not human, and we still don’t know what the fuck they are. What if they’re a threat?"
"I don’t care," Theo shot back imdiately, already unlocking his phone. "I’m calling him, and that’s it."
Eryx moved to stop him, reaching out, but Theo snapped, his patience finally breaking. "Stop this foolishness."
Theo’s finger hovered over the call button for a mont. Finally, he pressed it.
The phone rang once... twice... and then Armand picked up. "Hello?" Armand’s voice ca through, calm but curious.
Theo leaned forward, urgency in every word. "Armand! Where’s Athena? Have you seen her today?"
There was a pause on the other end, long enough to make Theo’s stomach twist. "Uh... no. I haven’t seen her," Armand finally said, a slight unease creeping into his tone.
"Are you sure? Don’t lie to !" Theo snapped, gripping the edge of the chair.
"No! I haven’t seen her," Armand insisted. "I an... I saw her in school earlier, but she left. I don’t know where she went after that.
"Is sothing the matter?" Armand asked, concern creeping into his voice.
"Nothing, thank you," he muttered, ending the call.
Azrael growled low in his throat, frustration coiling in his chest. "Damn it. She can’t just vanish like this."
"What if she was taken by one of our enemies?"
Eryx suggested, his voice tight, every word sharp.
"There’s a possibility," Rydric said cautiously, "but we can’t jump to conclusions yet."
Theo rubbed his temples, trying to force calm into his voice. "Let’s wait till tomorrow. Maybe she just needed so space."
"What? I can’t wait that long," Azrael stood up abruptly. "It feels like I’m going crazy already."
"There’s a possibility she just wanted so air," Rydric said evenly. "After everything that happened, let her think. If she doesn’t co back, then we act. But rushing now might make things worse."
Azrael clenched his fists, jaw tight, but didn’t argue further. Deep down, he knew Rydric was right, but the panic gnawing at him wouldn’t let him rest.
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