The city nestled within the territorial grounds of Eldora was a marvel in itself, an island haven cloaked in seclusion, untouched by the sway of nations or the greed of the wealthy, or so the brochures claid.
All six of them, too many nas to rattle off each ti. They had piled into a taxi summoned directly from the Institute's gates. Now, they were en route to the so-called city that never knew sleep.
The taxi was one of those rare extended models, three rows of backseats, a lone passenger spot beside the driver, and the man behind the wheel himself.
Aldrich and Fiona took up the farthest seat at the back, the others tactfully opting to give the couple their space. Perhaps it was decency. Or perhaps it was a subtle nudge, an unspoken encouragent for the two to finally act like a couple.
The middle row was claid by Dante and Saldrich, leaving the closest seat to the front for Trevor and Aydin. As for the passenger seat beside the driver, it remained conspicuously vacant.
The ride was quiet, uneventful, really.
No pressing matters hovered in the air. No serious conversations arose. Just the hum of the engine and the occasional bump in the road.
That is, until Dante opened his mouth.
"I thought you two were actually dating," he said, breaking the silence with that signature smirk of his.
It was hard to tell whether he genuinely wanted to start a conversation or was just poking his nose where it didn't belong, sothing he had a tendency for.
"They are," Saldrich chid in smoothly, turning in her seat to look back at the couple behind her. "At least, that's what my dear brother told . Right, Al?"
Aldrich blinked, caught off guard by the volley.
'What is happening right now?'
He could only watch as Dante and Saldrich volleyed verbal jabs across the aisle, dragging him straight into the crossfire.
"Your brother said that?" Dante leaned in, playing the part of the intrigued gossip. "You an, he actually admitted sothing about him and her?"
"He did," Saldrich answered, her voice laced with mock gravity. "Quite a lot, actually. Said he was entangled with Fiona Helmswoth, the pageant queen of Upstate, the prodigious darling of the Helmswoth na."
Aldrich internally winced.
'Sal, I never said any of that.'
But saying so aloud would only make him seem defensive, guilty even. Better to remain silent. Smile faintly. Avoid his sister's gaze like the plague.
"He really said that?" Dante pressed, raising an eyebrow. "Verbatim? Word for word, just like that?"
"Oh, yes. That's how he described her," Saldrich continued, her tone dripping with exaggerated reverence. "I started to wonder myself, what did the Duchess of Upstate ever see in my brother? She's a star, while he's… well, he's Aldrich."
Aldrich nearly groaned.
Here it cos.
"My brother, diocre at best. At his peak, he rivals a second-year student. anwhile, Fiona? Financially unmatched. Socially radiant. Academically brilliant. And let's not forget her prowess as a mystic."
Saldrich paused, only to deliver the punchline.
"Put them side by side, and it's clear one of them's out of their league. It's laughable, really. Like watching a pigeon trying to court a phoenix."
At this point, Aldrich wasn't sure whether to laugh or leap from the moving vehicle.
'Are they still joking?' he wondered. 'Or has this turned into a full-blown intervention?'
He sat there in strained silence, biting back the urge to respond. A single word, and they'd devour him alive with twice the energy.
"With the way you two keep circling around the subject, I'm beginning to think this trip isn't what Pendragon claid it was," Aldrich muttered, his tone dry.
Because it wasn't.
Not really.
This wasn't so spontaneous day of fun. This whole outing was a well-planned operation carefully orchestrated by the unholy alliance of Dante Pendragon and Saldrich Aldaman.
They'd decided it was high ti to interfere.
To step in where Aldrich and Fiona refused to.
The pair was supposedly dating, yet they barely saw each other. Always using exams as an excuse, always too busy to make ti. They were a couple in title, but in practice? Strangers passing in the halls.
Dante, being Aldrich's closest friend, and Saldrich, being both his sister and Fiona's confidant, had taken it upon themselves to change that.
And this trip? It was their battlefield.
"Now, now, brother," Saldrich said sweetly. "Why would you suspect such a thing? This is simply a chance to unwind. A genuine opportunity to escape the pressure and, you know… act like an actual human being."
Dante threw an arm over the back of his seat and looked back at Aldrich with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Exactly. And you, Aldaman, might want to consider expressing yourself for once instead of clamming up like a broken marionette every ti you're near a certain soone."
If looks could kill, Aldrich might've vaporized them both right there.
Instead, he closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe through the barrage of teasing.
'If only wishes turned real,' he thought darkly. 'There'd be a Dante-shaped crater outside this car window.'
And so the tornt continued, lighthearted on the surface, but laced with enough truth to make it sting. They teased and prodded, their words dancing on the edge of friendly mockery and rciless exposure.
Fiona, to her credit, remained composed through it all. She sat quietly by Aldrich's side, a knowing smile playing on her lips, occasionally chuckling under her breath as if enjoying the show.
They kept it up all the way into the city until the car finally pulled to their destination.
Dante practically leapt out the mont the doors opened, sweeping his arms out in an exaggerated arc. "Ladies and gentlen, welco… to the wonderland of wonders!"
The group stood at the edge of a wide drive-through, the city noise fading behind them as they faced the sprawling sight ahead.
Aldrich blinked at the towering tal structures.
A Ferris wheel, at least a hundred ters tall, spun slowly in the distance. Snaking roller coasters twisted through the sky like dragons mid-flight. Laughter echoed faintly from within the gates.
A the park.
"You brought us to a the park?" Aldrich deadpanned. "Seriously, Pendragon?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Dante replied, grinning. "What, you don't see the magic?"
"If I were ten, maybe I would."
But he wasn't ten.
He was in his twenties now, though that age sotis felt like a technicality to his life as Paul. The idea of screaming through rides and cotton candy lines didn't charm him. It made his stomach twist for an entirely different reason.
The last ti he went to a park like this… was with his parents. As Paul.
Before everything changed.
Before they were gone.
"Co on, Aldaman," Dante said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be such a grump. This isn't about being a kid. It's about letting go. All work and no play, you know how that ends."
Easy for him to say.
Dante Pendragon the golden child who never needed to try. He could afford to joke around. But even so, he might have a point to work on here.
Just for today, Aldrich thought, he could set everything else aside. No eyes of mystics. No tests. No burdens.
He could let himself… feel.
What harm could co from that? Right.
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