Chapter 24: Falling Asleep

Milo hooked the Iron Turnhook over his waistband.

Six times the sheet printed [ Mercies: None ] as he emptied the closet.

His pockets bulged, the fate of a thief who robbed thieves.

He was trying to make room for the last two relics when someone coughed beyond the wall.

"It’s probably the bread," Henry suggested.

"You have water?" Mr. Cald asked.

"No. Get them some, please."

"Warm?"

"You were a medic, not me. When are we using it, anyway? And how?"

"Soon."

Pockets full, a copper pomander ball with a Turning medal in his left hand and a bowl of noodles in his right, Milo closed the cabinet doors with his heel.

Time to bounce.

Hoping no one would notice the lack of merely six, as in all, objects, he headed back.

As he pulled the door shut behind him, the glass-paned one began to open.

"What are you doing?"

Milo crossed the next threshold.

"What are you doing?!" Henry shouted.

Sweat trailed down Milo’s temples, and he lengthened his stride.

"Shut up! You want the Warden in here?" Cald snapped. "The kettle was warm!"

Milo broke into a run. With hot broth slopping over his thumb, he levelled the bowl without slowing.

Behind him, doors groaned open and stayed open. Each groan came from one room nearer than the last.

At the same time, the flail’s outline climbed to the second floor and approached the staff-room entrance.

Cald behind him. Aldous near the way out.

There was the door that opened onto brick.

Upon reaching the confiscation closet, he scrambled to the ground and shoved the bowl under it. Cloth and numerous letters fell, covering the dish.

He himself dashed for the dead-end and squeezed into the tiny gap between door and brick.

He forced air out of his lungs and, with all of his strength, pulled the handle to his chest. The brick chilled his back, and the relics’ edges dug into his thighs.

When the latch clicked, the door to the room flew open, burying the sound. The steps hammered over the boards, one stride from the wood at his nose.

The man threw open the far door, to the other room.

Milo pressed his spine flatter into the brick. His emptied lungs burned, and his heartbeat spiked up to his ears.

The flail’s outline edged closer to the staff-room entrance.

But no more doors flew open. One by one, they began closing with soft clicks, the steps receding back to the nest.

At last, Milo inhaled. The wood creaked against his chest.

After that, he kept his breaths shallow. His ribs ached against the door.

Thank God I’m not claustrophobic.

Still, it was far from a practical hiding spot, especially for longer periods.

Five minutes later, he eased the door open and staggered out, gasping, as though he’d been submerged underwater this whole time.

The flail’s outline passed the staff-room entrance and continued along the outer corridor. Cald had gone back, and Aldous was keeping out.

Relieved, he went over to dig up his dinner. He slid the plate off the bowl. Steam stung his face.

And that’s when it hit him.

There was neither spoon nor fork.

He hooked a finger around one noodle and pulled it against the bowl’s side until it was at the rim.

Under the boiling water, they had softened enough. Good.

He pushed the bowl aside.

Relics first, as he wasn’t gonna throw up his dinner again and let it end up being a greasy pond on the floor.

No Ward to agonize his body this time. Just hard metal, in pieces as awkward to swallow as Brother Ansel’s Soles.

The bell softened against his teeth. He tried pressing it with a finger inside his mouth, and found it as hard as metal. Only his teeth could do it.

So he chewed and chewed, compressing the pieces slowly before going for the swallow. Only gags came up and no liquid. Either an improvement or lack of anything to vomit.

[ The Innate Column ]

[ Maturity: Hour ]

[ Progress toward Day: 59.3% ]

[ Developments: 2 / 9 ] 𓂃🖋

At the end of it, the sun was rising again. Beyond the curtains, students were gathering on the fields by a small, rectangular podium.

Milo burped, only now getting to the noodles. He almost felt sorry for eating all of Henry’s loot and what Mr. Cald regarded as the completion of his collection.

The flail’s outline drifted out of the building and over to the podium. Soon, Milo saw the man from up here.

At one point during nighttime, he seemed to have rested in one place. A short nap, if he had to guess.

So what would everyone do now, knowing even the great Warden Aldous couldn’t catch the academy’s entity? The academy’s ghost?

"Dear students and instructors!"

The voice echoed over the school comms. Milo watched Aldous’ mouth move in front of a microphone at the stage.

"The church knows how much land I’ve volunteered to guard." The man swept a hand over the crowd. "I am only one man, and yet, I am tasked with protecting the very future of your lives. All of the prodigies, entrusted to one man."

He’s good with his vocabulary... Milo slurped in a cold noodle off his finger, brows high.

"The Calendar’s keepers foresaw this Return and sent no one. The Calamity casts its sickness ahead of its body. In two days I will Turn it, and every afflicted soul will be well."

He’s also a fraud... Milo slurped in another noodle, brows low.

That was the main gist of his speech. Next came some mood lightening and jokes from his wife.

"A Warden for the abandoned, an excellent Baker for his wife!" The lady in the purple dress clung to his arm. "They have to try your Japanese-style cotton cheesecake, Aldie."

"The whole academy?"

"Just a little. Though cooks here have set the standard. That burnt-top Basque cheesecake—"

"Now I have competition?"

"Oh, don’t sulk, Aldie. Yours is my favorite." Her finger traced a circle on his arm. "Only you can make my favorite Japanese-style cotton cheesecake."

Two days... three days... Was it three or two days? Did he say three?

The show went on. He couldn’t risk another trip to the kettle, and nobody would wake him when it was time to go.

Two days.

Milo caught his chin dipping and straightened.

I am not falling asleep in here.

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⋆˚࿔ Coming right up: "Point of No Return (Part 1)" ... ⤵︎ [!]