𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐌 ⸻ argentum chronicles

𝟎𝟐, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

SHE PULLED the hood closer to her face as people around her murmured. But she didn't care about the mocking fingers directed her way: the biting comments became an old friend.

A familiar man was about to pass her when he suddenly halted in his long strides. "Med—?"

Before he could continue, she clamped her hand over his mouth and hissed, "quiet, you idiot! We're in public!" And despite his muffled protests, she dragged him into a dark alley.

The alley was uncared for. Weeds grew wildly in the cracks of the cement and the moss became a threat as a chance to slip with every step. The road sign, which read, "Hollan Avenue," was coated with a thick layer of dust.

After she explained her newest plan to him, she reluctantly removed her hand. The man rolled his eyes and said, "Remind me why we have to banish him."

"To get back at him after everything he did to me!" She snarled.

"Perhaps I expected too much when I thought that doctors could, at the very least, tell the difference between father and son and understand simple questions," he said, his blue eyes glinting coldly. "You have misunderstood me so allow me to rephrase my question: why must I help you banish my friend for something his father did to you?"

Before he could say anything else, she lunged forward, pinning him to the side of a particularly mossy building. "Remember the note," she said. "Or I'll kill him." And for a moment, an insane expression crossed her face.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

PHOTOCOPYING THE posters was a terrible process. The typewriter creaked with every pressed button. The photocopier repeatedly clunked thunderously as it struggled to keep up with the papers. Wanting to leave the loudness behind, Adin left the room, making a mental note to return for his posters.

He left the dark building and a tall man suddenly brushed past him, almost knocking Adin off his feet. The man took one glance at Adin before he hastily sped up and disappeared among the crowd.

"Mr. Aulus?"

Adin looked around him and spotted a young girl, who couldn't have been older than eight. "Yes?" he asked cautiously, hoping she wasn't going to ask for an autograph.

"You dropped this," said she, pointing to a note on the ground.

As soon as Adin's fingertips grazed the paper, he knew it wasn't his. He had never used or seen a paper with such a smooth texture, and it felt as though the fibers had entirely disappeared. Yet he still thanked the girl and tucked the note into the pocket of his blue shorts.

Adin figured that his posters were probably finished by then, so he headed back to the printing place. The air conditioning was freezing his exposed arms and legs. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself as he walked to the photocopier, which was spitting out piles of his posters.

"Oh dear, you look like you're freezing to death!" said a staff member, who was about his age, behind him. She sympathetically patted Adin on the shoulder. "I'll tell them to take it easy on the air conditioning. In the meantime, can I help you with anything?"

Glancing at the stack of papers in his hand, Adin stuttered, "no thanks, I'm good.

She peered over his shoulder to look at the posters. "I like the simplistic design and how the texture ties everything together, which is nice. Once I had a man come in and he chose paper from aspen trees and the ink couldn't stick to the surface properly." She shivered. "It just turned into a huge clumpy mess inside the printer." At Adin's confused expression, she explained, "depending on the type of tree, the texture of the paper varies. Cellulose fibers from aspen trees create relatively smoother paper, which makes it more expensive."