my little dove - sejanus plinth

(006 ) and we can fly far from here

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MY LITTLE DOVE.

(chapter six, and we can fly far from here)

the citadel / the academy / capitol arena, 2248

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DOROTHY NEARLY FAINTED WHEN Clemensia gave a scream that caused chills to run up her spine. She shook her hand to rid the snakes and all that was left was puncture wounds that oozed pus the colour of the snakes.

Lab assistants came running in, two pinning Clemensia to the floor whilst a third injected her with a needle filled with a black liquid. The girl's lips turned purple and then bloodless before she got knocked out. They put her on a stretcher and led her out of the room, Dorothy watching in horror. What did she expect? Dr Gaul was crazy.

"She won't die, will she?" Dorothy panted, looking at the woman with wide eyes. She already saw Arachne die. She couldn't watch Clemensia die as well. Clemensia was one of Dorothy's best friends. 

"Anyone's guess." Dr Gaul shrugged as she dipped her hand into the tank, petting the snakes. "Clearly, her scent was not on the paper. So, the two of you wrote the proposal?"

"We did," Coriolanus told her, Dorothy nodding. There was no point in lying.

"Good. The truth, finally. I've no use for liars. What are lies but attempts to conceal some sort of weakness?" Dr Gaul wrapped one of the pink snakes around her wrist, admiring it as she cooed at it softly. "If I see that side of either of you again, I'll cut the pair of you off. If Dean Highbottom punishes you for it, I won't stand in his way. Are we clear?"

"Very clear." Coriolanus nodded.

"Yes." Dorothy sighed.

"It's good, the proposal," Dr Gaul said as if she didn't just kill a student with her pet snakes. "Well thought out and simple to execute. I'm going to recommend my team to review it and implement a version of the first stage."

"Thank you." Dorothy nodded at her, begging to leave the lab.

"Oh, go home. Or go see your friend if she's still there to see." Dr Gaul laughed at the discomfort on her face. "It's time for my crackers and milk."

Dorothy practically bolted out of the lab, rubbing her forehead as she heard Coriolanus hurry out after her. He seemed to take the wrong way whilst Dorothy was adamant to find Clemensia. She couldn't be dead. Dr Gaul was crazy, but she wouldn't kill a student of the Academy, a mentor. And Dorothy was just coming to terms with Arachne's death, a girl who she never was friends with. If her best friend died? She would have Lysistrata, but the hole that Clemensia would leave would be massive. 

Dorothy made it to the elevator and waited for a few minutes for Coriolanus, who came rushing to her. With a hand on her shoulder, Coriolanus escorted her into the elevator whilst she tried to blink away the tears that Clemensia could be dead. She couldn't be. She couldn't be, right?

The Peacekeepers met them above, returning all of their book bags including Clemensia's and marched them out of the Citadel. Dorothy and Coriolanus made it down the street and around the corner before her legs gave way, the girl crumbling onto the kerb.