Android

41

I didn't dare close my eyes for the remainder of the night.

Even with all the droids surrounding me, I felt scared.

I had to let them know, I had to warn them that Jupiter might be a bigger threat then anticipated.

They believed him, hell even I believed him, but the bruises on my arm completely changed that belief system.

An hour before the sun began to rise, Neptune woke up everyone and we packed up our things before heading back into the woods, still hoping to get around the river. The whole time we prepared to go, I avoided any kind of contact or interaction with Jupiter, who seemingly had returned to himself. I knew the psychotic parts of him were there though, they always were. The more I thought about it, the more I began to realize how often I looked them over. It was embarrassing. Which made me even more desperate to tell Neptune about our encounter last night. It wasn't until later in our hike though that I managed to catch her by herself, in the back of the group. The twins were taking the sides and Jupiter was in front of us, out of ear shot.

"Neptune, we need to talk, it's important," I said in a low voice once I had dropped back next to her.

"What's on your mind Abigail?" She asked as she continued to scan the area, making sure we weren't being followed.

"It's Jupiter. We had a scary encounter in the woods, and he said some things I'm worried about." At that, Neptune stopped scanning to look at me.

"Like what?" She asked, slowing down a little bit so we'd fall back more so. "He said things like he would never leave me alone even if I wanted him to, and that he was jealous of Pluto because I was his first. He was being rough with me and told me I was lying when I said I didn't know what happened in the woods with the Robbies." I glanced worriedly at Jupiter to make sure he wasn't listening. "After saying I was his, he then said that we'll see, we'll all see soon."

For a long moment then, Neptune remained quiet with a furrowed brow as she processed what I said. She seemed concerned, or at least I thought she did until she stopped walking to face me. "Look, Abigail, you've been through a lot this past couple of weeks. So, I understand why you might have a hard time trusting those your currently close to, but you need to drop this traitor thing with Jupiter. He's not a bad guy Abigail, he's a good friend who cares about you very much."

"But Neptune—"

She held up her hand for silence.

"Sometimes when Jupiter gets tense, he can be a little intense. I wouldn't concern yourself with it, especially now when we're about to fight Titan. I need you to stay on your game and stop giving your worries power over you." She rested a hand on my shoulder. "I promise you Abigail, you're perfectly safe with us. All of us. Now go catch up to Gemma, okay?"

At that I swallowed thickly. She didn't believe me, no one believed me. Maybe that meant I was wrong? Maybe I had misconstrued Jupiter's actions and words last night in the woods. He could just be angry with me for accusing him, and that's why he got a little aggressive. Not that that's a good excuse to act that, but it's better than him have ill intent.

Sighing, I nodded. "Okay."

"Neptune! We found the bridge!" Mercury then called and the two of us moved forward to catch up with the ground at the foot of a run-down bridge.

"It looks old, are you sure its okay to cross?"

Looking up, Mars then pointed beyond the trees on the other side. "It has to be if we want to get to Titan's hideout."

We all then looked up to see a castle, a literal castle, just beyond the trees. It was old, dark, and casted a menacing shadow over that half of the forest. It looked like a place immoral experiments were performed. "This is where it all began?" I asked breathlessly, sharing a look with Gemma who had paled.