The Choice Of Fate || The Promised Neverland

Chapter 35: Rabbits

Sistine's POV:

"What... Happened to me?" Norman asks to reassure. I give him a firm nod, a smile of comfort on my face.

"What?" I ask back, raising a brow. "Didn't think I'd ask?"

"No, I just..." The blue-eyed boy lowers his head, holding his intertwined fingers between his spread legs. He keeps his elbows on his thighs and averts his gaze.

"... I can't really say much," he tells me. "When I went to the other side of the gate, I met up with Peter. You've probably seen him by now."

"Indeed, I have," I laugh nervously, trying not to cringe at the thought of him. Creepy drug dealer...

"Currently," he continues, unbuttoning his shirt just enough to reveal the mark of Lambda, "I'm one of their experiments. They say it's for their research, but I highly doubt that they will spare me."

"They better," I mutter. "Otherwise, those guys should be in jail for treason. They signed a treaty, for crying out loud!"

"... What do they plan on using me for?" He asks me, like I'd know.

"If they aren't betraying the kingdom, probably one of the economic ministers. Like Mr. Ratri."

"I see..."

I lean over and reach out to pinch his cheek, asking, "Geez, what did they give you? Growth serums or something?"

He laughs and takes my wrist. His cheek breaks free from my grasp. "It's just puberty, don't worry about it. Besides, I haven't grown that much!"

"So I got shorter," I pout, making him snicker. I check the time, noticing that a few minutes have passed already. My eyes dart across the room, with my head staying in place.

Security cameras are everywhere; I'm sure of it.

"Hey, Norman?" I call, sitting back down on the chair. Norman hums in curiosity. I give him an excited beam, asking, "Do you remember the rabbits?"

"Rabbits?" The boy echoes, and I nod rapidly.

"The rabbits! In the story I showed you? Come on, don't tell me you forgot! I wrote an entire storybook for you!"

He realizes what I mean immediately, by the grace of God. "Oh! Yeah, you never continued that story. I can't believe I nearly forgot about it. What happened after the capture?"

"The superior rabbits successfully escaped from the pens not long after," I tell him. "Their next mission is to find food and shelter in the forest. There's a burrow prepared for them by their ancestors, just in case famine or winter comes. However, they're planning on bringing the others along with them someday."

"What happened to the others?" He asks me.

"Ever since the incident, they were scattered across different pens. Since there were so many new faces, it's going to be difficult to recognize which are from the broken rabbit pen."

"Are they planning on fixing it?"

I hum as a yes. "However, the escaped rabbits brought the white rebel with them, which got separated from them eventually. She doesn't know how they're doing."

"Do they need help?" Norman asks.

"Most likely," I answer, standing up to go to the chess board. I shake his arm like a little kid, saying, "Norman, you continue the storybook! If you were the one in the book, what would you do?"

"Well, if I was in the one from your storybook... I'd try to escape, obviously," Norman answers.

"And you're aware of the problem with escaping?" I ask, and he nods.

"Security. It's extremely tight there, so it would be impossible to attack from inside."

"And none of your allies know you're there," I add, to which he agrees.

"So the only way to escape... is to attack from the outside," Norman mutters. "... But how?"

"Well, not all the allies are oblivious to your location," I comment. He widens his eyes in realization and looks up at me. "You could use that to your advantage."

"What's the rabbits' purpose?" The boy asks me.

"Freedom. Sweet, genuine freedom. If there's equality, even better." I flash him a smirk, asking him, "So, if you were the rabbit captured in the book, what would you do?"

"... Destroy the pen from the outside," Norman finally answers, his blue eyes growing sinister and a lot darker. "Find allies from outside through the only ally I currently have, and escape this place through them. We set a fake date and a fake escape to trick the rabbit hunters for an advantage."

I smile at his answer, petting his platinum blonde hair. "Clever choice," I compliment, and the buzzer comes out. "There's my cue," I say, smiling at him as I tap on the door, "January 24. I'll be back for you. All you have to do is wait."

Norman nods in determination, and the door opens on its own, letting me leave.

Genesis looks at me in surprise, asking, "What... Was that?"

"It's called a reunion, Genesis," I giggle, skipping around the area as my companion trails behind. I pass the million of hallways I encountered earlier before running into a tall, slender man. "Ow! Sorry!"

I step backwards immediately to bow in apology. "I'm so sorry for disturbing you!" I squeak, my voice probably cracking a bit.

"I was just about to look for you," the man laughs, making me lift up my head to meet the eyes of the human. He pushes up his glasses and holds out a hand to me, saying, "I'm Smee. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sistine."

I reach out to shake his hand, giving him a big smile. "A pleasure to meet you too, Smee."

He turns to look at the boy behind me, waving at him. I turn to Genesis, and he waves back, giving him a sweet smile.

They know each other...?

Smee leads me outside, saying, "I've been assigned to lead you out of this area. I do hope that's okay with you."

"It is," I reply, skipping away with Genesis and Smee.

Genesis gives Smee an awkward smile, saying, "Sorry for always coming here..." He tells the man.

Smee chuckles and places a hand on his head, saying, "It's alright, your highness. It's one of your hobbies after all. There isn't anything wrong with that."

Once we arrived outside, Smee looks around for any presence of entities, then turning to me and asking, "Mind if I take you kids somewhere before you go?"

"Of course..." I mutter, and he leads us to a place without any security cameras. I could only assume that it's a place hidden from Lambda.

He gestures me to take a seat near the table, and I obey. He does the same to Genesis, who follows suit. Smee takes a seat on the chair in front of us, sliding an audio tape to us.

"This is your conversation with Norman earlier," the man tells us earnestly. "I didn't recognize anything peculiar at first, but when I gave the conversation about three more listens, I recognized something."

Smee pushes his glasses up again as I take the tape. "For your safety, I stole the record and made sure nobody ever finds it. The one managing the security cameras made a conversation substitute so that there isn't any suspicion."

"Why did you bring us here?" I ask, meeting the man's gaze. I sense Genesis flinching, making me turn to him.

"Don't tell me..." The ravenette utters, his blue eyes widening in shock. "Smee, are you also..."

Smee gives me a smile, asking me, "You're also one of Grace Field's escapees, aren't you?"