group
Blaine ran even faster, but this was her limit. If he ran faster than her now, she'd have to resort to other means of winning.
Assassin one-on-one ((closed, please stalk))
group
Andion couldn't be bothered speeding up but it didn't matter anyway as James' house was just up ahead. He slowed down so he didn't run into the door.
group
Blaine slowed as well, but she still ran to the door. Leaning against the wall, she smiled at Andion as she caught her breath.
"I won."
Andion panted and smiled at her, "Yeah, I know."
Once he caught his breath, he knocked up James' door and waited. After a few minutes he knocked again and still nothing. Andion's smile faded into a frown and he knocked louder.
"James?!"
group
Blaine pushed herself off the wall and joined Andion in front of the door.
"Maybe he fell asleep?" she suggested lamely.
Andion shook his head, "Not possible, I would have woken him up by now and his lights are on." He knocked loudly again and there was still nothing.
group
"Using the restroom? Or unable to get the door at the moment?" Blaine bit her lip, knowing they were pretty unlikely reasons.
"Blaine…" Andion turned to her for a moment before back at the door, "He would have answered by now, trust me," He took a breath, "I'm busting the door in." He took a couple steps back and kicked down the door with all his might. If James was there he would have come running.
group
"I just hope he's okay," Blaine muttered under her breath as she watched Andion.
Andion ran up the stairs and to the living room where, slumped on the couch was James. Blood trickled down his shirt and the books Andion and Blaine left him the other night were scattered across the table. Slowly, Andion walked over to his friends body.
group
Blaine trailed after Andion, biting her lip when they found James.
"This must've been Thranion. Why in the world would he do this, though?"
Andion shrugged, "I-I don't know." He slumped down in the chair opposite James.
group
"Maybe it was because of the runes…" Blaine mused, starting to pace. "Maybe we were getting close to something he didn't want us to find out. James did say that they said something about a prophecy."
"And now we'll never know what the prophecy is since he's dead…" Andion leaned forward onto his knees, "Maybe… it's unlikely but maybe it has to do with the reason why we're going to kill the Prince of Maradova."
group
"The prophecy? I could be…" Blaine agreed, moving to sit beside Andion. She looked up him, sympathy written across her face. "I'm sorry about James…"
"Don't be sorry, you didn't do anything." Andion ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.
group
"Not directly, but I'm still sorry that this happened," Blaine said gently, placing her hand on one of his.
Andion nodded, not finding the right words in the present, “Thank you.” He eventually whispered.
group
"Do you want to be alone for a bit?" Blaine asked softly, knowing that she would have if it was her best friend who had died.
Andion sighed and shook his head, standing, “No. We need to get to the bottom of this. I can mourn later.”
group
"If you're sure," Blaine said as she stood as well, giving him a slightly worried look. She didn't want him to be doing anything stupid because of what Thranion had done. Or what he'd had done by someone else, most likely.
“I’m sure. Fist we need to figure out why Thranion wants us to kill the prince. Maybe then that’ll give us some clues.” Andion said, shutting the books laid out on the table.
group
"Wait, Andion… What if he left something for us? What if James left a clue?" Blaine wondered, looking down at the books.
Andion slowly opened the book again, “Maybe. It’s possible he did.”
group
"Should we search them?" Blaine asked, moving to sit on the couch as she picked a different book up.
Andion nodded, “Yeah, that would probably be best.” He picked up the book and sat down next to Blaine.
group
Blaine nodded and started to flip through the book she held. If he had left them a note, that would be extremely helpful. But if he hadn't… Then they were pretty much back to square one…
Andion flipped through his book quickly, trying to find any clue at all. He bit his lip as he looked, hoping there was something there.
group
Nothing. Blaine had flipped through the entire book, skimming each page once, twice, sometimes three times before moving on. And yet, she found nothing.
With a sigh, she opened the next book.
“I don’t think there is anything here…” Andion muttered, putting down his own book to pick up another.