Arcadia Remember Ch. 02

"OOOOOKKKKKK," she gruffed out as annoyed as someone her age could be. Em nodded to her and opened the door. Rollow bounded in and went straight to Atale. She heard a cough as she closed the door behind her.

"Hey, oh, ok, easy there," another cough, "I missed you too honey." The pain she knew Rollow couldn't hear in Atale's voice was clear.

"Rollow I said easy and careful," I moved to them embracing, Atale sitting up on the bed a little and Rollow practically on top of her. Rollow backed off a little, slowly.

"Sorry," she muttered. Em hated getting that reaction.

"Why don't you ask Atale if I snore?" changing topics.

"Atale, tell her, she snores doesn't she?" Rollow beckoned. Atale looked at me and smiled, then back to Rollow.

"Every, single, night." she poked at Rollow, masking the second flinch I saw in her eyes. Rollow erupted into laughter.

"I told you Em, I told you, you snore," she made a face at me. I raised my hands up in defeat.

"Allright, you got me, I snore," Rollow chuckled at my surrender, "But what do I sound like when I snore?" I asked her, knowing her animated antics would lighten all of our moods. She didn't disappoint, thrusting her hands through the air and making lots of different noise with her mouth and lips. Atale and I burst into laughter, her laugh filled with more coughs than anything, but still laughs nonetheless.

I knew Atale getting rest was the most important thing and I didn't want to give her another reason to be upset by asking Rollow why she was with a Yellow & Red.

"Rollow, why don't you work on your fallout mask?" I asked her, knowing she would get excited and distracted.

"That's a good idea," she concluded, bounding to her locker and taking it out with some other small pieces she was trying to add to it. I looked at Atale, her face was really bruised, and so was her neck. The colors stretched out further than they had before. She mouthed 'thank you' to Em and laid back down slowly. I patted her leg as the bell rang for mealtime.

"Rollow why don't we take a break and go get something to eat, I'm gonna need your help carrying some back here for Atale," I encouraged.

"I'm not hungry, I wanna work on my mask, the guard gave me food," she plainly stated. I shot my face to meet Atale's terrified one. I raised a hand at her, trying to not let Rollow see her fear.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" I poked her once.

"No, I'm gonna make my mask better," she was engrossed in what she was doing. I turned back to Atale and mouthed 'later' to her, widening my eyes at her. I ruffled Rollow's hair and walked out the door.

I was almost the last person in line for food, I wished Rollow had come with me; there was no way I would be able to get away with taking more than just my share no matter what reason I had. I was at the end of the line now, my single tray filled for one person in my hand when Seary appeared at the front of the line with another tray filled to the edges. She pushed it towards me with a small smile on her face.

"For Atale," she added.

"Oh," I glanced around hesitantly at the others near me, "I couldn't take that please."

"For Atale," she said again, pushing the tray closer to me now. I was about to refuse again when the guy standing beside me put his hand on my forearm gently.

"For Atale," he said. I glanced around once more, I didn't want to take away someone else's food. Everyone in the vicinity was nodding for me to take it. I shook my head and took it quickly, needing to get out of there. I carried both trays back to the room and knew that Rollow was going to pick at one of piles of food anyway.

I got inside, somehow managing to balance both trays with one hand while I fiddled with the door. I used my foot to shut it behind me separating the trays into each hand placing the more full one on the bunk beside Atale. Her eyes widened with a small wince.

"How did you manage that?" she asked, we both knew the portions were noticeably larger than she ever had before.

"Black & Blues, thick and through," I shrugged, "everyone seems to know what happened." I hoped she handled the extra attention from everyone tomorrow better than I did when I lost my mother. Every glance stung me with a reminder of what was gone. I ate only a little of the smaller portioned trey, leaving Atale with the larger one. Rollow picked off my trey every now and again between fiddling with her mask. I climbed into my bunk putting my arm over my face and trying to keep the tears at bay just a little longer.

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Beck glanced at herself in the full, pristine mirror in her quarters, she motioned her hands up and down at the Black & Blue attire she adorned while rolling her eyes. It was futile, all of the clothes that Victus had managed to get her to try on were rough, worn, stained, and littered with holes. She let out an exasperated sigh and turned to the wall where Victus had a workout regime for her to follow until Fallout. She took a huge drink of cool water from a bottle and went to work.

Her muscles protested at the repeated assault they were not used to but after a few days, she was managing to push through the agony and completel her task. After she finished her workout, seat gathering parts of her hair to her forehead she stood up and looked at herself in the mirror again. For the first time, she thought she might be able to pull this off. Without her trademark Black & Red makeup, without her smooth silky outfits, and with a little bit of grime clinging to her frame, she thought she could actually pass as a Black & Blue.

The knocking on her bunk door didn't startle her anymore, Victus was professional on time and she knew it was him.

"Come in Victus," she declared, as the bunk door swung open and closed. Beck was still admiring the small amount of courage her new outfit provided her when she saw her father appear in the mirror's reflection. She instantly turned around and tried uselessly to smooth out her rough clothes and present herself.

"I see Victus has been preparing you well," he said, as he looked her up and down and a small tear rolled down his cheek. He made no motion to acknowledge it, but the sadness was even more evident in his eyes. This vulnerable side of her father she hadn't seen before and it stilled her.

"He is very knowledgeable, and very professional," she agreed softly. She wanted to go to her father, to take the pain away from him but she knew now was not the time and he clearly didn't want to admit the emotions running across his face.

"I never thought I would live to see the day you would be wearing Black & Blue," he admitted. He walked to her table and took a seat, she followed, taking one opposite the table from him without a word. He laced his fingers in front of him, his eyes never leaving her.

"Only Victus and I know about your task," she barely caught the tightening of his jaw. He looked at her but his gaze tore through her as his mind was clearly somewhere else. He placed a small box on the table in front of him, a genuine smile graced his face for a moment as he stroked the box lovingly.

"This is one of the last things I have that belonged to your mother," another tear rolled down his cheek, "I want you to keep it, use it for Fallout." He stood now leaving the box on the table alone. "When you go down below, it will change your life. When you come back I want you to remember one thing, the people, they have to see us be us even when we're not." He moved to the door but didn't open it right away.

"I love you Beck, more than you can ever know, but this is for your own good, always trust your instincts, they're as accurate as your mother's were." He put his hand on the door a moment pausing, then taking his leave.

The silence that followed was almost violent. Beck covered her face shedding a few tears, reaching for the box that her father had left on the table. She smoothed over the top of it, rubbing off some dust that had gathered on top.

The emblem on top was familiar to her but she didn't know from where. The circular pattern adorned with a calming geometric symmetry of various lines cutting back and forth across the circle. A tear from her cheek rolled onto it and she swiped her face and the box again.

She delicately opened the lid and openly sobbed when she opened it. It was a mask for Fallout. Not just any mask, it was a Black & Blue mask. It was simple and small, but spoke volumes in its design. It was just elegant enough that Beck wanted to treat it with honor, but also not so extravagant that it would hint to not belong to a real Black & Blue. It went around her eyes, with both sides extending to cover her cheeks down to her jawline. She went to her mirror on the wall right away, taking in her outfit a moment more, raising her mask to her face slowly.

"Come in," she replied to the knocking on her door knowing this time it had to be Victus. She heard the door open and close as she watched her reflection in the mirror with the mask on. She couldn't believe this was her mother's. Did every Red & Black go to a Fallout as a Black & Blue?

"My lady," Victus announced as he appeared in the reflection meeting her eyes there, "you really look like your mother with her mask on." She took it off and spun to face him rather harshly.

"You knew my mother, you knew about this?" she asked, gesturing to the mask.

"Yes, my lady," he pursed his lips together as some emotions glazed across his eyes too quickly to be identified.

She gently placed the mask back into its box. She wiped a few tears that had fallen on her face before she looked back at Victus who had not moved from where he was standing. She took a few deep breaths trying to compose herself.

"What do you know about this mask and my mother?" she surprised herself with how gently the question came out. He didn't move an inch, she gestured to the chair across from where she was standing and slowly lowered herself into the chair opposite his. He didn't move still.

"Please?" she pleaded. He took a deep breath and sat down, a little slouch that was all too out of place in his posture. She braced herself calmly for whatever he was about to tell her that was out of her father's ability. He took a deep breath and began telling her a story she would not have believed, if she didn't already have a repertoire with him.