The first mansion, said Paragon.
Only I didn’t know where that was. Logically speaking, I could probably get into the city and ask around. Back home, they had buses that would take us to wherever we wanted to go, and it only made sense that the Isle of Heroes would have something similar to that.
I all but ran out of our mansion, for the first time completely hating the fact that we were out of the island, and cursing the bridge that connected it for being so long. Did that make any sense? No. Did I care at this point? No.
When I finally made it into the city, I bumped into a woman with red hair. I couldn’t see her face, and for a brief moment I felt an all too familiar pit form in my stomach. I wanted to lash out at her, do-do-I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew that it’d be horrible.
Then she turned around, muttered something I assumed to be sorry, and left. It wasn’t-it wasn’t her.
Was this how Maria felt whenever she saw me? I quickly pushed the thought from my mind. Not now. I wouldn’t deal with this now. I looked around. The sun was getting lower, yet the number of people out and about seemed to be increasing.
I took a deep breath. I needed to stay focused. Panic wouldn’t do me any good here, so I had to calm myself.
Once I was sure I wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack, I looked around me once more. I asked an old man, who said that there were a couple of train lines going around all the Atlantis mansions. He added that it was convenient, in that it could take you around the island quickly, but I wasn’t really paying attention. I wanted to, he looked so eager to talk about this, but I just-I couldn’t.
I asked him where the station was and, a few minutes later, I found myself buying a ticket and getting on the train.
And, not even ten seconds later, someone sat next to me. Well, not just anyone. Sofie was sitting next to me. I clenched my fists, using all my willpower to keep myself calm. She was looking at me with a question in her eyes. She was trying to see if I was myself or…Jacob–whatever that meant.
“You’re not you, are you?” She didn’t try to hide the sadness in her voice.
“That was the single worst way you could have said that sentence,” I shot back, almost on instinct. “Just leave me alone.”
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“Did you break up with Birgit?” she asked, completely ignoring what I said.
Dammit. How fast did rumours travel in this place? “I guess. After-after today, I couldn’t face her again. Now go, or I’ll take the next train.”
“She really does love you, you know.” I turned back to her, trying to convey everything I felt with a look, hoping that she’d take the hint and leave. “Birgit.”
She was looking at me like she pitied me. I hated that. How dare she? She did this to me and she had the gall to act like this now?
“She shouldn’t.” I looked down at my hands. I felt like crying. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. But I held them back. I wasn’t going to let her see what she’d done to me. “I’m a burden. And even she saw that.”
“You’re right on one thing.” I looked back up at her. She still had that look in her eyes, this time accompanied with a smile. “She shouldn’t love you. Because she doesn’t know you, not because you're a burden.”
“Who am I, then?” It slipped out before I could stop myself. She seemed to know. If nothing else, I could get these answers early. “And what about Paragon, and the dean and-and everything else?”
She took a deep breath. “Jacob Macquoid. That’s your full name. You used to work with Charles’ grandfather and then Charles himself. You were members of some sort of organisation. To be honest I never knew the details. I was a villain. After I was caught, I tried to repent, and that’s when we met. That was, what, fifty years ago? Sixty?”
“What about Paragon? And how can you–can we be here then, like this?”
“Paragon was a villain,” she said, now looking away from me. Everything, from what she said, to how she said it made it all sound false. It wasn’t something I could rationalise but, when I saw him, I could feel he was something more. “A strong villain and you got hurt when you weakened him enough for them to imprison him. That’s what the fifth of December is. The date you fought.”
“You’re lying.”
“No I’m not,” she said indignantly. She was looking at me again. “There’s a bit more to it, but trust me, you don’t want to know. As for how we’re back? If I were to guess, I’d say Charles had something to do with it. But good luck getting to him.” With that, she got up to leave.
“Wait, there’s more I wa-”
“Por favor mi amor,” she said with a sigh. “That’s all you need to know. Everything else will be-it will be too much. Trust me.”
“Trust you? After everything you want me to trust you?”
“No,” she said solemnly. “Frankly enough, I don’t care what Alexander Adamos thinks. You’re nothing but a cover. A false identity made by Charles. That’s all you’ll learn in the library. Try to keep this under wraps though. Act normal–well as normal as you can be at least.”
With that she left.
And I allowed myself to cry.