Qui Vivra Verra [closed]

He'd been taking the holiday to relax, leaning deep into the couch cushion with his feet kicked up over the end of the coffee table when his phone went off buzzing in his pocket. Admittedly, he'd had half the mind to straight up ignore it, much preferring the sweet silence as his fingers fiddled away at the soft blankets beside him. A moment of relief, away from the chaotic school and some time to try and relief the annoying migraine that plagued him. Jace glanced around for his girlfriend, not certain where she was. Out of the room.

With a grimace, he finally pulled out his phone, flipping on the screen and narrowing his eyes down at the sleek alert message. A slight chill reached him once he'd spotted the old familiar name of the Sofian headmistress. She was difficult enough to talk to in person, much less have her text you over the internet of all fucking things.

"Ils sont à notre... the fuck?"

He couldn't quite make it out at a single glance.

The past few weeks, no, months had been a meticulous affair, building up to this moment one small block at a time, tirelessly working to set every piece in place for the great crescendo... She was exhausted, if truth be told, but she could not show that to the Headmaster, or Jason, but Jason had his ways of knowing when the burden on her shoulders were weighing heavily on her. Whenever he asked, she told him the simple truth, that business matters with Sofia Académie had her stressed, and Jason never probed too deeply into the little specifics and details.

She waited by the window, eyes flicking over the sleek black phone, running her fingers over the dark screen. It vibrated in her hand, just once, a low hum, and she brought it to her ear without any hesitation.

Silence, at first. The voice on the other end answered in English.

"It's done."

Elodie ended the call with an abrupt tone, dismantled the back panel, and snapped the SIM card between her fingers. She tossed the battery into an open drawer, and the phone out the window, into the bushes. So it was over. A heavy breath escaped her lips, but she could not find it in herself to feel relief at long last. With eyes lowered, ignoring the dreamlike snakes that coiled and slithered over every corner of the room, she turned and made her way toward the living room. Now, of all times, she welcomed the small comfort of Jason's embrace.

She stopped just behind the couch, gaze gravitating toward the message that flickered across his screen, and her heart sank into her stomach like a lead weight. Imbéciles... All outgoing communications were supposed to be jammed. After a moment, her paralysis passed, and she leaned over the edge of the sofa, reaching a delicate hand out to cradle his cheek. "Mon, mon," she demurred, feigning ignorance, and only praying that Jason couldn't read the dread that printed itself across her heart. "You are practicing le français?"

The first sentence was obvious to him. He could read it easily, but that didn't mean it made any more sense to him. Jace had been so damned invested in the weird message that he hadn't heard Elodie come up behind him at all, near flinching when her hand brushed up against him. Her fingers felt cold. He put on his best smile all the same, reaching his hand up to meet hers. "I have to catch up to you somehow," He joked, his voice light as it could be. He turned the phone in his hands, golden eyes glancing from the screen, to her, and back again. "Venez ici, belle." The young man interlaced her fingers with hers, guiding her around the couch and close beside him.

He flipped through a few comments on the thread, a few student names he recognized, just as confused as he was before he scrolled back up. "You've heard from Sofia, haven't you?" Jace held the phone gently up to her in question. The Headmistress was not a kinky woman, brisk and formal. Esper would be the last thing on earth she'd ever use to reach out to the American Academy. She preferred personal messengers. Like Elodie, he knew. He wo uldnt have spent a year in Europe if she were fine using knockoff Bookface.

She permitted herself a light giggle, letting him guide her around the edge of the sofa, but behind the mask, she could feel her mind rush. Shadows rustled, bristled, and danced at odd angles in the corners of the room, like black shapes peeking out to stare at her. Elodie settled down next to him, eyes flicking thoughtfully over the phone and the ominous message, carefully letting her smile fade into a vague concern. Yes. That was safe. They were dancing through a

Un mauvais présage... The coup was not as clean or bloodless as she had planned. Why didn't she see this coming? For months she had toiled, planning around every contingency... "Particulier," she murmured, lightly thumbing over the touchscreen to read it over again, although she already knew the meaning that Jason would not be able to grasp. Not soon, anyways. "This is... Esper?" Her accent lilted on the strange word. "A joke, perhaps? I know there have been many things like this being posted..."

It was all-too sweet having her beside him. She was gone for so often, he would have loved to forget what he'd seen, set everything aside and settle for getting cozy on their small couch - but this was something he couldn't tear his eyes away from, golden gaze glued to the screen, trying to narrow in on the vague, cryptic message. "Yeah, but those weren't an accident or some prank," the blonde muttered. Jace knew it was his father's own outreach to the rest of the school, strange as it was. After years of putting up with this Agrona business, and literally fucking dying at some point, he couldn't help but think that maybe the old man was beginning to crack. It broke his heart to think about too much.

Jason sighed, letting his hand wander and brush up against the back of Elodie's neck, thumbing away at her soft skin. "We were never told about this." Finally, after a few long moments, he brought himself to look up at her. "Bad timing for a joke."