//------------------------------// // Ch3: Determined Theories // Story: Lost Kingdom // by Riku006 //------------------------------// “Come on Dusty,” Vince moaned, leaning with arms crossed against the bench Dustin was at. Dustin, however, ignored him and continued scrolling on his laptop, reading over all of the class’ findings over the past few months. Claire stood on Dustin’s opposite side, looking at him with concern. After their class ended, Dustin had asked if he could study the relics further hours later. It had been a few hours since then and now the science block was ready to close up, as were most classes. “Dustin,” Mr. Bunt spoke up, standing behind him. “It’s time to pack up for the day.” “Not done yet.” Dustin quickly muttered before looking back at his screen. “The relics will still be here in the morning.” Bunt joked, though with his head turned Dustin didn’t see the smile on the teachers’ face that quickly faded like the fading sun in the afternoon sky outside, the amber light shining through the windows. “I’ll be done in a little bit.” Dustin replied “That’s what you said an hour ago.” A sliver of annoyance could now be heard in Vince’s voice. “Dusty...” Claire said softly, looking at Dustin pleadingly. He looked back and held her gaze for a moment. Nothing was said between them, which caused them to jump when there was a knocking on the open door. Four heads swivelled to find Miss Regal standing in the doorway, her hand raised from knocking. “I am sorry to interrupt,” She said, entering the room with gracefully measured steps. “But I could not help but overhear your conversation.” Once more her gaze was set upon Dustin, bringing forth many questions in his mind. “If it is alright with you, I could watch over him until he decides to finish researching.” The four had varying reactions; Claire and Vince shared a look of confusion, while Bunt almost looked flustered. Dustin, however, had a smile forming on his features. “A-Are you sure about that?” Bunt asked, showing a smile that looked slightly off. “I mean, you still have to look after the relic, right? I wouldn’t want to trouble you looking after Dustin, though it is very generous of you.” “I’m not that much trouble.” Dustin said loudly, with a hint of annoyance, though both adults ignored him. “It would be no trouble at all,” Regal went on, shaking her head in reply to Bunt. “All I have left to do is check that the extra security cameras we installed are working. Once that has been done, I can return here and look after Dustin until he completes his studying.” Dustin looked back and forth between the two; Miss Regal seeming unflappable, while Mr. Bunt looked as if he was in a debate where his life hung in the balance, loosening the green tie around his neck. Vince and Claire were unsure what to make of the exchange, sharing a glance at Dustin and each other before looking back to the adults. Finally, after a few moments of silence, Bunt sighed. “Alright, I guess he can stay. I mean, you’ll be here all night, so you’ll be able to look after him, right?” Miss Regal nodded. “You have my word.” “Thanks Miss,” Dustin said with a smile before turning back to the computer, picking up his study where he left off. Vince sighed. “Well, I might as well help out a little before I head off, but you can’t stay out too late, alright?” “Yes mum,” Dustin replied, causing Claire to laugh a little as she started gathering her notes for Dustin to cross-reference. Miss Regal smiled at their reactions before turning and leaving the room to check the security cameras her men had installed earlier. Mr. Bunt sighed again, telling the three not to be too long before leaving as well. But as he left none of the three friends noticed the unusual and somewhat fitting scowl that formed upon Mr. Bunts’ face. ~~~ Vince sighed as he sat on one of the benches while Claire scrolled idly through her phone. Dustin, on the other hand, sat staring at the computer monitor and all the data that was looking back at him. Surrounding the keyboard was all of Claire and Vince’s notes they had taken while Dustin had been in rehab for his injuries, and further along the bench was the glass case in which the shield was stored. “Dusty, can we go now?” Vince moaned as he looked out the window, seeing the rapidly darkening sky. “We’ve been here for hours.” “Door’s there if you want to go,” Dustin replied, still looking at all the notes, looking for something. “Dusty,” Vince said again, this time hopping off the bench and walking over to his friend. “You shouldn’t work this hard. Despite the wheels, you’re not a robot.” “I get the picture.” Dustin sighed tiredly. “Then why stay?” “Vince, let it go.” Claire interjected before things could escalate. Vince looked to her, his eyes pleading her to help. But all she did was look back at him and Dustin. Despite all the protest, Vince knew he wasn’t going to win this fight; Dustin had a habit of being notoriously stubborn, especially since the accident. “Alright,” Vince sighed. “You win, but... just don’t overdo it, okay?” Dustin turned to face him, a small smile a sign of thanks. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” “I’m getting a snack,” Claire added in, following Vince to the door. “I’ll see him out and be back in a bit.” Dustin nodded in reply as he watched his friends exit the room and heard them move down the hall, chatting quietly. The room was now eerily silent, save the fan of the computer and the light breeze that whined against the windows. There was still a tinge of faint blue light from the horizon, though it was clear the night was in charge now; with stars beginning to emerge from the darkness as the few clouds out were illuminated by the moon, which had no doubt started rising from the east. Taking a deep breath, Dustin turned back to the mountain of research that lay before him. Despite missing almost six months of class in rehab, Dustin had not only caught up, but was now trying to get ahead of the rest of the class, hoping to uncover something, anything, from the shield. But unfortunately for him, all that could be taken from the shield were guesses and assumptions, which only irritated Dustin further. “Is something the matter?” The voice made Dustin figuratively jump as he turned his head to see Miss Regal standing there, looking at him with those beautiful eyes of hers. Seeing his reaction, however, shifted her face from a neutral one to one of concern. “Oh, I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you.” “No, it’s fine,” Dustin said, waving it off as he turned to face her. “Though, how’d you get in without me hearing you?” Regal shrugged. “I have always been light footed I suppose, though it always served me well when playing jokes on my sister.” “You have a sister?” She nodded, leaning on the bench beside her. “Yes, an older sister,” Her face then fell slightly as a sombre note entered her voice. “Though sometimes it feels as if I am the one looking out for her...” “Did something happen?” Regal shook her head. “No, ‘tis nothing. I should not burden you with my family matters, though I thank you for your concern.” “...You know, you have a weird way of speaking, has anyone told you that?” Miss Regal’s eyes widened as she was caught out before laughing softly, creating a sound that Dustin couldn’t help but smile at. “Yes, but it is easier for me to talk like this. It helps me remember my home more accurately.” “You don’t live near here?” Another shake of the head. “That is a bit too personal to talk about openly.” “Oh, sorry.” “That is alright.” Regal then looked at Dustin’s work scattered all across the bench and the data splayed across the screen. “You are very thorough, aren’t you?” Dustin glanced at the bench and smiled guiltily, resting a hand behind his head. “Yeah, but I’d fallen behind a little bit. Besides, I’m just not done yet.” “But your class had only finished three hours before you came back here, and it has been at least another three to four hours since then. You should not work yourself to the bone.” “Not you too,” Dustin moaned, venting a small amount of frustration before sighing. “Sorry, it’s just... Ever since I got out of rehab, everyone’s been telling me to take it easy, helping me do things I can still do. I know they’re worried, but I’m not helpless... I just hate feeling useless, that’s all.” A moment of silence past between the two. “Well,” Miss Regal began, an endearing smile set upon her features. “I do not think someone who is useless could help unearth a relic such as this. And the fact that you carry on with your life despite your injuries proves you have an indomitable spirit, a ‘never say die’ attitude if you will. It is something to be admired.” Dustin smiled. “Thanks Miss.” “Do not worry about it, and please, call me Skye.” Skye then turned her head to gaze at the shield, which had images that were divided into quarters on the shield. “So, what have you learned from the relic?” “Not much,” Dustin shrugged before rolling closer to it. “Without any concrete information or point of reference, all we can do is guess at what it means. Most people in the class think the images are insignias or crests of nobility, but these two quarters,” he explained, pointing to the top left and bottom right quarters, which were again split into four. “These would be pretty weird looking family crests if that were true.” Skye nodded, a hand lightly resting on her chin in thought. “Then what is your explanation?” “Well,” Dustin began, “Bearing in mind this is only guess work, I think this could be a record of their traits as a nation. I mean, the top right one could mean that they were pretty skilled farmers.” Skye looked over the quarter of the shield Dustin referred to, and his words did make sense. As he mentioned, the quarter was again split into four; the top left of those squares showed a sun shining bright in the sky, while the top right showed a sky devoid of clouds. Below in the bottom right square was a green hill with small red flowers scattered at random, and the bottom left showed recently ploughed crops, from which Skye could understand Dustin’s reasoning. “Then what of the two whole quarters?” Dustin’s mouth formed a puzzled frown as he looked over the two images in question. The bottom left had a white unicorn head against a lavender background with stars sprinkled around it, and the top right had a pale blue head of an animal with wings spread out either side of it against the same background. “Yeah,” he answered. “Those were the ones the others thought were more personal heraldry than cultural history, and they may be right. But then that wouldn’t make much sense.” Skye held her tongue, waiting for him to continue. “Maybe it’s explaining a special event that relates to someone and that would be why their family crest would be here, or maybe these two images represent spirits the people back then believed in.” “And the suns and moons?” The confident smile returned, but before Dustin could say anything he felt something cold press against the back of his neck, causing him to shiver. “Those most likely refer to the sun and moon gods they probably worshiped,” Claire stated with a smile as she handed a can of soft drink to Dustin before opening her own and taking a long sip. “We’ve found those symbols around the ruins before, and they were on the flag as well.” “I see. You share Dustin’s theory about the shield?” Claire shrugged. “It makes sense to me. Besides, Dusty probably knows twice as much about the ruins as Mr. Bunt.” “I wouldn’t say that,” Dustin deflected the praise before gulping down some of his can. As he finished however, a flare of pain briefly erupted behind his forehead. His free hand shot up to clutch his head before the pain quickly vanished, and as Dustin looked up he found Claire to be doing the same. Skye however, looked unnerved, worried even and stood quickly yet gracefully, casting her eyes around the room for something the two friends couldn’t see. “Skye?” Dustin asked, fear starting to take hold inside him. Claire instinctively moved closer to Dustin, resting a hand on one of the handles behind his chair. “A Silence Field,” Skye muttered to herself, despite the teenagers hearing her. She quickly moved past them towards the window, with Dustin and Claire not far behind. Before Claire could see what the agent was looking at, the power suddenly cut off, leaving the three in darkness. “What’s going on?” Claire asked, clearly unnerved by all of this. Even in the dim light of the moon hidden behind clouds, Dustin could still make out the expression on Skye’s face; one of disdain and determination. “They are here.”