THE GOLDEN AGE, sejanus plinth

025. twenty years

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY YEARS
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THE GAMES HAD ended two days ago. Two days of freedom, two days of looking towards the future while being hopeful. Two nights of having gotten enough sleep.

Her shoulders felt so much lighter now, although the grief was still trying to push them down. Aurora had framed the drawing of herself and Sol and had put it next to the picture of her mother on her desk.

She had started to look around old photo albums to find the perfect picture of herself and Arachne to put next to the others.

She hasn't fully healed yet, the deaths of the two girls were still too fresh in her memory and was there even something like being fully healed after the death of a loved one?

The only thing she could do now was to look forward as hard as that might be.

She had wanted to congratulate Coryo the day before, she had even gone to his penthouse, but he hadn't been there. Tigris had told her that he'd made the decision to become a Peacekeeper in Twelve and that she'd missed him by a couple of hours.

Rumors had spread quickly after that. Some said that he was trying to follow his father's footsteps, others said he'd followed his girl. Whatever the reasoning behind that decision was, she wouldn't see her friend in a long time.

She hadn't woken up with the sun today and why should she? She had the whole summer ahead of her, there was nothing that she was missing out on, right?

Aurora was in the best mood she had been in a long time and found herself knocking at Sejanus's door.

Their graduation ceremony would be the following day. It was sad that Coryo couldn't stay for that, but at least Sejanus would be there. And Clemensia, Lysistrata, and Festus, maybe she would ask them to make plans for the summer.

As much as she didn't mind being alone, life with friends and loved ones was much better.

"Come in." His voice was muffled by the thick wooden door, but she opened it instantly and looked at her boyfriend with the brightest smile.

Just to see him packing a bag.

"Rory, hey," he greeted her before swallowing hard. His room was messy, clothes were everywhere, almost all of his drawers stood open, and his framed class photo was gone.

"What are you packing for?" She asked. She felt the rapid beating of her heart in her throat.

He looked at her and the sad shimmer in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. The realization that he was leaving her as well was like a punch to her face that took her breath away. And wiped the smile away.

"Sejanus, no," she almost pleaded. She couldn't make a step in any direction, her feet were stuck in the doorway.

"Look," he said while coming towards her, "my father tried to buy me free. That was the best he could do."

"I don't understand," she protested.

She wanted to go back in time, back to three hours ago when she'd just woken up thinking that a bright future was about to begin.