Chapter 243 - Unboxing the Past (2/2)

Poseidon arched a brow from a packed corner. ”Shouldn't you be the one navigating this mess? Out of the three of us, you're the only one who's ever been here before.”

Ry scratched his head as he looked around the room. ”It's not exactly how I remember it... She's changed quite a bit... but...” He walked over to a tall, antique c.h.e.s.t and began pushing it to one side. ”There should be another portion of the cave back this way.” He'd barely gotten it moved when several large boxes came into view. ”I think I found what we are looking for.” He bent and handed several boxes out to Poseidon and Russ before taking a stack and walking over to the mismatched furniture in the main area.

”The boxes are labeled.” Russ observed as his eyes moved over the boxes they had taken out. He pointed to the one Poseidon had opened. ”There are dates, and that one seems to be the oldest out of this collection.” His eyes moved back to Ry with a hint of excitement. ”Were there more?”

Ry nodded, ”Yeah, nearly the entire back area along with some other odds and ins.” He flicked his head toward the cavern. ”Go on kid, knock yourself out.” He sat the boxes he was carrying down and pulled out his phone. I'm going to give Arei a call and see when exactly they plan on coming back. It's going to take us several days to go through all this.”

Poseidon nodded. ”Even with all the tricks up my sleeve and a team working this lot, we're probably looking at a good week maybe more.”

Ry nodded as he pressed the phone to his ear. ”You think you could zap some of these over to the palace if I can get that team gathered for you?”

Poseidon glanced up at him as he thumbed through the box of journals. ”Of course... Tell your brother we finally found someone who keeps more diaries than him...” His gaze moved back to the box as he lifted one and flipped through it. ”There's not a page left blank... I bet all the finest gems in the palace that every one of these are the same.”

Ry pursed his lips as he squeezed one eye closed. ”Well, I know two wolves who will enjoy it... What better way of getting to know their parents?” The phone was answered just then. ”Hey man, we found the boxes Camila left at Jos's. Dad was wanting to know when you guys are planning on heading to the cottage and if you guys could look through some of these as well in the meantime?”

Arei's low voice was murmuring to someone nearby. [Yeah, tell him to go ahead and send them. I'm not sure how long we'll be here. It depends on how long the paperwork with the council takes. Prometheus guesstimate three days at least a week at max.] A softer voice spoke in the background. [Jos said you guys were welcome to use her place as you need even after we get there.] He paused as the soft voice continued. [She said it was fine if dad wants to make it more suitable for you guys.]

Ry nodded more to himself than his brother. ”Tell her we appreciate it. We'll probably crash at the cottage until you guys head this way. I imagine, if Camila thought it important to hide these from Fern, then, it's probably twice as important to hide them from him now.” There were more low murmurs causing Ry to arch an irritated brow. ”You know you could just put the call on speaker.” He could hear the shuffling of the phone as Arei switched the call over.

[Jos was just saying that Cam's suspicions of Fern were so strong, and she became so obsessed with trying to find proof that it caused a rift between her and Alesondro for several years.] Jos spoke up. [Yes, it should all be right there! If Cam was nothing else, she was meticulous when it came to journaling! Give us an idea of exactly what you guys are looking for and I should be able to lead you toward the boxes to search first based off the dates... more or less.]

Ry's lips lifted in a relieved smile. ”Thank the Gods! We were afraid we'd have to go through every single one of them... Though I'm not going to lie, the kid may anyway.”

[Pretty much anything and everything of Cam's that could be saved from the palace is in that room. We had some of the loyal guards and servants bring them there after the attack. Tell him if he'd like to wait until we get there, I'm sure Shelly would get great p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e out of going through some of it with him.] Jos said, pain weighing heavily in her words as she spoke of what was left of her friend.

Ry's voice softened. ”Yeah, I saw a few garment bags hanging back there... I'm sure eventually she'll want to at least see them, though I'd assume it would be you she'd want to go through it with instead... They both probably would...”

[Ry, you know why that can't happen. There's no point even bringing it up. I know you're grown attached to the kid, but I'm not putting Jos through that right now.] Arei said matter-of-factly.

Ry's frown was evident in his voice. ”I know, I'm just saying... The kid's going through some shit right now too, ya know...”

[Then call Raven.] Arei said flatly. [Tell dad to send the boxes. We'll call over Peg and Andy and get Chary and Scylla to help. Between the seven of us and the three of you, it should go pretty quickly. Hell, you may even be able to get Raven and Isha to lend a hand.]

”I know dad likes those two as much as the rest of us, but I doubt he'll want to outsource this that far out.” Ry said as he walked along the edge of the lagoon. ”Besides, Isha is probably busy. She may be willing to send Raven but it's hard to tell.”

[Get Russ to make the call. She can't tell him no, I swear it!] Jos said with a pained, wistful laugh.

”Alright, I'll see what we can do. Expect the boxes in the library here in the next few minutes. I figure he'll have them sent to the antiques room just in case unexpected visitors swing by.” Ry said as he forced his gaze away from the beautiful shimmering waters and back toward the cavernous home. ”We'll try not to mess too much up, Jos, I promise. Talk later.” He added before ending the call. He stepped inside the door, finding his father first thing. ”They said to go ahead and start sending boxes. I told them you'd probably send it to the archives and antiques room. They're going to get Chary, Scylla, Peg, and Andy to help.”

Poseidon nodded as he pushed up from the pile and began searching the tables and dressers around the back of the room. ”Alright, that's great, but if we are going to have so many people working on this then we need to make some semblance of a list of what we are looking for.”

Russ poked his head out from around the corner. ”I mean that's a brilliant idea... but what all are we looking for?”

Poseidon ran a hand through his now short hair. ”Well, it doesn't look like it makes a shit right now... I can't find the first scrap of paper or writing utensil anywhere in here. Our dear Jos wouldn't be a hoarder by chance, would she?”

Ry gave a slight shrug as he made a cl.i.c.k.i.n.g noise with his mouth. ”I mean I wouldn't say hoarder exactly, rather that she's old, has collected many random things along the way, and unlike you don't have a palace to store it all...”

”Fair point...” Poseidon said. He lifted his head with his hands on his h.i.p.s. ”I would just pop in pen and paper, but I'm afraid it may get lost among all the knickknacks and boxes...”

Ry chuckled, ”Well, there should be everything you need at the cottage. If not I'm sure Arei has a journal or two laying around, you could rip some pages out of.” He stepped around the boxes they'd carried out earlier and leaned against the c.h.e.s.t at the entrance of the secret hidie-hole. ”Come on kid. Grab whatever you'd like to start on and let's head over to the cottage.”

Russ frowned up from the diary he was flipping through. ”Alright, are we going back to the palace to get our shit?” His eyes moved to the many boxes stacked around him. ”Do you think any of these have journals or anything my father wrote?”