(Back to Peppa's PoV from now on X3)

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...What should I do now?

A little while after all the laughing had died down between me, George and the rabbits, Rebecca said that she had to go somewhere. I knew deep down that it was to see Danny and Freddy, but Richard seemed to take it rather harshly, almost as if she had insulted him. Then he decided to hang out a bit more with George, while I went my own way.

Now, I was wondering in the halls of the first floor. Why the first floor specifically I'm not sure. I wasn't even heading to a certain room, just pondering around the halls.

It's probably the lack of fresh air getting to me.

...Yeah. I need to breathe.

Well, now I have an actual destination to reach. To the courtyard I go.

With a slick twist of the foot, I turned round and started on towards the homeroom once more, barging through the doors in minimal time.

The homeroom was the same as it was before, only now there weren't a bunch of dirty plates and cutlery laying on the central, circular table.

It was...     Rather silent. The only times where we ever used the homeroom was for the breakfast meeting, and that was it. So it made sense that it was quiet.

...It didn't make sense as to why there was a book on the main table.

Especially a thick, hardback book.

...

Taking a glance around, it was pretty difficult to find a shelf that stored books. Most of the shelves in the homeroom had been purposed to hold art supplies, toys, costumes, and even certain cosmetics. Yet there was not one book housed in any of the shelves.

So that means...

...The book on the table came from the library.

With the curiosity of the book killing the cat that wanted fresh air inside me, I trotted to the round, waxy table and grabbed the book, skimming over its title.

'1984, Animal Farm, Down And Ou-'

I didn't even need to read half of the title to figure out what book it was, or who had been reading it last.

"..."

Edmond must've left it here...       For some reason.

Maybe he brought it with him to breakfast? He might've forgotten to take it by accident. I didn't hear his voice during the pancake devouring session that had taken place earlier today.

Oh well. If I find him, then I can give it back to him.

I kept a tight hold of the book in both hands, as I restarted on the short trip to the courtyard. After around 16 seconds, I had swayed the white, plastic door open, letting the mild air run freely over my body. Taking a few smooth breaths, I stepped further into the yard, letting the door close itself behind me.

Man...                 I really needed to breathe outside. Even if it's a bit warmer than usual.

"Oh hey Peppa."

"WhA-"

I swear I leapt 20 feet when hearing that. Dropping the book while doing so.

After grounding my senses, I snapped my head round to the left, noticing...   Oh, the irony...      Edmond casually staring me in the eye. Emily and Suzy were behind him, leaning against the one wall of the courtyard, gossiping without visible end.

"Thanks for bringing my book back...    I guess..." The younger elephant scratched his neck, while kneeling down and scooping the wide book out the grass with his trunk.

"U-Uhm...    What's going on?"

"We're just discussing some similarities between 1984 and our current situation that I found out. You should probably join us, actually." Edmond gave a soft smile, gripping the book in one arm and his jacket with the other hand.

"Well...     I guess. As long as we can discuss it outside."

"Fair enough."

"So, what have you found out?"

"Alongside the fact that there are cameras everywhere, which relate to the technology in 1984...     There's also a lot of information that has been hidden from us."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about why we're here. We're Ultimates, the youngest era of them. For us to go missing all of a sudden isn't a normal occurrence. It'd only occur once in a blue moon, in my opinion."

"...Ah. Me and Kylie certified that a while ago."

...Oh yeah. I forgot about Kylie too.

Dammit Peppa, you really need to take better care of your memory.

"And there's another thing I found. Do you happen to remember anything in your life before arriving at this place?"

"Well..."

...

...I don't think I do.

"I-I remember my younger life." I stuttered a reply.

"Everything that happened during and after playgroup right? But what about your highschool life? Do you remember any of that?"

"...No. I can't remember a thing."

"Exactly. The protagonist in 1984 has it a bit worse, but the similarity is still there. Plus, deep down, we don't know anything about this place or why we're here. Just as the party was hiding the certified truth of Oceania's situation away from Airstrip One. Heck, the mastermind might even be sticking to the principles of doublethink and deleting any prior knowledge of Gerald or Wendy right at this minu-"

"Hey hey! Edmond! Peppa! Can you...   Uh...    Maybe break off your philosophical conversation for a moment? We've got an idea!"

...

Dammit, that voice.

Why does Suzy have to have such a silky, beautiful voice?

...WHY DOES THAT EVEN MATTER RIGHT NOW. JEEZ.

"...Glad we could talk a bit." Edmond nodded at me, a bit disappointed.

"Yeah." I sighed, understanding what he meant as Suzy and Emily hopped up to us.

"What's your idea, Suz'?" I questioned curiously.

"Well, me and Emily were discussing the possible yields of the second floor rooms. Y'know, to get the motive out of our minds. There's a swimming pool there, right?"

We all nodded in agreement.

"And then, Emily came up with this suggestion...     Pool party!"

"...Elaborate?"

"We could all hang out at the pool! It can be tomorrow afternoon, and there can be music, and volleyball, and relaxing, and-"

"I love the idea." Edmond smiled, "I'm just not necessarily the biggest fan of swimming."

"It's fine. You can sit with me if you want." Emily patted her shorter brother on the head, earning a small giggle.

"Really?" Suzy raised an eyebrow, laying both hands on her hips. "But then you'll won't be interacting with the water! Isn't that the whole point of a pool party, Emily?"

"Yes. But considering your wool, I'm worried about your state after spending an entire afternoon in an indoor pool."

"...Yeah, good point. But my wool getting wet isn't gonna stop me. I swear I will have a swim tomorrow, even if nobody else does...."

"Hehe, we'll see." Emily chuckled a bit, causing Suzy to pout out of annoyance.

"Moving on. Who wants to help me invite all our peeps to this party?"

"Me!" I immediately shot my hand up, before retracting it with a blush on my face. The elephants' looks at me didn't help.

"Hehe, okay. Come here." The sheep giggled, before running back inside. It didn't take me long to launch after her, giving a quick goodbye to Emily and Edmond.

It took me quite a while to join the sheep. By the time I had caught up with her, she had taken me all the way to the library's staircase. We were both puffing like mad once we started to rest.

...Quite the revenge, Suzy. Quite the revenge indeed.

"Ok Suzy, who should we start wi-"

Just then, a shattering of glass was heard from above. Followed by a shout of dismay, and a tone-deaf thud.

...

Oh shit.

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