𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐌𝐂𝐅𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves²

7│THE SWEET-ISH FIND

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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀʀᴛʏ ᴍᴄғʟʏ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ sᴡᴇᴇᴛ-ɪsʜ ғɪɴᴅ ꒱　


❝ I'LL DO BETTER, I PROMISE ❞

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March 14th, 2014

The day started out as normally as any other and continued as so. Well, barring some of the odd stares that she received from the other staff members. Since starting at the school, Alexa had kept to herself and made minimal contact with the rest of the faculty so they already viewed her a little strangely. It didn't help that they sometimes caught her talking to herself so it wasn't completely out of the ordinary for gazes to linger on her in the hall. Luckily, the airy art teacher persona she'd developed helped keep them from sending her to a nuthouse.

These stares on this particular day, though, seemed to occur even more unusual. While she normally ate her lunch alone, she'd gone to the lounge to heat it up and at her appearance, Alexa could've sworn all conversation ceased. The reason for these strange occurrences remained a mystery for the entire day until her walk home where she passed a bookstore selling a recently-published author. This, in itself, would not be unusual, but Alexa recognized the picture on the cover. The title read: Extra-Ordinary, My Life as Number Seven.

Curiosity peaked, she pushed open the bookstore door and purchased a copy for herself. She'd had no idea her sister was a published author. She slipped it into her bag and made her way home, promptly forgetting the new purchase. At least, she had until she'd settled down for the evening in more comfortable clothes, made some tea and set up her sketchpad and pencils. As she tapped the writing utensil on the paper, there was a cough that made her jump. Looking up, a dark-haired boy was sitting in the chair diagonal from her position on the couch.

"What?" she asked irritably, not liking the smug look on his face.

"I think you're forgetting something," he said with a pointed glance at her bag. She gave him a puzzled look. "Vanya's book. You know, the one you just bought?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh!" She got up and rooted through the bag until she found it. As she sat back down on the couch, the boy got up from his chair. 

His hands were shoved his hands in his short's pockets and meandered over behind her to peer half-bent over her shoulder. "What'd she write about?"

Alexa huffed. "I just bought the damn thing. Give me a minute." She cracked open the volume and turned to the table of contents. There, she saw nine chapters: a prologue plus eight sections.

"She didn't," the boy sounded impressed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Alexa murmured. Her eyes hesitated on chapters five and six. Shaking her head, she leaned against the couch and lifted her book slightly as she flipped to the last section.

Chapter Eight: Number Eight

Name: Alexandra Hargreeves Codename: The Protector

"That explains the stares, then," she said aloud as she remembered the faculty's odd looks. No wonder. While she hadn't made an effort to hide her last name they certainly hadn't put two and two together until now. A prickle of irritation swept over her before she continued:

As last in line, one would think that Number Eight was least important but our father did not number us by our contributions to the team. Instead, he sent our eighth family member on nearly as many missions as my other siblings. I suppose her powers were useful in the field. With skin like armor, The Protector could not be harmed. She could even expand this protection outwards to help my siblings, creating brilliant blue shields that were as impenetrable as she was. Another asset to the team was her Power Transfers where, at the slightest touch, she could spread her invulnerability over her siblings without outward force. The downside to this, however, is that separating parts from a whole made her weaker over all and closer to the average human.