The Fool

Chapter Twenty-Two

Aurora hopped down off the counter and walked towards them, her yellow dress brushing against her legs. She stood in front of them with a frown, looking up at the two of them, seeing as she was quite short. The two siblings held their breath, until a huge grin embraced Auroras features.

"You look so scared! Don't be, all the weapons are kept downstairs anyway. Now, would ye like a cuppa tea, coffee?" She asked cheerfully turning on the balls of her feet back towards the counter. "You two, up" She snapped at Axel and Atlas. Axel got up begrudgingly rolling his eyes, while Atlas got and smiled at the girl who took his seat. Aurora went over to the opposite counter and stuck the kettle on while the two siblings sat bewildered.

"What's ye're names?" Elijah asked, sliding over to lean against the counter beside the girl. She looked at him.

"I'm Madison, that's Theo" She said, smiling and pointing at her brother.

"Cute, I'm-"

"We know" Theo cut Aurora from their introductions, obviously already knowing who all of them were.

"Creepy" Axel sang, leaning with his elbows on the counter, facing the siblings. Aurora smacked him, causing him to flinch and glare at her. She then turned to give Madison and Theo a sweet smile.

"So, is it true you were saved by the Punisher?" Theo asked with a mischievous grin. Madison's eyes widened and she quickly elbowed her brother, though he just brushed her off, too eager to know the real story. Everyone was talking about and he wanted to be the one to tell the real story, hearing it from Aurora King herself..

"Who's the Punisher" Atlas asked, speaking the minds of the rest of his confused siblings.

"The guy carrying out all these brutal killings" Theo explained. Quickly, it all clicked with the test if them.

"Oh, yeah, ya know, its whatever. Me and him, we're pretty tight" Aurora said coolly, popping the non existent collar on her dress. Theo grinned at the attitude, before shaking his head with a chuckle. Even madison smiled.

"Ya know, rumour has it he doesnt work alone. People think there a whole team behind these killings, being carried out by the one man. Have you ever noticed how the body is always removed? Pretty wild when ya think about it. You dont know who's in on it" Theo explained, shrugging at the end. This, the King siblings found interesting. Aurora nodded herself dead slowly and thoughtfully. Then she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Of course I already know that, that man was in love with me" Aurora exasperated before turning about and starting to make the tea. Theo looked at Atlas.

"Is she always like this?" He asked dubiously. Atlas shook his head in despair.

"This is her on an easy day" He said quietly back. Theos eyes widened and he shook his head. She certainly seemed like a handful, and not at all what he expected. None of them were what he expected to be honest.

Chatter made it's way into the room as Levi and Mr. Crudes entered the kitchen with serious expressions. Everyone turned to look at them, waiting to hear the outcome of the meeting but nothing was said.

"Well, we better take off. It was good seeing you again Levi, we'll talk soon" Mr. Crudes said, shaking Levi's hand then motioning to his niece and nephew to follow him. Isaac had made an appearance in the meantime, along with Alaric.

"I'll show you out" Isaac offered politely, earning a smile from Mr. Crudes. The room remained silent once they left as Levi leaned against the counter. Aurora continued making the tea before placing a cup beside him just as Isaac returned.

"Well?" He asked. Levi looked up with a grin.

"We got allies, baby!" He cheered, causing everyone to release their breaths they had been holding, along with cheers of their own.

"So it went well then?" Isaac asked, just to be sure.

"Obviously, idiot" Axel remarked, earning a shove from Atlas. Levi shook his head with a smile.

"Yeah it did, Christopher is a very honorable man, it seems. He was very honest about the ins and outs of his gang and what his intentions are. Something Sebastian Knight certainly wasn't. He and Sebastian also don't get along. They were allies but Sebastian stole from him so there has been a rivalry ever since. He said he would be more than satisfied about getting revenge. Of course I warned him we do revenge a little differently, but he partly guessed, seeing as who our father was" Levi explained to them all. The all listened attentively to their eldest brother, even Alaric, much to his surprise. "He also gave me a name for this killer, the-"

"Punisher, we know. Theo and Madison told us. Super hot, right? I could totally imagine moaning that in bed" Aurora said thoughtfully, taking a sip from her tea. Elijah looked at her proudly, nodding his head. Levi looked across at him, knowing where she got it from and glared at the smug bastard. Elijah merely shrugged innocently.

"Right, well we still have a lot to discuss so let's not get too ahead of ourselves. But hopefully everything is now going in the right direction"

~*~

Alaric was headed in the right direction of that pub. It was late that night and Alaric decided he needed a break. Or a drink. To Alaric, they meant the same thing. Funny enough, he decided to head towards Dunes.

He entered the rundown pub and pulled his hood up once again, just to be safe. Stopped for a minute, looking around the room. Everyone here looked so rough. He scoffed before making his way towards the bar, where he took a seat in one of the stools. Just as he sat down, a Captain Morgans, neat, was placed in front of him. Alaric looked at it, the followed the hand up to see Bruise glaring at him. Alaric rolled his eyes and grabbed the glass, taking a swig.

"Alaric King? You could have fucking warned us" Bruise said bitterly, though quietly.

"If I told ye, ya wouldn't have done it" Alaric said tiredly.

"And we would have had a good reason" Bruise argued.

"I came here to relax"

"Then you came to the wrong place" Bruise was obviously still very bitter about all this. Did he think it was very safe to behave this way with a King? Absolutely not, but his ego was too big at this stage. Alaric was bored of his behaviour. Maybe he should have told him, for his sake, but for his own and his familys sake, of course he wasnt gonna tell him. That was stupid.

Bruise carried on cleaning his glasses when he realised he wasn't gonna get a reaction out of Alaric, who casually enjoyed his drink. After a while, he glanced back up at him.

"I heard ya'll have formed some sort of an alliance with the Crudes" Bruise stated. Alaric suddenly became alert and more conscious of the people in the room.

"Where'd ya hear that?" He asked.

"Peopel talk in here. You'd be surprised by who some of my customers are" He shrugged. Alaric eyed him.

"I doubt that" He muttered slyly. Bruise smirked to himself at his response. "It was only settled this evening. We dont need any alliances, we're very much capable of protecting ourselves. It was just to look good, being involved with other gangs" He shrugged, trying to convey the illusion that his family are not at their weakest without protection. That's the last thing he wanted to get out.

"I doubt that" Bruise mocked slyly. Alaric looked up at him as Brusie gave him a side glance, head down looking at the glass in his hands. Alaric squinted his eyes at him before feeling the edges of his lips tilt up, despite him wanting to resist it.