Hydra Heart

Chapter Six

"I suppose it's a good thing I've been training my SOLE reserves." Vesta looked at her hands and arms, like she was admiring her own power.

"I wish someone," Tenra coughed, "would have the same attitude about exercising her SOLE." Molly looked around the room, pretending to not hear him.

"There's something more important I need to addr-" Vesta was cut off.

"I'm sorry, who are you? How do you all know her?" Shay interjected. Maybe if you hadn't slept through everything... Tenra thought.

"This is Violet's daughter." He explained. Shay held her tongue after that.

"As I was saying, something happened to me. When I touched the fuse box in our prison cell, I saw something. It was like a dream, or a vision." Everyone collectively leaned forward in their seats.

"I was being dragged away from myself, the night that Mom and Dad --I mean, Violet and Marriam-- died. Then, I was in this white room, and then it was a black room, and then it was white again. But, before that, I heard a voice. It told me it was trying to reach me, but it needed more power. Said I had to help it. I would say whose voice it was, but it was more like a thought, in the voice of my head..." Vesta squinched her face. She was doing the same thing as everyone else in the room: trying to make sense of what happened.

A silence hung over them all when they realized there was no more to the story. Molly ended the quiet.

"We have to give some credibility to this, now that you're a Kit user. Could be an ability we don't understand. Guys," Molly pitched, "I think we should look into this."

"I guess we're on the same page." Tenra was staring warily at Vesta, like he was expecting her to catch on fire. "But, unfortunately, if we need power..."

"Alogos. The city, not the country." Shay mumbled under her breath.

Vesta, who was completely unable to read the room, said, "Okay, we will go to Alogos, if you think it is the best option. We can get the power, and find out who it is trying to get my attention."

"I'm sorry, you're going where?" came a voice that was worn and weak, but jarring enough to get everyone's attention. The man to whom it belonged was hunched over deeply, and his face was a raw, empty white, like it had been drained of blood. His unsettling visage was completed by deep-set eyes, that made you feel like you were staring into the void. His hair shouldn't be so thin and grey. He looks no more than forty, Vesta thought.

"I've overheard your conversation, Ms. Lavender." He stared right at Vesta. "I am Ozzy Gastro, leader of this group, ever since your mother passed. There is no way in hell you are going to Alogos. We have no way to trust you. Besides, it's too dangerous. You could all die. That woman is rumored to be in the wretched city. I don't know if you think you can hide from her on her own turf, or what-"

"I know she might be there," Tenra stood up, ascending past Ozzy's height because of posture alone. "Of everybody here, that should scare me the most. But, this is the first spark of hope we've had since Violet died. Fifteen years of just taking it from Hirudinea, and now we have a woman with a strong Kit and a new lead on our doorstep. You just wanna ignore that?" Tenra looked at Ozzy with pity more than anger.

"Tenra, that would put lives at risk! I forbid it!" Ozzy declared.

"We have to go. We're Kit users! We don't have the option of sitting on the sidelines!" He clenched his fist and adjusted his stance to make one thing clear. "I'm not budging."

"Fine. I didn't want to have to say this, but you've forced my hand." Ozzy looked at all of them now and waved his arm. "If you choose to depart for this reckless, wild goose chase mission to Alogos, there will be consequences. I will have to expel you from the organization."