Deception (Axyl, #1)

Chapter Three

When Oceania was done with her food, she straightened up from the table and walked over to the kitchen. She set her bowl into the cleaning container before she looked over at her mother. Before she could get a word out of her mouth, her sister, Ecal, came ricocheting over to them.

"Hi!" She shouted, resting her hands under her chin. She beamed, looking over at Oceania. "Guess who's coming with you!"

Oceania sighed slightly, closing her eyes. Her sister had always been like this, trying to come over to the corporation with her and her mother. She glanced over at her before she looked back at Ecal. "Not today," she told her sister, leaning against the counter. "You're way too young."

Ecal was barely even in her teens, a few months after she had turned thirteen, to be exact. Thirteen wasn't old enough to actually go near the place where the corporation was. Anyone couldn't even go there if they weren't already initiated. It was too much of a secret to give out, and if it had gotten out somehow, the Royal family would do anything and everything in their power to take it down. They didn't like government spies, especially for a monarchy.

"But-"

"No buts," Oceania said, grinning slightly. She ran her hands through her soft, silky hair as she walked over to her. "You know the rules. Don't try and fight it."

Ecal glowered at her sister, crossing her arms over her large, for a thirteen year old, chest. She stomped her foot, whining a little bit, but she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere. "You suck," she muttered, throwing the comment over her shoulder towards Oceania.

Oceania sighed again, leaning back against the counter and watched her sister walk back over to her room at the end of the hall. She didn't like not letting Ecal in on the corporation, but it had to be done. She didn't have a choice. She didn't know what the striker would do to her if she had let out one of their secrets. It wouldn't be good.

Her thoughts drifted over to the prior day, thinking about that black haired blue eyed girl. She frowned a little bit. She didn't know where she had gone, and Claus hadn't said anything when she had woken up from her sleep. Her brows knitted together as she walked over to the panel on the wall in the hallway. She unlocked it before she started to call Claus's number. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Claus to pick up, blowing at a tendril of hair that had fallen into her face.

"Hey!" Claus's familiar voice shouted at her when he had picked up the call. Oceania moved her gaze, meeting his own green eyes.

Oceania smiled a little bit, a dimple showing on her cheek. "Hey," she said, biting on her lip as she studied him. Her mind kept on wandering over to the little girl, looking barely even the age of nine years old. "Where's that little girl that we followed into the forest?"

Claus's forehead scrunched up in confusion. "Little girl?" He repeated, running his hand through his hair.

Oceania nodded, raising a blond eyebrow at him. "Yes, little girl."

"What are you talking about? There weren't any little girls," he informed her. "You just started to walk into the forest, and I had no idea what you were doing. I kept repeatedly asking you where you were going, but I guess you didn't hear me. "

Oceania was confused. What did that mean? The little girl that had pulled her into the forest wasn't real? Was that a hallucination? Oceania didn't know. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, moving her gaze down to her feet. After a while, she lifted her gaze back up to meet his own, smiling. "Thanks, anyways, Claus," she said to him graciously. "Are you coming to the corporation with me and Mom?"

Claus shook his head, a corner of his lip tugging up. "No," he told her. "It's my day off, but have fun!" He continued to smile at her, lifting his hand in a wave before he hung up on her.