● Illusory ●

Chapter 23

Alex

Everything was silent in the meeting room as the final people to enter took a seat, anticipating what Nadine had called us all in for today. Rumors from Xavier said that she and Yuuko had seen something suspicious at Agloe, but if I were to be truthful I'm honestly not surprised. Agloe has always been odd, and Kalle's personality only added to it. It went hand in hand.

Today, two of our rare members had joined us, Atalyah Smith and Luna Starr, one being Garrot's child and the other being the girl with astral projection that Lilly had talked to me about. Atalyah was easy to recognize, as most of their features were similar to their father's, though Luna stood out from the rest of us in many ways. One of those ways, first of all, was her wavy, baby blue hair that sparkled every time it moved. Another was the peach-colored blotches that interrupted the warm brown skin on her face, hands, and chubby arms. The last being the white dots that, when connected, looked like the big dipper on the cheeks beneath her purple nebula eyes.

I'll be honest, Luna was breathtaking, and almost ethereal. It was like I was looking at a moon goddess that I thought I could only see in art pieces in a museum. I think even Atalyah, who sat next to me was distracted by her beauty, since I could see that their onyx eyes were locked on Luna. Though, if I could recall from Lilly, we haven't even seen the most from Luna yet.

I tapped Atalyah on the shoulder then, supposing I should express my condolences for Garrot even though I'm a few months late. It's honestly the best I could do to initiate a conversation before Nadine arrives. "Hey, I'm really sorry about your father. I....did my best to help him."

"It's okay, I know you did. There wasn't much you could do anyways," Atalyah replied, brushing their burgundy ponytail off their shoulder. I noticed that they seemed to have the same biker aesthetic as their father, seeing as they wore mostly black, accompanied by a studded vest and ripped old blue jeans, with a pair of black riding boots. Their silver belt buckle gleamed from beneath the table, reminding me of those huge belt buckles you usually see the members of the rodeo in the city south of Shiner wear. I never thought I'd see the day where a 14-year-old kid would look tougher than me, but then again, when have I ever looked tough?

Finally, Nadine entered, wearing slacks instead of her usual pencil skirts. I assumed our situation to be an emergency, as this was one of the only times I had ever seen her wear slacks to a meeting, and it usually signified an emergency. Haruka, Seiko's mother, followed her, her graying hair tied into an elegant bun and her brown lips turned into a slight frown. I wondered if she was going to speak for Nadine, or bring additional news.

Once it was silent, Nadine remained standing, refusing to take her seat. "I'm sorry to call you all in so suddenly today, but our task at hand is an emergency, dealing with the life of one of our own being at stake," she informed us all, my curiosity growing and wondering who exactly was in danger. It would only add to our current situation with Seiko right now though.

"One of our own? What happened?" Kiran asked, sitting forward in their seat and holding their sister's prosthetic hand. Nadine looked to Yuuko, and then to Haruka before sighing.

"Yesterday, when Yuuko and I were at Agloe, we pulled their mascot, Kalle, aside for a little conversation when we had noticed something odd," she started, though I wasn't quite as surprised with the mention of Kalle and 'odd' in the same sentence. When is this guy not odd? Though, I assumed Yuuko and Nadine had pulled him aside to ask him about what Lilly had told me. What I didn't expect was what Nadine said next though, "The odd thing being.....that Agloe may be harboring Seiko, our missing member."

I nearly fell from my seat then, only steadying myself by grabbing the table. The mention of Seiko being at Agloe had shaken me, especially since it was a theory that both Lilly and I had. We were right all along, weren't we!? I can't help but feel somewhat relieved.