Accession || Ongoing ||

Seventeen: ...And Never Let Your Children Out Of Your Sight

Reiley raised an eyebrow pointedly at Sylvie, on hearing her assumption. "So we have the same last name name. Big deal. Must be a coincidence."

For those not caught up with the programme, Sylvie had pretty much figured out that Reiley was related to Ember Griffin, potentially putting their whole plan in jeopardy.

Just when everything seemed to fall into place, Alyxia griped to herself. What do we do now?

A small smile played at Sylvie's lips. "Must be a very large coincidence, then. A coincidence so large that you wanted to trick me with an alias when you first got here."

The chill in Alyxia's spine spread to the rest of her body. She was the one who gave Sylvie their real names. And if Sylvie did figure out their identities, her actions would be the cause of their downfall.

Noting the silence that had fallen in the room, Sylvie gave out a small sigh as she scratched between her eyebrows. "This is your first and last chance to clue me in and tell me the truth about whatever it is the three of you are planning."

Alyxia's senses went into overdrive, like it had when they had to run away from the raids in Fireworks, the club that served as a cover for Ignis. She felt Reiley tense beside her, her left hand itching for a weapon. Farron on the other hand seemed defensive, as if he was prepared to deny everything.

And as per usual, Alyxia did not know what to do.

But in a sudden twist of events, a corner of Sylvie's mouth twitched upwards. "But as far as I'm concerned, the only thing that matters is that you're on our side."

As she turned to waltz out of the room, she dug into her apron pocket and threw a small, dark object behind her. Farron quickly caught it, his open palms revealing that it was a newsfeed device.

"I thought you might want to see what's going on with your family name twin," Sylvie called out as she walked out of the doorway and disappeared.

With dread slowly gnawing at her as much as the whiplash of Sylvie's odd reaction, Alyxia turned to Reiley who was visibly gritting her teeth. "Reiley, I'm so-"

"I'll deal with that later," Reiley snapped as she cut Alyxia off. "For now, it seems we might have bigger problems."

As she watched Reiley gesturing for Farron to give her the newsfeed device, a terrible feeling sunk into the pit of her stomach. Even though Sylvie didn't seem too inclined to report them, even she knew that Sylvie's view of them could easily change if they made a single mistake.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

The familiar blue light of the newsfeed hologram cast an eerie glow over the dingy room as it sputtered to life. Alyxia moved towards Reiley in order to see the words emblazoned across the feed:

FIRST SONS APPOINTED TO HIGH POSITIONS

Alyxia could barely believe what she was reading aloud:

"'The Supreme Commander Ash of the Great Peninsula has appointed her most worthy sons to key positions in the Imperial People's Government of the Great Peninsula.'"

"Wow, when did she become 'Supreme Commander'?" Farron muttered blithely, as Alyxia read on:

"'The noble Raiden Griffin was appointed the Master of the Coffers, while the noble Radley Griffin has been put in charge of the Peninsula's future conquests.'"

Alyxia took a break from reading to exclaim in confusion. "What? A chef in charge of the Peninsula's finances? And a medical professional creating war? I love them, but they have to be the worst suited people for their jobs."