Sloane released her grip on Astrid's unconscious body, she and her siblings watching as Astrid slumped onto the ground, her chest slightly rising and falling. Fei bent down and punched the girl one more time to ensure she was unconscious, and the Umbrella didn't flinch. "Let's get her back to the Academy," Ben instructed, motioning for his other sister to grab her. Wrapping her arms around the young woman's waist, Sloane flung Astrid over her shoulder, briefly struggling to stand with the extra weight.
That morning, the Sparrow Academy woke up to the realization that Marcus wasn't there. The last time they saw him was right after dinner. He seemed pretty eager to meet with somebody. And anytime the siblings questioned him on his strange behavior, all Marcus said was that he was okay and had to head somewhere. Suspicions quickly rose, as Sparrow One was never fidgety or anxious to go anywhere, especially late at night. Now with him missing, the Sparrows had no doubt their new enemy was behind it.
"So, what do we do with her once she wakes up?" Fei questioned. "You'll see. With enough persuasion, she'll spill Marcus's location," Ben smirked. When they returned to the Academy, they were immediately greeted by the rest of the waiting Sparrows. Christopher the cube chattered, asking if they found Marcus yet. "No, he's still missing. But we found someone who might know," Ben explained, gesturing to the still-unconscious Shadow Girl.
Jayme and Alphonso looked at each other with twin menacing smirks, looking ready to violently torture their captive into waking up. "Patience, Jay, Alp. You'll have your fun. But for now, we'll all play nice," Ben insisted. "Have Grace take her to the medical room. We'll all meet in the rec room for breakfast," Ben looked over to Sloane. But the brunette didn't need to go far to get her message across, as Grace had been listening in for quite some time. "I've got her. She's in good hands," Grace held her arms out, and Sloane passed Astrid over to her. "Thanks, Mom," Sloane whispered.
While everybody in the house referred to her as 'Grace' or 'The Robot,' Sloane was the only one of the Sparrows to recognize her as a maternal figure. And although she may not have been a living, breathing human, she treated Grace with the respect a child should have for their parent. Well, at least a positive one. The medical room was just a curtain away from the rec room, so any noise the Sparrows made could be heard from inside the echoed space.
As Grace laid the young woman on the cot, she tended to the girl's wounds, wiping away the running blood from her right cheek and the dirt and splinters from her crashing into the tree. Half an hour after being knocked out, Astrid heard soft humming. And as she opened her eyes, she grimaced at the bright light hanging over her head. "Ugh..." She groaned. She felt a wet but gentle cloth touch her face and she looked over to see Grace smiling at her.
"Mom?" Astrid questioned. "Why do people keep calling me that?" The caretaker smiled. "Never mind, where am I?" the blonde inquired. "The Academy, silly. Everybody's waiting for you," Grace gestured to the closed black curtain. As Astrid sat up, she could hear muffled chatter and laughter, along with the sound of a whirring machine. With partial fear running through her veins, she grabbed the closest weapon she could find, a mop. It may not have been her favorite weapon of choice, but considering she didn't have enough energy to teleport her way out, she had to make use of what she had.
Slowly, she approached the curtain and flung it back, stepping into the rec room. "Ah, there she is! Finally awake, huh?" Alphonso looked at her. The whirring of the blender stopped as Sloane looked over and smiled at Astrid. Surprised by what was happening, Astrid started to think maybe she let her fears get the best of her, but was still eager to fight her way if she needed to. "Please, join us," Fei gestured to an empty chair at the long white table.
"It's okay. Nobody's going to hurt you," Ben insisted. Hearing that voice fifteen years after Ben died was so weird. Though the Jennifer Incident most likely didn't happen in this timeline, Astrid never thought she'd see him again. Lowering her protective walls, Astrid handed the mop to Sloane, who rested it against the wall. And in return, she handed the young woman a fresh green smoothie.
"You must be starving," Fei said as the Shadow Girl scooted between her and Alphonso. The amount of food available to her was unimaginable. Astrid hadn't had a breakfast like this in a long time. Bagels with various jams and jars of butter were laid out, some with knives already dipped inside them. Two bowls of fruit stared back at her, daring her to take some, and various assortments of nuts and berries sat in tiny white bowls. "Is that cashew butter?" Astrid inquired, picking up one of the jars. "Cashew butter, almond butter, sunflower butter, tahini, Brazil nut," Sloane ticked them off, impressing Astrid with all the options.
Without much thought, Astrid began piling some of the food onto her plate, not paying attention to the Sparrows who watched her. Some snickered at her ravenous appetite while the others went back to eating their share of the breakfast. "I don't believe we've formally introduced ourselves yet. I'm Ben, Number Two," Ben spoke up as Astrid spread almond butter on her bagel. "It's nice to see you again, bro," Umbrella Eight looked up for a moment.
The other Sparrows gave him strange looks, wondering if he ever actually met any of them before. But their looks of confusion only irritated him. "Why does everyone keep looking at me like that?" He glared. "Well, you've been dead for fifteen years. That's why we were all surprised to see you when we... stopped by yesterday," Astrid carefully explained. But Ben looked at her confused, his temper slowly rising. "Dead? What do you mean by dead?!" He nearly shouted.
Everyone went silent as they watched their captive try to process her next sentence. But realizing this was going nowhere, Astrid let go of the subject. "Anyway, I'm Fei. Number Three," The sun-glassed girl introduced herself. "Alphonso, cuatro," the scarred man held four fingers up. "Sloane, five. Hey," the gravity girl waved, slightly waving even though they already exchanged names. "I'm Jayme, Six," the quiet black-haired girl murmured. Astrid caught a glimpse of the glowing cube that hovered above its seat. The way it looked at her confused her. Since he had no face, she couldn't tell if he was glaring or trying to be friendly.
"That's Christopher, of course. Number Seven," Ben looked out of the corner of his eye. The cube glowed and chattered, and no matter how hard Astrid tried to guess what he was saying, she couldn't understand even a word. "Don't mind him. He's in a bit of a saucy mood today," Ben smirked. While Astrid recounted all the Sparrows present at the table, she noticed a slight error. Their Number One wasn't present. "What about Number One?" She questioned out loud.
"What about him?" Fei's voice grew serious. "Where is he?" Astrid questioned again. Without warning, Ben grabbed a nearby knife and stabbed it into the table. "That's what we'd like to know. Whatever game your family is playing, you're going to lose!" Ben snarled. "You took our Number One, so we took one of you,"
There's no way any of us took him. I was with most of them the whole night! "You must be mistaken. We never took him. Why would you think that?" Number Eight claimed. "I don't know... maybe an act of war? Death wish?" Jayme glared. "The last time we saw him, he was with your sister," Sloane spoke in a calmer tone. "Which one?" Astrid inquired. "The little one with the big powers,"
"Vanya? That doesn't sound like something she'd do. Trust me, some of my family may be jerks, but we'd never kidnap anybody," The Sparrows remained silent, continuing to glance at her with superstitious looks. "Okay, how about this? I'll go back to my family and see if they have your brother. And if so, we'll send him back without a scratch. This doesn't have to become a war between two houses," Astrid tried to negotiate as she rose from her seat. But before she could get far, she was pulled back to her seat by one of Ben's slimy tentacles.
"What's the rush? Stick around till Marcus gets back," Ben grinned menacingly. Christopher slowly hovered behind Astrid, chattering in a threatening tone if she even thought about getting up again. "You won't get away with this. My family will come back for me," She vowed. "Wonderful. But in the meantime, make yourself at home," Ben said as he carried his empty plate towards the sink and stacked it with the others. "One more thing. If you try to escape, Fei's birds will peck your eyes out and make a nest inside your skull,"
Eyes widening at the thought, Astrid looked towards the sun-glassed girl, who was holding back a smile the more she thought about it. Ben looked over to Sloane, silently gesturing for her to keep an eye on their 'guest.' Unlike Ben, she wasn't one to be harsh towards others. Yes, she was worried about Marcus and wanted him to return home safely, but she didn't want to hurt someone unless it was absolutely necessary. The rec room filled with silence. The only thing that could be heard was the crunching of Sloane's granola and the butter knife scraping against Astrid's jam-covered bagel.
"So, what do you like to do for fun?" Sloane asked, breaking the silence. Fun... it sounded like a distant dream to the Shadow Girl. The last time she truly had fun was when she was a child. Maybe this was the time for Astrid to have fun, even if she was being held captive in her former home. "To be honest, I haven't had fun in forever. I wouldn't even know where to begin to find something I enjoyed," Astrid answered.
"Well then, I guess we'll have to help find you find something!" Sloane stood up and walked to the other side of the table, offering a hand. Astrid looked at it suspiciously, deep down unsure whether she should trust the Sparrow. "Don't worry, I'm not like Ben," Sloane assured. Those words slightly calmed Astrid's nerves, and she slipped her hand into Sloane's. "Let me show you around."