The humming of the Tri-Carrier surrounds me as I stretch out on my bed.
After that info-bomb Kele gave us earlier that night, we were all dismissed so that he and Fury could discuss a few things. We all gladly took this as a hint to hit the mess hall where the food wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I saw Agent Benjamin and Agent Ana there, aside from a little headache they were okay which I was glad for. The thing Kele used on them was some kind of shadow paralysis technique.
Apparently that comes with the Shadow Tamer territory.
Everything seemed so surreal while we were eating. If I closed my eyes I would feel like we were back at school, just like any other day catching up on shows, and swapping stupid stories, but we weren't. We were in one of the world's most advanced airships, training under the best of the best to become the ultimate heroes of the next generation.
No pressure.
The others (more specifically Sam) seemed to especially notice how close Danny and I were since I got back, and admitted that they had placed a bet on when the two of us would finally get together. Much to our surprise Ava was the one who guessed the closest and she happily accepted her reward—nearly a hundred bucks. I couldn't help but be a little embarrassed by all of it, but our resident fortune cookie took it all with a smile, wrapping an arm around me while we ate.
Since it was getting pretty late, we parted ways afterward, saying goodbye to Pete before he web-slings his way back home. Since my room was a little further away from the others, Danny offered to walk me to my room (not because this place was like a freaking maze, shut up) and despite the strangeness of it I found it kinda . . . sweet. He even gave me a quick kiss before wishing me goodnight and I had to stop myself from sighing like a love-sick school girl before I stepped into my room.
I smile a little to myself, turning over to my side and wrapping the blankets closer to me. I guess a few good things had happened between all the crazy . . . I just wished it happened under different circumstances.
Looking out the window, I look up at stars, trying to see the few constellations I could make out from all the light pollution before I eventually fall asleep.
I wake up the next morning to the sound of my phone going off and I groggily open my eyes, wincing a bit at the sunlight blaring into my room. I have to install some curtains in here or something. Reaching over to my desk, I unplug my phone (yet another perk from SHIELD) and check the time.
Half-past ten?! I'm late for school—why didn't anyone wake me up?! I jump out of bed, grabbing a set of clothes before hitting the shower, rushing as quickly as I can to make myself presentable before I run out the door. Well, at least I try to before I slam into someone. I nearly fall backward from the force but the person takes a hold of my wrist before I do. I shake the stars away from my eyes, holding my nose and looking up at brown eyes that match my own.
"Ari, are you alright?" Kele asks, a hint of worry in his voice. I blink the tears away, the pain subsiding much quicker than it usually does. I think I can get used to this whole healing factor thing.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine— but I really have to go, I'm late for school!"
He furrows his brow, confused. "Didn't you get our message?" he says as I'm about to run off again.
"Message?" I scroll through my phone, noticing the get-well soon's from Harry and MJ and one from Peter saying that I was in sick today. You would think they would've let me know sooner—oh wait, he left me a voicemail . . . damn it. "So I could have slept in a little more?" I whine, my shoulders slumping as I let my bag fall to the ground.
"Not quite, this is the reason I'm here actually. I was hoping we could spend the day together . . . to catch up." he states a little awkwardly. "Have you read the book I gave you?"
"Um . . . no. I was going to after school today but I guess I could start early. You want to . . . spend the day together?"
"Well, yes. If that's okay with you that is."
I take a moment to process his words, a bit surprised. Well, he did get me out of school for this . . . and it does look like he's trying, at least.
Besides, I promised the guys I would try too . . . "S-sure. What did you have in mind?"
********
The car ride to . . . wherever it was we're going is a quiet one. Kele rented a nice car for us to drive in, too I think it was an SUV or something. It's pretty spacious which is something I like, and it's a nice navy blue that drives smoothly through the streets of New York. I'm pretty surprised when we pull up to the familiar sights of the Aigile cirque tent, the black and white colors of the tent managing to bring a small smile to my face.
"Wait, how do you know about Aigile?" I ask turning to him.
Kele glances back knowingly, unbuckling his seatbelt. "You'll find out once we're inside, come on."
"Jeez . . . why does he have to be so mysterious . . . ?" I grumble, opening the car door and following him inside. It's early, so the performers are probably doing their practicing before they opened later on in the day. When we approach the ticket booth, a loud gasp comes from the screens before the door on the side slam open.
"Can it be?! The two Kateri's!" a voice calls out. Antonio jumps out of the booth, rushing up to pull me in a hug as he spins me around. I try to take in a breath, getting a good inhale of his cologne as I hear Kele let out a low chuckle.
"It's good to see you again, Antonio." He says as the brown-haired man releases me, but not before placing a kiss on both my cheeks.
"Kele~! My, my, you're just as handsome as ever! The years have certainly been good to you."
Kele chuckles. "Ever the flirt, how has everything been?"
"Brilliant! Our little Ari has become quite a sensation here, well, that is before she was pulled along in that month-long assignment for school. It was so brave of you to help those underprivileged children but you mustn't put yourself in so much danger! Honestly, you know there was a war going on there, you could have gotten yourself killed sweetie!"
"Oh, right! I just . . . couldn't help myself!" I laugh, trying to hide the nervousness in my voice. Just what the hell was Fury telling my friends!?
"A sensation you say?" Kele asks completely unaffected by the lie.
"Why yes! She's even gotten a little fan club here and they've been wondering when you were coming back to the stage~!"
I blush a bit, shuffling my feet. "Oh come on . . . I don't seriously have a fan club. Right?"
Antonio giggles, gesturing across the way to the gift booth where a plethora of Agile merchandise. There are a ton of Marie and Marcus posters, mugs, and memorabilia since they're the most well-known duo but I'm a little surprised to see a small corner of stuff with my face on them!
"The sales don't lie darling!"
"No way! That's nuts!" I gape, noting the 'Alice in Wonderland' pictures of me in the Cheshire cat costume. That all seemed so long ago . . .
"Isn't it? Well, you two must want to head inside. Go on then, before you miss me too much~!"
Kele laughs a little, shaking his head. "Thank you, Antonio. Is Madam Paola in today?"
"Hoo! When isn't she? I swear that woman never takes a break!"
"What's the show for this month?" I ask, curious since the display gem outside was turned off. Even if I wasn't in the shows, I'd still like to know.
"Oh, we're doing our yearly special event!"
I gasp again, latching on to his arm as my eyes grow wide. "Story Teller?!" I exclaim as he grins widely. "Oh my God, I can't believe I almost missed this!"
"We're still taking submissions—hint, hint."
"You're still running Story Teller?" Kele adds in rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I haven't heard that name in a while . . ." I quirk a brow, prompting Antonio to elaborate.
"You see, your father was the one who created Story Teller. Well, it was mostly Francine's idea, but this little lovesick puppy was so gung-ho about it everyone couldn't help but go along with it!"
"I wouldn't say 'puppy' . . ."
"Mom used to work here too?!" I say in disbelief. "What else do I not know about you guys?"
"There's . . . a lot to tell. Why don't we head inside and see the others?" Kele says as he heads on in. I wave to Antonio, earning an air kiss from the man before following in after Kele.
It's cool inside the lobby, a nice change from the oddly hot weather. I fan myself with my hand, looking around the empty space. I can hear faint voices coming from the slightly parted tent flaps that lead into the viewing area, and perk up when I hear the voice of Madam Paola. We don't have to go far before she steps through, talking something over with Brian, the stage manager. The two seemed to be in their own little world before they notice us, Madam's grey eyes widening as her painted lips part slightly.
"Ari . . . Kele . . . ?"
"Madam!" I call out, running over and wrapping my arms around her. She seemed to be a bit shocked before she returns the embrace, patting my now short hair with a low chuckle. "I've missed you so much . . . I'm sorry I couldn't visit you sooner."
"I've missed you too Ari, and I see you brought in a stray with you?" she jokes, looking up over to Kele.
"It's been too long, Paola."
"Nearly twelve years Kele and without so much as a letter." She frowns earning a snicker from me as we release each other— finally someone who understands!
"So I've heard . . . but I'm here to make up for it. For real this time."
Madam studies him for a moment, her expression unreadable before she sighs. "Very well then. Brian, may we pick this up later? It seems our stray has some things he'd like to discuss with us."
"Of course!" the blond smiles, ruffling my hair affectionately. "Glad to see you in person, Ari. You're looking good! Been eating your veggies?"
"If I ever strayed off your regimen, I know I would never hear the end of it," I mutter as he lets out a laugh.
"That's good! We wouldn't want to lose out little rising star now would we? I'll see you two later!" he says waving a hand as Madam led us to her office. It isn't too far away and it's fairly spacious decorated with trinkets and awards she'd gotten from around the world. I always thought it was so cool that she got to travel all over, meeting new people, and experiencing new things. She told me they were the inspiration for Aigile.
"I suppose you want to know how and why your parents were tied into all this, no?" Madam directs her question to me, digging through her drawer to pull out a massive photo album. "I would like to show you this before we get started, though."
I open up to the first page, gasping at the sight of the whole crew (aside from a few faces I don't recognize) and I can't help but laugh at a younger Antonio sporting a totally retro hairstyle. "Whoa!" I cry out as my eyes landed on a younger version of my mom. She's smiling brightly in a very pretty purple ensemble.
She looked so beautiful . . .
I nearly do a double-take at the man standing beside her, a strong arm wrapped around her tinier frame. It was Kele . . . and he was smiling! I look up from the man beside me and back to the picture, trying to connect how these two were the same person.
"You . . . you look so different!"
"I haven't changed that much, have I?" Kele mutters, much to Madam's amusement.
"You were a bit more relaxed back when you were younger. That seemed to change when you got your powers."
I snap my head up from my browsing, "You know about those, too?!"
"Of course. In my travels, I've met many different kinds of people Ari; human and Mutant alike."
"I had to find out a lot about my powers from that book and a lot of self-teaching." Kele says with a glint of regret in his eyes.
"What about your parent's?" I ask softly.
"I wasn't exactly on good terms with them . . . they wanted me to stick to traditions but I had other plans."
"Your father was all alone when he came to the city, so I took him into work as a stagehand since he had the strength for it." Madam explained. "That's where he met Francine. They seemed to get along pretty well, and everyone suspected that he had feelings for her but they never crossed that line into something more."
"The shy type I take it?" I smirk.
"Not quite. She turned me down every time I asked her out. Your mother was a tough one, I'll admit."
Yeah . . . she was. I think. "I never knew . . . why didn't she ever talk about this?"
"Well she only performed here for a short while, but then took a leave soon afterward.
"What happened? From what I could tell from these pictures she looked like she really enjoyed it."
"She had you." Kele gently says.
"So . . . mom gave up all this to have me? Why didn't she ever come back?"
"Fran wanted to be there with you for as long as she could. Her own mother died when she was pretty young and she didn't have the heart to put you through that too."
I look down at the photograph of the group, focusing on my mom's beaming face. She gave up so much for me . . . part of me had to wonder why but seeing how close Kele and she were I can tell that they really loved each other.
"So then why did you leave?"
Kele let out a sigh before leaning back in his seat. "I . . . I messed up. Before I started a life here, your grandparents trained me in the way of an Assassin, using our abilities to fight for the freedom of humanity. They were respected members of the Order and I was supposed to inherit that responsibility but . . . that wasn't what I wanted. So I ran and I thought I could for the rest of my life, but that was just a stupid wish from a stupid kid."
". . . Fury mentioned something about the Order getting wiped out, I think? Did something bad happen to your parents?" I ask, almost afraid to
"Yeah . . . turns out even retired, they were still targets. I'm not even sure they were still alive back then . . . to this day I'm still not sure and I figure it's for the best. When you were still a toddler, someone tried to kill me and they nearly did if it weren't for your mom. You should have seen her, she just whacked a frying pan right across the guy's head when he pinned me down in our old house. You were upstairs sleeping in your crib as if nothing was happening." He chuckles. "That's why I had to leave; to protect the two people in my life that mattered the most to me. I know it still doesn't excuse my actions . . . but I did it to protect you, and to this day it was still the hardest decision I had to make in my life."
I take a moment to absorb all this in, running a hand through my hair and faintly realizing I have his habit. "It's . . . really hard to stay angry with you, now . . . you know? It's like, my whole life I always had so many different ways this could have played out, and each time I wasn't sure I could ever forgive you." I admit, carefully choosing my words. "You were always just this shadowed figure in my memories but the more I get to know about you, the more I'm trying to understand so . . . I guess that's a start?"
"You seem to have done some growing up in your time away, Ari." Madam smiles. "Francine would be so proud to see you now, I'm sure of it."
I return the gesture, giddy at taking a glimpse into a side of my mother I never knew. "So then . . . mom knew about all this?"
"Not at first, every time I tried to bring it up I would chicken out. I was afraid she would reject me if she found out I was a mutant . . . but she didn't. She managed to do some snooping around and eventually found out on her own. Gave me the nastiest glare and yelled at me because I kept it from her." He got a faraway look in his eyes as if the scene was playing on the wall in front of him.
"So then I assume after all this, you're going to help Ari with her own development?" Madam asked, folding her hands together over her desk.
Kele and I exchange a glance before he nods. "Yes. You saw me nearly lose control a few times when I worked here . . . I don't want her to go through that kind of pain."
Except that I already have . . .
We stay chatting with Madam Paola for another hour and a half before we leave. Much to my surprise, he takes us to Central Park and buys the two of us a few hot dogs and bottle waters—he even managed to haggle the vendor into throwing in some pretzels for half off.
"I know I promised Brian I wouldn't break the regimen he made me but . . . I'm starving!" I say digging in as I sit down under a nice shady tree. Kele chuckles, sitting down next to me and eating his own hot dog with the works.
"I can't believe how expensive they've gotten, the last time I was here, I was with your mother and they were only two-fifty apiece."
"Yeah, mom had a fit before she got too sick to eat this stuff. We came here to have a nice relaxing day together . . . she was glad to be out and about instead of in bed all day." I smile at the memory, her voice ringing in my ears so clearly I can almost imagine her sitting right next to me.
"I could never imagine her sitting in one place for too long . . . she was always moving. Makes me wonder how the hell she decided to marry me."
"Mom would always talk about you, you know," I murmur, taking a swig of my water and earning his attention. "I never heard a bad word from her about you . . . I thought that was crazy since you aba—left us, but after hearing your side of the story I find it kind of amazing." I turn to look at him with a faint smile. "She really loved you." His dark eyes widened slightly as he looked away, taking in a breath to hide what I think are tears.
It was then I realized how much Kele would be hurting since finding out mom died. I lost a mother but he lost a wife, a confidant to his secrets. Someone who he was planning on spending the rest of his life with, but that was all cut short too soon for any of that could happen . . .
Well, don't I feel like an ass now.
"S-she wouldn't want us to be sad though," I continue. "So why don't we change the subject to something a little lighter, eh?"
"Right," he says clearing his throat. "Though I'm not sure the talk about how your new-found power is exactly a lighter tone."
"You mentioned something about how dangerous it is. I want to ask you something about it."
He turns fully to face me, sitting crossed legged and giving me his undivided attention. "I'm all ears, Ari."
I play with the hem of my shirt, biting my lip before taking in a deep breath. "When I was kidnapped by IVY . . . after I was freed the professors mentioned that I have the X-gene, but I didn't have enough time to find out. That is until I ran into Smoker . . ."
"The man who shot you . . . I know him. SHIELD has him in critical care or so I hear."
I grasp my hands together, looking down at the ground. "I did that to him." He let out a small sound of surprise as I continue. "I don't know what came over me when I did it. All I could remember was thinking I really was going to die, that he would kill my friends and I just snapped. I don't know how to explain it but it felt like . . . like . . ."
"A darkness creeping up into your mind." He finished with a sigh. "I was afraid of that . . . do you ever remember feeling that before any of this happened?"
I shake my head, a little relieved that he knows what I mean. "No, at least I don't think so. But since I got these powers I can still feel it. Like it's just waiting for me to crack again."
"Ari, for you to be so in control now is a feat in itself." I look up, surprised to see a gentle yet stern smile on his lips. He holds a hand out to me as if asking for permission and I placed my hand in his warmer one. "When I first got my abilities, I nearly lost it. All that anger I held for my parents, how I couldn't lead a normal life got the best of me then and I nearly did something I would regret, but seeing you now . . . I'm proud of you, Ari." He says reaching into his shirt pocket and handing me something. It has a little weight to it and when he takes his hand away I gasp to see a necklace. It's a simple silver chain linking around a delicate pair of matching outstretched wings. I gape at it, looking up at him as tears begin to blur my vision.
"But this is—"
"It was your mothers, yeah. She gave it to me as a promise that I would come back for you two. Now I want to use it as a promise to you that I'll be here, no matter how long it takes to gain your trust."
I saw this exact same necklace in each and every one of mom's pictures that Madam showed me, but I would never imagine that he had it. I swallow the lump in my throat, blinking away the tears. If there was something mom would have wanted me to do, I know what it has to be.
Slipping the necklace around my neck, I open up the clasp and securely link it, looking down at the wings before looking back up at him. "Thanks . . . dad."
Authors Note:
Chapter 14 done! Sorry for the delay in the update, but I hope you all enjoyed it!
Not a lot of the others in this chapter, if anything it was mostly OC's unless you count the names mentioned . . .
I wanted this chapter to be a little bit of bonding time between Ari and Kele since I wanted to give him a little more screen time. If you guys want more chapters like this, please let me know. :D I also might make the Story Teller a little side chapter later on, not sure yet. If your interests, it's an event that Aigile holds every year for about a month. The crew, along with the audience, enter in their own original stories and the best one gets a special performance at the end of it. I might have a little story cooked up for it, so keep an eye out for that!
Any comments, questions, concerns, critiques please feel free to leave a message, and thank you to all who left a comment in the last chapter, you guys rock!
Have a lovely day!
--Hattress