CLATTONIA
"Starting off," I say as the others all watch me, "Jace's friend and coworker Asylum has decided to help us. Evidently, Asylum has never been happy working at White Rabbit, but knew that he couldn't do much by himself other than get caught and sentenced to death. However, following certain circumstances, he is now helping us. We also found out that Aether Gallaghan is the one who killed Midnight and that the papers Midnight found were about Operation Heavenly, which is something truly sinister. White Rabbit members captured a severely injured sixteen year old Supernatural named Azriel several years ago and they somehow managed to move his conscious into the body of a being they created who follows their orders and has instincts to kill any Supernatural beings. Azriel is known to be potentially unstoppable and should be considered lethal. Baelyne, another member of White Rabbit, worked on the project and checked on his vitals, but she didn't approve of what they were doing. Baelyne is the other ally we have gained along with Asylum. She claims that Azriel's memories and genetics were transferred over with his conscious and that the being still has his memories, but that something would have to bring them out. Reece may have a lead on this already. Other information that we learned is that a Supernatural named Minjonet Melek is conspiring with members of White Rabbit on Operation Heavenly and that one of the lead scientists is named Genna Bastille. At this time, this is all of the new information that we have learned."
"Wow," Labyrinth breathes out, "It sounds like we could be royally screwed, but of course, we won't let that happen."
"Right," I nod, "Are all of you okay with what the outcome may be if we continue? As one of your leaders, I will try my best to valiantly lead you all even if it comes down to my very last breath and until I get put in my grave and I wish us all the best, but all of you know the risks of our missions."
"Clattonia," Reece gets my attention and gives me a slight smile, "We know. They all know."
"Of course," I nod and give a small smile back to him before glancing back to the others, "You all know that already. Alright, we're going to start training more often and we'll be going on missions more often as well. Be prepared for anything and try to stay safe, got it? But first, we should try to figure out more on how to better deal with Nightshade's powders before we do anything else. In the meantime, train, rest, and prepare while we do so. I may have a few of you go out on reconnaissance missions, but I won't force anyone who is unwilling to do so."
"I'll try my best to finish up working on the deterrents for Nightshade's powders," Juniper says as she stands up, "And I'm sorry to have to leave, but I have to go check on Katsuro and give him more antibiotics."
"Go ahead," I nod, "I've said all that needs to be said anyway, and I appreciate all of your hard work."
Juniper smiles and nods before she hurries off to Katsuro.
"I will go continue working on the deterrents while Juniper checks on Katsuro," Caliber says before heading off down the hallway.
"I'm gonna go call Raphael," Reece says and heads outside.
"Is there anything that I can do right now?" Indigo asks.
"You and Ink can go out into the city and check on how things are going. Every little thing counts. See if you can learn anything or help someone in need, and if you hear a Supernatural woman with a French accent, it's most likely Minjonet, so be careful," I say.
"Alright!" Ink cheers and stands up, grabbing Indigo's hand and dragging her towards the door, "Let's go!"
I chuckle at the sight of the two. Ink cheerily dragging a flustered Indigo outside brings a sense of much needed lightheartedness to the group.
"I can go teach Essence a few strategies if she wants," Lucian offers.
"Sure," Essence nods, "I'd like that, thank you."
"I'll come with," Aeryn sighs, "I guess training would be beneficial."
"Excuse me?" Lucian raises a brow, "I said nothing about bringing you along with us."
"Do I look like I care?" Aeryn stares at him boredly, "I'm coming with whether you like it or not. Besides, I could teacher her a thing or two too whenever she sees how I whip your ass, Know It All Blondie."
"Is that so?" Lucian snorts, "Bring it on, Princess."
"Oh, I'm always on," Aeryn winks as she trots off towards the basement.
Lucian sighs and shakes his head before following her down to the basement, followed by a somewhat apprehensive Essence.
"I'll go with and make sure she doesn't get too out of hand," Valentina chuckles as she heads towards the basement.
"Thank you," I sigh in relief.
"Well," Kai sighs and pulls his box of cigarettes out of his pocket, "If you need me, I'll be outside."
"Hey, wait, shouldn't you be doing something productive?" Simon raises a brow at him.
"Kid, I'm you and your sister's bodyguard, I can do what I want," Kai says before leaving.
"Some bodyguard," Simon mutters, "Can't even properly take care of himself."
"You have to admit, he's reliable when it comes down to it. He's extremely protective and he's highly skilled in combat, and whether it looks like it or not, he's actually quite intelligent and observant, as well as perceptive. He has lethal reflexes, you know," I say.
"I know," Simon says after a few moments, "I just wish he wasn't so..."
"Hard to deal with?" I raise a brow at him.
"Yeah," Simon nods, "That."
"I get it," I offer him a lopsided smile, "But he's always been there for you both, hasn't he?"
"Mhm. Whenever we need him, he's always there. He's incredible to a fault, if that's even possible. He's been with us ever since we were eight. Back then, Kai was just thirteen. Anyway, uh," Simon says, "If you need me, I'll be studying in my room."
"Do you think he knows?" Jace asks.
"Hm?" I raise a brow at Jace and Labyrinth looks intrigued.
"Do you think he knows that's he's--"
"Simon is a classic case of denial," Labyrinth says and starts to walk away, "Of course he doesn't know. Besides, most relationships are poison anyways."
"Is it really okay for her to be like that?" Jace asks and frowns slightly as he crosses his arms, "She just seems like she does and says whatever she wants without much of a care for others. I know that she cares for you guys, but..."
"It's not her fault that she's like that," I sigh.
"What do you mean?" Jace asks cautiously.
"Well..." I trail off.
"Get out!" Labyrinth shouted as she shoved the familiar blond out of her room and he stumbled into the hallway during the late hours of the night while only wearing black and grey sweatpants, "Leave right now!"
"Labyrinth, wait--" Aether raised his hands up in defense.
"I said leave!" Labyrinth shouted and stomped over to him as her feet pounded angrily on the floor before she reached him and began to bang on his chest, "Go away! I don't want you here! Nobody wants you here!"
"Labyrinth, sweetheart, I--" Aether started.
"You're a liar, a thief, and a no good sellout. So, I'm telling you to get the hell out of here, to get the hell away from me, before I reduce you to ribbons," Labyrinth seethed.
"I was honest about my feelings for you, though, Labby, I promise," Aether said, "I would never hurt you."
"Would never? Would never?" Labyrinth shouted and continued to bang against his chest and push him backwards, slowing pushing him towards the wall, "Can't you see? You hurt me worse than anyone ever has, than anyone ever could. Just shut up and leave! I don't want to hear another word out of your worthless mouth! Your words mean nothing! Nothing! You're full of hollow lies and empty promises. You have no soul and no heart, Aether Gallaghan, and you are no longer welcome here."
"Labyrinth was in a relationship with Aether before she found out that he was working for White Rabbit and was selling them information about her and about us," I say and Jace's eyes widen.
"Why would anyone want to be with him?" Jace grimaces, "He's a complete and utter player."
"He didn't used to be that way until he started working for White Rabbit and became well known. He let the fame get to his head, I suppose. Aether used to be a photographer for his dad's company and he met Labyrinth one day whenever he was taking photos of an ongoing fight between a rogue Supernatural and members of White Rabbit. Labyrinth ended up saving his life from flying debris and they stayed in touch ever since. They started dating a few months later and the rest is history," I shrug.
"Wow," Jace breathes out, "I'm sorry."
"Yeah," I nod, "And um, I wanted to thank you, for earlier."
"Hm?" Jace raises a brow.
"Whenever I almost stormed White Rabbit, you stopped me. Thank you. I guess I just wasn't thinking, ya know? It happens to all of us, even me. It's just, I was extremely close to Midnight and I'm extremely close with Reece and I know what Reece had to go through and how he felt whenever his brother was killed. I mean, his little brother was shot dead in cold blood. That would be traumatic for anybody, not to mention his family life. And we were always there for each other, still are, so, I guess I just wanted to, I don't know, somehow bring him some sort of peace? Whenever I lost Kaden, it was like my heart was tainted by grief and sorrow, so I know how it feels on a personal level as well," I say.
"Kaden was good friends with Reece and Juniper too, right?" Jace asks.
"Yeah," I nod, "And Katsuro briefly met him right before he died. Katsuro constantly blames himself for it, but it's not his fault. We found Katsuro on the night that Kaden was killed and Katsuro feels that if we hadn't been there to rescue him from Misery that Kaden would still be alive."
"Misery was the one who killed Kaden?" Jace asks.
"Yeah," I say after a few moments, my hand subconsciously going to my necklace, "Katsuro ran away from home from his abusive parents who abused him for being Supernatural and he accidentally ran into Misery. We were after Misery and so whenever we found her, we found Katsuro too. Kaden died protecting us all, but Katsuro blames himself constantly and always tries to do anything that he can to try and make up for it, but you really can't make up for a death, but it isn't his fault in the first place. I just wish he understood that."
"He should know that that isn't his fault, but I get it," Jace nods.
"Speaking of which," I say and smile slightly, placing a hand on Jace's shoulder, "I'm gonna go check on him. I'll see you around."
"Alright," Jace nods and smiles slightly back before I walk off towards where Katsuro is.
I reach Katsuro after a few minutes and he smiles upon seeing me enter the room as he rests there in a white bed, hooked up to an IV and a monitor, while Juniper sits on a stool next to his bed and rings out a rag over a bowl in her lap.
"Oh, hey," Juniper says once she looks up and she smiles.
"Hi, I came to check on Katsuro," I say.
"Clattonia!" Katsuro beams, "It's so great to see you!"
"It's nice to see you too," I chuckle as I walk up beside his bed.
"You look so much like the pretty lady that looks like you," Katsuro hiccups.
"What?" I furrow my eyebrows in confusion and Juniper watches him and pauses ringing out her rag, raising a brow at him, "What pretty lady?"
"Pretty lady with magenta hair in town. You look like the pretty lady," Katsuro says.
Juniper and I exchange a glance and my breath hitches.
Just what did Katsuro see when he was looking for me earlier? Or better yet, who?