After Jupiter sent me back inside, I explored the abandoned warehouse for a little bit before settling down in a corner to wait for the others to finish with Pluto. I must've fallen asleep in the corner though before that happened, because when I opened my eyes later the sun was shining through the cracks in the wall and everyone around me was asleep. Rubbing my eyes, I took a moment to find Henrie and once I made sure he was safely resting near my feet I closed my eyes again. Before I could go back to sleep though, Pluto's weak voice sounded.
"A-Abigail."
Upon hearing him I opened my eyes and looked over to see him looking at me from his uncomfortable bed on the table. Without hesitation I scrambled up and made my way over to him. "Hey, how are you doing?" I asked as I stood at his side. It looked the others had repaired a good portion of his damage and found him a change of clothes.
"I've had worst d-days." He sighed and I smiled sympathetically as I brushed some matted hair out his face.
"You're going to live though?" At that he smiled a little.
"That's the plan." He then reached up and grabbed my hand before resting it on his chest. "Thank you."
"For what?" I asked, allowing my hand to rest there.
"For rescuing me. If it wasn't for you, I probably would've died down there." He sighed.
"It was Jupiter. He was the one who knew how to find you, I just tagged along."
Nodding Pluto looked away.
"Makes sense. He s-saved me the last time...it happened."
Frowning a little, I reached over and turned a nearby bucket upside down to sit on.
"What do you mean? The last time it happened?" I asked. With a tighter grip on my hand, he looked back over at me.
"I've been captured by Titan and his men before. When the lab was overrun. Jupiter tracked them to their hideout and rescued me."
"Wow, he's quite the vigilante, isn't he?" I asked, to which Pluto chuckled.
"He's braver then he's given credit for I think."
"Yeah. Yeah he is." I couldn't but then let my mind drift back to my strange encounter with Jupiter last night. Was that why he was all butt hurt about me praising Pluto instead of him? Because he never received enough credit?
"Hey Pluto, what's the deal with Venus?" I whispered, just in case someone who wasn't supposed to be listening was. At that Pluto glanced around before leaning in.
"You have the necklace, right?" He whispered back and I nodded as I gestured to my pocket.
"Safe and sound."
Pluto let out a sigh of relief as I he laid back. "Good. We have the upper hand."
Nodding, I sat back a little to. "So, who is she? Did you know her?" I asked curiously.
"I did know her, quite well. She was a good friend of mine, whom I miss dearly." He sighed. "She got taken that night, right before Titan got me as well. Fortunately, I had been able to hep Mel escape with the necklace before he got me as well." He then pointed to the general area of my hidden pocket. "Don't lose that Abigail. Its your job to protect it now until we find Venus again. I know you can do it," He said, letting out a pain breath and I smiled softly as I grabbed his hand.
"I'm glad you're okay," I said, deciding to move on from the topic.
"I guess so, but are you okay? What happened in t-the house, it must've been hard," He said.
I fidgeted uncomfortably.
"It was, but in a lot of ways I'm glad it happened." I decided. Before Pluto could ask why though, the warehouse door opened, and Neptune entered with a paper bag.
"Up and at'em ladies and gents. I'm back with breakfast and the hope to discuss our next course of action before noon." With a series of groans, everyone pulled themselves off the floor. It was then I noticed Jupiter was missing. He must be out dealing with his friends.
"Can't we sleep in for once?" Mars yawned as Neptune handed them red cans of what I presumed was oil and handed me a breakfast sandwich. She also handed a small can to Henrie.
"Whatever you don't finish we'll give to Pluto," She said warmly.
"Thank you very much ma'am, you're quite generous." Henrie gushed as he walked over to me and popped open the can to begin drinking it. Once everyone had their things and had gathered around Neptune took a stand at the head of our group.
"I've been in touch with the Minds. They aren't overjoyed with the situation we put ourselves in last night and want us to head out to the new safe house right away. I believe we can make it by sundown with careful planning. Hopefully, with proper precautions, we won't have to worry about this mess happening again."
At that I scoffed.
"What about my family?"
"What do you mean?" Mercury asked, sounding unamused.
"What I mean is, aren't we going to rescue them? I thought we proved we could handle that when we successfully rescued Pluto."
"We barely made it out of there alive Abigail, we can't take chances with odds like that," Mars said.
"That shouldn't matter though, we should try to rescue them!" I shot back. Before Mars or Mercury could respond though, Neptune took the floor back.
"While that is true Abigail, we wouldn't even know where to look. Exposing ourselves like that would be a suicide mission. Anyways the Minds wouldn't approve of us not following orders." Even though I badly wanted to argue, I couldn't think of a point strong enough to counteract that other then it didn't matter, but Henrie spoke up then.
"I might actually know something could help."
"What could you possibly know?" Mars grunted.
"Hold up, I want to hear this," Mercury hushed.
"I recall overhearing something about a celebration in the city in some art place from the big blokes. I think Titan might be holding a gathering of some kind, probably because the arse thinks he's close to winning this."
At that, the room fell quiet as we all shared glances. It didn't take long though for me to decide to speak up again. "That's a lead."
"Yes, it is, but there are dozens of places in the city that could be taking place," Mercury said.
"If he's hosting a party though, he must be doing a private event. Not all places in the city do that. I bet we could figure out which one it is." Mercury admitted, earning a dirty look from her brother.
"I don't know guys." Neptune muttered as Jupiter then cleared his throat. We all turned to see him standing near the doorway drenched in oil with a mischievous grin on his face.
"Its funny you should mention a party. My friends just told me about one being held at the Emerald City Art Gallery. It's going to be Titan's farewell party to the city before they officially move onto the next hideout outside of the city. I believe he's about to move onto the next phase of whatever plan he has," He said, winking at me as I turned to Neptune and grabbed her hand desperately.
"Please Neptune. Please. They're my family. We can do this; I know we can." I begged.
"Abigail I—"
"Found it." Mercury then cut in, looking up from the screen of a phone and holding it up. "It starts at seven thirty tonight. Maybe we should consider doing it."
Mars then nodded thoughtfully. "This is one of the rare times we might be able to catch Titan in public, we might be able to take him down and find out where he's hiding your family in the process. I think that might actually be more doable." He admitted, changing his attitude quick.
Remaining quiet for a long moment, Neptune looked between all of us, and then finalized her gaze on me before exhaling slowly. "We would be disobeying direct orders from the Minds..." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "However though, Mars makes a good point. This might be our only chance to have an advantage over Titan and perhaps rescue Abigail's family." She sighed. Feeling a smile cross my face, I grabbed her and hugged her tight.
"Thank you, Neptune, thank you so much." I breathed, feeling tears well in my eyes.
"We better find something to wear then, because if we're sneaking in, we need to blend in," Mars said as Mercury smirked.
"Leave that to me dude."
________________________________________________________________________________Hey there guys!
I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Years, I know I did and I'm excited for 2019 :)
Did you make a New Years goal?
-Mari.