Days had passed after the confrontation in the dining room. Things were slowly changing between the two, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, but they were aware that some walls, little by little, with the apparent caress of the wind, were cracking.
Little storms can turn into typhoons, Astraea is very well aware of that.
Astraea can feel Aziel's sparking excitement each game of push and pull that they play. The small smirk he puts on every now and then, like he knew she was lying.
She couldn't keep this up forever, she was getting tired of having her wall raised up. Having her every being on alert. She was tired of always thinking of the safest answers. She needs her peace of mind back.
What she needed to get back on track, to think rationally and finally express her creativity in peace.
Sculpting was a way to de-stress, but the brainstorming for ideas was the opposite. Her mind is a mess. Filled with every untruth she needed to spout. Her mind wanted to explode due to the stress she had to endure, overthinking about every little detail, uneasy about Aziel figuring everything out.
How would she even explain to him she lied about the news she showed him days before, in regards to the 'terrorist' being found dead. There was never news like that, in the first place. It was a story that she and Daniel made up.
In truth, Daniel found someone to hold responsible for the 'accident'. He persuaded everyone that it was better to claim that it all started with a fire that eventually led to an explosion, then found a obvious scapegoat. Although some doubt its trustworthiness, it was easier to believe. That the tragedy was caused by irresponsible people in control, who had the power and influence, in comparison to an intentional explosion.
It made the mess easier to clean.
The public honored the ship captain, the Hero, her cousin, highly influenced by the media. That her family owned partly. A hero who is always willing to put the civilians as his priority and sacrifice himself despite his roots and importance.
She knew it was deceptive of him, of them.
This would've been avoided in the first place if he had done something when he first gained sight of Aziel. He knew of him personally and what he might be capable of. He was suspicious. Now, they can only hold innocent people responsible.
She wasn't morally upright nor good, not while she belonged in their world. Family will always be family, her blood will always lead her back to her roots.
Wiping her dark and cloudy hands on the white towel. Some of the wet clay contents stuck to the creaks of her hands and undernails, but it could all be washed away, unlike the blood that she now had on her hands.
Wiping her hands more harshly. Her eyes stinged, wanting to erase this guilt that was weighing on her, trying her best to hold back her tears, but she couldn't anymore. It was too heavy for her.
She knew she wasn't liable for them. She lived her life determined with a strong will to turn out better than her peers and kin. Yet now, she's not so sure anymore.
She could only hope that everything that she had been doing now was for a purpose; to stop more blood-shedding occurring in the future.
Wiping the droplets of tears away with her clay-stained hands, concentrating on the clay figure in front of her.
Eye to eye with the head silhouette of the figure. She still doesn't know who it is. She spent days trying to get it to how it shapes right now. She had one face in particular. Yet she seemed to have forgotten how she looked, her mother.
Suddenly there was a hissing noise in her walkie-talkie. Aziel was inquiring about the internet service on the island. Without a choice, she cut the wires that gave her internet service and came up with another lie. That it was unstable, rarely coming then going for a long amount of time. She had just gotten lucky she had service that day.
She and Daniel can only talk through a walkie-talkie that she gave him the last time they saw each other. Using the very specific walkie-talkie code and frequency they had ever since they were young. He was the sole owner of the other pair. It was hissing, meaning Daniel was in a 30-mile radius.
He was nearby, and she was relieved she now had another human being to converse with that was not a mass murderer.
"Hello-hello. This is your beloved cousin talking. The things I do for you, my dear Dae. I traveled the Atlantic ocean on a boat for 3 hours just to get this message to you."
She doubted it was his only purpose. The other line paused for a while, waiting for her to reply.
"Hey! Hey! Are you there Dae?"
Astraea had no choice but to grab the walkie-talkie that was on the top of the cabinet, meters away from her.
"Yes I am. Where exactly are you?"
Voicing out at a shaky frequency due to the emotional breakdown she just had.
"Are you alright, Dae? I'm somewhere I can see your Island, but you won't be able to see. I'll need to make this quick, but first tell me how you are able to persuade Aziel to believe you've lost all your contact with whoever is helping him."
She knew Aziel was a paranoid man. He probably didn't believe all the excuses she gave him.
The feeling of a dark cloud above can only grow. Changing her approach towards him was probably needed. She was running out of excuses, she herself was tired of running in circles, loops of circles she created for him to make sense of and chase her in.
Sighing heavily, she grounded herself.
"I'll be fine Daniel, I just had to let out a few. And- I sense that he doesn't believe it. It probably added to his suspicion when I told him that the internet here is rarely stable. There was a time he insisted he wanted to use my phone. I had to raise the voltage in my socket source so I could overheat my phone and cut off the cable. I don't even have my phone now Daniel"
Astraea wanted to sob again as she raved to her cousin about what had occurred these past few days. Her phone was gone, useless. She doesn't even know what's going on with the outside world, she can only be stuck on this island with Azeial in anxiety and dread while she does her best to act normal.
"I know… I know and I'm truly sorry for putting you in this situation, Dae. I'll do my best to reason out to the people who might look for you. I'm really sorry but there is information that I think you need to find out yourself through Aziel."
Astraea gets it. Daniel trusted her the most to do whatever must be done. He believes that she is the only one who can help him execute whatever it is he is planning, though she doesn't know why he is strongly convinced of that. Although she doesn't see how Aziel plays a major role in solving this mess. There was information Daniel was holding back from her. She knew her cousin.
"You know I'm not close to a lot of people that would miss my presence, Daniel, and what do you mean about finiding out through Aziel? Daniel Spellman tell me everything"
He had been investigating for weeks, he for sure have found out something.
"The Him he may be referring to is his documented Father, Haze Avena. It's public that he founded The Avena groupings. Their company is reputed and famous for handling travel agencies around the world. Yet if looking deeper into the chains of connection, some sub-companies under them are questionable. Notably, Project Xin and Vogel 0X. Based on my private investigation, Project Xin is run by a nameless organization, there's just no information on them."
Astraea had never heard of those companies before, they were all unfamiliar to her. She cannot comprehend either how it was beneficial for them to target her family.
"How exactly are they questionable?"
"Project Xin doesn't seem just small or local, there's hundreds of millions of funding going through its connected accounts, though the money doesn't seem accounted for. They also seem to have mysterious connections with infamous gang members throughout the world. Vogel 0X supply is a weapons company supplier, particularly explosives. It's a challenge to truly know what their real purpose is unless we have a person on the inside. The organization running Project Xin seems to be very secretive and exclusive. "
"Avena… Isn't he Aziel Han?"
Raising an eyebrow, 'Why would Aziel want to change his last name?'
"In his Identity documents, it's written as Aziel Avena. His documents from his birth to 18 are either gone or restricted, which I can't even access. I'm still looking for someone who has an access or someone who might've known him way way before high school days, though the search seems futile. One thing I'm sure of is that Haze Avena is not his father."
Aziel was a Maze of mystery, he himself could only answer.
"What do you mean, you're sure Haze Avena is not his father?"
The need to breathe fresh air suddenly came to Astraea. She had been stuck in this room for hours. Walking towards the window to the balcony with her other hand holding the black walkie-talkie.
This part of the villa faced the beach. She gazed upon the seas and skies and where they met. Daniel did say he was on the back part of the Island, so she wouldn't be able to see him on this side of the villa.
Inhaling the smell of the salty waters of the Atlantic seas and the moist grass and trees, It was supposed to be comforting, but all she is now is suffocated. She rather be alone right now.
"Back then… He felt so different to Aziel's father back then. His face is hazy from my memories, yet I have a strong sense of feeling it's impossible that it's him"
Human instincts could be deceiving, but when something feels strongly wrong it shouldn't be ignored and Astraea believes her cousin. Even if it leads them back to square one.
"Why does it even matter who his father is?"
'All they need to know is find this mysterious organisation, right? Why must Daniel make it more complicated than it is… he seems so fixated on Aziel that it's suspicious?' hearing a sigh on the other line.
"Do you remember when I told you I had my own reasons for why I wanted you to be the one taking care of him. I trust you with all my soul, Dae. I know you'll give everything for our family, but that's not the only reason why. Its not that I care so much for Aziel, we weren't really close… nor can we be considered as friends in the past."
With all her heart she trusted her cousin too, that's why she didn't question it that much, though she had her own doubts. In the first place, she didn't have enough context to form her own conclusions.
"So why?"
Tired of thinking, she just wanted answers. Slowly feeling the undusted balcony's edge with her fingers. Murking them even more.
"Aziel had always wanted revenge, to destroy and inflict pain on the specific people who wronged him. He had been living for vengeance way before till now. He… he wants to kill your father."