"Now, where did Mina say my room was?" Risále muttered to herself. She turned another corner which led into another long corridor. "Oh for God's sake—Fucking hell, you guys, why did you have to pick a fucking labyrinth for a base?!" She sighed, running a hand through her, "I swear to God, I'm going to paint arrows on these doors. Time to wander around aimlessly until I stumble into my room," She muttered, "Either that or I'm stealing one of these rooms because I know for a fact that I am not wandering around all night,"
She turned to another corridor and lo and behold, everything looked exactly the same. At this point, Risále was actually two seconds away from screaming.
"No, you know what, I give up. I'm literally just going to sit down here and go to sleep. I cannot find that room. I am hopelessly lost and I have a computer brain. This place is a fucking nightmare," She groaned as she sat down on the spot, cross-legged.
"It's not that bad once you get used to it. Although, I'm the wrong person to tell you that. Ask Xander or Kaedan, they're the ones with zero directional coordination," A voice said from behind her, amused.
Risále whirled around but sighed in relief when she saw that it was just Leon, leaning on the wall next to her, arms crossed, a slight smirk on his face.
"Okay, but how does one get used to countless corridors and hallways that look exactly the same?" She asked, on the verge of losing her sanity.
"That, my friend, is a secret for the ones who have mastered what I call 'The Art of Directions'. You'll figure it out soon enough. Until then at least, I'll be your guide. I seriously can't believe that Miss Manon of all people got lost," Leon said, reaching his hand out to her. Risále paused for a moment when she heard him say "Miss Manon". She wasn't sure she had told him her last name but maybe Lumina and Mina had told him? Either way, hearing him say her name like that sounded strangely familiar, which was weird seeing as she wasn't supposed to remember a damn thing.
She took his hand and he pulled her up easily, "What room are you in?" He asked her and she just shrugged. Leon paled slightly, "You do realize that this makes my job quite a bit harder, right?"
"Yeah, well," Risále responded, sighing, "I wasn't exactly paying attention to the room number Mina gave me when I had just woken up from being unconscious and genuinely have no memories at all outside of like. Basic human functions and all."
Leon gave her a look of pity, sadness, and something else that Risále couldn't distinguish. She pushed that to the back of her mind as she started to follow him. She looked at the back of his neck, wondering why she felt so awkward, yet at the same time, he seemed familiar. It wasn't specifically him, but it was the aura he gave off, the energy he had, that seemed so strangely nostalgic.
"So, how about we play twenty questions? That way, I get to know about you and hopefully this place, and you can learn more about me, at least what I know about me," Risále asked him, suddenly wanting to talk to him.
Leon smiled sweetly at her, "Sure, I'd be down for that. So, I guess I'll start if that's okay with you?" He asked, looking to her for permission.
"Alright, ask away. Though, fair warning, I don't really know how many questions I can answer, due to my amnesia," Risále warned him.
"I don't mind that at all. Anyways, what's your full name?" Leon asked her as they rounded a corner, and Risále was beginning to recognize where they were.
"Risále Céline Manon. What about you?" Risále asked him. Huh, that was weird. Didn't he call her Miss Manon earlier—
"Pretty name, mine is Leonardo Minhyuk Song," He complimented her, "That's a Hispanic name, isn't it?"
"Ah, yeah. I wanted to know more about myself so Lumina did some ethnic tracing. Mostly Dominicana with some Vietnamese in there, probably a grandparent or something," Risále explained.
Leon smiled, "Soy Puertorriqueño, puedo hablar Español también."
Risále raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Are you also mixed? I thought that your middle and last name was East Asian. Are you part Korean?"
"Yup, you got it exactly. My mom was Puerto Rican and my dad was Korean. So, I can speak both languages. Alright, my next question is how old are you? I mean, I can guess around what age but I wanted to know exactly," Leon said, scratching his head.
"Gotcha. Well, I don't remember myself but from what Lumina told me, I'm nineteen years old. I mean, from what her brain scan told me," Risále rolled her eyes.
Leon sighed, "I knew I shouldn't have taught her how to do that, I think she has a mission to see how subtly she can do brain scans on people without alerting them. And you're nineteen? We're the same age then, though…" He looked down at her with an amused look.
"Don't you dare," Risále glared at him.
"I didn't say anything," He held up his hands.
"Yeah, and keep it that way, Slenderman-looking motherfucker."
Leon choked on air, "I'm sorry, did you just call me Slenderman—I want to be offended but that was actually kind of hilarious. Anyway, if you think I'm tall, what did you think when you met Lumina? That woman is barely shorter than me," Leon joked, then he thought about something, "If you thought me or Lumina were tall, I can't wait for you to see Xander. That man is the real Slenderman-looking motherfucker out of all of us. But hotter than Slenderman. I don't think Kaedan would appreciate me implying that his man looks like a tall, faceless twink."
"Did you just call Slenderman a twink—"
Leon shrugged, "Am I wrong? He's built like a twig. I never understood why people were so scared of him, you could probably snap him in half like a branch."
"Isn't he like….Nine feet tall? And doesn't he have tentacles or something," Seeing the glimmer of mischief in Leon's eyes, she interrupted him before he could speak, "Never mind, I don't need to hear anything about the tentacles. Besides," She looked him up and down before raising an eyebrow, "Do you really think you get to talk?"
He made a noise of mock offense, trying to hold back his laughter, "Risále Manon, are you calling me a twink?"
Another voice chimed in, "I mean, if the boot fits, Leon," Owen stepped out of a room, closing it behind him, "Hey, you two. So, Xander is built like a hot Slenderman, and Slenderman is a twink? This going to be an interesting conversation to tell Kaedan about."
"Kaedan and Xander, they're dating, right? Isn't Xander also Lumina's cousin or something?" Risále asked them.
"You'd never guess that they were only cousins. If you see them interact, you'll get what I mean. They act as though they are actual siblings. I mean, they are as close as real siblings, they've known each other their whole lives. As for Kaedan and Xander, all I can say is that they need to get married already," Leon laughed.
Owen nodded, "He's completely right, they're literally married but without the actual title of being married. We're literally just waiting for them to drop the news on us that they someday got engaged."
Risále cocked her head, "I thought that was Lumina and Mina," She asked and Owen shook her head.
"Well, you know what they say, it probably runs in the family. Lumina and Xander both need to get a fucking move on, I'm pretty sure they could propose now and Mina and Kaedan respectively would say yes. If they didn't end up proposing first," Owen shrugged.
Risále thought about it, "Yeah, well, that sounds fair. Feelings are scary."
Leon and Owen looked at each other, "Oh, yeah. Feelings are one hundred percent, very, very, very scary."
A couple of minutes later, they finally made it to their destination, "So, Lumina, what's for dinner?" Leon asked as he, Risále, and Owen walked into the dining room.
"Hey, Risále, are you a vegetarian?" Lumina asked as she stuck her head out of the kitchen, checking to see who else had happened to walk into the room. Risále could see the little involuntary smile that appeared on her face when she saw Owen and Leon. They really were like a tight-knit family.
"No, I'm not. Why?" She asked, tilting her head. Some hair fell into her face and she pushed it back, running her hand through her hair. She didn't seem to notice Leon who had glanced sideways to see her, and gulped.
"Good. We're having Indian food," Mina said as she walked out of the kitchen, holding a pressure cooker. Lumina moved over to assist her with it since it looked like Mina was struggling a bit with its weight and size.
"Please tell me you didn't drop all the masala powder in there like last time. Not all of us have taste buds of steel. The most I can take is tteokbokki with chili sauce, anything more than that, I'm dead," Leon asked, looking as though he was going through war flashbacks. As Risále looked at the others, she realized Mina and Lumina had similar looks on their faces.
"Uh...Did something happen?" Risále asked, a bit concerned.
"We didn't. We learned after the last time. Not again," Lumina said, her face paling and Risále thought it would be better not to ask. But it seemed that she wouldn't have to go with her questions unanswered.
"Uh...What are you three talking about?" Fenix asked, and Owen looked just as confused as his friend.
"Don't you remember? Last time we—" Lumina hesitated, "Didn't we put too much powder in a month back or something?" She turned to Mina.
"Lumina, Mina, that wasn't you two? That was Kaedan and Leon. Wasn't that like…A year ago?" Owen said, gently putting his hand on Mina's shoulder, "Are you alright?"
Leon looked completely confused, "No...No, I'm pretty sure that was…" A realization seemed to strike him and his eyes looked hopeful, "You know what, never mind. We have food, that's all that matters."
"Praise the lord for this amazing miracle they have bestowed upon us, Lumina and Mina's Indian food is actually like the food of the heavens when they're paying attention as they're making it," Fenix said.
Lumina and Mina looked at each other, a little bit confused, but they set all the food out and then looked up, "Oh, right, Kaedan and Xander showed up while you three were gone, Owen, Leon, and Risále,"
Leon sighed and began walking towards the rooms, "I'll go get them," Mina's eyes narrowed and Fenix stifled a laugh. Owen looked at him confused, but when Fenix mouthed something, Owen immediately raised his eyebrows and grinned.
"Speaking of things that we don't want to happen again, I'd say you should leave them be. Unless we want a repeat of a couple of weeks ago," Lumina said nonchalantly, failing to hold back her laughter.
With no hesitation at all, Leon turned right back around and walked in the opposite direction. "Yeah, no. No, no, nope, nada. Not gonna see that again," He said quietly, while the others just laughed. Risále looked at them all, a slightly disappointed look on her face.
"Do I even want to know?" She asked, sighing as she looked at each of them. She rolled her eyes when Fenix nodded his head mockingly. Other than him, they all shook their heads.
"Right, dig in kiddos. Minnie and I are gonna go change into more comfortable clothes. And judging by Risále's clothing, I'm gonna guess that you got lost and didn't have the chance to change?" Lumina asked.
Risále sighed and nodded, and glared at Leon and Owen when they snickered at her. At her vicious glare, they both immediately shut up. She swore she heard Owen mumble, "Scary" under his breath. Fenix noticed Leon's breath catch slightly and elbowed him, grinning. Leon glared back before kicking him under the table.
"Alright, come with us. We'll show you how to get to your room," Mina said as she grabbed Lumina's arm and began walking. Lumina rolled her eyes when Mina added, "If you don't start walking faster, Lumina Liu, I'm going to rip your arm off," Risále followed soon after.
"Hey, Mina, Lumina, don't take too long!" Leon yelled, grinning from cheek to cheek, causing Owen and Fenix to laugh as well.
"Fuck you, too, Leon!"
When they finally got back to the living room, two new people were sitting there, "Oh goodie, new people," Risále muttered, not realizing she was loud enough for Lumina to hear.
"Don't worry Risále, they're friendly. Mostly," Lumina said as she went and smacked the light brownish-blonde man on his head, "Do I even want to know what you two were up to, Xander?"
"Ouch, how dare you. I swear, absolutely no respect for the man who practically raised you. Where did I go wrong?" The man, probably Xander, said dramatically. The dirty-blonde-haired man next to him rolled his eyes and smacked his shoulder before turning to Lumina, "Hey, sorry we've been gone for so long, we did mean to come back earlier but…" Mina scoffed.
"How grateful we are that His Royal Highness Prince Kaedan decided to grace us with his presence," She said in a mockingly respectful voice.
"As you should be, peasant," The man—Kaedan—smirked.
"Are you asking for death—"
"Is that normal?" Risále asked, leaning over to Owen who was in front of her. He just sighed and nodded, shoving his spoon into his mouth.
This seemed to gain Kaedan's attention, "Right, who are you?" He asked, looking at Risále. Xander hit his shoulder lightly, glaring at him with eyes that said: "Play nice".
"Xander, Kaedan, that's Risále. Risále, Kaedan and Xander. Boyfriends of...five years? Six years? No one really knows anymore, honestly, it feels like they've been together forever. Xander's my cousin," Lumina introduced them to each other.
"And this idiot is, unfortunately, my best friend," Mina said, her tone sounding disappointed that she had to even say that.
"Excuse me, lady, what the fuck do you mean by—"
"Hi," Risále waved, cutting Kaedan off, hoping that it would shut both him and Mina up, smiling sweetly. Kaedan forgot about Mina and returned her smile. Xander waved back. Risále was struck by the fact that somehow, everyone she'd met so far was gorgeous. In a way, Xander and Kaedan suited each other, they were both very attractive in different ways, Kaedan leaned more toward a masculine handsome look while Xander had a hint more of a "pretty boy" look, regardless of the fact they both looked buff as hell.
She then walked over and took a seat next to Leon, "No wonder you keep saying Lumina and Mina are basically married without the papers. They're actually unbelievable," She whispered to him.
"Ah, so you understand what we have to deal with every day? Welcome to romance hell, you will never escape as long as you're around these six idiots," Leon responded, making direct eye contact with Fenix and glaring at him. The ginger raised his eyebrows, but it was clear he couldn't hear them.
Unfortunately for them, someone else had heard them, "And what exactly might you two be whispering about?" Lumina asked, her voice deadly calm as she stood behind the two of them. Also wielding a spatula.
They both looked at each other and decided that perhaps, it would be a good idea to try and live another day, "Nothing, ma'am!" They said hurriedly, which made Fenix, Mina, and Kaedan burst out into laughter as Xander and Owen shook their heads, the latter sighing.
Dinner was a quick affair, with Xander and Kaedan being filled in about Risále's situation, and what happened with Leon. In return they mentioned a bit about what was happening in Sector 3.
"We still can't get in no matter how hard we try. The closest we can get is some of the smaller towns outside the wall. It's clear that the White Lotus presence is getting stronger in there, though," Xander said, and the mood seemed to drop a bit, "It's really concerning me since it's the science branch, and they've had a lot of influence in Sector 3 for a quite a long time now."
"Too long," Kaedan murmured, "From what I got out of people, they've essentially become the government there and kicked out or silenced any civilians that tried to speak up against them. Additionally, the scientists seem to be up to something. Almost frantic, like they have a time limit or a deadline now."
Leon's eyes seemed darker, "We need to figure out what they're doing. Whatever it is, I just know it can't be good for anyone."
Owen patted his arm lightly, noticing his agitation, "We will. We won't let them go through with whatever plan they have, alright? Besides, even if we don't have contact with them, it seems like those insurgence groups have the same idea as us."
Leon smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Owen. I—I think I'm done. I'm gonna head back for some rest," He yawned and stood up. Risále tugged at his shirt.
"We're definitely going to finish that game of 20 questions. I liked getting to know about you," She grinned and felt a strange sense of accomplishment as a red blush spread across Leon's face. The man nodded, almost stiffly.
Lumina popped her head back into the dining room, "You all better be in your rooms by 11. Leon, don't you even dare leave your plate at the table young man, wash your own dish. Kaedan, Xander, if you're gonna watch horror movies, keep the volume down. None of us need to be awakened at 2 AM by screams of the fucking dead—"
"Lumina, we all know for a fact that you love horror movies, so you can't really be talking," Kaedan said without hesitation and Xander snorted, stifling his laughter with his hand.
But soon after seeing the glare that Lumina gave Kaedan, Xander quickly covered the other man's mouth, "Kaedan, I love you, do not get murdered by my cousin. At least, not today."
"Good call, Xander. All of you, please don't burn down the place while we're asleep, this is a good base," Mina sighed as she popped her head in too, then grabbed Lumina's arm and led her away.
"Don't have too much fun, you two!" Kaedan shouted.
"Like you can talk, Xander has probably already gotten you into bed since you've got here," Mina yelled back, but it was slightly muffled, as though someone was struggling to cover her mouth. Assumedly, Lumina.
"At least I'm actually getting laid, you miserable, single, bisexual," Kaedan called back, biting his tongue as Owen choked on his water and Fenix doubled over cackling.
"Well, you—" Before Mina could finish her sentence, she yelped, "Okay, okay, fine, I'll shut up, Lumi! Jesus, you didn't have to pinch me that hard!"
"That's enough on your end as well, babe, we're leaving," Xander remarked, grabbing Kaedan's arm and dragging him off to the living room.
"Be safe, kids!" Fenix yelled after them, grinning, Owen giggling, but the tips of his ears still shone bright red.
"The only thing you need to worry about is not burning this place down, other than that, isn't it your bedtime?!" Xander called back, smirking.
"Would you like to say that part about the fire again, motherfucker?" Mina yelled, and Risále quickly got up and followed them, muttering something about everyone there being crazy and that she needed to ask for directions to her room anyway.
"Xander, shut up, or no kisses, cuddles, or anything affectionate for three months," Kaedan growled.
"Ooh, that was kind of hot—Yeah, okay, I'll shut up now," Xander said, immediately catching onto the look that Kaedan gave him.
"Guys, there are children present, keep it in the bedroom!" Fenix yelled, getting up and mockingly covering Owen's ears. Owen swatted at his friend's hands.
"Hey, dumbass, I'm eighteen. And you're literally only a year older then me."
"How rude, I'm not a dumbass—Okay, I'm not always a dumbass," He corrected himself when Owen, Kaedan, and Xander gave him a look, "But it's because I'm a year older than you that I have to be a good friend and make sure you're protected from this...Whatever this is," Fenix grinned gesturing to the older couple in front of them.
Kaedan stared at him, unimpressed, "Sometimes I wonder if someone happened to shove your face into a fireplace, would your hair blend into the flames or not."
"Ouch, brutal," Fenix gasped, clutching his chest dramatically, "Not my beautiful face, Kaedan!"
Owen covered the other boy's mouth, "Right, I'm going to save you from yourself. See you later, Kaedan, Xander," He waved to the two, gesturing for them to leave. When they were out of earshot, he finally moved his hand, "Besides, Fenix, you've said dirtier things when we're out," Owen gave him a deadpan look, almost disappointed.
"But I didn't say I wanted to…Like…Fuck somebody right to your face now did I?" Fenix asked innocently.
"Firstly, if you did, I'd be surprised, Mr 'I Don't Know How People Have Sex With Complete Stranger' and secondly, Fenix," Owen looked at him, "You have cussed so many times that even if I washed your mouth out with soap twenty times, you'd still be spouting cuss words."
"But you wouldn't because you're my friend, right?" Fenix asked hopefully.
"You're lucky you rescued me or I would have drowned you in soap water by now. You've been cursing since I was ten. And you were literally eleven, you child," Owen raised his eyebrows.
"Okay, come on. With that whole situation, it was kind of excusable that I was cursing and if I remember correctly, it was you who did most of the foul-mouthing," Fenix smirked.
"Hey, we bonded!" Owen said, surprised at the sudden turn of tables.
"Yes, and we're best friends now. Now, shut up. Let's go to sleep, I'm tired from our mission," Fenix rolled his eyes at Owen's words.
The younger boy seemed to be a bit distant though. Fenix's words brought back memories of that place. It was strange, it had been at least eight years, and he'd gotten much better at handling the emotional aftermath but this time it felt…Strange.
"Owen," Fenix's face was right in front of Owen's.
"Huh? Oh, fuck—" Owen was startled at the sudden appearance of the other boy in front of him. Suddenly, there was a loud crash as something in the kitchen fell. Usually, Owen would have been fine. It was easy to remember that he wasn't there anymore but recently, something had changed a bit and he'd felt a lot more on edge, jumpy. Sudden loud sounds tended to remind him of things he didn't want to remember.