"Oh sweet mother of God" there's nothing more exasperating for Elouise than to see Dominique smooth-talking a bunch of ladies in the middle of a long table in a fancy looking room, there sat Lola, Veronica, Ava, and another girl who seems to be enjoying his company.
As soon as Althea revealed the inside of the room, Elouise can't help but to bring her hand to her face and knead her forehead refraining herself from getting another headache.
"Is there a problem, dear?" Althea innocently asked as they both stood quietly at the entrance of the room, no one even noticed them arriving. Elouise who is still rubbing her eyes lightly smacks the large wooden door beside her
"What is with these stupid doors lately?!" Elouise complained thinking of the unfortunate events that took place whenever a door is involved. First, was Ava who almost demolished their apartment door and beat the crap out of her for going viral on the internet. Then Dominique had a grand reveal on an elevator door and poisoned Elouise afterward. Then Lola came rushing in the bathroom door and wanting to stab her to death to test her.
As the banging continuous, it caught everyone's attention. All of them fell silent when they noticed Elouise with Althea.
"Dear, you might want to stop that" Althea tried to put an end to Elouise's venting session but it only got worse
"You see, recently, every situation that involves a door with it, entails that my ass will be in serious trouble in a matter of minutes from now " Elouise murmured tiredly and gazed at Althea who was unsure of what to do next
Elouise gave a defeated sigh and treads from across the room, she felt familiar gazes following her movement, except for one. There was a girl with short honey-colored hair diffidently shifting in her chair who was sitting right next to Lola, her monolid brown eyes shyly examined Elouise.
Althea then claps her hands twice to break the awkward silence evident in the room. Everyone was staring at Elouise like her whole existence is unwanted in this place except for Veronica and Ava who were beaming at her giving Elouise a small thumbs up
"Now, everyone, this is Elouise, she will be joining our brigade from this point forward and I do hope you will all welcome her with cheerful hearts" she stated and pulled Elouise close to her.
"Go on now, introduce yourself" Althea gently nudges Elouise to step forward a little bit.
"I'm Gianna Elouise Smith and I represent the third sign of the zodiac; Gemini, the twins. I can shapeshift and mimic anyone's ability but only for a short time. I'm not quite familiar with how things work around here and I am happy to learn from all of you" everyone was listening to Elouise except for one cocky asshole who is too engrossed with tapping on the screen of his phone.
Althea noticed Dominique's lack of interest in Elouise, and the keeper is displeased with his rudeness, she cleared her throat to catch his attention, but sadly, he is intentionally ignoring them.
"Mr. Fullbringer. I believe that there are more important matters that should be taken seriously at the moment" Althea suggested darting a glare on Dominique.
"I don't want to waste my time listening to a two-faced motormouth Gemini like her" the male spat coldly with a frigid expression, he did not even remove his gaze from the mobile on his hands
Dominique's accusation made Elouise's ears ring due to his pique.
He was too full of himself and does not know how or when to stop, Elouise decided to give him a taste of his own medicine for being such a douchebag and for poisoning her at the bar.
"Of course, with all of that raging ego of yours, you would definitely, want to listen to me now, you pompous egocentric maniac" Elouise said provokingly with a sly look on her face, her smirk was prominent in her features that it made Dominique peer at her with contempt.
"Okay, that's enough children. Let bygones be bygones and let us all move on" Althea jumped into their heated conversation and gesture Elouise to sit down, as the old woman walks past the long table they heard a loud ringing of a telephone from the corner of the room.
"Oh, excuse me, I have to take that call. Please don't kill each other while I'm gone" Althea said referring to Elouise and Dominique, she then hurried towards the telephone.
As Elouise took the seat beside Veronica, everyone else started to mind their own business. Lola, Dominique, and the other girl began to talk to each other while Veronica, Ava, and Elouise were left unbothered.
"It looks like there's a gap already" Elouise murmured and faced her two friends.
"Yeah, good thing you're already here." Veronica groaned displeasingly as she crosses both of her arms and legs.
"Dominique is a cocky one I've worked with him in a couple of missions but that Lola girl has been a snooty rich assed snob since we arrived here" Ava rolled her maroon-colored eyes and clenched her fist in a tight ball when she mentioned their names.
"What about that young girl with the short brown hair," Elouise asked out of curiosity. Veronica knew who her friend was referring to, she leaned back to her chair to get comfortable and faced the silver-haired woman.
"That's Jieun Hae-Won, she represents the paired fish of the zodiac signs, Pisces. She's 20 years old, making her the youngest member of the team. But Jieun is really shy and easily frightened, she sticks with Lola like a magnet but her ability is crazy powerful" Veronica bobbed her head in approval when she started to talk about Jieun being strong
"She can create anything that looks and feels real, basically distorting anyone's perception of reality. You know, illusions" Ava further remarked. Elouise let out a humming sound as her eyebrows met, she then remembered what happened to her a while ago when she woke up.
"I bet she was the one responsible for making me believe that I was safe at our own house thanks to her illusions" Elouise blurted out carelessly unaware of the fact that Leo, Virgo, and Pisces, heard what she just said.
The two women nodded as a reply but their small conversation was cut off short. Elouise, Ava, and Veronica noticed a sudden change of air around them, they saw the other three zodiac signs on the other side of the table watching them in disgust.
They pry at each other as if there's mental warfare happening between the two parties, it's three vs. three Elouise thought. But all of these were soon stopped when Althea came rushing into the scene with a grin on her face. She was smiling brightly at the zodiac signs.
Everyone was dismayed with her appearance but none of them made it obvious for her to discern. Althea went in front of them and waved her hands like she's a conductor of an orchestra.
"My lovelies, as you all know, there are already six of you here; we have Leo, Virgo, Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, and Pisces. The other six zodiacs are scattered around the globe, but very soon, another of your keen will be added to your forces. And this assignment will be your first mission together, but with a twist." Althea announces with glee and everyone in the room was still and attentively listening to her.
"The first one to take or persuade Taurus to join us will receive a full grant of power from their ruling sign, meaning to say—" The old woman teasingly paused in mid-sentence and grinned widely, she then whispered in a soft audible voice.
"No more restrictions nor drawbacks of your ability"
A couple of loud thuds were heard across the room, the other zodiac signs were on their feet and some were gawking after hearing the news. Althea just stood there smiling at them.
"Now my lovelies, be ready in 15 minutes because we are going to Japan"