__________ POV Narration__________
Momoze was currently sitting in her room, contemplating how to approach the assassinations of her siblings.
In the past, she would've been too shaken with grief to even look into their murders, but she had changed quite a bit with Ashton's absence.
She was no longer the shy and scared girl she once was. She was a lot calmer under such a stressful situation, maybe Ashton had a hand in her transformation.
Maybe it was just a natural progression, caused by the Succession War and its horrible repercussions on the Royal Family.
Regardless, she was not going to run away from her duties as a princess. She was going to find the killer or killers of her siblings and bring them to justice.
Halkenburg was currently the only person helping her, as the others were preoccupied with their own safeties. She needed to call another meeting to make arrangements for another attack.
So, she did just that. She gathered all of her siblings in her room for a meeting. Well, at least all of the alliance. Camilla was nowhere to be seen and neither was Tubeppa.
Other than that, everyone that was still alive was present, even Kurapika had tagged along. He was still doing his best in teaching their servants Nen and protecting Oita.
"What's the matter Momoze?" The one to pose this question was none other than Momoze's mother, the Sevanti Hui Guo Rou. Sevanti was there with Momoze's little brother Marayam Hui Guo Rou.
"I called everyone here to discuss the next course of action. It's no secret that the assassinations have taken a toll on all of us..." She took a short pause and looked around the room.
Most of the people inside were feeling the same as her. Even if the siblings weren't all raised to be close to one another, they were still of the same blood.
"I believe the best thing we could do right now is to remain united." Momoze started speaking with eloquence, but not everyone was convinced.
"But how do we know we would be safe together?" Kacho was one such person.
She didn't consider Momoze to be suspicious, but she had a hard time giving the same trust to everyone present in the room.
She also only cared about the safety of her twin sister, Fugetsu, who was far too trusting and naive for her own good. Which lead to Kacho having to be cautious for both of them.
It made her constantly be on edge, inside this room, she only knew she could trust Oita and Momoze, she didn't know as much about the rest. Specifically Halkenburg and Momoze's mother.
"I believe everyone in this room is innocent. There is no reason to suspect everyone here, which is why we need to live together from now on." Momoze tried her best to sway Kacho's opinion.
Momoze's plan was not a terrible one. Proposing for everyone to move in one place, all of their servants combined defending only one place would be a perfect set-up.
They could also stop worrying about all of them being systematically picked off and killed anonymously, if something were to happen, the others would notice immediately.
"Your plan is not that bad, but there must be some other way to go about things... Some people do like their privacy after all..." Momoze's mother was the one to speak up this time.
Even in a time as dire as this one, some people could still complain about living conditions and privacy.
Sure, Momoze's plan would result in all of them having little privacy, but when the alternative to that was dying, it was a great trade-off.
"I believe Momoze's suggestion is the best we have currently... I can't bear to see more of our siblings go..." Halkenburg also spoke up.
He had always been against the Succession War, seeing his siblings kill each other was a nightmare for him.
Oita also seemed to agree with Momoze's plans wholeheartedly. "If it is to guarantee the safety of my daughter, I don't care" Her ideology was really simple.
She had been of common birth, a minor inconvenience such as lacking privacy was not going to dissuade her at all.
"Then... I guess we are at an impasse. 3 on 3 No one wants to change their positions I assume?..." Momoze was caught in a complicated position. The silence in the room was deafening.
She didn't know how to persuade her siblings and mother to accept this proposal.
At this point, she wished she was better, but she knew that crying about it wouldn't solve anything. She had learned that the hard way.
All until the door was opened widely and a familiar, yet unfamiliar face walked in.
"Hello everybody! Have you all missed me?... What's with all the doom and gloom?" Everyone looked shocked at the appearance of the man that had just entered.
If not for the exact same clothing and familiar voice, none would have recognized him. The last time they had seen Ashton, he was a middle-aged man, now he was a young adult.
Still, seeing him had a great calming effect on Kacho. She knew that Ashton would be a great help to all of them.
After all, it was no secret that he used to be the backbone of their alliance.
Momoze herself was confused, still, she also found his new appearance great.
But, she was also extremely happy to see him again. To the point where she immediately got up from her seat and rushed him.
She tackled him with a hug. Ashton was quite shocked at that reaction, it was by far, not what he was expecting.
Not that he minded, it was a lot better than an awkward 'Hello'.
__________ POV Ashton__________
"Oh wow, didn't expect this warm a welcome," I said while patting Momoze's back. She still clung to me though.
It's nice to see she's back on her feet and all of that. She must've been really stressed out though, she seems to almost want to cry for some reason.
"A-Ashton?! How come you look so young?" Kurapika also seems confused, after all, he is aware that I am a really old man.
"It's a long story kid. Maybe for another time." I said while waving my hand around for a bit.
"So... Care to explain the current state of affairs around these parts?" I didn't particularly ask anybody. Momoze was still hugging onto me, but she still started explaining things.
I already have some grasp on what is happening, but I don't really think trusting Camilla is a good idea at all.
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