"Master, they're here."
Cassian and Cassio sheepishly entered a wide luxury room on top of a huge building. Their heads are hanging low out of embarrassment, Cassian even lower with his bruised face.
They slightly looked around the room where everything is basically made out of glass and marble, most furniture with an earthly shade of color. This is where all five of them live.
The twins looked up for a little and they saw Forty-six casually lying on the sofa, and Duerre rummaging around the minibar. Both were looking at them otherwise.
They paused and remained to stand in front of the most terrifying presence they have ever encountered in their lives. Their master, Cygnus.
Ambrose, a towering tall man with a muscular body, stands beside their master. He barely speaks and always sticks around Cygnus, but he is the power to be reckoned next to Cygnus. Ambrose stands as their leader and Cygnus' right-hand man.
"I heard you made fool of yourselves in front of the other oddities." Cygnus finally spoke, referring to what had happened today.
"Master, it all happened too fast. I didn't know Jolene was there." Cassio tried to explain but Cygnus slightly raised his hand to stop her. Cassio returned her gaze downwards, holding back her exasperation by clenching her jaws.
"I don't want any explanation. I just came here to remind all of you," he glanced at Forty-six and Duerre as well, around the entire place, "I did not call you as my elite soldiers just to be this incompetent towards untrained versions of you." he then walked towards the door, "I will give you another chance, do what you must." he did not say any more word. The room was filled with piercing silence until he left.
"Really Ambrose? This is how quick you ratted us to our master?" Cassian immediately confronted Ambrose as soon as Cygnus was completely out of sight. Ambrose did not budge an inch from Cassian. They stood face to face at each other, Cassian's eye lighting in green, ready to attack Ambrose.
"Are you gonna attack me? You might want to let the bruise that Cassio gave you."
This annoyed Cassian even more but before he could move, Duerre immediately got in between them. He didn't even notice how quickly Duerre got into their location. "Now, now, why are you so pissed? Is master wrong though? You screwed your mission today. Just get over it and do better." Duerre reasoned. Cassian glared at Duerre, and then back at Ambrose, who keeps on his mocking stares. Cassian left without any word, filled with indignation.
==
"Wow! Your house is much more gorgeous than anything I've ever seen before!" Owen can't help but be in awe looking around Avery's manor. They have all finished dinner and are now sitting in their enormous living room.
Both his parents are out of town, and even so, they had long wanted to see Avery bring home friends so they were pleased to know that Avery would be hosting an overnight with his peers when Avery told it to them on the phone.
The advantage of them not being here is that they can use their abilities and the staff would not dare intrude on them now that he specifically requested them not to be around. Still, they decided to come inside a smaller room so that they can have more privacy.
They came inside his luxury room, which is wide enough to have its own receiving area complete with sofas and a table. It also has its own bathroom and balcony. They get comfortable and Avery started telling his own story after he managed to escape from the orphanage. One by one they told their stories with each other, except Kiel, who chose not to include how he was part of an illegal fighting cage for children. He told them about the new orphanage he landed on.
"I'm sorry, for failing to find all of you back then." Avery still holds the guilt up until now.
Jolene comfortingly smiled, "We were all scared kids that time. Now, we managed to get back together." everyone nodded in agreement.
"Have you discovered who sent these trackers?" Avery wondered.
Alana shrugged, "No, not a clue."
"We think your tracker is the last clue. It's going to finally bring us to the one who sent us these trackers, we will finally get some answers." Jolene concluded.
Avery glanced at the tracker that he placed right at his bedside table. His tracker could be the most important piece in this journey.
They were all disrupted when they heard someone clear their throat right at the door to get their attention. Avery, as well as everyone, looked in its direction. It was Lucia, acting a little timid and hesitant to come in. Avery stood up to run towards her, "Lucia, what's the matter?" he asked smiling.
"Nothing, just, wondering what are you doing." she cautiously said, not keeping eye contact with Avery, "I just thought you'd get bored as you do on social gatherings so I checked up on you. I'm so glad you're having fun with your new friends."
Avery smirked, "Aww, you'd always be my best friend, Lucia." he slightly shuts the door behind him, "Today, a lot of weird things happened and they helped me. We are talking about it now, do you want to join us?"
Still unconvinced, Lucia asked, "Would it be okay for them?"
"Of course! They are all nice and I'm sure they'll like you," he said. He opened the door to let Lucia in, but then, he remembered he has to warn Lucia first, "Wait, before you come in. I need to show you something." he said.
"Okay?" she trailed off.
"Please don't be scared and remember that it's just one side of me. I may have hidden you this one thing but promise me nothing will change."
"You worry too much, Avery, nothing you could show me would change anything between us," Lucia assured. Their eyes locked in for the first time at that moment. Their faces felt hot once more for reasons they couldn't quite figure.
Nevertheless, it made Avery comfortable to activate his ability in front of her. She gasped and held her breath in amusement at his eyes. Avery unintentionally smelled her and saw how she has been lingering in that same hallway for a long time, glancing at him. By the time he deactivated his ability, they haven't realized how near they are to each other. Both their eyes widened as they realized their noses are just an inch away.
They immediately distanced themselves away, Avery waited for a while for her reaction to what he just showed. "I… I think it's fascinating. A bit scary but… very enchanting." Lucia stammered, still locking eyes with him. "How come I've only known this now?" she went back to her normal composure.
"I didn't want to frighten you," he explained. "And I'm telling this to you now because my new friends, they're like me." Avery subtly squinted his eyes, figuring out Lucia's reaction.
She sighed, "I understand now, well, don't worry, I'm alright with it."
Avery smiled and nodded before fully opening the door, letting Lucia come in. "Hey everyone, this is my friend Lucia."
Alana glanced at the two of them, she meaningfully smiled.
"She knows about my ability, we can trust her." Avery guaranteed. Lucia widely smiled and waved at everyone.
"Sure, come join us here Lucia!" Jolene happily invited. Avery got back to his seat and Lucia sat beside him.
Lucia timidly bit her lip but chose to start the conversation with everyone, "Do you all have… glimmering eyes?" she straightforwardly asked.
"Yes, but not of the same colors." Alana answered, "Each color represents what ability we have, I assume."
"So, all of you have different abilities?" Lucia wondered
Jolene nodded, "Alana's eyes light up red, she can see human emotions. Owen's green, he can either create or break anything by touch, Kiel and mine is silver, we can basically control people and… happenstance." she paused as she remembers Forty-six, and how his definition now influences what she knows about her ability.
Lucia slowly nodded, she then turned to Avery, "And you?"
Everyone's attention turned up to him, no one exactly knows his ability, "I see memories from scents."
"Interesting, what memories exactly?" Kiel asked.
Avery shrugged, "It depends on how strong the scent is since scents aren't permanent, it's mostly only the last few moments." he babbled, "I haven't really tried to explain my ability to anyone, and I'm still trying to figure out how far of a memory can I reach by a scent."
"Don't worry, most of us are still trying to figure out a lot of things," Jolene said.
"Avery, would you consider coming with us? We are trying to find the sender of these trackers. It may give us a lot of answers about our abilities, why do we have it, and what is that orphanage…" Kiel asked Avery.
Avery filled his lungs with air and thought very hard, he would like to have answers, and since he's advanced from his studies, he can take a year off, but he remembered the dangers he faced just this day, he's not sure about whether he'd be willing to go through that again.
"I'm not sure." he spoke, "There are just too many things to consider now, with my new identity. A lot of people look up to my family." he gave an excuse, and it's a really bad one.
"It's alright, Avery, we understand if you're afraid and unsure, especially because of what happened today. If you choose not to come, we would like to ask you for the tracker, so we can continue our journey." Alana empathically reacted, she later paused and sheepishly smiled, "And I'm sorry if my ability is too invasive."
There was a sudden silence in the room before Owen snapped and chose to shift the topic, "So, fill us up with what happened earlier." he asked. So Avery explained everything from when Cassian chased him from the staircase until Alana found him. The group talked and laughed endlessly until they all dozed off.
Lucia suddenly woke up and noticed Avery standing outside on his balcony. All lights have been turned off, and it was dead silent. She stood up and walked to join him.
"Hey." she greeted him in a calm tone. "What are you thinking about?"
"Just, everything they told me, honestly." he glanced at the four, Lucia glanced at them as they peacefully sleep.
She chuckled, "You want to come with them, don't you? What's stopping you?" she asked.
Avery stood silent before reluctantly answering, "I don't want to say this out loud, especially to you, but… I'm not really the bravest one out there." he pouted.
"I get that you're scared, but if you never try to conquer it, you will forever be scared to do a lot of things, and that thought is a lot scarier if you ask me." Lucia held his hand, "If you want, I'll come with you."
"You will? Will Rebecca be fine with it?"
"It's just me looking after the young master, why wouldn't anyone be fine with it?" she winked.
Avery gripped her hand tightly and then smiled, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.