"¡¿Qué demonios está pasando?!(what the hell is happening?!)" Fernando asked as soon as he saw Faunus chasing the red dot laser that Jasper was pointing around.
"Faunus cree que es un gato. (Faunus thinks he's a cat.)" Ned replied.
On the other side of the room,"Is that Spanish they're speaking in? I can barely hear what they're saying." Mallory whispered to her brother, "Ah? yes!...Neddie speaks many languages, Spanish included." Muriel replied.
"¡¿Como demonios ocurrio eso?! (How the hell did that happen?!)" Fernando asked.
Shrugging his shoulders, "Deben ser los efectos secundarios del hechizo. (it must be the side effects of the spell.)" Ned replied.
"¡Este es un gran problema! su familia lo notará de inmediato. (this is a big problem! his family will notice it immediately.)" Fernando said.
"Lo sé, se supone que Faunus los visitará pronto. (i know, Faunus is supposed to visit them soon.)" Ned replied sighing.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Mallory whispered, "Fernando is worried that The Style family will notice this change in Faunus...and Ned just said that Faunus was supposed to visit his family soon." Socorro explained.
"Ah I see, this could be a big problem for Faunus." Mallory replied, "Why?" Thorn asked, "If none of us was responsible for attempting to kill Faunus, then the only suspect left would be the Styles family...No one else could be responsible for this." Mallory said.
"But then again, if that was true...Don't you think it's a little stupid of the Styles?! well at least Henrietta knows who's Ned and how powerful he is, she should be Aware that Ned will do everything in his powers to save Faunus.
Also, having Someone rich and powerful like Ned to become part of their family, is like hitting the jackpot for the Styles...No matter how bad they wanted to get rid of Faunus, it would be the stupidest move to do so, and lose Ned in the process." she added, contradicting her first claim.
"You're right! plus out of the adopted and Maybe the entire family, Faunus's the most successful of the Styles.
Getting rid of him would literally be the stupidest thing to do, no one can take care of his business If he dies." Thorn said, "I thought of it as well! Faunus is far from their usual target for murder...he is not a parent, even his partner Jasper, is an Omega like him...And he is supposed to be one of the Styles." Muriel added to his mate's words.
"According to what we know, The family usually never Target their own...they always attack an outsider, and once you become a Style you'll always be a Style, that's what Henrietta told me." Mallory replied.
"Then there's something we don't know...this sudden attack was..." Socorro said but stopped mid sentence.
"It was what?" Muriel asked, "It could've been orchestrated by someone from the Style family but not the entire family... just one person, it could be that someone specific wanted to shut Faunus up, or keep him away." Socorro answered.
"Shut him up?" Thorn said, "Yeah, ever since Faunus came...he was not shy about providing The Valentinos with informations on the Style family.
And like Mallory already said, Henrietta knows Ned very well, she should also know that the doctor is a sly fox...Someone powerful and cunning who can destroy everything she built." Socorro explained.
"If The goal wasn't to kill Faunus, but to make sure he wouldn't spill too much...this is one weird plan to do it." Thorn said, "Then maybe the goal was to keep him away...Luck was on the side of whomever did this, since we thought Fernando did this to his twin at first." Socorro replied.
"According to your Nana, some of those who go under the spell, end-up with amnesia." Muriel pointed out.
"For mages especially, A severe case of amnesia to be precise, as in they lose all their memories.
My Nana tried to sugarcoat things for Jasper but the side effects despite not being permanent most of the time, they are no joke.
People can go, blind, deaf, crazy or end-up in a wheelchair...and for mages especially, They could have a personality switch, unstable mana for the rest of their lives or even lose their magic entirely." Socorro explained.
"So if death couldn't get the best of him, these side effects alone would sabotage Faunus's life...And this spell, is the only solution?" Thorn asked.
Nodding, "Only known solution, unfortunately...But Nana was right about one thing, Faunus didn't get anything serious.
Although in this condition, if the goal was to silence Faunus...Then whomever did this has temporary succeeded.
And if their goal is to keep him away from the family, then that also worked because there's no way Ned or Jasper are going to let him go anywhere in this condition." Socorro said.
"I think Faunus is lucky, things could've gotten worse for him." Mallory said, "Yes, but still...I feel bad for him and Jasper." Muriel replied, he glanced over to see That Faunus was now sitting in Jasper's lap, with Jasper petting his head.
"You're having fun? you seem to enjoy my brother acting like this." Fernando said annoyed to Jasper, "Not really, I had to chase him around all day...but I have to admit, he's cute like this." Jasper said while petting Faunus.
"Ugh, pervert." Fernando mumbled, "Predator." Jasper Mumbled as well.
"Instead of picking fights, we need to work on finding a way to fix this mess...Ugh, why me though..." Ned said frustrated.
"Coming to think of it, you weren't so surprised when Yuri said that Faunus was possessed.
Mom, yesterday...You weren't in a hurry to use your ability to see if Fernando or Aroon did this." Jasper pointed out, "Honestly, I should've considered what you said before the casting about Faunus possibly knowing something regarding the possession...to be odd, Ned." Fernando said.
Noticing the other group tuning in on their conversation, "Can I have you two outside for a moment?" Ned said to Jasper and Fernando.
Quickly responding, "Okay?" the two followed him outside the living room, "You're right, I knew all along...Even Faunus knew he was possessed." Ned spoke-up.
Surprised, "Mom, if you knew...why all this charade?!" Jasper asked, "We both knew something was wrong with him...but Faunus didn't want you to know." Ned replied.
"Why?! why would he hide such a thing?" Jasper asked, "It was one of those two, wasn't it?" Fernando said confusing Jasper.
"What are you talking about?" Jasper asked, "Faunus knew he'd get that agonizing spell casted on him eventually since he casted it himself so many time.
And since you weren't familiar with this kind of possession Jasper, you didn't notice something was wrong with Faunus.
but Yuri already did because in the past, Yuri used to help Faunus healing people so they caught on to his illness quicker than you.
I promised Faunus that if things went alright after the casting and the side effects weren't severe, that I won't open my mouth...but since he's in this condition, I have to tell you...it was one of the two adoptives who did this to him." Ned explained.
Jasper blinked twice, "One of them...you mean Leonard and Grey?! why would any of them do this?! Plus...what do you mean by one of them? You don't know which one did it?!" he asked.
"Jasper, Your mate was afraid something bad was going to happen, and I would've told you about this but Faunus made sure I don't know which one of those two did it, and he asked me to beg you to not go after them if I ended-up telling you.
Faunus knows you're not up for violence, and revenge isn't really your kind of thing, so please, prove him right." Ned Said.
"Revenge might not be your son's type of thing, but it is mine." Fernando replied.
"Listen Fernando, you're gonna take your brother's place right now, so don't do anything reckless that might blow your cover." Ned stated bluntly.
"WHAT?!" both Jasper and Fernando shouted in disbelief, "What are you talking about?! who's taking whose place?!" Jasper asked.
"Faunus and I have planned for this.
He wants you Fernando to have your final shot at getting the revenge that you guys promised to do in the first place, together.
The very first time you lived your lives, you were supposed to take Faunus's place and Pretend to be him.
You guys trained and planned for this, but then you ruined everything by killing the entire family, even your own twin brother." Ned said.
"FUCKING HELL?! I feel regretful now that I tried to save Faunus's life.
Does he seriously still thinks that plan is gonna work?! I know he and I are Twins, and I know we look identical, but that's not enough to fool anyone!
No matter how many times I train myself, there's no way I can suck-up to those people like he does, no way!" Fernando replied in anger.
"Wait so you're telling me that I have to pretend to be this guy's boyfriend?! I had no problem being Faunus's boyfriend, even pretending at the beginning was fun with Faunus.
but Fernando?! this guy literally slept with my own dad, killed him and his friends?!" Jasper protested.
"Well this is awkward! " Ned said pinching the bridge of his nose, "I get it you two can't stand each other!
but you have someone in the middle, someone you share and that someone trusted you with his plan.
So until we find a way to bring the real Faunus back, Fernando has to take his place and a warning...Fernando don't actually take Faunus's place, just pretend on the outside and if you do anything to my son, I will this time do something about it." Ned said threatening.
"Mom you can't be serious?! why would we even help this guy to get his revenge, his revenge is the reason we're in this mess in the first place!"
"Jasper I understand your frustration but for the past years, I've been working to fix this mess and I can say proudly that I did a good job, only to have this troublemaking man thrown away into my arms again.
And I know one thing for sure, that if you can't beat them, you join them.
We're gonna help Fernando and in return, Fernando here is going to promise me that he will disappear without a Trace from our lives when all of this is over." Ned explained.
Suddenly Changing his tone, "So A service for a service, I see! you wanna help me get revenge the best way, and I'll have to leave you guys alone...now that I think about it, it may not be the worst offer I've ever gotten in my life." Fernando said.
"Wait, you're not seriously considering this?! there's no way I'd pose as your boyfriend!" Jasper said, "It's gonna be temporary until my brother comes back to his senses, then he can reclaim his rightful position." Fernando replied.
"Since Fernando is on board, the only one left is you Jasper.
Once you give me an answer, I can persuade the others into helping us, which means your response is the most important one, and you have until Aroon and Lucius's wedding to give me an answer...so think about this.
It's going to be difficult to hide things from your sister, so if you did tell her... make sure she doesn't tell anybody especially Yuri, since those two are getting...too close.
Lucius and Aroon will be the only ones we won't tell, even after you give an answer.
I want that wedding to pass peacefully and for those two to be married and out of the way, since they dealt with the most shit Fernando caused so far." Ned said.