Hunter was in the waiting room when he felt someone embrace him from behind. It lasted for a beat but the person quickly let go of the sprite and moved back.
Hunter turned to see Jade wearing an awkward look on her face. The vampire still had her signature long, disheveled, black hair. She cleared her throat and her expression shifts into a frown. "Don't you dare tell anyone about that!"
"About what?" Hunter said.
"Good." Her eyes scan the teal green-eyed boy from head to toe. "Did you grow taller?" She asks.
"Maybe. You look shorter than usual."
"I'm taller than you."
"In heels and dreams maybe."
The pale-skinned woman sniggers. "Why didn't you try to contact me?" She asks.
"It was a simple mission that I thought could change the world. If I'd told you, you would have tried to stop me."
"We could have done it together. I thought you were dead for crying out loud!"
"I know, I'm sorry," Hunter apologized.
"..."
"..."
"You could've gone easy on us back there," Hunter said.
"Us?" Jade scoffs. "You heard what happened between us. "She deceived me for centuries, pretending to be a friend when she was spying on me on Hecate's orders. She had the opportunity in Warsaw to not only trust me but also earn my trust but she chose to keep to herself. She deserves all of this and more," Jade stated.
"Maybe you're right," Hunter admitted.
"I am."
"Maybe ... But think who disbanding the Alpha Sector would benefit. Not you, not me, not the Demon Control agency, and certainly not Waleed. Maybe Camille wasn't on your side but what if she was? Maybe you'd never trust her again, but you could have used her to some extent. There was a chance! Do you know who would never support you though?"
Jade stared at the sprite.
"Olivia."
***
"Hey," Hunter said, as he sat next to Hachimura who was bedridden. "I guess you're regretting signing up for this job, huh?"
A smile appeared on the blue-eyed girl's face but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "Look," Hunter started. "Like I said before, you don't owe me anything but you gave your all to save my friend so I'll forever be grateful to you. If you ever need anything from me, don't hesitate to ask."
Hachimura shook her head. "I owe you my life, Hunter. Back in Dreieck, I was only protecting myself, your friend only happened to be there too. Like I said before, I'll remain by your side until I someday, repay that debt."
Hunter shoots her a small smile, slightly squeezing her hand. "How is she? Your friend."
"She killed someone for the first time ... I think that's getting to her. I don't know what to do but I am giving her space for now ..."
"Yeah. I think that's the right thing to do."
Hunter sighs before rising to his feet. "I'll come back tomorrow," said the sprite. "Once again, thank you, Hachimura."
"Ai."
"What?"
"My name is Ai."
Hunter smiled before walking out.
.
.
.
"I thought you'd be at the Parliament to hear their final decision," said Chelsea as she sat next to the sprite.
"I already know what their judgment would be," said the teal green-eyed boy.
Chelsea nods. "You want to talk about what's bothering you?"
"You already know," the metropolitan school of mysticism student said. "It's my fault ... All of this is."
Meanwhile at the parliament, the Chair communicates the final decision of the committee to the audience. "The committee acknowledges the decree you referenced but will point out that you failed to provide credible reasons to justify an application of Part 2.1 of the Transparency Act in its decision."
Hunter sighs before rubbing his chin. "Everyone keeps saying it's not my fault. Camille, Skylar, Waleed, Jade, everyone. That saving Sasha and the rest of Retribution was the right thing to do ... What if ... What if 'the right thing' wasn't what was needed at that time? What if I had stayed at Erste Winkle and watched the Archaeon twins instead? The child soldiers charge, the spy in Sector 5, the insubordination charges ... All of that is because of my actions in Dreieck."
"The committee finds that Camille Lovelace, during the dates xx-xx-xx to xx-xx-xx, abused her power and transcended the limits of 'Director of the Alpha Sector' as set by the Bureau's law for mystical organizations."
"Hunter," Chelsea started. "The right thing might not always feel like the best thing. The choice was political, but the choice you made was human."
"The committee has therefore decided to indefinitely suspend Camille Lovelace, as Director of the Alpha Sector, effective immediately."
.
.
.
Skylar walked out of the Parliament satisfied with the decision. Camille had been forced into an early retirement but the Alpha Sector wasn't disbanded.
Her driver waited for her in front of her SUV but before she got to the car, another car pulled up between her and the driver. The door slides open revealing Olivia behind the tinted windows. "Ride with me?"
...
"I shouldn't have kept the original report on the Stoneview Heights incident," said the Ra.
"Then why did you?" The aqua-blue-haired woman asked.
"I think you were right. I want to have control and power over everything and everyone, those files gave me something over you in case you ever went against me," Olivia said.
Skylar sighs. "Well some one else now has that something," the medic said.
"I know. I thought it was Camille but she never brought it up during the hearing."
"That would have changed the hearing entirely. You have any more suspects?"
The dark blonde woman looked out the window, watching as they drove past several trees and exhales deeply. "My plan wasn't just to have Camille defenestrated. I also wanted the Alpha Sector disbanded."
"What went wrong?"
"The committee for mystical organizations and others in the Parliament were against it. The paperwork, the agents, the mission, the risks; it would have been a huge process so they decided against disbandment, the director was the sole problem after all. Do you think she wanted this?"
"Who?"
"Camille. I think she wanted to reveal to the rest of the mystic world that even The Bureau is not safe from corrupt individuals," said Olivia.
"Huh?"
"During the hearing ..."
////
"You've mentioned spies and double agents in the Bureau. What made you reach such a conclusion?" A member of the committee queried.
"There are several," Camille replied.
"Can you list some?"
"During an excavation, we discovered the lost Book of Ngoi Ngoi and transferred it to the Bureau. Some weeks later, a new, radical religion formed using several chapters of the book as their religious scripture. Another is an orb my agents recovered during a raid, that very orb was used in an attack a week after it was transferred to The Bureau."
////
"I don't know," Skylar replied.
"She was right. Our inner circle has been compromised," said the dark blonde woman. "Including the Bureau," she added. "I wanted the Alpha Sector gone because I believe we're on the verge of another Covert War and we'll need an agency like the MOCS if the Bureau are to come out on top. An agency only you are fit to be director."
"What now?"
"The Alpha Sector would have to do. You think you can handle it?"
"On one condition, I want the Stoneview Heights report gone, for real this time."
"You have my word."
.
.
.
"They rebel and try to kill us, instead of worshipping us like the gods that we are. They curse and scream at us, instead of supplicating and praying to us." She paused. "They fear us and they are right to, after all, we are to be feared."
The woman stretched her right hand. "Arise, Lord Kilian Archaeon, god of fear."
The ground rumbles and a thunder shocks the skies. Kilian emerges from the ground, dust falling off his face and body. His eyes were bloodshot but they gradually turned to his natural beige ones.
----