We all huddled around in the kitchen, Chase was slouched in one of the wooden stools staring at James as he made eggs on the black stove. The stove itself sat opposite of the side of the counter with stools. Although almost entirely dark in color, lines of silver plated the sides, making it less ominous. The overhanging lights glinted against the dark glass top, creating a light shimmer against the surface. I stood, my back to the sink, my newfound pet to my right, preening itself.
"And uh, where exactly did you get the bird?" Chase asked cooly, curiosity sparking in his eyes. His skin was still pale, but he seemed to have more color in his cheeks than he did hours prior. Opaque circles lined the underside of his eyes, his split lips still present, I wasn't entirely sure why. His coal hair was disheveled, sticking up all around as though he'd just woke up.
"It showed up on my window sill, it was quite startling," I chewed on a piece of celery that I'd grabbed from the fridge. My mind was still running through why the eagle was here at all.
"I see," he said softly, pulling on a piece of his bandage.
"Is it uncomfortable?" I asked, looking at his left hand that was now covered in bruises.
"What?" He asked, meeting my gaze steadily.
"Your back, your hand, all of it," in an instant he looked at his left hand, flexing it.
"I haven't been able to heal yet, those weapons have poison in them that prevents demonic powers from working," I nodded in understanding, still learning about this unfamiliar life.
"If you two are going to keep drawling over one another, I won't be so nice to make either of you food again," James turned around, spatula in hand, eye twitching in annoyance. He turned back around, flipping over an egg. "Fuck, I broke the yolk." He grit his teeth ever so slightly.
"You've got to be more gentle, more concise, or you'll break them every time," Chase sighed heavily, getting to his feet. "Here, let me-"
"Hah it's fine," James gave him a sideways glance, brown eyes narrowed. "I've got it." I tapped my foot against the hardwood, beginning to feel uncomfortable. The eagle trotted towards me, placing its head in the crook of my arm.
"We weren't," I said calmly, placing my hand atop the eagle's head, ruffling its feathers. James whipped his head toward me, tousled blonde covering his eyebrows.
"You weren't?" A curious tone escaped his lips. Gold flecks seemed to shimmer in his eyes, amused. I shook my head, meeting his gaze. His eyes widened in response, a devilish smile gracing his face.
"Dammit, James you're going to burn the eggs!" Chase began moving over toward the stove, hobbling in response. He stole the shining spatula from James's grasp, flipping over the egg that had turned a bit too crispy.
"Ah, sorry," he turned his gaze back to the stove in an instant. A small permanent smile plastered to his lips. The pair were arguing about who should cook at that point, my mind elsewhere.
"What should I name you?" I asked the bird quietly, its eyes gleamed in response as it angled its face toward me. "Azura?" It let out a happy squawk in response, I nodded my head, a pleased look crossing my face as I continued to stroke it.
"Azura?" James and Chase spoke in unison, both seemingly baffled. I chuckled, looking between the two. Chase had both black eyebrows raised, a look of shock flooded his face. James on the other hand had nothing short of amusement on his, pink lips parted ever so slightly.
"The eagle, that's what I'm naming her," brown feathers tickled my arm as she puffed up in response.
"Sky blue?" Chase asked. I nodded in response, not quite sure of how he'd known what it meant.
"My question is, how do you know it's a girl?" James looked confused, his eyes questioning.
"Just a feeling I guess."
After the pair's cooking dispute was complete, we all sat down at the table in close proximity to one another. James had finished making the eggs, forced to eat the slightly to crispy one, while Chase had made sausages and potatoes. He didn't dare trust James to make either after the egg mishap. We all ate silently, as I thought of my dad's letter. Chase and James are meant to die. Disbelief panged my heart, how could my mother be so cruel to these two. Was my awakening really that important?
I slipped a piece of sausage to Azura who gratefully swallowed it with her head tilted backward. She ate quickly, cocking her head for more. I obliged, giving her some of my egg as well. She seemed pleased with the assortment of food, but didn't linger to ask for more as she hopped off the dark oak of the table. I watched her as she leapt around on the floor, seeming to be searching for any dropped food.
I propped my head up on my hand, glancing her way every so often. Chase ate slowly, but surely, wincing every so often at certain movements. We made eye contact, his green eyes seeming to glow, before he looked away, continuing to eat.
"There's some more things you need to know Makayla," was all James said, as Chase glanced at him in a startled instant. James wiped his lips with a pale napkin that stuck out against tanned skin, showing he had concluded eating.
"What's that?" I asked, chewing some sausage that tasted divine. The saltiness engulfed my tongue in a cascade of flavor that held me hostage.
"It's about the Awakened," he spoke slowly, looking at me over hooded eyes.
"I thought I already knew everything?" I looked from him to Chase.
"It's about the Reapers along with the organization as a whole," he stated matter of factly, arms crossed his chest as he leaned back in his chair. A serious expression creased his eyebrows as he thought of how to word what he was about to say.
"Organization?" I tapped a slim finger against the table, tracing the shaded lines that ran through it.
"Well to start," James began, letting out a sigh. "There are technically two organizations," I nodded my head slowly, picking up the shimmering glass beside me and gulping down the cool liquid inside. "New Genesis is the original group that was created. It was meant to be a sanctuary for those who were newly Awakened, those who didn't know what to do. The ones who were terrified of what they were now seeing, those who had marks that seemed to glow for no apparent reason. Many thought they were going crazy, granted many of them did go insane at their newfound powers."
"Regardless, those who had begun to have an idea of what was happening created a safe haven for those who didn't. They were that way for centuries. No regular human knew about it, most others with magical abilities didn't have knowledge on the organization either. All anyone was aware of was that demonic possessions, unsolved murder cases, and much more had come to a quick decline. Not a single person suspected anything out of the ordinary. The world progressed that way for a long time. Originally, there were only the Crescents, Judges, and Atoms in existence. That was until the Awakened population found each other's company more than sufficient."
"As populations grew, new variants of the type of Awakened changed. New colors that had changed abilities ever so slightly developed, along with those who had the mark of the Lotus," James stared into my eyes, his entire demeanor had changed. He uncrossed muscled arms, placing his elbows on the table as he leaned forward. "The thing is, an entirely new type of Awakened was not expected in the slightest. At first, there was mass hysteria within the New Genesis. Many thought that the group had become cursed, that it was beginning to get looked down on by whatever gods they believed in." James rubbed his hands across his face, a jagged white scar ran from his right knuckle up his forearm.
"The Lotus born children almost always killed their mothers during childbirth, those who didn't, the ones who didn't show beginning signs of being a Lotus were always tested. If they were a Lotus, almost all of them were murdered at birth. Unless their parents were an Atom that is," Chase shifted in his seat, as though he were uncomfortable.
"The Atoms weren't protecting the children, they were doing numerous gruesome tests on them. Those who survived the tests were always deemed as too dangerous, but eventually, the New Genesis leaders decided it was time to let the children live, to stop the gruesome tests. However, the only reason why was because they realized they could bring someone back from almost certain death," I blinked slowly, processing the information I was given.
"It was a mass genocide?" I asked distantly.
"It was, for a while anyway," James spoke gravely. "After the organization had come to this conclusion, they would almost always send a lotus with a group that was going on a mission. Whether that be to kill dark creatures or demons. It prevented many deaths, both for the Lotus and the rest of the Awakened."
"The problem was, gradually as a lotus aged, their powers grew so exponentially they were more powerful than the highest seats in the New Genesis," James looked down, his scarred hand against his forehead. "This resulted in turmoil within New Genesis, people were terrified once again. Many wanted the leaders to murder them, to cease the existence of the Lotus entirely. However, they were too valuable to the leaders, to end the Lotus was to kill those dearest to them. When people were fighting what was to be done? How would they continue to heal those in combat? The mortally wounded?" He spoke so quietly at the end that I could barely hear him.
"To end the Lotus would be to end many others, so the leaders decided to pull a few into testing once more. They attempted to harness their powers, to create something to help those who were dying, or eventually take the Lotus's powers away entirely." He shook his head, grimacing. "It was a mistake, a grave one. Anyone injected with the serum died, every last one. A power forcefully taken turned to destruction rather than light. They'd finally realized the true powers of the Lotus, to destroy and to heal."
"The Lotus not tested upon began an uprising, they were tired of being forcefully tested on. Many of them believed they should be in charge instead of the current leaders; they had refused to back down so eventually," a shakily released breath escaped him. "Eventually, a group got a hold of the serum. The CLA, or Counter Lotus Association, poisoned the lotus with their own destructive powers, killing all but two. Two to create more offspring to be tested on, they weakened their powers through chains infused with the essence of their own powers. The leaders were infuriated, but could do nothing against the CLA. They had hidden their group so well that New Genesis had no way to find them, until the Reapers were born."
"The Reapers were an advanced trained group of Crescents that rivaled the powers of even the Lotus themselves.They were able to track like no other, eventually beginning to pick off CLA members on missions. They tortured many who were a part of CLA to get information, however, almost all of the members who had been caught had no memories of where they came from. Regardless of this, the Reapers murdered anyone they found, even if they had no information," a pained look crossed his face. He clicked his tongue before he spoke once more. "They killed thousands of these members in cold blood, and many believed it was the leaders fault for not letting a Judge see them before the Reapers ended them."
"The hunt for the remaining two Lotus is still ongoing, however, if you interfere with the Reapers search you have a death sentence almost as swift as those in CLA," James glanced at Chase as though making sure he had given me all the information I needed. Chase nodded in response. "That is the state New Genesis is currently in, no other Lotus's have been born here in seventeen years since the fight ultimately began."
"Why is New Genesis hunting down the last Lotus's?" I eyed James as he sat up taller, a meek smile on his face.
"Because they're hoping to rebuild the Lotus kind, and hopefully use them once again."
I rubbed my eyes trying to imagine the scenario to the best of my capabilities. "So neither group is taking into account the value of a life?" I spoke smoothly, taking a glance toward Chase.
"No, they aren't," Chase stated quickly. "I was once a part of the Reapers, as was James, and you," He smoothed a bandage that crossed his chest. "The only difference is, James isn't a crescent, he's a judge, an extremely rare case. All of us were inducted into the Reapers at the age of twelve. You were an exceptional case though," Chase spoke with an edge. "You were yet to be awakened when we all entered the group. A miraculous instance, that made others look down on the both of you, and I being half demon had the same issue. They placed us all into a group, we were only allowed to work with one another and one-" James shook his head locking eyes with Chase in an icy stare.
"Regardless, we were pushed the hardest, and beaten into the dirt on the daily, even if we were the strongest kids there. Stronger than many of the adults. They tried to force us to quit, not wanting those out of the pure crescent bloodline to be a part of the Reapers," Chase swallowed hard. "One of the days we were out on a hunt to find more members of CLA, we retrieved a member who had not been brainwashed, we brought them back to camp for interrogation. As soon as we had given them to the higher ups, they slaughtered the only form of intel we had without getting information from them, and later we were whipped."