Standing in front of the gates of Hilbert's house made Arcturus wonder if he was considered a regular now. Constance rang the bell. The gate automatically opened, so the group entered. What Arcturus noticed was that the Cobots that were usually cleaning his porch were absent. He found it a bit odd as Cobot owners would usually let theirs run at night.
When they knocked on the door, a black hooded figure opened the door, startling all of them. The cloaked figure was shorter than him, but he had a noticeable hunched back so he wasn't sure if he was taller than he actually was. They let out a raspy voice whispering, "Who are you?"
"We're here to seek shelter from the government." Arcturus remarked.
The figure stood there before responding. "Leave."
The group became confused. Annoyed, Arcturus barked back. "We were allowed to come here via Hilbert's words!"
Murphy interrupted, "Please keep your voice down."
"I never heard of this…" The figure remarked.
"Then get Sara or Hilbert to come to the door! Tell them that I brought Nova with me!"
"Nova…? Wait, do you have red hair, by any chance?"
Arcturus raised an eyebrow at the sudden question, but he replied, "It's scarlet, but yes."
"Well, why didn't you say so?" The voice changed from low pitch to a high one instantaneously. The figure started patting his shoulder very hard, but instead of thinking about how painful they were, Arcturus's mind went blank. All he thought about was how the hooded figure was male due to his rather clear and articulate voice; it was as if the raspiness was a figment of his imagination.
"What are you doing?" Sara asked as she approached them, startling the cloaked figure.
"Sara! I was…" He started twiddling his index fingers.
"Were you intimidating people again?" It was hard to tell if Sara was angry or not due to her expression not budging at all.
"Well, it's orders from our leader to intimidate anyone who tries to come here…"
"Well, this is Hilbert's house, so his guests have an automatic pass, remember? We even said it–if there's a gentleman with red hair in the front door, allow him in alongside the people with him."
"I told you I'm colorblind. I cannot distinguish between red and green. We've gone over this countless times."
"And I told you I don't believe in this "colorbind" excuse."
Wow, what a jerk. Arcturus was rather baffled at Sara's words of disrespect for this person's condition. He erased the guilt he felt when he had insulted Sara's tunnel drawing. The hooded figure became silent and walked off. Sara turned to the group. "I apologize about Marlo. He gets like that sometimes. He's a nice guy, regardless." Arcturus realized that everyone else was as baffled as he was towards her behavior as they were all speechless.
"Let me introduce you to the leader of the organization. Follow me. Hilbert is with her, so he can do the introduction and explanations."
Arcturus entered. He saw that the office, normally empty, was filled with a few more people than usual. They were all garbed in hooded robes of various colors. A few were playing with the Cobots from the porch while two were sleeping. In addition to Hilbert and Sara, he assumed there were at least seven people in this organization. He walked through the familiar hallway and into Hilbert's office where he was talking to a rather petite person in a blue hooded robe.
"Hilbert, I brought them here."
Hilbert focused his attention on the guests. "Thanks, Sara. You can leave now."
She bowed and left the office; she closed the door on her way out. Hilbert approached the group with a smile. "It's nice to see all of you again, even though we just saw each other a few hours ago." He looked down at Nova's covered figure. "Is this…?"
"Yes, he's Nova." Arcturus answered.
"Can I take a look?"
"Sure."
Hilbert carefully uncovered the blanket on Nova's face. After a quick glance, he leaned forward. "Beautiful face. Golden hair…" He then reached a hand out and opened one of his closed eyes. "Lavender eyes." Arcturus took a few steps back to pull Hilbert away from Nova.
"He's the real deal." Hilbert turned to the blue hooded figure. "I told you they weren't lying. They have the real Charlatan in the flesh."
"His name is Nova…" Arcturus muttered, annoyed.
The blue hooded figure rushed towards Nova and placed a hand on his cheek. A feminine voice whispered, "Finally…"
"Pardon?" Arcturus asked with wariness.
The woman looked up. "Oh, where are my manners?" She took a few steps back and unhooded herself. A woman with caramel-tinted skin, long, wavy platinum blonde hair and pale blue eyes smiled at them. Arcturus heard gasps from Sophia and Murphy.
"Lady Asteria? You're alive!"
Asteria was taken aback. "Sophia? Murphy? You've been in the Outskirts all this time?"
The air of familiarity only caused Arcturus to be even more befuddled. He furrowed his brow as he asked, "Who are you?"
A series of consecutive beeping noises answered him as he saw Constance's eyes loading data for her to process. When she stopped and reverted back to her default state, she started explaining: "This is Asteria Leonis, the eldest daughter of the late Lady Mayor Mebsuta Leonis and older twin sister of the current Lady Mayor, Bellatrix Leonis."
Arcturus couldn't believe his ears. He found it hard to process. "Her what? Twin sister? The mayor has a twin sister?"
Suddenly, He recalled Sophia's anecdote about her life on Sirius before Nova's arrival. She had mentioned Virgo being friends with the mayor's daughters. He wondered why he didn't realize that there were multiple daughters and not just one sooner.
He took a good look at her. Other than her skin and hair color, she shared no similarities with her sister. From the mayor he saw on television, he had the impression that Bellatrix was cold, calculating and arrogant with her sharp features. Asteria, on the other hand, was the total opposite of her sister. She was unusually petite, which is abnormal for Ilacian women who are known for their tall height. She also had softer features from the way the corner of her eyes had a slight droop and her lips were rather plump. She looked to be a sweet person at first glance, but there was a glint in her eyes preventing Arcturus from letting his guard down.
"Because of the events two decades ago, she was exiled from Sirius and was sent to live in the mainland." Murphy explained.
Sophia approached Asteria and caressed her cheek. "You really are alive. There were rumors about your death and such. I was really worried."
Asteria smiled as she held onto Sophia's hand. "I'm alive, Sophia. Thank you for worrying about me."
"If you were in exile, how are you back? Aren't exiles permanent?"
"Well, even if I was in exile, I always kept in contact with some people on this island and that compelled me to form this organization, DUO."
"DUO?"
"Destroy, Usurp, Obliterate. It's an organization I formed for one sole purpose: killing my beloved younger sister, Bellatrix Leonis."