Zara is pacing around us in a mad furry. Perada is sitting across from us on our dinner table. His glare makes my neck hurt. This shit is cold and it isn't even my fault.
I look at Dior's posture. She is calm. Cool as a cucumber. Acting like we didn't just blow up the meticulous plans of the Seke rebellion's followers. All that hard work to get us here was just for us to have a fun night out with some peakies.
"Do you know what you've done? I mean clearly this pretentious fuck doesn't." Zara sticks a finger on Dior's chest, "And you... You just love the spotlight don't you. All you had to do was make it look like you got lucky, that can't be that hard, like are you serious right now?"
"Yeah... I tried okay? On gods, I tried to get us outta there. I made my moves with precaution." I defend myself and send a mental message to Dior, warning her of me snitching. "She pushed me there. If we just kept our heads low like I wanted, none of this would've happened.
Everyone looks to Dior, she shrugs and grabs an apple from the fruit basket that's in the middle of our dinner table. Taking a large juicy bite, she speaks nonchalantly with a full mouth.
"Ya'll are just salty that I had a master plan all along." She spreads her body posture out. fanning her legs and arms about like she owns the place.
Zara and I look at each other, slow panning to our dumbfounded expressions. Perada seems like he's on the verge of throwing hands.
"I got Tits famous, he'll enter the academy under a prestigious name, we'll move up in ranks much faster than the others. Isn't that why we're here? To elevate in society? To infiltrate the sovereign?" Dior raises a questioning brow to each of them, "Or am I wrong? Because Tyde and I have been given nothing, no information at all since we've gotten here. All we've been told is to enjoy the city. I did not come here to be on vacation. I came with a purpose, I made a promise to my kids back at the coast; and I'm going to fulfill that promise with or without y'alls cooperation."
A silence follows. Dior and I can tell that Perada and Zara are communicating with a mental tether to keep it discrete. Dior finishes her apple and I fidget nervously as we wait for them to conclude their discussion.
"We want you to be included in all of our plans. We just thought you wouldn't be quite ready yet. Being acclimated is just as important as scheming up a plan. You guys have went through hell in the past week, taking a break wasn't a bad idea." Zara states.
"No, but keeping us in the dark was." I interject.
"We did not intend to make you feel as though we were withholding information. We only wanted to break things slowly." Perada says.
"Well we don't operate like that. We're from the abyssal shores where everything comes at us fast. We can handle it." Dior says with attitude as she chucks her apple core into the bin. The bin is several meters away but in arcs in the air and goes in with precision.
"What Dior has done may have been risky, but if you really mean to get us close to the sovereign so we can take them down, I don't see why this method was wrong. I'll admit at first I was confused, then I was angry, but now... now I remember why I've trusted her all these years. I agree. I did not follow her here to enjoy donuts on main street." I glance at Dior and recognize her proud grin. All right, she can take credit, I may have been too cautious. I should've known to trust her.
"Well your little game plan fucked us Dior." Zara says, "Your target was not the sovereign, at least not for this mission. The sovereign is our end goal, a collective target of the entirety of the Seke followers. We have been at this war for decades, you guys have just barely entered the scene."
"Okay... so who was our target then?" Dior prods.
"My father." Perada answers.
Dior and I exchange a shocked expression. What the hell? I didn't take the handsome devil to be one with daddy issues.
"He's a deserter and a liability to our cause. He knows too much. A month within the academy you may have been able to reach him. With all this publicity though, I doubt you'll go unnoticed. His father has his way of getting information and seeing a popular figure like you will make his paranoia act up and research you." Dior informs us.
We sit in awkward silence.
"Did I make the wrong call?" Dior sends a telepathic message.
"Maybe... you did take a lot of risks, we didn't know enough to make a smart decision." I reply.
"Yeah, and who's fault is that?"
"You're right... we should probably ask our questions now."
Dior and I face Perada and Zara, who seem to be lost in their own conversational thoughts. I clear my throat loudly to get their attention.
"So... how about you fill us in now? Give us the Seke run down. That way we can avoid these mistakes in the future." I saw with a nervous smile. Hopefully their in the mood, because I'm over last nights mistakes. It's over and done with now, we need to plan accordingly and not be left in the dark.
Perada leans in close and Zara backs away, allowing our guide to lead us in this discussion.
"Seke the forsaken has seen the abyss. The atrocities of war. The other six sovereign are too above the clouds to see the havoc they've caused. The only way to bring about peace is to pull them from their roots and allow a democracy. That's our main goal." Perada explains.
"Anarchy?" Dior acuses.
"No, democracy. It's an old standard of government but it allowed the most freedom. In the past, money used to corrupt it so people have succumbed to the iron rule of the powerful sovereign in hopes they'd change the lives of the impoverish for the better.
They did for a time, but rivaling powers always brews war, and that war corrupted their minds. They only unified against the cause of the Atlanic war when the sky filled with the oasis and ghouls emerged from the abyss."
Perada is heavily invested in telling us the tale of the sovereign, but I get bored and grab an apple myself.
I'm here to learn about our future, who the fuck cares about the past. Perada glances at me, I swear he can read my thoughts. Although my body language could probably give enough of a hint.
"The point of me explaining all of this is to let you know the alliance among the sovereign is fragile. They all live on separate islands and dictate different parts of the peak society. If we wedge their treaty and pry it apart, we could potentially allow them to fight each other off."
Dior claps with sarcasm.
"Wow, you want to end a war by starting several other ones, how fucking wonderful." She says with a dark tone.
"You don't understand. These powerful vessels are immortal tyrants. If we don't destroy them, they will eventually bring us all to ruin. Seke is wise, he has humility and is willing to fight for us. Are you?" Perada throws the question in our face.
"I have a dream Perada, one that I promised to my family of orphans in the coast. That is to protect them and offer the best in the world for them. I don't believe in this Seke guy, frankly I don't trust his bullshit; but we'll see how this goes." Dior says.
I nod in agreement. I'm glad we're on the same path, for a second I though she would buy into this garbage.
"Well while you guys were being educated I came up with a plan." Zara says excitedly from behind Perada.
She's been pacing around the kitchen like a manic woman so this better be good. We all give her our undivided attention.
"Tyde is going back in the hellhound, and he needs to make a fool of himself. Make that first fight a fluke. Get beat up and look as pitiful as you can. The public will forget about you in about a week; which is when you both will enroll in the academy."
Zara pats my shoulder, in a mocking attempt to comfort me.
"You got this, my little ghoul whisperer." Dior chimes in.