Twist cleared his throat.
"Well, the thing is, we don't really know much about the details. Mother called to tell us that Father had reincarnated, but she didn't seem to know much herself. Apparently, the only thing she was able to gather is the general area Father has reincarnated in," he said.
"Which is...?" Ess asked.
"Somewhere North of Cleaverland. Could be outside Agavon entirely."
Ess narrowed his eyes.
"How in the world would she know that?" he asked.
Twist wore a strained face.
"She didn't say."
To that, Ess sighed.
He didn't buy it. This just fuelled his belief that their mother couldn't be trusted. She may have had a hand in why their father hadn't perished. She, just like First Brother, always did have a kind of reverence for their father. It was disgusting.
However, for Ess, it was hard to lay such a bold claim against their mother to Twist, unlike when he suggested it to Bee. The little boy loved and cared for everyone in the family, except Father of course. He would not stand for slander. And well, said slander coming from Ess would only encourage him to disagree.
"I suppose I should ask this, to both of you," Ess said. "Do you really believe Father has reawakened? What if the information Mother got was false? I mean, our decision to kill him back then wasn't exactly a secret. We have many enemies, and all those enemies know we had internal strife. This could be a ruse."
Twist scratched his chin with his knife.
"I thought about that. We can't afford to ignore it even if we are suspicious of it, brother," he said.
"I think so too," Bee said.
Ess sighed.
'They are right.'
But then…
"What are the chances of Father being the thing the Unlimited Forecast is warning us against?" Ess asked his siblings. "What if he's the one that ends the fable or whatever?"
This time, Twist didn't answer immediately.
Bee merely squeezed 'Elijah' like a teddy bear, much to his discreet pleasure and overt discomfort.
"What are you getting at?" Twist said, a look of suspicion in his eyes.
Ess stared straight at him for a while. The boy had always been pretty sharp.
"Let's get the family together. Whatever calamity comes after we gather won't matter if Father really has returned. To me, the Forecast and Father's return spell the same thing, even if they aren't related - death. We have no choice," he proposed.
No matter how he looked at it, the best course of action seemed to be for the family to join hands.
Ess himself wasn't thrilled about this for obvious reasons.
The Unlimited Forecast stated that a family reunion would turn into a funeral rather quickly, and Ess didn't want to be drowned in the dark sea that was his family again. He had escaped it for a reason and going back in would take him back five whole years.
With all of this in mind, Ess still knew that there was nothing that could be accomplished with them being separate. He might be the strongest of them, but his family together was nigh invincible.
Twist looked at his older brother with a complicated expression. He would have been glad to hear those words from his older brother before, but…
"What about—" Bee began.
"More of us will die if we don't deal with Father. You know how quickly he grows after he reincarnates. He'll definitely be angry about us betraying him and we can't rule out the fact that his petty ass will actually try to kill us and start the Ryduun Family all over again. We need to find everyone before then. No one else but me can stand against Father one-on-one," said Ess.
A flash of happiness sparkled through Bee's eyes.
She was glad that he at least wanted to prevent more of the family members dying. Was it because he loved them? She wrung out all of her faith to believe that was the case.
There were a few minutes of silence.
No one could refute Ess' logic for sentimental reasons.
"Alright, then. If you say that's what's best, let's go for it," said Twist with a sigh.
He hid the tiny leap of joy his heart made, just like Bee.
Even though this decision they made was incredibly dangerous, the prospect of reuniting brought on a sense of confidence. Maybe, as a group, with Ess present especially, they could figure all this out.
Perhaps one would die if they gathered, but the greatest likelihood of survival lied with everyone being together either way.
Twist was happy his older brother made this decision. Quite honestly, he was tired of pretending he wasn't a minor. Having to be around Bee made him mature quickly – decision-making-wise.
Ess nodded.
"By the way, what happened when you guys split? Why is Bee so hesitant to talk about it?" he then asked Twist.
Twist raised a brow and turned to Bee who looked down in what looked like shame.
"Right. Well, First Brother said some pretty hurtful things about her before we left. Like—"
Twist had wanted to continue, but he heard the distinct sound of a magazine getting loaded into a gun from under the table. Bee still had her head hung low.
"Yeah, First Brother said some really over-the-line stuff. No one except me backed Bee up," Twist streamlined.
"Hmph," Ess grunted and he looked at his older sister's poker face as soon as she lifted her head. "How ironic."
A thought suddenly came to his mind.
"You said you robbed all the banks in Red Biscuit City as a ploy to implicate me and get me to follow you. Where did you put all that money?" Ess asked Bee.
"Oh, some of it is in the V-Amp, but I burnt the rest in front of some police station to motivate the police," she replied nonchalantly.
"…Right," Ess said with a look of concern. He then glanced at T-96 who stood behind Twist before asking, "Twist, where is her guardian?"
"She refused to let her come along," the boy answered with a shrug.
"Would have been pretty handy," Ess said as he stood and turned to the stairs.
He felt full to the brim with all the crazy already. He needed to sanitize his mind and get a good night's rest while thinking this whole matter over.
Right then, Bee finally removed the duct tape from her captive's mouth and stared expectantly at him. 'Elijah', much to Bee's disappointment, remained as quiet as a mouse.
Twist's eyes gleamed and he leaned close to Bee.
"Look. You know I've been running low on specimens lately. If I abduct more people, I will put a target on us, if we don't have one already. Let me borrow your boyfriend. I'm so close to an epiphany. I can feel it!" he whispered viciously.
"No!" Bee whispered back while pulling on 'Elijah' so hard, that they might have just molded into each other like clay.
"I have leverage, Bee. I know you think highly of brother Ess. Just how much lower do you think his perception of you will dip if he sees that box in your vault? I've already come to terms with the fact that you are a sick, depraved disgrace to mankind, and I love you still. As for Ess… Hmmm. If he were to see the pictures you have in there…" Twist said with a distorted grin.
Bee shook and her eyes darted to and fro repeatedly.
"What are your terms?" she asked.
Ess had been climbing up the stairs when he heard a moan of horror.
He turned with a brow raised and found Bee covering 'Elijah's' mouth with her hand and Twist wearing a broad smile as he looked at him, his elbow awkwardly placed on the table.
"What is going on between you two?" he asked.
Bee and Twist exchanged weird looks.
"I will be lending Elliot to Twist provided he doesn't damage his special parts. I need them," Bee said as she blushed.
'Elliot' trembled.
Ess breathed out frustratedly. Why did he even bother?
He had turned back again to go and rest when…
"By the way, brother..." Twist suddenly said as he stood from his seat. "... we're not done yet. I told you. I still haven't forgiven you. Let's finish our 'chat' from before. The family way."
Ess couldn't believe this.
He looked into his brother's eyes and actually saw flames of fury.
This brat was serious!
"Sure," scoffed Ess. "I haven't met someone worth 'chatting' with in five years."
A heated 'conversation' was about to ensue between the two. Yet, unbeknownst to them, pairs of eyes were watching vigilantly, attempting to discern the nature of their enemies.