Present Day
Narrator’s P.O.V.:
With the news of Gladiator’s arrival, the camp was up and about, doing their best to be up to date with the current situation at hand. Rondon had just received word from HQ that Gladiator and her team would teleport to their location in thirty minutes time. That gave Rondon a little bit of breathing room to make sure each unit was in order and that everything was running smoothly. With those under surveillance, he just heard news that one of the supernatural beings in Lucifer’s home had teleported out of the house. That meant something. Maybe whoever it was might be set to bring out some reinforcements, Rondon had first suggested. The supernaturals in that house weren’t fools to try and take the Golden Elite on their own. They had powerful weapons in their arsenal meant to defeat them, so reinforcements were necessary.
Rondon was just about to make his way to the IT department when Brian caught up with him and asked if the two of them could have a word in Brian’s tent. Rondon hesitated for a moment, but he simply gave in. Beyond that gold mask, Rondon could sense something wasn’t right with Brian. The two of them had worked alongside each other for a long time for Rondon to know when Brian was feeling agitated. Brian led the way to his tent a few feet away from the main camp. Two soldiers stood guard at the entrance, and Brian dismissed them. They obeyed without question and went back towards camp. Brian entered the tent first. Rondon looked around first before following his comrade inside.
Brian’s tent was similar to Rondon’s. A desk with a laptop on top and a wooden chair, nothing more, nothing less. Brian sat down, leaning his back against the chair, and his head fell further back to look at the ceiling. With only one white bulb above the tent, illuminating the small tent, Rondon couldn’t see Brian’s eyes, but he could tell by the body language that something was wrong. Rondon waited for a few minutes before Brian brought his head back down and looked straight at Rondon.
“How long till Gladiator gets here?” Brian asked.
“Less than thirty minutes,” said Rondon as he looked down at his wristwatch.
“Call it off.”
Rondon looked up at Brian from his watch. “What?” he asked.
“Call the whole mission off, Rondon. I’m not going to repeat myself for a third time.”
Rondon raised an eyebrow, doing his best to remain as stoic as possible. What could’ve gotten into Brian just now? Not too long ago, Brian warned Rondon that he should be in total charge of the mission despite Gladiator’s presence. Now he wants the whole mission called off. What’s going on?
“Brian, are you alright?” Rondon asked.
Brian continued to look at Rondon, and this time around there was a look in Brian’s eyes that made Rondon realize that this was serious. Rondon walked up to Brian and held his shoulder.
“Brian, tell me what’s going on,” Rondon insisted.
“I can’t tell you, Rondon.” Brian shook his head. “But you can still call off this mission.”
“You know that’s not easy to do. This is what the higher-ups want. Disobeying their order means stripping us of our ranks, and for some of us, we’ll be cast out of the Golden Elite.”
“It’s better than facing what’s coming, Rondon.”
Rondon licked his lips, trying to find the right words to say. He dropped his hand from Brian’s shoulder. “If you’re scared that a war will erupt, there’s no doubt it may occur.”
“That’s exactly it!” Brian stood up abruptly from his chair, looking furious. He walked away from his chair and away from Rondon. “The Golden Elite don’t care about us. All this is just a set-up! A big setup, Rondon.”
“Wait, what are you talking about? If you know a war might occur, how is all this a setup?”
Brian had his back facing Rondon, and he sighed deeply, dropping his shoulders. “You need to call this off, Rondon. We can’t lose good soldiers, good recruits. We might want to comfort ourselves and say this is a war, but honestly, it will be nothing but a bloody massacre.”
Rondon took in what Brian said but couldn’t make sense out of it. “What do you know, Brian?” he asked. “I want to know right this instant. I need to understand what you’re talking about if I’m going to call this whole mission off.”
Brian turned to look at Rondon and walked up to him. Rondon could now see the look of despair in his eyes; it’s a look he had never seen on Brian before today.
“Call it off,” said Rondon. “Or else we will all die.”
Brian soon turned around and left the tent. Rondon watched as the entrance of the tent flapped open and closed. Something didn’t feel right about all this, Rondon thought. The mission from the start hasn’t been right at all. Could Brian have acquired information concerning the mission that made him act that way? It has to be, or else he wouldn’t have acted like he did, Rondon thought. The only way to get in touch with HQ or anyone outside of operations was through phones, laptops, and the telecommunication department on site. Phones weren’t allowed on missions, and the communications department was in charge of directing calls and other forms of information to people’s laptops. Brian’s laptop.
Rondon turned around to find Brian’s laptop on his desk, the blank screen staring at Rondon as if telling him to leave it be. If Rondon was going to call off the mission, he had to have a good reason. As far as he knew, things haven’t escalated just yet. His superiors warned him that things might turn ugly now that they wanted Diana captured at all costs. A war might occur, he thought to himself. And Brian was well aware of that. There’s no denying there will be casualties. That’s just how war is. But that’s not what terrified Brian. It was something else. Something that he didn’t want to tell Rondon. But what could it be?
There’s no denying that his laptop might hold the answer to what Rondon is looking for. What if he’s wrong and maybe Brian got the information in another way? Well, Rondon had to find out what it was, no matter what.
Rondon went over to the desk and bent over to switch on the laptop. As soon as it went on, the password display greeted him. He simply had no idea what Brian’s password was, so he closed the laptop’s lid immediately. There was only one person who could open it aside from Brian himself. He needed to move about with the laptop in the camp without drawing too much attention to himself.
Rondon carried the laptop and started to make his way towards the entrance of the tent when all of a sudden, someone drew the flaps of the tent aside, bringing in the light from outside into the tent, almost blinding Rondon. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he found the woman in white standing there and looking at him.
“Rondon, what are you doing in here?” she asked.
“I had been talking to Brian earlier,” said Rondon. “He left the tent a few moments ago. I was just about to leave myself.”
“Did you see where he went? I was planning to have a word with him.”
“Sorry, I don’t know.” Rondon shrugged his shoulders. “He didn’t mention where he was going.”
“Well, you better get back out here. Gladiator will be arriving soon.”
“Don’t worry, everything’s under control.”
The woman gave a nod of her head, and she turned around, letting go of the flap of the tent. Rondon found himself alone again, breathing a sigh. That was close, he thought to himself. Immediately she had appeared, Rondon had hidden the laptop behind his back. He knew if she of all people saw him with Brian’s laptop, it would raise questions. He had to get this laptop away from here. Time was of the essence, and he was better off finding out what Brian knows before Gladiator and her team arrived.
Rondon made his way to the entrance of the tent and drew the flap aside. Before taking a step, he made sure to look at the camp ahead of him. There was still a bustle of activity. He hoped that he could enter the camp without anyone noticing that he had a laptop in his hands. He also had to keep an eye out for Brian. He might not like the fact that Rondon had his laptop.
Feeling like the coast was clear, Rondon started to make his way towards the busy camp, the laptop behind him with his hands at his back. As soon as he entered the camp, he made sure to move about cautiously. The recruits who passed by didn’t pay him much attention, and when Rondon entered the middle of the camp where most of the activity was going on, he made sure to avoid the surveillance team. He did have his eyes on them, but they were too busy to notice that he was even there.
Rondon slowly made his way to the tent where the IT department worked. He stood at the entrance, hoping to catch anyone coming out of the tent. A young female recruit with curly blonde hair tied in pigtails came out. Upon seeing Rondon, she stood at attention.
“Anything you need, sir?” she asked.
“Yes, please tell Peter to come to my tent urgently,” said Rondon. “And do it discreetly, please.”
“Yes, sir.” The recruit went back inside the tent as Rondon turned around and made his way for his tent, a few feet away from the IT department. He made sure to hide the laptop at his side. He made sure to keep an eye out for anyone who might be looking his way. With the way things are going, he had to act with the utmost discretion.
Rondon reached his tent and entered. He went for the table and chair made for him. When he sat, he opened Brian’s laptop. A sound of footsteps approached his tent, and the person made sure to announce himself.
“Rondon, it’s me, Peter,” came Peter’s voice from outside. “Can I come in?”
“Yes, Peter, please do,” said Rondon.
Peter entered the tent, and Rondon quickly stood up from his chair to face him.
“What I’m about to tell you remains between us, Peter,” said Rondon. “I don’t want to throw anyone out here in a panic.”
“You’re scaring me, Rondon,” said Peter. “When you say things like that, then something’s really wrong.”
“Yes, there is. And I need to know what we might be dealing with to take the right course of action.” Rondon turned his head to look at Brian’s laptop on his desk. “I need you to open Brian’s laptop for me.”
Peter approached the desk. “Brian’s laptop?” he asked, looking confused. “How did you get it here? Did anyone see you?”
“I hope not. I need access to it right away. Before Gladiator arrives, we need to find information regarding what Brian told me.”
“Okay,” said Peter, as he quickly sat down and looked at the screen. “What is really going on here?”
“To cut the story short, Brian wants to call the mission off. He’s well aware this might turn out to be a war, but there’s something he’s not telling me, and I need to know what.”
“Strange, that’s unlike Brian.” Peter cracked his fingers. “Every laptop has a password for me to access, so…” Peter went on ahead to type a few numbers and letters, and the laptop screen changed, showing the desktop. “What are we looking for exactly?”
“For Brian to have told me that, he must have received some sort of message.”
“I can basically access his recent activity if that’s okay.” Peter tapped away on the laptop, and different windows popped up. “He has actually been in contact with someone via email less than an hour ago. This might be what you’re looking for.”
“Check it,” said Rondon. “I’m not leaving any stone unturned.”
Rondon was alert to footsteps approaching his tent. When the footsteps stopped in front of his tent, a voice of a female recruit asked if she could enter his tent. Rondon didn’t want anyone knowing Peter was in here. He decided to go out of the tent and address the recruit.
“What is it?” Rondon asked as he walked out of the tent.
“Lady Sophia is asking for you,” said the recruit. “Gladiator will be arriving soon. She wants you to be nearby the portal gate. Have you by any chance seen Sir Brian?”
“No, I haven’t.” That raised suspicion on Rondon’s part. “He must be around here somewhere.”
“I’ve checked everywhere, but he’s nowhere to be seen.”
“He must have taken a walk off camp. You know how missions like these get him worked up sometimes,” said Rondon. “I’ll go look for him. And tell Lady Sophia that I’ll join her as soon.”
The recruit gave a nod and went back the way she came. Rondon watched her go, and he looked around. Where could Brian have gone? With the way he had been acting earlier, Rondon should’ve taken caution and followed him. He should set out to look for him, but first, he had to go back inside the tent.
When Rondon went back inside, he found Peter tapping away on the laptop.
“Found anything?” Rondon asked.
“I did. I’ve been going through his email, and the most recent one he received is encrypted.”
“Encrypted? Could the source have come from someone at HQ?”
“If it were, it wouldn’t be hard to crack it. Whoever sent him this isn’t one of our own. But it won’t be long until I decrypt it.”
“Will it be done before Gladiator arrives?”
“Yes. But if you think whatever information we find is going to stop the mission, it won’t.”
“We don’t have enough time, do we?” Rondon turned to give Peter a grave look.
“I’m afraid we don’t. Unless this information is vital, we can’t disobey the Superior’s orders.”
Rondon growled. This was getting even more complicated. “Let me know once you decrypt the message. I have to find Brian.”
“If what we’re dealing with is serious, I would find Brian as soon as possible to make sure he’s safe.”
“Alright. I’ll leave you to it, then.”
Rondon turned around and left the tent, entering the camp and passing through each unit to see if things were alright. When he passed the surveillance team, the report was that nothing had changed as of yet. While passing through, Rondon was keeping a watchful eye out for Brian. This is strange, he thought to himself. The camp wasn’t big enough for anyone to get lost in. Could he have decided to run away instead? Rondon asked himself. If he did, then there would be problems.
As Rondon made his way to the center of the camp where the main units were, Lady Sophia suddenly appeared. Rondon knew she would ask about Brian. Was coming up with an excuse necessary? He was bound to find out what he would say if she asked.
“Rondon, have you seen Brian?” Lady Sophia asked.
Rondon shook his head. “No. Since he left the tent, I haven’t seen him.”
“Well, Gladiator is bound to arrive in less than ten minutes, and preparations are in order for us to receive her. I would take one look around for him if I were you.”
“I’ll do just that.”
Rondon walked past Lady Sophia. He had to find Brian quickly. He saw two soldiers passing by, and he stopped them, ordering them to look around the camp for Brian.
“Check towards the beach if you have to,” said Rondon. “Report to me directly if anything comes up.”
The soldiers went on their separate ways, looking for Brian. Rondon also needed to do some searching of his own. Before he could set out, he stopped himself short. He turned around and saw Lady Sophia talking to a soldier. For a second, he thought he was being watched. He looked around. It was hard to pick out who could’ve been watching with so many people around. He turned back around and went on his way.
He was just approaching his tent when he suddenly saw Peter rushing out of it. He smiled upon seeing Rondon. Judging by the look on Peter’s face, Rondon knew he managed to decrypt the message.
“You did it, didn’t you?” Rondon asked.
“Yeah,” Peter answered. “You aren’t going to like this.”
Peter gave Rondon a piece of paper. Before Rondon could read it, he turned to look at Peter. “Say nothing to anyone. And to be safe, I want you in the IT department tent unless I say so. Understood.”
“Of course, Rondon,” said Peter, and he quickly went back to his tent.
Rondon watched Peter go, and he slowly looked down at the note. There were two lines written on the piece of paper. Rondon slowly read it. He read it a second time to let it all sink in. He folded the paper quickly and put it inside the pocket of his black bodysuit.
He turned around and started to make his way to the heart of the camp. Only five minutes remained till Gladiator’s arrival. The teleportation gate was just outside the camp. Rondon set his eyes on Lady Sophia, who was now standing beside a recruit from the IT department, ready to open the gate. Rondon was careful not to be seen by her as he made his way to the east side of the camp to the teleportation gate.
A metal frame doorway stood there, waiting for the portal to form and for Gladiator and her team to walk through. Two guards stood there ready to receive them. Rondon looked on. He’s supposed to be here to receive Gladiator too. But after reading the message on Brian’s laptop, this has to be stopped. If he were to call HQ now and cancel the mission, it wouldn’t work. They would without hesitation put him out of commission and find someone else to replace him. Apart from Lady Sophia, Gladiator will be the next best option. The only option he had was to do something he never thought he would do.
Rondon stood at a distance from the guards. They barely even noticed that he was there. He looked down to the ground and noticed a thick black cable wire going towards the metal doorway. It ran from the IT department and passed through a few tents. He had to be careful with what he was about to do.
Calling Peter would’ve been the right option since he could easily shut down the gate. But Rondon had to play smart here. If he ordered Peter to do so, he might get in trouble, and he didn’t want to risk putting him in such a position. Until he was clear about what’s really going on, Rondon couldn’t do this alone. He would need Peter and Brian, too. That’s if he would forgive Rondon for looking through his laptop without permission.
Two tents behind Rondon were a set of carton boxes with weapons in them. The thick cable ran through the tent and beside the boxes. He looked around first, and he was out of sight from those guarding the gate. After the coast was clear, Rondon knelt down to collect a small knife from his black boot. He held the knife in one hand and the thick cable in the other. He had to be quick about it, for Lady Sophia will obviously be coming towards the gateway. Looking at the time on his wristwatch, he had three minutes till the gateway was activated. He had to cut fast.
Rondon dug the knife in through the thick, black casing of the cable and moved the knife without fully removing the blade, cutting from inside. He cut in a circle, stopping himself short. He didn’t want to cut it all the way through. He placed the cable back down on the ground, joining the two sides, to make it look like the cable hasn’t been tampered with. He quickly stood up and looked around him again. Still no sign of people coming his way or watching him. Rondon quickly lifted one of the crates and placed it on the ground on the other side of the cable. He placed another crate on top. Once the others realize that the cable might be at fault, they might come searching where the problem could be. Better to make their search a little harder, Rondon thought.
Soon, he heard voices and footsteps, and Rondon went round the tent to hide on the other side. When he peeped to look, he saw Lady Sophia, the recruit from IT, and a few others pass by heading to the gateway. Rondon quickly went round the tent to make it appear as if he was coming from behind. He looked down at his watch. Only a few seconds remained until the gate opened.
When Rondon finally reached the small crowd of people waiting at the gate, he came to stand beside Lady Sophia.
“Any luck finding Brian?” She asked, turning to look at Rondon.
“Nothing. I’ve ordered a few recruits to search outside the camp,” Rondon answered.
“I do hope he isn’t thinking of backing out.” Lady Sophia turned to look at the gateway.
“He knows the risks. There must be a good reason why he isn’t here.”
Before Lady Sophia could ask Rondon what he meant, the recruit holding her laptop announced that she would be opening the gate in ten seconds. She started the countdown, and as soon as she counted down to zero, she pressed the activation button on her laptop screen. For a moment, there came a humming sound coming from the gateway, and the green button on top of the doorway lit up. A few seconds later, the humming stopped, and the green button slowly faded.
Everyone in attendance looked on in disbelief. What just happened? Lady Sophia and Rondon shared a look. This was not good. Lady Sophia approached the recruit who stood in front of her.
“What has happened? Why won’t it open?” Lady Sophia asked.
“I don’t know,” said the recruit. “Everything was fine until now. There must be some issue with our power source.”
“Well, you better fix it because we’ve delayed Gladiator from coming here, and she won’t be too happy about it,” said Lady Sophia. “I’ll obviously receive a call from HQ asking what is wrong. I had better go back. Make sure this gets fixed, Rondon.”
“Will do,” said Rondon.
Lady Sophia turned around, and a few recruits followed her. Rondon held back the recruit in charge of opening the gateway.
“Check the generator,” he said. “We’ve been using so much of it that it might not have enough power to turn on the gateway.”
“Yes, sir,” said the recruit, and she quickly turned around to follow those she had come along with. Rondon looked back at the gateway and started to make his way back to the camp.
He knew everyone in the camp would be a little occupied in trying to fix the gateway. Right now, he should only focus on finding Brian. It’s strange that he could’ve disappeared like he did. As Rondon made his way to the center of the camp, one of the recruits he had sent out to look for Brian approached him. The recruit informed him that he couldn’t find Brian even outside camp. Rondon thanked the recruit and hoped that the other recruit would have any luck finding him.
Rondon approached the surveillance unit, and they had something to report. The supernatural being who had left the beach house reappeared again. If asked whether they might have brought in some more others, the answer was no. The supernatural came back the same way he or she left. Alone.
“Rondon, sir,” said the blonde pony-tailed recruit, “I just heard the gateway couldn’t open. Is everything alright?”
“Nothing we can’t handle,” said Rondon, knowing that other people around him were paying attention to what he said. “The gateway will be open in no time.”
Rondon soon felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around, he found Peter standing there. He beckoned with his head to speak to Rondon in private. Rondon told everyone to carry on with their work and followed Peter away from prying eyes and ears.
“I’m guessing this was your doing?” Peter whispered as they went to stand behind the tent.
“Well, I had to find something to delay the mission,” Rondon whispered. “I told you to stay in your tent.”
“Well, it’s hard to do so when Lady Sophia wants the gateway open. Have you found Brian yet?”
Rondon shook his head. “No, and this is worrying. I sent recruits to check on him, but he’s nowhere to be found.”
“Do you think something happened to him?”
“I hope not. If that’s the case, then there’s someone here who might have done something to him in order to prevent him from talking.”
Peter was silent as he took this in. His eyes lit up. “You know, this could give you a better opportunity to delay the mission even further.”
Rondon raised his eyebrow behind his black mask. “I’m listening.”
***
Diana’s P.O.V.:
I walked out of the study room, wanting to get a little bit of breathing space. We had already made plans for how we were to attack the Golden Elite. What we were waiting for is news from the Butterfly Island. Will the High Order even decide to help? I bet not. I shook my head. Maybe I shouldn’t be overthinking it. But what if they do refuse? Well, I wouldn’t blame them. As much as they are my Patron Sect, I don’t think they would want to help me out. Not after what I had done back at the Butterfly Island.
As soon as I had stepped out of the study and cleared my head for a bit, I realized that I hadn’t taken a good look around Lucifer’s beach house. I went down the hall we came from and entered the wide, spacious living room. Now that it wasn’t such a mess and most of the people we found sleeping all around had been taken to God knows where, the place was actually nice. The living room looked more like a circular sunken pit with short steps leading down to it. A flat-screen TV was perched on the wall, and the built-in seats were in a cream-white color and colorful beanbags for anyone to sit on all around the living room. The other side of the room was a balcony leading out to the beach.
I walked over to the balcony and found a nice outdoor chair to sit on while I watched the waves of the waters coming towards the shore. I was caught in the gentle sounds of the waves that I soon found myself closing my eyes and finding myself stuck in the moment. It wasn’t until I heard a few footsteps inside the house that I found myself waking up. I turned to see anyone in the living room, but there was no one there. Before I could turn back to looking at the waves, I heard Lucero’s voice loud and clear.
“Just make sure to keep a lookout for anything,” I heard him say. “I’ll deliver the news to my father right away.”
Lucero came into view, passing the living room and obviously heading to the study. Whoever he had come with had gone back the way they came. Lucero noticed me and brought up a devilish smile. He started to make his way towards me, going down the pit and coming right up.
“What brings you out here?” Lucero asked. “Tired of trying to get the truth out of my father?”
I snorted. “He already made it clear that telling me the truth wasn’t his responsibility, so I’m not going to waste my breath. I’ll find another way.”
Lucero came to sit on the armchair. “And what if you don’t?”
“I’ve been trying to find the truth for so long, and it’s either that I reach a dead end or I simply forget until something reminds me of it.”
Lucero didn’t say anything for a while as he also looked at the waves. “Is the truth really that important to you?”
“Yeah, it is. The truth will explain how I got into this mess in the first place. All I know is, my first meeting with Death brought up some supernatural abilities, making me look like some powerful being when that’s not the case. When the Butterfly Sect tried to look through my family's past, my entire family had never been involved with supernaturals at all. It’s strange. Normal humans who are transformed into supernatural beings simply can’t have the ability to control all six elements. Those born from supernatural beings have the ability to control two or more elements. But apparently none of them have ever controlled six.”
“I know what you mean, Diana. You feel there’s something more at play here, but what if there isn’t? What if this is what’s supposed to happen? What if you were the only one who had to be the special one out of all of us?”
“Do you really believe that ‘I’m special’ case?” I raise my eyebrow at him. I ended up sighing. “As much as I want to accept that, there has always been something eating at me, telling me that all this wasn’t some coincidence made to make me look special. If anything, it might have been for a whole different purpose.”
“And what could that be?” Lucero asked. I could feel his eyes on me.
“I don’t know. All I know is, I shouldn’t ignore my intuition. Now here we are, almost heading out to war—which I hope won’t occur—and I don’t know who the hell I am exactly.”
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to look at Lucero. “You’re Diana. Who happens to be one of the most powerful supernatural beings in the world. You might not know this, but you’re greatly admired out there.”
I scoffed. “That’s because I have had The Golden Elite and other supernatural beings out for my head. If that’s what they really want anyway.”
“Well, I don’t know why you think you aren’t special when you are. And blocking that isn’t going to do you any good.”
I knew what he was talking about, and then I held the neck chain of the necklace I was wearing. “I had to do it, Lucero.”
“Well, the time has come to show the real you, don’t you think?”
“You sound just like my cousin. She told me that I can’t hide that side of me forever.”
“Well, she wasn’t wrong. Maybe today is the day.”
I held the neck chain a little tighter. “I hope not. Only God knows just how dangerous this would be.”
“Oh, honey, I don’t mind that dangerous side of you. It turns me on, actually.” Lucero started to lean in closer, placing his arm over the chair to support himself.
“Get off,” I said, pushing him aside. Lucero was quick enough to stand on his feet. I also stood up. “I heard you a few moments ago talking to someone. Isn’t there something you should report to your father first?”
“Yeah. Want to come with me?” he asked as he offered out his hand.
I rolled my eyes and walked past him back inside the living room. Lucero followed me inside, and at the same time, Lucifer appeared in the living room with Lucius behind him.
“Ah, there you are,” said Lucifer when he set his eyes on me. “Stella is back. Surprisingly, she’s alone.”
“She’s come back too soon on my part,” I said. “Could the High Order have refused my request?”
“It’s either that, or there’s something that has come up,” said Lucius. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”
“With the way things are going, we might as well go to war,” I said. “I’ve got everything to worry about.”
“With my army and Lucius’, you’ve nothing to worry about,” said Lucero as he came to nudge me in the shoulder. “We’ll protect you no matter what.”
“Here she comes now,” said Lucifer as he looked down the hall.
Stella appeared in the living room. She first saw Lucifer and Lucius before turning to see me standing with Lucero. I tried to read her face, but Stella was good at hiding her emotions sometimes. She wasn’t as expressive as Ariana. And as far as I can remember, Mei was actually tougher to read.
“The High Order has accepted to come over and help, Diana,” said Stella. “They feel they might have a clue to what’s going on here. Well, Her Highness does.”
My heart fluttered at the news. “Really?” I asked. “That’s good. How come you came alone then?”
“I received an urgent message from your cousin while I was in the presence of the High Order.” Stella looked serious. Could something have happened back home? “And they think before they come here, you should attend to the matter at hand.”
“Is Katy in danger?” I quickly asked.
“No, she’s perfectly fine. It’s your mother. She wants to see you.”
“My mother?” I looked confused. “What does Mum have to do with all this? I can’t leave this place with what’s going on. Once this is over, I’ll go right back home. Katy should’ve lied that I was asleep or something.”
“She simply couldn’t. And Katy knew you would refuse to come, so she told me to tell you this: Your mother knows you’re a supernatural being, Diana.”
I paused, trying to take all this in. “What?”
“This just got interesting,” said Lucifer. When I looked at him, he was looking at me with a smile on his face.
“Now you understand why the High Order wants you to attend to this, do you?” Stella asked, looking at me intently.
I swallowed as I gave a nod of my head. I turned to look at Lucero beside me, and the look in his eyes said it all. I started to feel my heart race at the thought of it. Lucifer’s words came back to me when he told me that I’ve been looking for the truth in the wrong place. I turn to look at Lucifer, and he still has that smile on his face. Lucius also had the same look as Lucero’s. This just might be it.
Today might be the day I finally receive what I’ve searched for and what I might end up dreading for the rest of my life: The truth.
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