Arc 3 - Chapter 13: Details On The Richest Family

(Reverence 2, 59 / 8:01AM)

Two days later…

A high-pitched croak lit up the morning air. Like a pencil sliding across a chalkboard, the alarm of a blue-beaked chicken reached across everyone’s ears.

Jolting up from his deep sleep, Luke immediately placed his right hand against his eye. The morning rays hitting against his face, his side bang still laid bare, trickling his knuckles. Dropping his hand, he looked out through the window, and saw the garden thickened with purple petals.

—Honestly, this view feels nice.

And within his room, it wasn’t decorated, as it had the bare minimum of essentials. Having a wooden drawer, a vintage alarm clock, and an oval shaped mirror in a corner, no entertainment could be filled. But there was a small radio stationed on a desk, a desk stacked with papers full of chemistry equations.

—But I’m starting to miss the city feel.

He heard two knocks. Turning his head toward the amber-colored door, Luke got out of bed before walking on the oak-wood. Eye burgers clouding his lower eyelids, and his bare feet sticking against the floor, he allowed a yawn to push out.

Reaching the door, he opened it wide to see…

A ginger-haired elf, wearing a white tanktop and boxers.

“Nothing wrong with showing some skin. Us humans were originally naked, you know.”

“Luna would say otherwise.”

“And besides, I’m covering up my dong, so it’s no big deal. Anyways…”

Sean stuck out his thumb, and pointed it backwards to another amber-colored door. With the sign looking decorated, it could only leave it to be Sean’s room.

“I want to talk to you about something. Not just you, but everyone.”

“Good luck with that.”

Fast forward…

Inside the elf’s room was the entirety of the Dark Angels plus Stan’s group.

Stan and his friends wore plain white t-shirts and sweatpants, their hairs ruffled in all directions. Standing or sitting near the door, Stan had himself lean against the rich oak wall.

The rest of the Dark Angels sat either on the floor, or on Sean’s bed. Luna fumed from the floor, as she had on her face only a cinnamon roll could lit up. Hope sat next to her, and Miles stood near Stan. Luke sat on the edge of the bed, and Jack did the same, with both of them facing Sean.

While Benn sat in a corner away from everyone.

“Alright, tell me the cheese. Did you guys really tucked your tails and ran?”

Sean pushed up a grin, as he stared at Luke like he was plotting something. Luke only clasped his hands, as his barely awake eyes held up his upper eyelids.

“You’d think we could’ve fought? There were agents everywhere. Of course we had to escape.”

“And we could’ve actually been sent to The Dome, if it weren’t for Boris and his bomb. Honestly, dude saved our lives.”

“But still, it felt like all of it was a coincidence.”

Sean used his left hand to rub his chin, thinking upon the events that he didn’t go through. Trying to piece some of them, the puzzle to him was large, but not hard. His rubbing turned to scratching, pieces of dry skin fluttered down onto the floor below.

“Either way, you all are criminals now. You're on the run, and some dickhead pushed you to be so. What will you do?”

“We can’t just declare war.”

“But we can revolt.”

Luke lifted his left eyebrow, as his words began to ring into fantasy.

Miles on the other hand sneered at his words. Folding his arms, showcasing his white tanktop and black sweatpants, his biceps were clearly defined along with his chest and abs.

“We’re not toppling anything. A group like us has no shot in taking down a government.”

“Okay okay … maybe some other time.”

“No revolts. No revolutions. All we want is for the government to never find us. The quieter we are, the better.” Said Luke.

“But that’s the problem. We can’t always tuck our tails and run.”

Sean walked over to his desk, as papers littered all over the wood with turkish color. Looking through them one by one, groups of papers fell to the floor.

But his search ended, once he raised a single paper from the stack. Clenching the bottom of it with his fingers, the paper looked twice the size from the others.

“Christian told me off that it was impossible, but now that I’m back in the group…”

“What is it that you have…?”

Showcasing the paper out in front of him, he allowed everyone to see. With Luke having first class, it was none other than a map, a map of the entire Southern country laced with landmarks.

“If you take a look at this map, Haxouburg has two deserts. The Shanta and the Nabu. We’re in the northern part of Haxouburg, the Shanta, which is a high-elevation desert. To the south of here is the Nabu, which is low-elevation. And to the east of both of these deserts is the Tyche wetlands; the armpit of the world.”

Luke and everyone else nodded, as they took in the three regions. The country being 80% desert, 20% wetlands, Luke scratched his chin softly. Moving around the map, he wanted everyone to catch a glimpse, like a teacher demonstrating a certain object in lecture.

“Again, we’re in Dodgerock, which is in the Shanta region. But just an hour away from here, is a special place right …”

Using his right pointer finger, he pointed at the map that was cladded in coffee-grounds.

“Here.”

Tapping at a landmark, it took the shape of a ranch. Looking like it was nothing too unique, Luke squinted into the letters that were wrapped in cursive. Encoding the somewhat foreign handwriting into his skull, he made a deadpan face.

“The Zirardge Ranch … isn’t that home to the richest family in the world?”

“Bingo! Now because we’re an hour away, we could—”

“We’re not stealing. No way in hell we’re going to be house robbers.”

Miles didn’t need to hover over him, as his glare pushed Sean to take a step back. Still having a smug grin, a bead of sweat trickled from his temple, as he raised his hands up.

“Hey-hey now, who’s to say we’re robbing money?”

“Either way you put it Sean, I don’t think what you’re thinking is going to flow under us.” Said Luke.

Sean rolled his eyes, before he walked toward the desk. Setting the map nicely on a stack, he brushed out a soft swell of air through his lips. Pushing his tailbone on the desk, he made sure that his palms rested on the dark wood.

As he posed similar to that of a teacher.

“I’ve been detailing this plan for several months. I don’t have the variables, but I have taken regards to 90% of the obstacles given.”

“So what is it?”

“Well … it is a robbery … but I’ll be the one doing it.”

Blowing dry air down to their lips, even Luke felt the tension in the air rise. Miles barely keeping himself constrained, Luke knew out of everybody what it meant of their morals.

They were soldiers. Not criminals.

“There’s a stack of papers within the main house, one that holds important info that we could use. But like I said, I’ll be the only one retrieving it.”

Some of them softly swayed their heads, and some of them sneered. Luke in particular pinned his eyes to the ground, and hunched his back. Having his elbows pierce his knees, no twitch or strain was bestowed on his knuckles or fingers.

“I knew it was something dangerous…”

“But hold on. Before you start judging me and whatnot, all I need is a distraction. I need noise, just noise. But enough for me to enter and exit from the house.”

And some of them began to glare, with Stan, Miles, and Luna crinkling their brows to the max. Even Hope pushed down a frown, along with Fred, Diego, and Gary. Jack raised both his hands up to the nape of his neck, as the overall hearing was starting to push down on him.

While a vein sprouted from Luke’s right temple.

—So he wants us to be bait…

“Are you guys talking about the Zirardge Ranch plan!?”

Before he could make a clear decision, a new voice drew from the door.

Poking his head out, Chris opened it wide, and took a few steps in. Seeing the legendary Dark Angels; all wearing pajamas, he mostly pinned his eyes onto Luke and Sean.

Meanwhile, Pacifica stood near the doorframe, her eyes subtle on Stan. Stan being Stan, he didn’t make eye contact despite her eyes filled with smugness.

“When are you guys going!?”

“N-Now hold on, I don’t think we’ll—”

“Because I want to go too!”

Chris pointed his finger at Luke, as a cheeky grin glistened his face. Standing right in front of Luke, he softly smiled through sweat that trickled down his forehead. His head slouched like a turtle, he clutched his hands together over his crotch.

“I don’t want you to drag you into this, or your brother and sister. Believe me, it’s best for all of us that we don’t have followers.”

“But you’re the group that took back Lagefor! You saved the city from a titan raging in fire! It was humanity’s first ever victory against the undead! And besides…”

Chris pulled back his finger, and pointed his thumb upward. Making a thumbs up, he thrusted it forward, and closed one eye while brightening his smile.

The sun’s rays sparkling his face, his cheery face alone … pushed all eyes on him.

—“I hate living the shut-in life! If it means getting out of this town, then count me in!”—

He couldn’t speak.

Averting his eyes between the lining of the floor and wall, he couldn’t indulge in the teen’s admiration. Completely silent, Sean noticed this, making him cock his head to the right.

“Seems to me like he’s got you there? So how about it?”

Luke turned toward Sean.

Unclenching his hands, he lowered them down to the bed, while his whole body relaxed. Unrestrained from his muscles, he felt most of his strength soar in his feet, making him slowly push off from the bed.

Glancing down at his hand, at his knuckles, it was cladded in both worlds of rough and smooth. Gulping saliva down his throat, he felt his eyebrow jump, as he returned his eyes on Sean.

“Why go to that ranch? What purpose do you have with them?”

“It’ll all be explained. Believe me. Once you hear it, it’ll never leave your mind.”

Miles took two steps forward, and pressed his hand on Luke’s shoulder. His height all-towering, his shadow didn’t loom, but it did make Luke turn his head around.

He fell silent on his stare, one that was filled with concern and worry. Feeling his fingers press deep into his bone, Luke didn’t bother to wrinkle his face from the annoying jab.

“Don’t let him wrap you around. Just think clearly on whatever decision you have.”

“I will … I promise…”

“Wait, hold on a minute. You said you had taken heed to every obstacle, right? Does that mean you know how many guards are guarding the ranch?”

Stan still kept his right shoulder pressed, as he leaned against the wall with folded arms. Feeling like a cougar was about to pounce on him, Stan did his best to ignore it through a pale face.

Using his right hand, Sean combed parts of his hair, his way to calm his nerves.

“After I was kicked out from the group, David and Boris located me here, saying it was the only town I could lie low in.”

Starting to walk back and forth, and avoiding some of his friends' boots, he began to mellow out. Without buckling his knees, his toes and lips synched in motion.

“Life here’s okay. The citizens may be bigoted, and there are times where I felt like punching them, but hey; it could be a lot worse.”

Sean glanced to his right, and looked out through the window with a carefree face. Having a good view to see the garden, he allowed a soft sigh to breeze through his lips.

“But life here is boring. Too mellow. The government always says to live a jocular life without stress, but do you wanna know why?”

Turning his body around, he creaked his right hand into a fist. Pinning his slanted eyes on Luke, Luke himself moved his head back a couple of inches.

“It’s the Zirardges! They are known to embezzle bribes with politicians! Just their money alone can zip anyone’s mouth, or turn their words into lies!”

“So then how does their wealth connect to us?”

“Wanna bet the head honcho has a thing out for you?”

Sean let go of his creaking hand, and raised a smug grin. Having both his hands on his hips, he cocked his head to the right, while Luke trickled out a single droplet of sweat.

“So then … who exactly did you hear information from?”

The tall ginger-haired elf ceased his grin, and had lips that were puckered into a straight line. Without looking at his group, gazed back at the many sheets that littered his desk.

From one of the opened drawers, a glint of a smaller letter stuck out. Partially opened, Sean gulped down whatever saliva that marinated his mouth.

“It’s complicated…”

“If you don’t tell us, then we won’t even—”

—“It’s from one of the Zirardge members.”—

Silence claimed the air.

Hearing whatever words spewed out from Sean, Luke and everyone else couldn’t process the information well. Until Chris nervously chuckled, while fiddling his thumbs as he spoke to Sean and Luke.

“Then that means the enemy has a traitor. Meaning they’ll be of use, right?”

“No you idiot. It means it could be a trap.” Said Luna.

“Hey, leave Chris alone. Out of everyone he has the most hope in me.”

“That’s because you have him wrapped around your finger.” Said Miles.

Sean wrapped his arm around Chris’s neck, and pulled him close while making a peace sign. Using his pointer and middle finger to do so, he made a cheeky grin.

Until someone else walked in, a young man who had cowlick hair.

“What are you doing Sean?”

Christian took two steps in, and stood near where Miles was. All he wanted was to grind his enamels back and forth, but since there were guests, he did his best to control his frustration.

“You plan on raiding that ranch are you? Got your little crew like you always wanted?”

“R-Relax. I’m not forcing you or Chris to go.”

“But no way in hell you’re going; after the shit you pulled a month prior.”

“Wait what?”

Luke raised his right eyebrow, and squinted his eyes at the nervous Sean. Unwrapping Chris’s neck, it was clear that whatever Christian was speaking about, began to pale the elf’s face.

Everyone stared at Sean, making him look like a comedian dealing with a tough crowd. Resting his hands on his sweatpants, Luke folded his arms above his slim chest.

“You went to that ranch a month ago?”

“I uh … I worked for the Zirardges for a little bit, to gain knowledge and such … but—”

“You could have told us that from the start!” Yelled Luna.

He looked to the wooden ground, as he couldn’t push his eyes neither on Luke or Hope.

Rubbing his hands together, his whole face lit up a pinkish red, as if he was blushing from the nervousness. Like it switched from white to pink, even the sun to the right couldn’t lift up his frown.

“I … well … I had a crush on one of the workers there. She wasn’t like the guards or workers there. She was different, they were both different…”

“Then who is she?”

Everyone held their breaths, as their glares soon turned to normal stares. Normal stares turning into raised up faces, they all watched as Sean slowly lifted his face.

“She’s a cat-human a year younger than you … she goes by Ellie, or Elizabeth.”