Ira stared across the table, watching Alcina gingerly prod at a piece of overly seasoned chicken with her fork. A black tentacle snaked up, almost touching the chicken, before retreating back under the table.

"Alcina. I saw that."

"We didn't touch it."

Arnold sat down, directly opposite of Ira, two seats away from Alcina. He looked at Alcina with disgust. "You are wasting your time with her, Ira. She is a weapon. She doesn't need table manners."

Ira slammed her hands onto the table, her empty plate in front of her shook "You old fucking codger!" she yelled.

Alcina slowly set her fork down, pulling her hands down into her lap.

"It's just the truth. She's more than capable without such things, and you don't need to waste your time with it."

"That's not for you to decide. She's still a child. She has a future ahead of her."

"Why are you so attached?"

Cyrus sat down at the table. Ira followed suit, sliding back down into her seat, tightly shutting her eyes.

"Don't mind me," said Cyrus. "Please, continue your argument."

"It's fine, Cyrus. I don't have anything to say to the pig," Ira answered.

"You keep hurling insults. Attack the idea, not the person, you know?" Arnold pushed a forkful of salad, covered in way too much ranch, into his mouth.

"My insults aren't to argue with you, they are just because I despise you."

"She always goes on like this Cyrus. It's hard to believe you trust her to keep a level head."

"Keep your own position in mind, Arnold," Cyrus said. "You cannot speak so freely to me."

"Ah. Forgive me sir. The atmosphere had just loosened these old lips of mine."

Alcina reached towards her fork again.

"Alcina," said Cyrus. Her hand jumped back as he spoke. "I was meaning to ask you, Where were you the other day?"

"We don't want to say."

"Why not?"

"We don't want to say."

Cyrus narrowed his eyes. "So it's something against our mission."

"We don't want-"

"No need to keep saying that. I get it. I just thought you'd take our goals more seriously."

"We are taking the goals seriously."

"Doesn't look like it."

Ira cut in. "Cyrus I don't think it's good to push on her like this."

"Ira. Alcina is with us as a mutual agreement. We only go so far together as we can trust the other one. Hiding things like this does not help us whatsoever."

Ira slumped her head onto her hands with an angry expression.

"I want an answer, Alcina."

"Our purpose is to get rid of our cursed power. We left to better understand that purpose."

Arnold pushed his half finished salad to the center of the table.

"Will it interfere with my goals?" asked Cyrus.

"No."

"I don't think we can trust her," said Arnold.

Cyrus stood up from the table. "Maybe you are right, but I don't know yet. I need some to think about it."

Arnold smirked at Ira. Alcina sat silently staring at her plate.

"I'll see you all for today's meeting."

Ira gave him a half-hearted wave. Arnold simply watched him disappear behind a corner, leaning onto the table with his elbow. His fingers were spread out, tapping out a tune against the plastic.

"Now little miss Alcina. I'm willing to put in a good word for you. You just have to prove to me that you are with us."

"What are you saying Arnold? Stop this." Ira glared at him, but he ignored the warning.

"We just need to have a private chat. I'm thinking back in my bedroom-"

Ira was next to him faster than he could blink. A knife stabbed between his middle and ring fingers, catching the webbing. He cried out in pain, grabbing onto his wrist as his face contorted. She grabbed him by the top of his head and twisted him around to face her.

"I don't know what you were expecting by saying such useless words, pig. It almost sounded like you were trying to take advantage of someone far younger than yourself, though that wouldn't be anything new for you. Why don't you try apologizing?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I'm sorry!" he yelled out, still focusing on the blood dripping from his hand.

She slammed his face against the table, before jumping back away from him. The air shimmered for a moment, and her knife appeared right where her neck had been.

"You just tried to kill me!" she yelled.

"No! That was accidental! It happens when I'm assaulted." Arnold held his hands against his nose, blood dripping down his arm.

The rest of the people milling about in the cafeteria had shuffled away from them. Some just stared at them. Others made their way to the exits. Alcina stood up. She walked away as the two others watched her, leaving her plate of food mostly untouched.

"I'll finish this with you later," Ira said, flicking her fingers from between her eyes to Arnold's face. She ran off after Alcina.

***

"Alcina!"

Ira opened the door to the room, right as Alcina sat down on her bed. A dark blue comforter was spread over it, with aqua sheets underneath it, folding over it right at the white pillows. A metal dresser sat in the corner. It's top was slowly gathering dust.

"Are you okay?" Ira asked.

"We are fine. We just felt... upset."

"Yeah. He really should have watched his tongue. I can't believe he would say-"

"No. We are upset at what happened after. When he tried to hurt you."

"There's no way he'd be able to catch me like that. He's not my match." Ira flexed her arm in front of her chest, slipping a grin across her face.

"We were going to kill him, but that would endanger our situation with Cyrus. We couldn't decide if we should leave him, so we came to think." Alcina grabbed one of her pillows and tightly wrapped her arms around it, burying her chin into it.

Ira's face turned serious. "What do you mean you would have killed him?"

"He wasn't guarding his neck or vitals, we could have easily killed him."

"I mean why."

"He was being a hindrance."

Ira sat down next to her, and she slowly wrapped her arm around Alcina's shoulders. "You don't need to think like that. That's not how you deal with others. You don't kill someone because they inconvenience you."

"But then we will be hurt. Jack is already gone, but it must be done. We still have to do it."

"Jack?"

"The us that Cyrus killed."

"Ah. I shouldn't have forgotten that name so quickly. I'm sorry. I..." Ira trailed off with a sinking feeling in her chest. She still couldn't quite grasp what those words really meant.

"What was he to you? Jack I mean?"

"He lead us through life. He was, is, like a father. He taught us how to carve our existence out of this world."

"That's..." The sinking feeling got heavier. "That's terrible. I can't believe Cyrus and I..." She closed her eyes for a few seconds. "No, I have to take responsibility."

Alcina tilted her head. "What do you mean? Cyrus made the correct choice."

"How can you say that? You just said he was like a father to you."

"He is. We continue to use his guidance. His mortal life was a necessary shackle for us to break, for now we can hopefully find peace."

"I... can't relate. I don't..."

"We know. You are doing enough." Alcina leaned her head against Ira's shoulder.

Ira sat there, holding Alcina close as a few tears fell down her cheek. "I promise I'll help you."

***

Ira sat down next to Alcina. Arnold sat across from them, alone, and Cyrus was at the head of the table. The screens behind him shut off, one by one. He pulled down on a string, bringing down a white sheet in front of them. A projector turned on, shining a giant image directly on to it. Ira recognized it as Dr. Mendele.

"Joseph," Cyrus started, pausing dramatically. "Has been missing for three days now. He is a high priority target. We have very little information on his whereabouts."

Cyrus pointed a remote at the projector, clicking it over to the next slide.

"He was last seen around this area in District 6." The map behind him slowly zoomed in on to a red box, right on the district's railyard.

Arnold adjusted his tie, loosening it a bit. His eyes didn't even meet the image. Ira shifted around, watching Cyrus more intently than the slideshow.

"This is the former base of the Red Claw Gang, the one we destroyed two weeks ago. It's likely that he is recovering material to go on another rampage. If he gets caught this time, we might not be able to break him out. I'm pretty sure the IMB would have upped his danger level from four to five by now."

Cyrus stopped, looking back at the other three. None of them were looking at the presentation. "Is anyone listening?"

"Yes sir," said Arnold, leaning forward as he turned his head towards him.

Ira and Alcina just sat quietly.

"What's gotten into you all?" Cyrus pointed at Ira. "Speak."

"Cyrus. I'd like to motion for removing Arnold from our organization. I'll handle the process."

"Motion denied."

"He tried to kill me!"

"Motion still denied."

Arnold smirked.

"Arnold, Alcina, get out," Cyrus ordered.

Arnold did a double take, then slowly pulled himself out of the chair and backing out of the room. Alcina walked out expressionless. The door shut with a click behind them.

"Ira. I want silence."

A burst of wind spread out from her, right to the edges of the room. "Done."

"What happened?"

"He tried to teleport my knife-"

"No, what did you do to cause it?"

"I threatened him."

"Figures."

"He deserved it this time!"

Cyrus rubbed his temples, kneading his forehead up into wrinkles, before letting them fade back into his skin. "Why did he deserve it?"

"He tried to take advantage of Alcina."

"How?"

"He tried to take her back to his room and-"

"There isn't any way he could do anything to Alcina."

"She's still just a girl!"

"She's much more dangerous than you give her credit for. You've seen it. You should know."

"He tried to-"

"Ira. Report on your progress of developing a bond with the target."

"What-"

"Report."

"Why are you suddenly all business again?"

"Because now you are becoming too emotional. You are getting attached. We can't afford this. The girl is a tool, not because I want her to be, but because I need her to be."

"Is it really worth it? Bringing him back?"

"It's what I owe him, and all the others I've sacrificed. We are so close. We just need Randy to cooperate. It was such a shame that the girl's power can't be forced, but we can make do."

"I can't just sit by when he treats this girl like that. He sickens me. I'd like to be rid of him. She would too, but it's up to you. Please side with me. Please."

"I can't. He's useful. Even the most sick people are needed. Our goal will fix one disease on humanity, bring it closer to being free of suffering. You should know this well. Consider everything you've done yourself. Consider how I found you."

Ira furrowed her brow in anger. She slammed her fist against her thigh.

"If he tries to make a move like that again, I will end him regardless. Communicate it well to him."

Another blast of wind flowed back towards her, ended the discussion.

"You two can come back in now!" Cyrus said.

Alcina stepped in first, with Arnold heaving around in tow.

"For now, I want to talk about how we'll capture Joseph. This time, he isn't useful under his own mind. I'll have to trust you to take control of him, Alcina. He is a high priority target, so we can't just kill him."