Gabriel growled at this before he clenched his fists and gave a deadly glare.
“Don’t call me that.” Gabriel demanded, his voice trembling with rage, “You lost any right in calling me that on the day you abandoned me.”
“He’s your brother!?” Ace exclaimed angrily.
“Believe me, I’m not proud of it either.” Gabriel replied, “Leave us alone Ambrose, don’t you have anything better to do?”
“Oh, I’ll leave,” Ambrose said before smirking, “when and only when I get my bride back.”
Before Ace or Hazel could say anything, Gabriel had suddenly appeared in front of them with an even more menacing glare.
“Over my dead body,” Gabriel growled.
‘How did he get there so fast!?’ Hazel thought wide-eyed, “Gabriel…”
“Just stay out of this Hazel.” Gabriel said looking over at Hazel, “I’ll take care of it.”
“Can you though?” Ambrose taunted, “I am still older than you.”
“Well, he’s still sober though.” Ace said, “And unlike you, he’s got back up.” He and Hazel then walked to either side of Gabriel, all three shielding Rachel with Phoenix growling by her side.
Gabriel looked at the two who nodded before all three of them turned to Ambrose with deadly glares on all of their faces. Ambrose looked at the three Monster Hunters in front of him before he sighed.
“Alright, I know when I’m not wanted.” Ambrose said before he turned to leave, “But I’ll be back.”
“Good luck with that,” Gabriel said glaring at Ambrose’s retreating back.
Once Ambrose was far out of earshot Hazel turned to Gabriel with a calmer glare, “I want explanations now.”
Gabriel sighed before nodding, “Alright, after all that, I owe all of you an explanation.” He then turned to Hazel with a regretful look, “And a confession.”
“We should do this in a more private place.” Rachel said folding her arms in order to try and calm her nerves.
“Let’s do this on the boat.” Hazel said before turning to the twins, “You two ready to go?”
The two nodded before they all made their way to the boat in a heavy atmosphere. Once they were in the captain’s line of sight he smiled before he spotted Ace and Rachel.
“By the Gods!” The captain bellowed, “Ace! Rachel!”
“Hey Uncle.” Ace greeted as the captain walked up to them, “How have you been?”
“Better now that I’ve seen the two of you again.” The captain said before he noticed the slightly nervous expression on Rachel’s face, “You alright Lass?”
“Yeah, uncle.” Rachel said running her hands up and down her upper arms, “Just a bit shaken up.”
The captain gave her a look before he sighed and smiled soon after, “Alright Rachel, I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.”
“Captain do you by any chance know when we’ll be leaving?” Gabriel asked.
“We’ll be leaving an hour after grub, lad.” The captain answered, “Why do you ask?”
“Just curious.” Gabriel lied, ‘Just a few more hours Gabriel. Just a few more hours and you’ll be rid of Ambrose again.’
“Come on you two.” Ace said before he and Rachel led Hazel, Gabriel, Josh, and Phoenix to the cargo hold.
As they walked to the cargo hold, Gabriel nervously looked at Hazel who looked pale and deep in thought. He contemplated on what to say but an all too familiar bubble of anxiety and fear in the pit of his stomach forced him to keep his mouth shut. Though unknown to him Hazel was having a mental war in her mind as she looked at the ground.
‘Why did he hide this from me?’ Hazel thought before her internal voice talked back, ‘He knew you wouldn’t be able to handle it.’
She quietly sighed wondering if she was on the verge of tears or not. The twins however were having mixed thoughts about Gabriel – Rachel more than Ace though.
‘He did tell you he wasn’t close to Ambrose.’ Ace said folding his arms, ‘And from how he described him I should’ve connected the dots sooner…or at least suspected it.’
Once they stopped in front of the cargo hold door both the girls’ nerves rose tremendously. Sighing deeply Ace opened the door and beckoned everyone to get inside. Both girls quietly entered before sitting down on two of the few remaining crates as Ace turned to look at Gabriel with a face of both worry and doubt. The darker-haired brunette quietly sighed before he and Ace sat on two other crates with Josh perching beside Gabriel and Phoenix sitting down beside Hazel’s crate.
“You want to start explaining Gabriel?” Hazel asked, “Like right now?”
Gabriel looked at her for a moment as if searching for something, he stayed like that until he finally saw it in her eyes. In the almost year that Gabriel knew Hazel he had grown accustomed with the girl skillfully hiding her emotions though she would’ve done a better job if Gabriel hadn’t already noticed this.
‘She’s desperate.’ Gabriel thought before he took a deep breath, “As you all know no Ambrose is my older brother.”
The three only nodded in agreement before Gabriel told the girls exactly what he told Ace on the first night of their mission. Rachel only nodded most of the time and occasionally let out either quiet sighs or gasps while Hazel kept a stoic face and occasionally nodded. Once Gabriel had finished, he looked at everyone and sighed.
“I know I shouldn’t have kept it a secret,” Gabriel began, “but I promised myself the day Matthew took me away from my hometown I would forget every memory of my so-called brother.” He then walked over to Hazel, – who was looking at the floor – cupped her cheek, and made the girl face him before dropping to a low whisper so only she could hear, “I never meant to hurt you like this, Hazel.”
The two brunettes looked at each other intently before Hazel quickly enveloped the boy into a hug. Gabriel froze for a moment before Hazel’s silent sobs broke his trance. He looked at the twins who gave him understanding smiles before he smiled back and returned the hug. The twins smiled at each other before they joined the two brown-haired Monster Hunters in the hug. The four stayed in that position for a couple of minutes before a scent filled Gabriel’s nose.
“We’ve got company guys,” Gabriel whispered as they separated a bit.
“How did you-?” Hazel asked whispering as Rachel and Ace sat back down on two nearby crates.
“I’ll show you tonight.” Gabriel replied before he saw the expression on Hazel’s face, “It’ll be easier to explain.”
Hazel nodded before Gabriel turned to the door, “You can come inside now Charles. I already know you’re there.”
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The other three hunters gave each other weirded-out looks as the door remained closed. Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes before he walked to the door and opened it, there stood Charles with his ear supposedly pressed on the door a couple of seconds ago. The boy glared at him as he folded his arms with the other three hunters giving the man disturbed faces – well, more like Hazel gave a disturbed look, the twins however shared more confused expressions.
“Gabriel, who’s this?” Ace asked as he put a protective arm in front of his younger sister.
“Ace, Rachel meet Charles.” Gabriel said introducing them before he added, “The guy that was stalking us.”
Ace glared at the man after that last sentence as Hazel tried to hold her giggles back with Rachel looking at the older man weirdly. Gabriel smiled at the scene that he had created before he turned to give an amused smirk to Phoenix and Josh. The fox only barked in an amused manner while the raven croaked and flapped his wings.
‘I love moments like this.’ Hazel thought as a grin appeared on her face before she turned to Charles who was frantically trying to explain himself, “So what were you doing here Mr. Charles?”
“I was looking for Mr. Pasi,” Charles answered thankfully for the change of subject.
“Why?” Gabriel asked.
“I just wanted to talk.” Charles replied before he saw the suspicious look Gabriel and Ace were giving him, “I promise, I just want to talk.”
Hazel and Rachel looked at each other before they chuckled at the boys’ antics. The two boys looked at them weirdly before Gabriel looked at Charles again.
“What did you want to talk about?” Gabriel asked in a low whisper as his friends were distracted.
“I know what you are half-blood,” Charles whispered.
Both Gabriel’s and Phoenix’s eyes widened at this before the boy let out a low and threatening growl. Charles let out a small gulp before Gabriel gave a much softer and more innocent expression before he turned to Hazel and the twins smiled.
“Hazel could you and the twins leave for a couple of minutes?” Gabriel asked, “I’m quite interested in what Mr. Charles wants to talk about.”
Hazel shrugged before she and the twins got down from their crates. She was about to join the twins on the upper deck before she gave Gabriel a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before she left red-faced with Phoenix following close behind. Gabriel smiled at the girl’s retreating back before his glare returned as he turned back to Charles’ turn.
“You’ve got about exactly one opportunity to tell me how the fudge you found out about my blood status.” Gabriel demanded, “Just one.”
Charles took a deep breath before he answered in a slightly shaking voice, “My chancellor gave me your and Miss Abernathy’s files.”
“Why the frick do you have our files?” Gabriel demanded.
“I-it was just a background check.” Charles said stuttering a little, “Just a formality.”
“Just a formality?” Gabriel asked his glare becoming more menacing, “Does going through personal files come off as formal to you!?”
Charles gulped quietly as he slowly put his arms up in surrender shakily, “N-no.”
“Then why in the world did you do it?” Gabriel snarled.
“It was just supposed to be a simple background check.” Charles said before taking a deep breath, “And after seeing that nearly your entire profile’s been corrupted, I’m sort of relieved that Chancellor West gave them to me.”
Gabriel gave a low growl before he stalked closer to the older man, “And what in Merlin’s name do you plan on doing with that information.”
(A/N: As I was writing this, I couldn’t help but mentally laugh that I was writing about a seventeen-year-old boy scaring a thirty-year-old man.)
As Charles remained quiet Gabriel couldn’t help but give another menacing growl accompanied by an even darker glare. Charles could feel his legs shake under the younger boy’s gaze, he backed away a little as he lowered his hands and felt the pistol that he hid in his pants pockets.
‘A wolf under sheep’s clothing indeed.’ Charles thought.
∞
“I really want to know what those two are talking about.” Ace admitted as he leaned back on the upper deck railing before he turned to the girls, “You two up for a little snooping?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea Ace.” Rachel said quietly, “Gabriel might get mad if he finds out.”
“She’s right,” Hazel replied before sighing and looking at the palm of her hand.
Rachel noticing this frowned at her friend’s action before she placed her hands on her hips and asked, “Hazel are you okay? You’ve been pretty quiet.”
Hazel only glanced at her for a second before leaning onto the railing and folding her arms, “I’m fine Rachel. Just got something on my mind.”
“Like a certain brown-haired boy?” Ace asked almost teasingly.
“Drop it, Ace,” Hazel said shortly.
Ace’s eyes widened a bit before he slightly put his arms up in surrender, “Calm down Hazel. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”
“Appreciate the effort.” Hazel replied before she looked at the floor, “But I’m not in the mood right now.”
Both the twins gave her a look before they saw the captain walking towards them. Rachel opened her mouth to greet her uncle but stopped herself when she saw the worried look on his face.
“Something wrong Cap?” Hazel asked also catching the captain’s expression, “Is everything alright?”
The captain sighed for a moment before responding, “It seems like we may have some technical difficulties.” He sighed again before he gave Ace and the girls a small smile, “But with any luck, we should be able to set sail again at a quarter past sunset although that does mean another day of sailing ahead of us.”
Hazel let out a small sigh of her own before smiling at the captain, “It’s alright Cap, I’m sure the four of us wouldn’t mind a little more time here.”
“Thank you for your patience with us Ms. Abernathy.” The captain said tipping his hat to her before walking away.
Hazel sighed again before she placed a hand on Rachel’s shoulder, “Just a little bit longer Rach.”
“Don’t worry too much about me Hazel.” Rachel said giving the girl a closed-eyed smile, “I’ll be fine.”
“If you say so.” Hazel said hesitantly before Ace let out a sigh making both the girls look at him, “Something wrong Ace?”
“I’ve just been thinking.” Ace said simply.
“Thinking about what?” Rachel asked curiously.
“About Gabriel.” Ace replied.
“Why?” Hazel asked.
“Something he said in the inn just rubbed me the wrong way.” Ace said looking at the sky, “He said ‘He’ll catch our scent any minute now’ if I remember correctly.”
“Scent?” Rachel asked confused, “Why would he say that?”
The two looked at each other for a moment before looking at Hazel who seemed to be lost in thought. Rachel raised a brow to her brother who shrugged before he snapped his fingers, making her snap out of her thoughts.
“What were we talking about?” Hazel asked.
The twins once again looked at each other before they turned to Hazel, both wearing bewildered expressions.
“Hazel are you okay?” Rachel asked worried about her friend.
“Of course, I am Rachel.” Hazel said forcing a smile, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Is it about Gabriel?” Rachel asked.
“Of course, it is Rach, I mean come on.” Ace said clearly frustrated, “These two HARDLY keep anything from each other. She has the right to be upset at him for keeping THIS from her!”
“Ace, be quiet!” Rachel whisper yelled as she covered her brother’s mouth.
‘Speak of the devil.’ Hazel thought as she saw Gabriel appear with a rather pale Charles coming to view right after him, “Is it just me or does Gabriel look a bit menacing?”
Ace once again looked at Hazel weirdly for the third time that morning before he averted his gaze to Gabriel’s expression, “No, that’s just his face when someone – mostly guys – ask weird questions about you.”
“People ask weird questions about her?” Rachel asked curiously, “Why?”
Ace and Hazel looked at each other in a mild panic as they thought of a way to redirect the conversation, fortunately, though Gabriel had already joined them before either one could open their mouths. Hazel gave the boy a small smile in both greeting and thanks while Ace just nodded, Gabriel only smiled at them in return before the four started to discuss if they should indeed follow Charles to his branch of the Monster Hunters.
“I think we should at least hear what his chancellor has to say.” Hazel reasoned after a while, “From what we found from the music box and what’s been happening inside The Council, I think it’s our best shot at getting some answers.”
“Okay but Chancellor Nevermore gave Gabriel that music box, how come he didn’t see the engraving?” Ace asked.
There was silence for a moment before Gabriel sighed, “I think we have to put the option that Chancellor Nevermore being a spy for Dark on the table.”
“What!?” The twins exclaimed catching everyone’s attention.