"The sword of destiny has two edges. One that reflects the moonlight to guide you across the abyss, and the other that scorches everyone you meet to light up the dark."
[M.A]
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A day has passed since we came back from Paris, and we were able to finish the agency's job and make some memories along the bumpy road.
I had little time to do much since coming back; I spent most of yesterday unpacking my things and most of my morning today giving a detailed report to JB.
The incident with Camille, the kidnapping, and the mayor... it was a long conversation, and in the end, JB left with only a few words:
"I'll have to let my superiors know about the situation," JB replied with a serious tone as she rose from the living room chair. "In the meantime, ask Dalia to take you to the agency and go after Doctor Hotaru if you want to check on your friend."
And that's the situation I find myself in right now, walking down to Dalia's room. I stop a step away from her door and knock on it.
"Can I come in?" I throw my question into the air, and my hopes of being answered are shattered after a few seconds of silence.
Almost out of instinct, I move my head and find Flora approaching me from the library. That became normal very quickly, which before would make me uncomfortable, but I guess I'm finally getting used to the way of the world.
And in a way, I'm grateful Flora came with us; even if I don't get why she's so glued to me sometimes, I am not one to complain, even because she's been of great help.
Without even having the chance to exchange words, she lifts her finger and points at the library.
"Is Dalia there?" I ask, to which Flora replies with a careful nod of her head. I take a step closer to her and gently pet her head, adjusting the yellow roses resting in between her white strands. "Thank you."
We both indulge ourselves in this calm moment before eventually moving. I watch as Flora walks back to the kitchen. My hands grab the knob of the library door and turn it.
Entering it, that same impossible sight that almost made me pass out last time still manages to be strange, but now I don't feel like my sanity is crumbling as my mind can't comprehend what's in front of me.
The smell of tea and old books hits me, making me let out a sigh of contentment. Some steps later, I find my favorite witch sitting on a chair, her hand tightly secured around a book's spine.
On the table is a steaming mug of tea and a plate with some biscuits. Even as my footsteps grow in sound, they don't manage to break Dalia's deep concentration on her book.
I see that on the chair beside her is a pile of what seems to be the books she finished, as on top of the table, near the plate, lies two more piles of books and a stack of yellowed old documents.
Without wanting to disturb her activity, I take a chair and move to her side, sitting beside her and grabbing one of the books on the chair before joining in her reading session.
But before I can go more than a few pages, Dalia attempts to reach her mug without looking at it, to no success, so I grab it for her and gently guide it to her waiting fingers.
As her hands grab the side of the mug, her fingers brush slightly against mine, making her eyes unglue from the book and focus on me.
With a smile on my lips, I meet her gaze, watching her eyes go wide before softening. "Hey."
"Hey," Dalia answers back, taking a quick sip of her tea before putting it away and resting her warm hand on top of mine. "Did I make you wait much?"
I shake my head. "No, I got here only a few minutes ago. But I believe you've been here for some hours, right?" I say, pointing to the pile of books and documents.
For some reason, I see Dalia's eyes widen for a second as I mention the documents, but after a second, she seems to control it.
"Yeah, I've been working on some documents for JB since this morning." She says, and as I look at the pile and reach to grab one, she stops me by grabbing my hand and interlocking our fingers. "Sorry, JB asked me to not show them to anyone."
"Oh," I say, tilting my head in curiosity, but as I notice how serious she is, I shake my head to stop my thoughts. "Okay, sorry, I didn't know."
Dalia locks her eyes on my face, and as if remembering something, she lets out a laugh before pulling me closer to her. "It's fine, really. Sorry if I scared you."
We spend some more time only focusing on each other's presence, so much so that I almost forget why I was looking for her. Almost.
"I wanted to ask you a favor." I break the silence, talking in a soft whisper. "JB gave me permission to visit Tina, but she said I needed you to take me there."
"Sure, I can take you there," Dalia says before shifting her gaze from being on me to falling on the documents. "I'll just wrap things up, and I'll meet you in the living room."
I nod, rising from the chair and giving Dalia's cheek a quick peck. "Thank you," I whisper before leaving to let her do what she has to do.
Reaching the couch, I lay down to rest a little. Jax takes his chance and jumps to the couch, snuggling up to me.
I pet his head and let time pass. Anxiety hits my system at the prospect of talking to Tina again after so much time.
Outside the house.
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Dalia and I walk down the stone path leading to the back, and as we do, a familiar smell hits me: earthy and calming. A garden of flowers I hadn't seen before covers a large area, and it's separated from the forest by the extension of the stone wall.
It resembles very much the one that was outside the cabin, and I believe it is not without reason, as I spot marks of boots in the dirt, tracing around the flowers and leading to an artificial pond in construction that holds many stones to cover its bottom and on the edges some gardening tools.
"I have to say," I start talking as Dalia stops walking. We stand in the middle of a flower bed. But even as we step on them, they don't bend or crush; instead, they seem to harden enough to permit us to keep on being steady and balanced.
The midday sun caresses our skin, and I watch as the tan skin of hers seems to come alive more as the sunlight reflects on it. "This garden is beautiful." I continue, taking my eyes off her and looking around.
"Yes, it is," Dalia says, joining my gaze. "I always liked flowers, even without understanding the reasons behind this feeling."
"In the beginning, I assumed that it was because they were useful to make medicine that helped to deal with wounds or poison. But recently, I started to question if that's really the only reason why."
Tilting my head curiously, I look into her eyes. Noticing the way her eyes so slightly lose themselves in the colors.
"What do you think made you question it?" My question is met only with a simple smile of hers.
"It doesn't matter now." Dalia grabs my hand and pulls me close to her with enough strength that I almost end up tripping. "Stay close and hold your breath; the spell can leave you a little dizzy, so I'll hold you."
I nod my head. "Okay." And as soon as the words leave my mouth, the flowers we were standing on start to grow abnormally. Roots crawl out of the dirt and gently hug us, and in seconds we are surrounded by this root casket.
No light exists to make me able to see; there's no sense that we are moving, but as I try to move my head, Dalia stops me and keeps me in place. Trusting in her, I close my eyes and wait.
Not long after, I hear the sound of the roots untangling. A ray of artificial light hits my eyelids, making me open my eyes curiously to check where we are.
The first thing I hear is noise—a lot of noise: footsteps, both calm and rushed, chatting, and whispers. My eyes wander around, and when I get them to focus, I see a sea of supernaturals in lab coats.
It's the first time I've seen so many of them in one place, and thank God I read the book Dalia recommended to me because at least I'm able to identify some of them and understand what they are.
In front of me, just a few steps away, I spot a 'welcome' digital sign hanging above a circular, long table. Sitting on the small number of chairs inside the circle are some employees of this place, or at least it seems as I overhear them offering help and directions to those nearing it.
Even if this is starting to become normal, it is still a bit overwhelming. And Dalia seems to notice it by the way she puts her hands on my shoulder, oh, so tenderly.
"The health facility is less crowded." Her hands slide down my shoulder and find the empty space in my palm, gripping it tightly. "And it's not that far."
I nod, and so Dalia starts to direct me towards a long hall to our right, leaving the central lobby and going deeper into the facility.
And it seems she was serious about being not far away, as we reach the hospital section rather quickly. I guess it makes sense for a place like this to have the health section easy to access.
The long corridor contains many rooms, and I'm able to spot the ones inside through a big window next to the room's door from time to time, even if there are not that many injured people.
My feet come to a stop as I recognize one of the people in a room lying on a bed with white sheets covering their body. Tina.
Without wasting time, I reach for the door handle and try opening it, but to no avail. I take a step back and frown at the door, but a little to the right, I spot a card reader, like the one in the armory of the PD.
Dalia taps my shoulder to grab my attention. "You can use your access card; I'm pretty sure JB has given you permission on the system."
"Card?" I look at Dalia, confused. "I don't have any."
Dalia looks at me, even more confused than I am. "Strange, Colette said she handed it to you when you first got to the house."
And then my head connects the dots. She's talking about that card Colette gave me without properly explaining what purpose it served or why I needed it, resulting in me not bringing it with me-
Almost finishing my line of thought, I pat my jeans pocket for good measure, and to my surprise, there it is: the card. Taking it out, I smell the scent of laundry detergent. Of course, I left it in my jeans and washed it...
Well, at least I have it with me now, which saves me time, so I'll accept it as a good thing and move on.
I raise it and line it up to the card reader, praying that maybe, just maybe, it still works, and to my luck, it does. The door makes a click sound before opening; as if reacting to the sound, my body moves, and in a second I'm inside the room.
White and sterilized—that's the feeling this room gives me. Which makes sense for a hospital room.
A constant and rhythmical beep informs me of her heartbeat, but it's strange; I have the nagging feeling that it's slower than it should be.
Looking at Tina's face, it's like she's in a deep, unbothered sleep. An untouchable doll, devoid of a smile and life... pale as a ghost.
Approaching the bed, I sit on the edge and look at her hand resting motionless beside her body. I put my hand on top of hers, only to find the sharp coldness of her fingers.
"Tina?" I call for her, even gently tapping her wrist. But no answer comes; her eyes don't open, and her weak breath stays the same.
My ear reacts to the sound of the door opening, and I see that Dalia, who was about to comfort me, looks at the door as well.
A man enters the room, his white hair sickly matching the room as well as his white medical coat. On his chest, I spot a nameplate: 'DR. Hotaru'
He keeps focused on the clipboard in his hand, his eyes traveling on the paper attached to it, so he doesn't notice us. That is until he almost bumps into Dalia.
Doctor Hotaru looks up and blows some air up, making the hair covering his eyes leave one of them, revealing his green iris.
"Oh, I'm sorry," He bows to both me and Dalia before adjusting his coat. "I didn't expect the patient to have any visitors soon."
"I'm Doctor Hotaru, and I assume that you must be Olivia, right?" He looks at me and puts his clipboard under his arm before extending his hand to me.
I shake his hand and nod my head. "Yes, you're right."
"Well, it's a good thing you came." He walks around the room and grabs a chair before placing it on the side of the bed. "I have to talk to you about your friend's condition."
"But I would like to speak to you privately if possible." He gives me a stranded smile before looking at Dalia. "Agent, could you wait outside for a bit? I promise I'll be quick."
Dalia looks at me. I see in her eyes that she doesn't want to leave me, not when there's a chance this is some really bad news. I nod my head to assure her that I'll be fine, and in response, she smiles, grabbing my hand and gently pressing her lips against the back of my hand.
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"I'll be outside waiting." She says this before walking out of the room.
Doctor Hotaru looks back at me, and his expression changes. The gentleness that his face once had changed to pure and cold seriousness.
"I'm sorry, I won't be able to sugarcoat what I'm about to tell you, kid." He says it coldly, grabbing his clipboard again and flipping through a few pages. "Your friend right here," He gestures to Tina. "She's not getting better."
I feel blood rushing to my ears; my face feels hot, and at the same time, I feel like my body is frozen cold. Opening my mouth to talk reveals my inability to speak at this moment, and so the doctor continues.
"Ever heard of genetic engineering?" He asks, and some memories start to come back to me, from when I started investigating the death of that girl, Anne Roseheim. "Your friend's DNA was messed with; the reason why I can't say for sure, but I believe that-."
Rubbing my knees, I clean the sweat rapidly, taking over my palm. "That someone was trying to force a mutation in her system, and the point was to make her the 'next step in human evolution'."
The doctor raises an eyebrow before nodding his head. "You knew already, then?"
I nod. "Yes, I heard that from the person who did it to her."
"Then I'll skip to the problem and potential solutions we have." He flips one more page of his clipboard and reads it. "To cure your friend, we would need to know exactly what was changed.
but as the agency doesn't have a specialist in the area anymore, we will need the research materials from the one who did this to her."
I tilt my head in confusion. "Isn't Cole with the agency?"
"Yes, this Cole you speak of is in fact in our custody." The doctor says it with a heavy sigh. "However, the research was nowhere to be found among his things, so we can't do much in that regard."
"But there are some other possible methods," he continues, making me stare at him, waiting. "Unfortunately, this is all I can say at the moment, but Julia asked me to inform you that she'll come around tomorrow with some more information regarding these other methods."
The doctor rises from the chair and looks at me. "I'm really sorry, kid. I wish I could do more." He approaches the door and opens it.
I'm able to see him talking to Dalia for a brief second before my head stops focusing. Dalia enters the room and hugs me; her caring fingers run over my hair in a soothing motion.
She then grabs my chin and uses her thumb to caress my cheek. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I lie, and it hurts. "I need to keep my head in place if I want to save her."
Dalia looks deep inside my eyes, and I say it not proudly, but I'm a very good liar when I want to be. She finishes her inspection and sighs in relief.
"I'm glad you're okay then," She pulls my chin up and rests her forehead against mine. "We will solve this together, okay?"
I nod, and after some time of this, we decide to leave the agency.
Getting back home, we decided that I should take my mind off things. The problem is that when we settled on reading together, she received a call from the agency, she was needed elsewhere, something about the documents she was handling earlier.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Dalia says, grabbing her documents in a hurry before giving me a peck on the cheek. "Try to rest. I promise that when I'm back, we can read together to try to find a way to help Tina."
Her eyes are enough to prove to me how serious she is about helping me, and even though it comforts me a little, I'm sad she has to leave. Nonetheless, I walk her to the door and see her out.
So in the end I was left alone, without anything to do. My mind is not one hundred percent right now, so reading isn't going to cut it, and the only thing I'm left with is the giant training room.
I enter it and look around, trying to see if Colette is anywhere, but it appears she's not here at the moment, so I close the door behind me and walk to the sandbag near the ring.
Taking off my boots and socks, I throw them to the side without paying them any mind, the same thing I do to my hoodie. I place my open palm in the sandbag's center, closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath.
Once my mind starts to swirl around that same thought, I punch the bag, and every time it happens again, I repeat the action in a cycle. This leaves me punching the bag again and again, sucking in sharp breaths as the feeling in my knuckles goes numb, making me unable to feel the cuts forming in them.
My head goes numb as well, my eyes focus only on the sandbag, and my motions of punching it with all I have go on, till all my energy goes away, until all my will to think vanishes. Blood trickles down the green military leather of the sandbag, sweat pours down from my forehead, and it stings my eyes.
Thoughts at this point are long gone, and my ability to hear as well, it seems, because I don't hear Colette entering the room; I only notice her when her hand tightly holds my wrist mid-swing.
Without thinking, I raise my other hand, and then. *Crash*. Colette's face and my fist connect. 'The feeling is satisfactory' my mind screams, but as I see who I punched, slowly, my head comes back to its place. My face goes from angry and breathless to surprised and immediately guilty.
"Shit shit shit," Looking at Colette, she rubs her chin while looking down before her eyes lock on mine in a quick motion. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to punch you; it was just that I was so focused that I didn't hear you, so I reacted, and I-"
Colette lets go of my wrist and shakes her head. "It's fine; you didn't wound me."
She says that, but I see blood on her cheek. I frown and take a step closer. "You're hurt; there's blood on your cheek."
"The blood isn't mine," Colette states, making my frown disappear and turn into confusion. But as she glances at my hand, I follow her gaze, finally seeing the state of my bruised knuckles.
Taking a quick glance at the punching bag, I see marks of blood there as well, painting the leather as if it were a white canvas. "I... I didn't even notice." The shift in my tone makes Colette's gaze turn stern. Forcefully, she grabs my hand and pulls me towards the bench before forcing me to sit down.
I see the way her eyes sparkle yellow with a hint of anger and how her pale skin looks cold, just to when she ends up touching my hand for me to find the warm comfort of her slender fingers. Those are details so clear that I question myself about why I hadn't noticed before.
Colette grabs her water bottle and wets a piece of cloth before starting to clean my bleeding knuckles. I notice how she tries to be gentle, focusing on my reactions so she can know if it hurts.
"That was a stupid idea," Colette says, clicking her tongue. "Don't do something like this again."
My will to explain things is nonexistent, and so I settle my answer with a simple nod and an apology.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Colette asks.
I shake my head. "No, I don't want to even think about it for now."
"Then you don't have to," Colette says, grabbing the dirty cloth and throwing it away. "But I won't leave you alone until you feel better."
The bleeding in my knuckles subsides but doesn't go away completely, as some droplets of it still rise from my cuts, making her stare at my knuckles a little more than I'm comfortable with before looking at me with a hard-to-read expression. "If you feel uncomfortable, let me know."
I look at her confused, and even more so as she approaches her lips towards my knuckles. But when it happens, I'm unable to contain the red-hot warmth to climb and take my cheeks.
Colette kisses my bruised knuckles, her soft and thin lips lingering on them, before the tip of her tongue comes out to taste my blood. Her careful ministration leaves me on the edge of melting completely, but looking at her, it seems I'm not the only one enjoying this feeling.
Like a hungry wolf, she tastes my skin and breathes in my scent till there's no more blood to be cleaned, and as her ministration comes to an end, I'm unable to hide a pout forming in my lips.
Colette rises to her feet and helps me get up as well. "Dalia won't be able to make dinner tonight, but if you wish, it wouldn't be bad to have someone to help."
I nod my head and smile at her. "Of course." Gathering some courage, I wrap my arms around Colette's back and hug her, giving her neck a quick peck. "Thank you for coming to check on me."
To my surprise, Colette's shoulders relax, and her strong hands find the empty space on my back, keeping me near her as well. "I know that I can't understand all of your problems very well, but if I can help, then I will. I'll always be here to watch your back."
As the hug ends, we walk together to the kitchen and start cooking. I see how bad Colette cooks, and I'm able to help her out. Like an old couple, we move in sync, cooking some meat for her, unfreezing blood for Yui, and making pasta for Dalia and me.
Without warning, as I set the table, Colette grabs my shoulders and steals my attention. I watch as she takes her time to formulate her words before talking and I wait patiently.
"Forget it. It's not important." Colette says, but I notice her stealing a glance at my lips before looking away and playing it off. It's a good thing I'm not one to pass up on opportunities.
I grab her shoulder as she did to mine, and without wasting time, I let my body move. Our lips meet, and for some seconds, Colette freezes, not expecting me to do it, before she returns the gesture. My body is pushed against the counter, and she lifts my legs up, forcing me to sit on it, and so I comply.
My arms hang on her shoulder and my legs lock on her waist as we hungrily devour each other's lips, and even as oxygen is clearly needed, we stay there, if only to extend this moment for a second.
When our lips unglue and separate, we are both panting and have our faces red, our eyes locked, and our bodies lingering for contact.
"I think it's best if we tell the others that dinner's ready," Colette says, regaining her breath and letting go of my waist.
I nod. "Yeah." It's clear that even I wanted more, but I do see reason to push her more than I did.
"Another day," she says with a serious expression. "When we three can do it together." Leaving those words in the air, Colette leaves the kitchen to grab Yui and call Dalia.
'We three', these words play in my mind on repeat... I would like that.
Dalia's POV
Inside JB's office.
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"You're awfully quiet today, pup," Julia mutters, resting her chin on her open palm and watching me as I quietly read the documents. "Something happened?"
I stop reading the documents and put them atop the many cardboard boxes, stealing the free space in the room. "You know that I'm not happy with having to do this."
"If she finds out that we are sticking our noses in her past without permission..." In my mind, the image of Olivia forms: a single tear leaving her eyes, a mix of rage and sadness taking over her expression.
"You know we have no choice," Julia says, crossing her arms over her chest. It's clear she isn't comfortable with this either. "But it's my superior's orders, even because after all that happened, we can rule out the possibility of Olivia being a normal human."
"Still, this isn't right." I retort, but Julia just shakes her head. "We are breaking the trust of someone who laid down their life just to help us."
"It's not a question of morality, and you know that." Julia sighs. I spot the dark circles under her eyes, and the accumulated stress darkens her usually bright pupils.
She continues. "There's no record of her birth anywhere; no documents from any hospitals mention anything, and the agency's documents were only aware of her existence after she was taken by that orphanage. And you know that her date of birth matches perfectly that incident."
"Wait," I sit down in the chair in front of Julia. "Kaina's incident? You can't be seriously thinking that Olivia is-"
Julia raises her fingers and puts them on my lips, stopping me from talking. "I don't, but the higher-ups want answers, and things connect almost perfectly together."
"If they are right," Cold sweat starts to form on my palm, and my eyes focus on the wooden table. "They will want to use her; that's why they didn't have any problem with her joining the unit."
I feel Julia's hand on my shoulders, trying to soothe my train of thought. "Yes, and the only way we can protect her is if we get the answer before they can."
With trembling hands, I grab the documents again and start to read, letting the uncomfortable silence between us take over.
...
Night soon arrives, and I feel my phone in my pocket vibrate. Taking it out reveals two missed calls from Colette and a message.
'Dinner's ready. Come home before the food gets cold.'
"I have to go." putting the documents back on the cardboard box, I rise from the chair, picking up my coat and putting it on.
Julia smiles and nods her head. "Sorry for having held on to you for this long, but with your help, I can finish these documents early."
"If you excuse me." I bow to her before leaving her office and going on my way home.
Kaina... I never expected to hear that name again.
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