Nano Day 27 to 30: Chapter 5 + a LOT of fillers
They are actually snippets and not fillers. It's very normal for me to just chuck out words by doing the scenes that are clear in my head, and then I just connect them later on once I go back to writing linear.
So! I don't know why this chapter is so short. I didn't know if I should continue on or cut it there.
CHAPTER FIVE
Zide was up to something. Michael couldn’t tell exactly what, but he knew. He could smell it like one could smell a dead rat. His benefactor was being too shifty, too sneaky- too suspicious. The air around him radiated of tension, like a lion on the prowl, waiting to pounce on its prey.
Michael wished he knew who Zide’s prey was. It could save him the trouble of getting Zide out of whatever trouble he’d most likely get himself into.
“Something’s happening,” Amadeo whispered to him harshly when he arrived at the fourth floor corridor. The blonde was out of breath; he must have rushed all the way up to the senior’s floor. “I passed by the Council’s office on my way to class, and there were all these men- in black suits- outside.”
Frowning, Michael checked the hallway for anyone watching them. Finding none, he pulled Amadeo into a broom closet and locked them in. Swinging light bulb switched on, the two settled in despite the mops and buckets and dusty feather-dusters surrounding them.
“Did you notice who they are?”
Amadeo shook his head. “No, but I can warrant a guess.”
“Are they from the Chen?”
Amadeo shook his head again. “They are not Asian, I’m certain of it. Definitely European, really tall. I think they’re the Romanov’s. I could have sworn I’ve seen some of them before.”
“Shit,” Michael swore. Zide really was up to something. Damn that bastard and his cunning ways for keeping him in the dark!
“Michael?”
Amadeo stared at worryingly.
Michael hesitated, still yet to decide on how to tell Amadeo about this part of the pan. He had kept it quiet, particularly his suspicions regarding Zide, because he didn’t want to worry the boy more than necessary. Amadeo already had too much in his plate; he still had another brother to worry about, a living brother who could be in a more dangerous position that they were. Anything could happen to them if the Romanov entered the scene, and he was aware Amadeo had a bad tendency of jumping the gun, so to speak, once overwhelmed.
But for the Romanov to actually arrive at London, at Niebel High, in such a short notice, something must have gone wrong with the alliance.
“I need to talk to Zide,” Michael said without much delay, throwing the broom closet door open. “Something’s happening, and I’ll be damned if that bastard puts us in trouble again.”
“Michael- Michael!”
“What?” He almost yelled, remembering only to keep his voice in equal tone lest he scares Amadeo off. The harried look on Amadeo’s face helped him calm down, even if just for the slightest bit, but it was definitely not enough to bring his heart rate down.
“What are we going to do about Jeremy?”
Shit yet again, Michael swore, not wasting another second to curse Zide and his stupid, stupid plan. There was nothing ‘brilliant’ about this.
“You distract him while I check this out. I’m sure he’ll head to the Council office once he gets wind of this.”
“What? But-Michael!”
Amadeo must have yelled his name one more time, but Michael could not be sure as he tore down the stairs and into the second floor hallway leading to the Council’s office.
-
Early that morning Jeanne arrived to a Niebel High buzzing with excitement. He couldn’t tell how he knew, but he couldn’t miss the hushed whispers passed furiously around from one ear to the next. When he was walking up the driveway, he almost got hit by a speeding sedan and barely even received a glance as a horde of men in crisp, black suits filed out. Two more cars followed, the third one opening their doors first before coming up to the middle one to open its door. Half a dozen of the men escorted some probably important figure into the building. The person was blond, that much Jeanne could tell over the hulking, bulky figures and the distance set between him and the group. The students were all gawking at the passing figure, and bully for them, they must have seen the person’s face.
Jeanne wondered who could be so important as to warrant a dozen bodyguards. ‘And two trained dogs,’ he added as said dogs bounded out of the third car, herded by two men wearing heavy vests.
Must have been a prince of some country, he guessed. But whoever the guest was, he wasn’t important enough to disrupt class.... well, as far as technicalities were concerned, that is, because everyone was clearly too preoccupied with the unannounced arrival of the mysterious person, leaning surreptitiously over each other gossiping and passing notes. The grapevines had never been this active, he realized with a start.
Even Selene seemed too tense to sit still, fidgeting frequently and jumping at the slightest of sound. She almost leapt out of her seat when Mr. Velmonte called for her attention.
“Well, Miss Rosenkrantz?” Mr. Velmonte pronounced the last syllable of her name with a sneer, clearly picking on the foreignness of it.
Selene stuttered in her answer, and for the first time since Jeanne had known her, Selene failed to answer a simple question that even he knew the answer to. Jeanne was beyond surprised as he gaped at her.
He kept an eye on her for the rest of the period, watching her carefully. Her fingers tapped rhythmically, and if not then her pen, gray eyes flickering to and fro at the clock every once in a minute. When the bell rang, signalling the end of the class, she bolted out of the room, bag haphazardly thrown over a shoulder.
Jeanne had never seen her act this haywire. She was always so calm and poised. Could it have something to do with their school’s visitor? Maybe he was some relative of hers and he was here for some business regarding her transfer. They’d pull her out of class though if so, right?
Shaking his head, Jeanne thought again. It was not right of him to think such. He had been linking anything out of the picture these days to her.
With so much questions in his head, Jeanne figured he should ask someone who might actually know something about this latest development. He thought of Amadeo and thought the blonde looked like someone who might know something about this.
But one swift look around the classroom told him Amadeo was already gone, and it turned out before the class was even properly dismissed. Standing amidst the sea of nervous students only made him warier of the going-ons. Something was up, and somehow, he felt very out of place.
-
“Tell me it is not true!”
Rosenkrantz rounded up on him before he could enter Class 3-A. Amadeo spared one glance through the classroom door’s window. Jeremy was already packing his things up, most likely preparing to go to the Council office as well.
“Vicerra!”
He really hoped Michael could handle Jeremy in case the latter slipped out of his sight, because he had the feeling that Rosenkrantz would cost him this responsibility.
Amadeo turned to glare at Rosenkrantz, who glared back with equal vehemence.
“Even if I told you it isn’t real, you would still march to Balteisse and see it for yourself. Why should I even bother to tell you?”
She snatched his arm before he could turn away.
Jeremy had already left his classroom and joined the sea of students loitering in the hallway. Bugger.
“The Romanov would have told you if it was true. Why didn’t you tell me the other night?”
Even if the world was about to end, the Romanov wouldn’t bother telling them- he and Michael- about it. They did not worth much to the Romanov, not as much as their brothers used to. “It was just a rumour. I did not know it was true until yesterday.”
“You should have told me still!” Rosenkrantz whined. It annoyed Amadeo, and not just slightly, that she acted like she actually had the right to demand this sort of thing from him. The nerve of her!
“And what good could it do if I did?”He raised his voice loud enough to attract attention despite the warming alarm sounding in his head. Some students were without a doubt already watching them curiously. “Even if I had told you, there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re exiled, Rosenkrantz, in case you have forgotten. There’s nothing you can do. I don’t even know why you’re here. You shouldn’t be here.”
“I have every damn reason to be here!” she hollered back. Heads were turning now, barely unable to hide their curiousity.
Damn it, he was supposed to be watching Jeremy. Not having a loud row with Selene bloody Rosenkrantz in a hallway filled with gossiping teenagers.
“You don’t have any inkling what is going on, Vicerra,” she continued with a warning look, her voice lowered to a hushed tone, hissing, that Amadeo had to strain his ears to catch her words.
Then she spun away before Amadeo could get the last say. For a moment then Amadeo didn’t know what to do, caught between doing what he had to do and what he thought he ought to do. While he was aware Jeremy could not be trusted, not when they still didn’t know what his true motives were, Rosenkrantz couldn’t go to the Council office like that and discover the truth by herself.
Amadeo wished Michael was here. He would have known what to do.
“Oh, sod it.” He groaned before chasing Rosenkrantz’s disappearing figure.
-
True to what Amadeo had said, the entire corridor outside the Council’s office was guarded by men in dark suits, scaring off any students wishing to cross. He had hidden behind a water fountain, waiting for an opening. When a quarter-hour passed with no hope of getting in, Michael almost gave up- until Shaila Tagore passed by the foundtain carrying a stack of papers.
Michael slipped out of his hiding spot with the ease of a professional cat burglar and trailed two paces behind Tagore.
But before reaching the first guard, Tagore spun on her heels and glared at him, scowling darkly.
“What are you playing at, Anderson?”
Michael raised an eyebrow at her, silently inquiring her if she was even seriously asking him that question. He thought she should have already known why. They never were on the same side of a fight at the same time, but even Michael had to admit, albeit grudgingly, that she was one smart girl.
“I need to speak with Chris, and I can’t do that with all these... bodyguards.” Michael waved at the men, some of which were watching them with hawk-like gazes.
Tagore glanced at them over her shoulder before turning back to glare at him.
“They are not Chris’, if you are wondering.”
“Oh, I know that. I’m not that culturally unaware, you know.”
She scowled, not amused with his snide remark.
“Nevertheless, you can’t see Chris. He’s in a very important meeting at the moment, and I’m afraid it will stretch until the end of the day. Perhaps tomorrow as well, if they can’t reach a satisfying solution by today.”
“Why is it that you can and I can’t?”Michael asked with a scowl.
Smirking, Tagore turned away, but not before saying, “because I’m family.”
The bodyguards had let her pass without a second glance while he stood there, taking in all the threatening gazes, contemplating what Tagore had just said.
He knew he was not family. He never had any aspirations anyway of becoming one. But because this... thing, whatever it was, had been reduced to a Family thing, it meant he had reached the line that he could not cross, not even for the richest gold in the world.
And he hated it. Michael hated having to give up not because he had to, but because he had no other choice but to give up, which left Michael thinking what might be his most nefarious plot to date.
If he can’t get in,, then he had to find someone, someone who was family, to get in for him. He didn’t mind not being hands-on with whatever was happening within a family, but anything surround it was his forte, his obsession.
“Anderson!”
When that familiar female voice broke the tense silence in the corridor, making all the bodyguards reach for the gun in their respective coats, Michael made his decision.
“Rosenkrantz,” he greeted, making certain to keep his facial expression blank. “You’ve heard, I presume?”
“Is it true, then?” she asked without further ado. Michael had to commend her for cutting to the chase.
“You have to be more specific,” Michael answered instead. He was right to though. He wouldn’t want to give her an answer she wasn’t prepared to know.
“The alliance. Is it true?”
Ah.
Michael nodded. “I believe they’re discussing it inside.” He jerked his head at the direction of the council’s office. “I still have to find out though who the Romanov sent as their representative.”
“It isn’t Zachary?”
Michael scoffed at Rosenkrantz. Of course it isn’t Zachary, you bint. “Zachary Romanov is too precious for them to lose if something goes wrong in the meeting. They need someone... expendable.”
Her lips pursed into a thin, straight line. Michael was amazed she still had not barged into the Council office yet.
After a moment of thoughtful silence, Rosenkrantz asked, “Do you think it is him?”
Now that he thought about it, it sounded plausible. “This is a Romanov-Rosenkrantz alliance...”
Rosenkrantz sighed. “I don’t want to think of him as someone expendable.”
“Understandable, of course.”
“But neither could I do anything more, if it’s really him inside.”
Frowning, Michael pulled her aside and away from the line of sight of the bodyguards. He feared they might recognise her if she stayed there too long. Rosenkrantz features weren’t that normal, after all.
“Rosenkrantz...”
“Vicerra was right,” she continued, looking away from him. “I’m already exiled from the coven. I shouldn’t be meddling with this.”
“Then why are you here?”
Rosenkrantz snorted, waving him off with a careless hand. “I’m here for something else.”
‘Is this it?’ Michael asked himself. It couldn’t be this easy, experience told him.
“Then what?”
Rosenkrantz stared at him sharply. “I’m just here to tie some loose ends, nothing more. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why-”
“Don’t, Anderson. Don’t.” Rosenkrantz stressed her last word with a firm grip on his arm. “You don’t want to get into another trouble with the Romanov,” she said before letting go. “I am certain Aki will warn you if trouble finds you, but until it does, don’t go seeking for it.”
It felt ironic for a moment that she was the one warning him when at first he thought he was the one who was supposed to be doing it. Now he could understand why Jeremy seemed so fixated with her. There was something in the girl that was just different; an aura that could not be seen nor felt but was certainly there. He wasn’t even sure if that made sense.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked her.
She glanced at the corridor again before turning back to him.
“Go back to Jeanne, I suppose.”
“Jeanne Smith?”
“The one and only,” she grinned.
He arched an eyebrow at her. What exactly was with that boy? First Amadeo, and then now her. “I must be introduced to this bloke.”
She laughed; a soft, tinkling sound that startled Michael. It had sounded like a faerie’s laugh, gentle yet mischievous.
“I don’t know if you can tolerate him, Anderson. He can be quite an insufferable.... git, was it?”
Scoffing, Michael crossed his arms. “I can see you have no trouble adapting.”
Her grin softened into a small smile. “Don’t worry. I have no intention of overstaying.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just here to tie loose ends, remember? Once all of my matters here are settled, I’m heading off.”
“May I know where?”
Rosenkrantz shook her pale, blond head. “It’ll be a place where none of you will be bothered.”
“That’s reassuring,” Michael retorted with a snort. She nodded before stepping back.
“Never let it be said then that Selene Rosenkrantz is anything but helpful.”
“I never said you were.”
She waved his comment off again then turned away. Michael watched her climb up the stairs; probably back to her classroom again. He was startled yet again when another blonde barrelled into him, almost tossing them both onto the floor.
Amadeo clung to him tightly, panic etched in his face.
“Have you seen Rosenkrantz? Was she here?”
“What?” he asked confusedly. “She was definitely here, but she just left. Why?”
“She ganged up on me and tried wringing out information from me about the alliance. I don’t know if she was asking about the alliance or about the mystery guest, but either way, I couldn’t really tell her and I don’t know what to say, and then-”
“Deo...”
“-oh god, what if she had just barged into the office and ruined everything?”
Michael sighed. This was what he meant when Amadeo could turn into a headless, panicking parrot if things got too much. “Deo, she didn’t do anything of that sort.”
Now it was the Italian’s turn to be surprised. “What?”
“Rosenkrantz. She was here, yes. We talked. Then she left.”
“But...” Amadeo’s eyebrows furrowed, meeting in consternation. “Why? What would she want to talk to you about?”
“Nothing. Just... tying some loose ends. Confirming some misconceptions.”
“Huh?”
Smiling wryly, Michael shook his head and stirred Amadeo away from the corridor, earlier goal pushed away. It might be for the best at the moment to calm the boy down. It was not as if Zide didn’t have anything under control here. For all he knew, this might even be one of Zide’s elaborate yet brilliantly stupid plans.
“Why don’t we skive Physics off for some tea at Clair de Lune, hm? There’s something I would like you to talk to me about, something about someone called Jeanne Smith. Familiar, isn’t he?”
-
Jeanne honestly didn’t know how it was possible, but once again, it was Selene who found him. He had gone as far as the library searching for her, but all it took for her to find him was going back to their classroom and wait. Upon seeing him entering, she instantly bounded off her seat and told him, “I found you!”
He had not wanted to tell her, “No, you were just sitting there waiting for me. I found you.” He could be a gentleman, every once in a while.
“Where were you?” she asked him as if she wasn’t the one who left him behind. Biting back a dry retort, he shrugged and told her he was looking for her.
“Oh,” she whispered with a sheepish look. “Sorry, I had something to do.”
“You did it then?”
“Yeah.”
Jeanne hummed in understanding, and then they lapsed into an awkward silence.
Jeanne really hated it when that happened. He was a terrible conversationalist and there was limit to just how enthusiastic Selene could get in making idle talks.
“So...” he trailed off, eyeing her shiftily. She instantly brightened up, smiling widely.
Too wide.
“Lovely weather, isn’t it?” she quipped. Jeanne internally shook his head and took his seat next to hers.
“Any chances of letting me know what got you in running off?” Jeanne asked casually.
Selene looked away thoughtfully. “Maybe,” she said after another short moment of silence. “It depends, I suppose, if I could.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s sort of personal, I mean, not just for me. I suppose the other party has to give permission as well.”
Smart evasion of identity there, Jeanne commented mentally.
“It’s okay, I’m just curious, really.”
Selene apologised again with a sheepish smile. Jeanne didn’t raise the topic again.
But that didn’t stop him from wondering just what exactly was happening here. Something really felt out of place, and it wasn’t just him.
The fillers will be posted to lj-user=rm_syndrome> instead because they're all, well, just snippets.
So! I don't know why this chapter is so short. I didn't know if I should continue on or cut it there.
CHAPTER FIVE
Zide was up to something. Michael couldn’t tell exactly what, but he knew. He could smell it like one could smell a dead rat. His benefactor was being too shifty, too sneaky- too suspicious. The air around him radiated of tension, like a lion on the prowl, waiting to pounce on its prey.
Michael wished he knew who Zide’s prey was. It could save him the trouble of getting Zide out of whatever trouble he’d most likely get himself into.
“Something’s happening,” Amadeo whispered to him harshly when he arrived at the fourth floor corridor. The blonde was out of breath; he must have rushed all the way up to the senior’s floor. “I passed by the Council’s office on my way to class, and there were all these men- in black suits- outside.”
Frowning, Michael checked the hallway for anyone watching them. Finding none, he pulled Amadeo into a broom closet and locked them in. Swinging light bulb switched on, the two settled in despite the mops and buckets and dusty feather-dusters surrounding them.
“Did you notice who they are?”
Amadeo shook his head. “No, but I can warrant a guess.”
“Are they from the Chen?”
Amadeo shook his head again. “They are not Asian, I’m certain of it. Definitely European, really tall. I think they’re the Romanov’s. I could have sworn I’ve seen some of them before.”
“Shit,” Michael swore. Zide really was up to something. Damn that bastard and his cunning ways for keeping him in the dark!
“Michael?”
Amadeo stared at worryingly.
Michael hesitated, still yet to decide on how to tell Amadeo about this part of the pan. He had kept it quiet, particularly his suspicions regarding Zide, because he didn’t want to worry the boy more than necessary. Amadeo already had too much in his plate; he still had another brother to worry about, a living brother who could be in a more dangerous position that they were. Anything could happen to them if the Romanov entered the scene, and he was aware Amadeo had a bad tendency of jumping the gun, so to speak, once overwhelmed.
But for the Romanov to actually arrive at London, at Niebel High, in such a short notice, something must have gone wrong with the alliance.
“I need to talk to Zide,” Michael said without much delay, throwing the broom closet door open. “Something’s happening, and I’ll be damned if that bastard puts us in trouble again.”
“Michael- Michael!”
“What?” He almost yelled, remembering only to keep his voice in equal tone lest he scares Amadeo off. The harried look on Amadeo’s face helped him calm down, even if just for the slightest bit, but it was definitely not enough to bring his heart rate down.
“What are we going to do about Jeremy?”
Shit yet again, Michael swore, not wasting another second to curse Zide and his stupid, stupid plan. There was nothing ‘brilliant’ about this.
“You distract him while I check this out. I’m sure he’ll head to the Council office once he gets wind of this.”
“What? But-Michael!”
Amadeo must have yelled his name one more time, but Michael could not be sure as he tore down the stairs and into the second floor hallway leading to the Council’s office.
-
Early that morning Jeanne arrived to a Niebel High buzzing with excitement. He couldn’t tell how he knew, but he couldn’t miss the hushed whispers passed furiously around from one ear to the next. When he was walking up the driveway, he almost got hit by a speeding sedan and barely even received a glance as a horde of men in crisp, black suits filed out. Two more cars followed, the third one opening their doors first before coming up to the middle one to open its door. Half a dozen of the men escorted some probably important figure into the building. The person was blond, that much Jeanne could tell over the hulking, bulky figures and the distance set between him and the group. The students were all gawking at the passing figure, and bully for them, they must have seen the person’s face.
Jeanne wondered who could be so important as to warrant a dozen bodyguards. ‘And two trained dogs,’ he added as said dogs bounded out of the third car, herded by two men wearing heavy vests.
Must have been a prince of some country, he guessed. But whoever the guest was, he wasn’t important enough to disrupt class.... well, as far as technicalities were concerned, that is, because everyone was clearly too preoccupied with the unannounced arrival of the mysterious person, leaning surreptitiously over each other gossiping and passing notes. The grapevines had never been this active, he realized with a start.
Even Selene seemed too tense to sit still, fidgeting frequently and jumping at the slightest of sound. She almost leapt out of her seat when Mr. Velmonte called for her attention.
“Well, Miss Rosenkrantz?” Mr. Velmonte pronounced the last syllable of her name with a sneer, clearly picking on the foreignness of it.
Selene stuttered in her answer, and for the first time since Jeanne had known her, Selene failed to answer a simple question that even he knew the answer to. Jeanne was beyond surprised as he gaped at her.
He kept an eye on her for the rest of the period, watching her carefully. Her fingers tapped rhythmically, and if not then her pen, gray eyes flickering to and fro at the clock every once in a minute. When the bell rang, signalling the end of the class, she bolted out of the room, bag haphazardly thrown over a shoulder.
Jeanne had never seen her act this haywire. She was always so calm and poised. Could it have something to do with their school’s visitor? Maybe he was some relative of hers and he was here for some business regarding her transfer. They’d pull her out of class though if so, right?
Shaking his head, Jeanne thought again. It was not right of him to think such. He had been linking anything out of the picture these days to her.
With so much questions in his head, Jeanne figured he should ask someone who might actually know something about this latest development. He thought of Amadeo and thought the blonde looked like someone who might know something about this.
But one swift look around the classroom told him Amadeo was already gone, and it turned out before the class was even properly dismissed. Standing amidst the sea of nervous students only made him warier of the going-ons. Something was up, and somehow, he felt very out of place.
-
“Tell me it is not true!”
Rosenkrantz rounded up on him before he could enter Class 3-A. Amadeo spared one glance through the classroom door’s window. Jeremy was already packing his things up, most likely preparing to go to the Council office as well.
“Vicerra!”
He really hoped Michael could handle Jeremy in case the latter slipped out of his sight, because he had the feeling that Rosenkrantz would cost him this responsibility.
Amadeo turned to glare at Rosenkrantz, who glared back with equal vehemence.
“Even if I told you it isn’t real, you would still march to Balteisse and see it for yourself. Why should I even bother to tell you?”
She snatched his arm before he could turn away.
Jeremy had already left his classroom and joined the sea of students loitering in the hallway. Bugger.
“The Romanov would have told you if it was true. Why didn’t you tell me the other night?”
Even if the world was about to end, the Romanov wouldn’t bother telling them- he and Michael- about it. They did not worth much to the Romanov, not as much as their brothers used to. “It was just a rumour. I did not know it was true until yesterday.”
“You should have told me still!” Rosenkrantz whined. It annoyed Amadeo, and not just slightly, that she acted like she actually had the right to demand this sort of thing from him. The nerve of her!
“And what good could it do if I did?”He raised his voice loud enough to attract attention despite the warming alarm sounding in his head. Some students were without a doubt already watching them curiously. “Even if I had told you, there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re exiled, Rosenkrantz, in case you have forgotten. There’s nothing you can do. I don’t even know why you’re here. You shouldn’t be here.”
“I have every damn reason to be here!” she hollered back. Heads were turning now, barely unable to hide their curiousity.
Damn it, he was supposed to be watching Jeremy. Not having a loud row with Selene bloody Rosenkrantz in a hallway filled with gossiping teenagers.
“You don’t have any inkling what is going on, Vicerra,” she continued with a warning look, her voice lowered to a hushed tone, hissing, that Amadeo had to strain his ears to catch her words.
Then she spun away before Amadeo could get the last say. For a moment then Amadeo didn’t know what to do, caught between doing what he had to do and what he thought he ought to do. While he was aware Jeremy could not be trusted, not when they still didn’t know what his true motives were, Rosenkrantz couldn’t go to the Council office like that and discover the truth by herself.
Amadeo wished Michael was here. He would have known what to do.
“Oh, sod it.” He groaned before chasing Rosenkrantz’s disappearing figure.
-
True to what Amadeo had said, the entire corridor outside the Council’s office was guarded by men in dark suits, scaring off any students wishing to cross. He had hidden behind a water fountain, waiting for an opening. When a quarter-hour passed with no hope of getting in, Michael almost gave up- until Shaila Tagore passed by the foundtain carrying a stack of papers.
Michael slipped out of his hiding spot with the ease of a professional cat burglar and trailed two paces behind Tagore.
But before reaching the first guard, Tagore spun on her heels and glared at him, scowling darkly.
“What are you playing at, Anderson?”
Michael raised an eyebrow at her, silently inquiring her if she was even seriously asking him that question. He thought she should have already known why. They never were on the same side of a fight at the same time, but even Michael had to admit, albeit grudgingly, that she was one smart girl.
“I need to speak with Chris, and I can’t do that with all these... bodyguards.” Michael waved at the men, some of which were watching them with hawk-like gazes.
Tagore glanced at them over her shoulder before turning back to glare at him.
“They are not Chris’, if you are wondering.”
“Oh, I know that. I’m not that culturally unaware, you know.”
She scowled, not amused with his snide remark.
“Nevertheless, you can’t see Chris. He’s in a very important meeting at the moment, and I’m afraid it will stretch until the end of the day. Perhaps tomorrow as well, if they can’t reach a satisfying solution by today.”
“Why is it that you can and I can’t?”Michael asked with a scowl.
Smirking, Tagore turned away, but not before saying, “because I’m family.”
The bodyguards had let her pass without a second glance while he stood there, taking in all the threatening gazes, contemplating what Tagore had just said.
He knew he was not family. He never had any aspirations anyway of becoming one. But because this... thing, whatever it was, had been reduced to a Family thing, it meant he had reached the line that he could not cross, not even for the richest gold in the world.
And he hated it. Michael hated having to give up not because he had to, but because he had no other choice but to give up, which left Michael thinking what might be his most nefarious plot to date.
If he can’t get in,, then he had to find someone, someone who was family, to get in for him. He didn’t mind not being hands-on with whatever was happening within a family, but anything surround it was his forte, his obsession.
“Anderson!”
When that familiar female voice broke the tense silence in the corridor, making all the bodyguards reach for the gun in their respective coats, Michael made his decision.
“Rosenkrantz,” he greeted, making certain to keep his facial expression blank. “You’ve heard, I presume?”
“Is it true, then?” she asked without further ado. Michael had to commend her for cutting to the chase.
“You have to be more specific,” Michael answered instead. He was right to though. He wouldn’t want to give her an answer she wasn’t prepared to know.
“The alliance. Is it true?”
Ah.
Michael nodded. “I believe they’re discussing it inside.” He jerked his head at the direction of the council’s office. “I still have to find out though who the Romanov sent as their representative.”
“It isn’t Zachary?”
Michael scoffed at Rosenkrantz. Of course it isn’t Zachary, you bint. “Zachary Romanov is too precious for them to lose if something goes wrong in the meeting. They need someone... expendable.”
Her lips pursed into a thin, straight line. Michael was amazed she still had not barged into the Council office yet.
After a moment of thoughtful silence, Rosenkrantz asked, “Do you think it is him?”
Now that he thought about it, it sounded plausible. “This is a Romanov-Rosenkrantz alliance...”
Rosenkrantz sighed. “I don’t want to think of him as someone expendable.”
“Understandable, of course.”
“But neither could I do anything more, if it’s really him inside.”
Frowning, Michael pulled her aside and away from the line of sight of the bodyguards. He feared they might recognise her if she stayed there too long. Rosenkrantz features weren’t that normal, after all.
“Rosenkrantz...”
“Vicerra was right,” she continued, looking away from him. “I’m already exiled from the coven. I shouldn’t be meddling with this.”
“Then why are you here?”
Rosenkrantz snorted, waving him off with a careless hand. “I’m here for something else.”
‘Is this it?’ Michael asked himself. It couldn’t be this easy, experience told him.
“Then what?”
Rosenkrantz stared at him sharply. “I’m just here to tie some loose ends, nothing more. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why-”
“Don’t, Anderson. Don’t.” Rosenkrantz stressed her last word with a firm grip on his arm. “You don’t want to get into another trouble with the Romanov,” she said before letting go. “I am certain Aki will warn you if trouble finds you, but until it does, don’t go seeking for it.”
It felt ironic for a moment that she was the one warning him when at first he thought he was the one who was supposed to be doing it. Now he could understand why Jeremy seemed so fixated with her. There was something in the girl that was just different; an aura that could not be seen nor felt but was certainly there. He wasn’t even sure if that made sense.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked her.
She glanced at the corridor again before turning back to him.
“Go back to Jeanne, I suppose.”
“Jeanne Smith?”
“The one and only,” she grinned.
He arched an eyebrow at her. What exactly was with that boy? First Amadeo, and then now her. “I must be introduced to this bloke.”
She laughed; a soft, tinkling sound that startled Michael. It had sounded like a faerie’s laugh, gentle yet mischievous.
“I don’t know if you can tolerate him, Anderson. He can be quite an insufferable.... git, was it?”
Scoffing, Michael crossed his arms. “I can see you have no trouble adapting.”
Her grin softened into a small smile. “Don’t worry. I have no intention of overstaying.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just here to tie loose ends, remember? Once all of my matters here are settled, I’m heading off.”
“May I know where?”
Rosenkrantz shook her pale, blond head. “It’ll be a place where none of you will be bothered.”
“That’s reassuring,” Michael retorted with a snort. She nodded before stepping back.
“Never let it be said then that Selene Rosenkrantz is anything but helpful.”
“I never said you were.”
She waved his comment off again then turned away. Michael watched her climb up the stairs; probably back to her classroom again. He was startled yet again when another blonde barrelled into him, almost tossing them both onto the floor.
Amadeo clung to him tightly, panic etched in his face.
“Have you seen Rosenkrantz? Was she here?”
“What?” he asked confusedly. “She was definitely here, but she just left. Why?”
“She ganged up on me and tried wringing out information from me about the alliance. I don’t know if she was asking about the alliance or about the mystery guest, but either way, I couldn’t really tell her and I don’t know what to say, and then-”
“Deo...”
“-oh god, what if she had just barged into the office and ruined everything?”
Michael sighed. This was what he meant when Amadeo could turn into a headless, panicking parrot if things got too much. “Deo, she didn’t do anything of that sort.”
Now it was the Italian’s turn to be surprised. “What?”
“Rosenkrantz. She was here, yes. We talked. Then she left.”
“But...” Amadeo’s eyebrows furrowed, meeting in consternation. “Why? What would she want to talk to you about?”
“Nothing. Just... tying some loose ends. Confirming some misconceptions.”
“Huh?”
Smiling wryly, Michael shook his head and stirred Amadeo away from the corridor, earlier goal pushed away. It might be for the best at the moment to calm the boy down. It was not as if Zide didn’t have anything under control here. For all he knew, this might even be one of Zide’s elaborate yet brilliantly stupid plans.
“Why don’t we skive Physics off for some tea at Clair de Lune, hm? There’s something I would like you to talk to me about, something about someone called Jeanne Smith. Familiar, isn’t he?”
-
Jeanne honestly didn’t know how it was possible, but once again, it was Selene who found him. He had gone as far as the library searching for her, but all it took for her to find him was going back to their classroom and wait. Upon seeing him entering, she instantly bounded off her seat and told him, “I found you!”
He had not wanted to tell her, “No, you were just sitting there waiting for me. I found you.” He could be a gentleman, every once in a while.
“Where were you?” she asked him as if she wasn’t the one who left him behind. Biting back a dry retort, he shrugged and told her he was looking for her.
“Oh,” she whispered with a sheepish look. “Sorry, I had something to do.”
“You did it then?”
“Yeah.”
Jeanne hummed in understanding, and then they lapsed into an awkward silence.
Jeanne really hated it when that happened. He was a terrible conversationalist and there was limit to just how enthusiastic Selene could get in making idle talks.
“So...” he trailed off, eyeing her shiftily. She instantly brightened up, smiling widely.
Too wide.
“Lovely weather, isn’t it?” she quipped. Jeanne internally shook his head and took his seat next to hers.
“Any chances of letting me know what got you in running off?” Jeanne asked casually.
Selene looked away thoughtfully. “Maybe,” she said after another short moment of silence. “It depends, I suppose, if I could.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s sort of personal, I mean, not just for me. I suppose the other party has to give permission as well.”
Smart evasion of identity there, Jeanne commented mentally.
“It’s okay, I’m just curious, really.”
Selene apologised again with a sheepish smile. Jeanne didn’t raise the topic again.
But that didn’t stop him from wondering just what exactly was happening here. Something really felt out of place, and it wasn’t just him.
The fillers will be posted to lj-user=rm_syndrome> instead because they're all, well, just snippets.