As he entered silence descended on the room as the voice of a middle-aged woman cut through.
"Your Late Damon, that's the third time this week." his mother said Coldly. "Don't Let it happen again, Do you understand?"
"Yes mother" Damon Sighed as his gaze surveyed the room. As usual the three dining tables ran the length of the room , old wood polished smooth and at the far end , beneath the bright yellow glow of the crystal chandelier , sat all his siblings , surprisingly all twenty-nine of them by his last count.
Boys, girls, ages ranging from ten to sixteen. They sat in orderly rows . Some were eating in Silence , heads bowed over steaming plates, others whispered between bites, trading glances and smirks as the Female attendants walked by wearing tight black suits. Lastly at the head of the Center table sat Mother Morrigan wearing a red blouse, black pants suit combo.
She wasn't tall or imposing , Well not at a first glance . Her frame was slender with, posture graceful hair like winter snow flowing down to the nape of her neck, golden eyes soft ,but hypnotic. Her presence.... was the kind that made even the loudest child sit straight with a single gaze.
Withdrawing his gaze, He took his seat next to Fin, a thin young man wearing glasses with chestnut hair and clear blue eyes much like Damon's.
Raising his gaze from the book in his hand, Fin softly smiled and spoke ,"Good morning Damon. Did you sleep well?"
looking at Fin's smile and Vincent siting across the table I felt like smacking him. " haha how funny, you know could have just woken me up when you took the book right?"
"Sure I could, but how would you learn if I did? "Fin said lightly laughing.
Not interested continuing this conversation Damon gave a silent nod to Henry seated on Fin's right, looking at the feast on the table that didn't meet his definition of breakfast. He felt something was odd about the portions being served today. The luxurious feast was different from the usually breakfast.
'Ah! guess training really does start today'
Shockingly the meal consisted of Beef , a medium rare steak , brisket deviled eggs, smoked sausages, mashed potatoes , green peas, sauce and a fruit salad. He first started by cutting a slice of sausage with his knife. Taking a bite, he started smiling from ear to ear without realizing it.
In that instant he was swept away by the flavors as juices filled his mouth, now drooling for more he moved towards the other dishes as Vincent spoke.
"Its nice to see you enjoying your food so much, dear brother" he said with a smirk.
"Make sure to eat a lot"
Ignoring Vincent for a moment , Damon tried to continued his meal but he was now apprehensive , Vincent apparently laid the trap, but what did he do ? starting down at his meal Damon's heart sank to his stomach.
'there's no way right ?? he wouldn't dare tamper with my meal , not with Mother and the attendants around right?'
Now panicking and still feeling Vincent's gaze, Damon paused taking a deep breath, turning to his left he noticed Josh whom he hardly spoke to and a got an idea.
He and Josh were the same age just like Henry and Fin, but Josh was slightly shorter, chubby with Curley black hair and brown eyes .
Noticing Damon looking at him suspiciously Josh stopped eating,
" What's wrong Damon?, need something ?"Josh asked curiously.
"Ah , I was just wondering if you wanted more food ?" Damon said smiling sheepishly.
"Really!, I can have it ?" said Josh excitedly, completely oblivious to what Damon was thinking.
'This guy's so easy , sorry Josh, but your sacrifice will not be in vain'. Shaking his head Damon responded , "Of course you can have it, were brothers are aren't we". Passing his plates over to Josh he triumphantly smiled at Vincent thinking he won this game. Yet disappointingly, Vincent was still smiling and he didn't understand why, That was until their Mother spoke.
"Quickly finish your meals Children , you all have an eventful day planned for you" she said calmly.
"For those scheduled for training, you'll be following Vincent to the sensory room to have your affinities tested. If the rest of you are interested then you can watch the process as well but don't forget your language class with Ashley and your Botany class with Jeremy." Despite how informative those classes were everyone hated them , often playing hooky.
Finishing her coffee , mother stepped away from the dining table and left the hall taking Castiel, Jacob and 2 Female Attendants with her.
Watching her leave, it was at that moment Damon finally understood why Vincent was still smiling .
Feeling a rough hand grab his shoulder he looked back to see Vincent, some how standing behind him , smiling like the devil himself with his dirty blond hair flowing without wind.
'Ah shit'
As Vincent's grip on his shoulder tightened Damon pleaded "Have mercy brother please!"
"Mercy? kukuku "Vincent only laughed in response.
' tsk ....I really hate this guy'
*****
Flip--
A black glove delicately turned a page , The motion, though simple, conveyed a graceful fluidity.
"Are you sure it was right to ignore what Vincent did lady Morrigan? Shouldn't we stop him from pulling these pranks." The blond haired attendant paused to adjust her glasses and continued. " That child took a pain enhancer from my supply box , I suspect he put it in Damon's breakfast"
Vincent , quite the talented young man but his personality is so tiring. He's completed 5 mission so far but all his clients gave bad reviews.
Flip--
"Its Fine Rosa , despite how Vincent acts he takes his task seriously and knows he shouldn't go overboard"
Morrigan causally replied. Her tone sounding calm , as if it was a trivial matter.
But it wasn't a trivial matter .
At least, Rose didn't think so
"It'll certainly bring forth a lot of headaches if this continues."
Despite the others avoiding him , Vincent was still respected by the younger kids for his strength and experience. They look up to him and might even strive to become like him instead of Lady Morrigan.
Believing it to be a more attainable goal.
"I don't mind disciplining that child myself lady Morrigan, with your permission of course" said the Redheaded second Attendant in a monotone voice.
"That wont be necessary Diana."
Morrigan glanced back at Rosa and Diana to affirm her stance on the matter, passing them some documents she spoke , "I'd like you both to look into this instead , apparently there has been a rise in cases of kidnapping in Koinonia. The police found the pattern, the victims seem to be from single father households and arrive home from school before said guardian. street cameras managed to catch moments before the victims suddenly disappeared."
Glancing at the report she received Diana thought back to the civil war that took her heard father from her., The war was caused by the fall of Koinonia's King Nicklaus Evenus "The Wise" at the hands of his own treacherous eldest son Lucien Evenus.
Lucien was known for detesting his father's ideals of accepting all people despite the nations prosperity , yet no one believed such a charming man would poison his own mother and father.
He had most of the nobles dancing in the palm of his hand , completely at his mercy , But the people spoke out against the false king and it only made him more vile, that's when the raids started.
His Followers dragged the men, women and children who were welcomed into Koinonia out of their homes, Forcing them into slavery bound by brandings burnt into the flesh on their backs. Those who resisted weren't just branded , no instead they had to watch their families be burnt alive. Her Father was one of the victims due to her actions, she was but a frail sixteen year old at the time as a degenerate nobleman tried to force himself on her . Her resistance led to his death and yet her father only smiled as she clung to him for the last time.
As she was reminiscing on the past, Diana burnt the document in her hand as killing intent begun leaking out from her, standing behind her Jacob could feel the temperature rising as if he was near a rising flame . His black hair now dripping sweat from the heat.
Matching Morrigan's gaze Diana retracted her killing intent and spoke," Are we allowed to use deadly force? "
"Just don't cause to much collateral damage , since it almost July and we don't want to draw the attention of any churches for them to get involved"
"why aren't they getting involved, this might impact the summer festival?" said Rosa as her brows knit in confusion.
Feeling like laughing Morrigan's lips gently pulled up as she spoke.
" That's why were sending Castiel there, I have a sneaking suspicion something is brewing inside the church of Olympia and our little friend in the guest room knows something. I'm hoping to get this resolved by Wednesday".
"It shall be done" Confidently Rosa and Diana spoke in unison before dispersing into the shadows.
******
"What? what happened ? where's Vincent? Where am I!?"
Damon's mind was confused beyond belief . The last thing he remembers was looing into Vincent's Green eyes . He felt like he had been dreaming and just now woke up.
However, he had no idea where he was. Was this the sensory room?
Glancing around , I finally took notice of my surrounding, An inexplicably beautiful garden stood before me. I felt a sudden loss of breath as I stood there blanky, mesmerized by the scene.
chirp-- chirp-- chirp
Birds freely roamed and chirped around the cloudless blue sky ,Lush green plants vibrantly coring the surroundings of the garden sway in the wind and occasionally you could hear he repetitive yet relaxing sound of the bamboo fountain planted in the center of the garden.
The more I walked around the garden the more i was left mesmerized .
"It's nice isn't it?"
Sitting comfortably nearby was a seemingly old woman sipping tea. Her calm demeanor blending with the tranquil surrounding.
Warily i took two steps back and observed the stranger before me.
Ashy gray hair, Deep black eyes , and a stern but kind looking face.
"Relax child, I'm not gonna bite"
"Who are you "