The next day at the café was quiet. The Master was in the back talking on the phone. A worried voice of a female was on the other end. He came back out with something scribbled on a napkin and gave it to Clay. Clay read it and nodded.
"We're all going to Ringo's today. She wanted to talk to us."
Everyone nodded. Akane was with Stein getting his arm repaired. Clay called him, informing his partner about where they were going after work. Akane claimed he would meet them on the way there.
They all headed out, everyone quiet on the way there. Akane soon met up with them, carrying a bag with him. They found their way to a white washed mansion with two white doors with a bright red apple on it. Clay rang the doorbell and waited. The doors creaked and they entered into what looked like a living room. They all walked in and stood in the empty room, only decorated with lavish cream colored couches and a white marble table.
"My furniture doesn't bite you know. You can sit on it."
Ringo was standing at the top of the stair case, wearing black shorts and a button up white shirt. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had on black suspenders. She came down the stairs in her socks that came a little past her knees. Stopping in front of Clay, she stood right at his shoulders. She had a blank face for a moment before looking up at him.
"Who said you could grow?" She asked, pulling him down by the ear. Clay winced bending down at the mercy of his ear. Ringo smiled and let him go.
Clay rubbed his ear. "It's nice to see you again, but why are you here?"
"Gee, I missed you too. Glad to see you're doing well. You always have to be to straight forward, except when you're trying to lie. You suck at lying." She frowned picking up a brush and sitting on the couch. She motioned them to do the same as she started brushing through her hair.
"We heard about your Traitor problem and we know it's the witch Shaula. We've ran into her sisters a couple times. We don't know exactly what they're all doing, but it defiantly isn't some sort of group project. All three of them are representatives of entities, like most witches are. Medusa is the snake while her older sister, Arachne is the spider and Shaula the scorpion. Shaula is the youngest after Medusa, and much like Medusa, she takes an interest in test subjects. The test subjects being your fellow NOT students and long with some of the staff. As of now, we don't know why she's doing what she's doing and we only know what I've said so far. As for the way she gains the control of the Traitors is the toxin as you know, but she has to have some sort of psychical contact with them at some point or she can use one of her Traitors to make more Traitors from those who aren't already infected." She paused and narrowed her eyes.
"Like your Eternal Feather friend. I remembered seeing her at the bazaar talking to a strange woman. She purchased a ring, but when I went to see Stein about it later, he said there wasn't one on her anywhere, not even in her bag. Shaula is a witch but she still has the impulses as a human teenager, meaning that she has flaws and she will slip up. She has attachments to things like jewelry and toys. Her version of the toys being the students she controls."
Clay ran his hand through his hair. "So basically she's controlling a mob of zombies."
"Exactly, but there is something off about Shaula, and we've never seen it in any of her sisters. She has a sort of glitch of you will. She does have a weakness but it isn't a sort of combat weakness, but I guess it can give us an advantage when we're ready to capture her."
Soryn came sliding in, wearing an oversized hoodie and white button-up dress shirt with a black tie. Her pants were black dress pants with a belt that had the DWMA skull on it. "Her biggest weakness, is music. She goes undercover sometimes by the name of Laula. We've spotted her at several concerts that we've had in the surrounding area. She's a big fan of Ringo's concerts." She smiled and slid off into the main hall, yelling about making phone calls.
"So we're going to hold one in Death City. That's why I've asked you all to come. We're going to have people in the crowd looking for her. I will personally invite her to the concert as a…special guest, but I'll have to invite regular people along with her to make sure there isn't any suspicion. I cleared it with Lord Death already and he says that it's okay. The concert won't be until two months from now, so we have to be careful until then. "
It was quiet for a moment. Ringo had stopped brushing her hair and Soryn had disappeared into another room. She stood, only to bow, making her perfectly brushed hair fall over her shoulders.
"I apologize if I had scared any of you in the alleyway the other day. I didn't mean for you to see me act like that."
Clay stood and patted her head. "You saved our skin. A little blood splatter isn't going to scare us away."
Ringo looked up and smiled. The others started to leave. Clay escorted Anya, Tsugumi and Meme home, leaving Akane behind. He held out a bag with his good arm.
"These are your clothes from the other day. I washed them for you." He avoided looking at her directly and instead focused on the floor. He felt the brush of her hand when she took the bag and he could still feel her gaze lingering on him.
"Ever since that day in the café, you haven't looked at me or much less spoken to me and you're always avoiding me."
She flinched when she saw him finally look at her. He stormed at her until her back was against a wall. Taking her chin in his hand, he glared into her eyes. She held no emotion. She wasn't even shaking. Her face remained calm and collected. He did this to Tsugumi the same way a few days ago. The poor girl was shaking so bad she couldn't speak much less attempt to get away from him.
"Why aren't you afraid of me? You know what I can do just as I know what you can do. I finished my training. You saw what I did to those people. You know what I'm capable of and yet you can stand here and look at me just like we're friends? Everything isn't like it used to be." He tried to stop the trembling in his voice.
"You shouldn't talk to your superiors like that Red Star."
Liazi's voice came from the doorway. She was standing there with her arms leaning in the doorway. Akane backed off, putting his glasses back on his face. He kept his calm composer, but both girls saw the surprise on his face when Liazi called him by his clan name. A purple haired girl came in behind Liazi. She was about the same height as her. Her eyes were an electric blue as she scanned the room. Her sight locked on Ringo for a moment. She bowed, surprising everyone in the room.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Madam White Star. My name is Yumi and I'll be Liazi's weapon from now on." She spoke in a light hearted tone, seeming unafraid as she stood with the two most deadliest people in the room.
Ringo looked at the girl for a second before looking to Liazi who simply shrugged. "Stein said we are compatible. He told me just to try it and see what happens. Besides, she's shiny."
Yumi had smiled. Ringo looked at the girl skeptically then returned the over formal bow. "Ringo Valentine, at your service my lady."
Liazi rolled her eyes and led Yumi towards her section of the house. Ringo watched them leave only to see Akane staring wide eyed at her.
"You're the new White Star?" He felt his voice shake. Ringo looked at him, her expression sorrowful. She nodded.
"When we became separated after the second stage of our training, they took me Sri Lanka then to Japan. As always they beat the training into you until you force it back on them, then they let you go. They keep an eye on you to see how you do. They used to keep a very close eye on you Akane. After my star was achieved, they let me go. They didn't tell me what to do or where to go. I found Soryn and Liazi and came here after hearing about your traitor issue. And that's that."
Akane turned to leave. Ringo bit into her lip, walking back towards her side of the house. She stopped, not wanting to look back, but also wanting to see if he was still there. Without thinking, she ran into her room not daring to glance back at Akane, who silently watched from afar.