Part 4
Well, they all did meet up in their tent after breakfast with Cecilia being the last one there. Gia was working on the computer setup by her sleeping bag. Riley learned another of Gia's legacies is to project thoughts like Gia projected a mental diagram of the building they were infiltrating.
"Alright, what's the whole plan? I feel like you've left me outta of it again." Cecilia huffed.
"Our wonderful mole Lexa alerted us to a newbie that is already in a bad position." Casey started.
Gia pulled out a picture of their target the same way as the diagram of the building, from her forehead.
"Sidney Amelia Mattis, sixteen years old and the daughter of Colonel Abraham Mattis. The mother died in childbirth, father is the head of security and military affairs for the academy."
Riley recognized the name of the girl. Archibald had been replaced when she was six and Sidney was her friend when she was there. They played together. She couldn't believe the girl had also developed legacies.
"Lexa recommends we invaded the annual Earth Garde ball in a few days and grab her then." Casey continued.
"We'd take us, my father, Riley, and Cade," Kat added.
"Did any of you realize there's a much simpler option for getting this girl?" Cecilia casually questioned.
Riley could notice the subtle hints of humor on Cecilia's face. Casey's shoulders slumped as he dropped his hands to his side.
"And what would that be oh wise one?" Casey inquired, raising an eyebrow at her. Subtle hints of annoyance decorated his face.
"Send two people into the academy, nab her, get out, run like the wind." Cecilia simply answered.
"Are you nuts!" Kat demanded. she glared at her like she'd just killed someone she loved.
"The academy is incredibly easy to get into but impossible to get out," Casey argued, crossing his arms firmly across his chest.
"You want to throw two unfortunate souls to the government? Who died and put you in charge?" Gia exclaimed in agitation.
"Isn't the whole point of your organization to stay away from the clutches of the government?" Adelina questioned quietly.
Riley watched as they erupted into arguing over the fact.
"Alright! Simmer down!" Cecilia hollered over all of them.
"We'll take two volunteers to allow themselves to be caught. Don't worry we'll have a much smaller base camp set up near San Francisco. That way once you get her we flee and then come back to camp. Okay?" Cecilia questioned.
Casey sat with his arms crossed, he didn't look pleased. Riley could sense he was livid but not showing it.
"Let me remind you who really started this organization. I am not throwing anyone at the government just to save a poor soul already trapped in the academy. Why pick her? We don't snatch people directly from the academy that's suicide." He hissed.
"Because her in the hands of the enemy is a dangerous idea." Cecilia shot back, twice as venomous.
"It'd better be a damn good reason then or I'm pulling it," Casey warned. Cecilia rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"This girl has already shown two legacies in rapid succession. Telekinesis and a legacy Malcolm hasn't come across yet. It's like she can manipulate her surroundings and it's not telekinesis she's using. He doesn't know if it's one or two legacies working in sync. It can act just like dreyen. But she can drain the energy out of anything and turn into pure energy. She's managed to almost kill a whole squadron of guards. She can produce my energy blast by draining her surrounds. But Malcolm also said she can control people like they're her puppets. He's been studying it trying to figure out what she's doing." Cecilia explained.
"Could be a version of energy manipulation on steroids?" Kat questioned.
"Yeah, like she's controlling the energy on an almost molecular level. Maybe that's why she can mimic dreyen. Legacies come from Loric energy don't they?" Riley inquired.
"That'd be a very dangerous legacy if so." Henri bluntly replied.
Riley hadn't heard the boy speak yet this meeting.
"Spoken like someone who's spent a lot of time with the Bill Nye wannabe," Cecilia smirked.
"Bill Nye wannabe?" Gia and Kat questioned in equal confusion.
Riley chuckled. "Her nickname for your grandfather."
"Is there really anything your father hasn't told you?" Cecilia laughed.
"He never told me you majorly kicked his butt in your first training session. Malcolm did." Riley quipped.
"Of course he wouldn't. He suffered a major blow to his pride that day." Cecilia chuckled.
"So because this girl has such an intriguing yet dangerous legacy we want to get her away from the government before they can use her against us." Casey calmly stated. Riley tensed, Casey was a lot like her father. Calm before the storm.
"Wonderful. And who exactly do you think will want to go on this suicide mission?" Casey harshly questioned. His voice had an edge sharp as an exacto knife. It like he still didn't completely approve.
"It'll be volunteer only, Cecilia answered coldly.
"Like anyone in their right mind would volunteer for this stupid mission." Casey scoffed.
"I'll go." Riley blurted.
That shut him right up. He was actually dumbstruck for a moment. His jaw had dropped and his hands frozen in mid-gesture. Then he regained his composure.
"No, you aren't," Casey growled.
"It's volunteer only isn't it? I'll volunteer to go." Riley argued.
Casey sighed in defeat. "I'll go. Gotta make sure you don't get yourself killed."
Riley glared daggers at him. Stupid protective boys. Does he not believe she could do it? But what she didn't realize was that his cheeks weren't red from anger, but blushing. Kat picked up on it and grinned to herself. She'd never met this side of him. The easily flustered and fiercely protective side. It was cute in a way. Mr. macho did have a weakness.
"Step one needs more than two people," Cecilia added.
"What exactly is step one?" Casey drawled, gesturing with his hands again.
Kat perked up, a mischievous look on her face. "A goose chase mission."
"Exactly. I presume Casey lets you plan those." Cecilia smiled. Riley could sense her relax a little.
"I volunteer to give em a run for their money," Kat replied with a mischievous grin.
"I'll leave the planning to you as long as I see and approve of it beforehand." Cecilia nodded.
"Excellent." Kat cheered, jumping up in the air with joy.
"Excuse me!" Gia snapped.
Kat flinched. She'd forgotten about her little sister's protests.
"I promise Gia I'll be careful," Kat reassured.
"As if. Dad and I will help however we can. Some of us can't flee multiple guards at once." Gia offered, but they could all sense the tension in her voice.
"Alright, so Adelina? Henri? Want to jump on the bandwagon?" Cecilia questioned.
"Why not?" Henri shrugged.
Adelina looked semi annoyed but nodded. "Where my brother goes I go. Someone gotta keep his impulsiveness in check." Adelina teased. Henri feigned his hurt. Kat chuckled.
"Well, then I don't think we'll need any other volunteers. This has just become a top-secret mission. We'll clue in the Garde that are here and see if Sam can get a message to Lexa without alerting Earth Garde." Cecilia spoke simply.
"You guys want to help me plan?" Kat questioned.
Everyone but Riley nodded.
"I'm gonna get some air." Riley sighed.
She left just like that. Everyone shared confused looks, except Casey.
"Does someone need to go after her?" Adelina questioned.
"Let her be. She just needs to be alone. It's been a rough few days. She just needs to do her own thing." Casey answered,
Katarina picked up the hints of defeat and sadness in his tone. She was going to try and draw that connection somehow. She'd never seen him act like he does around her. The new girl had an odd effect on their leader and it concerned her. Would this new girl affect how he made decisions? Could she be his undoing? Would she put them all in danger? Katarina kept quiet though. She'd dwell on it later but for now, she had a government agency to screw with.
Riley had found her way to the river they'd arrived in. She strolled along it slowly. With her telekinesis, she gently moved stones and twigs. Could she manipulate water with telekinesis? She'd never tried that before.
She tried but failed. She'd probably need an elemental legacy to control it.
She used it to pick up a rock. She clasped her hand around it and threw it into the water. It skipped across the water twice before sinking. She smiled. She got another rock and repeated the process.
After the fourth or fifth she realized her hand was changing again. She thought it was her invisibility acting up again. She was going to have to work on that one. But it wasn't invisibility. Every time she made a rock land in her hand her hand took on the characteristics of the rock.
Like in Greek mythology when Medusa stared at people and turned them to stone her hand had turned to stone. But she could still move it.
She walked to a tree and place her hand flat against the bark. Her hand changed to fit the bark of the tree. She punched it with the same hand and look in surprise. Her hand was as hard as the bark too. The name of the legacy popped into her mind. Externa, the ability to turn your body into any material. Her father was going to be thrilled.
No, he's first gonna be livid that she was captured. then he'll be over the moon about the externa, and then he's going to be murderous when he finds out this all for a mission to save a girl. Yeah, he was gonna blow a fuse over the whole matter.
But she felt a need to help save Sidney. Just like her, this girl deserved none of this and never asked for it. Her father was a horrible man she knew from first-hand experience. He was a cold, ruthless, calculating man. She was pretty sure he wasn't capable of compassion or sympathy. If anything he's worse than Archibald was. In his eyes Sidney was never good enough for him, he wanted a son not some pathetic excuse for a daughter. Riley knew Sidney has pretty much grown up in the academy under the merciless eye of her father. If Riley got a chance to escape the government so did Sidney.
That girl deserved a chance at life more than anyone.
But the officials can't find out that they're friends. Riley's father knew but Sidney's father couldn't find out. He'd punish her severely. Sidney was to focus on trying to make something outta herself not socializing.
Riley wondered how Mrs. Raya was. Probably sad she lost another one. First, her son then Riley her only aid. She also contemplated Casey's reaction to her going on the mission. She'd never seen such a reaction from him. Like the very idea of her leaving sparked something deep down inside him.
She skipped another stone across the river. She saw up ahead a small and delicate looking girl surface from the river. Riley stopped dead in her tracks.
This girl looked flawless, she had shimmering black hair and pale skin. Her blue sundress was stuck to her, probably wet. The girl noticed her and stopped dead in her tracks too. An older boy was sitting on the bank on a blanket. He tossed her a towel, completely oblivious to Riley's presence.
"Hi?" Riley questioned.
"A?" The girl quivered, wrapping the towel around her small frame.
The boy looked at her curiously. "Camp?" He questioned.
"Yeah, I needed to just get some air," Riley answered.
"Yeah, it can get stressful some days. New recruit?" The boy questioned. Riley nodded.
"I wondered where Casey was during the move." The boy chuckled.
"A!" The girl snapped. Riley was kind of confused that all she seemed to be saying was A.
"Aqua, relax I highly doubt she's here to turn us in." The boy reassured.
"Well, I'm going to go back to camp. Go back to whatever you were doing." Riley awkwardly spoke.
This whole situation seemed strange.
"It's okay. No one stays with us for long anyway. Usually, Iggy scares them." He smirked.
"A!" Aqua snapped.
"See ya later Riley. Good luck on your mission." The boy smiled.
Riley walked away from them. She only got a short distance when she went to turn around to ask him how he knew her name but they were gone. The blanket, the boy, and the girl. Riley decided she should probably run back to camp. It was getting a little bit weird out here.
After lunch, they had another meeting in their tent.
"Alright after this meeting all of you pack and we'll leave tonight for Belmont Michigan," Cecilia instructed.
"But until then this is our plan ladies and gentlemen." Casey started.
"Katarina and Henri will both be using their legacies to stay right above the entrance of the earth Garde station. Adelina will be perched on the sign above the doorway. We wait for our friends to rotate shifts and once they're out the door. You three will attack with no mercy. Adelina and Henri you will make it very steamy for our friends while Katarina leads them away from you. One block away Riley and I will be hiding in an alleyway. We all join up in this shopping plaza." Casey explained, pointing to a large area on the map.
"Then all five of us will split up. Give em a run for their money. Only two of us can get caught. In the event, one of us is caught. Like take Kat for example if she gets caught she is to whisper into her mike Six down. That way we and our tech nerds behind the scenes know who's captured and who's not. Once two of us has been captured the rest of us are to get out of there and run for the black van in the Best Buy parking lot. Sam, Gia, and Six will all be in there ready to make a speedy getaway. Questions?" Casey inquired.
Adelina raised her hand.
"Yes, Adel?"Casey inquired.
"What if you're captured? Your not the child of a Garde." Adelina innocently asked.
Kat smirked. "Yeah oh, fearless leader. What happens when you get caught?"
Casey grinned. "My signal shall be Hera has been captured again."
Riley couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. She didn't care that all the others were at loss for the joke Casey cracked.
"See I've missed not having someone to understand my mythology jokes," Casey smirked.
"That's a long code. It's unreasonable." Kat argued.
"So's Hera." Riley quipped.
"What are you reading my mind?" Casey laughed.
Kat looked lost. Cecilia smirked.
"Ignore them they're being geeks about mythology."
"Greek mythology." Riley corrected. Casey laughed.
"Moving on once caught you will end up in the academy. One could hope they take you straight to Malcolm where he will examine you and test you." Cecilia continued.
Riley cleared her throat.
"Did I miss something?" Cecilia inquired.
"Taylor Cook. She'll be too. She's in charge of the infirmary but works together with Malcolm a lot." Riley added.
"Okay, so you might first be examined by Malcolm and Taylor. Then Professor Nine might come to greet you next. Your goal is to get the girl and get out alive and in one piece." Cecilia finished.
"Can we have a competition who breaks the most peacekeepers?" Casey smirked.
"Don't irritate the officials. They won't think twice about scrambling you." Cecilia warned.
"Relax Cecilia. I think we'll all be fine." Kat reassured.
"We hope." Cecilia sighed.
"Mike check. Everyone report." Gia replied over Kat's mike. Katarina sighed impatiently.
"Six." She answered.
She heard everyone else respond as well. Her zero gravity legacy kept her attached to the wall right above the entrance to the local earth Garde post. Henri gave her a thumbs up from the other side of the sign. Adelina was perched gracefully like a cat on the sign.
Kat was itching for some action today. They'd been here for what seemed like forever.
"Casey I'm gonna fall asleep soon if something doesn't happen," Kat informed him.
"Patience young grasshopper we're just as bored," Casey answered.
"Not really. We're playing trivia." Riley corrected.
"I see we've finally found the person beside Casey addicted to Greek mythology." Kat chuckled.
"You can blame my mother for it." Casey simply replied.
"I'll get right on that." Kat drawled.
Suddenly the door underneath them opened.
"So you're sure you heard someone talking out here?" A female officer asked.
"I swear I heard people talking right outside the door." A male officer argued.
"Well let's scout out the area then. We got nothing better to do." The female decided. Kat already knew Henri and Adelina were locked and loaded.
"Bored? Let's fix that shall we?" Kat taunted.
Both guards jumped and turned around. Kat jumped and started running across nearby buildings.
Adelina and Henri launched their attacks. Fire and ice working in harmony. Kat didn't have time to admire though. She needed to get outta sight and change. She jumped off the side of a building and landed in the alley.
She shifted into a girl with brown pigtails and big blue eyes, then reversed the aging process by turning back to six.
She wandered down the alley and around the corner to where they already knew two were standing getting coffee. She let out her best cry of distress. The female one turned to face her. She whispered something to her partner and approach her. The woman knelt in front of her and smiled.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
"I lost my mommy!" Kat cried.
"It's okay sweetie. Where did you last see mommy?" The woman asked.
"I don't know," Kat answered.
"What's your name sweetie?" The woman asked.
"Bella," Kat answered.
"Come on Bella let's see if we can find her." The woman reassured. Her partner walked over and handed her a coffee cup.
"This is my partner Matt and my name is Traci." The woman introduced.
"I want my mommy," Kat whined.
"It's okay sweetie. We can help you find her." The woman repeated.
The woman took her one hand and the man took the other. Kat grinned.
This was too easy. Without warning, she flipped both of them.
"Geez, you both are gullible." She laughed. Kat transformed back and let them get to there feet before running off. In the direction of the shopping plaza obviously.
"That was awesome." She heard her father congratulate.
"It wasn't awesome it was genius." Six replied.
"Don't get carried away Kat," Gia replied.
"Trust me G this isn't my first time," Kat reassured.
Riley and Casey stood at attention waiting for their signal.
"Alright, you two got company headed your way," Sam told them over the earpiece.
"Ready to do this Artemis?" Casey teased.
"Never been better Ares," Riley smirked.
"Go! Go! GO!" Henri hollered rushing by.
"I think we made them angry!" Adelina called.
Casey chuckled and they both ran after Henri and Adelina,
"How many?" Casey inquired.
"Five? Six? Maybe Seven?" Henri guessed.
"Let's just say a lot." Adelina breathlessly answered.
They navigated the streets until the hit the shopping plaza. Kat came in hot, right after them. All the officials they'd gathered were coming right for them.
"If I ever had to pick a store to get busted in it'd be Michaels but since Casey will want Michaels I'll pick SuperCuts." Riley decided.
Casey laughed. Kat scanned the plaza.
"Target. That'll be fun."
"Adelina? Henri?" Casey inquired.
"What's Bed Bath and Beyond?" Adelina questioned.
"A big store with very high ceilings and plenty of ammo," Riley answered.
Henri cracked his knuckles. "Sounds like fun."
"Alright show time folks," Casey smirked.
"Good luck." Kat nodded.
"Stay safe everyone." Adelina smiled.
Then they all split up to the stores they'd selected.
Riley did slightly regret her decision because of its lack of advantages over the agents. But if she had to go down, which was inevitable, she was gonna go down in a salon. She just felt like that's how it should be. She made sure they saw her run into the store.
She expected the glass to be shot out but no the three after her didn't fire. That means they either have no weapons or don't want to use them on her. Good, don't give her a reason to use hers then.
She intended to be caught.
She stopped to scan the layout of the store when she felt one try to tackle her. She ducked out of the way and launched two chairs at them. Two of them were fast enough to duck. One of them though took the chair to the head. One down two to go.
Just like in the art room she reached out for the bottles decorating the shelves. They certainly weren't painted and would hurt a lot more but that was the point. Like she was prepping for a painting project with elementary she uncapped them and dumped them on her subjects. That took care of one but the other continued to pursue her.
Crap, dead end.
Another projectile? She frantically searched for something to help her but missed the third one sneaking closer. Without warning the woman tackled her to the ground.
"You are being detained until we can process you for displaying and using your legacies in public." She ordered slapping handcuffs on.
"Nine down." She softly spoke.
Riley examined the damage she'd caused and couldn't help but smile. Her father will be so proud of her. Maybe that'll decrease the chances he'll be upset with her being in the academy.
Gia chuckled and shook her head after Riley was caught. Her parents apparently had a bet going. Her father now owed her mother twenty bucks.
"So one down four remain. How are we doing folks?" Gia asked.
"Excellent," Casey replied.
"Don't get carried away Hera. For everyone's sake don't get caught. I don't want to have to make that call to Cecilia. She'll kill the messenger." Gia replied.
She heard Casey laugh.
"Geez have a little faith G. I got this," Casey answered.
"I've never had so much fun in my life!" Adelina squealed.
"What she said," Henri answered.
"Been better." Katarina panted.
Gia snapped her fingers at her father.
"Target right?" Gia questioned. Her father seemed to get the message and sat down next to her and started working on the second laptop.
"Yeah, I can't shake them." Kat sounded out of breath.
"Kat, pace yourself, don't exhaust yourself. You know what happened last time." Gia warned.
"Please don't remind me." Kat huffed and puffed in annoyance.
Gia switched frequencies to Casey's private channel.
"If you're done having fun where you are, can you hustle to Target? Six needs some help." Gia told him.
"Aw, but I was just about to glaze them." He teased.
"Hera," Gia warned.
"On it your techiness." Casey chuckled.
Sam stifled a laugh.
"Hack into Target yet?" Gia questioned.
"I'm working on it. They're a little more high tech than others." Sam answered.
"Okay, where in Target is your sister?" Casey questioned.
"Listen for the bang and crashes. One moment." Gia quickly replied.
"All the earpieces have trackers right?" Gia questioned.
"As long as they're on."
Gia was just about to open another window and track her sister when a scream of pure agony came over the airwaves. She knew it was Kat the instant she heard it. Her sister's screams filled the airwaves and Gia's blood ran cold.
"Six report?" Gia asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
"Six you okay?" Gia questioned.
"Katarina! Answer me!" Gia demanded.
"Katarina! Please! Answer me!" Gia cried. Her father put a hand on her. Suddenly the airwaves crackled and Casey answered.
"I'm so sorry Gia. I didn't get there in time. But Kat will be fine. It's just the scramblers that made her scream." Casey solemnly answered.
"Two down three remain. Hera, seven and four pull back. Get outta there now." Gia sighed.
"I might be a few minutes. Target is crawling with Earth Garde agents currently." Casey answered.
Gia couldn't bring herself to talk. If she opened her mouth nothing might come out. Her father carefully slipped her headset off and slipped it on his head.
"Do your best Casey. Just be careful." He spoke.
Gia finally allowed herself to cry. She leaned forward and buried her head in her arms.
"Give me five, Six dropped some valuable objects." Casey sighed.
Gia groaned. Six moved to rub her back.
"Hey, Kat will be fine. She's a fighter just like us." Six reassured.
Gia knew it was a possibility that Kat could be one of the two but it just didn't make sense. It was now as if all the joy in the world has just been sucked out. Her sister, the great and powerful Katarina who has lead hundreds of these missions before without fault was one of the two. It just wasn't possible. Her sister was better than that. Why her? Why not anyone else but her? Her sister's screams of agony echoed through her head. It was a sound she'd never be able to forget.