A/N: Here is chapter 9! Thanks again for those who show their support for this story! I know things are moving slowly, but it'll start picking up soon!
As always, I don't own Sailor Moon
At this point, if you can't figure out who is who...just look to previous chapters for that list. I'll only add new characters to the end of the chapter like I have been doing.
Chapter 9
Lena watched Rose make her way out of the throne room, her graceful form disappearing behind the bronze-fashioned doors. Lena half wished she could follow the hybrid out herself. The stuffy throne room was making her agitated. The room itself was decent sized, but with the amount of people currently gathered in it, it left her feeling a bit claustrophobic.
The throne room had been aptly named. In the very far center of the room held the massive throne that Marcel now sat in. A beautiful structure, the throne was compromised of carrara marble and lapislazuli; the white marble contrasting beautifully with the stark blue. Large granite columns supported the cross vaults across the room. Marcel started to speak again and she willed herself to listen to him. She watched as Madilon stepped forward again.
"I'd like to be leader of this Scouts team."
Lena hesitated for one second before stepping forward as well. "I'd also like to ask permission to be on this Scouts team. You never know when you need a good tracker, especially if we are trying to find someone."
She heard Nicolás move quickly to her side. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, his hot breath tickling it. "What are you doing?" he hissed at her.
She let out a little exasperated sigh. Turning her head towards him, she grabbed his shoulder to bring him lower to her level and whispered back, "I'm letting them know my services are at their disposal."
"Don't give me lip," he growled out. "We have to go back. Your clan needs you now that your grandfather—"
"No," she cut him off, her voice barely a whisper now. "My grandfather's second in command can handle it until I get back. It's not like I have much sway in decisions outside of this room anyways. My grandfather will be barking orders within a few days, you'll see. He's so stubborn," here her voice cracked and she stopped to take a few deep breaths. She hated how her throat seemed to close up, almost suffocating her. How her eyes stung and she couldn't seem to get rid of the lump inside her throat. Her grandfather was the strongest man she knew, he would survive the attack, she just had to believe in him. The best healers in Rio were treating him and she'd even ask Marcel to help her grandfather if she had to. Although that may be what the enemy wanted; to have two members of The Order in the same location.
Nicolás looked at her, his deep chocolate eyes searching her face for something, his brows furrowing together. After a few seconds of him searching and her holding her own, he sighed. At least he hadn't thrown her a pitying look like some of the other lycans kept doing every time they looked her way. She hated being pitied.
"You'll do as you please, regardless of my console." He sighed dejectedly.
"Sounds about right," she quipped, happy he hadn't put up a fight.
"Lena," he began, a worried tone audible in his voice. "You can't run away from your responsibilities. Your—"
"Stop," she interjected. "We are not discussing this here. You are out of line Nicolás." She saw the hurt in his eyes as he took a step back. The gnawing feeling of having reprimanded him hung heavy in her heart.
"As you wish," he quietly whispered and she felt the sting of his words worse than if he had shouted at her. She could take angry Nicolás any day; hurt Nicolás was a different story. She wanted to apologize but she noticed Marcel had finished discussing the matter with the other members and remained quiet.
"Very well. You two will join Rose and Anya on this mission. Go ahead and join them to prepare. We'll finish discussing safety measures. If I need to contact you about anything, Lena, I will." He gave them a small smile and Lena nodded her head. Madilon started walking off and Lena started to join her but stopped abruptly when she didn't hear Nicolás following her.
She turned around to face him, a confused look on her face. He didn't meet her eyes, but instead turned to Marcel. "If you don't mind, High Ruler, I'd like to stay and help you better fortify our defenses."
Marcel nodded his head. "Yes. I think that's an excellent idea."
Nicolás bowed to Lena and turned his back to her. Lena tried not to feel hurt but couldn't help feel the little echoes of betrayal clawing their way to the foreground of her mind. She made her way out of the throne room, barely registering where her footsteps led her. She felt the familiar cold feeling that came over her body whenever she stepped through a barrier and that quickly jolted her back to reality. She looked around and noticed Madilon staring intently at her.
"Yes?" She snapped, already regretting the tone of her voice as soon as the word left her mouth.
Madilon continued to stare at her for a few more seconds before throwing her a small, knowing smile. "He'll come around, you'll see."
Lena just nodded her head dejectedly. Madilon "tsked" at her disapprovingly and grabbed her hand, leading her towards the south end of the hall.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Lena let the smaller woman drag her down the hall, amusement starting to replace her self-pity.
"No clue." Madilon stopped and laughed. She turned towards Lena, her eyes sparkling merrily. "Go on, use that wonderful nose of yours and find our friends."
"I wouldn't exactly call them friends," Lena started, tilting her head to better gauge where Rose's trail had gone. She quickly picked up the hybrid's scent- chypre, Mirabelle plum, and some other exotic fruit she couldn't place a finger on. "Come on, she's this way." She started walking the opposite way, Madilon matching her pace. They made their way quickly down the corridor and when it broke off into two separate halls, Lena took the left. She saw what looked like two women standing guard a ways ahead of them.
Curious she asked Madilon, "Any idea who those two are?"
"Despoina and Parthenia." Madilon replied smoothly. "I can never figure out which one's which though," she added thoughtfully.
Lena nodded her head as if that answered her question, vaguely remembering the imposing warlock Ketill mentioning them. As they got closer, she realized they were shapeshifters from their scents. They were identical except for their eyes; one had deep burgundy while the other had purple eyes. Lena felt uncomfortable in their presence as their eyes bore into hers. They looked at ease, waiting for her to announce why she was there. She cleared her throat but Madilon beat her to it, and Lena was thankful for it.
"All right?" She chirped. Lena wasn't quite sure what that meant, but it seemed to be a form of greeting. Madilon had a peculiar way of speaking and Lena hadn't gotten used to it even if she spent those three months with the vampire. Granted she would always break out in her native language at times, so she couldn't fault Madilon for it either.
One of the twins, the one with the burgundy eyes, snorted and the other twin shot her a look. The burgundy eyed twin tried covering it up with a slight cough.
"Ms. Carter, always a pleasure," they both said in unison. Lena resisted the urge to shudder. Maybe she'd watched too many horror films, but twins who talked in unison always seemed a bit creepy to her. "Ms. Lobo, so nice to finally put a face to a name."
Is there some secret shapeshifter book that has every supernatural person in it that they memorize? She idly wondered. Instead of voicing her thoughts out loud she replied, "It's very nice to meet you two. Madilon provided me your names, but couldn't say which one was which, I'm afraid." Madilon smiled guiltily at them, but didn't deny it.
The purple-eyed twin pursed her lips. "You may call me Parthenia."
"Despoina. Now, what do you want with Lady Rose?"
"I'm in charge of the mission she's about to head off to and I'd like to be debriefed a bit about who we are dealing with since Rose and Anya both have intel.
Parthenia nodded her head. "Lady Rose has granted you permission to enter. Please." They both bowed low while the doors swung open. Lena wasn't quite sure what to do so she settled for an awkward half bow back as well. Madilon just nodded her head and walked in. Lena glanced around the dim lit room and found Anya on what she assumed was Rose's bed. Three floating virtual screens surrounded the shapeshifter. She didn't even register their presence, so enthralled in her work.
Rose had been sitting down next to Anya, brooding silently, until they had walked in. She swiftly got up and made her way to them. "Good. We were expecting you. Make yourselves comfortable." She made a wide gesture with her arm.
Madilon walked over to the four-poster bed and plopped down on the corner opposite Anya, her back resting on the column. Lena watched as Rose's lips turned into a thin line as she looked at Madilon. Turning to her, she said, "Might as well join us on my bed."
Lena had a sinking suspicion Rose hadn't meant for them to get that comfortable, but she nodded her head and followed Rose to the bed. She sat down somewhat awkwardly, her dress making it uncomfortable to sit down properly. Madilon seemed to have no qualms about being proper. Rose seemed to notice her unease and smiled slightly.
"I took the liberty of ordering up more conventional clothes for you two to wear. They should be here shortly."
"I'm assuming Marcel told you we were coming," Madilon stated, her eyes never leaving Anya's virtual screens. Lena noticed she ignored Rose's comment about the clothes. Well, Madilon might not mind prancing around in skimpy clothes, but she for one couldn't wait to change.
"Mmm," Rose said.
"Brilliant! Have you found anything yet?" Madilon looked at Anya expectantly.
"Not yet. I'd only just started when you two walked in. We were discussing…other matters prior. I'm pinging her last known location from her cellphone as we speak. I also included her friend's numbers as well, just in case. If the results don't show up with any pings near hotels, I'll settle on tracking her through the hotels manifesto that she could potentially be in. I should be getting something here shortly." The whole time Anya spoke, her eyes moved quickly across her three screens, her fingers flying nimbly across the keyboard and screens. Lena watched in wonder. She'd never been good at multitasking.
"The only thing I'm worried about," Anya continued, "is that they may be leaving today. Who knows how long they planned on staying in Palermo. It's already early morning and most travelers check out rather promptly when they need to be elsewhere. I hope we can catch her before she leaves, if that is the case. If she has left, she probably has shut off her cellphone since most travelers only use it when wifi is available. This latest ping might be old." Lena pulled out her phone discreetly to check the time. 6:08! She'd been so busy, she hadn't realized how late it was (or early in this case). She sent a quick text inquiring about her grandfather's status and put her phone away.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Madilon reasoned. "Walk me through the information you have on her."
Rose remained silent until Anya stopped typing and threw her a pointed look. They seemed to argue telepathically for a bit before Rose sighed and nodded her head. Anya smiled and refocused on her screens. Madilon watched patiently, an easy smile on her face.
I wonder if she ever frowns, Lena thought absentmindedly, glancing at Madilon in wonder.
"Her name's Skylar Toles. Aged 20. Born in the U.S. She's here in Italy with three of her friends. She appears to be deaf and utterly human. Anya hasn't done a full background check on her yet. More important to find her first, we thought."
Lena threw Rose a surprised look. "That seems a little harsh."
"Looks can be deceiving," Madilon quipped, winking at Lena. Lena felt her face flush. She wondered if Madilon knew she'd judged her earlier because of her dress.
"Found her! Last ping was at the B&B alla Vucciria! It doesn't look like they've checked out yet either, according to the hotels manifesto."
"Perfect timing," Rose said while getting up and heading to her door. Lena watched as one of the twins (Parthenia, maybe?) brought in a hovering clothes rack. Rose thanked her and guided it to where they could see it better.
"This is filled with different sizes and styles, all of which should fit your needs. If you find nothing to your liking, please feel free to invade my closet. I've got enough clothes to last me a lifetime." Lena didn't miss the sarcastic tone Rose used for the last statement.
"As much as I love playing dress up, we've got to make it quick, yeah? Can't have our little white rabbit running off to wonderland, can we?" Madilon made her way to the clothes and started rummaging through it.
"Um, sure. Change wherever you'd like. I need to take care of something real quick." Rose didn't wait for a reply as she quickly exited her room. Lena turned her attention back to the clothes and was surprised to find Madilon handing her a pair of black combat boots.
"Figured these might be your style."
"Black's not really my color, but these will do just nicely." Lena grinned as she took them and placed them on the floor. Maybe she could have a little fun to help her forget how her life had completely turned upside down in the span of a few hours.
Lena followed Rose and Anya as they led her and Madilon down to the garage. It was close to 6:50 and they'd all changed to more appropriate clothes. Lena had wanted to run to the hotel, but Anya had insisted they take a car. She said it wouldn't be ideal if a human saw them seemingly pop out of thin air into the hotel. "They had to blend in" she had called it. Lena had voiced her concern for losing time in using a car, but Rose had reassured her they wouldn't have to worry about that.
And when Lena stepped into the massive garage, she had to agree with her. She let out a low whistle. "Wow, this is impressive." The scent of magic lay heavy in the air.
Even the normally chatty Madilon stood in awe. Rose smiled smugly at them, her eyes beaming with pride.
"Are all of these yours?" Madilon asked while taking a step closer to admire the closest car to her.
"No. Some are Marcel's and zio Luca's, but the mass majority are mine."
"I never would have pegged you as a car girl," Lena murmured. Her eyes roamed around the large garage and over the cars; some being exotic and flashy while others were probably the first of their kind. Lena spotted what looked like an old Model T tucked in the corner.
Rose shrugged. "Most peoples hobbies would surprise you." She started walking towards the front with Anya right behind her.
"Maybe something not so flashy?" Anya supplied. Lena glanced at Rose who frowned, but nodded her head. Rose looked a little disappointed as she glanced at what Lena thought might be a pagani huayra. She'd never really been crazy about cars, but Nicolás loved them. She never really understood the point of them since all supernaturals could outrun most of them. She much preferred feeling the wind whip her hair back as she ran, the smell of nature intoxicating her senses. She rather disliked being in a car simply because she felt claustrophobic sitting in one.
Madilon must have noticed her unease because she bumped Lena's side playfully. "I'm sure Rose is an excellent driver," she teased. Lena gave her a half smile as thanks.
"I heard that," Rose grumbled. "For the record, all of them are magically modified by Ketill. They run faster than normal."
So that's the reason the garage smelled of magic, Lena thought as she glanced around again.
"I think this one will do nicely." Anya pointed to a charcoal colored car.
"Which one is this one?" Lena asked.
"It's a BMW M5 G-Power Hurricane RRs. I custom tailored it just for me." Lena nodded her head as if she knew what all that meant. Rose climbed into the driver's seat with Anya taking the passengers. That left the back seat for Madilon and her. The seats were all black leather and the car as a whole was meticulously clean. Rose easily maneuvered the car around the underground garage and into the morning sun. Her brain slowly registered that they were moving a lot faster than she thought possible.
"This car can reach speeds around 885 km," Anya proudly said. "Although Rose has faster cars than this one."
"I might have to buy me one." Madilon had slipped on a pair of sunglasses as soon as they had left the underground garage. Lena noticed that Rose had not. Probably due to the fact that the car had blacked out tinted windows, letting in no sunrays whatsoever. Or maybe it's because she's a hybrid and doesn't have to worry about the sun? Lena mused. She'd tried spotting Rose's eye color as soon as they'd hit the open road, but couldn't do it discreetly enough.
Mating between vampires and warlocks was strictly forbidden, so Lena didn't know much about the offspring's. Not that many survived. She hadn't really heard of any that had besides Rose. She knew better than to ask Rose about it either.
The drive went by quickly, with Madilon asking questions about the humans and Anya doing research on Skylar quietly. Lena had stared out the window, taking in the lovely terrain as they made their way to the inner city of Palermo. Rose slowly eased the car into a small space on the side of the road, parking quickly.
Lena noticed this area was older, with graffiti coloring the walls of the ancient buildings. Some of the buildings were yellow in color; others were white. Even if the buildings were older, Lena could tell that they were well loved by the people who owned them. Lena got out of the car and sniffed the air, but without a source of the human girl's smell, it all blended together.
"They're driving a 2010 alfa romeo giulietta. Black. License plate BE027AB. Do you guys see it anywhere?"
"It doesn't look like it's parked around here. Lena, want to check the road to the right? Anya, the left one?" Madilon pointed to the streets and Lena nodded her head. "Rose and I will talk to the front desk person."
Lena's long legs carried her quickly down the street, but she made sure she kept up a normal human's pace. She glanced around but found no car matching the description. She headed back and found that Anya had come up empty handed as well.
"I guess we better see what trouble those two are causing inside," Anya said, her eyes twinkling with mirth.
Both women walked inside, grins on their faces. The place was small but quaint. It felt homey with its old-fashioned furniture and simple décor, a deep contrast to all the flashy, swanky hotels that were cropping up nowadays. Lena enjoyed this little bed and breakfast. Madilon had turned around when they walked in.
"Our mate here was just telling us that four American's just left about an hour and a half ago. They haven't updated their database to show who has checked out yet, that's why Anya thought they might have still been here. Lucky for us they haven't cleaned up their rooms yet. He was just about to let us in to take a look around." Madilon smiled mischievously.
The man had a dopey look on his face as he gazed at Madilon, his eyes full of infatuation. Lena knew Madilon had used her allure on the man; the room practically reeked of it. Lena scrunched her nose in disgust. Madilon's allure always smelled different depending on whom she used it on. It always carried a hint of her distinct aroma, but it catered to the person's likes as well. This mans fondness for certain things weren't exactly pleasant to the nose. Lena didn't know how Madilon stomached this man's aroma surrounding her. His favorite scents swirled around her, distracting him from anything but her.
"I was…?" He said hazily.
"Yes, love, you were." She blew him a kiss, a coy smile playing on her lips. The aromas swirling about became stronger and he shuddered.
"Yes, yes I was," he said determinedly, searching for the keys unsuccessfully while not taking his eyes off of Madilon.
Madilon giggled. "Let me," she practically purred. She walked around the desk to get the keys herself. "Why don't you stay with Rose here while I go search upstairs?" She traced his lips with a perfectly manicured finger. He nodded dumbly at her. She threw him her mega-watt smile and he practically melted into his chair.
Lena watched all this in fascination. Even if Madilon's allure wasn't directed at her, she was transfixed watching the whole scene. Lena knew that even if Madilon had never developed her allure powers she could still entrap any man (maybe even some women) without it. Her presence alone screamed to the very fibers of what made that man tick.
I wonder if that's why she was turned? Lena speculated to herself. She glanced around and saw Anya staring at the whole thing with her mouth hanging slightly open in shock.
"You're collecting flies with that trap, Anya dear," Madilon teased as she threw the keys to Lena. Anya turned a deep shade of scarlet and looked down at her shoes.
"Come on, I can't do everything meself," Madilon said as she stared at Lena and Anya. Addressing Rose she said, "Stay with him and sift through his memories. He might have overheard them talking about something important. Maybe heard them talk about their next stop."
Rose just nodded her head and sat down on the desk, her legs hanging from the side. The man still stared dreamily after Madilon as they made their way up the stairs. Lena heard Rose snap her fingers and his head whipped back to look at her.
"It's my turn now, lover boy, and I'm not going to be as gentle as she was." Lena heard Rose say as she made her way up the stairs. Lena started to laugh despite herself.
"They stayed in these two rooms. The girls in number three, the boys in number four." Anya stopped in front of the door labeled three. Lena found the corresponding key and unlocked the door.
"Brilliant! Now, if you'll excuse me." Madilon started heading further down the hall.
"And where do you think you're going?" Anya asked suspiciously.
"I'm just going to see if their neighbors know of anything important." Madilon knocked on the door labeled five, throwing them an innocent smile over her shoulder.
"I don't think that's necessary," Anya stated coolly.
Madilon shrugged indifferently. "If bell-boy downstairs can't give any decent information, I figured might as well try the neighbors."
"Fine by me," Lena stated, taking a step inside the room. Anya sighed but didn't say anything, joining Lena. Lena's sharp ears caught the distinct baritone voice of a male answering Madilon's knock. She heard Madilon's twinkling voice respond. Lena restrained the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she took a big whiff of the room and picked up two distinct smells.
She walked over to one of the beds and tossed the sheets about, eliciting a stronger aroma of "person A". It had a sweet, flowery smell to it with a hint of citrus and like Rose had stated, utterly human. She did the same to the other bed. She frowned slightly when she took in "person B's" scent.
Anya apparently noticed her frown. "What's wrong?"
Lena wasn't sure herself. She smelled hints of lemon, clary sage, jasmine, and something else that she couldn't put a finger on. "I'm not sure. Person B smells different somehow. Like there's something not quite right about it." Lena almost blurted out "like yours" to Anya but held it in. Anya tried to hide her scent altogether, and maybe to non-trackers her scent would be undistinguishable, but to Lena she could pick it up easily. Anya had the odor of a shapeshifter but something else too, undertones of something just below the surface. It was very subtle. Lena knew Anya could mimic smells, something no other shapeshifter besides Till could do. A rare and handy feat since supernaturals relied on their noses to notice if a shapeshifter was present amongst them. If Anya or Till wanted to pass as vampires in a room full of them, they very well could without raising suspicions.
"Think that's our girl?" Anya had slipped on a pair of ordinary looking glasses, but Lena knew better. She could make out words flittering across the right lenses as Anya tapped away in the air. It was a weird sight to behold.
"There's no telling. But my gut says it is." Lena took a last long inhale to commit the scents to memory. "I'm all done. Find anything else?"
"No, nothing of particular interest. Just collected a couple of hair follicles for Till to analyze later." Anya removed the glasses and stowed it away. They found Madilon waiting outside the door, leaning against the wall. Lena locked up and threw her back the keys. The coppery smell of human blood hung around Madilon like a second skin.
"We have blood bags you know," Anya stated matter-of-factly. "I'm pretty sure we have some stowed away in the car."
"And deny humans the simple pleasures in life? What would be the fun in that?" Madilon grinned, leading the way back downstairs. Rose looked up from the computer when she heard them coming down. The man sat quietly behind her.
"Anything?"
"He heard them talking about a beach, but since they used sign language he didn't catch what it was called. I'm googling basic sign language to see if I can figure it out. Anya, a little help?"
"Don't bother. They're headed to San Vito La Capo beach."
Anya stared at Madilon with a look of surprise while Rose quirked an eyebrow. Lena just smirked. She had worked with Madilon before and knew the way she ticked.
"My friend upstairs had a crush on the redhead. He wanted to meet up with them later. He happily told me the name of the beach."
Rose barked out a laugh. "I'll let Marcel know where we are headed then." She pulled out her phone and began typing on it.
Lena pulled out her phone as well. She hadn't received any new messages regarding her grandfather. She felt the fear slowly creeping up and tried to ignore it. Her grandfather would pull through and her thinking otherwise wouldn't help him. She'd call later, after they found the human.
"Anya, how far away is this beach?" Madilon asked.
"About 108 km. They should be there already. I doubt they have checked in anywhere since it's still too early for that."
"Let's head over there now then. I'd like to stop by a store and get some bikinis for us. I was in need of a new one anyway."
"Why?" Lena asked, not really thrilled at the idea.
Madilon flashed her a smile. "Because, love, we have to play the part of bff college students on vacation."
Lena still looked at her skeptically.
"She's right," Anya agreed. "We don't want to scare them. We need to blend in and not draw attention to ourselves."
Rose sighed, rubbing her temple as she pocketed her phone. Lena thought she looked a little aggravated, but the look quickly disappeared from her face. Rose walked over to the front deskman and stood silently in front of him. His eyes glazed over and became unfocused. Rose stepped away from him after a minute and the man shook his head, looking around as if lost. Rose appeared a little paler but didn't say anything as she walked past them and out of the hotel.
"Come on, we should get there right when the stores start opening up," she yelled out from the car, a scowl etched on her face. Lena noticed she'd slipped on some sunglasses as the sunbeams hit across the car and her face.
Interesting, Lena thought as she made her way to the car. She hadn't been quick enough to take note of the color of Rose's eyes. Lena fought down the blush she felt; sometimes she was too curious for her own good. She had to remember Rose could read her thoughts at any time, if she so chose.
And that was chapter 9! Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought in your reviews! No new characters were mentioned in this chapter.