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Summary: She has always envied the clouds. (Or: In which dreams are fulfilled in the most peculiar ways and a young girl gets reincarnated as the future Cloud Arcobaleno.) [SI, Self-Insert/OC-Insert as femSkull]
Have fun.
Nobody Sees Me Wishing
Chapter 13
I Feel Like I'm Drowning
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querencia (n.) The place where one's strength is drawn from; where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self.
XXXVIII.
The trip to Paris took six hours.
They spend most of them in an uncomfortable silence which was only interrupted by Antoine from time to time. He asked them questions that were either insignificant or way too personal and seemed to take some pleasure out of irritating them.
By the time they reached their destination, Anja was almost glad that she wouldn't have to suffer from his presence for much longer. That feeling was only dampened by the fact that she would be exchanging Antoine for a bigger evil.
Hadrien Dupuis was a man whom even Anja had heard about. From what little she knew, he was one of the more ruthless mobsters in France. There were whispers on the streets of what he had done to those that had dared to cross him, but ultimately those were only rumors. Anja had no idea how to tell the truth apart from the lies, which meant that she was going in blind.
This was not a prospect she appreciated.
''My father will be delighted to finally meet you, Miss Anja,'' said Antoine, his hands griping the steering wheel firmly as the car moved up the driveway of what had to be his home. ''We've been hearing rumors about a stray Cloud for a few years now, but we did not put much stock in them.''
''Rumors?'' Anja questioned tensely.
The mobster laughed, his shoulders shaking ever so slightly. ''Yeah, rumors. You did not actually think that people wouldn't start noticing all the corpses you've been leaving in your wake, hmm?'' He shook his head. ''Quite a few men have died of internal bleeding because of you over the years. The only reason why so many of us ignored this was because you did not leave any clues as to your identity behind. Chasing a phantom is not something we enjoy doing.''
Biting her lip, Anja pondered this. She had noticed that over the years more and more men came after her. It was to be expected that people started to see a pattern in all of their deaths.
With a tight smile on her lips, the Cloud said, ''I hope I haven't made a bad first impression.''
Antoine looked at her through the rear view mirror and smirked. ''Quite the opposite, really. You'll fit splendidly into our...ah family.''
Not having a real answer to that - besides a denial, of course - the girl chose to stay silent. There was no use in insulting the mobster by disputing his statement.
To distract herself from the whole situation, Anja decided to take a hold of her brother's hand. She squeezed the appendage in a gesture of comfort and tried to then calm the already broiling Flames within her.
The Croatian did not manage to do much good in that respect before they arrived before the entrance of the Dupuis mansion. Coming slowly to halt, the car stopped moving only a few meters away from a flight of steps.
Anja immediately took it upon herself to step out of the vehicle, pulling Verde by his hand, thus making sure that he constantly remained behind her. Should anyone try to ambush them, then her body would have to be a good enough protection for the other teen. Anja would protect Verde as long as he could not protect himself.
Admittedly, even if he knew how to properly use his Flames, the Cloud would have still been willing to throw herself in front of every bullet heading his way.
''Come,'' Antoine commanded once he closed the car doors. He did not even turn around to see if they were following him, walking up the stairs instead. The door opened before he reached it and Anja could only grit her teeth tightly at his disrespect as she watched him enter the mansion.
''Don't just stand here,'' Verde hissed quietly, tugging on her hand all the while. Not having a choice in the matter, Anja followed her brother closely.
(...the fire within her flared angrily...)
They arrived inside just in time to hear a blonde girl whisper, ''Papa is awaiting you in his office, Antoine.'' Blue eyes regarded the two siblings. ''He's excited to meet our guests.''
''Then we better not keep him waiting,'' countered Antoine easily.
And then they were on their way through the house. Any other time Anja might have taken a minute or two to appreciate the expensive and tasteful decor. As it was, she felt too much like she was walking to her own execution. Her hands trembled a little more with each step she took and soon the Cloud was biting her own tongue until it bled. This was not the first time her Flames were working on overdrive, providing her with much more energy than she could use, but they had rarely before fueled her flight or fight instincts as they did now.
Anja felt nauseous, jittery and above all else trapped.
(...deep within her, a fire was spreading...
...
...if push came to shove, no one, not even her, would survive the explosion this fire would cause...)
A knock on a door jarred her out of her thoughts. Despite her heightened hearing, Anja barely managed to catch the invitation for them to step inside the office.
She first glimpsed Hadrien Dupuis over his son's shoulder. The man looked both everything and nothing like she had expected. He was tall, with dark brown hair and the same green eyes as his son. His presence was vast and intimidating, made all the worse by the demanding Sky Flames pouring out of each of his pores.
Unlike all the other Skies she had met, this one did not immediately try burying her Flames underneath his own. Aware of her own allure, Anja deducted that the leader of the Dupuis family already had a Cloud Guardian.
Not that he would have presented much of a temptation to her otherwise. Hadrien might have been strong, but he still wasn't strong enough to pull one such as herself in.
''You've finally found your way home, my son,'' was the first thing the middle-aged man uttered.
''Yes.'' Antoine grinned brightly as he continued, ''And I've brought you quiet a present, Papa. These are Miss Anja and Mister Verde.''
Anja's smile was more then a little terse when she inclined her head in greeting. ''It's a pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Dupuis. My brother and I, we're honored to be in your presence.''
Hadrien regarded her shrewdly. ''You aren't, though, not really.''
Considering her answer carefully, the purple haired teen tilted her head to the side. ''Clouds generally do not appreciate being forced into anything.''
''No, they don't,'' Hadrien said fluidly, his gaze flickering towards his son for a second. ''That's a lesson very few survive intact, if at all.''
A short moment of silence followed before he proceeded. ''I hope my son has treated you well.''
It was Verde who answered this time around. ''He's been most generous.''
Pulling a face, Anja wondered how such a lie could leave Verde's mouth so easily. She herself was already on the defensive, her hackles rising with each word the mobsters uttered.
''That's good to hear.'' The smile that stretched across his lips was a dangerous thing. ''Well, then, please take a seat. I do believe the time has come for us to take care of some business.''
Somehow, Anja just knew that none of this would end well.
XXXIX.
Anja didn't know how he did it, but somehow Verde bargained for her freedom and won. She never knew her brother to be so diplomatic and cunning, and yet he still turned out to be all that and more.
After all, he managed to strike a deal with a mob boss that involved as many advantages as they could get. He made sure that Anja was free to leave and rejoin the circus whenever she wanted, while Verde himself would receive payment for whatever university he wanted to attend. Her brother secured lodgings and a proper education for himself, as well as a respectable payment for each and every task Hadrien would assign them.
It was more than the Cloud had hoped at the beginning of this entire affair.
''You should leave as soon as possible,'' Verde urged, his back turned towards her as he gazed upon the garden of the Dupuis Mansion. ''If you hurry, you'll be home before nightfall.''
Swallowing visibly, the girl took a step towards him. ''I don't really know what to say.''
And that was a very unfortunate truth. There was so much the two of them had to talk about and yet so little time left to do so.
''You need to leave, Anja, before they change their mind.'' His voice was slightly strained, green eyes flickering towards her over his shoulder.
Anja clenched her fists. ''I can't just leave you here.''
''You can and you will.'' A sigh of irritation followed that sentence. ''Besides, you've managed to leave me out of the loop for so long. What's another disappointment in the grand scheme of things?''
His intent to hurt was quite clear and not unwarranted, but it still managed to make Anja wince. ''That's not fair. It's not as if I had a choice in this, Verde.''
''No choice? What, did you not think it important to mention that you're apparently some kind of serial killer in the possession of magical rainbow-colored Flames,'' the Lightning told her, sounding more than a little incredulous.
''Of course it's important, but that does not necessarily make it easy to tell.'' Anja chuckled humorlessly. ''What would you have done in my place? Just come up to me and said: Oh, by the way, killing people has become somewhat of a habit for me and I've discovered these awesome superpowers when my father died.''
''That might have just been for the better,'' Verde spat, the venom within his eyes clear. ''If I had known the truth, things might have turned out differently.''
Hearing that, Anja deflated slightly. Her fingers tugged nervously at the hem of her shirt as she murmured softly, ''It's not as easy as that, Verde. People outside the Mafia, they're not allowed to know about the Dying Will Flames. The Omerta prevents us all from saying anything to outsiders.''
Eyebrow furrowing, Verde inquired, ''The Omerta?''
''It's a Vow of Silence.'' She paused, eyes darting left and right to make sure that no one was listening in.''Those who do not abide by it are hunted down by the Vindice. They are not someone on whose bad side you want to get on, believe me. The Vindice are not known for their mercy.''
''So, you're telling me that the Mafia doesn't just have magical rainbow flames but also their very own boogeyman,'' Verde voiced, pinching his nose with the forefinger and thumb of his right hand.
Despite his apparent anger, her brother did not flinch away from her touch. Instead, he just leaned into the hand she put on his shoulder and looked down at the ground, certainly feeling more than a little lost.
''I know it sounds crazy, but-'' A loud laugh interrupted Anja before she could finish. Verde's whole body was shacking as he spoke, ''My whole life has turned into one big crazy a few hours ago.''
Not knowing what to say in response to that, the Cloud stayed quiet until her mind calmed down a little and she settled on a gently whispered, ''I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you got pulled into this mess.''
Nothing she would ever say could make the happenings of the last few hours alright, and yet Anja hoped that her words and touch could still offer her brother at least a little comfort.
At end, those were the only two things she could truly give to him.