I'm on a fucking roll and I love it. It feels good to be back and get this finished. I've been working on this story for so long and I finally have a good feeling that this will be able to be finished and not discontinued. I love you all. Here's Chapter 21 of ANC!
Lissa and Dimitri got in the car without the spirit disguises on. No need for Lissa to burn up her energy when they weren't even there yet. They had told the driver of their intentions and he understood. His one comment was, "make sure you get the information you need. The last thing we need is Hathaway going ape shit if they take her baby." There was no disagreement on that. They made a turn to the left and the driver put the car in park. Dimitri nodded to Lissa. She turned on the recorder and Dimitri stuck it in his duster where it couldn't be seen. When Lissa and Dimitri transformed into Tasha and Victor, Dimitri's duster turned into a regular jacket, but he made sure the recorder was still there. They got out of the car and walked into Amy's office. She ushered them into the back where they all took a seat.
"What seems to be the problem, Tasha?" Amy asked, looking at both of them with a bored expression.
"Wipe that expression off your face because if we go down, you better believe you're going down with us." Lissa/Tasha said. It was so easy for Lissa to act like Tasha because she was so mad. She was burning with anger and it made it seem all the more believable. "Lissa's gang is protecting Rose. When she delivers the baby, there'll be no way for Victor and I to step in and take the baby." Amy looked a little petrified by Lissa/Tasha's tone. She took a deep breath.
"It's standard procedure to have at least one family member there during the birthing process. We could just say one person at a time." Amy shrugged. "Then again, we could say it's necessary to do a C-Section and that no one should be in the room. Rose would be incapacitated and no one would be there to stop her."
"Amy, my dear," Dimitri/Victor said, "What affinity do you have?"
"Water, why?" Amy looked curious. "I've told you before."
"Ah, well I'm an aging man. We seem to forget these small details." Dimitri/Victor gave her a charming smile. It seemed to work because Amy returned the smile.
"Where are you going to take the baby once it's done?" Amy asked curiously.
"That's for us to know. The less people that know, the better. Wouldn't want to have you implicated if worst case scenario we get caught." Lissa/Tasha said.
"That's understandable. We'll be having my staff help with with Rose's child birth so no one gets in the way. I understand that's the way you want it?" Lissa/Tasha and Dimitri/Victor both nodded.
"I believe we're done here. I do need to go feed and get some sleep. We'll talk soon, Amy." Lissa/Tasha said briskly and started walking towards the door. Dimitri/Victor followed as Amy walked them to the door. Lissa/Tasha looked back at her. "Remember, if you say anything, Victor and I will be so sure to pin this on you and make us look like saints." Amy nodded and they walked out. They got into the van and Lissa dropped the disguise. She was sweating and panting.
"You did it and you don't have to do it again." Dimitri said as he turned off the recorder.
"That was exhausting, oh my god. I don't think I could do it again even if I tried." Lissa said as she grabbed a bottle of water.
"You used a lot of spirit today, more than what you use in a week. Try and keep it down a notch because if you think Rose is joking about calling Olendzki about the antidepressants, she's not." Lissa nodded as the driver pulled off. The car ride was immensely silent. As they got back to court and went to Rose's room, neither of them said anything. When they entered the room, Rose was on the computer, but smiled when she saw them.
"Did you get it?" Rose asked eagerly. Lissa played the recording to Rose and well it did dampen her mood a lot, she was grateful that they were able to get this evidence against Amy and possibly Tasha and Victor. "When can we show it to the Queen?" Rose asked in a somber voice.
"Tomorrow morning. It's technically late night for Moroi." Lissa said and yawned. "And with that, I'm off to bed. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow." Lissa walked out of their room and went on her way.
"I wasn't going to tell Lissa this because I didn't want to worry her, but well. I'm worried. Adrian didn't pick up and he didn't even try and dream walk to me. The only time that happens is when he's immensely drunk and I haven't seen him that drunk since… ever. He always knows his limits which is why I think something's wrong." Rose twirled her hair.
"I'll get ahold of Eddie later and see what's going on." Dimitri said and Rose nodded. "Did you think of a name?"
"Aria Isabella Belikov." Rose looked up to Dimitri and smiled. He smiled along with her.
"I think that's a beautiful name. I also think it's time for us to get some sleep." Rose shut the computer down, put it on the bedside table, and laid down with Dimitri.
"What if I never get ahold of Adrian?" Rose asked, looking up to Dimitri.
"Roza, Adrian is not the type of person to just drop off the face of the Earth. He's still at court as far as I know. I'm sure he'll call you soon." Dimitri assured her and Rose tried to hide a frown. Rose was getting new abilities almost every day. Maybe she could try and dream walk to him. While it was a definite long shot, it didn't hurt to try. She closed her eyes and reached out to Adrian. Come on, Adrian. It shouldn't be this hard. She pushed harder to get where she needed to be and ended up in a garden. The same garden they always go to.
"Adrian? Are you there?" Rose called out hesitantly.
"Rose? How the hell did you do this?" Adrian came out from the tree line and looked at her in astonishment.
"Look, I don't even know, but what's going on? You're not answering my phone calls, my texts, my emails, or my IMs. I need to know what's going on. Please tell me." Rose said with a pleading tone to her voice.
"It's complicated; too complicated for me to explain." There was a fuzz between us. "Someone's trying to wake me up." Adrian grimaced.
"Adrian! I need you to come and see me as soon as possible." She wasn't sure if he heard her, though because he gave her no response. She woke up and it was early morning for Moroi. She hopped in the shower and started washing her hair. Surprisingly, Dimitri didn't come and join her. He must've been exhausted. Once she got out of the shower and got dressed, she left a note for him and quietly left out to head to Lissa's. Lissa was only a few doors down so when she knocked, she didn't expect her to answer, but surprise, surprise, she did.
"Rose?" She yawned. "What's up?"
"I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep so I thought I'd come here. I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"
"No, I've been up this whole night trying to figure out a way to approach the Queen about Amy." Lissa said as she grabbed a cup of coffee.
"It shouldn't be that hard. Just be honest." I said simply.
"It is that hard, though. Queen Tatiana trusts Amy immensely and I'm just trying to figure out a way where she won't go crazy and feel bad for putting you into that situation." Lissa jotted down a few notes.
"Liss, I hate to say this, but that's gonna happen regardless. There is no way you can avoid it." Rose said as Lissa ruffled her hair.
"Yeah, I was just hoping it wouldn't resort to this."
"Well, if it makes you feel better, you're not going to be doing this on your own. I'll be there with you." Rose smiled at Lissa.
"What would I ever do without you?" Lissa asked Rose.
"Probably cease to exist." Rose said and Lissa smacked her on the arm jokingly. They both walked to the Royal Quarters where it looked like the Queen was expecting her.
"Rose, Vasilisa, what can I do for you this fine morning?" Tatiana asked and Rose and Lissa looked to each other.
"We need you to hear us out." Lissa said and Tatianna nodded while waving for them to come with her so they could talk in private. They entered her private chambers and they all sat down on a chair.
"I recently gained an affinity to see future events that haven't happened yet," Rose said. God, this was going to be so hard for her, "In the first vision I saw, I was giving birth. Amy was there and then Tasha Ozera and Victor Dashkov came into the picture and took my baby away." Rose wiped a tear that threatened to escape her eye.
"Rose, that is a very serious accusation to make." Queen Tatianna said. "The future fluctuates. Nothing ever stays the same. While you may have had that vision, their decision might've changed by now."
"I'm afraid not, your majesty." Lissa said as she turned on the recording. Tatianna listened to the whole conversation. When the recorder stopped, Tatianna looked at them with wide eyes.
"I'm curious as to how you acquired this recording." Tatianna said in a curt voice.
"That's not actually Tasha and Victor in the recording. I used a spirit disguise and D-Guardian Belikov was there as Victor while I played the role of Tasha." Lissa said and the queen frowned.
"This changes things. This changes everything. Amy will be fired and outlawed. There will be a blood hunt for Tasha and Victor. They are to be taken in on sight, no questions asked. I need to keep this recording to show the guardians that will be hunting Ozera and Dashkov." They both nodded and Lissa handed her the recording. "I hope this can end peacefully, but I highly doubt it will." She sighed. "Is that all?" They both nodded. "Very well. I'll see to it that they're captured and imprisoned. Thank you both for the information you have given me." Rose and Lissa both bowed before they walked away. They both swore they could hear a sniffling and they couldn't blame her.
"Even if guardians are chasing them, they're really good at hiding in plain sight. I'm just hoping this all ends before Aria is born."
"Aria? That's adorable." Lissa said in awe.
"Aria Isabella Belikov." Rose smiled in triumph. Adrian walked up to them and Lissa just nodded to Rose and walked off.
"We need to talk." Adrian said and Rose prepared for the worst.
WHAT DID YOU THINK? Two chapters in one day /dances/ I'm so freaking happy I'm back to writing again. Btw, I literally just woke up 3 hours ago. Hopefully I'll get a new chapter in by tomorrow if not Monday morning. I love you all! ~PerfectlyAnnie101