Chapter 41
Let The Show Begin
"There are two circumstances that lead to arrogance: one is when you're wrong and you can't face it; the other is when you're right and nobody else can face it."
― Criss Jami
Manuevering through the turmoil was not an easy task.
She was running to and fro amongst the chaos, very careful to not give away either that she was looking for someone in particular (so as to avoid being asked questions she wouldn't answer) and as to not arise suspicion.
Celeste couldn't risk neither falling into Cloud squadron hands nor running into the Varia commanders. Both would be a certain type of doom-and neither more pleasant than the other. Unfortunately, it would seem her wishes were all for naught because she saw Belphegor walking down the corridor.
And he was pissed.
Amina laughed nervously.
She knew she had nowhere to escape and running away would seem more suspicious. But as he neared her, she noticed two things. One, he was barely paying attention to her (she inwardly sighed in relief at that, knowing she wasn't the object of his anger) and two, he wasn't alone.
The dark haired brunette blinked a couple of times as she saw the person accompanying Bel and as both were arguing rapidly with one another.
"Did I or did I not tell you that you shouldn't be here?" Bel snapped at the short blonde next to him. "Hey! How as I SUPPOSED to know anyone would dream on attacking the Varia on their hometurf? Don't pretend you saw this coming either!"
Bel was getting visibly more agitated the more he bickered with Rin.
"Yes, but the one who gets in trouble if you get hurt is me." He seethed. "And I don't have time to play nanny."
The young girl gasped dramatically and swatted his arm. Amina couldn't believe her eyes at this level of familiarity.
"How dare you! I'm older than you!"
Well seeing as they were so engrossed in whatever was their situation, Amina saw this as a chance to escape. Just as she began to sidestep slowly, Bel's unamused voice cut through her optimism.
"And where do you think you are going?"
Amina gulped. There went her hopes and dreams.
"Why do you think you can leave without properly addressing and giving due reverence to your sovereign? Times of war are no excuse for such blatant disrespect."
If she wasn't so nervous, she would've rolled her eyes. But before Bel could comment on her lack of reaction, Rin screamed.
Bel immediately tensed thinking it was an attack but when he saw the mixed russian noble's face, all he saw was excitement and joy on her features.
"Must you always do that-" His retort died midway as Rin began running excitedly at his peasant and glomped the unsuspecting girl. If it wasn't because Amina generally had good balance and Rin was much lighter and shorter than her, they might've both flown backwards from Rin's exuberance.
"LELE!" Out of instinct more so than anything else, Celeste was able to receive the short blond girl who currently decided to glomp her in overt enthusiasm. Celeste was really taken aback but she had no chance to even react with the gushing girl still very much attached to her, latched onto her so tightly, she couldn't even see her face, just blond strands shoved in her face. When Squalo joined hurriedly following Rin's screams, he was just as dumbfounded at the scene as was Bel by the exuberant exchange.
"I am SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU! Where have you been? Why haven't you returned my calls? Also, wait, why are you here in Italy? Is it a vacation? No nevermind, you are inside the Varia, only I take vacations in the Varia, you know how my family is like," Rin rolled her eyes without skipping a beat, leaving the taller brunette still frozen in the shorter blond's embrace. "AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE. The Varia is so much more fun! I would die if I have to listen to my step-spawn anymore-" Celeste couldn't do much more than blink, the girl in-front of her just kept going, rambling, asking questions and then answering her own questions. Really, there was no need for Celeste to even be here but the girl clearly enjoyed her presence, which was honestly a new one for her.
Most people had been trying to kill her, or amused with her existence in a plaything/experiment sort of way, or just neutrally hostile. It's been a long time since she had been around anyone, who was talking about how much they missed her and hugging her tightly.
And then the wheels started clicking (though majorly overdue) and her mind finally pieced together the hair with the voice who was still rambling. Because Amina was always the stronger of the two, she pushed herself a bit to look the girl in the face and her mouth was slack-jawed. It was Luny! Perplexed was the understatement of the year. The last time she saw this short, bundle of erratic energy was when she was cosplaying for comic-con. What in the world was her friend doing at the Varia?!
Luckily, Squalo was always the most impatient one so Amina didn't need to be the one to stop the other girl in her tracks. "VOIII RIN What is going on!?" Rin just cut off his tirade with a wave of her hand.
"Squalo, darling, not now, don't you see I'm talking with my best friend right now? It is so rude to interrupt, and I know your mother didn't raise you like that."
"Best friend?!"
"Darling?!"
Celeste and Squalo had outbursts of equal exclamation and Bel was just onlooking, now grinning in amusement. He always did enjoy himself when Rin was around, if just to see the look on Squalo's face but this was taking a much more exciting turn.
"Come on! You can do so much better than this guy!"
"VOIII! WATCH IT THERE BRAT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BETTER?"
Amina pointed accusingly at Squalo.
"See what I mean? There is no such thing as a sensible volume around this guy! You won't have ears before you even start dealing with the kids!" Then she realized that Squalo's kids will probably be the loudest kids known to man-kind and Celeste paled at the thought. "Can you imagine how loud those wails are going to be!? Think of your sanity! OUR sanity!"
Squalo looked like he would have a heart attack."WHAT KIDS?!"
Rin just rolled her eyes at Squalo's outburst. "What kids?" She mocked in a high pitched voice to Squalo's low male tone. "Squalo, I've told you full and well about the kids we would be having one day, we both know the type of families we come from, of course there are kids. How could you think there wouldn't be heirs and spares? We've talked about this before."
"NO WE HAVEN'T, YOU'VE DONE ALL THE TALKING. NOT ME. KEEP ME OUT OF YOUR WEIRD FANTASIES!"
"They are not weird fantasies! Our kids will look absolutely spectacular-between your hair and my cheekbones-Lussuria will be one of the godparents or else I'd never hear the end of it," Luny turned towards Celeste and gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry, you will of course also be one of the godparents, we plan to have 5 kids after all. I've always wanted a big family."
Rin smiled widely and happily, Squalo looked torn between being apoplectic and horrified, and Belphegor was just amused. Meanwhile, there was a far off back drop of fights and battle. Celeste could not think of a more iconic Varia scene.
"Ushishi, things just got interesting around here. And here I thought it was only the Cinquemani tonight which would be the most exciting thing. Commoner, you've out-done yourself this time with the plot-twists and eliciting such reactions from the stupid shark. Your sovereign is well pleased."
Breaking away from the tirade, Squalo went back to business mode grabbing Rin. "First thing is first, we need to get you to safety, away from the fight." Rin swooned. "You want to protect me, the love of your life? How romantic~~"
"VOI NO! CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW MUCH CRAP I WILL HAVE TO DEAL FROM YOUR FAMILY IF YOU GET HURT!?"
Rin just pouted, unphased by Squalo's callousness. "Always such a tsundere."
Celeste wanted to speak. She really did. She knew there were a ton of questions, accusations, and mixed emotions that were speeding through her head. And instead of being able to talk coherently to get a feel for how they all ended up here, how the girl she called Luny, formally known as Rin, was involved in all this and ask the big important questions that could mean life or death for her, what came out instead was: "How do you even know him!?" She sounded more like a parent upset about who their kid brought home to meet the family than a teenager stuck in a mansion full of assassins.
"Oh, since primary!" Rin happily exclaimed, as she laced an arm through Squalo's, he tried, and he tried hard to get her off of him but Rin's grip was second to none. It was practically a superpower. "I knew Squalo was the one. We made a pinky promise on it." Giggling as she said it, looking at Squalo adoringly.
He wanted to gag but couldn't so he chose anger instead.
"COERCION! THAT'S WHAT IT WAS. You held my cookies and milk hostage until I agreed!"
"What can I say, I'm my father's daughter." Rin shrugged but then quickly turned back to Squalo. "But you agreed of your own volition. And you pinky-promised. These things are sacred Squalo." While the smile never left her face, there was a bit of an atmosphere drop, and Bel grinned at the shiver Squalo couldn't hide at the laced dark undertone of Rin's words. Even Celeste caught it too and was taken aback, she had only ever seen Rin bubbly and enthusiastic, never this dark and i-mean-business with a poisoning sweet tone.
It was practically mafia-esque. Honed in to the bone mafia level.
Celeste's head has just been spinning with all this new information and she was starting to connect the dots. "Primary? Luny, why do you know Squalo and Bel so well? Also why does Bel call you Duchess?"
Now it was the turn of Squalo and Bel to stare at Celeste like she was an idiot. She didn't like it. "What?" She turned to look accusingly at Rin.
"Luny," She said, evoking the nickname she gave the short petite girl. While it was a warm nickname, there was anything but warmth in her tone right now. "What am I missing here?" She hated being out of the loop.
Rin grinned sheepishly. "Well, you know my name is Rin. And I am Rin Ivankov."
Celeste still didn't understand. Rin loved her for it. "That's what I always liked about you, I could say my name and you didn't care."
"Luny.." She began warningly, the girl had a dangerous habit of just rambling off and not addressing what was at hand, Amina had to stop it in her tracks and bring her back to center. Sometimes Rin was just ditzy and enthusiastic like that but other times (like this one) it was intentional to avoid the matter at hand.
Belphegor also knew it too so he cut to the chase. "She is a duchess by blood, even with her Japanese half notwithstanding, the Ivankov family can trace back their roots to Russian royalty and to this day they are one of the most prominent Russian families."
"And by family we mean..." Celeste trailed off but she had already pieced it together because of where they were. "Russian mob? For god's sake, IS THERE ANYONE WHO ISN'T INVOLVED WITH THE MOB?"
First Cassandra with the Cinquemani. Now apparently Rin with the Ivankov's. Just who in the world had she been easily consorting with this whole time unknowingly!?
"Hehe...:" Rin scratched at her cheek and let out a nervous chuckle. "Surprise?"
Big time.
Especially since they had met in the most innocuous of circumstances. At a Public library in the manga section, bonding over shared tastes, though Rin was big into cosplaying and making her costumes from scratch, she on the other hand was always too lazy and balked at the expenses of the hobby but could appreciate the hardwork and dedication that went into it. Even if it wasn't her ballgame. They exchanged numbers since that time and developed a good friendship rather rapidly though they usually only ever communicated online or through text , they clicked well.
But never ever would Celeste have imagined she had made friends, just like with Cassandra, with someone who had such a double life.
"Why are you here though Lele?" Rin was confused. "You're a civ. My bodyguards when I was in the states looked into your background, you have no ties."
She let out a surprised cough. A background check on her?
"Standard protocol. Can never be too safe you know?" Celeste did not in fact know and was a bit horrified by how ignorant she had been. "Your mother is squeaky clean and I know your dad left when you were little and is not in the picture. So really, no need to look into him, especially since you told me that they separated before your mom immigrated to America and the records show that."
First off, Rin clearly needed better bodyguards because she did in fact have ties. But she wasn't going to mention that now. Though to both their credit, Amina didn't find out until recently about her father. Not sure how well her father or perhaps her mother covered their tracks but it must've been good enough to convince some Russian mobsters so that she could consort with a Russian mob princess.
Even thinking about that statement was insane.
"So how do you know my commoner?" Bel finally asked, though Celeste didn't like the territorial twinge she heard.
"Yup! This was the friend I made while I was in New York City."
Bel remembered when Rin came to the Varia, out of sorts and disappointed due to some friend she hadn't been able to reach. This was that friend?
Rin also remembered that her dear friend had suddenly gone AWOL and she stepped back to look at her accusingly. "Seriously though, what happened to you? I tried calling you and I went to our usual meetup spot at the manga section of the bookstore for weeks and you never came."
Then Bel joined her as well for different reasons. "Peasant, you stood up a duchess!? Where do you get the gall for such disrespect towards your superiors?! Clearly the prince needs to invest in your education."
Okay this situation was getting a bit too ridiculous. On one hand there was an unknown girl who was paradoxically equal parts happy and upset at seeing her, and on the other hand, a megalomaniac prince who thought now was a good time to start a lecture on propriety. All the while there were sounds of madness and yelling as background noise.
"Aren't we forgetting something here? There is a battle going on! Is this really the right time for this!?"
Rin shared a quick glance with Bel and then simultaneously both turned to look at her and shrugged. "It's going to be clearly one-sided." Rin spoke simply and undisturbed. "The Varia never lose". Bel grinned his trademark blood-thirsty cheshire grin. Neither were nervous or upset about the situation, in fact they were so calm it startled her. Was there anyone sane anymore?
That was the difference she realized of those battle-hardened by the mafia and people like her.
This was their normal. One battle wasn't enough to rattle them or their confidence.
Amina's thoughts were interrupted by Rin looking at her questioningly.
"You know, There are much easier starts in life than the Varia, I know you like a challenge but even I find this a bit extreme. You could've also told me; instead of falling off the face of the planet." There was underlying anger and hurt directed towards her in that statement but before Celeste could even try to defend herself (which really she would've needed a lot of time to do to explain all that had occurred) Rin kept on talking.
"I could've even helped you have a smooth transition. It must've been hell for you."
Understatement of the year, truly, if only she knew the half of it.
Rin gave her friend a sympathetic look. Whatever issues still had to be resolved, Luny was pushing aside her indignation and hurt at her disappearance to consider what her friend had gone through. Even though there was still some hardness in the aristocrat's features, this really warmed Celeste's heart.
She was trying hard to keep herself hard and tough for what was inevitably coming ahead in the next few hours. But, Amina couldn't help it, especially when her short platinum blonde friend shot a pointed and accusatory look at Belphegor. Knowing full well what the boy was capable of, Rin knew he had probably been using her friend as a toy. He didn't even look ashamed. "It's been fun, what can I say?"
Amina wasn't in a position to trust people, in fact she was in a precariously dangerous situation right now but there was a huge part of her that wanted to reach out to the friend she had made, who was still here now.
Now that she could put power dynamics and money into the equation, it suddenly all made sense about Rin. Sure, she always knew Luny was rich and had a troubled relationship with her father, but now the overt cautiousness when they walked outside (and she a native new yorker who are usually pretty guarded too which is why it stood out to her) and just other little tidbits of knowledge about certain parts of the city clicked.
Amina was deeply troubled.
She couldn't talk about the Cinquemani, the Rogue Regime but surely about the amnesia and maybe about her father. The amnesia because even with the new information about her lineage, Rin never actually lied to her, she had actually been very forth-willing about her life and her relationships. They had a very honest relationship; they knew each other well. So she had no doubt her sudden disappearance must've been a huge slap in the face, if not an outright rejection. She wanted to explain, she didn't want to hurt her friend unnecessarily. And also talk about her father too, because frankly, if anyone could understand not getting along with their father and his other children, it was Rin.
Though Rin had fantasies about killing her step-siblings in a thousand ways, she now was the one one with fratricide on her resume.
But before she herself could come to any formal decision or even plan as to what to even say, Squalo decided he had enough chit chat.
"Enough of this. We are going to spend all night bouncing back and forth on could've, should've." He was back straight into commander mode and that tone was enough to get all three of them immediately into formation, away from their own reveries.
A rain subordinate came nearby in those moments and Squalo stopped him in his tracks. "Take Rin with you and get her away from the action." Celeste didn't know him. But since he wasn't cloud or part of the rogue regime, that put him squarely in her neutral box.
Knowing better than to question or disagree, he nodded. Rin immediately grabbed Celeste's arm as the rain subordinate began to try to escort her and Rin pulled her friend close to her.
"She's coming with me."
Squalo's eyes shifted, Amina could see the cold analysis and quick thought work going on there. To see if it was worth the hassle, trusting Rin or fighting her.
"No buts." Rin repeated firmly, also knowing that look of Squalo's very well. But if there was anything that was a match for his pride, it was her stubbornness.
Yells of battle inching closer and tell-tale sounds of bodies falling made Squalo's decision for him. "Fine." He responded curtly. Rin gave him a very pleased and loving smile. He ignored it and turned towards Bel. "You take the rear, we need to find the plug for this infestation once and for all." Bel nodded his ascent, understanding the business ahead, not as cavalier as before.
Bel looked briefly towards Amina, the one who had been alluding him for a while. "See you soon peasant~" She wasn't sure if it was her overactive defensiveness at work, but she felt there was also an undertone of anger there in that sing song statement but what, she couldn't say. She could almost swear there was an implicit I will see you soon or else.
Before she could even try to think about why Bel could be mad at her, or try to downplay the nerves it brought, she had bigger problems on her hands when Squalo turned back to look at her. "Don't think I don't have questions for you either." Those cold and analytical eyes on her are not any more comforting.
Just like a shark, she knew that man could smell blood in the water, and she wasn't going to start bleeding just yet. Too much to get done, it took every ounce of her self will and strength to make sure she had a platonic look and no visible changes in her body language so as to not raise even a millimeter on Squalo's suspicion meter. Luckily, he wasn't looking at her long, before he and Bel were going to go straight into the battle.
"So are you going to tell me why you are here in the Varia or not?" Luny asked her friend as they went through the maze of the Varia mansion being led by the rain subordinate in front of them.
Really, sometimes it was Rin distracting people by rambling in circles and other times she was the one cutting to the chase. Truly, it all depended on whatever suited her best.
"Later….now is not really a good time."
Later she might be dead. A little voice quipped in her head. So we save ourselves at least one awkward conservation, is that really so bad?
Even as she quipped back to herself, she can't win. The guilt gnawed at her, she would be a terrible friend if she didn't at least give a semblance of an explanation to Rin, it wasn't her fault her life played out the way it did. It was actually just an amazing coincidence she ended up befriending not one, but two, mafia princesses from two different circles. Cassandra was partly to blame for what happened to her, but it was 95% Alphonse, he was the common denominator of all her troubles. Her involvement in the current coup, the rogue regime
Amnesia, Cassandara blaming her for Antonino's death, Federico, the existence of the rogue regime which started first and foremost in reaction to what happened to Cassandra, her involvement in a coup.
She couldn't win the lottery but somehow she ended up with these kind of odds.
Before Rin could push her for more answers they were surrounded by enemy forces.
They weren't part of the cloud or rogue regime. It was Cinquemani, and Amima knew there was no way of talking to them. She saw the rain subordinate tense up.
"Do you know how to fight?" Amina asked her, Rin shook her head. Eyes watching warily, but Amina knew fear when she saw it. How was this girl around the Varia with zero fighting ability?
"Do you?" Rin asked, Amina pushed the short blond behind her. "Stay behind me"
"Lele," Rin pulled at her from behind, "we need to run"
She was right.
Celeste turned to the rain subordinate preparing himself for battle. "Idiot, you won't be enough to defend and attack." He bristled at her remark and she cut his incoming angered response off with force. "Take her and run, I'll buy time."
"No! Are you insane!? I'm not leaving." Rin angrily stood firm but Amina paid her no mind and kept looking at the rain subordinate.
"Who will Squalo make you into evening sushi because of? The daughter of a prominent family who the Varia should've been strong enough to protect in their own house. Or me? Some servant who no one knows her name or family."
Rin could not believe what she was hearing. She stared at her friend in open increaduality.
"I care! What person would leave their friend to die? Celeste you know nothing—" Celeste stopped ignoring her then and snapped at her harder than she even intended to, "No, Luny, you know nothing." She jabbed her finger accusingly, "You don't know what I've had to do to survive all these months, who I've become and at what price!"
"How can I, when you haven't told me anything!?" She yelled back, Rin bristled at her tone and didn't like the look in her eyes. It was dark, hollow and jaded. Those weren't the bright innocent eyes of the girl she met at that manga section just a few months ago.
Celeste didn't answer her and looked away, pain, hurt and anger swirling inside her, she directed her frustration to the rain subordinate instead "What are you waiting for, a goddamn invitation!? MOVE!" Rin was petite and short, the kind of person easily kidnapped. There was no need for this delay, they were coming closer and had noticed them.
"No, I'm not going and that is final!" She puffed out angrily, getting more agitated as time passed. But it was short lived as one of the enemy Cinquemani lunged at her, knife in hand. Fear paralyzed her, she couldn't even move.
The blond Russian could only stare as her best friend, the civilian, the student on her way to being valedictorian swooped in unflinchingly. Then with an anger that came from somewhere deep, that had nothing to do with the médical profession she always heard her friend talking about, slammed her body against the enemy. He lost his balance, not expecting for someone to dive in as opposed to out and took advantage of that momentary surprise to plug the knife deep into his stomach.
The man gasped out cursing her, splattering her with his blood. With the man dead, Amina stood up without saying a word, blood on her clothes and a bit of splatter on her face.
"I'm not going to die." Amina stated tersely, with a fire that would've consumed Rin if that had been directed at her. It was fury, wrath and vengeance all wrapped in one.
What happened to her?
Amina made an abrupt hand motion to her neck at the rain subordinate, Rin couldn't even ask what that meant before she felt a harsh blow come to the back of her head. As she was falling into unconsciousness, she understood then what the rain subordinate had no issue figuring out.
"You're a good friend you know." The rain subordinate nodded at her in respect to her loyalty, she briskly nodded with her head for him to leave as some of the other enemies began closing in on her in anger of their fallen comrade.
"What? You want to join your comrade in the afterlife?"
As she heard the fast footsteps of him going away behind her, she brought back the attention of the other men who wanted to chase after. Ego was always the way to go.
Amina fought her way, bruises and pain along the way she thought to the rain subordinates words.
She wasn't a good friend. She was just tired of so many dead people associated with her name.
There was a particular blow to her stomach that had her bent over, curling in pain. Karma, that's what that was. Just as she felt the edge of a knife at her throat with her hair pulled roughly back she heard gunshots and the thud of bodies falling.
The rogue regime had caught up to her just in time. "Thank you" Amina drew out, recovering her breath. She hoped the hit to her stomach didn't cause any internal bleeding. It hurt terribly but she wasn't going to die. She couldn't think of that now, there was too much to do. She just had to keep moving and hope her adrenaline kept her going.
Amina looked around, seeing the conflicted look in their eyes of saving her at the cost of men who all used to be under the same banner. But that was no longer those times. She was the new allegiance.
The Cinquemani house was divided, pro Don and pro Pupetta camps. Amina was in the league of the latter, so now it was that anyone wasn't for us; was against us.
"We have an idea of where Pupetta might be. Its an old holding cell for interrogations area over by the east wing, it's an underground structure."
So basically the Varia had a dungeon. Why was she not surprised.
"Let's move, no time to waste"
Get pupetta, get Alphonse. And try not to die in the middle of a war with trained assassins. Simple, right?
Squalo was growing more distrustful by the minute. The more time elapsed, it became clearer that this was a coordinated attack not one done out of hotheaded anger or sudden retaliation as was the "given" reason.
Ridiculous that they were being blamed for Don Cinquemani's daughter's disappearance. That's their damn fault for being so careless. He would've also escaped if he had a father like that. Dodging without much thought the attack directed his way, before smoothly retaliating with a kill, Squalo continued the thoughts in his head about the situation at hand. It wasn't that the Varia were being pushed back but this situation was dragging for people of their caliber.
There is only one way the Cinquemani could be able to hold their ground in unfamiliar territory as well as they have.
"I think we have a mole." Bel stated, coming to similar thought patterns as the tactical commander, having encountered and defeated his nth opponent. He wasn't the type to keep track of peasants. "Perhaps several."
Squalo snarled. How could this have happened?
Leviathan caught up to them. Squalo gave him a curt nod of acknowledgement waiting for updates from his end. Bel being the brat he is, only grinned.
Because of the seriousness of the situation, Leviathan chose to disregard Bel flippant attitude and resolved to beat manners into the kid post-enemy conflict.
"So? What's the news?"
"Cinquemani forces are attacking but it doesn't seem to be all their forces."
Squalo didn't like the sound of that. Was it a two-prong attack on them?
"Any visibility around the area about other backup forces lying in wait?"
Leviathan shook his head. "Negative."
"So these fucking imbeciles are mocking us and only attacking with half their forces?!" That struck a nerve. Who the hell did they think they were? Squalo wanted to go back and kill them again, but this time more painfully for that kind of confidence.
One of Leviathan's subordinates came up to the lightning commander and a hushed diatribe followed before he departed as quickly as he came.
Whatever it was that the reconnaissance said, it had to be big given Leviathan's reaction.
"Spit it out mustache." Bel stated impatiently, dodging a blow from the peeved lighting commander.
"The Cinquemani are doing a simultaneous attack on us and Vongola HQ."
"What?" Bel seethed and Squalo was livid at the Cinquemani's added audacity. "How is Vongola HQ holding up?"
They didn't have lines at the moment to call and check because Xanxus ordered them cut to have full freedom during the battle without HQ interference or calls for diplomacy and mercy.
But it was a double edged sword for moments like this. So only the small stream of information that Levi and his information team could garner made them that much more crucial but it was precisely what their domain was. They were known for speed and scouting.
"Seems like the CEDEF figured it out in enough time to build defenses, get Nono out to a safe house and have retaliation measures in place. They tried to call us but..." the lines were already cut by then, Levi didn't say.
Both Bel and Squalo were rather impressed if not also annoyed that the CEDEF managed to get ahead before they did. It was a pride thing.
Regardless this was still good news. This meant they only had to deal with half the forces and no need to even be cognizant of HQ or needing to send backup that way. They could concentrate all their efforts on eradicating the pests at hand once and for all.
"We need to update the shitty boss."
"Also what is going on with all these projectors spread throughout the mansion? Belphegor were you going to play some sort of prank before the attack?" Lussuria asked catching up to the other had noticed several corridors and main hall connection points with them displayed towards the wall.
Bel scowled, "That would be a cheap prank, not worthy of the prince."
Everyone stopped in their tracks at Belphegor's denial. None of them had any idea what was going on with something in their own house and it was more than likely it wasn't Xanxus sanctioned.
Before Belphegor could ask Squalo if he had any ideas as the shark was the second in command; all hell broke loose. Again. Which spoke volumes given they were already in a war zone.
Now chaos and disorder abounded, shouts and yells that weren't orchestrated by them but TO them.
Belphegor hurried to the ruckus and found one of his own badly injured. "What happened?"
The injuries he sustained left him badly breathing, he probably wouldn't make it past the next hour. Belphegor quickly surmised due to the nature of the wounds that this had to be a surprise attack, his subordinates weren't that weak. Especially since the storm battalion was meant for offensive while rain specialized in interrogation.
The man breathed heavily and was trying hard to ground out his words. Belphegor was losing his patience, he hated not knowing.
"Inganno."
Yes, he had guessed as much. Both Squalo and him had arrived to that conclusion. "Who?" This was the crucial part, he needed his subordinates to survive long enough to fulfill his duty.
"Nube." The man croaked out before losing consciousness.
Belphegor could feel the blood pounding in his ears and the bloodlust slowly rising and simmering that one of his subordinates was done in by another squad.
Then the projectors turned on and Alphonse's insolent arrogant features were plastered everywhere.
"Buona sera Varia and welcome to the end of your era and the beginning of mine."
Bel was going to enjoy killing that one.
Alphonse was a narcissist to the core and wanted everyone to have a front row seat to his rise to power and to have his enemies see each other fall.
He would be remiss if there was someone in particular he didn't address.
"And to my darling little sister, there is no escape for you. I will find you. After all there is no longer any Vongola heir for you to hide behind. But rest assured, I will make sure you are reunited with him soon."
Sister? Who was that? There were many things to question and unpack from that narcissistic message but there was only one that had the Varia frozen. Lussuria gasped. "Does that mean what I think it means?"
For a heartbeat the upper Varia were silent, all thinking the same-thing.
Federico was dead.
Author's Note
Thank you so so SO much to everyone who reviewed and let me know that they were excited to see this story, and Amina continue to grow and develop. Brought me such joy and also the incentive to push forward. Continue letting me know your thoughts, reviews are soul food for writers.
Stay safe in these times and see you next year! There might even be a double chapter update to welcome the new year~~
