Author's note: Yo! It's been a while again. Between uni and this chapter giving me several headaches because it just wouldn't turn out right I ended up taking a lot longer than I'd intended. Sorry about that, but I did warn you guys that you shouldn't expect quick updates lol Can't even promise much for chapter 9, because that chapter's been bothering me for a while and I don't know if I won't have to outright scrap the whole ending. But I'll do my best to balance between good content (or at least the best I can do) and shorter waiting time between uploads.
No warnings here! Enjoy!
Reminder that until I say it's over the Romance Poll is still going ^^
The assignment was actually so incredibly simple that their excitement was watered down to a light feeling of disappointment. Like previously stated though, they took what they could get.
StarDust took initiative and explained what exactly they had to do, Marilyn stressed how incredibly valuable what they were carrying was and that they should be careful with it, and Rose simply gave them a map to where they were supposed to carry the goods to. The youngest Milers looked kind of frazzled for some reason, tapping her foot and staring the floor down.
"Your mission is to deliver these over to this specific house in Athena" StarDust explained, her eyes, a mixture of green and a lighter green, focused on a spot on the map as her index finger pointed at it "With this map it's impossible to get lost, so don't be afraid of taking any weird turns if someone is following you."
"Try not to interact with too many people" Rose cut in as if to add to her older sister's words, her tail puffed up and swaying in a stressed back and forth "You don't know who's an ally and who's an enemy in Athena. It's less dangerous to keep your head down and go straight there."
"And don't jostle those around too much" Marilyn reminded them with a stern expression, but her green eyes that were almost the same as her twin sister's twinkled with enthusiasm for their first 'mission' "They're delicate."
"What are they anyway?" Yakko wondered out loud, eyeing the backpack Rose had slung over his shoulder with a weary expression. He knew Wakko's backpack had the maps, and in Dot's backpack were snacks for the trip (she had to hit Wakko's hand away a few times when he'd tried to sneak some from it), but he wasn't sure what he was carrying. They weren't smuggling goods, were they?
- … We're totally smuggling goods. -
- Dammit. -
Rose sent a smug smile to her twin, who sent her a pout in return "Marilyn's just very protective of her work. They're a few gadgets that she made that are supposed to be able to make it so that we can communicate with others through voice, but they're portable. It's weird, like a mixture of a phone and a walkie-talkie."
"Don't call them weird, they're my life's work!" Marilyn huffed back, but puffed out her chest in pride as she explained what the device was "Humans call it a Cellphone, and it'll make communicating ten times easier. You know how difficult it is to replicate human technology with the scarce amount of parts in WarnerStock? It's really hard!"
"Okay, fascinating that you managed to make a cellphone, but we kinda have to leave soon so," he tried to change the subject back to the matter at hand because it was already morning and they were supposed to be going to the train station with their newly acquired passports in about two hours "We just have to take them to this place and come back?"
"No, they'll give you something Rose's been looking for in return" Marilyn explained, but her twin bristled even further and started shaking her hands back and forth in front of her as if to tell her to shut up. Marilyn merely sent her an unamused look "I'm not going all the way over there just for your book, Rose. Not if they can get it for you."
Yakko looked to Rose with risen eyebrows. What could have possibly broken their leader's rock-hard composure? "What kind of book is it?"
"None of your business is what it is, and don't even think about reading it, got it?!" Rose warned him, looking nervous and a little angry "It's very important and I need it back here safe and sound."
As if trying to change the topic for her younger sister's sake, StarDust shoved the map in his hands and gestured for them to go out the door "Aren't you glad it's so simple?"
On one hand yes, on the other no. It was nice that it wasn't too complicated, but all three of them had expected something... a bit more exciting? Still, the Warners accepted the mission with grace and took off to the train station.
Unlike what anyone might expect, walking through the same path Rose had taken him through two months before was nerve-wracking. With no one to guide them, Yakko found himself consulting the map of Artemis more times than he honestly needed to, mostly out of nervousness and a lack of faith in himself. He'd been dragged through the last two months by a leash, and suddenly he'd been let free and left to his own devices; it was honestly a bit unsettling. And all that without mentioning that, despite the lack of interest the warners around them had shown toward the three siblings when any of the Milers sisters had been with them, they were suddenly the center of attention.
There was not one pair of eyes that wasn't on them. Some who were lounging around the entrance of some alleys even whispered amongst themselves when they walked by.
The streets were crowded, filled with warners with every kind of hair and eye color. However, Yakko noticed something as they walked along, keeping watch on every person that stared at them.
Their eyes. He hadn't seen even one pair that looked like theirs.
It couldn't be a coincidence. With this amount of warners around, there should have been at least one pair of each, considering there wasn't such a diverse variety.
Could that be why everyone was watching them? But why were there such strange emotions in their eyes? They ranged from anger to disgust and even to hope. What was their deal?
"Isn't that the way to the train station?"
Yakko stopped his personal staring contest with a couple that had been giving them particularly disgruntled looks when Wakko's voice rang out. When he looked down at his siblings, Dot was pointing at the stairs leading underground, while Wakko tugged on his hand. Both were looking up at him as if telling him they shouldn't make a scene.
Begrudgingly agreeing with them, he suppressed a sigh "Yeah, let's go down. Athena should be closer than Aphrodite, so it'll probably take us an hour to get there at the most" he just hoped he wouldn't run into Nicolas on the train. The man would probably throw them off the moment he saw Yakko's face after the scene he'd made last time.
They passed through the tunnel he'd had the displeasure of going through two months before, a certain tenseness in the air. His siblings seemed particularly pensive, and sometimes exchanged knowing looks that concerned him a bit. What were they secretly communicating about? Was he being left out?
The thought made him immediately shake his head to disperse it. He'd told himself ages ago that doubting the only people he actually trusted would just make him get worse, and he wasn't about to start worrying now. If it was something important they would probably tell him. Probably.
With this in mind, they went up the stairs and got to the station.
Luckily, the annoying conductor wasn't in that particular train and their journey through Artemis over to Athena was a peaceful one, especially considering that Rose had given him the new Pass-watcher's schedule and they were in no danger of their train being checked. They were even able to catch up on a bit of sleep. Well, Wakko and Dot were able to. Yakko was just the impromptu body pillow that got smooshed by the two smaller bodies leaning on him.
To entertain himself, Yakko looked outside the window, but there wasn't anything of interest out there. Just a bunch of houses scattered around a gigantic field. It was the countryside, and he supposed all this land was used to grow crops, judging from the lines of corn he'd seen. He got bored fairly quickly.
An hour in of the younger children sleeping and Yakko humming the Animaniacs theme song quietly so as to not wake his siblings, Dot stirred in his grasp.
"Mm," she mumbled sleepily "Yakko...?"
He felt a tug at his wrist, so he looked down from his boring window watching to stare at his sister.
"Yeah, sis?" he asked in a whisper, though he wasn't worried about accidentally waking Wakko "What is it?"
She yawned and cuddled back against his chest, but her eyes opened again to look up at him a moment later "Is the base our home now?"
He felt a small pang of hurt pass through his chest at the thought that their "new home" was nothing more than a place to train them to fight. With a sigh, he lightly raked his gloved fingers through her hair "I don't know. Do you want it to be?"
Dot seemed to think about it for a moment, narrowing her eyes slightly "I don't know. You?"
Yakko shrugged. He didn't think he would prefer it had there been a choice "Nah. But I don't mind living with the Milers" then, a thought passed through his head "Do you like them?"
"They're alright" she yawned again "Star's nice to me. Marilyn's a bit too hyper" then, her nose wrinkled "And Rose yells a lot."
Yakko chuckled at that "Yeah, she does. But she's okay, I think. Star's kinda stoic, but she seems enamored with you."
Now a bit more awake, Dot puffed out her chest at that "As she should be! I'm the cute one, after all."
"Of course. Always the cutest" he teasingly booped her nose and smiled when she giggled "And Marilyn fits in with Wakko perfectly, don't you think?"
"Yeah" she laughed "They both act like they ate too much sugar."
Even in his sleep, as if annoyed by the comment, Wakko's brow furrowed ever so slightly and with a swing kicked his younger sister in the shin.
"Ow!"
Luckily for Yakko though, because he didn't want to have to pull them apart again, all Dot did to turn the tables was frown at her brother and kick back. He says luckily because, though he could miraculously hear conversations, Wakko couldn't feel the kick in his sleep and thus didn't retaliate. He just kept snoring away.
Lucky rascal, Yakko could only wish to sleep that deeply.
"Wonder if Marilyn's ever going to teach him some manners" Dot grumbled as she rubbed below her knee, a sour expression on her face "Why does he have to be so beastly?"
Yakko shrugged, though there was a grin on his face "He's Wakko, what do you expect? But no, seriously, don't be mean to your brother" to apologize for his comment, he gently ruffled his younger brother's head and had to stifle a laugh when he smiled stupidly in his sleep.
"I'll stop being mean when he stops being mean" she turned her head away, but Yakko shook her shoulder so she'd turn her face back toward him. His tranquil expression had turned into one of concern.
"Dot, we need to stay together during times like these" he sighed, gently rubbing up and down her back when his younger sister looked down guiltily "I know things kind of suck right now, but even if the world tries to rip us apart we need to be able to stay together."
"... It's not like I hate him or anything. I mean, he's my brother and all" she mumbled, cuddling back against him "He just gets on my nerves sometimes."
"You didn't fight nearly as much before though" he raised an eyebrow at her "Why have you've been at each other's throats since we got to the base?"
Dot didn't say anything at that, looking away to the window of the train.
"At least try not to fight? We can't afford you two going at it in the middle of a mission, you know that."
"I know!" she raised her voice, but when he only looked at her with a sad expression, her shoulders de-tensed and sighed "... I know that. It's just..."
"... We're scared."
To his credit, Yakko didn't jump in surprise when Wakko mumbled the words and slowly sat up, rubbing at his eyes. He definitely wasn't as bad as the voice.
Speaking of which… it was being awfully quiet considering the current situation.
"We're scared of what's coming and we're taking it out on each other" Wakko shrugged after a moment, his sleepy expression not hiding the anxiousness in his eyes "It's easy to be each other's punching bag."
"Star said they'd teach us how to fire guns soon" Dot shivered while she added to what Wakko was saying, her eyes conflicted as she hugged her older brother's arm "... I don't want to learn that, Yakko. What if I actually-"
"You won't. I know neither of you will hurt anyone" with soft eyes, Yakko brought both of them closer to him so that he could hug them, one arm around each "They're good teachers, right? We've been experiencing that these past two months."
Wakko and Dot looked up at him with frightened eyes, and he had to hug them a bit tighter to stop the fear in his own heart.
He wouldn't say he wasn't afraid. He was. He was so scared that he'd been awake thinking about everything for a few nights. However, he was more afraid for his siblings than he was for himself, though that was to be expected, considering he was their older brother. In the battlefield, he wouldn't be able to stay near them and keep an eye out for them to make sure that they were safe. They would probably have to spread out, go in different directions, and one day he'll probably have his heart in his throat because he won't know if his baby brother and sister are alive or not. Their safety wasn't guaranteed, just like his wasn't.
He wasn't worried about what might happen to himself though. In the case that he didn't come back, he was sure the Milers wouldn't be opposed to keep Wakko and Dot with them. Marilyn adored Wakko, and StarDust was smitten with Dot. Rose wouldn't mind, he was sure. It wasn't a nice thing to think about, and he would fight until the end if only just to be there for his siblings... but he had a backup plan should something happen, and that was the important part.
"They won't shove us into the lion's den without the tools to tame them" he reassured them, trying to keep his mind in the present and not let it drift away into fears of the future. That would be dangerous "You guys'll be expert shooters before they give you a gun, and you'll know where the vitals are so you don't accidentally do more damage than you mean to."
The younger warners first looked at each other in worry, and then back up at him, giving him an uncertain smile "... We'll be okay?"
Yakko, in order not to have a brief panic attack, took a deep breath and released it softly "Yeah... We'll be okay."
They remained quiet for the rest of the trip, though Wakko and Dot remained awake this time and stared at the outside with him. And if his arms occasionally hugged them a little too tightly or either of his siblings suddenly clutched his hand enough to hurt... No one mentioned it.
In about half an hour they arrived at the station of Athena and they stepped off the train, watching it head off again in the other direction with apprehension. Their ride was gone and wouldn't be back for, at least, two more hours. They were stuck.
With that thought in their minds, the three Warners sighed collectively and Wakko handed Yakko the map of the town so they could get going.
Athena's streets and houses' designs made it look like Germany, and the smell of sausages and mashed potatoes only further showed their similarities. He wondered if warners had gone to these cities under cover and had been inspired by the humans' designs, because it wouldn't be possible for their towns to be so similar otherwise. Maybe they'd looked at postcards or photos. But that was something to ask the Milers another day.
In Athena, the amount of eyes on them was the same as it had been in Artemis. However, the emotions that were running through the eyes of the warners were vastly different. There were some who looked at them as if they'd seen the Devil, while others stared as if they'd seen their salvation. The ones who looked on with smiles on their faces seemed wealthy, walking around in suits or even just nice clothes, while those who gave them dirty looks were sitting around the streets or working in small stands that didn't have many costumers.
"Do you guys have any clue why they're staring at us like that?" Yakko whispered to his siblings, his eyes darting back and forth in case some of the poorer warners tried to attack them. No one approached them though.
"I think Mary said our eyes are weird" Wakko whispered back, sticking close "Something about family des… descendants? I didn't really get it. What does that word even mean?"
"Seems like our eye color is pretty uncommon" Dot explained, her voice just as quiet "Star mentioned something like that too back when we were in the forest. Like... only those from the Warner family line have these eyes...? She said we were probably from one of the families that branched from the royalty one. Smaller nobles, or something like that."
Ah... That would actually explain it "So they think we're like William?"
"The ones who're glaring probably believe that the royal family was behind the kidnappings..." Wakko muttered, trailing off.
"... And the ones smiling at us probably don't" Dot finished, mouth turned down into a small grimace.
"... We have big shoes to fill either way" Yakko groaned, pressing a hand to his eyes to rub them in exasperation "But nevermind that; we should get going or Rose'll yell at us when we get back."
"When doesn't she?" Wakko grumbled moodily- Mostly because the mentioned blond had told him off when he'd had the brilliant idea to try and disassemble some important machine in the middle of the night. And then Marilyn had appeared to berate him too. It'd been a pretty shit day.
Dot snickered because she knew what he was sulking about, but Yakko just snorted and patted him once on the shoulder.
"Good point."
Following the map was as easy as tracing the way through a labyrinth in one of those cereal boxes, but Yakko still double-checked to make sure he was taking them the right way. They went through down-trodden alleys and narrow streets to reach the "safe-house", but they managed to reach it in half an hour.
The house was just like the rest of those in Athena, but what Yakko noticed as they slowly walked to it, looking around them to make sure they hadn't been followed, was the metal door that clashed with the style of the town. It was odd enough that they were wary of approaching it, but eventually Yakko just instructed Wakko and Dot to stay back and walked up to the door, clutching at the backpack's strap in a firm grip.
With a gulp, he knocked on the door exactly three times and had to jump back when the rectangular peephole he'd barely noticed earlier opened. It was too dark inside to see anything, but it didn't stop Yakko from squinting his eyes and trying to distinguish something from his place in front of the door.
"... What's the password?" a voice came from the other side, low and raspy. Threatening.
"Rose didn't say anything about a password..." he attempted to smile charmingly at the stranger, but he was sure that it'd just come out as a broken grin that betrayed his nervousness.
There was silence from the other side for a moment, an almost silent sound of breathing, and then the person addressed him again "If you don't have a password you can't get in."
"But we have a delivery" Wakko interrupted, though Dot elbowed him in the gut a moment later and gave him a glare as he rubbed at his tummy in despair.
"We're here on behalf of the Milers sisters" Dot explained instead, putting on a big grin and trying to use her cute charms to their advantage "We just want to give you these cellphones, and we need a book in return."
"No password, no entry" the person huffed indignantly "What's the password?"
"Forget it" Yakko sighed, starting to walk away "There wasn't even a time limit on this so maybe we should just go back and-"
"Wait!"
Suddenly a different voice passed through the door, a high and feminine one "You're not supposed to leave, you have to try and guess the password!"
Wakko and Dot blinked once in confusion. However, a moment later they seemed to get what was going on and exchanged amused glances, but Yakko only kept staring at the door with a hint of irritation. With all the doubt and fear raging inside his head, now was a really bad time to try and push his buttons.
"Hate to tell you, but we're here on business? Maybe try practicing your comedy routine someplace else" he could (somewhat) appreciate the attempt at humor, but they were wasting time and he was not looking forward to getting reprimanded if Rose decided they'd taken too long. She had looked really anxious to get that book back.
There was a groan behind the door "Oh for Zeus'-" then, the sound of latches being pulled resounded, and suddenly, the door opened up a smidge, though the inside was still so dark they couldn't see the person on the other side "You guys are no fun, I was just trying to play a little."
The person sighed, annoyed, and then an arm extended through the small space between the door and the doorway "Here, give me the package and I'll give you the book. Rose wanted it back."
Yakko only stared at the extended arm in confusion. Why did warners have to be so damn weird? "Uh... Won't you come out? It's kind of awkward to be making business deals with a hand."
The person didn't say anything for a few seconds, but when they did, their voice was soft and sad "I'm sorry, I don't... really like people looking at me. I would totally let you guys in and offer you a cup of tea but-" they stopped when someone else cleared their throat from the inside, obviously fake, and they sighed as if in defeat "Anyway, just... Just give me the backpack. I'm sorry I have to be rude."
"No, there's nothing to apologize for" he hadn't been trying to make them uncomfortable, he'd just been curious. Now he was even more so "It's okay. Here,"
With that, he slipped the backpack off his shoulders and gently placed the strap so that it would be held up by their arm. He accidentally looked too close and was surprised to see stitches on the corner of their fingers and their wrist. The hand was completely slack too, giving him the impression that they'd lost the ability to move it at all.
… He wasn't sure he wanted to know what had happened to this person.
Silently, the arm disappeared into the darkness with the backpack in tow and it came back out a moment later with a small black-covered book in the palm of their hand. It looked more like an appointment book from what he could see, but he wasn't about to open it and start reading it to find out. Not when Rose had explicitly told him not to do so.
"... Thank you."
He slowly took the book from the stranger's hand, and the moment he took it, the arm retracted itself back into the shadows and the door closed violently in Yakko's face, making a small rush of wind.
"… Send the sisters my regards."
"Yeah... Will do" Yakko knew he wouldn't get anything else out of this person and thus started backing away, over to his brother and sister. However, his gaze was on the book he'd been handed.
It really seemed nothing more than an appointment book, but it looked worn and he thought he could see some burn marks along the edges.
Actually, now that he saw the outside more clearly...
"Huh," he murmured, pensive.
"What is it?"
Wakko and Dot both turned their heads to look at him and then at the book, but Yakko was too interested in what he'd just deciphered to look back at them.
"It says "My diary" on the cover. Someone scribbled it on with marker I think. It's a shock that it lasted with the condition the book's in."
And suddenly, out of the very blue, he heard a gasp, one he was sure hadn't come from him nor his siblings.
One of horrified realization.
- ... Blondie told you to get this for her? -
Yakko's eyebrows rose at the voice's words. Whoa, why did it suddenly sound so hostile? He'd never heard the voice so cold and angry before.
- … Yeah? It's just a book. -
- ... -
He felt more and more worried as the voice didn't say anything, especially when his siblings started walking back toward the street they'd come from and he was forced to follow.
Finally, after a few more moments, it spoke. Its tone had softened at the edges, but Yakko could tell it was still furious, just that the negative emotion was not directed at him.
- I know Blondie already told you not to, but I'll get in the bandwagon. Reading it is a bad idea. A really. Bad. Idea. -
- You're not even gonna tell me why? -
- ... -
- You know that won't satiate my curiosity. -
- ... It's bad. Really bad. And I don't want you even looking at it. -
Yikes.
The voice quieted down then; it seemed like it was angry and worried all at once, thinking very deeply about something. Again, Yakko tried not to pay too much attention. He would just get unnecessarily anxious and it would do no one any good.
With many questions in his mind, most involving the stupid book resting in Wakko's backpack, the three warners headed back for the base. They went back through the alleys, the streets, and finally the staircase leading to Athena's station.
The trip to return to HQ was far less tense than the trip from it to Athena had been. Dot finally gave in to Wakko's pleas for food and took out the three sandwiches Rose had packed for them along with some… carrots? Strange choice for a snack, but at least their diet would be good. The sandwiches were even vegetarian.
Still, while his siblings made themselves comfortable in their seats and Dot kept complaining about Wakko eating everything, to which he answered that it was only fair since he'd been holding back the whole trip there, Yakko was trying to forget about the book. It was really strange, and he felt compelled to open it up just to see what had everyone so frazzled. The voice's reaction was mainly what had made him so interested in the thing in the first place, but Rose's nervousness when talking about it had definitely helped. Let alone the fact that the voice had reacted badly to something that Rose had asked him to get. What was the connection there? How did the voice even know it existed and that it was bad news?
What could be written inside? It said it was a diary, but whose diary was it? Maybe it was Rose's and that's why she was so adamant about him not reading it; it would be an invasion of her privacy to do so... The voice wouldn't have reacted that way it if that were the case though, right?
This book was important for some reason, and as Wakko and Dot kept yelling at each other and trying to claim the extra food as theirs, Yakko decided that he was going to find out why. Maybe Rose would give him a clue.