Five Witches

By Yaya


Act II, Scene II

Sienna, daughter to Chairman Roman Lucas of Solomon International, had never been afforded a regular childhood. It was the one of the few thoughts she was able to put together as she sat in the conference room of her father's yacht. She had just sat in on a meeting with her father, her brothers Carlo and Henri, and two of Roman's select operatives. It had been one of the more disturbing meetings she had attended in her young life even though she had that that at fourteen she had heard it all.

Drake, the younger of the operatives had summarized it early on in the meeting, "Anna Vaughn is the secondary threat. The Warlock controls her – as we believe he may have done so over a decade ago when she first went over the edge."

The Warlock. It was a dangerous name to say, a living myth like the Methuselah in the Walled City. Both Warlock and Methuselah were rumored to be centuries old, and had early on in the history of the organization turned away from Solomon. That was where their similarities ended though. For the most part, the Methuselah ignored Solomon and the organization tried to return the favor … The Warlock, on the other hand, reared his head every few decades and wrecked havoc on the organization. He had a penchant for beautiful daughters of the Solomon elite. More than a dozen women had been kidnapped from the elite families in the past fifty years alone.

"Can she be saved?" Roman had asked, not surprising his daughter. Tucker Vaughn, Anna's father, was a valued director and one of Roman's inner circle of friends.

Evan, the older of the operatives had shaken his head, sliding the file towards Roman. It would be the latest report from the field, more current than any of the emails Sienna had checked before entering the meeting that morning. Roman had spent a few minutes looking at the report before handing it to his oldest son Carlo. Carlo's face had been grim before passing it to Henri. Roman's middle child was more expressive than Carlo and his face visible paled.

Henri reluctantly handed the file to Sienna and her eyes flew threw the report. We came across what remained of Agent Luong's body in target's apartment. Agent Luong was able to turn her weapon on one of the dogs, a female Rottweiler. In its jaws were chunks of Luong's flesh...

"Jesus Christ, I'm too young to be seeing this shit," Sienna had whispered, turning the page and seeing the picture of what Drake and Evan had come across that morning. She fought back the urge to throw up her breakfast. When she had looked up, she met Drake's gaze and used her secondary psychic abilities to read that he had not been able to do the same this morning. He had thrown up in that kitchen, seeing one of his friends torn to shreds.

"You and me both, kid," he had managed before Evan had cleared his throat and continued with his report.

"Miss Vaughn is beyond redemption. Six months ago she sent her son Amon away to live with friends – Ex Operative Keisuke Nagira's wife and older son. From that point forward, Miss Vaughn spiraled downwards – she has dispensed with the four operative teams we sent her way, and there have been several civilian incidents that have ended in serious bodily harm. From the psychometric readings of the scene, Miss Vaughn no longer knows who she is, who she was, or where she came from. A single thought runs through her consciousness. The Warlock."

The meeting had ended soon after that. Roman had given his permission to up the Hunt. That was where Henri came in, his ability to turn on and off a person's Craft would be especially useful. The men had left the room, leaving Sienna to her thoughts. She had pulled up her private files on the computer when she heard the door open again and her father and Carlo walked in.

"You should have killed her when you had the chance," Sienna said, looking up. She turned off the screen and sat back.

"And what do you know about that?" Roman asked, standing at against one of the chairs, his hands gripping the back of it. Carlo took the chair at the head of the table, pulling the files the operatives had left earlier into a neat pile. A few years under thirty, he was his father's right hand man.

Though he and Henri shared the same mother, Sienna was the child of Roman's second wife. No one could tell by looking at them though. The three siblings shared the golden coloring of the Lucas family.

"That Father Juliano sent Keisuke Nagira, one of the greatest Hunters of all time, to hunt her and he instead betrayed Solomon by letting her go free. He's been working against us ever since. At that point you should have hunted her again - sent Carlo to finish her off."

"Intel says that the Methuselah was behind that." Carlo reminded his half-sister, "And in her dealings we do not interfere unless absolutely necessary."

Sienna shrugged, "How would the Methuselah have known if you killed her? She abandoned Anna Vaughn once she got Kei Nagira… and she's made no move to stop us from hunting Anna this time. We should have executed her back then – seven operatives would still be alive."

She spoke with the nonchalance of one who had been allowed perhaps too early to sit in on her father's meetings. Carlo and Roman shared a look – a point of contention between the two of them. Carlo would have given his sister the childhood he and Henri had been denied, Roman refused to treat any of his children differently, no matter the consequence.

Roman answered, "One does not unnecessarily make enemies of friends… Tucker Vaughn assured us that his daughter was no longer a threat."

"Sometimes, you are too nostalgic for your own good," Carlo said and his sister nodded in agreement.

Roman did not take well to being told he was nothing but a sentimental old fool - Carlo had not said the words, but Roman had read them in his son's eyes. The older man's eyes narrowed – the three of them in the room shared the same steel blue eyes that marked those of the Lucas clan – as he regarded his oldest and youngest, "Until either of you runs this organization, do not assume that I do not do what is right for Solomon."

A veiled threat thrown at his son, he had not said When you, Carlo, run this organization - but instead included Sienna in the equation.

"Regardless of my nostalgia, I have taken the steps to take care of immediately. I would rather not involve the STN-J, Carlo," Roman stood up and left the siblings to their own devices. "If you and Henri would finish this within the week, we can head back towards the States."

"Carlo?" Sienna asked as soon as her father had left the room. She was playing with the computer screen, swiveling it on its pedestal.

Had he his own way, Carlo would take care of it now. Forget the niceties of rendering Anna Vaughn craftless. Carlo was a top hunter, he could take her – and he needed the challenge that it would bring. But there was no way he would convince Henri of letting him take such a chance. Henri was the mother hen among them, more so than Sienna sometimes. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to pay attention to his sister, "Yes?"

"What about the child? Amon."

"Ah, Sienna, that is none of your concern."

"But, Carlo…" She persisted.

"What?"

"He's the son of Keisuke Nagira… the greatest Hunter to ever come out of Solomon. If we could get him, train him… perhaps this kid could make up for everything his parents have ever done to us?"

Carlo shook his head, smiling nonetheless. "The sins of the father are not the sins of the blood, Sienna."

"Then… why are we hunting him?" She asked, pulling the keyboard tray out. The computer screen switched on and she entered some commands, bringing up a file she had been reviewing the previous night.

Amon Nagira's picture appeared, his name and statistics underneath him. Eight years old, almost nine, a child of all angles, he was adorable none the less. Perhaps, it was becoming a father that had made Carlo see innocence in all children…especially – he read down the statistics – when the child was so vulnerable with no sign of craft.

"This is yesterday's report, before the incident, Carlo," Sienna warned. She typed a few more keys and a red line appeared diagonally across his face - the signal to the entire organization that he was on the Hunted List. Sienna brought up the execution orders - signed by Juliano Colegui.

His sister was probably the best informed woman in all of Solomon – no matter what age. She played her cards like a master, revealing her hand only when necessary. It was her most damning and admirable trait.

"Goddamned meddling old man," Carlo whispered, the options running in his head. He settled on the one that could be done immediately, and privately… "Would you like to go to get little Amon, Sienna?"

She nodded and then asked, slowly laying out her plans one card at a time, "Can I take Henri with me?"

It was the best resolution, Carlo realized… but of course he should have known. Sienna always thought two steps ahead of all of them.