Time for the truth :)

Hermes's POV

Lateysha, Noah, and Anke all stay back as I approach. Adrian and Lydia are both on one side of the bed so I sit down on the other side. Adrian has his paw on Laurence's shoulder, clearly easing the lynx's pain. Lydia is still holding Laurence's hand, an expression of pure worry on her face. Her eyes are shining with unshed tears.

Laurence is just waking up. His eyes flutter for a moment before they open properly and focus. He frowns and looks to his left, seeing Lydia.

"Hey, beautiful," he croaks.

Lydia blushes and gives a choked laugh. "Still the same old flirt," she giggles through the tears that drip down her face.

He looks to his right and spots me. "Hermes?"

"Hey, Larry," I grin.

"You remember that I hate that nickname?"

"Oh, absolutely. That's why I used it."

Laurence gives a chuckle that ends in a wince of pain.

"Don't try laughing or talking too much," Adrian advises. Laurence turns his head to look at the panda. "Your lung was collapsed, and you have a lot of internal bleeding and bruising."

"You haven't changed much," Laurence observes. "Neither has Lydia, looks wise. She's still as radiant as ever."

Lydia doesn't blush this time but she does give a small smile. "You haven't changed much either. You're still the same terrible flirt."

"I only flirt when I actually feel attraction towards someone."

Now Lydia blushes.

Anke clears her throat. "If you guys would quit flirting, that would be great. It's quite painful for the rest of us."

"And Anke's still the same uptight emo," grins Laurence. "Have you run out of depressing music to listen to yet?"

Anke narrows her eyes and folds her arms. "I'm not going to dignify that with a response."

"To be fair, that was a long time ago," I say.

Anke turns her glare on me.

"What?" I spread my arms. "You're not that much emo nowadays, right?"

Anke huffs and rolls her eyes.

"What on earth happened to you?" Lydia bursts out.

Laurence's grin fades and he turns his head away. "Ah."

"First of all, where have you been for the last year?" I ask.

"I left with everyone else," Laurence says. "We didn't know where to go. Anton pretty much led us. He tried to get all of us to come into hiding and practise using our abilities so that we could attack OWCA someday and get revenge."

"Revenge for what?" I ask.

Laurence gives a painful shrug. "Perhaps for making us live without using our powers? Perhaps for all the fear and prejudice that lots of OWCA showed us? I don't know, really. He didn't tell us. Anyway, most of us agreed, me included at the time, so we headed in search of a place to live. But on the way, about half of us caught some kind of illness, probably from some kind of poor drinking water. Anton, Rose, and a few others who weren't infected left those who were."

"I was one of those who left," says Lydia quietly. "I'm not proud."

Adrian pats her shoulder reassuringly.

"It was just me, Lapis, and Sphene who stayed to help," Laurence continues.

"Sphene?" scoffs Anke. "That fox doesn't care about anyone but herself."

"And her sibling," Laurence reminds her. "Farren was affected by the illness."

"Oh."

"Anyway, we tried to tend to those who were ill but we just had no idea what to do. We didn't know-." He breaks off and coughs violently. Adrian helps him lean to the side, his golden healing aura flaring as he works to ease Laurence's pain. "Thanks," wheezes the lynx. "We didn't know what we could do. We didn't know if they were dying or just temporarily sick. Then we were found by this mysterious guy. He was wearing all black and this weird red cloak and mask, obscuring his whole face. He looked like a really dramatic magician."

"The Overlord," I state.

Laurence weakly nods, though he's looking a lot better due to Adrian's gradual healing. "We didn't know it at the time, but yes. He provided us with a huge penthouse place to lay our ill friends. It had no furniture and it was just one massive rectangle so we were able to care for the sick easily. They were all better within days. That same day, Anton, Rose, and the rest of the ones who had left came in."

Laurence looks towards Lydia. "I didn't see you but I assume you were there?"

"I wasn't," Lydia replies. "I only came later. I was found by Nixon when he was out on a mission. He explained the whole Overlord thing to me so I never actually met the Overlord."

"Ah. Well, the guy then explained to all of us that he was called the Overlord. He said he knew of our abilities and he could give us new power."

"New power?" I repeat.

"I'm just telling you what he told me." Laurence pauses and twists his head to look at Adrian. "Sorry, but I'm finding it easier to talk now. Are you doing something?"

"I do have healing powers, you know," says Adrian amusedly.

"Sorry, yes." Laurence blinks. "Anyway, he gave us a room each. He said he owned the entire building, so we got a bedroom each. Although some preferred to share, like-."

"Carter and Kelly?" I ask.

"Yes, like them. But since Lydia wasn't there, I didn't want to share a room with anyone."

Lydia looks down at the ground. I'm sure only I see the shy smile that spreads over her face.

"Every day since then, the Overlord had us practise our abilities over and over again until we could do new things. Many of us believed the Overlord was giving us power by magic, but I knew. I was one of the few who did.

"So fast forward three quarters of a year, and the Overlord starts sending us on missions. He never sent me on a mission so I don't know what they were about but nearly everyone came back with small injuries.

"Then one day, he tells all of us that we can earn great power if we go on a mission to attack OWCA."

"Bet Anton hated that," remarks Lateysha sarcastically.

"Yeah," Laurence grins. "He was the first in line. Practically grovelled at the Overlord's feet to get that mission. But he chose Kate instead."

I feel my heart sink a little. "Yes, she attacked us at home."

"At your house?" Laurence seems surprised. "I thought he said to attack OWCA. Then again, I didn't see the briefing the Overlord gave Kate. Anyway, a few days later, Anton and Rose went in for a briefing. Ten minutes after they left, I realised I couldn't find Lydia. Lapis told me you'd gone with Anton and Rose."

"I had," Lydia confirms. "They waylaid me on their way out and asked if I wanted to come with. They said the Overlord said if I did, he would allow me to leave and live with a family, which is what I wanted the most."

Laurence gazes sadly at Lydia, who is staring at the ground.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the Overlord?" I ask.

Laurence weakly shakes his head. "Apart from the fact that he had a gravelly voice, he always had some kind of mask on or his face was obscured by shadows. That's all I know."

He suddenly coughs again. After helping him, Adrian takes charge. "Right, you guys need to leave me so I can heal Laurence. Go ponder the information or something."

"I need to report to Dad," I say, stretching. "Anyone coming?"

"I'll come," says Anke immediately.

"Is-is it okay if I stay with Laurence?" Lydia asks Adrian.

The silver panda nods. "As long it's just you, me, and him in here, then that's fine."

"Wait." I suddenly remember a question I haven't asked Laurence. "One more question?"

"I really should-," begins Adrian.

"You want to know where my injuries came from," states Laurence.

I nod.

"Well, when Kate, Rose, Anton, and Lydia didn't come back, the Overlord tried to send all of us on a mission. Everyone agreed except me. Because of what it was, I refused. I didn't want to do it, not even with the promise of power. The Overlord didn't get angry with me, which scared me a lot. All he did was tell the others that I had grossly disrespected him, and they did the rest."

Lydia looks like she's about to cry. "I can't believe they turned on you like that."

"How did you get out?" I ask.

"I had to jump out the window and land on a dumpster. That's how I got this one." Laurence points to a large bruise on his hip. "Then I decided to warn you guys that they were coming, but it turned out I needed help for my injuries. I could barely walk but I made it through the forest that was near the building. On the other side, I saw Lydia."

"I didn't recognise you at first," Lydia says. "I panicked when I saw you and accidentally toppled a tree."

"A tree?" Laurence wheezes. "Man, things have changed in a year, haven't they? We'll have to…catch up…at some…point…"

His head nods and his eyes close. Lydia stands sharply up, close to panicking, but Adrian says quickly, "It's okay, he's just fallen asleep. He's been through a lot today, so I think now we should leave."

Lateysha, Noah, Anke, and I all file out of the hospital room. Lateysha and Noah leave us and head in the direction of the canteen. I realise with a start that we've missed lunch, but I dismiss the thought and head towards my dad's office with Anke. There is one thought that is travelling through my mind over and over again:

What was the mission that Laurence refused to go on?

The plot thickens I:}