Chapter Six: Custody

Azula PoV

I let the lukewarm water surround me and fall to the floor of the shower. The water pressure soothes my sore muscles after the past week of hardcore training. Luckily, I was already fit. Sadly, it didn't help much.

I step out and dry off, then dress in a simple dark blue T-shirt and navy jeans. I haven't felt the need to impress anyone here, so I don't dress to. But I manage to keep myself looking good in the simplest ways; the hair.

I haven't seen anything in town since that fateful night in the abandoned factory building district. But I need to stay hidden, at least until Slade fully adopts me. He said that the first day I was in the comma, he picked up the papers just in case. And after I agreed, he turned the papers in.

Maybe that's why he was in such a light mood today.

He sits at the head of the dinner table with a pungent smile. I glance at him, when he's not looking of course, to make sure that he's the same person. I use my fork and push my only remaining meatball acrossed my plate before stabbing with the fork and eating it. While I'm chewing, he speaks up.

"So," He starts casually, "I got something in the mail today."

I swallow before I answer, "Oh? Is it a puppy?" I ask with sarcasm.

"No, even better. The adoption papers. You are officially my daughter."

"How'd you pull that off?"

"Let's just say I have friends in high places."

I barely contain my pure joy at that moment. I crack a genuine smile and do everything in my power not to make something explode.

The next day, he gives me a free day from training to walk the town and relax. I throw on a black tank top that has an upside down red cross, my skinny jeans are vibrant dark red and my plain black Toms cling to my feet. Red lips and blackened eye liner are also painted on my face. I head to the park to take in the scenery. In a corner of the park, a group of five kids play Frisbee. I remember watching our group home play just before I ran away.

I laugh slightly at the memory and gaze at the next group of kids sitting on a blanket and munching away on sandwiches.

I walk along the path that leads around the outside of the park. Other than those few groups, hardly anyone is out today. Just beyond me is a chocolate haired boy with a brown leather jacket.

I freeze, and then in an instant, I call out to him.

I call out to Jason. He doesn't hear me, and he dives in a mass of trees that leave me feeling like it's a maze. I run after him and try my best to follow him. Next thing I know I almost bump in to his still back.

"Jason," I say and tap his shoulder. The guy turns around, but he isn't Jason.

"Jason?" He asks, "No, sorry. My name is Drake." He holds out his hand, and I shake it, out of courtesy more than anything else.

"Sorry, you look like an old friend. I'm Azula."

Drakes hair is a messy chocolate, just like Jasons is, but his eyes are red slits, like a cat; the red in his eyes are deep with crystals of light red fragmented within. His eyes are hidden under aviator glasses, but I can see past them easily. The abnormal eyes give him away instantly; he's a metahuman. And I sense his aura is a dark, burbling red. Dark red is not good. Any dark shade of a color is not good, in fact.

I shake it off.

"I know this sounds weird 'cause we just met, but, want to grab a coffee?"

Honestly? I'm flattered by the offer. And he's really quite attractive. If he was dangerous, I can protect myself.

"Sure, that sounds great," I smile slightly and let him lead the way.

Raven PoV

I strap my Glock .45 to my thigh, which will be hidden by my black dress. The black dress is simple; the sleeves reach mid forearm and the collar of the dress is low cut but hides most of my cleavage, the bottom rim of the dress reaches mid calf and on my left side there is a slit that extends to my thigh. The gun is hidden by the slit, safe and easy to retrieve. My boots with the hidden knife blades are attached to my feet. They are ankle-high pumps (the toe pumped area is where the knives are stored) that fit tightly with a thin layer of leather which hides my entire foot; the heel stem is thin and sharp enough to pierce someone, say I step on them.

My makeup is simple—yet stunning; smoky eyes shoot cold, calculating daggers in every direction. My lips are layered with a red stain, as apposed to lip stick, which tends to smudge in my line of work. My hair is resting around shoulders and flows with slight black waves down my back. I leave it down.

Just before I leave my house, I place a recording eye lens in my eye, like a contact. It's painless and I can still see out of that eye, but most importantly it's invisible. The sound recording device looks like a tiny round disk the size of a pencil eraser top and the color of my ashen skin to camouflages it, and it sticks to the inside of the ear. They record everything I see and hear. It will deffinantly come in handy for this.

I teleport myself to the outside of Slades front rot iron gates and walk towards the house. When I approach the gates I faze through it, not waiting for them to open up. The place hadn't changed much. Once I'm at the door, I sense Wintergreen running for the door. I don't bother knocking, because a few seconds later I am greeted with a shocked hello, and asked to come in.

Wintergreen leads me to the foyer. It was the room I spent the least amount of time in when I lived here. Elegant white couches faced the center of the room and overhead a crystal chandelier hung daintily. Wintergreen suggests that he will inform Slade of my presents. I am left alone so I walk in the room a few steps in the center and clasp my hands behind my back, facing the door, waiting for him.

Quickly, or quicker than I thought, the doors open. Slade walks in with a neutral look on his face. He looks like he had been working out; he had on a grey tank top and black sweat pants.

"Slade, nice to see you again. You're in good health, I assume?"

"Raven," He nodded a greeting back, not alluding to my question.

"You haven't changed one bit, Slade. You're still a mercenary, right?"

"Yes," He crosses his arms over his chest and looks at me with suspicion, "Answer me this, why did you come back?"

"Well, just last year I stopped completely hating you, so I figured I would say hi, maybe make amends. You know, I am glad that I had trained under you, even if it was for a short period of time. I have a wonderful job now because of it," I smile politely.

"Yes, so I've heard," He says in attempt to make it sound like he believes me. I sense that he knows why I'm here.

"I've heard you've had it rough these past years since I left," I comment.

"On the contrary, I'm doing better than ever. I also enlisted a new apprentice," he says thoughtfully. My stomach tightens and I feel my rage boiling up.

"Did you drug them, too?" I sneer, and then swallow back the pain, "Sorry, I still have trouble will my emotions."

"No, believe it or not, some people do things on their own accord."

"I do believe that, and most people end up regretting their own choices. But never the less, I do not."

The door swings open and I glance towards it. A girl with a cheery smile bounces in like she just had the day of her life. Her hair is black as night and her eyes as blue as day.

I recognize her instantly; Azula.

"Oh, there you are," Slade looks at Azula, "Azula, this is Raven; she used to be my apprentice, just as you are."

"Azula, what a lovely name," I comment with a fake smile. In all reality I hate Slade more than ever, and I want to kill him more than ever.

My daughter is his apprentice.

No way in Hell was I going to let that happen.

"Nice to meet you Raven," She shakes my hand.

I sense a flicker of emotion in Slade, a sense of realization or suspicion. Maybe both. And it scares me. I'm sure Azula feels it, too; she casts a short and almost nonexistent glance at him.

"Well Slade, it was nice seeing you again. Give my regards to Wintergreen, would you?"

Slade and I both realize that all my goodbye means is "next time, I promise, I will get you." I couldn't kill him in front of her, that would leave a mental scare for a long time. And I don't want to hurt her more than I already have. I am a horrible mother.

I turn to leave, but Azula speaks.

"Goodbye, Raven," She says sweetly. It almost pains me to hear it, because she doesn't know who I am. I turn only my head so that my back is to them but they are in my peripheral vision.

"Goodbye, Azula, Slade; until next time." I exit.