Despite the alarm amongst my teammates over the news of a traitor, we still trained, as if nothing was wrong. No one tried to kill the other while sparring...I hope. I know Cass and I didn't. In fact, Cass put up a good fight that left me a little tired afterwards. I sat down on the steps to the shop and wiped my face with a towel, smiling as Cass came to sit next to me.
"You did pretty well, but you kinda need to work on your blocks," she informed me as she took a seat. I could agree. My blocking wasn't all that great.
"Yeah, it needs some work. No wonder I get hurt so much when fighting," I said.
"Well, I can help you with those. All you have to do is ask," Cass smiled. I felt a feeling of delight towards her offer.
"Okay, I'll keep it in mind," I smiled back. Looks like I won't always have to depend on Sensei Wu and Lilly to teach me things.
After a few brief moments of silence, I spoke up, saying, "So, this whole traitor ordeal, it's kinda crazy huh?"
Cass nodded. "Not the kind of news I expected on my first day."
"I wouldn't think so," I responded, "Though, I have a feeling this whole thing is gonna drive the team crazy. Jay is already accusing Nathan of being the traitor, and I have a feeling hundreds of other accusations are to come."
"I doubt Nathan is the traitor," Cass said immediately, "Hunter would know if he was. Jay is just accusing him to accuse him."
"But what if it's both Nathan and Hunter that are the traitors?" I questioned.
"Don't let Jay's idjit nonsense mess with your brain. Hunter and Nathan wouldn't betray anyone. I've known them for years," she defended them. I hated to admit it, but I was having trouble trusting everyone right now. I didn't know whether I should trust Cass's words or not. I was really on edge, and felt as though I couldn't trust anyone on the team.
"So...who do you think the traitor is?" I asked her.
"Someone shady most likely. Though, whoever it is is doing a great job at hiding it. There's still a way to find out who it is though," Cass answered, "You have analyze the things they do, like in a TV show. I once analyzed an episode after many people claimed a character didn't die. All I did was keep in mind what his shirt color was and, surely enough, there he was, getting eaten by zombies on screen. There was no way he could survive that mob."
"So, you're saying I have to spy on them?" I questioned. Cass shrugged.
"If you want to. I'd just say watch what they do carefully. If you know it's not something they normally do, something's up," she informed me. I nodded in understanding. That's just what I'd do, watch what they do. It could lead to me becoming a suspect, but I didn't care. I had to find out who this traitor was before things became worse.
Just then, I noticed someone walk up. I watched the velvet boots move forward until they stood in front of Cass and I.
"I'm sorry but the shop is clo-" my voice trailed off as I looked up at the person. I recognized the blonde bob immediately, though sunglasses his her sapphire eyes. Lilly's mother had come for an unexpected visit. I wanted to groan. Why now!? Of all times!? I doubted that this was going to be great news to Lilly.
"Oh, dear I'm not here for the tea shop," the woman chuckled as she removed her sunglasses, "I'm here for my daughter."
Cass glanced at me with a confused look and I sighed.
"Um, just a second Mrs. Genisis. Let me go get her," I said, leaving Cass with her. I felt a little bad for it, but this wouldn't take long. I rushed through the store and into the living room in the back, looking for the blonde. I immediately found her and Kai playing a video game in the room, most likely using it as a way to cool off from training.
"Don't mess me up you hedgehog! I'm about to beat the boss!" Lilly warned Kai as she mashed several buttons on her controller.
"Oh wow, I've upgraded to 'hedgehog' now. Should I be flattered?" the red ninja smiled.
"If you want to be," Lilly responded, her eyes locked on the boss battle taking place in the game. Kai's avatar remained idle as she used all her attacks to fight the boss, which was a huge eyeball. Reminds me of the Preeminent really. Except less menacing.
Kai faked a yawn and leaned against Lilly's shoulder, causing her cheeks to become pink.
"Could you not, sea urchin?" she said, trying to keep her eyes on the game. Kai chuckled.
"What else are you gonna call me? Cactus? Knife? Maybe the hottest substance on the planet?" he questioned as her cheeks transitioned from pink to red.
"Not even close, porcup-" she was cut off by the sound of trumpets playing a sad tune. The screen displayed GAME OVER in big letters, with the sound of the boss laughing menacingly in the background. Lilly glared at the master of fire as he smiled mischeviously.
"Kai, I swear to god!" she shouted, tackling him. She looked as though she were about to kill him, but she didn't go through with it. I stepped a little closer, clearing my throat to catch their attention.
"Hey, um-" I started to say, but was then cut off by an older woman's voice saying, "What did I just walk in on!?"
I turned to see that Lilly's mother had walked in, and at the most awkward of times too. This was bad. Very bad.
Lilly's whole face became tomato red, and her expression was a mixture of fright and surprise.
"Mom, what the hell!?" she said.
"What the hell!? What the hell are you doing!?" her mother responded.
"It's not what it looks like!" Lilly shouted. Her mother walked over and pulled Kai out from under her, throwing him into a wall.
"What a polite way to say 'hello'," Kai said sarcastically. Lilly's mother ignored him and held her daughter by the shoulders.
"Just...what was that?" she asked the girl, her voice filled with frustration.
"He made me lose the boss battle on my game so I was about to punch his face in!" Lilly answered. Her mother gave her a look like she didn't trust her, then sighed. The woman looked over at Kai, then at me and the others who had come inside. She let go of her daughter's shoulders, then looked at her.
"Follow me. We need to talk," she told her. A frightened look appeared on Lilly's face, as if she were in a horror movie and knew what was to come. Her mother took her hand and walked off with her elsewhere. Once they were out of the room, Kai stood up, brushing himself off.
"She didn't need to throw me into the wall," he complained, rubbing his back.
"Be happy she didn't shoot you in the head," I told Kai, "She could have had her gun on her."
"Or she could have spin kicked you," Hunter added. Kai sighed.
"What is that crazy woman's problem anyway? She even seemed odd during the battle with the Preeminent," he recalled. We all shrugged. I glanced over at the hallway Lilly and her mother went down, wondering what was happening. I doubt it's normal to get that frightened over your parents wanting to talk to you. Something's up.
"I'm gonna go check in on them," I informed my teammates quietly, before sneaking down the hallway in silence. I tiptoed as I peeked into each room. I could hear the sounds of conversation growing louder as I went farther down the hallway, and I stopped once I reached the room I could hear Lilly's mother talking in. I cracked the door open slightly and sat with my back flat against the wall. I made sure that I wasn't able to be seen, then listened in.
"This is why I can't let you go anywhere! You always go against what I tell you to do!" her mother sounded exasperated. I heard Lilly give an annoyed sigh.
"Mom...I'm 21, I'm not a freakin' baby anymore. You don't need to supervise everything I do," she reminded her mother. Her mother was silent for a few moments, most likely thinking about what her daughter said. Lilly did have a point. She's 21, she doesn't have to be under supervision anymore. It's legal. Technically, she hasn't needed to be under supervision since she was 18.
"Just...I don't want you making the same mistakes I did," her mother told her.
"And you know I won't! I'm not that stupid, Mom!" Lilly argued, "Now could you please leave?"
Her mother looked insulted. "Lillian-"
"No, don't even start! You're just going to go over the story again of why you don't let me be around guys! I get it! You did some stupid shit when you were a teen and now you're unsure if my Dad is my actual dad! I don't need to hear it again! Just lea-" Before Lilly could finish, I heard her get struck (most likely across the face) hard. I peeked in quickly to see what was going on, worry swelling inside me for some reason. I could see Lilly's mother standing with a much more serious expression as her daughter rubbed the red hand mark that was now on her cheek.
"So...we're going back to this now? Back to you slapping me every time I said something that you wanted to deny?" Lilly said in a quiet voice, not looking at her mother. Her mother's expression didn't change.
"Don't ever talk to me that way again, young lady," her mother told her in a strict tone. Lilly glared at her.
"You know, this is why I ran away in the first place," she said, "Any time I brought up something that's true or pointed out your errors, you would slap me. What a great mom you are."
Her mother struck her across the face again but harder, causing Lilly to make a small yelp.
"I told you not to talk to me that way!" her mother shouted, grabbing her daughter by the ponytail. That's it. I had to get this crazy woman out of here. I glanced down the hallway to spot Zane, who had been standing there the whole time.
"Zane! Could you assist me with something!?" I called to the nindroid down the hallway as I stood up. He nodded and walked over to me. I opened the door quickly, my fists now igniting into orbs of dark magic.
"Stop right there Mrs. Genisis!" I shouted. The woman looked over at us, not letting go of her daughter's hair.
"We have a rule here, and it applies to everywhere as well! No one hurts our teammates! Not even their parents! We're going to have to ask you to leave," I said, anger in my voice. Mrs. Genisis looked at me like I just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.
"She's my daughter, not yours. I can do what I want to her. Right now she's being punished for talking back to me," she said.
"You cannot do what you want her because she is your daughter. She is a human being, not a doll. There are much less hurtful ways of punishing your child," Zane informed the woman. She released Lilly, but her expression did not change.
"Maybe I have different ways of punishment than the rest of the world, so what!?" she exclaimed. Zane stepped in front of me.
"Your punishments are like beatings, which are unacceptable. We are asking you to leave. You can either go politely, or I can resort to force," he said sternly. Mrs. Genisis did not move for a moment, then she sighed.
"Fine. I'll go," she said, glaring at the robot and I. She walked past us silently, going down the hallway and leaving Steep Wisdom. Once we were sure she was gone, we walked over to Lilly. Zane scanner her for any other injuries, then stepped back.
"Are you okay?" I asked her. She nodded silently.
"You guys didn't need to step in...I was fine," she told us in a quiet voice.
"No you weren't! Your mom was being a dingus to you! I couldn't just stand aside!" I told her.
"Karma...I'm used to it...you didn't need to-" she started to say, but I interrupted her. "Lilly, I wasn't going to stand back and let her hurt you. I don't care if you've endured it years before. You don't deserve to be hurt again."
Her icy blue eyes widened a bit and she blinked.
"I..." she started to say, "...thank you."
I smiled and nodded. It made me happy again to see that she was alright now, though, now I felt hatred for her mother. Her mom was crazy! Though, if her mom acts like this, then what's her dad like? Lilly never talks about him, leaving me no clue as to how he acts but I still wonder about it. Is he a better person than her mom? Or is he the same way?