Daughter of the Hero

Chapter 5; A Mission

Lilian

Malco summoned me. I walked to the meeting room and found myself and Cyprus standing inside the room, waiting for him.

"So, you were summoned too?" Cyprus asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. What do you think it's about?"

"I don't know, probably some mission. That's why he usually summons us."

she was right. I and Cyprus were the known mission team. We made an excellent team, and often times we got the job done without too many complications. Unlike Tenko and Jerard, who often got themselves into trouble somehow.

I took a breath and asked the question that had been bothering me for a few days. "Why don't you like Illia?"

Cyprus's face turned sour. "It's not about her specifically. I just don't find myself in the place to like children."

I frowned. "But children are adorable."

"To some people. They're also messy, and emotional, and a lot of them are stupid." She said.

"Well, Illia's not like that. She's surprisingly smart, and she doesn't get too emotional. She's been through a lot at such a young age, could you at least try to like her?" I knew it was a long shot.

She frowned. "I can tolerate her, but that's all I'll promise to do."

"That's all I ask," I said, smiling.

Malco entered the room then, grinning broadly. "I have some good news."

"What?" I asked.

"Conner is ready to be brought home," He said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally."

Conner, the last member of our team, was a young teenager who had volunteered to go on an undercover mission a few months ago. I hadn't heard a whisper from him, and my heart had been twisting painfully around the thought that something might have happened to him.

"And we're going to go get him?" I asked hopefully.

Malco nodded. "You and Cyprus. That's why I summoned you here."

Cyprus sighed. "Fine. But don't expect me to give him a welcome party just because he's been gone for a long time."

I gasped dramatically. "You cold-hearted woman!"

She gave me a small smile.

In truth, I knew she was just as worried about her younger brother as I was. She hadn't smiled a lot since he had left, and I knew that the air of anxiety that seemed to surround her was about him. She did care about him, although it wasn't obvious.

Cyprus was a woman who hid her emotions, instead of wearing them on her sleeve like me. I knew it had something to do with that past of hers that she refused to talk about, but I wasn't one to pry.

Yes, I was. I already had, and she had told me off for it.

"When do we leave?" Cyprus asked. There! I could hear the anticipation shielded by cold words. She did care.

"tonight. It'll be about two days' journey from here to Ethica without Jerard's help, so you two are leaving as soon as possible. I want you back here, with Conner, in a week." Malco spoke quickly, in full business mode.

I nodded. "We got it. We'll leave as soon as we can. Just let me say goodbye to Illia, and then we can leave."

Malco smiled. "You've grown fond of her, haven't you?"

"I think most of us have. She's a very loveable child. Although some of us," I side-eyed Cyprus, "Have already decided they don't like her."

Cyprus rolled her eyes. "Oh please. It's not that I don't like the child, I just don't love the child."

"You can't even say her name!" I laughed. "You hate her. Admit it, you hag!"

She shot a playful glare at me. I grinned in response.

"That's enough, you two. You leave on assignment in a few hours, go get ready. Remember, this is a stealth operation. I don't want the Heroes Commission to even know Conner infiltrated them, so he can do it again in the future," Malco said.

I nodded my agreement at the same time as Cyprus.

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We snuck through the town of Ethica, our footsteps as silent as anyone could hope for. We were close to Conner's apartment, the one that he had been staying in for the duration of his mission.

Through the front door, we went. We knew the code of the apartment complex because of the intel Conner had been feeding Malco.

I pressed in the code and the door buzzed, unlocking. Cypres held open the door for me. I nodded my thanks as I passed her.

Up the steps, through the hall. His apartment was on the second floor.

Down the hall. We were almost there. I froze outside his door.

It was ajar.

Cautiously as I could, I motioned to Cyprus. I saw the panic enter her eyes, and felt it mirrored in my own.

We went into the apartment with our guns drawn. Who could possibly have broken in? Did Conner just forget to close the door last night? Why was there no sound coming from the entire apartment?

Everything was silent. There were no sounds coming from outside since it was the middle of the night. There were no sounds from inside the apartment. No rummaging around, no heavy breathing, no footsteps.

We got to the bedroom. That door was slightly ajar too.

I motioned to Cyprus. She nodded, understanding what I meant.

She walked inside. I heard her gasp, then the sound of a body falling. I rushed inside, afraid that someone had been waiting for us.

She was sitting on the floor, a note clutched tightly in her hand.

I took the note from her gently. Her eyes were wide, her face was pale in the light of the streetlamp coming in through the open window.

The note was simple. A threat.

Hello, villain.

As you can see, I have your friend. I've taken him back to my lair, and am currently torturing him for information. If you want him back, I suggest you come and get him. My lair is at the base of Salty Mountain.

Come and get him.

-Areos

I felt my heart drop.

Areos had Conner.