The Sea, the Sky and their Opperator

Chapter 22

'You want us to what?' Lucien said with a disbelieving smile.

Caspian shrugged.

The Awakened Children of Gaia had gathered in the abandoned building at sunset. They had all come when Lucien had summoned them, and Ally and confirmed Lucien's suspicions.

'This building you're looking at seems to be some sort of secret storage room, right?' Caspian asked mildly, holding his building excitement and need back.

Lucien looked at Ally. 'Lucien has asked me to keep an eye on the building for the last week, and yes. It does seem to be some sort of secret facility. All the people who enter, and it's only about a handful at this rate, and not very often at that; they all submit their electronic equipment in the room and then...disappear. I assume some sort of door.'

'Why haven't we outright asked John? he surely knows?' Lucien said with a gleaming his eyes.

'Because we don't want you to torture him,' Caspian shot back. it wasn't said with any venom, but Lucien eyes went slightly dead, his body more relaxed as only a predator can be.

'What, it's ok with you do it?' Lucien replied in a deadpan voice.

Caspian moved towards Lucien threateningly, but Aly stood in his way. She towered over him, her gothic victorian style clothing russling loudly, distracting the teen. 'We're not asking John because he won't tell us, and even if he did, there would be other things he wouldn't be telling us. This is the best way to find out for ourselves. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like being a kid and taking his scraps any longer. If we want answers, we should look ourselves.'

Lucien stared at Ally with disdain mixed respect. 'You can't seriously be thinking of joining this crazy mission? You want to break into that place and steal a bunch of files from a International Secret Organisation. An Organisation that is so secret, it doesn't have it's own name. That's the plan you're going with? You, who's basically a super genius.'

Ally smiled warmly at Lucien. 'I didn't know you thought I was a super genius, Lucien. Thank you.'

'This is nuts! It's basically a suicide mission. There is literally no way they'll let us live, or at least keep our memories when they find us. And I say when. That place is locked up tight. The security inside must be insane if the stuff outside is any hint.They will find us, and take our memories and we'll all be waking up in hospital as new people, puppets again. Nope. I don't want to risk it.' Lucien stood firmly in place, determined to be the voice of reason.

Caspian breathed deeply, trying to calm his beating his heart. Every word Lucien said had the ring of truth and unsettled every confidence Caspian had been building up. His bright blue eyes sparkled with inner fire. 'You're right Lucien. Completely right. But what else are we meant to do? Just hang around? What are we waiting for? What's keeping us in this place? Safety? Isn't this exactly what you've been working towards all these years?'

Lucien's sharp black eyes saw clearly the resolve keeping Caspian calm. Lucien flicked to Audrey. They saw each other clearly in that moment. He saw she was waiting for him to find his way, and she saw that he knew the directions, he was only hesitating for her. She smiled at him faintly.

'No, it's not really,' Lucien said honestly, letting his partial mask fall away. His smile disappeared. 'I was looking for...my family. My real family. And you guys are it. I don't know why, but you are.'

Ally moved towards him and clasped his hand.

I feel the same way,'she said, her mental voice warm.

You guys are my only family...now, Caspian said fiercely. He stepped closer to Lucien protectively. Lucien, a few centimeters shorter than Caspian smiled up at his friends.