QUARTET ALLIANCE: LEND A HAND (Wild Duty & Judgement)

Chapter 19: Inner Clash

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11:20 P.M

-Cicero's house-

Cicero slammed his house's front door shut, almost shaking the walls and furniture with the force he used. The green head looked drained out of all emotions until only anger was left. He felt completely incapable. Defeated. His parents missing is one thing and Zen being detained for no actual justification was another. He was angry, but he was also scared.

Where are his parents?

What's going to happen to Zen?

Cicero's tired, emerald eyes scanned his empty house. It was depressing and eerie. It made him feel worn out. All the negative thoughts and possibilities. They didn't help. It was freezing outside, another snowy night has come and yet, the green head did not feel cold. The only barrier is his deranged heart that kept thumping faster than it should. It was faster than the speed that it was supposed to go with, after being dumped in cold waters, making its owner feel lonely and numb.

He made his way upstairs, every step dragging his worn out body with him. Cicero went to his room without sparing his parents' bedroom a glance. He's already cried enough. Taking off his shoes and socks and replacing them with slippers, he opened his bathroom door and walked inside.

'Zen, please be okay,'

Cicero quietly thought to himself. The green head washed his face off the dried salty tears before brushing his teeth.

'I usually shower first, then brush my teeth,' Cicero thought as he put his toothbrush down. Him trying to distract himself from all of this was not working. Looking to the left, he saw the Spiral Turns he used on Zen. The green head threw them over the cabinets and went to shower.

Twisting the warm water's faucet around until the hot water stopped dripping on his bare back. Cicero felt a sudden wave of cold. He didn't even realize he left his bathroom's window open. The green head wrapped his lower body with a white towel, leaving his freezing torso out. He walked over to the window. The sounds of the strong wind were really loud and the biting breeze hit him in the face, synchronized with its sound, making the green head groan quietly.

He reached out to close the window, when, suddenly, a cat came jumping in from the window and landed on its four feet on his bathroom. Cicero gasped and flinched, almost tripping over the bathtub beside his legs. The green head hands shook as he felt his speeding heart. This was bad.

He stared wide eyed at the grey cat, who was looking back at him with deep blue eyes. He feel to his knees, his breathing fast.

"What?!"

He nearly slipped once again, his still not dry foot on the bathroom tiles. Cicero was definitely not scared of a cat, but he was surprised.

"Come forward if you want to obtain the first stage of your power,"

Cicero stared at the cat in shock.

'I KNOW that thing did not just speak,'

"You did not just speak," Cicero looked at the cat's mouth then face, "Did you?"

"Yes, I was speaking to you," The cat moved its head up and down; nodding.

The green head stuttered for a moment before standing up straight. He walked a few steps to wear his slippers, his injured back, filled with scratches, black-and-blue marks, facing the cat. Having no escape of its notice, the cat also saw the other bruises on his body, like the visible cut on his lower hip.