The Hidden Evil 2

Chapter III: The Messed Up Family

The soldiers were awoken to the shouting of Captain Marco. He roamed around in front of them, trying to wake them up.
"Wake up, everyone! We've arrived," he informed loudly. Ronnie yawned, stretching her arms over her head. She looked over to Reuben and they exchanged excited smiles. Karma was already awake, and he was sipping coffee at a small table. Arran and Isla stood up, yawning and stretching. Boris sat up, but didn't feel like standing up just yet. He slowly blinked the sleep out of his eyes, still not fully aware of his surroundings. Boo was happily sipping a cup full of orange juice, a little sliding down the sides of his mouth.
They exited the boat, the blinding sunlight hitting their eyes. Ronnie squinted her eyes, shielding them from the sun with her hand.
They approached the huge gates to the city, guards yielding long rifles protected it. They said their farewells to Captain Marco and walked into the city. As Oden and Noa passed the guards, they gave them a little nod as if to silently say "good morning". The city was small, even smaller than Trance City. But, they didn't have as many citizens as Trance City, so Sightburgh had the distant look of an old forgotten village. The buildings were like small cottages with bright flowers planted outside of them. Ronnie liked the look of the houses, and they brought a small happy grin to her face. The citizens seemed friendly, and they smiled when you passed them. Ronnie noticed that they had no protection whatsoever to their city. Shippendale was protected by the hill, and Trance City had walls around it. Sightburgh had nothing. Nothing was stopping anything from invading the city. And then Ronnie remembered something: there were no Lurkers on Civil Island.
They slowly proceeded towards a huge stone castle-looking building. Ronnie guessed that this was their headquarters, even though it didn't resemble the headquarters she was used to. They followed Oden and Noa inside, too astonished to say a word. As soon as they walked in, guards jerked their heads over to them.
"These are our guests, not prisoners," Oden quickly informed them, holding up his hand. Ronnie pressed her lips together in unsettlement as the guards stared her and her team down with cold eyes. She made sure she kept up with Oden and Noa, afraid to fall too far behind.
They quickly strolled down the hall, which was neatly decorated with golden mirrors and picture frames. They came across a huge door, which Oden grabbed the doorknob of eagerly.
"You guys ready?" He looked back at the others, his mouth forming into a small grin. Karma fixed the collar on his shirt before giving Oden a nod. Oden nodded back, opening the door. A muscular man with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes sat upon a golden throne, a few guards by his side. Oden and Noa led them towards the throne, bowing under it. Ronnie and her team did the same, getting on their knees and hovering their foreheads over the red carpet.
"Good job, Oblonksy," the king praised. Oden looked up to his king with a smile, happy he could be of assistance. Ronnie moved her eyes up to the king. He looked down on them like a god, his eyebrows thick and heavy. She couldn't help but notice a small kid beside the throne. He looked unamused and a little mean, his eyes glaring down at the soldiers. The kid had brown hair and gloomy blue eyes, almost as if we didn't want to be where he was. He crossed his arms and leaned against the throne's side. The king didn't seem to care about the gloomy child too much, for he kept his eyes on the soldiers below him.
"I am King Rod of Sightburgh, Civil Island. Please introduce yourselves," King Rod loudly spoke.
"Captain Karma, Your Majesty," Karma said loudly, looking up to the king. Rod's eyes suddenly widened, his mouth seemed to be at lost for words.
"Karma? Is that really you?" King Rod was sitting at the edge of his seat. Karma briskly drew his breath in as confusion hit him like a train.
"You know me?" Karma couldn't help but speak in his usual raspy tone, which he usually only used towards his soldiers.
"You're Creed's son.. I—well, I'm your uncle, I'm Creed's brother," King Rod told him, stuttering a little as he spoke. Ronnie could hear Karma breathing shallowly beside her, and she, too, was rather shocked. She looked at her captain from the corners of her eyes, seeing his eyes wide, wider than shes ever seen them. She looked back down at the floor when she heard King Rod decide to speak again. "We've been looking for you and Creed ever since we parted from Russia," said Rod.
"We?" Karma questioned the king, hundreds of thoughts racing through his mind.
"Me, your uncle Kira, and my sons. We're all here, and we've been here all along," explained Rod. "This is where the Alekhin family settled—well, except for you, your mom, and your father," Rod said.
"I.." Karma gulped. Ronnie could tell that he was put into a bad situation, and he didn't know what to say or do. "Can we get to the peace deal?" Karma bluntly asked, his more firm voice returning. King Rod nodded, sitting back in his seat once again.
"Sightburgh is a wonderful island free of Lurkers. Despite that fact, our citizens fail to thrive," Rod sternly explained. "Our crops have been low, and our citizens have been starving. Our children our skinny, and our elderly are sick. We've also heard about your rivalry with Trance City, so I came to the conclusion that if Shippendale helps Sightburgh with crops, then Sightburgh will help Shippendale with Trance City. Sound like a deal?" Amazingly, King Rod managed to blurt that all out in one breath.
"Hm-m.." Karma grunted, exchanging indecisive glances with Ronnie. She looked at her captain, her eyes slowly blinking. "How soon do you want this answer?"
"We want it soon, Karma," King Rod told him.
"In that case, mind if we sleep on it?" Karma had ever-so-slightly cocked his head to one side, which Ronnie noticed he tended to do a lot.
"Not at all. But, you should have your answer by tomorrow evening," King Rod said. Karma nodded, heaving himself up from the carpet.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Karma dipped his head, glanced over to Oden and Noa, and followed them out of the room. The rest of his team tagged along behind him, hurrying to keep up with him.
     Oden and Noa showed them a house that they could stay in. It was there for the soul purpose of holding guests who wished to spend the night at the city, and that's exactly what the Shippendale soldiers wanted to do. Oden and Noa stepped in first, then letting the others come in beside them. It was a big house, and it had everything they needed for the night. Oden smiled, watching the soldiers explore the house with their eyes.
     "Have a good stay! Feel free to explore our city. Me and Noa will be at Headquarters until about seven, so if you need anything you know where we are," Oden informed them. Ronnie smiled, looking back to Oden.
     "Thanks, Oden," she cheerfully said. Oden smiled, giving a friendly nod.
     "It's my pleasure. I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that, Oden and Noa left the soldiers.
     Ronnie walked over to Rueben who made his way into the kitchen.
     "Aren't the houses just so cute here," she asked him.
     "They are! I like this place's aesthetic," he replied. Arran blinked his grey eyes, looking over to his sister. She was scratching the back of her head, and then she moved her hand down to her side and looked over to Karma.
     "What are we doing for dinner," she asked her captain.
     "We can go to a restaurant. I'm sure they have some in this city," he told her. She nodded, dropping her bag off on the floor. Isla was a quiet girl, her face small and cute. She had blond hair and bangs that just covered her eyebrows, and she was the same height as Ronnie. Her older brother, Arran, was very similar in personality, except he had a shorter temper. He had light brown hair and a young-looking face. They both had the same gray eyes, which gave them sort of an ominous look. Arran was taller than Isla, and he was the tallest on the team.
Rueben tapped his chin before promptly holding up his finger in sudden realization.
"I saw a nice café while we were walking, maybe we could go there," he suggested. Arran smirked, firmly putting his hand on Rueben's shoulder.
"Ai, but do we really want to waste our night at a cute little café?" Arran had a cocky smile on his face, one that Ronnie had never seen on him before.
"Where else would we go? We only want dinner—" Rueben told him, turning away from Arran but still keeping his vision fixed on him.
"Well, I also happened to spot somethin' while were were a-walkin'" Arran informed, his cocky smile turning into an informative expression. "Ther's a casino just up the street. We're all old enough, yes?"
"A casino?" Rueben scrunched his pale nose, a little disgusted by that thought of Arran's.
"Sounds good to me," Karma said flatly. Ronnie didn't have an opinion on the casino. She had never been to one, but she always meant to check one out. They were all old enough, all of them being over twenty-one years old. Rueben exchanged concerned glances with Ronnie, but she didn't know what he was so concerned about, so she looked over to Arran and nodded.
"A casino would be fun," she told him. Arran looked at Ronnie, a little happy that she agreed with him, since she never liked to agree with his ideas.
"Who's in favor of the casino, raise yer hand," Arran announced. Arran himself raised his hand, and so did everyone else except for Rueben. After he noticed all the stubborn looks he was getting, he quickly threw his hand in the air. Everyone put their hands back down by their sides. "Then let's get goin'," said Arran.