Down the trouble off we go

A little bit of Luzandra's history

Peter started, "It's simple. I was deported to some part of the jungle and met you (pointing at David) except that you weren't you, it was a dezo-"
"Dehorezordan" corrected Belladonna.
"Yeah those anyhow I just ran for my life and I don't remember what happened but I fainted and OH! i was without my lemons and biscuits but i... i... let's not talk about those..." then dropping his melancholic tone, partially due to the looks of David and Belladonna he continued, " you see I still haven't got them back. Nevermind, somehow I survived I mean I made a small tent there with leaves and some wood and then ate frui-"
"Too much information Pete get on."
David interrupted Peter but also caught Belladonna grinning at Peter's story. Peter didn't notice though he was too busy frowning at David for disrupting his so-believed heart-wrenching story.
Continuing, (this time more forcefully)
Peter said "Then the next day I was yelling a-"
"YELLING!" David exclaimed, interrupting him again but Belladonna spoke (now not attempting to hide her grinning) before Peter could his growing anger get the best of him, "you call singing yelling?"
David looked at Peter at those words lipsing 'what song?'. Peter though looking reluctant, said slyly " Uh just singing... poems i-"
"Detail please" both David and Belladonna interrupted.
Peter flushed and said "you know twinkle twinkle little star and ... so on"
He looked up at their widened eyes and then quickly rushed to complete his story, " Then BB heard it and ran towards me and explained loads of things ,which I didn't understood, quickly and then we were coming back when we heard your screams and came running right towards you."
Just as he finished Belladonna said "the rest, you know." David murmured back, "the rest is history."

Charlotte returned just then, her face still red and her eyes puffy though she did her best to hide these signs of her crying. She didn't wait for any silence to settle in as she quickly said " we have bundles to talk about and um I don't know about the timings of the fight." She took a deep breath, it seemed to David she was trying her best not to cry infront of them. It was weird. David always believed her to never hide away from any kind of fight infact he had always suspected her to be the one who offers a fight. Her tension however conveyed some different message; she wasn't afraid, David could sense it wasn't fear of getting hurt in a fight which she was dreading but he couldn't think of anything else which could disturb her to this extent. He looked at Belladonna who wore a very understanding expression. He again couldn't help but feel that Belladonna and Charlotte shared a much more comfortable equation hence he didn't shy away from slightly frowning at the direction of Belladonna. He was brought back from his thoughts by the ,now, much louder voice of Charlotte who was saying," Luzandra and I and BB were friends-"
"Childhood besties." Belladonna interrupted, her tone sarcastic.
David saw Charlotte's face lose her colour at those words while Peter looked just as petrified as he was.
Looking down, Charlotte continued  "Luzandra was... I don't whether she was power-hungry or not but yes she was skilled and talented and hardworking. We always used to joke that she was made for stealing the show, getting all the limelight you know but we never noticed how obsessive she was getting for all this attention- For becoming the best. We only got it's slight indication when she took all the credit of finding out that our parents were secret agents. She did put in alot of physical exertion which was needed to find out this truth but many of our plans were made and clues were analysed by the joint effort of Belladonna and me. She was bossing us and we knew it and we always knew she was very bright but she did make us feel as if we were her minions and she increasing lost all interest in teamwork." She sighed and David was sure both the girls had gone in some sort of a trance. Continuing again, her voice echoing in the eerie silence which had developed, Charlotte said "Then after our parents disappeared and we joined the intelligence under a special programme especially linked to the case of the missing agents. We were trained and after initial evaluation test we were separated into pairs. BB and my reports stated, as we had expected, that more physical training was required while Luzandra-"
"Needed to work on her mental capabilities!" Finished David for her.
Belladonna nodded.
After some silence Peter asked "none of you could become her pair right?"
"True" Belladonna answered again.
"That's when the difference became evident really." Charlotte continued in her same lost-in-a-trance tone (one thing was made clear by the girls reaction and it came as a delight to David that initially Charlotte was far more closer to Luzandra then she was to Belladonna) " Improving your so to say Achilles heel is difficult but since BB and I were made the pair and we knew each other prior to these trainings we definitely made more conspicuous improvement. Luzandra mistook it, thinking we had come up with a master-plan making us steal her due attention but in truth Luzandra found this as the only excuse to cover up her own short-comings!" Charlotte finished while getting some of her colour in the last line she said which made David look up at her for her voice had retrieved some of its fierceness.
" Is there more to the story?" Peter asked and David saw that he said this as an attempt to lift the gloomy mood, it did the opposite though as Belladonna said " what do you expect... she fought. I mean literally fought"
"YOU?" Exclaimed David looking at Belladonna but Charlotte replied
"ME." Her voice echoed. She had got all her color back by now. David saw that even Peter looked with respect at Charlotte. But before anything else could be said Charlotte spoke again, still in a trance but this time her tone was far more fierce, "I trusted her you know. Always did and she knew my condition at school. How i was bullied and all but the worst part was that she knew I cared for her. That is when she struck. I remember it all vividly. She came to me crying, pleading that let her make her place. I told her I was no thorn in her way, i tried to calm her down but no she emotionally black-mailed me. Said she'll kill herself if I didn't help to get her lost  glory back." She said it almost as if she was taunting her own memory.
" and you agreed?" Peter asked.
Belladonna nodded at Peter.
Then Charlotte said "I said I'll fight her." David couldn't help but gasp a little as she continued " fight her and lose to her. But things don't always go the way you've planned now do they? No! When I entered the arena where our fight was fixed she didn't only invite our fellow trainees but everyone present in the building to watch. Even my mother."
"You lost" Peter gasped slowly.
"Yes and not only the match... you see something that everyone in the building knew that day except us(pointing and BB and herself) was that that match was to determine our promotion."
David stood there with his eyes wide open as as Belladonna said "we thought everything would fall into place. We had it fixed and we (she said this a little awkwardly twisting her fingers together) were friends so Charlotte could hardly fight her for long or attack alot. She lost quickly and the agency, to our worst horror, thought we should not be recruited. Her mother pleaded for us both. She believed we kids would be later on entrusted with the task to get back our loved ones. She was right and thankfully we were given a second chance." She took a long breath, took in their expressions and continued "this time around as our training was finished, we were to pass three tests. The first testing our mental abilities and Luzandra definitely did alot well then we expected. Not surprisingly enough though both of us also fared well in the second test regarding our physical strength. But the third was about these two qualities put together... it was about teamwork and partnership. I worked with technology and Cherry did the physical work and we-"
"Won" completed both David and Peter together. Belladonna nodded but it felt like she had much more to say.

After some observed silence David asked "who was Luzandra's mate?" 
"Who do you think?" Spoke Charlotte but suddenly his curiosity subsided as the answer readily to his lips and before anyone else could answer he said "Zhat"
Belladonna nodded and silence befell them again until Peter asked Charlotte in a tone that showed his ears could hear anything but silence, " when is your fight?"
"Luzandra will send a signal"
"How do you know?"
"You may have already forgotten Peter Huston but she was once my best friend."
                                            
ENJOY, VOTE AND COMMENT!

REGARDS,
MS.PURPLEHEARTS
💜💜