Breath taker

Part 16- Secrets Uncovered

What? Mama? Did I hear that right? Jack thought to himself. He looked at Lorelai. She was paler than ever, her face fearful, the first time he'd seen it that way. She fixed it immediately, turning it to stone.

"Come into the light!" Bunny commanded the voices.

Two girls walked into the light, the two pairs of eyes, a third following suit, the single eye, her hair covering half of her face, her hands behind her. She pulled her hair back behind her hair after she'd become visible.

The girls were identical triplets, very clearly related to Lorelai. Same hair, same face, same eyes, same everything. They looked to be about seven years old. And they all seemed scared. Jack didn't know if it was because of Lorelai's show of emotion, or of them, or both. All the Guardians' mouths dropped open.

Lorelai was the first to move. She walked towards the girls and grabbed their hands as she led them to the door. She bent down to talk with them at the door. She, like always, was too quiet to be heard whispering.

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Lorelai felt the color drain from her face. Her guard slipped for a second and she felt her face twist with fear. Her daughters reacted with fear at that, they knew what she said. Never show fear.

She immediately fixed it to be stoic as always. Glancing to the side, she saw Jack looking at her. He had seen it.

Bunny was the first to speak. "Come into the light!" he called to them. Slowly, Nyx and Hecate walked forward, into sight. Melinoe followed suit, hair over half of her face, hand behind her, hiding her skeleton half, though Lorelai was the only one who knew that aside from the girls. Melinoe tucked her hair behind her ear after she'd put on her allusion, revealing the rest of her face.

The Guardians stood there, mouths hanging open while Lorelai stood there, speechless. After 30 seconds, which felt like an hour, Lorelai finally moved forward. Taking her daughters' hands, she pulled them away from where they stood, towards the library door. Unlocking it, she bent down to her children to have a quick, private conversation.

"I'm sorry Mama. What have I done?" Nyx apologized to her mother, scared tears filled her eyes. "No, Nyxie. You did nothing wrong. You listen to me; it is not your fault. Nothing's going to happen. All you really did is give me a difficult conversation to deal with." she cupped her daughter's face in her hand.

"But just to be safe, go hide yourselves in one of your rooms. Lock the door and stay there. I'll send something when it's safe to come out alright? Promise me, promise me that you'll do as I say."

"I promise." Nyx said.

"Me too." Hecate chimed in.

"Me three." Mel finished.

"Good. Now go. I'll deal with them." their mother told them. Nyx threw herself on her mother, wrapping her in a hug. Lorelai returned the affection, holding her tight before releasing her, sending her through the door with her sisters. Getting up, she locked the door and turned around to face the Guardians.

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Jack watched Lorelai shake her head, her words too quiet to be heard. Eventually, one of the girls threw herself onto Lorelai in a hug. The Grim Reaper fell back slightly, before returning the gesture, the small girl's tear stained face hidden in Lorelai's black hair.

Lorelai stood up, closed the door behind the children, locked it before turning around to face the Guardians. Her face was clean, unyielding as always.

"Mama?" Bunny asked. Lorelai didn't respond, just lowered her gaze, and gave a small nod.

"Lorelai, are they-" Tooth asked.

"Yes, they're my daughters." Lorelai responded, before Tooth could even finish her sentence.

"Why didn't you tell us about-" Bunny asked her.

"Because I don't trust you." Lorelai interrupted again.

"Why don't you tru-" Bunny said.

"-Why don't I trust you? Oh take a guess. You stuffed me in a sack. You actively don't trust me." she pointed at Bunny.

"You shoved me up against a wall" she pointed at North.

"You knew about it." she looked at Jack.

"I've interacted with you twice in the past one thousand years. The first time, I didn't even speak to you. So don't expect me to trust you for a long time, if ever. I only trust 3 people one hundred percent, so don't expect that I'll add you to that list." She crossed her arms.

The room was silent. "So, Sandman, what do you think we should do?" she asked Sandman. Bunny opened his mouth to speak, but the Grim Reaper looked at him and said "End of discussion." before looking back at Sandman who picked up his quill, crossed out what he'd already written and continued to write.

Alright, I think that we should send the lullabies to a small base away from Hades. Lorelai, you seem to prefer to keep your home a secret from most people. I can respect that.

I think that we should make a tunnel from those caves, which I can later connect to the sandcastle, after the threat of Pitch is over.

"Alright, that sounds like a good idea. I can make a tunnel from the caves to make a small headquarters that we can later connect to a dream machine in the sand castle. Let's go." Lorelai agreed with Sandman.