Bound by Deception

3.1 Kill Your Emotions

Sterling often liked to say that he was a psychic. As someone who could manipulate and read emotions, Sterling found that he had a certain power to his charisma that made him stronger than most of the people that he met. Of course, he could never beat Aria or Madame, but that fact didn't bother him. His power was directed towards those who were inferior to him - that is, the poor souls that they were supposed to send to the afterlife.

He absently thought of his charismatic powers as he sat at his large dinner table, chewing on some bread and taking licks of butter. Was it a blessing or a curse, he couldn't decide. Thoughts of his magnetic personality didn't plague him often, but having nothing else to do apart from eat, it was all he could think about.

"Sir?" At that moment, a tiny man in a polished suit approached him, holding a stack of papers on a platter.

"Hudson?" Sterling stopped eating and assessed the tired-looking man. "What is it? Have you eaten yet?"

Hudson gave him a wry smile. "In a moment, I shall, Duke Drazek," he said, his voice impeccably soft. He put the papers on the table beside Sterling. "Lady Dupont sent these for you. She requested that you look at them as soon as possible."

Sterling frowned. Madame was already sending them a new mission? He expected her to wait at least a day, but he supposed that there was no rest for the wicked.

"Thank you, Hudson," he replied. "Now, please go eat. Tell Nela to prepare something for you; whatever you'd like."

"Some bread and jam will be enough, Duke Drazek," Hudson responded. He started to leave when Sterling called out to him again.

"Yes, Duke?"

"Call me by my name, Hudson," Sterling said calmly, his gaze fixated on the messy plate in front of him. A breeze caressed his hair through the broken shaft he called a window and he sighed. "I'm no longer in possession of the title of Duke."

Hudson was quiet for a moment. "Yes, Sir Sterling," he said at last, sounding hesitant to address the man by his name.

Sterling laughed. "Just Sterling, Hudson."

"Sir, if I may, it sounds inappropriate for me to address you by your name," Hudson said. "It doesn't sit well with me."

"It may not, but it's what I would like," Sterling said. "Go on. Go to Nela. I'm sure she's waiting for you."

"...Yes, Sir." Hudson reluctantly retreated, leaving Sterling alone in the shabby room. The ripped tapestries on the wall swung in the strong breeze that blew down the corridor and a few lone shards from one of the broken windows sprinkled onto the table. Sterling watched the small pieces pierce the meal he called breakfast. They looked like snowflakes, but one touch of those sharp tips could send Hudson to the hospital for sure. They were dangerous under the guise of something sweet.

Sterling stared at the shards for a moment, then rubbed his eyes and pushed his food away. He dragged the papers in front of him and opened them, finding himself facing a sheet of paper with an insanely large number stamped on the front in big letters.

"Aria was right," he scoffed, tossing the sheet away. "Madame is going to make me drown in debt."

~***~

"She sent you the bill?" Aria managed to say between bouts of laughter, struggling to keep a firm grip on the paper that Sterling had neglected to mention until they were walking down the corridors of the syndicate's dark lair.

"Damn right she did," Sterling grumbled. "Did she send it to you too?"

"Nope." Aria folded the paper. "I'm more responsible than you are, dude. Besides, I warned you that this would happen."

"I was hoping that you were lying."

"I never lie." Aria handed him the paper. "Well, not to you, at least."

"How was the party?" Sterling nodded to a few agents that walked past them. "Did your aunt grill you?"

"As usual." Aria rolled her eyes. "She always gets finicky when I go out. I think she thinks I'm being a delinquent or something. Like I'm trying to bring shame to our family."

"I doubt that. You're not as careless as I am."

"Sometimes I wish I was," Aria joked. "But I made up a lie and she believed it. She always believes my lies."

"That's because you have a whole spreadsheet of them," Sterling said with a grin. "Remember? You spent your entire day off writing complicated lies."

"It worked to my benefit, didn't it?" Aria smirked. "And why are you complaining? You don't have to lie to anyone."

"Yet sometimes I wish I did," Sterling responded, matching her humorous tone but releasing an underlying wisp of longing. Aria caught onto it quickly, but she didn't dare question him about it. It was too early to start an argument with Sterling, and she was already dreading her meeting with Madame.

They made their way to the center of the syndicate's underground base, passing a few inventors as they trudged through the hallway like zombies. Aria noticed Yasmine in the group; her brown locks were disheveled and her aura reeked of fatigue and a desperate need for a shower. She didn't notice them, instead brushing numbly past Sterling and toppling into one of her lab partners.

Aria and Sterling watched them disappear into the hallway.

"Have they been working all night?" She questioned her equally bewildered partner.

"Madame did say that she had them making some important devices," Sterling murmured. "Do you have any idea what they are?"

"No, do you?"

"Not a clue."

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unedited

We get a brief look at Yasmine! Madame seems to be a pretty strict woman and poor Sterling is paying for their last mission. What will happen next? Why have Aria and Sterling been called in? 

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