River.

Chapter 186: Secrets Upon More Secrets

Mara's P.O.V.

We sat in my room going through each individual folder.
Since we had no idea exactly what we were looking for it took longer than we expected.

Just as I thought that we'd reached a dead end my theory was answered.

"Um guys..." Said Willow. "I think I found something."

She pulled a packet out of one of the folders and stared at it as all of the color flushed out of her face.

We all quickly ran over to her to see what she'd found and as soon as I saw it my jaw nearly dropped.

"They're not training us to fight against Peter's men... They're training us against someone else..." I said. "And They're not just turning us into fighters..."

"They're turning us into killers..." Patrick concluded.

That was it. I wanted answers.

I quickly got off of the bed and made my way to the door.

"But Mara!" Jedi shouted. "Ca'sius and Cato are gonna know that we stole the folder!"

"I don't even care at this point." I mumbled then stormed out of the room.

I turned down the hall to Ca'sius's office, followed by the others, and instantly bumped into someone.

"Hm, should I be concerned as to why you're storming down the hall with a folder full of papers?" Asked Sehrem.

"Please tell me you didn't know about this..." I said as I handed him the folder.

He looked at us in confusion for a bit then glanced at the papers.

"Where did you get these?" He asked.

"From your dad's office... So I'm assuming you knew about this."

"In fact I didn't..." He said under his breath as he turned and started walking.

We all followed him to Ca'sius's office, curious as to what was going on.

He walked in without even knocking and slammed the folder on top of Ca'sius's desk.

Ca'sius and Cato looked at eachother then at us then back at Sehrem.

"How did you get this?" Asked Cato.

"I found it, now do you two want to explain to me why this exists and why I don't know about this?"

"Because Kratos and I decided to keep it between ourselves." Ca'sius explained.

"You're not turning these kids into fighters you're trying to turn them into weapons."

"We're doing what we have to."

"Is that so? Well then who are you trying to weaponize them against because judging by these papers it sure as hell isn't Peter's men." 

"Sehrem the only thing you need to worry about is continuing to train those kids the way you're supposed to. Your father and I will handle the rest." Cato insisted.

"Who are these kids warring against?" Sehrem asked one last time.

"That we can't say." Said Ca'sius.

"Then so be it. But do NOT expect me to keep training these kids. Now that I know what your intent is I refuse to continue training them. I will not help you turn them into stone cold killers."

And with that he left out of the office, leaving me as well as the others standing in the presence of Ca'sius and Cato.

                             ...

Sehrem's P.O.V.

"How do you know this Sehrem?" Asked Theana.

"I saw it myself." I explained.

I'd called a meeting between my brothers and sisters to discuss the information I was made aware of by Mara that none of us knew about.

"So they've been lying to us all these years?" Asked Dia.

"Apparently so." Said Sidonyus.

"If the enemy isn't Peter then who is it?" Asked Simartè.

"I have no idea. But whoever it is, father and Kratos are extremely concerned about them. I have a feeling that this 'enemy' of ours is far worse than Peter could ever be. Which is why we can't send those kids off to fight in a few years."

"Yes we bent the truth a bit." Said Cato as he walked in. "But only because we knew that none of you would agree to our objective."

"Your objective is to exploit the powers of these children." Said Dia.

"And strip them of their morality so that they can kill simply by will." Sidonyus added.

"These kids can't have an ounce of weakness when the time cones to fight. They have to be prepared even if it means turning them into killers."

"Who are we putting these kids up against?" Asked Raes who hadn't said a word since he got here.

"Its better if you don't know." Said Cato.

"I'm asking you one more time..... Who are we putting them up against?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because we're not training them to be soldiers we're training them to be defenders." I stated.

"No we're training them to win." Cato shot back, clearly getting frustrated.

"If you wont tell us who we're up against, I wont train anyone else and I guarantee you I wont." Raes threatned.

"Don't let Sehrem put stuff in your head Raes."

"I'm putting stuff in his head?" I asked. "No I'm simply telling him what you failed to tell him. Cato I don't care about you sending Raes, Dia, Sid, Simartè, Theana, and I up against an unknown enemy but I can't let you do that to those kids. They depend on us to prepare them for when the time comes but it seems at this point that you just plan on sending them out to get killed."

"They wont get killed if all of you just train them the way you're supposed to."

"I'm out." Raes stated as he stood up from his chair.

"What do you mean?" Asked Cato.

"Until you can tell me what i want to know, I wont be training anyone else.  That includes Kaiser."

"Raes you don't under-"

"Me too." Said Sidonyus.

"And me." Simartè added.

"Add one more." Said Dia.

"Make that two more." Theana stated.

"Guys you really don't understand just how bad the situation is...."

"Then enlighten us." I insisted.

"I can't. You'll find out yourself one day."

"Why not now?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Fine then dont tell us." I replied.
"Good luck finding more people to train those kids."

I was not going back on my word. None of us were.

Until we knew what was going on, we refused to be a part of it.