Andria Andromeda Rivera In Tracking Time

A Shock... (Isn't it always?)

We stood in front of him, shaking with anger.

I had never known how furious I was with Cresto. The truth was that if we would have not wanted any answers, then I would've surely killed him.

Cresto grumbled, 'get over with this'

I placed his own trident at his neck, 'who is the spy?'

'Easy,' said Cresto, 'you'

I glanced at the others. None of them looked like they would believe it. That's when I realized that even if Cresto would have said the truth, no one would have believed him. We trusted each other too much for our own good.

'Explain' Lee said.

'Explain what?' Cresto said ruthlessly, 'your secret, Clark?'

He grinned when he saw Lee's confident form crumble.

'What secret Lee?' Jace asked.

Lee shuddered, 'Well, I better tell you guys now...My mom, Catherine Clark, she-she was descended from the Wilsons.'

Jace's face went slack of emotion.

'The Wilsons, well, they were cruel people. Each wanted only the powerful ones to live. That resulted in them hating regular people. They killed hundreds,' Lee continued.

'One of Quietus's most loyal servants' Cresto added.

Jace's face had paled, 'I-I remember. My-my aunt was Catherine Wilson.'

Lee looked shocked, 'You're a Wilson?'

He probably didn't mean it as an insult, because he quickly recovered, 'not that it matters'

I decided to change the topic, 'But, what does this have to do with you Lee?'

'I'll tell you,' Cresto interrupted, 'His mom had it right. She supported us against his father's will. The day I managed to get his father, this nitwit was so scared, he lost control. He himself caused a cyclone that killed both his mom and dad'

Everyone stared at Lee, too stunned to speak. Lee had accidently killed his own parents. He had been weighed down with guilt all those horrifying seven years. Those jokes, they really had been defense mechanism, a way of just laughing, trying to forget the past. I was too stunned to think more.

Finally, Lee mumbled something like, 'you can hate me now,'

I hugged him, then I realised that everyone had the same idea. Soon, Lee was squished.

'Guys,' he complained, 'are you so mad at me that you wanna kill me?'

I smiled and let go as the others followed suit. I glared at Cresto, who was staring at us, yawning.

'Who is this Quietus you keep talking about?' Olivia said aggressively.

'Oh, he is my boss' Cresto said rather happily, 'and your doom'

His boss, that meant that Cresto wasn't the one behind this.

How could he be so calm? He was captive for God's sake!

'Additional info.' Cresto said coolly, 'ask Eava who your father is'

I glanced at Eava, who had hidden her face in her hands. A sudden sense of dread filled me.

'Eava,' I said, my voice quivering, 'Who is he?'

Eava uncovered her face, where I could see the trace of a wiped tear, 'Cresto'

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Cresto...Cresto....Cresto....Cresto, her words kept echoing in my ear.

'What?' I asked incredously, 'I am not sure I heard correctly'

Eava shook her head, 'you heard perfectly well. It's him. Cresto.'

I closed my eyes, it couldn't be him. It just couldn't! He killed my real parents! He-he killed my mom, and the closest person I had to a father. He was so-so evil, selfish, cruel... there was no way to describe his character.

'There are reasons for everything my child, some are not quite clear to you now, but before then, don't judge a book by it's cover.' Gramma had said.

She had known the truth, but she hadn't told Andria about it. She hadn't told me about it.

I felt like it was a cruel joke, played again and again by fate. The ones close to me hurt the ones close to me, just like Cresto, just like the spy. He was a power-hungry monster, a monster who didn't care about care about the results of his actions as long as they fulfilled his needs. 

Suddenly, I lost control. I was furious with everyone, mom, for not telling me the truth; dad, for not being here to tell me this was all a lie; Eava, for keeping this from me! Not to mention Cresto, with whom I was rapidly losing my patience.

Plants erupted all around the room, wrapping themselves around everything.

'Andria calm down!' Eava yelled.

'We-we'll sort it out, don't lose control like this' James reasoned.

But I couldn't stop, all the grief and anger in me had to come out. The plants thickened.

'Andria, STOP!' Jace yelled, there was something I had never heard before in his voice now, fear. Jace Wilson was scared of me. It shocked me that of all people to scare him, to break the granite wall around him, it was me.

I stopped, the plants retreated.

'I'm sorry,' I said, 'I-I need time'

I ran out of the hideout, not looking back even once.