Chapter 7

I sit up in bed gently rubbing my eyes. Last night I turned off my alarm so I could sleep in and hopefully make my headache go away. I pick up my phone to check the time.

"Shit!" I yell as the time reads 12:30. Reggie is gonna be here at any moment. I quickly race over to my closet yanking clothes out from my drawers and off my hangers before quickly undressing and pulling them on. I hear a knock on the door and race down the stairs to see my mom making us six inch sandwhiches with small snacks.

"Coming!" I yell while racing into the living room to open the door.

"Nice bed hair." Reggie laughs while pointing at my head. I quickly shove my hands in my hair brushing my hair down.

"Shut up. . ." I mumble while stepping out of the way welcoming him in my house. He is early. I close the door after he enters.

"Sorry for the intrusion." He says before gently bowing his head before my mother.

"No issue love, you just make yourself at home." She replies while smiling. I lead Reggie into our spare room which we turned into a lounge. He sets down his bag and pulls out his sketchbook and multiple materials. I pull out my sketchbook and pencils from a cubby hole under the seat. He looks back out the window and lets me finish what I had started.

His curly hair swirls in big and small circles around his ears. A piece hangs over his deep rich blue eyes. His eyes are slim and calming. I dont even see him blink as he watches birds play in our small water fountain on the side of our house.

His top lip is rather small compared to his bottom one. They are a dull light pink that fades into his caramel skin. I darken the two beauty marks that align vertically on the side of his eye.

I finish his portrait within the next hour before he starts mine.

"Wow, that is really good. . ." He says, viewing my drawing of him.

"I know." I smile while looking straight at him with my arms folded. He begins to gently sketch me out and I leam my head against the wall still feeling tired. He leans closer to me making me flinch away slighty.

"Ever heard of personal space. . .?" I ask and he only points at my eyes.

"Arent your eyes normally only Hazel colored?" He asks while his eyebrows peak together.

"Yes, why?" I ask feeling concerned.

"Its like red is fusing with the Hazel color." He replies while sitting back into his seat still observing my eyes. I race out of the room into my bathroom and lean close to the mirror looking at my eyes. He is right.

"Whats happening. . ." I mumble while observing them.

"Your fine for now, we have training tomorrow after school. You can ask Azazael." Reggie says while leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom. I sigh and grab my hair gently pulling it.

"Everything just HAD to change since I joined the agency." I say annoyed. He holds his hand up in defence and shrugs his shoulders.

"Isnt it better than doing the same thing every day?" He asks sounding inconfident about hsi words.

"I guess your right." I say rolling my eyes while pushing past him back into the lounge. I sit back down and let out a gentle sigh while relaxing once again. He draws me with prismarine colored pencils and slowly I feel my eyelids weigh down until they are entirely closed.

I wake to my mom bringing our food.

"Here you guys go. I kept them refrigerated for a bit until you guys seemed ready to eat."

"Thanks mom." I yawn while pulling my plate towards myself and take a bite from my sandwhich.

"Enjoy." She says before leaving the room.

"Oh shit! Im sorry Reggie for falling asleep." I say rubbing the back of my head awkwardly.

"No, I was able to finish." He says. He takes a bite from his sandwhich before lifting his sketchbook to show a drawing of a girl with a black bob haircut. The tips of her hair turn to embers. She is covering half of her face with her hand. Her eyes are a fusion of red and hazel while her lips are a dark ruby red. Her skin is a nice medium tonem

"Thats me. . .?" I ask looking closer at the image.

"Yes." He says while smiling. He signs the paper at the bottom right corner and closes his sketchbook. He check the time and looks back up at me awkwardly.

"Sorry, ive gotta head out now." He says while putting his sketchbook back into his bag. I shake my head and smile gently.

"It's fine." I reply.

"Take your sandwhich with you." I say as he stands up. He smiles and nods his head grabbing his sandwhich. I walk him to the door and saw goodbye closing it right as he leaves. I wall back into the lounge and look at the drawing I made of him.

"You are something else." I say scoffing before geabbing my sketchbook and flipping to a new page. Without realizing what im sketching, I draw how it feels when I loose control of my powers. A girl is huddled in the middle of a dark room alone as flames eat at everything around her. Her eyes are fearful and her hands are clenched in fists as she presses them against the ground.

Not wanting to remember what I had went through in the room yesterday, I close my sketchbook and take it with me to shove it in my backpack. Im pretty sure the agency is open. . . Maybe I should head over and get some extra training in. I change into my trainee suit and grab my phone.

"Im going to be heading down to the agency." I tell me mom. I close the door right behind me not waiting for her response.

I push my earbuds in and begin a jog down the road towards the agency. I focus on the music vibrating through my head that I almost entirely pass the agency. I push past the doors and place my phone and headphone in ny locker while heading out to the field. Workout equipment is placed out across the field and very few other trainees are using them. Of all of them, im the only beginner.

I remember what Cytra said about me being thin and weak.

"Hey, your Hazel the one who beat Reggie, right?" Someone says approaching me from behind. I turn around to see a tall advanced trainee.

"Uhm, yeah." I reply not knowing what else to say. Maybe I shouldve asked for his name. . .

"Its alright, my name is Quince. I can read minds." He holds out his hand and I reach out to shake it.

"Please refrain from using it on me." I reply while looking at where ill start first.

"Okay, but do you want to join me? Im going to be doing physical training." I shrug my shoulders.

"No, ill be fine on my own." I say walking over to a yoga mattress and laying down readying to do curl ups.

"Alright, then Ill tag along myself." He says brushing his wavy hair out of his face revealing dark brown eyes. I sigh and ignore him as he lays on the mattress besides me doing curlups. After doing about one hundred, I turn around and do planks and push ups alternating between the two.

My arms and stomach ache from the already extreme workout as I dont give myself a rest. I hear Quince grunt.

"Geesh, your going on it hard." He says while breathing in heavily.

"Everyone else started before me, I've got to catch up." I say while sitting down to take a breath. He hands me a spare bottle from a bin offered to all the trainees. I drink the cool water inside of it.

"Thanks." I say before getting back up and stretching a little. I forgot to stretch before the workout which is probably why is hurts a lot more than I thought it would from the beginning.

"Where did they place you?" He asks all of the sudden.

"What do you mean?" I reply confused. I look him into the eyes.

"Ah, I mean which legion where you placed in or did you not get one yet." I shake my head.

"No I got one. My legion has Rivera, Reggie, and Cytra." As I list there names he chokes on his water.

"Thats legion elite, I guess it would fit your skill and power but geesh. Barely been here two days and you got the spot lost advanced students were fighting for." He chuckles and brushes his hair back out of his face. He is a slim boy but still has plenty of muscles.

After a little more stretching, I begin to do leg workouts like lunges. I keep at the workout for a good thirty minutes to an hour before parting ways with Quince to head into the library.

I pull out similar books to the ones Reggie had given me the previous day and begin reading through them. I pay close attention to the words as well as the pictures. I read a few books before I end uo gently dozing off only to wake to some people talking.

"Yes, but you cant drag your legion into this Reggie. Im gonna need you to stop researching about them." I lift my head to see Azazael and Reggie talking.

"You dont understand Azazael, I need to do this." Reggie says pleading gently almost sounding hopeless. Its a tone id never imagined hearing from him.

"I can't say I understand how you feel but this endless searching is not only gonna get you killed but your legion as well." Azazael says while grabbing Reggie looks down at the ground in defeat.

"Whats gonna get us killed?" I say rubbing my eyes and squinting over towards them. I need to wear my glasses, geesh.

"Nothing Hazel." Azazael says before leaving the room. I look over at Reggir expecting the truth but he only looks at me with hurt eyes as if he was apologizing. It makes no sense to me though because he has nothing to apologize for.

"What was that about?" I ask him but recieve no answer as Reggie leaves the room.

"So disrespectful those two." I say grunting and putting the books I had finished reading away. I go to my locker grabbing my stuff and on my way out, I notice Reggies fathers office door is open and a voice pounds out from it.

"Forget it all Reggie!" I hear his father yell.

"The Jacob Ruths are dead, now you must replace them!!!" He continues yelling. At the mention of my father and brother, my heart drops and I peak into the room.

"Listen, I found one one of the mafia hideouts which has had suspicious activity. Look at this image, it is Jacob Jr. Ruth." I hear Reggie say from behind the door. What?! I want to race over and look at what he has but I decide to stay hidden. Why isnt the agency working to find them if Reggie has proof.

"There was a reason this case was dismissed 3 years ago Reggie, do not being it up again." I hear his father say while ripping up the evidence. Reggie begins to storm towards the door I hide behind and I quickly race further down the hallway and walk normally like nothing happened. I bite my lip at what his father just said. My brother and father are alive and the agency is hiding it from us, im going to find out why.

I quickly shove my phone in my pocket and race outside the agency back home. Once I get home, I quickly yank open my laptop and search up the news from the past addressing my father and brother dissapearing and the photos. I print out multiple images and put them against my wall writing down slight notes on what had happened and how the agency handled it.

All of society was searching for my brother and father but it seems the police only did it for a bit before entirely giving up. Why would they give up on their top heroes so easily? I search up the average time a search by the police have gone on to find a missing person or hero. Multiple heroes have gone missing and the agency only spent a small amount of time o them.

The thing is. . . All these heroes are from my agency. Could my agency be working with the mafia? No. . . If we were, my family would still somehow be intact. There is something the agency is keeping from us. If the police or society were to find out where the heroes went, what would happen? I yawn already stressing myself out by all the reading I had done todays. I take a quick shower before returning to my wall and laptop.

I follow the lines and everything seems to lead back to the agency. Its almost as if Reggies father wasnt mad his song was trying to find a person but the fact Reggie had all that evidence of them being alive and where they might be.

I need to figure out what Reggie knows but I dont think he will just willingly tell me. I pull out my phone and stare at his contact. But it seems like my only choice would be to ask him.

I begin to text up a message.

I know whats going on and I want to help.

Is all I write in the message beflre waiting for a reply. It takes a good five minutes before it shows he has seen it and has begun typing.

What are you talking about?

He replies.

You have evidence of my brother and father being alive somewhere and it seems the agency doesnt like the thought of you trying to find them. I want to help you, they are my family after all.

I cant drag you into this, im sorry.

You dont have to drag me because im tagging along no matter what you say. Tell me when and where and ill be there.

. . . alright

I set my phone down and lay back into my bed sighing. What am I getting myself into? Roll over onto my side and doze off for the night. I dream about the argument between Reggie and his father as well as Reggie and Azazael. How long has Reggie been doing this researching of his and why? I understand he looked up to my brother and father but. . .

Im missing something arent I? I wake up slightly before falling right back into a deep sleep having nothing left but darkness.