Lois~
It was going to be fine. She had done so well. She had won over a Darcen and kept her promise, she was going to find her sister. She could finally tell her how sorry she was. How much she missed her and how many things she hadn't meant to say before she went missing. She just had to find the perfect escape route out the estate. The perfect chance to sneak into the twin devils home. And lucky for her, they had left again. However, she knew from Gordon's calls that they would be returning sooner than planned, she had to finish up quickly, she just had to find lara and maybe unbind her from whatever chains they kept her in. She had a ship awaiting their escape at the shores of Kantama. They were going to stow away in there until they arrived at Ac-ra. There, they will meet, Allegra. She was the only one who offered to help her. She had planned so meticulously, and yet she had almost been driven insane when she found no one willing to help them get away from the lords of Kantama's territories. There were only so few people she knew and even fewer that she had friendly and trustworthy alliance with. And one of the very few ones was Allegra, the woman had offered a helping hand when she'd almost given up. Allegra was going to escort them away from the Ac-ra port in another ship to Tamal. Away from the main territories of the twin devils and their brother. Allegra was their saving grace.
Thinking back on the months that flew by, she couldn't help but mutter..."At least the Antonio didn't lie when he spoke of the Darcens brides." She heaved a sigh of relief the cold making her shiver, her figure atop the high roof almost swaying. They only trusted the few who obeyed and returned their affection. She had definitely given up on her search for her sister after maa had died. The pain of watching her mother die slowly before her numbed her. There was nothing she could do to save her. All she could do was find a resting place hidden enough to be safe from their pursuers, they had known when those people chased them right after Lara was gone that it must be related to her being missing. They had no idea what had happened to her or why the pursuers chased after them. Their maa had stubbornly gathered all their money to find a search guild and yet nothing had come of it. As a result they had lost all their money and there was no way to escape. They couldn't even think of leaving Kantama without Lara. She knew she hadn't always been the best sister,she hadn't always said the nicest things to her. And she regretted it,it pained her to know that maybe that was the only way her little sister will remember her. And when their maa had finally gone and left her, she was too drained, too tired, to move on. She had only attempted to seek help from that search guild as a last resort. That was what their maa would've done. Even while she was so sick, so weak and dying, all she ever talked about was her missing daughter. And maybe that's why Lara would always be the favourite.
But none of that mattered now. Scaling down the walls, she counted the number of staff and security cameras around. It was surprising how few the guards were compared to Gordon's estate. But then Gordon had an entire hunting guild under his control. They mostly roamed free around the grounds. Today, for some reason they were all mostly gone. She knew it might be the same reason why their master- Gordon and the twin devils were gone too. Whatever it was that sent them away, she hoped it would stall them longer, long enough for everything to go as planned. She couldn't loose this chance. She only had a shot at this. She would never be able to escape Gordon's several eyes if ever she was caught and he decided to keep her under strict monitoring. The hunters of his guild were much too dangerous, too skilled and too strong, she couldn't fight her way out or trick them again like she did tonight.
And she knew she'd probably be locked and kept in one of his cells for trying to leave. She had seen the cells and the rooms, she had to know her way around the house to escape it. And the estate was absurdly huge, just like the one she is trying to infiltrate now. They had built a castle at the shores of the city they made a hell of. And they dared to call it home. The Lords of Kantama were more ruthless than she had thought. It was shameful how they wished to find lovely brides here on this savaged land. How could someone dare to love them. She didn't care about the lives of the people in Kantama. She knew she would be sold by her neighbor if one day she tripped into their wrong sides. That was how ruthless the people of Kantama were. They could kill, steal and toy with a life, if that meant they got to stay alive, if it meant they got in the good books of the higher ups. Down here, all everyone could think about was to survive and in the slums, the best you could do was to steal or sell those weaker than you are. However you never harmed one who had never wronged you. It was a pathetic facade that was issued to hide the inhumane nature of the men and women out there in Kantama. It was an unspoken rule. No one made it an official punishable rule. However they were well aware of what would happen if they allowed an indiscriminate kidnapping. There would be no one here in this Babylon without a sold trade mark on the side of his or her neck.
But their Lara would never wrong anyone, so much so they would harm her family too. She had taken care of their maa's treatment. She had to, after all she was the eldest daughter. However, Lara had refused to just stay at home and do nothing. They barely survived on the money she made. But they were just fine. If only that stubborn little brat had listened, maybe, she wouldn't have ended up in the hands of the most dangerous beings in the three states. And maybe their maa would be alive.
Then again, this was no time for maybes. She had to find her first. Thankfully, the estate was somewhat similar to Gordon's.
Hmn~hmn~hmn~
That humming, Lara. It was the tune she had also lulled her self to sleep with all these months. That was the only time she felt their mother's warmth again. She was dead and gone forever however her memories were clenched tightly in her mind and in their hearts. Following the lullaby she was so familiar with, she found the hidden garden behind the walls she'd been threading. And there she was. Her little sister. Her hair had grown longer and they were still their curly tangled mess. They bobbed and bounced the same way when she bent to pick up a lily from it's crowded patch. Hair like maa's. Except the golden eyes she had also gotten from their maa , she had always known most of her features were from the dad who'd long passed away. But Lara was a replica of their dead Maa. A maa they were never going to see again. Looking at the cloned younger version of her maa, a sob broke out her lips, her sob loud enough to startle the little woman. She watched as Lara jumped back a few steps, her eyes watching everywhere but her. What was she doing? Did she not recognize her? Well she had cut her longer hair into a shorter shoulder length but that shouldn't be enough to make her so unrecognizable.
"Lara, I ...I missed you." Without waiting for her reaction she reached out to hug the one person she only realized so late she loved so much. Lara must've been so sad, so worried, in so much pain. She'd heard from her informant, and seen for herself that the two Darcen brothers, the twin brothers had the worst of histories. They murdered tortured and were just dry villainous weapons wielded by their elder brother
Gordon. Good and anything kind had been sucked dry out their entire being. They bowed to no one yielded to no body and were afraid of nothing. They had no weakness at all. How had her little lala lived with them throughout the months. Her heart ached, guilt ripping through her gut when she realized how much her delayed rescue might have costed her little sister. She should've done better. She should've known better.
"I'm so sorry lala."