Mirela quickly flew upwards and saluted Ariana. "No problem." Mirela said as she brought her hand back down. Ariana nodded her head in understanding. "Thank you. For everything." Mirela blushed a bright red and flew towards the door. "You"re welcome." She mumbled and flew outside the moment Lobo opened the door.After they both left Ariana waited a few minutes then turned to Mrs. Dabney. "I didn"t tell anyone else about you and I didn"t want you to explain yourself to Lobo or Mirela. It"s none of their business and... And Mirela has already told me to stay away from anyone who has been summoned."
The Dabneys looked at Ariana in shock. "Thank you but why would you need to stay away from the summoned?" Mrs. Dabney asked as she brought her arms back down. "Not 100% sure yet but I think it has to do with something about SCORPION. If I think about it logically, they will want to get in contact with me and probably use me but you already said you wouldn"t give them my information so I have nothing to worry." Ariana explained indifferently.
"That"s true but what"s concerning is the ma.s.s experimentation. I don"t think I can believe people are voluntarily leaving their families to serve the church. Well at least not like this. Not being able to see your loved ones ever again seems.... Seems unreasonable. What amount of money would someone have to fork out to get someone to agree? And it"s not just one person who has a say, it"s the whole family." Mrs. Dabney said.
"Yes that part I don"t believe either but what has me on edge is what they said about my father and mother." Ariana said as she balled up her hand and clenched her fist. "Why? You"re mom gave up her life to have you. Doesn"t that mean she loved your father deeply?" Mr. Dabney asked as he looked at Ariana.
"My parents were never formally together. If she was chasing after l.u.s.t then was my father already involved with someone else? How was my mother any better then the church to get what she wanted? Even if they did somehow fall in love with eachother in that small amount of time why take the child"s soul with her? Why call my soul to suffer in her place?" Ariana asked as she clenched her fist even harder. She felt her claws digging into her palms but she didn"t care. She was trying her best to not spill out more then she needed too but was finding it difficult.
The Dabneys couldn"t respond. There was a strong silence between the three. "... She is punishing me." Ariana whispered after some time. To her horror she voiced out what was in her heart and she didn"t dare look at the Dabneys. "No sweetie, she could never hate you. Souls are summoned at random. It was just your soul"s luck that it was placed into the vessel just like how everyone else is born. We don"t get to choose who are parents are or our environment when we grow but we can choose who we want to be as a person so don"t think anything bad about it. This is your chance to live how you wanted too." Mrs. Dabney said gently as wrapped her arms around Ariana and embraced her.
The hug was warm and Ariana choked back what she wanted to reveal but she had no proof.
"Ariana!" Gregory shouted as he opened the door with force. Ariana paled and the Dabneys quickly looked at Brie. The noise didn"t disturbe the sleeping child and the two let out a breath of relief. Lobo, Mirela and her Lumas were right behind him, in tow. "Gregory.... I"m so sorry." Ariana said pitifully. "So it"s true." Gregory said as his mask shattered in to pieces. His face twisted in pain, sorrow and heart break. He tried to say something but his voice became silent. He could barely hold back his tears, he grabbed his collar as he pulled at it as if it was suffocating him.
"There is a chance." Mrs. Dabney said as half her face darkened. Ariana quickly looked at Mrs. Dabney. "That"s true if you believe in the rumors." Mr. Dabney chimed in. Mrs. Dabney smiled as she brought up her gaze to her husband. Ariana looked at Gregory and he was barely listening his face had paled drastically that she thought he would pa.s.s out. Or at least do something stupid "The rebels, I heard they have been rescuing the jewel eyed people from the church." Mr. Dabney continued. Gregory looked like some colour was going back to his face. His breathing started to calm down.
Ariana was surprised. If Gregory calmed down then there was truth to what Mr. Dabney was saying but if by some miracle Penelope was rescued why didn"t she go back to Gregory? Ariana swallowed back saliva, she couldn"t dare to ask them. "If they saved her... Then she"s still a prisoner." Gregory said weakly then turned to leave. Ariana"s eyes widened and she looked at Mr. Dabney. "What does he mean?" Ariana asked breathlessly. Her heart was pounding against her chest, unlike the times with Cayden or any other time the pounding was painful. She thought it was ready to burst or stop any second.
"You don"t need to know." Mr. Dabney said as he averted his gaze. "It"s all rumors anyways so it shouldn"t matter." He continued but his voice was unsettling. Ariana looked at Mrs. Dabney and begged with her eyes. "T-t-the rumor is... The rumor is once the rebels have you... You give them your life... There is no escaping." Mrs. Dabney said as she dropped her arms. Ariana was right her heart practically stopped. "What do you mean?" Ariana whispered. Silence. "What does she mean?" Ariana turned and asked Mr. Dabney with a bit of hysteria. Mr. Dabney couldn"t open his mouth. "Mirela why can"t I go near the summoned?!" Ariana shouted in panic. "The summoned have two options. They can join one of two cults, the church or the SCORPIONS. If you join you sign over your life, if you betray either one it means you forfeit your life. I don"t want you pulled into it! You don"t need to be forced into something because of how you were born." Mirela explained.