Chapter 4: Masked Truth
CHAPTER 4
Kiara POV
We returned to Luna's base at midnight. We cleaned ourselves up and returned our weapons to the private arsenal.
"Why us? Why are they threatening us?" Tasha frowned. She folded her sleeves harshly. It's a habit she always does when she's frustrated.
"We should report to Madam Serena," said Lucy calmly. I kept quiet as I tried to sort out all the mysteries by matching all the pieces. It doesn't make sense at all.
The four of them went to Madam Serena's office. Luna's base was quiet and cold as usual. It might look intimidating for outsiders who stepped into Luna, personally I think it's quite peaceful. We arrived at a grey wooden door with Serena Altair's name engraved on the golden plaque. Lucy knocked on the door loudly and we entered when we've given permission.
Madam Serena sat on the chair. Something about her presence was intimidating. Her platinum hair and cat like eyes were staring at our soul. She always wore an expression like she knew something we didn't. Madam Serena raised an eyebrow.
"We killed Hudson when he offered us a job to protect him. He was terrified of this threatening letter" said Lucy straight to the point. She placed the letter on Madam Serena's desk. The wise woman took the letter and read silently. Her every move screamed elegant and grace.
"We suspect that the letter is actually for us, not for him" Lucy said again.
Madam Serena analyzed the letter before sighing softly. She folded the letter neatly and placed it on the table. "I'm afraid you are right," said Madam Serena. She faced the girls.
"But this letter is not for you either" Madam Serena looked at me. "This is for Kiara," she continued. Lucy, Laura and Tasha frowned. I could feel they're stealing glances at me. I inhale deeply.
"What do they want from Kiara? Why are there people following her?" Tasha said, a little surprised. I clenched my teeth. What this woman about to say may have something to do with what I've read this morning.
"It's time I told you but this is classified information. So, I expect you to bring this to your graves" said Madam Serena. We didn't have a choice, right? Whatever secrets Luna's assassins exposed, they'll be dead in the end.
"Kiara, you're the daughter of Ace and Diamond"
This time, the other girls didn't make an effort to contain their emotions. They gasped softly as their eyes widened. This was shocking news for them but not for me. I expected this news but I was hoping for it to be false. I could feel my blood boiling.
"Madam, you're kidding, right? Kiara couldn't be…" Laura didn't finish her sentence. She rubbed her neck, a habit of hers when she's stressed.
This was nonsense. What now? Am I supposed to get an award or a punishment, for being the daughter of a traitor and a dead bodyguard from Soleil? Diamond was the most known enemy of ours from Soleil, he was a legend and so was Ace. This old witch was spitting bullshit.
"This got to be a joke," Lucy said in a low tone. She didn't believe Madam Serena's words. Madam Serena sighed softly.
"Ace violated Luna's rules. She fell in love with a bodyguard. Our enemy" she continued.
"They got married and a few years later, you were born. Eclipse hunted your parents because they were the greatest fighters of the two strongest companies" Madam Serena landed her gaze on me. I looked down at the floor.
"People are hunting you because you have something they want. I'm not the best person to answer that but my guess is that your mother gave you something before she passed" Madam Serena spoke softly as to soothe us. "Ace and Diamond died on your birthday. Eclipse's men broke into their house and they were killed by Eclipse's right hand man" she continued.
"Ace called Luna for help, not Soleil. Bella found you and you were crying. You wore a necklace with a sun and moon pendant and held a bloodied card" Madam Serena opened the drawer of her desk and took out a card. She gave it to me. I flipped the old tattered card. I bit my lips.
It was an Ace of Diamond.
Something didn't match up. Ace betrayed Luna, she was blacklisted and hunted down to be killed. So, why did she call Luna for help instead of Soleil? Did she despise Soleil so much? If that's the case she wouldn't marry a man who worked for them.
"Bella immediately knew who you were. Fortunately, only a few people from Luna know your true identity. No one from outside knows who you are. Not Eclipse, not Soleil" said Madam Serena.
I don't remember anything from the past. Everything was a blur and this woman had the audacity of telling me this. An important fact about me that had been hidden a long time ago.
"Why now are you telling me this?" I blew up. The other girls flinched from my sudden yelling.
"Because you have the right to know" replied Madam Serena.
"Right to know? 7 years later, suddenly it's my right to know? I'm not their daughter!" I slammed the desk.
"You are their daughter" Madam Serena spoke slowly, as if I was a toddler and hard to understand her words.
"Give me a reason to believe you. I'm 20 years old now, I'm an adult! You've raised me as your own, you had plenty of time to tell me" I glared at the woman. "Actually, I found out this morning. I've read my file"
"Kiara, you know that room is for superiors only-" I didn't give her a chance to finish her sentence. I cut her off.
"If we didn't get our hands on this threatening letter and if I didn't read that file, I bet you would've kept it away from me until the day I die" I stormed out of the room and closed the door. I stood still, trying to process what just happened.
I see, so that's what it was. I was Serena Altair's favorite weapon, she couldn't get rid of me just yet when I was her trump card. Even though I'm the traitor's daughter. I passed the corridor of the VIP building. I bumped into Bella.
"Kiara, what are you doing here?" Bella asked. Hearing her voice made me snapped. I grabbed her collar harshly. Curling my hand into a fist.
"You know all this time, and you just keep it from me!"
"What are you talking about?" Bella grasped my hand to free herself and failed.
"You're the one who found me, but you're not the first to tell me!"
Bella went silent for a moment. That pissed me off more. She knew but she didn't say anything. That made me loathed her.
"I really want to tell you," said Bella softly.
"But you never did" I glared at her. I slammed her to the wall. She grunted in pain.
"Madam Serena told me not to tell you. She doesn't want you to turn your back from us like Ace" Bella struggled in my hand.
"Save your pathetic excuses"
Bella kicked my stomach and turned me around. Slamming me hard into the wall. I hit my head hard on the wall and my vision blurred. I grunted in pain.
"Calm down Kiara, then we have a talk"
That's what I heard before everything turned pitch black.
***
I opened my eyes. The room was dark. Where am I? I look around the place for clues. I saw Laura's silhouette on the bed across mine. I'm in my own dorm room. I tried to recall the last incident before I passed out. My head hurt like hell. I reached for my phone on the bedside table. I turned it all. The screen lit up and I squinted.
It was three in the morning. I placed my phone beside my pillow. It all felt so unreal, it felt like it was a lie. After a few minutes of existential crisis, I got up slowly. I didn't want to wake Laura up. I took a shower and put on dark clothes. I wore black leather gloves and glanced at Laura in case she was wide awake.
I exited the dorm and headed for the administrator building. I came across one of Luna's admin. Out of all people that I could come across with, why him?
"Kiara, you're wide awake. You don't have any mission, right?" Rezza asked. He didn't mask his surprised face. He was one of Bella's friends. I stopped in front of him.
"I can't sleep, so I took a short walk," I answered calmly. I eyed every of his movements, in case the last incident had reached to the admins' ears.
"You shouldn't be in this building. Go back to your dorm, Kiara" Rezza said strictly. He walked past me, leaving me standing alone in the dim corridor. I grabbed his arm roughly, not letting him walk away.
"What?" Rezza was annoyed. He pulled his arm away from me. "If there's a mission from Madam Serena, can you dismiss me and pass it on to Tasha and Laura" I said, trying to sound as casual as ever.
Rezza nodded and turned around to walk away. Good thing he's walking in the opposite direction. I walked towards a room with a metal door. The storage file room. I took out Rezza's identification card from my pocket. For Luna's precious superior officer, he's quite naïve. He didn't notice that I picked his pockets.
I scanned the card at the door and glanced at the CCTV camera in front of the door. The door beeped and flashed green. I entered the room. The iron cabinets were full of files that held personal information of all Luna's employees. I walked towards where I kept Ace's file earlier.
I flipped and skimmed all the files. Finally, my hand stopped when I saw Ace's name. I pulled out a faded orange file. There's a barcode and a series of numbers on the corner of the file. I headed to the closest desk in the corner of the room. I took a seat and began flipping through the contents of the file.
Her full name was Diana Irdina. She didn't have a surname. That's not a surprise, the majority of the people here don't have one. 13 November 1992 -16 April 2005, she worked with Luna for 13 years.
I frowned. 16 April was my birthday, according to Madam Serena. Since it's the day that Ace and Diamond died. I flipped to the next page.
Many bodyguards were afraid of her. She was recognized as The Red Killer, outside of Luna. Her signature outfit was a white jacket, contradicting Luna's assassins' preferences to wear dark clothes for undercover. She killed hundreds of people, and her jacket drenched with blood. Hence, her famous title. Ace had the skill to imitate her enemies' movements and was skillful with swords.
My eyes shone with admiration. Ace was the perfect killing machine, why would she stab Luna's back?
I flipped through the pages. A picture of Ace with shoulder length hair is displayed, she was wearing a white jacket. She has the same silver grey eyes as me. I hate that, it only adds solid proof that she's my mother. I swallow bitterly. My emotions mixed up to the point I didn't even know what I'm feeling. I read the last paragraph.
Last mission: Managed to track down King. Met Diamond from Soleil, betrayed Luna. Found dead slaughtered by King.
I closed the file and sighed deeply. I leaned against the desk and looked at the ceiling. Even an excellent murderer like Ace could do stupid things. I ruffled my bangs in frustration. Why did you change, Ace? How could a heartless killer like you could fall in love? I got up and put the file back in its original place. I headed to a computer that kept the CCTV records. I deleted and edited the recording from the time stamp that I entered this room.
I restart the CCTV and set a timer for it to turn on again. Five minutes was enough for me to get away. I just need to be faster than the timer. If I move slowly I might get caught by the camera. I left the room quickly and shut the door. After I heard a satisfying beep, I walked away to the spot where I met Rezza. I dropped the card to the floor. I head back to my dorm.
Suddenly all the lights in the corridor went out. I looked around to see if the other building was blackout too. Everything was pitch black. I smirked playfully. I guess luck was on my side. No one will suspect a thing. They'll think that the CCTV camera was turned off due to the blackout.
A few seconds later, the emergency lights brighten the corridor. I entered my dorm silently. I took off my gloves and placed it in my wardrobe.
"Where did you go?"
I was not surprised to hear that voice. Damn it, I didn't think Laura was going to wake up this early.
"I took some fresh air" I answered without sparing her a glance.
"Right" Laura was skeptical. She didn't trust me one bit, but she didn't push it either. I was silently grateful for that.
"Are you ready? There's training today, right?" Said Kiara.
"About that, Madam Serena forbids you to work. You're going to rest until you get to your usual self" Laura sat up on her bed. She crossed her arms. I frowned at her words.
"Then, what am I going to do other than working?" I said. I didn't want to prance around the building doing nothing.
"Relax, it's only for a week. You can't work and practice but you can enjoy life like a normal girl. Go shopping, eat at a cafe-"
"Normal huh? When are we normal?" I cut her off. I walked towards my bed so I was facing her. She was frowning, biting her tongue from saying what she really wanted.
"Kiara, look at yourself now. You're angry and confused. I'm sure you'll take work as an excuse to cut random people's throat rather than following orders" Laura stood up. She glared at me.
"Come on, everyone here has a dark past. Not everything is about you!" she continued.
I had enough with her. I slammed the bedside table and Laura didn't even flinch.
"Of course it's about me, people are trying to hunt me down because of the troubles my dead parents caused!" I yelled. Laura growled at me, I knew she's tired of my shit.
"Control your hormones. See you later" Laura grabbed her bag and left the room. I sighed loudly and sat on my bed. I rarely had a fight with any of my coworkers. I should do something about it. Either leave this mystery alone or I can investigate Ace's and Diamond's past.
***
I sat on the roof with my legs hanging out. The sky was still dark and the moon was still shining. I heard someone walking behind me. Lucy's familiar footsteps were getting closer. I didn't mind her presence, she's the only one who knew that this was my secret hangout.
"Kiara" Lucy sat beside me.
We sat in silence, which I was grateful for until she decided to talk. That's rude of me, but I already have a lot on my plate.
"That pendant that you have been wearing all this time, is it really related to your parents?" she asked. I didn't answer her. I would if I could.
"Lucy, I want to know more about Ace and Diamond. Usually, I never give a fuck about those famous fighters. Apparently, they're my parents" I said bitterly.
"If you want to know more about Ace you can go to the file room, but you have to have an admin's ID card" Lucy suggested. I rubbed my tired eyes. "I've entered the file room," I said.
"What?" Lucy frowned in disbelief.
"I went in an hour ago while Laura was sleeping" I said tiredly.
"So the power was out because of you?" Lucy accused me.
"No, this is just a coincidence" I frowned.
"Earlier I saw Rezza looking for something. Did you use Rezza's card?" Lucy glanced at me. I only nodded my head.
"If you want to find out about your past, we respect your decision" replied Lucy.
We gazed at the breathtaking dark sky. It was a full moon. I suddenly feel utter contempt for what the moon reminded me of. The celestial body that was supposed to resemble this wretched company filled with humans have blood on their hands.
"You want to go on an adventure around this city?" ask Lucy.
"Let's go"
I was grateful for Lucy's invitation. I need some adrenaline to kick off these pathetic feelings. We got up and went back to their respective rooms. After an hour had passed, we met again on the roof after we got ready. The sky is still dark.
I wore a grey T-shirt with my signature jacket. Lucy wore a black T-shirt and a dark blue knee-length cardigan. We both wore our black gloves.
"That t-shirt is not black" Lucy raised her eyebrows. I scoffed at her comment as she smirked.
"Your car broke down so why are we here? We're not driving tonight?" I asked.
"We go round the city the old fashion way," Lucy said. I couldn't help but smile a little. We used to do this back in the days when we were kids.
"Whoever loses, pays for breakfast" said Lucy.
"No problem"
I backed away and then ran forward. I ran as fast as I could before launching myself towards the next roof. I jumped high and landed on the roof with both of my feet. I keep running. I could feel Lucy catching up to me. We jumped from roof to roof. She's pretty fast, I thought she might be a little rusty.
I glanced back just in time to see Lucy fell down from the roof to a small alley. I heard a thud. I spoke too soon. Well, that's unfortunate. I was going to continue running towards our 'finish line' until I heard a man's voice.
I stopped on my tracks and turned back to where Lucy was. I crouched at the edge of the roof to observe the chaos. I saw Lucy being surrounded by ten men. I sighed in annoyance.
"Looks like an angel just fell from the sky" said the man.
"She's pretty cute, Zack. Let's keep her" said his friend.
Zack smiled cynically as he tried to hold Lucy's hand.
"Come on baby" Zack said.
"Don't touch me with your dirty hands" Lucy pulled her hand free harshly.
"Woah, you're pretty fierce. I like that" said another man. I assumed he's the leader of the group. The others just laughed. "I guess she's a keeper, right Andrew?" another man said to the leader. Andrew smirked when his friend stated the obvious.
"Smile a little, sweetheart" Zack approached Lucy. In a flash, Lucy tried to punch his face. Unfortunately, he managed to block. That's no fun.
"Did you try to punch me?" Zack caged Lucy to a wall. I saw Lucy's eyes screamed murder.
"Behave yourself, baby. We promise to take good care of you" said Zack with a smirk. He caressed Lucy's cheeks.
Lucy landed her fist on Zack's stomach and kicked his face. Zack stumbled backwards and fell to the ground from the impact. He held his dislocated jaw. I smiled in satisfaction when he got a taste of Lucy's strikes.
"You bitch! Don't you know who we are?" said one of them.
"Do I need to know?" said Lucy. A man tried to attack her and she dodged.
Well, I guess that's enough. I jumped off the roof and landed in front of Lucy. Catching them off guard with my sudden grand arrival. Lucy rolled her eyes at me.
I punched a man in his face until I heard a satisfying crack. He dropped to his knees and groaned in pain. He spit out blood and a few teeth. I wiped my bloody hands on the wall.
"Now, aren't you being rude?" I said in a low tone. Glaring at the group of men. Lucy smirked at my sarcastic remark.
"Well it looks like this one has a pretty face too. Let's keep them both" said one of the men while scanning his eyes on me. I snarled in disgust as he tried to grab me. I grabbed his hand and twisted it till it popped from the socket. I kicked him till he kissed the ground.
"Hey, don't you know who we are? We are the famous FireBlood. We are the ones who control this city!" said Andrew.
"I didn't ask for an introduction," I said monotonously. I could see their blood boiling with my lack of interest or fear. They ran towards us to strike us.
Lucy grabbed one of the men and struck her knees to his spine. As the man yelped in pain, Lucy tossed him away. Unfortunately, too late to notice that a punch landed on her cheek. Lucy groaned in pain.
"That hurt, you bastard," Lucy grunted. She grabbed his face and slammed his head to the wall. Cracking the man's skull and creating beautiful red splatters on the wall.
I broke a man's leg. Tripping him and turning his leg in a wrong way. The bones poked through the flesh. I knocked a man by jabbing his chest until he couldn't breathe and I crushed another's windpipe.
We purposely left Zack and Andrew for last. They shivered in fear as they saw their friends lying unconscious on the ground.
"We're sorry, we won't do it again," said Zack.
"Don't kill us!" said Andrew.
Lucy picked up Zack and threw him against the wall. The impact was strong and it knocked him out. I walked towards Andrew.
"Please don't ruin my handsome face!" Andrew yelped in fear. I didn't grant his request. I grabbed his collar and punched his face until it was bloody red. Maybe his nose broke, I didn't care. I stopped when he went limped.
"Think before you act, you arrogant scum" I threw him at the wall.
I came out of the alley as if nothing had happened with Lucy behind me. We took off our gloves and turned it inside out and kept it in our pockets. We didn't want to gamble with fate. What if someone discovered our bloody gloves in the trash?
"I didn't expect for that to happen" Lucy huffed her bangs away.
"Luckily we wear gloves" I said.
Lucy took off her dirty cardigan and tied it around her waist to hide traces of blood.
"We didn't kill them," said Lucy. She was worried if our identity would be exposed.
"It's alright. It's a waste of energy anyway, since we didn't get any payment. Plus, we hit them hard enough for them to have amnesia. Hopefully" I said. Lucy was satisfied with my answer. She jabbed my arm playfully with her elbow.
"I win, so you have to buy me breakfast." I said to Lucy with a smug look. Lucy rolled her eyes when she remembered about the bet.
"How do you know where I am?" Lucy asked.
"I heard you fell down from the roof like a sea cow from heaven. So, I turned back to see what happened" I said nonchalantly.
"So you care about me?" Lucy gave me one of her annoying smiles. I ignored her question and looked around cautiously.
"Come on, let's look for a bakery for breakfast before someone thinks we're suspicious" I said. We walked towards the opposite road. Lucy laughed in amusement. I glared at her.
"You lost the bet. That's not a surprise. That's why you brought your wallet with you, right?" I asked.
"Shut up," Lucy smacked my shoulder. I smirked.
"I take that as a yes"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone