Natalia didn’t want to leave just yet. She wanted to at least pack up for a possible 7-day trip. Who only knows what they will run into when they get there anyway. It was essential to be prepared. However, that wasn’t the main issue. When she got back to the living quarters in her own room, she couldn’t really find anything good to wear. But, all of her clothing was a bit scantily clad. She didn’t realize just how her taste in clothes changed since she left the old castle.

Even Ayeka took notice as she stepped in, “So, your old clothing is not to your liking anymore?”

Natalia turned around and seen her old friend and mentor standing in the doorway, “Not really. I never remembered them being too… small.”

Ayeka agreed to that statement as she giggled, “Well, that’s how you preferred them back in a day, Natalia-chan.”

“I guess so…” Natalia scrutinized most of her undergarments that she used to wear. Thongs, mostly thin pieces of fabric. And most of her shirts were altered tops that showed off her bust size more than most. She eventually gave up and decided to wear something more conservative: Blue jeans, a red hooded sweatshirt, and a pair of boots this time around. But she still had to pack, so she decided to bring the usual. As Natalia start to pack, Ayeka entered the room, joining her friend.

Natalia couldn’t help but announce the elephant in the room, “I guess you’re all wondering what I’ve been doing since I’ve been gone.”

This was troubling for Ayeka, as well. It has been more or less five years since Natalia has been missing. In June of this year, after her grandmaster restarted the syndicate, Natalia suddenly pops up out of nowhere. There were questions. Most importantly, an explanation, “Well, we’re all ears.”

Natalia sighed deeply; she didn’t know where to begin. In fact, she didn’t know how to start. So, she started with the obvious, “I heard from the United Nations lay down tougher restrictions, and every mission has to go through the proper channels.”

“Their proper channels, Natalia,” as a familiar someone interrupted. Both Ayeka and Natalia turned around to see Kayla standing in the doorway. She made herself welcome as she joined the two.

Overhearing the conversation, Natalia decided to bring Kayla forth, “Yes. Since what happened in London, hostile activities that were nether related went down significantly, but domestic and international terrorism went up. Especially involving with nether-related activity.”

“It all sounds the same to me,” Kayla shrugged.

“In hindsight, yes. However, the lines have been significantly redrawn,” Natalia rebuttal.

“More like you and Siath redrew those lines. Even now, nobody even knows what he really is? Is he really a Daemon King or not? Or something way worse? We don’t know. Because we were too busy trying to find you. Well, there is one person who knows, but he is no longer with us,” Kayla argued.

Even though both Kayla and Natalia were never really the best of friends, they were never really the best allies either. It was personal animosity between the two, always trying to fight for the affection and approval of their grandmaster. Natalia’s support was apparently gained easier than Kayla, causing more friction between the two. Even now, with the whole holy fire-bombing still in its infancy, although it happened five years later, Kayla still feels Natalia is being rewarded instead of punished for her actions.

As always, Ayeka got in between the two, “Dolph agreed not to go after Siath until we find firm evidence of his or her existence… Sadly, Alastair-sensei is no longer with us as he is officially retired.”

Ayeka meant well, but for Kayla, it wasn’t the time or the place to treat anybody with kid gloves anymore, “So, you’ve heard… Last time I checked, you weren’t the one who made him ‘retire,’ Ayeka.”

Still to this day, it was a soft spot for Natalia, “If I can put the past behind me and forgive myself for what I’ve done, then so can he...”

“After what happened between the two of you, highly unlikely,” Kayla's shoulders shrugged.

Even though she felt like it was her fault, Natalia at least defended herself, “Kayla, I’m sorry but your way out of line.”

Natalia’s plea fell on deaf ears as Kayla sarcastically laid into her, “Yes, of course. I forgot who I was talking to. Because the last time she ignored direct orders, she ended up killing thousands of people; then, she ignored another order that cost a good man’s career and her being on vacation for six months, and lastly, her recent insubordination cost to your reputation and our homes. It seems to me nobody really gives a flying fuck about what she does around here because she is popular with all the other boys. Especially Dolph.”

Despite everything that Kayla told her, Natalia still held out hope, “We need to find Siath. He is still out there planning his next move.”

This made Kayla laugh out loud, “I know you want to. But you can’t do that anymore, can you? You can’t be the old Natalia in this new world. Because of even the old you, immensely struggled before Siath came into our lives, you think today the old Natalia would be able to succeed in this world? They can barely stand us today so you can imagine what they would think of you.”

Natalia was now getting angry. Snide putdowns are one thing, but reopening her wounds and pouring salt and lemon juice on them was another. As she was seething, she uttered these words, “you don’t have to tell me anything. They just going to have to deal with me. You are going to have to deal with me!”

Kayla scoffed at the idea, “Yes, because that worked so well back in the day. Last time I checked, you never gave a shit about Alastair or his sister, and now you want them back? You never gave two squirts of piss about humanity, and now you want to be their protector all of a sudden? What kind of sick bastard are you?”

Fed up with Kayla’s attitude, Natalia got right into her face, “I understand completely that we can’t go back to the way things were. We barely survived five years ago, against Siath-- I barely survived against Siath. If we ever want to continue being who we are today, we have to find another way.”

Blowing off her whole entire Natalia’s fake tough girl attitude, Kayla jokingly threw her hands up and took a few steps back, “Okay, who are you and what happened to the bitch that would rip somebody’s head off if anyone chastised her?”

“You are putting all of this on me and it’s not fair!” Natalia substantially defended. “I know for a fact I can’t be the woman I once was. Just like you can’t be the woman that you were years ago, we all have to adapt to our new world that we have all created together, and by doing so is to finally come together as one.”

This made Kayla cocked an eyebrow, “Uh, so what are you trying to say, Natalia? Are you afraid to go back out there, only to fail?”

Natalia answered her question, which was almost that point heartbroken and saddened, “No. I already failed many times. I’m not afraid of failure anymore. I’m just afraid… that you want me to.”

Natalia couldn’t stand the sight of Kayla anymore as she stormed out of her own room, leaving both her and Ayeka behind.

Kayla then pays her attention to Ayeka, “don’t even think about running after her?”

Ayeka was already appalled by Kayla’s behavior as all she can do is shake her head and disapproval, “if you hadn’t already, we all need to pack up for New York.”

Ayeka rolled her eyes at her as she leaves Natalia’s room, leaving Kayla behind. Kayla was about to exit the room as well, but she couldn’t resist. There was a red satchel, almost resembling a burlap bag hanging outside Natalia’s closet. She looked at the doorway to see anybody was peaking, and Kayla decided to take a look at herself.

If she doesn’t want to tell us anything, then I’m going to find out for myself. For all of us, Kayla thought. As she ruffled in Natalia’s bag. She found everyday stuff. Gum, set of keys, a journal, lip balm--

A Journal? Since when Natalia wrote about her feelings? Kayla thought as she took a double take.

She cursed at herself for not having any more time to go through it thoroughly, but she did give it a try skimming through the pages. They were pictures. More like-colored sketches. Especially one of them, that caught Kayla’s interest. It was a shy little girl in a white sundress holding a brown bunny rabbit. She had wolf ears, long straight blonde, and reddish-brown hair, with red-violet eyes…

Natalia Silvestri, the tortured artist, Kayla thought as she plopped the journal back into Natalia’s burlap bag.

As she was about to leave Natalia’s room, she ran into Ryoko. This startles Ryoko but not Kayla.

“Oh, hey! I was looking for ya!” Ryoko greeted.

“Really, what’s up?” Kayla responded.

“The boss lady gave me a text saying that the ol’ jumbo jet is ready. It will take us at least six hours to get from here to New York City? Ain’t that something?” Ryoko amazes.

“Yep, it really is, Ryoko. Finally, getting a shot at the big time,” Kayla responded. At least this time, she was sincere.

“Well, I am ready to go. Are you?”

“Yeah, I’m not going to pack anything,” Kayla decided.

“Well, suit yourself,” Ryoko said as she and Kayla walked down the hallway. Ryoko couldn’t help but bring up what happened between Kayla and Natalia, “Hey, listen, uh… I just saw Ayeka storming right past me a couple of minutes ago. Is everything cool?”

Kayla hated answering questions of the question. But in this case, it was justifiable, “What do you think?”

Kayla always felt that it was a waste of time buttering up to Natalia. She felt like she was a waste of space and an embarrassment to the Oleander Syndicate. Why Natalia came back after all of these years, Kayla couldn’t fathom or even imagine.

While Kayla did try to read her mind to pry some information out of her only once, it was a bit dangerous for her. Natalia’s mind was so broken so twisted that even she couldn’t read her thoughts clearly. It was only another testament to what Natalia has been through over the years. And is one of the real reasons why Kayla will never trust Natalia ever again.