Rage and Ruin | 2

0 | 7

G I G I

We returned to the compound with low hopes. A few of the members of our team had tried to start up a conversation about what had happened in the ONNT building, but their attempts fell flat.

The counsel thought that Delphinium was paranoid. They thought that she'd perhaps ensnared the rest of us in her delusional beliefs that Imperium was back.

Delphinium did what she could, but as I was learning more and more about who she really was, it made sense that the counsel wouldn't be jumping at the opportunity to trust her. She apparently did not have the most squeaky clean criminal record either, which certainly didn't help.

I should have spoken up. I should have said something. I should have stood up for myself. A few times I almost jumped into the conversation, but my old ways stopped me. Keep your head down, don't look anyone in the eye and don't let the others know what you're feeling.

I closed my eyes. If I was going to avenge my mother, I was going to have to overcome my old tendencies. That prison they'd kept me in for years had almost ruined my mind.

Almost. But not completely.

I could still change. And I would, for my mother. If not for my sake, then for my poor mother's.

My mother.

My heart ached at the thought of the only person in my life that had truly cared about me. And now she was gone. Gone, gone, gone. I hadn't even said goodbye.

I let my eyes flick back open. The counsel might not believe that Imperium was back, but everyone on the team could. If they didn't, I would convince them. I couldn't take Imperium on alone.

So I went downstairs to my team and found them all sitting in the living room talking. Even Arlo was there, despite the fact that he normally showed almost no interest in what we discussed. Apparently, they'd started without me.

"Ah Gigi, there you are," Finn spoke and gestured for me to sit in the empty seat beside him. "We're just deciding what to do next."

They hadn't even bothered to tell me. I knew that I didn't come off as the most brave out of all of them. I certainly wasn't. But they didn't know the full extent of my power, or what I'd gone through that made me this way. They couldn't know or they'd believe what everyone else thought: that my mind had left me. That I was crazy.

So here I was, stuck in my mind and body. Weak. Tortured. Alone. Alone. Alone.

"So the counsel clearly believes that Imperium is not back," Finn said. "What do we do?"

"We change their minds," Delphinium spoke, her voice strong. "They need to believe us so that they'll be on our side in the inevitable war against Imperium."

"Why are you so sure that they're back? As much as I dislike the ONNT, they seemed to have a point," Kane said firmly, to which everyone stared at him pointedly.

Arlo sighed under his breath, "And suddenly, I'm not the craziest one here."

"Kane, man, are you blind? The armed fortress was right in front of our faces," Jaxon said matter-of-factly. "That was enough reason for me, even before those soldiers attacked us."