Fifteen ✔

12

     Once everyone was settled, Ivory smiled and stood up to walk towards me. "Oh great" I mentally cursed towards her, knowing exactly what she was going to do.

     She held out a hand which I felt forced to take and helped me stand.

     "This is Konida Rosen Smith, the reason you're all here," she scanned the crowd, "You're not all here. Where's Kai?"

     "He wasn't available, unfortunately. He gives his regards," the sandy blonde male spoke.

     "Ah, thank you, Farris," Ivory put a hand on my shoulder, "How about you all introduce yourselves to Konida, since she's kind of a newbie to our world."

     "Where did you come from? Where are your parents?" Curly Brown Hair spoke suddenly.

     "Southerners. I was raised by Capri and Jace. Capri being my mother, my real father being MIA."

     "My brother raised you?" The red haired girl spoke slowly, confusion taking over her face.

     "Who are you?"

     "I'm Jewel. Jace Cunningham is my brother."

     "How about, instead of bombarding me with questions, you tell me who you all are. I've lived under the control of an insane man," I said, feeling overwhelmed already.

     "Yes, sorry," the mysterious woman who I knew now as Jewel apologized.

     I pointed to the woman who was pacing earlier and asked her who she was.

     "Tiffany. From the group at the park."

     It occured to me that they each came from groups. I asked them to order themselves into their respective groups.

     I pointed to the first group which contained Tiffany and asked the rest of them to list their names.

     Curly Brown Hair claimed the name of Sabrina. And the male who dared sit within 50 inches of me claimed the name of Trenton.

     I pointed to sandy blonde hair to tell me who he was.

     "Farris. Of the Easterners. Darren and Kale are also of the Easterners."

     "I know who those two are, thank you very much," I replied to him sarcastically.

     Next I asked for the last stranger, the hyperactive one, to identity himself.

     "Xander. Xander Falome. I represent the group from the strip club by the old train station."

     He spoke quickly, and tripped over some of his words.

     Ivory smiled from her area, "Never thought I'd see the day where all the main groups were gathered in one room."

     "I agree," Sno said, his discomfort evident.

     "You know what I don't agree with? His damn presence. Why the hell is he here? Does he wanna kill anyone else I love?" Farris spoke loudly, his anger towards Sno dripping from everything possible.

     "You didn't love her!" Jewel yelled at him and walked up to him, "You cheated on her! And I believe I can blame you for her death. She got attached to you, that's the only reason she came back to your destructive group."

     "Don't you dare assume how I felt for her ever again."

     "I will do whatever I damn well please. You wanna know why?" Jewel, although smaller than Farris, seemed to have scared almost everyone in the room with her toxic tone, "Because, Farris, you weren't the only one who lost someone you loved dearly on that day."

     The room felt ice cold after her statement. Ivory calmly wrapped an arm around Jewel and sat her down on a couch.

     "I'm sorry, Jewel," Farris frowned before glaring at Sno again.

     "Would you stop hating on me?" Sno snapped, "I don't know your side of the story just as well as you don't know mine."

     "Then what is your side of the story? Huh, murderer?"

     "She killed my twin," he yelled, sadness and grief taking over, "She did nothing wrong to earn her a death sentence. She may have brought down the country but you act like she did it alone and you only went after her."

     "Blu was a bad woman who would have done worse things if she hadn't of been put to sleep."

     "Don't talk about her like she was some dog!" Sno screamed, "She was flawed, yes. But did she deserve death? If I had a say in her plan to take down the government, I would have made her stop. But I didn't have a say in it. I couldn't control Mila."

     His voice calmed the more he spoke. His voice cracked at the name and when he looked up his eyes were watering only slightly. Farris's anger had subsided the more he looked at this side of Sno.

     Everyone else in the room watched in silence as these two calmed down. Jewel had recovered from her outburst and stood in Ivory's embrace with a stoic face.

     "What we did was wrong.." Kale spoke up, "But you were equally in the wrong, Sno."

     "Don't speak to me like I'm a child. I know damn well what I did was wrong. And I regret it everyday. But I can't go and change it now, can I?"

     "No I suppose not," Darren responded, one arm over Kales shoulder, the other on her stomach.

     "Then it's behind us. Can we begin the actual meeting now? Or does anyone else have something they want to say about my presence here. I'm needed just as much as you guys are," Sno announced before looking at the ground.

     Tiffany walked near him, circling him as if she were a wolf checking out it's prey to see if it was suitable for a meal.

     "Why is she circling me?" Sno asked, his signature angry-bored look covering his face once more.

     No one answered, they all looked just as confused as Sno most likely felt. Tiffany continued her circling before stopping to face him.

     "You're clearly a good fighter if you took down Cameira. You look strong, you're smart. You seem to have good intentions, although more often than not they appeared to be bad. Tell me why you're here?"

     "My apprentice took my place as Western leader and I want it back. Before Nadia, Shepherd and I came here, I'm sure none of you carry a map of the Westerners territory. And I'm sure none of you know it as well as I do," he paused to look down at Tiffany, "I'm your walking map."

     "We were wrong about you at first. I apologize for their anger towards you," she paused, "I personally did not know the girl so I can't hate you for getting revenge for your fallen sister."

     Ivory stood up, "I don't mean to interupt this moment but I believe we gathered for a reason," she pointed at me and all their heads turned my way, "The reasons right there. Can we begin discussing this now that our anger is out and we all know each other?"

     They all sat down as a way to show that we could now, officially, begin the meeting.