Ange disappeared. Morgen turned and picked up voices from within the house -- and of course with her luck, she'd returned on a day when her folks had decided to have someone over. Instinctively she lifted her sleeve up to her nose and sniffed a few times, wondering if the stench of the slums would follow her inside. Not that she cared much for the first impressions, but she felt she'd had quite enough of embarrassing the family the past few months... or years. She didn't touch anything
that dirty so it was probably fine, but she knew she wouldn't stop thinking about it until she changed her clothes and took a bath.
She stared absentmindedly at the gate as these thoughts circled around in her head, when a firm hand on her shoulder suddenly jolted her back to reality. Whirling around in surprise, she staggered a step back and...
Lucia Dupont stood before her, grinning like a fool.
"I got your message, baby sis," she said, still smiling. Immediately, it was clear something was off. Lucia never smiled like that because she was happy. She was doing it because she was about to hurt her.
"A little late, don't you think...?" Morgen returned quietly, feeling her heart beat faster. Her eyes averted Lucia's cold gaze. "Were you only leaving the house just now? And I'm not a baby."
"Let's talk inside, yeah?" Lucia ignored the question and took her sister gently by the hand, leading her to the entrance. With a trace of her finger, a key materialized out of thin air, constructed of clear, dense crystal. It slid smoothly into the gate's lock, and with a satisfying click the steel doors groaned open. Inside the estate the voices grew louder, but Morgen paid little mind to them -- her undivided attention was granted to her sister, who had led her into an empty guest room. Quietly, Lucia closed the door behind them, and the voices became muffled background noise.
Morgen let go of the breath she'd been holding in. "If this about--"
"What happened?"
The air became frigid. She swallowed uncomfortably, looking up and meeting Lucia's unreadable stare. At the time, all she had wanted to do was help, but now she was sorely regretting ever making that call. Morgen couldn't quite piece together what her sister was feeling, but she was too afraid to ask. She was too afraid to answer too, and pursed her lips shut. Was she angry? Worried? Curious?
Lucia took her palms and squished Morgen's cheeks together. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me. I want you to tell me what's up." Morgen kept quiet for a while. It was as Ange said -- it was best she didn't bring up last night's events to her family, even if she did generally trust Lucia.
"I... just ended up getting lost a bit, during the chaos," she said, thinking over her words. "I wasn't entirely familiar with the layout of the area--"
"Morgen..."
"--and it was dangerous on the street, so I--"
Lucia grabbed Morgen by the collar and violently slammed her head into hers. With a pained squeal, she fell to the floor and curled up into a ball, clutching her forehead. Tears formed in her eyes as thunderous waves of pain pounded through head, as though her skull were being torn open. The ramming she'd gotten from the dragon felt like a shoulder check compared to the excruciating pain she was feeling now.
"Morgen, come on. Don't lie to me." The elder sister crouched down, running her fingers softly through Morgen's hair as she balled up further. "You asked if I trusted you. And I do. But I don't think you trust me." Lucia helped her stand to her feet, holding her crying younger sister to her chest and patting her on the back. "Sh, it's okay. You're okay. You're not a baby, remember? It'll only hurt for a minute." She wiped Morgen's tears away. "I wouldn't have had to hit you if you didn't lie to me... you understand that, right? Just be honest. I promise I won't get mad."
"..." As bitter as Morgen felt, she was right. The pain started to dissipate almost as quickly as it had come.
"I know you were helping EN." Her heart froze. How did she know that? No, more importantly, was there anything else she knew? Morgen held her hand still, feeling it start to shake. "You thought I never came for you, huh? Tsk, tsk, tsk... I know how to find my own sister. But listen, this is great news. Shuri's always trying to one-up you, but this is your big break -- you tell the Administratum what you know and who knows? Maybe they'll pull a few strings for you... get that witch job you've been working so hard for." Lucia gave her one more hard pat on the back. "Sounds good? Come on, there's someone you should meet."
With that, she grabbed Morgen by the hand again and led her into the dining room...