Chapter 11: Meeting the Family

POV: Aonani

Why was I nervous? Why am I nervous? It's just a gate; it's just Zac and his sisters. One of which is the most prolific assassin in the Castle. But why was I worried about that? She wouldn't do anything to me, right? Not with Zac there, surely.

"Just approach the gate, you coward!" I shouted internally to myself.

These irrational feelings of fear kept me nearly stationary, but I refused to yield to women I'd never even met!!! My body must have felt my determination as I found myself close enough to the front gate to activate the AS. Its sudden voice, and the featureless aqua green face that popped seemingly from the void, nearly scared my soul out of my body.

"Greetings, Miss Aonani! Zac has been expecting your arrival. Please, come inside! Although I must warn you, Zac is currently in a training session with Ms. Lynoe, and those two tend to be rather rowdy. Please, watch your step."

"Ah, thanks, Devin."

I muttered as I walked through the now-open gates. Once inside, the world changed around me, and the sounds of fighting exploded into my ears. The large expanse of land in front of me seemed empty to the naked eyes, aside from the well-kept purple grass and the simple wooden walkway that led to the door. Towards the left, at the end of the walkway, was a circular patio table made of high-quality crystal but relatively simple. Surrounding that table was a sectional wicker patio sofa. On the left sat a green-haired beauty. She had her bare feet lounged on the sofa, a viewing screen in front of her; she seemed to be reading something. In the middle of the sofa sat a fiery redhead with perfect posture. At the moment, both women had their heads turned towards where the sounds of fighting were coming.

While the land seemed plain at first glance, I could feel the surging of massive amounts of Soul Source all around me, in every blade of grass. Unlike most Top-Level residents, they turned this land into a state-of-the-art training facility rather than a flashy estate to show off their wealth. I wonder why? While I was still in deep thought, I turned my head towards the fighting as the sound of something barreling towards me filled my ears.

A body smashed into the ground. Aqua green lights glowed upon its impact as it hit; a system came to life within the grass to soften the landing. The body bounced across the system surface, sliding to a stop as a head hit my feet, which still stood on the wooden walkway. Looking down, I was greeted by a familiar goofy grin,

"What's up, Nani?" He said, not bothering to get up, just resting his hands behind his head.

"Don't call me that," I responded, folding my arms.

My eyes widened when I got a good look at him. His lower body was in proper training attire, some black combat joggers and combat boots. His torso was utterly bare, with just his AS necklace hanging from his neck. Why was he half-naked? Had he no shame? Was he trying to seduce me?

"What should I call you then?" He interrupted my train of thought.

"My name…" I said reflexively.

"Are nicknames not a thing where you're from?" He asked.

"There are, just. Argh, just don't call me that." I tried to tear my eyes back from his half-naked body. Right before I could speak, he seemed to notice my gaze,

"Like what you see, Aonani?" He smirked.

"Well, aren't you the little stud," I commented mockingly. Zac looked at me confused and asked,

"When that comes out of your mouth, it sounds like an insult."

"When is calling someone a stud ever not an insult? It means your only value to society is your sperm."

"Huh… Well, good point. Never thought of it that way." He said in a moment of enlightenment as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

I rolled my eyes. I always thought that Zac was a little odd, and I'd just assumed he was a backwater bumpkin that came into some money recently. Still, after figuring out who his family is, it seemed more like he was purposely raised on some backwater isolated planet.

"But why am I a stud?" He asked.

"Looked at you, bare-chested for everyone to see!"

"Look at Lynoe!" He said defensively, still lying on the ground, pointing at someone in the distance. She looked similar to Zac, maybe a shade or two lighter, with Brown and golden hair. She was a rather curvaceous individual, wearing black boy shorts and a black sports bra. She had a canteen of water in her hand as she looked over at Zac and responded,

"Oh, trust me, Zac, if these things didn't flop around everywhere, I wouldn't be wearing this either." She said as she pulled at the strap of her bra.

Zac, who still had not removed himself from the ground, threw his hands up,

"See!! How is that better?!" He looked up at me, searching for answers.

"Her assets serve a mechanical function. They feed the young, while yours have no purpose other than to be aesthetically pleasing. Yet, here you are, giving the show away for free."

Zac opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. Sighing in resignation, he said,

"Fair enough! However, this is my home, so I can wear and not wear what I damn well, please. But, notes for later."

He quickly rose to his feet, with his back towards me. I couldn't blame him for wanting to show off his body; he was… well put together. As those thoughts were racing through my mind, I saw what looked like a tattoo on his right shoulder blade. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't a tattoo but a bundle of scales?!

"Zac, are those scales?"

"Huh? Oh, ah yeah. Had my first shedding a couple of days ago. It was fuck'in gross. I'm not sure about the design, though; I might change it." He rambled as the scales on his shoulder blade began to move into a tribal sun design with a hollow center. He looked at his design through an image relay that his AS placed in front of him. He made a dissatisfied grunt and just shrugged his shoulders.

I continued to follow him as we made our way towards the three I could only assume his sisters.

"I thought your spiritual BENT was Gravity?" Only the Iwon could develop Gravity BENTs. Given his personality, I was so sure that was what he was.

"Well, that is certainly one of them." He said with a grin as he looked over his shoulder.

"What's the other one?" I asked. However, it wasn't Zac that gave me the answer. A melodious yet cold voice echoed,

"Why are you so curious?" I looked over to see a pair of ruby red eyes staring at me. Zac seemed to flinch and retract into himself subconsciously, and the other two women looked away from her direction in what seemed like an attempt not to draw any attention to themselves.

"You must be Quinn?" I mustered up the courage to speak.

"Answer my question, girl." She ignored my inquiry.

"I...uh, I only know of one species having a Gravity BENT, and only one species that have moveable scales. Ummm, b-but I never heard of, well -"

"Aren't you well informed? Knowing too much is an easy way to get yourself killed, girl." She said, cutting off my train of thought.

"Stop, Quinn! And it's Vector. My 2nd Spiritual BENT is Vector." Zac said with an aggressive tone I had never heard from him before. I stared at him as my suspensions were made real. I found it a little hard to breathe. He was… a Gteju (Tey-Jue). A type that was never recorded in the Castle before, or at the very least, never lived past infancy.

"I told you, I was my mother's masterpiece," Zac said with a cocky smirk on his face.

The word "Masterpiece" was never lightly thrown around by Cultivators and their spawn. Still, him being called a Masterpiece seemed like an understatement. I'd say Quinn was a Masterpiece if rumors were to be believed about what she could do. Zac, on the other hand, wasn't supposed to exist. I looked over to see Quinn's disgruntled face.

"Zac!! You can't just go around broadcasting what you are! That lackadaisical attitude of yours is why we are in this mess right now."

"Can you call this a mess? You know damn well you could wipe out the Galdents with an afternoon's worth of effort." Zac snapped back at Quinn like a spoiled child. Quinn stood up and walked towards Zac, slapping him across his face.

"There are rules to the Black Market, Zachery Zym!!! Rules that we must follow to maintain cohesiveness. The Galdents, as insignificant as they may be, are still part of the Black Market. One of those rules forbids us from taking direct actions against compatriots." She stared daggers at him.

"So you've said!!! But I'm not a part of the Black Market yet, am I?"

"Correct, which is why you will be dealing with this on your own." She said as she turned her attention over towards me.

"No one told you to go gallivanting for a moderately pretty face." She rolled her eyes and walked back to her seat. I looked over at Zac with a frown,

"I thought you said your sisters would help us?" As I said this, I heard Quinn snort mockingly at me as she sat down.

"They are, just not directly," Zac said, a little aggravated as he stared at Quinn. The woman that Zac was training with, Lynoe, I believe her name, shifted her gaze between Quinn and me.

"We can't get rid of the Galdents for you; our hands are tied. But we can do pretty much anything outside of that." She spoke, and Quinn seemed to look over at her with the same vitriol as she looked at me.

"So does she glare at everyone like that?" I asked.

"She has what Zac calls, 'resting bitch face.' I wouldn't take it too personally." The green-haired sister finally spoke. She leaned forward a bit, bringing her left knee into her chest. Quinn turned to look over at her and scoffed as she folded her arms. I held in a laugh as best I could while sneaking a look over at Quinn.

"So what are we going to do then?" Zac and Lynoe had found themselves a seat on the couch. Zac sat between Quinn and the green-haired woman, with his arms spread on the back. Lynoe sat on the other side of Quinn, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. None of the 4 seemed to be even the slightest bit anxious about the situation. Understandable, as they didn't have much to be worried about, but what about me?

"That's up to Zac. We're letting him handle this. He wants us to treat him like an adult, so we wanna see what he can do in the adult world." Lynoe said as she grinned at Zac, who still hadn't put on a shirt. I looked at him with pleading eyes trying to get something out of him.

"Don't look so pressed; it's fine. Even without their help, I can handle the Galdents on my own."

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, annoyed, he still hadn't said anything.

"Well, I plan on taking them for everything they're worth and slowly phase them out over time. Shouldn't take more than a couple of years." Zac said, not really saying much about his plan, and he wasn't keen on sharing with the class.

"Not going to give me more than that?"

"You don't need to know more. I don't trust you, girl. At most, you're a decorative extra, do not think too highly of yourself." Quinn snapped at me.

"Can you stop for like 2 seconds, Quinn? Damn, what did she do to you?" Zac snapped back at her.

"She stole your focus!! You know what you should be doing, and instead, you have to split your attention for this." Quinn rebutted, and Zac simply sighed and slumped in his seat. Although he didn't want to say, it was clear that he agreed with her assessment. Considering what he potentially could be, I could imagine that his time could be better spent elsewhere.

"Sorry…" I muttered out.

"The hell you apologizing for? No one told him to be an idiot. Every time I look at you, it just reminds me of how stupid he is." Quinn said as she stared at me and rolled her eyes. I chuckled a bit, as Quinn was more of a character than I previously thought. I glazed over at Zac to see a look of astonishment plastered across his pretty mug.

"So ah, can you give me a general idea of what we're doing."

"It's a slow burn that will ramp up to a blazing fire. The first part starts today. According to Quinn, the Galdents should be heading here soon." He said after a sigh.

So that's why he insisted that I come here today. If they were making their move today, it was likely they'd come after me not long after.

"So once they get here, what are we going to do?"

"Make them mad… well, madder." He said with a cheeky grin on his face. I looked over to see his sister's reaction, but they didn't seem to react at all. Lynoe shared the same smirk that Zac had on his face. The green-haired sister sat there peacefully with her eyes unconcerned with the rest of the world around her as she silently continued her reading. Quinn didn't have any response at all. If she had problems with whatever Zac had planned, I was sure she'd be the first to voice her opinions.

"What do you mean make 'em madder? That can't possibly be it. What will that accomplish?"

Zac proudly stood up and placed his hands on the table as he leaned over,

"Making them mad will-,"

"Zac, the Galdents are here and are demanding entry." The AS appeared next to Zac, interrupting him before he could finish his explanation.

"Well, it looks like you'll just have to find out. Devin, get me a shirt, and let in our guests." He said as Devin produced a purple tank top for his storage space. Just as Zac put it on and sat back down, the sounds of footsteps echoed. I looked over my shoulder, spotting a group of fourteen. Ten of them were dressed much like the goons Zac had disposed of the night I met him within the fourteen. Just irrelevant fodder of no consequence. My attention was on the four those goons were guarding.

Of course, my sight was immediately drawn to the "little" prick responsible for all of this, Sizuru Galdent Jr. As handsome as he was intelligent… not very. He looked similar to his cousin that Zac had killed, far more humanoid than most of his species. He stood at 7ft and had red quills in a mohawk on his head. Dark green scales were patterned around his mouth and jaw, leading down his neck, resembling a muzzle in their design. The skin beneath the scales was a pale gray color. A long, scaled spiked tail trailed behind him; he was a tower of muscle and brawn.

He had on tight-fitting overalls, with the suspenders hanging down. I don't think they could wrap around his torso, even if they tried. A white shirt clung to his upper body for dear life, along with a hooded leather jacket. He had jewelry on his neck, wrist, and at least 4 of his fingers. Everything on him was Designer brands and custom made, with moving patterns that drew as much attention to him as possible. As if he needed help, being the tower of meat he was. He flashed a spiked tooth smile as his amber reptilian eyes locked on me. Disgusting.

Looking away from him, I notice the woman in front of him leading the group. I had seen her before as well, Hilali Galdent, current founder of the failing Galdent Inc. and holder of the Galdent estate. They have a long history of involvement with the Black Market but never a minor authority. She looked far more reserved than her son, though only barely. She was a stern-looking woman, with a very humanoid nose in the middle of her pale champagne-colored face. Her eyes were sharp and amber-colored.

She had light brown scales surrounding her eyes, from her brow to her sharp cheekbones. She had a head full of dark blonde hair, clearly implanted, pulled into a bun. She wore a Green asymmetric notched lapel single-breasted hem coat. Form-fitting black pants lead into knee-high high heel boots, which gave her a grand stature. Even without the heels, she'd be a bit taller than Zac. She held her hands in her coat pocket; her thin tail swished back and forth as her slender body led the group in our direction.

Walking two steps behind Lady Galdent, and to her left, could only be her husband. He had red quills that lined his scalp and piercing golden eyes. His face was only slightly more humanoid than reptilian. Dark green scales were visible on most of his body and a slight bump with two slits in the middle of his face, barely registering as a nose.

The parts of his skin that were not scaled were light gray. He was casually suave. He was wearing a gray asymmetric long sleeve collared shirt, black buttons down the left-hand side, black slacks, and a pale crystal ring on his right middle finger. He was nearly as large as his son. A curious look appeared on his face as he saw Zac lounging back on the couch; thankfully, he had put on a shirt.

"We meet again, little friend." He said as they approached.

"We ain't friends, dude. It should have been obvious last time." Zac responded, not even sparing the man a glance. Instead, The fourth member of the Galdents drew his attention. She was stunning. Her monolid eyes meet Zac's, as her deep brown pools clashed with Zac's almost black eyes.

If there was such a thing as love at first sight, this seemed to be the exact opposite. She was smaller than the rest of the Galdents, barely taller than me, if that. This did not make her appear weaker; on the contrary, her body seemed more compact, bursting with strength. She looked like a warrior; firm legs rose from a pair of high strap sandals, both legs on full display under her olive double split skirt. Firm, flat abs and sculpted arms visible thanks to her strapless olive midriff.

What was the most shocking were the scales running up the left side of her body. Purple scales designed as roses on thorny vines adorned her warm beige skin from her left foot up to her neck. There was no way she was born with scales in that pattern. My eyes narrowed as I looked up at her. The left side of her head was shaved, with the scales appearing there as well. The rest of her dark brown hair was put into a single large plait that angled the right side of her head, wrapping back around to drape over her left shoulder.

I lost my breath for a moment because that wasn't hair. I looked over at Zac's head, then back over at the woman. That was down feathers. The type of down feathers that mimicked hair, the same type that the young of ONLY two species in the Castle grew, and it didn't look fake. That, along with her scales, meant this woman was a Gteju. She and Zac were still staring daggers at each other, and at that moment, I understood why. Two young Gteju meeting for the first time, a hierarchy needed to be made; it was a primal instinct that neither of them seemed to be able to fight. Before either of them could make the first move, Hilali asked her husband,

"You met this boy before?"

"Yes, he was the punk I told you about the other night." He responded as he all but growled at Zac, who still had his eyes locked with the mystery girl.

"The young one that sent you flying?" Hilali turned her attention towards Zac after sparing me a cursory glance. She was some distance away from where Zac and his sisters sat. All of them were still very much relaxed. She looked at Quinn for an uncomfortable amount of time. She finally asked,

"Boy, were you the one who killed my nephew."

"This boy has a name, you old crone, and if you're talking about that Lizeodian and those goons. Then I don't know, maybe." Zac continued to stare at the Mystery Girl, who returned the favor with fervor.

"You want to make this difficult? Very well. Take him and the girl." Hilali commanded her hired help. This triggered an apparent mood shift. As the hired dogs of the Galdent began to make their move, Zac's carefree demeanor melted away as he leaned forward from his relaxed position. The green-haired sister let out an annoyed sigh as she swiped her hand through the air, closing whatever she was reading. Lynoe's bobbing head stopped dead as a look of disgust bloomed, and she turned to look over at Hilali.

The mystery girl broke her line of sight with Zac at that moment and gave Hilali a strange look. Quinn seemed to be the only one unphased. Before tensions entirely blew over, Zac's familiar whimsical chuckle came into focus, drawing my attention to his face. He was not angry nor afraid; he seemed amused as he rested his head on his right palm. The amused look vanished, and his voice was deep and hollowed, as he spoke,

"The audacity of this bitch."

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