Triple Agent

In the basement of the bungalow where the laboratory was located, the punishment of Darius continued.

-Being beaten is the least of your problems boy. You should first learn to apologize for your insolence after insulting your elders- Barnaby was looking at Darius and bragging about the damage done to the boy.

Darius was tied to a chair while Barnaby and Vlad beat him with steel mitts. His nasal septum was broken, his face was disfigured and his body was full of bruises as well as two broken ribs and a dislocated arm. He knew deep down that when his grandfather got angry the world would fall apart. The resentment and the accumulated anger expressed it with each blow. Despite being savagely beaten, he felt that he deserved it and as Barnaby said this was the least compared to what was to come.

-You think playing hero is giving you points. Your mother would die again if she saw the monster you are becoming. I'm going to fix you and that silly son that I have, I'm going to teach him never to want to tease us again- Vlad answers and returns another blow to the face of his grandson.

-I think he got the message, Vlad. The child can break if they keep hitting him. Now I take care of him. The bookworms want to talk to both of you. Go to shower, you are disgusting.- Patrizia approaches with a bag of potions to treat her grandson.

-You said it, let me give him one last lesson and we are going.

After giving Darius a last beating they leave. Patrizia unties him, cleans his face, and then takes a bottle of healing pills, one of the most bitter and disgusting she has. Ray had given her and Jia one of the Aqua Vita bottles that he retrieved from the vault and the Aqua Noctis that he obtained from Lolth. He taught them how to make them and enhance their effect into pills with alchemy that he learned from Miridiana. Patrizia and Jia found the never-before-seen system interesting and played with adding flavors and colors to amuse the children. Darius could barely open his swollen eyes as his grandmother came up behind him.

-It's my turn to teach you a lesson- Patrizia clutches her grandson's head to force him to swallow the pill.

Struggling to breathe, Darius seems to be choking but his grandmother grabs him tightly by the neck with one arm and covers his mouth with the other hand until he finally swallows the pill and releases him. Darius falls to the ground and begins to writhe in pain for several minutes. He vomits a yellow liquid and the steam that emanates from his body seemed to take all the damage received.

He had made a full recovery and was now staring at his grandmother in terror.

-Oh! Looks like oxygen has already entered your spoiled little brain. Better get up off the floor and let's go shower and change your clothes. That uniform is disgusting, just seeing it makes me sick.-

-Commander Anderson, I ...-

Unable to finish the sentence, Darius receives a kick to the face.

-Oops! You've just healed and you're already talking to me like your uncle. How many times must I tell you not to treat me like a stranger. Although, your late grandmother Lucy raised you, I was the one who gave birth to your mother, always remember it-

Darius now has another problem to deal with.

After washing up and eating something, his grandmother arranged to take him with the others. It was getting dark. He was surprised to find himself in a place with summer heat and such a greenish orchard. He followed his grandmother silently down the stone path until they reached the castle. More and more questions arose but he did not want to go against his grandmother so he omits to say a word. They went straight to the balcony where his grandfather was with his uncles and part of the Ursini family. They drank and played cards. His grandmother urges him to say hello and apologize to those present.

-Goodnight everyone. I apologize for my behavior, I was wrong and now I admit it- Darius bows to show his regret

-It seems that the boy has already reconsidered. I told you there's nothing a good beating won't fix- Barnaby is glad to see Darius

-Sit down, the children will be here for dinner. Patty, can I serve you vermouth or do you prefer a malbec? And you Darius have a juice, the children cannot drink at this table- Vlad brings a couple of chairs closer

-Whatever is good-

-What ... but that boy is drinking- Darius points out to Ray that is cross-legged with a glass of wine in his hand

-How rude, I thought Vlad taught you manners. I can drink because I was the one who provided it and it doesn't affect me like you rude brat- Ray gets annoyed by the comment

-Hahaha, Darius better not try to anger this man because you will end up dead- Tanji laughs at a possible fight between the two -Let's continue where we left and incidentally we will clear the head of the new child. I buy two and go up to 70-

-Well, then I'm going with 50. Darius, you're in terrible trouble and so is your uncle, the nest is full of the canaries, sekretnys and bigmouths from Espin, Baum, Sahmar and the church. Either you join us or you die with your uncle-Tuk plays his game while he talks about the main topic in complete calm.

-I pass. Child if you want to survive you will have to learn from the best. We offer you work as a triple agent. We have information that Bubblegum is about to recruit you with false proposals and if that seems crazy to you let me tell you that Viktor knows it and plans to use you as bait- Jia also spoke as if it were something of common knowledge

-I will enter with 200. It will be your decision whether to continue on your uncle's side or not, after you see the evidence and talk to your grandparents. But it should be before the day after tomorrow because then we will have visitors and there will be no turning back- Ray sounded emotionless as he bought cards from the deck to add to his hand

They spent all the games throwing information at Darius, who was about to explode his head because of the cumbersome situation he was in. Of all possible things, he learned that his uncle practically saw him as a useful tool and not as his sister's son. If he did break he should be discarded immediately. His anger leveled off as the game progressed. He thought it appropriate to betray his uncle and join the Red Sugars to infiltrate both organizations, since according to them, the end that awaited Viktor and his group was the worst of all.

They finished playing and set the table for dinner. The adults sat at the sides and the children who were already used to it sat in the center, Darius ended between them, being branded a little boy. He found it illogical at times that Ray was the one to sit at the top and not just anyone in the group, but remembering what his uncle Tanji told him, that Ray was the owner of the house and the master of ceremonies in this circus full of freaks, he dismissed question it.

At the end of dinner, his grandparents took him to the library to update him on everything and Ray would greet him in the morning before leaving for a meeting.