23/XXIII. All We Need (Remastered)

“So… how are we going to do this undetected?” The train was only an hour away from the city, from the spying eyes.

Her earnest and sincere heart reached out to Arthur, everything and every move was of utmost importance.

Two of them up against the three largest mafia in Europe - it’s a steep fight, but with Arthur’s wisdom, both of them believed there is a way out.

He looked at the bill and the golden debit card that he held in his hands.

“My father and your mother knew it was me because of this.” He held his hands up with the card facing Irene.

He knew that the only connection that can be traced back to him that night was the golden credit card.

He disabled almost all of the closed circuit cameras inside the café before he even stepped foot in it.

“You used that? I thought you were a genius.” She mocked him for that stupid move.

She stared at him like he’s a disgusting being and chuckled in amazement. Part of her regretted going along in the train, part of her regretted going along the suggestion of her guardian, part of her regretted having an interest on this man, but a large part of her still trust him with her heart.

He had the compassion to save those poor souls even if he knew that it will implicate him directly. Even endangering his own life just to make sure that those abused women and trafficked stow-away children will be reunited with their families.

“I had to act fast. There were children inside.” She understood at that moment, that Arthur can only be moved by God, and by children.

His eyes displayed so much emotion when he talked about the children, and God.

He was too easy to read, other than that, Irene found him indifferent, uncaring, and apathetic.

“Fine, then, we need another base for our financial needs, without any detection from the mafia, or connection from your father.” She thought hard, but she’s on track.

She wanted to divert the conversation as it was going the dark path.

It’s true, they needed another source of money, as they need money to investigate further.

Though Arthur is an angel, he still doesn’t have full control of his powers. He has his own will, but the will of God takes precedence over anything.

He will not be able to interfere using his own angelic powers without the approval of the will of God.

“The only two ways I have are…” Arthur hesitated in suggesting it. He put down the card on the table, and thought of every possible consequence before blurting it out of his mouth.

“What?” Irene grew impatient.

He tried to gauge Irene’s mood. She just transitioned from mocking to accepting, but this won’t be easy to discuss for her that is so sensitive about her mother’s choice of employment.

“We can’t do business, it needs legalities, and we don’t have anyone to trust to regards a business that may have the potential to grow internationally.” He first eliminated the cant’s.

He was clearly stalling as he didn’t want to soil his clothes. He knew that entertaining clients was one of the past times of Silvia, Irene’s mother, and if he wanted to present the idea, he wanted to choose his words as to not agitate the lady to throw that glass of water in his face.

“If not business, then?” She pressed him for the right answer.

“Stocks, and show-business.” Showbusiness, that word. Arthur, couldn’t you have chosen a more appropriate word? He thought to himself.

He was not a social person, he could only think of sharp words to retort to his enemies, but to friends, to carefully and empathetically comfort someone is not one of his greatest traits, especially since after the Great Flood.

The angel had no contact with humans socializing after the Flood, only occasional talks and then he’ll stay in the shadows, even if he had so many things in mind, he’s not able to process it and say it properly in a proper human conversation.

The word infuriated Irene so much that she tightly clenched a glass of water in her hands.

“You better explain it to me clearly before I throw this water in your face.” Her stern voice, her wrathful eyes, and reddish face told Arthur he probably stepped on a mine somewhere.

She held her wrath, and at least she was more understanding than her heritage can be.

She gauged Arthur’s body language, his sweat sliding down his face, his eyes diverting to and fro, he’s out of right words, but at least he also wanted to explain it to her.

“It’s not prostitution. You have the looks, and the voice. We can get you to be a singer, an actress, maybe.” His explanation made sense, but she still felt hesitant in performing for other people, besides, that in a sense, was prostitution in itself.

That’s how she interprets show-business, acting, singing, getting paid to perform, or getting paid to entertain, exactly like what Silvia was doing back home.

She held on to the glass, but pondered on his suggestion.

She knew she had no interest in science, she also don’t have any other good skills in other things, or passion in technology or other girly stuff like cooking.

She also doesn’t want to be wedded and just lean on her husband for finances, well, that’s a long way ahead of time, but she realized that the only good thing she had right now is the face and the voice.

He’s right.

“And you?” She let go of the glass of water.

She looked at him – scrawny, his face doesn’t reflect his age, and in this kind of job, your face should be younger than your age to prolong your career.

He appeared to be malnourished as well, skinny and haggard.

“I don’t have the face, so I’d have to go with stocks.” A term unfamiliar with Irene as she was only twelve years old, but as long as it didn’t involve innocent lives, she’s all for it.

“Stocks?” She wanted to clarify further that word.

If they’re going to have a partnership, she wanted to know every move that Arthur does, especially since she’s directly and personally involved.

“Yes, stocks, like investments to companies.” He’s using a much more complicated term, but she knew from his facial expression that the stocks were not something illegal.

He tried to explain it as simple as he could but dealing with stocks was never simple.

She only sighed and yawned in boredom as soon as he talked about the dips and the rise of the value of stocks.

“Okay. Then, we’ll start setting this up once we get back.” Irene got on board pretty quick as soon as he was done explaining the stock value and demand.

“Yeah. I’ll make sure to research key people in the show business industry, and you can ask your mom for favors like these. I’ll also tell Matthew to set up stock investments with his salary, and I’ll make it grow.” Arthur set out the first phase in their plans.

They still needed help on the set-up.

For the show-business, Irene will need the help and influence of her mother, Silvia, to enter or boost her popularity in her acting or singing career.

For the stocks, Arthur didn’t want the money in the golden card, instead, he planned to borrow the hard-earned salary of Matthew and invest it in stocks.

The two need cold hard cash to operate, and they wanted money from outside their family business.

-------------------- // --------------------

The two guards stood for about five hours waiting at the same station, as Arthur and Irene walked out.

“Lady Irene!” The first one spotted the two quickly. “Please don’t do that again.” The other one followed.

“I’ll introduce them to you. This is Harold, and this is Ivan.” The first one to run towards the two is Harold, and the other one is Ivan.

Scruffy, big built, and of a heavier set, Harold reached out his hand to shake Arthur’s.

“Good morning, Sir.” The guard knew his place, but he wanted to be friendly to Arthur still.

“Arthur, Irene’s fiancée.” Arthur stretched his hand to shake Harold’s. His firm handshake showed a bit of irritation from when Arthur and Irene lead the two on a goose-chase on the metro five hours earlier.

“Ivan, sir.” The second one, skinny, and a bit of a runner, only bowed himself in front of Arthur.

The four headed home almost nearly after lunch, and-

“THEY’RE HERE!” Johnny burst out in excitement, and almost stumbled on his way down the staircase, only expecting Arthur on his way back home.

He opened the mansion’s door to their faces with his eyes glimmering in joy as he shouted, “ARTHUR!!!” only to be met with Irene, and the two goons, his smile was wiped off of his face as soon as his eyes glanced to the other three.

“Johnny, were you lonely?” He patted Johnny’s head on the way in.

“Grrr, you’re still here?!” Johnny’s violent reaction forced Arthur to drag his hand and his entire body in the mansion as they entered inside.

“Did you have a good time, you two, alone?” Eddie was quick to catch on.

The wet coats of the two bodyguards compared to Arthur’s and Irene’s dry clothes gave a hint that the two got separated from the bodyguards.

“Yep.” Arthur smirked letting go of Johnny’s hands as they situated in the living room.

“I’ve prepared afternoon tea, young masters, and mistress.” Matthew really comes in with great timing.

-------------------- // --------------------

The four boys went on their afternoon with Irene playing around board games and such to lighten the mood. Before the evening came to close the fellowship, Johnny spoke about his worries.

“Are you really okay with this?” The two were refilling the tea at the far corner of the room.

Johnny noticed Arthur’s smiles amidst their situation as they were with Irene.

“Yeah. I’ll tell you everything once we’re back at the university.” He smiled, and scratched Johnny’s head roughly.

“Art! Do you like her?” Johnny tried to fix the hair strands that went awry because of what Arthur did, and sweetly smiled back.

He didn’t answer that question.

He simply picked up the tray where they refilled the teacups and looked Johnny in the eye.

“Thank you for being mad for me.” Arthur smiled sadly at Johnny.

His twin can feel his pain, may be indirectly, but he can definitely sense that there was something

“I’ll always be mad for you.” Johnny grabbed the tray and walked slowly to the living room and laid the tray on the coffee table.

Matthew smiled in the corner of the dining room as he saw the children enjoying themselves. Arthur approached with caution as he wanted something out of the ordinary.

“What is it, young master?” The faithful butler leaned in with a sweet smile.

“Do you have any money right now?” His unusual question urged Matthew to quickly whip out the notes he has in his pocket.

It threw off Matthew a bit, but nonetheless, he immediately brought out the money he has on his person.

“I, uhm, I’m sorry, young master, but these are all I have right now, since we mostly use card in our transactions.” He handed him four fifty euro notes with the face of the English Queen – Queen Elizabeth.

Two hundred euros? Can this help us set an account?

“Thank you. Can you set up an account for me in the London Stock Exchange under your name, but for public purposes, use the name, Masq.” Arthur squinted his eyes, trying to remember at the back of his mind the minimum amount for stock investment on the one website that he visited earlier.

“Stock? Mask?” Matthew was equally puzzled.

It’s the first time that Arthur showed interest in finances, and it was about investments.

“Masq – M-A-S-Q.” He spelled it. “And yes, stocks.” He continued.

“O-Oh… Of course.” Matthew squeezed back the money to his pockets and opened his wallet for his credit card.

Trying to remember the remaining balance on the card, he only sighed.

“And keep it a secret from father.” That additional order left Matthew a bit taken aback.

Edward wanted to be as close as possible to the children now that they have moved to London, but keeping a secret from him would draw them more apart.

This part worried him the most, but nevertheless, he gave his word.

“Yes, young master.”

-------------------- // --------------------

The following day was any other day in London, rain, moist, and the clouds cried in full blast.

“Ughhhh… I hate Mondays.” Jackson pulled in the drapes that covered a side of the living room to see what’s going on with nature, and got disappointed.

“Let’s go. Stop complaining.” Arthur quickly strode down the staircase whilst looking around and picking up the disappointment of his brother Jackson.

It’s already the twin’s finals for their first semester in Harvard. Eddie also has his finals on his first semester under Law Enforcement course.

“Can you just make the clouds go away, just like yesterday?” What a mundane question! Sometimes, Jackson wants to use my powers for such little things.

“I’m not going to do that just because you hate rain.” Arthur smirked arrogantly as he sipped his warm tea waiting at the coffee table.

Johnny sighed hearing the conversation of the two.

“Ugggghhhh…” His pouty face became even more unpleasant as Matthew drove the four out to go back to the University this day.

The day went by normally, as the four went to take their finals. There were occasions of professor throwing out students due to cheating, but not the four.

As soon as they got back to the dormitories, “Art, we need to talk.” Johnny’s stern face signaled Arthur that it was time to confirm the plan with his twin.

“Yeah.” The two closed the door, and Arthur used one of his angelic powers, Detection to check for any electronic listening devices near their room.

Upon checking further, there were no one yet on the rooms next door and the adjacent one, and there were no listening devices in the hundred-meter vicinity.

Arthur began to discuss the details in what he and Irene planned out in that moving train.

“So, we’re really going to use her?” Use, a tough word to say, but it’s the reality.

Johnny knew about the three mafia groups that their father had been in contact with, ever since his father’s adoption with Jackson, he noticed a few changes with Edward’s and Arthur’s relationship that drove him to investigate himself.

“Yeah.” Soon, he confronted Arthur about the mafia groups, and had been planning with him so that their father would be able to break away from the gangs.

“We need to gain an advantage soon.” Arthur’s short responses gave a hint to Johnny that they’re in a dire situation.

Edward was in suspicion for the amusement park incident, both to the feds, and to the gangs.

They appeased the Icy Queen by accepting the proposal of engagement to her daughter and upon doing so discovered that they had the same goal as Irene.

“It’ll take us years before we can establish ourselves in the financial-“

“It’s the only way. Are you satisfied that the money we use every day comes from innocent blood?” Johnny was left unaware that Edward is undercover.

“Fine.”

“Phase one will be to establish ourselves with our finances. Phase two will be the reconnaissance and investigation. Phase three will be the take down.” Arthur listed their plans.

“I already had Matthew invest under a pseudonym. I will monitor the exchanges and the investments to make sure we get a high return as soon as possible.” He continued to blabber as Johnny grew tired and sleepy.

Soon, Johnny fell asleep listening to Arthur as he laid flat on his bed. Arthur stopped talking as soon as he heard Johnny’s little snore.

“I’ll soon take the mantle of burden that I can take, but I pray that you’ll be with me until the end of my human life here.” He gently stroke Johnny’s hair as he recalled similar memories.

-------------------- // --------------------

“What tragedy…” Michael stood atop the unfinished Tower of Babel and glanced with his eyes the horizon.

He treaded slowly at the top floor, sliding his hands on the bricks, clay and mortar that recently the humans had been working on.

Blood splattered everywhere from the bottom to the top floor, the squeamish after the language change resulted to violence and-

“Brother…” Feathers raffled as a Principality flew near and landed in the tower.

“Setasel…” His brother saluted and greeted him with reverence. “Delivering some souls?” Michael inquired curiously.

“Yes, Captain.” Four bodies lie lifeless at the stampede after the violent reactions and exchanges of the friends-now-strangers builders of the Tower.

“Go your way.”

“Yes, Captain.”

-------------------- // --------------------

Edward continued his undercover pursuits inside the Pride of London’s gang undetected since Arthur and Irene stayed silent for the rest of the year.

However, a new case came up that involved the security of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom that made Interpol and MI-7 recruit talented and genius individuals to participate.

“A puzzle?” Amidst the meeting between the Interpol and the MI-7, Edward, along with several other high-ranking officials settled in a long table.

Spread out on the table were paperclips, pens, paper works, folders, pictures, and several recorders and coordinates to several places in London, and computers facing towards the participants of the meeting.

“We received this cryptic message a week ago, and we believe this is a serious threat as we have witnessed their test site.” The chief of the MI-7 British Intelligence Agency has called forth the Interpol to stop this madness.

“As of the moment, we have answered the first puzzle and saved a lot of civilians from that time bomb.” The IT personnel turned on the computer to show the presentation of the puzzle.

Edward carefully observed in silence the pictures and the documents in file.

-------------------- // --------------------

Immersed in focus, the pictures lined up in the presentation reflected the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, the Big Ben, London’s busy train stations, and London’s Eye.

“A week ago, we received this threat along with the picture of the Chernobyl site.” The secretary stated the horrifying events the past few days with obvious anxiety. “The past stayed hidden, the present still unknown, the future holds tomorrow, and where I might go.” She continued.

She read the first part of the puzzle to the members of the table.

It was passed off as a joke at first, however, since the culprits or terrorists gave time to hack into our secured systems, we treated it as a case of threat.

Our strategists, our mystery-enthusiasts, and investigators and detectives had a hard time answering the puzzle, until we displayed it in public.

After reading the whole puzzle, she noted. “Two anonymous students from Harvard made submissions that indicated that the bombs would be set off on one of the blast sites in Chernobyl at this given date and true to their word, there was a detected explosion last Friday on one of the blast sites in Chernobyl, as our satellites confirmed.”

“Harvard…” Edward mumbled to himself, but since everyone had a microphone on, all attention diverted to him quickly as he spoke.

The eyes that glanced over him from the chief to every other high-ranking official released pressure in him from his head to toe.

“You know something about this, agent Smith?” One of the higher-ups from Interpol glared him intently.

“I… uhm, I may have someone that can get us the answer to all of these puzzles.” He didn’t sound that confident and it showed.

His hands were shaking like crazy, and his sweaty forehead reflected the light from his computer.

“You sounded like you’re uncertain.” The chief scrutinized the suggestion.

Edward already suspects that the two students that the MI-7 has found is his twins, but he still has no concrete evidence.

“You can test him once he sees the puzzle.” The second time, he sounded confident.

“Fine. Then bring him here in MI-7, I will personally test his abilities.” The chief’s sharp stares reflected his arrogance, but they cannot afford to pass up a talented individual, at least they’ll trust Interpol this one time.

“Okay… moving on.” The secretary continued the discussion.

Four hours passed by discussing the recent threats and the progression of infiltration of the mafia gangs in Europe by the Interpol and the gathered intelligence of the MI-7.

“Meeting adjourned.” The chief ended the meeting himself, and stood up and marched back to his office.

“Are you sure about this individual?” Interpol’s executive officer questioned Edward and his intentions.

“I’ve been with this person for about twelve years, I’m sure of his skills.” Edward looked unsure, but not because of the skills of the person he’ll recommend, but…

-------------------- // --------------------

“You want me to go with you to the MI-7 office and solve a puzzle?” Arthur stood straight as he hovered about Edward’s study room back in the mansion.

“Yes, it’s a matter of life and death.” As soon as Edward mentioned death, Arthur gently laid the book from his hands on the coffee table top at the midst of the study room.

“Death… hmmmmmmm… is that about the explosion in Chernobyl last week?”

“How did you-”