Lunch with the Phoenix Family: A Shocking Clue

Daphne had gotten suits for her her friends, ("Mother will appreciate a good suit," Daphne has said. "Wearing this should make lunch a bit more bearable.") and had pulled out a simple yet elegant blue dress for herself to wear.

"Honestly, I think this is the first time I've ever seen you wear a dress," Seraphine commented. "Why don't you do so more often?"

"My parents always force me to wear dresses and gowns in parties, so when I don't need to, I try my best to avoid dresses," Daphne said, using concealer to hided her red cheek.

"I still can't believe you father slapped you," Terrence said. "Is this normal? You seem to be used to it."

"He likes to vent his anger sometimes," was the vague and concerning answer they got in return.

"By the way," Daphne continued. "You guys should start speaking formally with me, at least in public. I'm sure my parents would fire you for something small like that if given the chance."

They weren't given a chance to answer as Daphne left for the dining hall, leaving the other three to scramble after her.

When they entered the large dining hall, Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix were already seated at the table.

"Ah! You're all dressed up!" Mrs. Phoenix nodded approvingly. "Daphne, why didn't you wear a frillier dress? And why didn't you wear red? You know that's our house color. And why couldn't you have put on some makeup? Some lipstick, eyeshadow-"

"Mother, please," Daphne said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, I suppose this will have to suffice for now," Mrs. Phoenix sighed and clapped her hands in signal. "Serve dinner, please."

Maids poured in through the doors, bringing platter after platter of food.

"This is a lot for one family to eat," Loki commented. "Are you having any guest over?"

Mr. Phoenix smiled thinly. "You're sharp. I see why my daughter might have chose you to be her bodyguard. And yes. Today, we're having the Powell's here as our guest."

Just then, the doors opened and Nishan, Saltavore, a man and woman walked in.

"Why didn't you tell me they were coming?" Daphne hissed under her breath. "You know that they hate me!"

"Shush!" Mr. Phoenix hissed back. "We don't want to make enemies, so you're going to be nice to them, understood?"

Before Daphne could say anything, Nishan strolled up with a smirk. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix. Daphne. I see your low-leveled friends are here as well? Why are they here? Finally realized they were unworthy of us?"

"Actually, their my bodyguards," Daphne replied coldly. "So I'd watch the way you treat them."

Saltavore scowled as he gestured towards Daphne, saying to the man and woman, "Mom, Dad, I'm sure you remember Daphne."

Mr. Powell looked Daphne up and down. "Hmm. She might need a bit more work, Arnold."

Mr. Phoenix sighed. " I know. I wished she was as well trained as yours."

Mrs. Powell smiled thinly. "You know that their not of age yet."

Nishan's brows furrowed. "Of age?"

"Nothing," Mrs. Phoenix cut in smoothly. "Sylvia, Kelvin, please, take a seat. And my dear nephews as well."

'Nephews?' Loki asked Daphne mentally, eyes wide. 'Their your cousins?'

'Unfortunately. I've never really gotten along with them.'

Lunch was a tense affair, the kids shooting glares at each other as the adults chatted on about some politics. Loki downed some water as his sceen once again updated.

[Daily Challenge 1 completed: +5 Xp]

[330/800 Xp]

The moment lunch was over, Daphne quickly excused herself, her bodyguards taking it as their cue to leave as well.

Seraphine rushed forward. "The Powells are your family?!"

"Yeah," Daphne sighed softly.

"Where are we going?" Terrence said, trying his best to keep up with Daphne's pace as she turned into a more lonely hallway and entered a dark room.

"I don't fully understand what's going on," Daphne said, conjuring a few small electric balls and letting them flutter around their heads, letting out a faint glow. "But my parents know something about Ava's death. I'm sure of it."

"Do you have a reason why you suspect that?" Loki said, batting away a cobweb. "And why are we here? Where is here?"

"This is the storeroom where my parents like to throw or hide things away. I used to come here as a kid all the time to hide from my parents. As for why I suspect them, I just have a gut feeling."

"Hide from your parents?" Daphne ignored the question as she started rummaging around some boxes. "Let's split up to cover more ground. This room is gigantic."

They all split up to search for, well, anything that might have been suspicious. After about two hours, they were about to give up when Seraphine called, "Hey, do you think this might be a clue?"

They all rushed over to where she stood. Seraphine was holding a small leather notebook in her hands. "Here," she handed it to Loki to Inspect.

[This is a book that has been sealed with dark magic]

[This book contains information about The Snakes and all it's founders]

[This books is only able to be opened by dark magic or poison]

"So this book does contain information on The Snakes," Loki informed them. "But it's sealed with dark magic. However, it can be opened by poison, so I can use the Flip Venom stem in my Inventory to open it."

"Cool!" Terrence grinned. "We'll finally get some answers!"

"Hey, what's this?" Seraphine had turned the book around and wiped of some dust.

Under the layers of dust, in bold words, it read, 'The founder's of The Snakes are Lolita Anderson, Landon Powell and Avery Phoenix.'