“I can’t believe we’re using you as bait,” Celeste leaned against Nyssa as they stood with their luggage by the transport hub of campus. A couple weeks had passed since Angelica and Roxanne’s visit, and the start of their mission had crept up on them within the span of what felt like just breath.
“I mean... it seems like their plan makes sense...” Nyssa yawned as the morning wind snaked through her hair, causing a shiver to run down her body. “Sorry, I'm very sleepy. But it’ll be nice to just have a pseudo break while being bait, you know? I’ll get to hang out a lot with you and Gideon.”
“That’s true,” Celeste yawned as well after seeing Nyssa do so. Before she could speak anymore though, the rest of Class Zero arrived, all in varying stages of tiredness. Some, like Albion, seemed asleep on his feet, while others, like Electra, seemed awake and alert, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
“Good morning bait,” Ryker joked once he walked closer. “Your wonderful transformation powers have turned into this mess, huh.”
“It's... not the first time it's happened so it's fine,” Nyssa shrugged. “Don’t know quite what’s so special, but I'm quite popular in the cult secret organization scene. The crime scene too.”
Patting Nyssa on the shoulder, Celeste murmured a couple comforting words as a frown flashed across her face. A tug on the heartstrings had her mood tank for a second until Nyssa squeezed her hand, assuring her “It’s truly fine.”
“So, let’s go over one more time, what our plan is and why they’re going for Nyssa,” Ryker cleared his throat, taking charge as no teachers would accompany them for the trip. “We’re going to start off by meeting up with the wildheart sentinels. Gideon and Nyssa will split off and pretend to be a normal father daughter duo who are on vacation. The rest of us, on the other hand, will be nearby. Some of us will be in true stealth, while others will be fake acquaintances, family members or friends.”
“Man, I knew I should’ve taken theater as an elective,” Titus shook his head with a smile, only to facepalm a second later as Conrad spun in a circle, struck a pose, and swept his black hair back.
“I’m just naturally gifted with acting, no need for me to take a class. You all will see a SPOTLESS performance!” Conrad puffed out his chest. “Nyssa! Call me older brother! Watch, everyone!”
“... You know you’re in the complete stealth group, right?” Electra raised an eyebrow while tapping her foot. Keeping her arms crossed, she couldn’t help but crack a smile as Conrad deflated like a wet balloon. “Only Titus and Celeste are going to be in the acting group.”
“Oh. Yeah. I forgot.” Conrad rolled his eyes. “Let’s just get moving, why are we even here? Idling around in the morning cold. Can’t we go inside?”
While they walked through the security gates, everyone seemed vacant behind their eyes. With everyone except Ryker and Electra fighting against sleep demons, the two fourth years filled the air with a couple more reminders.
“So, it seems like they’re aiming for people with transformation powers, as there have been a couple of kidnapping cases already reported. Some successful, most not,” Ryker read from his phone. “Based on what we’ve been able to gather from old literature, before this organization went underground, it seems like if someone has transformation powers, the energy in their bodies takes on a much more malleable form. The last paper they published, one of the final straws that forced them underground was a theoretical technique to extract energy from people.”
“And they need it for two purposes. One, apparently it's the secret to making actually feasible mechs. Ones that theoretically could replace most hunters and heroes. Two, to create gemstones inside creatures that allow for their control, in a more indirect way though. It just makes creatures guidable,” Electra recited from memory, looking towards Ryker for confirmation who gave her a thumbs-up. “Of course, this is mostly still theory. We have an idea of who might’ve created this organization, but we’re not sure.”
“For all we know, these two things could be totally unrelated, but from what we can tell, it's an extension of a controversial group of scientists delving into research that... maybe lost sight of its original goal, let's say,” Ryker shrugged. “It’s not the first time that this has happened, but we’re looking at a scale much larger than before. Never before have there been outright kidnappings and assassination attempts.”
With her ears becoming numb from the never-ending lecture, Celeste leaned over and tapped Nyssa’s shoulder. Brushing Nyssa’s hair out of the way, she whispered. “Have all of your kidnappings been for these types of reasons?”
“Kind of... I mean beyond the ones that didn’t matter much, there’s only been one major time,” Nyssa scratched the back of her head. “It happened when I was a lot younger...”
Sun shined, beating down in the middle of summer. Slade and Roxanne stayed inside. One scrolled on his phone, while the other typed applications on her laptop. Kaiser, in the kitchen, had an apron on and prepped dinner. The sound of his knife against the cutting board filled the entire kitchen.
Nyssa though, trotted around as a duck. Her feet making slapping sounds as her journey took her through the living room. Once arriving at the glass door, she slid it open with her beak before fluttering into the backyard.
Another day of productive practice awaited her.
Two heads. Three heads. Five heads... Twenty heads.
“Nyssa, is there a reason why you’re trying to become a hydraduck?” Roxanne's voice floated over, through the crack in the doorway she had left. Having looked up for a brief moment from her computer, her heart had nearly jumped out of her chest. “I genuinely thought you were a normal duck at first, and I nearly had a heart attack watching you transform. I thought there was a breed of duck I hadn’t heard of until now.”
Transforming back into a little girl, Nyssa shook her head, her white hair fluttering outward. A pause lingered in the air. “No reason... just practicing...”
“In what situation will you need to become a hydraduck...” Roxanne trailed off, confusion laced into every word.
Before Nyssa could answer though, Slade pitched in. “You never know when you need to be able to become a hydraduck! Think about it. What if you’re trapped underground, and there’s a puzzle, where the only possible way to survive, and save the world, is that you have to eat an entire pile of duck feed faster than an opponent's duck team.”
“Okay that just sounds stupid,” Roxanne retorted, crossing her arms as Slade looked up from his phone.
As the siblings’ bickering filled the living room once more, Nyssa turned away once more. This time, she transformed into a ball of light with wings, unaware of the people watching her from a distant rooftop with binoculars.