Sneaking back into the house was as successful as always when it came to Natalie. She had a ladder outside of her bedroom, that led to a patio balcony so she could just sneak back in without anyone noticing. The only person who would notice would be her brother, since she has to pass through his room while climbing back up on the ladder. Natalie currently sat on her bed, reading a book and her mother walked in as her eyes went to her with a soft smile. "Hey, Mother. Something wrong?" Patrice shook her head while sitting on the edge of the bed. "No, we're having a family meeting. We'd like for you to be there." Her mother said softly as Natalie raised a brow. "Everything okay? Did father's plane crash or something?" Natalie asked through gasped breathing as her mother calmed her down.

Patrice shook her head. "No. He's on his way back now but he just want to talk about the recent developments and such." Natalie nodded her head while closing her book and getting off of the bed with a soft sigh. She walked out of her room and her mother trailed behind her. "Oh, why weren't you at breakfast?" Patrice asked as Natalie's eyes widened as she stopped in her tracks and chuckled nervously. "I, um, overslept. Sorry." She lied with biting her lip and walking towards the meeting room, waving at Jerome with a smile. "Hey, brother!" She squealed while leaning in and hugging him tightly then releasing him just as their father turned the corner and entered the room.

"Daddy!" She ran up to him and hugged him as he grunted and laughed. "You're not a little girl anymore. Remember that." Natalie laughed as she broke the hug. "Wait, aren't you going to wait for Logan?" Patrice asked as Matthew waved his hand. "She's too young to her this." Natalie looked at him with a raised brow then shrugged her shoulders as her father went back to talking.

"We might be going to war. I kind of felt this coming and now, it has happened." Matthew said directly towards the trio before him as she leaned up and placed his hands on the desk. "There are roses that can intensify our abilities and most people are gunning to get there hands on it. Long story short, the Montgomery's and the Edmond's are not to be trusted. Stay away from them. Got it?" Matthew strict and firm tone made Natalie nod instantly as she looked towards Jerome to see if he had anything to say on the matter. Natalie didn't really have much of an opinion though she was secretly dating one of the Montgomery family members, the eldest sibling, Julian.

She was wondering to herself if she should end the relationship or should they just talk it out and see what happens. So many things were going through her head right about now as she stood up and straightened out her clothing. "May I be excused?" She asked politely as Matthew nodded her head and she quietly said thank you while walking out after Jerome spoke his peace. Natalie stormed off to her room and jumped on the bed, grabbing her phone and texting Julian.



Natalie sent the text then sighed while running her fingers through her raven colored hair and waited to receive a text from Julian. Millions of things were going through her head right about now and she bit her bottom lip again our nervousness. She didn't know what to do so she just decided to pick up her book and read again until something interesting happened.

Julian was stretched out on the sofa, watching the latest exploits of Jennifer Lawrence in the new(ish) Hunger Games, when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Pausing the TV, he pulled it out, to discover a text from Natalie.



This did wonders for the little ball of paranoia he had buried in his sub-conscience. Why was it urgent? Did he do something wrong earlier? Did her dad find out? Were they breaking up? Nat was probably the only girl he genuinely loved, rather than just his power, so this sudden meet-up was troubling, especially for him. If he lost Natalie, then his stupid power would’ve won, and he’d be a sex-crazed manwhore for the rest of his life. Now that was something he definitely couldn’t let happen. ”Jesus, Julian, stop overthinking. It’s probably just nothing.” He tried to reassure himself, though it was hardly working. Summoning all the confidence he could muster, he took a deep breath and typed a reply, hitting send.



He slipped his phone back in his pocket stood up, pulling on a blue polo jumper over his shirt and walking towards the door.

”Julian, where are you going?” It was his father.

”Oh, hi, dad. I was just headed to the park for some fresh air.”

”Well, be careful. Long story short, there’s a gang war breaking out. Something about these new roses that can boost our powers. Do not trust any of the other families, okay? I’ll tell you more about it when you get home. Oh, and don’t stay out too long. Try to avoid girls- or, well, any person for that matter.”

”Thanks, dad.” Julian gave him a quick thumbs up before walking out.


Luckily for him, there weren’t any wild adventures his power wanted to drag him by the ass into, so he managed to make it to the park in time, and gave him time to wonder if this was just because of what his father had told him. Sitting down on the most visible bench there, all he could do was drum his fingers on the wood as he waited for Nat to arrive, and hope to god that all this was just a discussion of the news that she’d hopefully received aswell. Instead of presuming the worst, however, he took time to ponder how this impending war would play out. He was hoping that he wouldn’t have to get too involved, aside from doing his mafia duties here and there, as he really wouldn’t want to get a hold of a rose that could strengthen his power. Shaking off the horrible thought, he rested his head against the back of the wooden seat, closing his eyes. If he fell asleep, Natalie could always wake him up...

Jerome walked out of the warehouse, fixing his tie around his neck, while one of his associates, Jordan, pulled him aside "What we gone' do with him, boss?" Jordan asked Jerome, whom shrugged. "Cut him loose, I got to know all I needed. Take him to the bar, and buy him a beer. Tell him he walked into a door, or something." Jordan nodded, as he whistled for the other guys to carry the badly beaten man - Mike Connery, a local low-life, out of the warehouse. "And Jordan, do me a favor and burn the clothes for me." Jerome mentioned as Jordan nodded "O-Of course." Jerome nodded, he was very controlling when it came to his work - in fact, when it came to everything, he liked being in charge. Not leaving things behind or a conversation with words still left to speak. He had gotten a text message from his mother, she wanted him to come home, he grinned, as he walked towards the parking garage a couple of blocks away, where he had parked his motorcycle.

Putting on his black leather gloves and the black helmet, he revved the engine on the sports bike and was soon on his way home, not more than a five minute drive. He pulled up and soon founds his way into the house, where his little sister, Natalie, greeted him with a hug. Jerome smiled warmly and hugged her back. "Hi there sis, how are you?" he asked, following her into the main room, where their mother already sat waiting. Turning his head, towards Natalie, he saw her talking to their father. Jerome sat down, and soon Natalie joined him, they decided not to wait for Logan - probably for the better.

Their father would speak, his tone serious and grim, as it usually was. While Jerome had control preferences his father was a dramatic. he overplayed the danger, the other families wouldn't be stupid enough to pick fights with the Davidsons, not between Matthew and his power and his sisters and mothers wit. Yet, if there were truth to his father's concerns, Jerome would be more than happy to protect his family.

When his father's speech ended, Jerome nodded. He knew full well of the powers of the roses, they had saved his life quite some time ago, after all. Once Natalie left the room, probably to go talk to her secret boyfriend Jerome thought, he looked to his parents. "So, now that there are no more children in the room, what's the plan?" He knew his mother didn't appreciate him talking down his siblings like that, but she knew it came from a place of love. Just like everything he ever did. It was all done with love for his family.

Arsene had woken up earlier than usual today and had spent the morning outside in the backyard testing his power by lifting tiny dirt towers out of the ground. Around noon he had considered going inside to see if his mom had made lunch but he saw Julian through the sliding glass door and decided to pretend that he was still training and wait for Julian to leave. He wondered when it had gotten this bad, since when did just saying 'hello' to his own brother become something awkward. He didn't 'hate' Julian, nor was he currently angry at him, but over the years, something had been lost. However, these thoughts were too uncomfortable to think about so Arsene, as usual, ran away from his problems by throwing himself into his work, which in this case, was his practice of his ability. But the emotional distress managed to spill through, causing his next attempt to raise the earth come off a little too strongly as a large cylinder of dirt shot out at the chain-link fence, putting an indent in it, and causing a large rattling sound. Arsene decided to stop practicing, but he looked through the sliding glass door to see if he was in trouble. While his mother seemed angry that the fence was damaged, his dad wore an approving look on his face. Arsene went inside.

"S-sorry about the fence...mom," Arsene apologized, "I-I'll try to push it back into shape later."

"It's fine." She said, with a bitter finality as she shot August a sharp look, indicating that he had already talked her out of chiding Arsene, "Can you call Vickie? We're having lunch."

"Sure," Arsene agreed not wanting to piss her off more than he already had. As he headed away from the kitchen, he asked, "I suppose Julian and Emilia are...?"

"Out," Lexis finished his sentence, "So's Don, as usual."

"Cool," Arsene replied, feeling suddenly less tense to know that it was just himself and Victoria. He considered feeling guilty for being relieved that his other siblings weren't here, but chose to ignore that particular distraction. Heading upstairs, Arsene reached the door to Victoria's room and knocked, "Hey, Victoria," he said through the door, 'It's time for lunch." he then headed back downstairs and took a seat.

It was the first day in 2 weeks since Liatris had last been home, and silence had filled his room as he slowly poked his head out from beneath the wrinkles of his charcoal sheets, looking around his room aimlessly before rolling onto his back. Staring up at the ceiling, Liatris took in the atmosphere of his room and found a foreign feeling which had crept up to his sudden realization. For once in his life, the male had felt relaxation and while it was something common amongst others, this sort of feeling was rather rare for the youngest Edmond. Relaxation had been something he had to take by force from his father (like running away for a good week or two after an infiltration), or often times this state of peace had simply been given as a sort of reward after succeeding in a task being given by his father.

But while peace and relaxation was a sort of foreign concept to the young man, One thing which often stood by his side like another set of siblings was chaos and his old friend, loneliness. Despite the peculiar serenity of silence, Liatris found the feeling of waking up completely alone and unharmed quite relatable to those despicable times of sleeping with a higher up in exchange for secrets to give to his father. The ‘givers’ slept with him for the night, and sometimes left by morning to attend business with whoever the more powerful connections may be. The only difference about this current situation was that he slept with no one however, and Liatris was in his own bed. Huh, another weird feeling that he was in his own bed. Liatris had been used to being pampered by others, even if it was just for one night, just the thought of that alone made him feel disappointed in his current location: Home. The male slowly crawled out of his bed--Releasing a groan as he walked out his room in his briefs to take a trip to the bathroom down the hall. In the process, the young Edmond caught the scent of breakfast still lingering in the air as noises echoed from downstairs. He sneered to himself with quick satisfaction, before walking into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Whenever Liatris was home, he often avoided any sort of conversation with his father. For starters and being a typical late-teen; He found Johnny’s pestering behavior of business first quite irritating in the morning. Especially when Liatris’ role required actual, physical attention. Nonetheless he never ceased to do as he was told in silence and the male made his way into the kitchen, walking down each step of the stairs with his own heavy steps. One could assume that Liatris was deliberately stomping to make his presence known, he wanted whoever was home to give him their attention no matter how small. Another assumption could also be that he probably wanted to piss off his parents for stomping unnecessarily, or he himself was being a brat over something in particular that was important to him personally. The voices drew louder as Liatris came closer to the end of the stairs, and stopped.

A gasp was heard. “Well if it isn’t one of our lovely boys~” His mother purred as she sat down in a seat. Liatris merely sneered in response quietly as he stood, leaning his arm against the wall as he continued to stand at the end of the stairs, eyeing his family. “Morning, kiddo.” His father piped up, piercing over his shoulder as his back leaned against the counter. “Look at that, no bruises & bitemarks, and finally back from his little vacation….Gonna join us?” He nodded his head as an invitation to the conversation and Liatris, still silent, approached his mother, seeing waffle stacks behind her and grabbing the plate. “Morning mom.” He grinned, before looking at his older brother, Devan. “Big brother~” He said in an amused tone, not yet acknowledging his father quite completely.

And here comes the trouble.
The silent bitch fit.

Liatris poured syrup onto his waffles, adding a bunch of sweets such as 2 scoops of ice cream, and whip cream with some chocolate syrup as well. He handed each condiment to his father in order to have him put it back instead and leaned over the counter on his elbow, beginning to eat his late breakfast as he listened in on this ‘meeting’ quietly.

“Now, there are roses to be discovered and obtained. But they aren’t necessarily… Whattya call it… Ordinary roses.”

Liatris had already been aware of these ‘roses’ but little was known about them. What exactly was special about this plant? His father continued.. “No--These are roses which could somehow enhance our abilities--Special people like us.” The man eyed his wife and sons. “And to think if we get our very hands on these roses, we’d rise up to the top!” Johnny chuckled, placing both hands over the counter of the table. “Little is known about it, but I expect you all to get what you can.” Johnny said, before he eyed Liatris.

Liatris picked at his waffles in silence. So… These were indeed special roses. But for what? At that moment, it was only then that Liatris could see Johnny gaze over his direction from the corner of his eye. For Liatris, he simply had no choice--He was to comply and the male continued to ignore Johnny’s words of more business, and roses, and power--To Liatris. It was all foolish greed, an endless pit of hunger to be on top. What’s next? Johnny Edmond for president? It nearly disgusted him in a sense.

“Liatris, My boy.. You have a powerful face, and a powerful mind. Now think of what that face can DO..” Johnny lit up a cigar, inhaling the toxins and exhaling a thick cloud of smoke deliberately in the face of Liatris as a way to annoy his own son and get his attention. Liatris instantly looked back at Devan, his older brother. “Hmm.. Must be ringing in my ears--So, How’s life Devan?” He asked, blowing the smoke clear from his face as he grinned. Nonetheless his father continued, ”..Especially.. To women.” He said, slowly looking at his son from the corner of his eyes. It was clear Liatris was exasperated, choking on a chunk of his food before he wiped his mouth with a napkin--glaring at his father and licking his lips from the sweetness of his breakfast. Johnny’s face had lightened up as soon as he received his son’s full attention, his smile seemed warm and kind--A smile Liatris inherited as well which was actually a wicked one and Johnny casually chuckled at his son’s astonished look, flicking the cigar his way. “Now you see where i’m going, Secrets kiddo. By all means, do what it takes--Especially about--”

“I’m sorry you were speaking?” Liatris interrupted, tossing his napkin at Johnny and shoving his breakfast aside. “Remember who brought this family up ‘by all means’.” Snorted Liatris in a threatening tone, as he was implying his brother and he, himself. Liatris knew his father wasn’t serious about using him to sleep with women, however just having Johnny imply things like that, ticked Liatris off and he walked away irritably. Johnny had won this round, and Liatris went into his room to change, deciding that it was best to go out.