4: Kelsie

One Year After Takeshi's Death...

"WHERE'S DANIEL ROGERS?" Richard yells in the common area during the dinner hour.

Everyone freezes, some with forks halfway between their plates and mouth as the room falls silent.

In the back corner of the room, a man stands up. "I'm-m Daniel Richards s-sir." He was shaking just standing there. Getting called out by the Demon Lord in front of the whole Underground was never a good thing. Those people were usually never seen again.

"Good, come to my office after you finish. I have a job for you." Richard turns on his heel and walks out.

...

Kelsie sits in Richards office, legs over the armrest of a chair in front of his desk.

"Why exactly do we need to do this again?" She asks. "The girl may have made it out but there's no way she could have survived in those woods all this time." She throws her hands in the air. "There was nothing around for miles!"

"I know that but you can never be too careful. This is Takeshi's daughter we're talking about here." A slam of his fist accents his point. "He was working behind our backs and we didn't even notice it! He was skilled beyond belief and knowing how he works his daughter could be just as skilled as he was."

The way he said his last sentence made Kelsie notice something she hadn't noticed. "Is that regret I'm hearing Father?" Richard was never one to regret a choice or kill he made.

"Only a little." This was new. He NEVER admitted weaknesses to anyone. "I would have brought his daughter back with us and forced him to keep doing the work he was supposed to do. And if he tried to refuse, we would have his daughter as leverage."

One thing he had never let leave his mind is the girl that escaped them that day. He had talked about her many times and seemed obsessed with the fact that she was dead.

"Well it's to bad that there isn't a meta out there that can manipulate time so we can change that," Kelsie remarks. "They would be highly useful as a part of our organization."

"They really would be."

*knock knock*

Both father and daughter turn towards the door at the knock.

"You may come in." Richard announces.

Daniel opens the door and pokes his head into the office.

"Y-you wanted t-to see m-me s-sir?" He stutters.

"Yes. Please, come in and take a seat." Richard gestures to the seat next to Kelsie.

"Why a-am I he-here sir?"

"You're a good tracker, aren't you Daniel?" Richard asks him.

"Ye-yes s-sir." He answers.

"Perfect. I need you to track someone down for me."

"Who is it?" Daniel immediately relaxed as soon as he heard the words 'track someone down.'

"A girl," Richard states.

"A-a girl?" Confusion twisted Daniel's face. "I thought we don't hunt down children unless something happened to their parents. Even then we bring them here and raise them."

A sigh escapes Richard's mouth. He knows that not everyone knows what goes on but he still thinks they have some level of knowledge about past missions.

"This isn't just any girl. She is the daughter of Takeshi Alacratis."

"Takeshi the traitor Alacratis?!"

"So that's what all of you have taken to calling him. Interesting," Richard thinks out loud. "You were there the day they died, correct?"

"Yes sir." Realization washes over Daniel. "She was the girl that I held onto, isn't she?"

"She is. It is not your fault that she escaped but you are only getting the chance to change that because it is imperative that we know what happened to her. We believe that she died in the woods but we aren't sure if that is the case. Your job is to track her, or her body, down and bring her back here. Do not do anything that might harm her." Richard stares right at Daniel, making him squirm under the harsh gaze.

"How will I know that I have the right girl?"

"Because she looks like me," Kelsie says from the chair. "For some reason that my father won't tell me, this girl looks just like me and has powers the opposite of mine. When you bring her back, it's going to be testing time." She stands up and walks behind Daniel's chair. "Clear?"

"Clear."

She pulls a knife out of her sleeve and holds it against his throat, bringing her head around to where he can see it. "How clear?" She snarls, a dark look on her small features.

"Crystal clear m-ma'am," he stammers. One move and he could end up like the traitor. Pinned to the wall and killed in a gruesome way. Or she could slit his throat in the chair.

"Good." Removing the knife from his throat, Kelsie sheathes it and walks towards the door. "I'm going down to the training room Father. Then I hear we have some new..." She pauses to find the right word. "...guests that need to be welcomed to the Underground."

"Very well my sunshine. If you need any help feel free to get Violet or I."

"Yes Father." Kelsie slams the door shut as she walks out of the office, rattling some of the bottles on the bookshelves.

"So Daniel, what exactly is your mission?"

"Find Takeshi's daughter and bring her back here. She looks like your daughter, Miss Kelsie, and should not be underestimated. Is that correct sir?" He hopes that everything he just said is right. Otherwise, it may not end well.

"That is correct." Richard opens a drawer in his desk and pulls out a piece of paper. He slides across the desk so it rests in front of Daniel. "Here is your plane ticket. You leave in the morning."

Daniel picks the ticket up off the desk and examines it. He notices one little detail that is confusing. "Sir?"

"Yes?" Richard doesn't seem too happy with being questioned.

"This is only a one way ticket. How am I supposed to get back?"

"Do you really think that you can get the girl with you on a plane?" The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze.

"No sir?"

"Exactly. As soon as you have located her body or sedated her you are to call me. I will come fetch the two of you and bring you right back here."

"Understood sir. I will see you as soon as she has been found."

...

A line of decimated dummies lies across one of the training rooms walls.

"Why. Can't. I. Go?" Kelsie throws more knives at a dummy on the other side of the mat. Each one lands in one of the most lethal places for a human being.

She throws one thin line of light at the dummy, splitting it in half.

"I can track her down just as well AND I can keep her subdued. Her shadows are vulnerable to light so if I keep myself lit up she can't get away." She was officially pissed off. She may only be eighteen but she was better trained than most of the adults. And much more lethal than them too.

Kelsie shifts to the next dummy and prepares a dagger but finds she has no more on her. "OH FOR PETE'S SAKE!" She yells. When she is in a mood like this everyone knows to keep out of the room she's in. If they don't, they typically end up being used for target practice and that doesn't end well for anyone involved.

Since she was out of knives it was now time for light. Luckily, she could solidify it as soon as it hit her target so it causes more damage. Preparing to make a shot, she takes a deep breath, spins around, and lets a piece of light fly out of her hand. It is almost to the dummy when water flies into it and dissolves the light.

"SHIT!" She curses. "WHO'S IN HERE?!" She yells.

"You need to calm down right now Kelsie Caitlyn Mortem or I will make you calm down!" Violet's voice echoes from the doorway. "This is not healthy and it's getting late."

"I don't care how late it is or what's healthy for me!" She snaps. "I just want to know why he won't let me go after the girl!"

"What girl? You encounter a lot of girls on your little 'trips' around the world."

"The traitors daughter. That girl," she snaps. "Father sent Daniel, who let her get away, to go fetch her or her body. I could have gotten her in just as timely of a manner, IF NOT FASTER, and been back here without using a plane. But NOOO. He had to send a stuttering failure in my place!" Kelsie lashes her arm out sending a full blast of light at the dummy she didn't hit, decimating it.

"So that's what you're mad about? Not going and hunting down someone that you feel is connected to you in some way?" Walking over to Kelsie, Violet places a hand on Kelsie's shoulder.

"I'm mad that Father trusts me to go halfway around the world for one simple kill but won't let me go a few hundred miles north for a damn girl that won't be hard to find!" She vents. "That girl would know why Takeshi betrayed us and how long he was working behind our backs. She knows too much and, if she is still alive, could waltz in here and demand to be put as the second in command. Or she could take us to the government and we all get imprisoned for the rest of our lives!"

Violet sighs. Kelsie has always been dramatic, even since she was little.

"What makes you think they wouldn't just kill us right away?"

"Think about it Vi. We have the largest numbers of metas out of any other organization in the world. Not to mention the powers they have. You can manipulate people's blood and use them to do your bidding. I can use any kind of light and do everything imaginable with it. Father can teleport anywhere in the world. We have shapeshifters, fire users, metas with impenetrable skin! They won't kill us. They'll use us to do their bidding. We already kill hundreds of people without a second thought!" Kelsie just explodes. "Everyone one of us is a murderer except the kids and it's only a matter of time before they become one too! I only care about making sure the Underground stays in tact and we keep the hold we have in place. That girl can change everything in the blink of an eye if we let her. I don't trust Daniel to bring her back here. Based off how easily she escaped us last year she is not to be messed with!"

"Why are you obsessed with that girl? She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw her just before they were killed. There is nothing that makes her such a threat to YOU." Violet was never told all the details of the mission because she needed to keep Kelsie in the dark about her past.

Kelsie just stares at Violet in shock. "He never told you, did he?" She whispers.

"Told me what?"

"That the girl looks like me."

"There's no way. I-I was told she was dead. She never made it out alive ." Violet stumbles backwards.

"Who was dead? What are you not telling me Violet?" Few secrets were kept hidden from Kelsie so this was a shock to her.

"Your father caught word of meta children that could be sold on the black market years ago," Violet begins. "He got there and found you, the lone survivor in a burned building."

"I already know this. Father's told me the story of how I came to be his daughter a thousand times."

"He never told you the whole story. There were actually two babies among the ashes, you and your twin. Two little girls who survived something that no one else did. Caitlyn, your father's wife, was with him when you were found. They both took a baby, placed them in a carrier and started coming home. They were ambushed before they got to the van and the baby Caitlyn had was taken and thrown into a bush. Your parents ran to the van as fast as they could. In their rush to get away your mother lost control of the vehicle and drove into a tree. She didn't make it out and your father brought you home. He went back to where the building was to see if he could find your sister. When he got there, all he found was the baby carrier with no trace of anyone being there."

"So you're telling me that there I have had a twin my whole life and no one tried to find her?"

"Everyone thought she was dead. She never showed up in the foster care system or was reported as being found. We stopped looking for her and never looked back." Her head falls in shame. "I should have told you sooner but I was forbidden from telling you."

"Tha-that makes no sense. I- my head is spinning. I don't feel righ-" Kelsie just collapses on the floor.

...

A Few Days Later...

Kelsie stirs awake in the med bay. She sits straight up gasping for breath.

"Oh good. You're awake." A voice comes from beside her bed.

"Dad? What are you doing in here?"

"I wanted to make sure I was here when you woke up. What happened sweetie?" He asks. Richard was never the concerned type but he actually sounded concerned for once.

"Violet told me about my sister. Is the girl really her?"

"She could be."

"Could be? How long have I been out? Has Daniel not come back yet?" She asks in confusion.

"You've only been unconscious a couple days. Daniel came back alright. But the girl didn't come with him. The girl sent him back here."

"I don't understand Father."

"Daniel is dead. She killed him and somehow managed to send him back here. All we know is that he appeared in the hallway yesterday with a dark blade in his head. We left the weapon in your room so you could examine it."

"Fine. I'll go do it now." Kelsie yanks the IV out of her arm, pulls the oxygen tubes off her face and stalks out of the med bay, Richard behind her.

She hurries to her room, not noticing the stare's of everyone she passes. Getting into her room, she heads into her closet, grabs her favorite pair of combat boots, black jeans, a loose blue top, and gets dressed. Walking out of her closet, Kelsie notices the dagger on her desk. Picking it up she turns it over in her hands.

It is surprisingly lightweight but it seemed to absorb all light that touched it. As a test, Kelsie lights up her fingertip and holds it close to the blade. All the light was absorbed into the knife and it grew a little warmer before falling cold again.

"It's official." She turns to where Richard stands in the doorway. "We need to find this girl and find her quickly. She's too dangerous to be left alive."