Violet Eyes

72: The Iris Conspiracy

One month later

It had been about two months since Nyx's death, and one month since Nerissa went missing. Contrary to the attempts of Sanctuary, there had been no sign of Nerissa or Z. There wasn't a sign of the Ace of Hearts either, and it made everyone on edge. Danny had been spending most of his time taking care of Soul, who was...not doing well at all. She had lost her mother, Nyx, and Nerissa in the span of two months. Nate had been spending most of his time in Sanctuary's gym, building muscle and sparring with Rhys. Today however, they were outside in the yard.

"You're doing great, buddy. Good to see you back." Rhys said to Nate as they stretched their arms after an intense sparring match.

Nate brought his arms down and stretched his right arm in a windmill fashion. "To be honest, I'm not fully back just yet...it's probably going to be a while but...right now, I'm feeling okay." Nate finished as he lowered his arm and flexed his fingers.

"Yeah, I know but...ya know, it's good to see you out in the sunlight instead of hiding in your room." Rhys teased his friend a little, hoping to get a laugh out of him. It worked a little and a small smile graced his face.

"Yeah, I kinda missed sunlight." Nate's voice went lower as they started walking towards the benches on the side of the room. Rhys looked over at his friend with a somber look. He noticed that Nate's skin had become slightly paler from two months of barely being outside. He was getting better though, and that's what mattered most. "But uh..." Nate spoke up again, catching Rhys' attention. "How have you been doing?" Nate spoke quietly, but he knew he had to ask. Rhys seemed so distraught after Nerissa went missing, and it was clear that he was now holding those emotions inside.

Rhys dropped his head with a sigh, "Not great, I'm slightly furious that we haven't found her yet. There hasn't even been a single fucking lead!" Rhys lifted his head as he got slightly angry before calming down.

Before Nate could respond, one of Elizabeth's agents peeked his head out of the door back inside and looked at the two boys sitting on the bench. "There you are, you're needed in the Chairman's office, now." The agent said rather rudely before he stepped back inside the building. The two boys stood up swiftly and walked back inside. This had to be because Elizabeth found something.

When they entered her office, Kyle, Orion and Danny were already there. Oddly enough, Soul was there as well. She was standing next to Danny and she looked horrible. Her skin was paler than normal and she had dark bags under her eyes. At first glance, it seemed like Danny hadn't been doing a good job of taking care of her. Thinking about it more however, there was a good chance that this was holding it together for her. "Soul? What're you doing here?" Rhys asked as they approached the desk.

"I asked her here." Elizabeth responded in place of Soul and Rhys looked at her. "I have a lead regarding Z. Supposedly, he has targeted a small faction of Gifted who has taken it up on themselves to engage in vigilante work." Elizabeth typed on her keyboard before the light screen appeared in front of the desk. The group saw an image of a large stone building that looked to be on the outskirts of the city. "They're called Iris, and this is their headquarters. Our intel suggests that Z will be attacking Iris headquarters tonight in an attempt to wipe them out."

"Wait-" Danny held up his hand, "-I thought he was taken by the Ace of Hearts?" Danny asked as the realization hit him.

"I guess he escaped, this Intel was intercepted directly from the police. It's unlikely that it's fake." Elizabeth answered quickly. Danny thought for a moment, if Z escaped the Ace of Hearts, then why couldn't Nerissa? She was definitely capable of it if she really needed to.

"Well, at the very least, maybe if we finally kill that fucker it'll piss off The Ace. He'll show himself and we can get Nerissa back." Rhys said in a stern tone as he looked at the image in front of him with his arms crossed. Nate peeked over at him with a raised eyebrow, but stayed quiet.