the consigliori and his capere (eruhan au)

CHAPTER III

Zoe

It was 7 AM when Zoe woke up the next morning to the sound of her brother's yelling.

"What do you MEAN we're out of scones?"

"Oh, grow up, Ayers. No one gives a shit."

Zoe sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. She still had her earphones in, but her walkman was all out of batteries.

Bummer, she thought as she got up, slipped her robe on again, and opened the door to her room. What met her was the sight of her brothers Ayers and Apollo nearly at each other's faces, arguing about who ate the last scones.

Zoe decided against telling them who really ate the scones and nimbly ran up to her father's room.

She was still drowsy so she didn't quite see Archer coming down the stairs until it was too late.

"Ouch!"

"Oof- sorry, Zoe." Archer grabbed hold of Zoe's shoulders to steady her. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think I'm going?" she snorted.

Archer reply wasn't at all sarcastic as she'd expected. "Don't go up to Pa."

"Why not?"

Archer looked left and right, as if careful to avoid anyone listening in on their conversation. "You remember last night?"

Zoe racked her brains. "Oh, yeah. Couldn't sleep well because a dumbass fraternity thought they could piss on our gates. We all took care of them."

Archer nodded. "Turns out we shouldn't have done that."

Zoe cocked her head. "Why not?"

"Because..." Archer looked around once more. "One of them was Ferraro's godson."

Zoe's eyes widened. "You're not..."

He looked at her gravely. "I wish I was kidding, Zo. Pa doesn't want to see any of us."

"Not even me?" she asked, pouting.

"This is serious," he insisted. "Don't bother him. We'll discuss what to do later."

Zoe wasn't used to Archer talking to her like this. His brown eyes, like hers, usually so warm, were angry and hard. He didn't even bother to shave his daybeard, and his curly Sicilian hair stuck up from all sides. Zoe wondered what type of talking-to he received from their Pa.

"You'd better go shut Ayers and Apollo up," Zoe muttered. "I'm going back to my room."

Archer let go of Zoe carefully, as though he was anxious that she'd take off as soon as he lost control over her. "Be safe, all right? Don't do anything stupid."

"I can't promise you that," Zoe grinned.

Despite the seriousness of their situation and the likely events to follow, Archer gave his younger sister a small smile.

Yeah, for SURE she was going to stay in her room.

Erwin

He sat up on the size of his bed, on the fence separating sleep and an oiled black gun on the writing desk.

He was fully dressed, but he still had the chance to stay behind. He could quickly slip into something more comfortable and sleep for a few more hours.

He couldn't lie and say that he wasn't tempted to do so. He certainly was.

However his thirst for vengeance outweighed his sensibility, and he jumped up, snatched the gun, and slipped it into his coat pocket.

As he strode out the front door of his home, early sunshine beating his face, he wondered whether he was going for Nile- or to him.