"A…..hem…..I think we can put that aside for now….this is neither the time nor the place to properly discuss the dynamics of the situation. As for the original reason I'm here," Aurora straightened her posture before she could get to the big reveal. "Congratulations, you guys are officially unofficial members of the Cirillo clan,"
"Eh? Officially unofficial??" Luke asked with his head tilted. He focused on the wrong part of the information that was just revealed. It wasn't everybody that the Cirillo family randomly accepted members, actually, this was the first time ever. The reason for this was simply because the search for an optimal property for Nate and Luke turned out to be more difficult than she had expected.
Luke was the prized pupil of K Johnson, the best friend of Aurora's grandfather. More than that, even Jace held Luke high enough to allow him to stay in the clan quarters. It wasn't as if he would be living in the same building as them.
Due to the nature of the family, the Cirillo's accepted a large number of disciples or students who trained in martial arts. However, that wasn't all, the family even provided lodging and other necessities, and all those who were selected or talented enough to become a disciple would have to do in return was community service of any kind.
It was the best location. It was safe, there wouldn't be an issue that couldn't be easily taken care of, and most of all, Luke would always be allowed to train. This was Jace's plan, he wouldn't just let both of them stay for free, he would but it would be pointless to not ask Luke to teach the students there. If it was Luke then the quality of the techniques would definitely improve.
After all, it was already established that he had an eye for such things. Of course, Luke was a natural and he heavily depended on his own instincts, however, that didn't stop him from absorbing knowledge surrounding combat sports like it was nothing. In most cases, he could easily spot the wasted movements and recommend a fix, which was exactly what was needed.
"What do you mean? It's not that simple, what about his family? Besides don't you guys stay in Greece?? Wouldn't that mean we would move there, meaning we would shift nationalities…." Nate countered, it was clear that he wanted to leave no gap in the plan.
"Calm down Sherlock, it's not a permanent solution. It's only until the housing situation here is sorted, meaning it would be for a few weeks? Or a maximum of two months? Anyway, his family is already accounted for. There's more than enough place for them, and as for their jobs, I convinced all their supervisors to give them a long-ass vacation…..well it was more of my Grandfather and Master K's doing but whatever,"
It stung a little when Aurora didn't mention his own family. He knew it was irrational to feel like that but there was a small part of Nate that wished he had a normal family. A family that was there for him and didn't treat him as a commodity.
"I see….well it's Luke's call. We haven't yet spoken about college and the whole situation, but I guess that part's the easier. And you're sure his entire family is okay with it?" Nate asked.
"Yes. The entire family. Including his younger brother. I have to be honest, it was hard to get information regarding him, or even find him, but in the end, we did, and it was a bit surprising, some of his files are sealed…. Anyway, long story short, the only ones who haven't agreed yet are the two of you,"
Luke had no reason to say no. Although, he was curious as to where his brother had disappeared, or what he was doing, he was happy everyone was safe. However, it wasn't as simple as saying yes, there's a good chance that he might regret it, but the excitement in him couldn't be controlled. It was weird, just what was so special about Greece?
'No...'
Was it because of Nyx? Was it because she was a Greek Primordial? It was a bit of a stretch but Luke couldn't stop himself from thinking that way. However, once he looked at Nate and realized it was just him overthinking the situation, he had calmed down.
"Alright. We'll move…..when do we leave…?" Luke asked, however before he could wait for an answer, another thought struck him. "Wait….how much of this situation do my parents know?"
"Well...not too much, but we had to convince them somehow, so….we filled them in….as for when we leave, it's right no-"
"LUKE! LUKE! Oh my son, My dear boy," Mrs. Stone broke open the door and rushed to his side. However, she wasn't the only one, Lisanna, his sister, was right behind her. By the looks of it, both of them were worried, naturally so, but they embraced him tight enough for him to begin choking.
As he returned the warm gesture, Luke shot a look of betrayal at Aurora. "I'm alright…I'm alright….mother…sister…." Unfortunately, Luke was forever going to be interrupted, before he could even properly thank them, the two of them ran around and embraced Nate.
The latter was rather shocked, in fact, it caught him a little too off guard as he remained still while slightly trembling. After about a second, Nate's head fell onto Mrs. Stone's shoulder and he returned the embrace. Tears soaked the shoulders of both Lisanna and her mother, but they didn't mind. He was family.
"We were so worried….I heard about what happened…I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Lisanna slowly and rhythmically patted his back with one hand while the other ran through his hair gently. By the looks of it, Nate couldn't hold back and tears continued flowing, he had a bright smile on his face, and when he turned around to look at Luke, he saw a warm smile on his best friend.
It was everything he had ever wanted. It was perfect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Who did this...?" A woman with rich but dark blond hair asked. She was tall and fit. She wasn't as skinny as a model, but she was definitely smaller than wrestlers. She had the perfect body for a martial artist. Her presence alone was enough to choke someone.
"It was Nate and some friend of his," Solomon said as his hand touched Basile's forehead. "That friend of his is K Johnson's only disciple, and he even has connections with the Cirillo's…..enough so that they waltzed in here trying to threaten me. Tch, the audacity,"
The woman was Basile's teacher and dear mother. She was Cara Covencut. She wasn't as strong as Hector Cirillo, but she was no doubt a better teacher than him. In fact, she was a better teacher than K Johnson. Perhaps when it came to teaching martial arts, there was no one who could be better suited.
She had a talent, much like Luke's. Both of them had an eye for mistakes made and redundant moves. The fix nearly always appeared in their mind. However, there was no doubt that Cara had more experience making her skill to fix and perfect techniques greater than Luke's.
"I see…..what are we going to do about this?" Cara asked while retaining her cool. It was absolutely pointless to lose her shit in such a crucial situation.
"Well, we know that Luke or whatever and his family remain safe. If my guess is right, they'll be preparing to move to Greece to stay with the Cirillo's. It wouldn't be difficult to send people after them but at the same time it would remain pointless," Solomon said with a hand to his chin.
"And? I know you have something in mind….just tell me already," Cara smirked.
"You really do know me well," he smiled in reply, "If all this was planned by that Aurora brat then there's a good chance she overlooked something, and that something is easily exploitable. It might be a hassle but it would be best if you went for this mission honey," Solomon spoke as he approached her, his hand's gently toucher her hair.
"Me? But why? Is it that difficult?" Care asked as she leaned towards his hand.
"Well that depends, but it isn't difficult at all. It's kind of silly even but there remains another person they care about. As I mentioned before, there's a good chance that they've overlooked this boy," Solomon answered as he walked back to Basile. His son's condition had gotten considerably better. His broken bones have more or less completely healed. According to the specialists, it would be best if he rested for a day more.
"A boy? And who might this boy be?" Cara asked curious as to who else there was.
"Haha….a little nobody, but he's closely associated with that Luke. I think his name is…uhhhh….
Sage…White?"