Making Progress: Pt 2 of Lavinia's story

## Summary

Lavinia is trying her best to become kinder and more generous. Cyrus kills Brenda for good. Ambrosia tells her story.

## Characters

* Lavinia "Lavi"
* Jessamine
* Carolyn (mother)
* Cyrus
* Alex
* Estrella
* Matrix
* Celeste
* Estrella
* Cosmo
* Nova
* Sunset
* Harmonia
* Marcella, Lavinia and Jess' childhood friend (She is hard-of-hearing, so she uses ASL to communicate)
* Fiona
* Brenda
* Anubis
* Artemis
* Calisto
* Griff
* Adelaide

## Lavinia’s POV

“So, How’d things go with the shifters?” I ask as I take a seat next to Cyrus and Marcella.

“They went well.” Cyrus replies.

“One question.” Marcella says. “Who are the shifters?”

“A group of individuals who are half Basilisk like me, both hybrids naturally by birth or by scientific means.” Cyrus replies using a mixture of speaking and signing.

“Basilisk.” Marcella says. Both hands move simultaneously, like she’s trying to figure out which word to use. “I wish there was a sign for that.”

“There is.” Cyrus says, taking both Marcella’s hands and positioning her fingers to mimic the word she was trying to sign.

“*Bas-il-isk*.” Marcella signs several more times. “I think I’ve got it.”

She turns to me. *So how are you liking Summerwood?*

*“It’s been good.”* I sign back. *“Although I do feel bad for being a jerk to people for years.”*

*You were a jerk?* Marcella asks, hands floating on a question.

*“Yeah. I didn’t like Summerwood for years, but it was all because a jerk named Brenda telepathically put lies into my head.”*

*Wow.* Marcella replies.

*“Yeah.”*

I spot Kai enter the room. “What’s up you guys? And who’s this friend of yours?”

*My name is Marcella.* She signs. *Who are you?*

*“Kai. The child of one of the guardians.”* Kai signs back. *“Have you always been hard of hearing?”*

*Well I lost a lot of my hearing to poisoning when I was 8. I’m moderately deaf in both ears, and use hearing aids, but when meeting people for the first time, I use sign language, but the more I hang out with them, the easier it is to use speech.*

“Interesting.” Kai says.

*How do you Identify?*

*“I was born intersex.”* Kai replies. *“I’m Non binary and fluid. And Pan.”*

“That’s really cool.” Marcela says.

*Hey so do you want Boba? You do know what that is, right?* Kai signs.

*“Sure.”* Marcela replies. “Do you guys want any?”

“Not right now for me.” I say.

“I’ll have one.” Cyrus says.

*“Let’s go. We can meet Celeste and Estrella on our way out.”*

## Cyrus' POV

"Now that you're all here," I begin once everyone arrives. "We have some important things to discuss."

"Tell me about it," Lavinia mutters. Jess nudges her.

"Hey," Harmonia says. "Sorry I'm late."

*Hi Harmonia*, Marcella says telepathically.

Estrella approaches Lavinia with a smile. "You haven't seen like yourself, you know, you haven't used your rude and impatient attiude for a while."

Lavinia chuckles. "I know. It's hard getting used to it. Treating people like shit probably was a bad move.”

"It was driving me and Mother crazy," Jess remembers.

"Yup," I say. "Now everyone, listen up, we need to discuss something. It's very serious."

”What happened?” Marcella asks.

”Artemis and Mariah got kidnapped by Anubis. He’s using them as bait to try and murder Calisto, but she’s too smart for that.”

*”May I ask who Calisto and Artemis are?”* Marcella signs, taking a sip of her tea.

”Artemis is Anubis’ sister.” I reply. “But she’s on our side. She always has been. Calisto is queen of the red wolves. One of her daughters, Ruby, is one of Estrella’s friends.”

”…Wow. I thought Anubis’ sister was evil like him.”

Someone astral travels in front of us. It’s Artemis.

”Nope.” She says. “I’d rather be an ally to you and loved, than an enemy, and feared, because you’d run into some pretty deep shit.”

”Gang, we need a plan to rescue both of them.” I say.

”Well one of his victims is a Basilisk, so we’ll need your pack of shifters.” Kai says. “Cyrus, have you tried having them impersonate lab workers?”

”I’ve never thought of that.” I say. “That’s a good idea.”

”Then let’s go.” Kai says. “We need all the help we can get. It’s only getting tougher from here.”

## Kai's POV

While we are travelling, we come across Griff and Sunset.

"Hey," Lavinia calls out.

"Lavinia," Sunset says. "You've...changed."

"Just making progress," Lavinia replies.

“Cyrus was right. People do change.”

I hear banging. Light swirls in front of me and the being who appears is the ghost of Cyrus’ father Polaris.

“¿Papá, qué pasó?” Cyrus asks.

“Someone is trying to break into the cemetery.” Polaris replies.

“Who is it?” Cyrus asks.

“Anubis and Brenda.” he replies.

“We have to find them.” Cyrus says. “Looks like I have to do something big.”

“What’s it gonna be?” Estrella asks.

“I’m *killing Brenda,* even though I know that Ambrosia won't like it. She’s too dangerous to roam around realms."

*Who's Ambrosia?* Marcella signs.

"Her younger sister. She's on our side, though. Kinda like Artemis," I say.

"Brenda is a very dangerous demon hybrid," Griff says. "She betrayed everyone for years. She's 29 and if we don't do something soon, she'll keep going."

"I don't know," Lavinia says. "I'm not sure if Brenda should die. She has a sister, you know. Even though they on different sides, wouldn't it crush Ambrosia?"

"I know," Cyrus sighs. "But like I said, Brenda's too dangerous."

”Then we’ll have to do the unthinkable.” Kai says. “I’ll call Amber over. I’ve heard stories from her and you know how terribly Brenda treated her. Perhaps she’ll take it easier when she knows it’s for the best. They’ve never really loved each other from the start.”

Lavinia nods. “I hope she takes it well.”

Kai conjures a light orb, and moments later, Ambrosia’s face appears in front of us.

”What’s going on?” She asks. “And what’s the news on my sister?”

”We…have bad news.” Cyrus says. “We need to kill your sister Brenda. She’s too dangerous. Her being a ghost would weaken her since those who die after getting their magic stripped would only be able to interact with guardians and guardian allies, but cannot touch anyone. They’re intangible.”

Ambrosia nods. “She is my sister, but if it’s to keep people safe, then you should go through with it. I’ll come with you guys and bring my parents.”

”Than let’s go.” Celeste and Estrella say in unison. “Where do we start?”

"Hmm," Ambrosia frowns. "I heard she and Anubis kidnapped Artemis and Mariah. I'm not sure where they would be heading, unfortunately."

“Wait.” Cyrus says, their nose twitching. “I caught a scent. I can see hairs scattered everywhere. They’re not ours. They’re a different color, and I can sense people nearby. And they both smell *terrible.”*

“We’ll start from there.” Ambrosia says, wincing. “Follow the stench, everyone.”

## Cyrus’ POV

We hop over rocks and stones, footsteps erratic and heavy, until we see two figures.

Two hated fugitives.

I snarl, teeth bared, and out for blood.

“Come crawling back, eh?” Anubis says sardonically. “You never learn, do you?”

“No.” I reply angrily. “*You* never learn. We’re coming for Brenda.”

I hear a sharp laugh from behind Anubis. “Coming to *join me?”* Brenda says.

“No.” I say. “Hate to say this, but we’re coming to end you. Ambrosia gave full permission. You may be powerless, but we’re not going to let you live and hurt *everyone.”*

Brenda laughs again, but I launch myself towards her, and knock her down. My fist lands a blow to her face, leaving it battered and bloody.

“Is that all you got?” Brenda taunts, but falls over, writhing in pain.

I pounce on her, our eyes locking.

“You won’t see the last of me.” Brenda says, chuckling. “I will—“

Her expression freezes as I plunge my knife into her chest.

A breath floats out of her mouth.

“Well, we did it.” Kai says. Suddenly, Anubis appears in front of me with a gas mask. I see a thick smoke spread around me.

Fatigue consumes me and the people around me.

My grip on myself fades.

And just like that, I’m gone.

Alex’s POV

“NO!” Estrella screams. “Where is everyone?? What happened to Baba?”

I run over to them, but they back away.

“ 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝗲. .” Cyrus says. “ 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝘂𝗯𝗶𝘀 .”

I look into their eyes. Their gem has lost its color, their eyes now a glassy gray color.

“Oh no.” I say. “Cyrus was *brainwashed.”*

## Ambrosia's POV

“We have to find Amber.” I hear Kai say from faraway. “Even though Brenda is dead, we need to know more about her.”

"Hey Amber," Lavinia turns to me.

"Yes?"

”Bad news.” Alex says. “Cyrus got brainwashed.”

I frown. “That’s terrible…but I think I have a way to break Cyrus out.”

"So...Kai said that Brenda treated you poorly as sister...how did you put up with that?" Lavinia asks.

"It wasn't easy,"

"Like it wasn't easy how I put up with Lavinia when she was younger," Jess says.

"Let me tell you a story about when I was ten and Brenda eighteen..." I start.

## Eleven years ago: Ambrosia's POV

Okay, so I know that Brenda was always aggressive and horrible towards everyone. Even Mother and Father was tired of it. As a child, Brenda wasn't always rough and aggressive. But by the time Brenda was fifteen, everyone noticed change in her.

We are sitting in the living room. Brenda and my other older two sisters, Marigold and Calliope, are on the couch and I'm sitting on the beanbag chair. Brenda's eighteen, Marigold is twenty, I'm ten, and Calliope is fourteen.

"So bored," Marigold groans.

"Oh yeah?" Brenda snorts. "Well, you should have done what I told you to do. We should raid someone's house next. Or maybe we could damage property or..."

"Or maybe you should just shut the fuck up!" Calliope interjects.

"Ugh, I don't care," Brenda says. "It was so much fun damaging property. Mother and Father don't even know."

"Well, they will once I tell them," I warn her.

"Oh, you're just a kid," Brenda scoffs. "I won't get punished. I'm older you know."

"Now, you just stop right there," Marigold scolds her. "We well tell Mother and Father, no matter what."

I hear a knock at the door. Mother enters.”What’s going on? And Brenda, *why* are you climbing out the window?! And what is *all of this stuff doing here?!* You’ve been…stealing from the neighbors, haven’t you?”

”NO!” Brenda says. “You can’t.”

”You’re grounded, Brenda.” Father says.

"She's been damaging property and trying to raid places," I add. Brenda glares.

"She's lying," Brenda retorts.

”Explain all of these objects scattered on the floor.” I say.

"No, she's not!" Calliope snaps. "You said so yourself." Marigold and I nod in agreement. Brenda tries to escape through the window. But Marigold, Calliope and I go after her and I wrestle her to the ground.

”You’re gonna be paying your own money for what you did, Brenda.” I say.

”We’re going to need to have a talk with Brenda afterwards.” Mother says tiredly.

Brenda growls. My eyes squeeze shut, I feel a fist hit my face, and the warm rush of blood streaming down my face.

”Shit.” I mutter. “You really had to do that, did you??…Ouch.” I say.

“BRENDA!” Mother says angrily. “Look what you did!”

”Fuck all of you guys!” She says angrily. “I’m leaving, and I’m coming back to kill my insufferable sisters if you so much as follow me!”

”Ah *ha.”* I mutter, finding a gun loaded with blowdarts under the couch. “Mother, I found your blowgun full of sleeping darts.”

”Brenda’s a lost cause.” Mother says. “Use it anyway. We’re out of options at this point.”

I aim the gun at Brenda.”

”Haha, you have terrible aim.” she taunts. “Stupid—“ She is cut short when the dart hits her in the shoulder. She falls over unconscious.

”How long do these last, mother?” I ask.

”She’ll be asleep for about 7 hours. More than enough time to get her to the police station. She’s too dangerous.”

”Dad?” I ask.

He faces me. “Yes, my flower?”

”How did Brenda get like this?”

”I really don’t know, Sweetie. Some people are just assholes.”

I nod sadly. “Yeah…”

”Now let’s get in the car. See what the authorities can do with you sister.”

”Okay…”

But when the authorities arrive, we see that Brenda is gone.

"Calliope, Marigold, where's Brenda?" I ask.

"Oh, she's in her room. Marigold lifted her and put her on her bed," Calliope says.

”We’ll handle her.” One cop says, lifting Brenda up, and carrying her to a patrol car, where the door slams with a light thud.

I tap one of them on the shoulder, and show them the photos of stolen items, along with my face, which is covered in dried blood, along with a video that mother secretly filmed.

”That’s all the evidence we need.” The cop says. “You’re scheduled for a court case tomorrow.”

”Thank you very much.” I say. “Also Brenda is currently drugged with sleeping darts. She’ll wake up in about…5 hours.”

”We’ll interrogate her later. She’ll be safe in one of the cells. I suggest you and your parents follow us.”

”Thank you.” I say.

”No problem.”

The next day at the court trial, Marigold, Calliope and I arrive. Brenda pleads not guilty. I feel kinda bad for her. I tried to love her all these years, but it's just not worth it. Brenda needs to get what she deserves.

"I feel bad," I whisper to Marigold and Calliope.

"Me too," Marigold replies. "But she has been treating yo poorly for the last few years."

"I hate her," Calliope mutters truthfully. "Even though she is our sister."

”She may have pleaded ‘not guilty’ but in our eyes, she betrayed us.” I say. “We need to do something about this. Well, I may only be ten, but maybe we could kick Brenda out for good?"

## Back to the Present: Alex's POV

"And that's my story," Ambrosia finishes.

"But something doesn't make sense: What happened to Brenda after that?" Lavinia asks.

"Well, she was found guilty. But she kinda used her magic and vanished. Then we couldn't find her. That was the last time I ever saw her until now, when Cyrus killed her." Ambrosia explains.

”Except we just have to find a way to get them back and make them fight the brainwash.” Estrella says sadly. “I don’t want them to die. I don’t want to lose them forever.”

”We’ll find your parent. I promise.” Ambrosia says. “Where was the last place Anubis went?”

Estrella’s eyes glow blue. “I’m spying through him right now. It looks like they headed west and they’re in this beaten down building with a roof that’s falling apart. Anubis says he will…turn Cyrus against us.”

”Oh no.” I say. “Then we have to leave. Now.”

“On it.” Ambrosia says. We all join hands.

”We’re teleporting. Make sure to disguise yourselves.”

## Ambrosia' POV

In a flash of light, we end up in front of a small building peppered with bomb blasts, almost like someone blew up the place.

“CYRUS!” I call out.

“Cyrus, my beloved idiot, where the *hell* are you?” Eclipse calls out.

I put on my disguise, and I see them emerge from a darkened area. Eclipse follows me.

“ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁? ” Cyrus asks.

“Cyrus.” I say softly. “It’s *me.* Ambrosia.”

“Yeah, dude. It’s us.”

“ 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝗘𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀𝗲. ” Cyrus replies. “𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀. 𝗔𝗻𝘂𝗯𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀.”

“But—“

They get close to my face, our eyes locking. “ 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗮. *𝗡𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲*. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 .”

“But don’t we love each other?” Eclipse calls out.

A tear streams down my face.

“Cyrus no!”

“ 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗮, *𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵* .” They say, their voice cracking. “I just want you to be safe.”

Cyrus walks off. “ 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗲, 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼.”

I make my way out of the building, sobbing softly.

”Are you okay?” Lavinia asks.

”I can’t do this.” I say. “I just can’t. I don’t want to hurt Cyrus.”

”Maybe we can get through to them.” Celeste and Estrella say, Cyrus’ son Cosmo teleports next to them.

*"We still need to find Artemis and Mariah,"* Marcella says.

"I know," I say sadly. "I'm...afraid.."

"I know how you feel," Lavinia says quietly. "I was in a situation like this before."

I turn away. "I can't do it...I'm too afraid..."

I feel Cosmo put a hand on my shoulder. “I can help you. Dad and I have faith in you. Are you willing to have faith in us?”

I nod. “Okay…I hope.”

Kai and Estrella pop in. "Ambrosia, are you...okay?" Estrella asks.

"I'm so scared...I don't want to hurt your dad..." I say.

”You don’t have to hurt them.” Cosmo says. “We’ll find a way. One way to break Cyrus out is to remind them of something that had special significance to them in their life, like a story, a song, a poem, *anything.*”

”That sounds like a weird solution.” I say.

”But it’s the only solution we’ve got.” Celeste says.

"Okay," I sigh. "Let's do this."

*Guys,* Marcella signs. *I see Artemis and Mariah in my head. They're trying to tell me something...but I can't tell what they're saying...*

“If we can find my Baba, then maybe we can find a way to break them out.” Cosmo says, shifting into human form. “They once told me to have faith in myself and the people I love and who love me back, no matter what happens.”

“Kai, what did you bring with you?” I ask.

“Well I hope this helps, but I do have photos of you and Cyrus when you and mom got married, along with a few vacation memories from several months ago and a good luck letter.” Kai replies.

“That’s perfect.” I say. “Maybe that will help us break Cyrus out. Where did you last see them?”

Kai’s ears twitch. “I think…they’re in that room to the left. I don’t hear anyone else in there. Let’s go.”

Kai turns invisible and I sense them run down the hallway into an empty room.

“Coast is clear…for now.” they whisper.

## Kai’s POV

“But the question is, what should we do?” Lavinia asks.

I throw on a lab coat and visor, and shapeshift.

“These guys won’t recognize me.” I say. “Mom told me Vex lab workers can’t tell the difference between our regular and human forms because they never bothered to learn.”

I stuff the photos into a satchel.

“Cover for me.” I whisper.

Lavinia nods.

I put my hand on her shoulder.

“Listen. We all have monsters lurking inside of us, along with scary thoughts, but unfortunately for some people, and fortunately the way to confront them is to make peace with them. It’s scary, but it’s the only way to be at peace with yourself for who you are and the mistakes you make. It’s a hard journey, but I do promise that it will be worth it.”

“I’ll go.” Lavinia says softly. Her hand interlocks with mine. “But please don’t leave me.”

“Don’t worry.” I say softly. “I won’t.”

## Lavinia's POV

"Marcella...there's something I want to tell you. We recently adopted a fox hybrid with purple eyes. Her name is Adelaide, but we call her Addy or Adele. She's only four, but we've been planning on adopting another hybrid around ten or eleven years old." I describe.

"That sounds cool," Marcella signs and says. "Would you mind if I told you the story on how i lost my hearing? I was eight years old. And you are not going to believe who tried to kill me...it was Brenda. Ambrosia, Marigold, Calliope and their mother Catrice were there at their house when it all happened..."

”Sure.” Kai replies.

## Flashback: Marcella's POV

Before I lost my hearing, I was happy-go-lucky. My mom, my older sister Emberly, and I were invited to Catrice's house for dinner. That was when I didn't know I was going to get poisoned. Brenda had put a heavy load of poison on my food. Everyone was shocked at what Brenda had done. I coughed so much and vomited.

"Brenda, how could you?!" Catrice scolds.

"What's done, is done, so forget about it!" Brenda shoots back.

"You're a beast!" Ambrosia hisses. "I hate you, Brenda!" Calliope shouts.

"Marcella could die, do you understand?" Emberly scolds.

"No! It's not that I *don't understand,* it's that I *don't care!"* Brenda snarls. I am coughing like crazy. "Drink this," Ambrosia hands me a water bottle.

"Brenda, you're grounded!" Catrice scolds.

"Mom, I'm almost eighteen. *Jesus.* You can't treat me like a kid anymore!" Brenda shoots back.

"Fuck you," Calliope mutters under her breath.

I stand up and glare at Brenda. "I can't believe you would poison me like this! What were you trying to do? Kill me?"

My hearing swims in and out. I fall unconscious.

The next time I wake up, everything is much quieter.

I hear voices, but everything is muffled.

I see my mother in the corner of my eye.

*Mom.* I sign. *I can’t hear very well. Everything is muffled. How long have I been under?*

*You’ve been asleep for a week.* she replies. *The poison is out of your system but it ended up taking 70% of your hearing in both ears. You may need hearing aids, but it’s a good thing we’ve known sign language since you were young.*

*”Yeah.”* I sign back. *“Thank god.”*

## Kai's POV

"That's really sad," I say when Marcella finishes. Marcella has tears in her eyes. 'Even though it was a long time ago, I still can't stop thinking about what Brenda had done...and now that Brenda's dead..." her voice breaks.

”You can’t get her back for what she did? Marcella, you’re a guardian. They can talk to the dead.” I reply. “She has no magic, and can’t physically interact with anyone, but you can still talk shit about her. What a butthead.” I say.

Adelaide toddles towards us. Jessamine and Lavinia are right behind her. "Hey, Addy," I say gently. Addy burps and we laugh.

"What's going on?" I ask. "What happened?

"Kai," she says. "We managed to sneak past the Vex Lab workers...but we came across a small problem," she looks at Lavinia.

”What happened?” I ask, placing Addy on my lap.

”Kai?” Addy asks. “What going on?”

”Cyrus is surrounded by too many people.” Lavinia says. “I can’t get close enough without being found out.”

”Ohhh but there is a way to get past them.” I say. I shapeshift. I am tall. My hair is shorter. I cover half my face with a mask and don a trench coat. I drop my voice half an octave. “Ya gotta be a master of disguise. Get dressed and flank behind me.”

”OOOO!” Addy says excitedly. “Les call you SIR SCRUFFYPANTS!”

I laugh. “Actually I already have a name, sweetheart. My name is ‘Lab drone number 3141596.’

”Pi?” Addy asks.

”Correct, my love. Pi.”

I face Lavinia. “Let’s go.”

I look down at Addy. “Stay quiet, okay?” I put a finger to my lips. “*Shhhhh.”*

She nods.

Ambrosia appears, still in her disguise. "Come on, guys, the coast is clear."

## Marcella's POV

I'm wearing my disguise as a Vex Lab worker. Adelaide is wearing a large cloak and is walking next to me. Ambrosia, Lavinia, Jessamine, and Kai are also dressed up. As we walk, we come across another Vex Lab worker. Suddenly, the worker transforms into a cat hybrid with dragon wings. It's Octavia!

"Octavia, long time no see," Lavinia sighs.

Octavia smiles. "I'm helping you with your mission to help Cyrus and have Artemis and Mariah. Alex sent me."