"I said run, not walk!" Momotaro yelled at the trainees. His scream triggered an immediate response in most of the new members, they were afraid of the consequences that could follow if they didn't obey. "Miller, you better speed up if you don't want to run five extra minutes!"

None of the present dared to direct their gaze in Momo's direction. After all, they recognized their mistake, but in their innocence, they thought that no one would find out. And Momotaro always finds out.

"Stop!" He ordered, his voice sounding cold and strong. "Fifty push-ups!'

"Aren't you being too tough?" Asked Lorcan, seeing the trainees gasping for air.

The tattooed young man turned his face to look at him, a smirk present on his face.

"Do you know what they did?" He didn't get an answer, Momo took it as a sign of denial. "Why don't you explain to my friend what you did?"

"We stole the knives to train without supervision," confessed one of them, the words came out broken as a result of the physical exhaustion.

"You were saying?" questioned Momotaro to the boy next to him.

"Ok, I got it—" Lorcan stopped his speech. He took a quick look at his wrist, and he found Stefan's message. "Seems like the torture session would have to continue on another day."

"Training is over," exclaimed Momotaro. "You better remember this the next time you decided to break the rules."

After warning the trainees to be careful of their future choices, the duo set into motion. Some minutes later they entered the leader's office.

Familiar faces welcomed them, Momo wasn't surprised by the people gathered inside the room. He would have chosen the same members.

"Por acá, I saved you a seat." Flora shook her arms in the air, before signaling the free space.

Once she gets excited about something there's no denying her, so they did exactly what she said.

"Where's the Chuchu?" She whispered, showing her true intentions.

"Stella is taking care of him," Momotaro explained. Then he bobbed his head to greet Clio who was paying attention to the conversation next to Flora.

"Our situation has changed again," announced Stefan without wasting a second. The leader had never been the type to beat around the bush. "I came to an agreement with Mr. Zenkin. The Mayor will become our sponsor and in exchange, we'll guard Zenkin's congregation."

"We're gonna need a new watch schedule," suggested Gellert.

The leader nodded in response.

"I was hoping you would take care of it" After receiving the man's confirmation he continued with the briefing. "Momotaro, did you get any new information?"

There it was, the question he expected. Momo wished he could avoid that particular topic, after all, it reminded him of his failure.

"The dude didn't know much," he replied, a scowl evident on his face. His hands clasped together with a tight force. "We could only get a name, Borbala, he said that it's the demon in charge and the one Peters made the deal with."

At the mention of the name, Stefan let out a sigh. The leader's right hand took a  cigarette out of his jacket pocket. Instead of lighting up he played with it.

"This is not the first time you heard that name," inquired Genevieve, her husband's reaction told her everything he needed to know.

"No," he confirmed. "That's the actual reason why I called this reunion. When I was driving back from the docks I got interrupted by a demon. By Borbala. She offered to take care of Peters if we find the ancient light for them. Even after I denied the offer she insisted on giving us two days for the job."

"Ancient light," murmured Clio, before her face lit up. "Zygmunt mentioned a rumor about a light that could help defeat the demons. Maybe it's the same light."

"She's right, he said something about a magical light sent by an angel. It sounded like one of his deliriums, but if the demons want it, it has to be important," added Flora.

"Can you find it?" Asked Gellert, his question was directed to the two girls leading the investigation.

The blonde answered with a shoulder shrug. "If it's real, we'll find it."

Everyone stayed silent, it was easy to see that they were waiting for the leader's response and final orders. Stefan walked from one side of the room to the other, the movement helped him to maintain his calm.

"Flora and Clio, gather all the information you can about this light, take Noah and Mr. Cheaney with you," he finally said. "Gellert, as I said before you're in charge of assigning the new watch schedule. Momotaro, continue with your task, Lorcan will help you with it. We'll also be reinforcing the training."

"Got it," affirmed the tattooed boy. He didn't need the reminder, there wasn't a second when Momo wouldn't occupy his mind with his plan to expose the traitor.

"And love," continued the leader, addressing his wife. "We have to increase the infirmary provisions, just in case."

The meeting came to an end, and the participants went in different directions. The spirit of decision invaded their hearts, a renovated conviction pushed them to work harder.

"Flora!" Momotaro called the girl, he followed her with the intention of asking for a favor.

She stopped her steps and turned around waiting for Momo to catch up with her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Can you do something for me?"

The girl pretended to meditate about it. "If you let me play with my Chuchu we can reach an arrangement."

He let out a laugh, amused by Flora's condition. "Tomorrow is okay with you? For your playdate?"

"Is always a pleasure to make deals with you. What do you need me to do?"

"Don't tell Noah about Borbala," requested Momotaro. "And keep an eye on him, let me know if he acts strange."

"He always acts strange, but whatever you say. I gotta go to work, let me know the hour of the playdate, I'll be waiting. Catch you later."

Flora ran away, her body disappearing as she turned at the end of the hallway. Momo checked the time, he had an appointment in fifteen minutes. A compromise with Lorcan that he didn't want to ruin.

After picking up Titan and drinking some freshwater he returned to the training room.

"Good to see you again," he greeted the girl waiting for him.

Titan approached Agatha slowly, his sharp eyes seemed to be analyzing her, and his nose twitched as he took in the girl's smell. The young woman froze and held her breath. Her eyes opened wide while she looked at the dog's owner.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you." Momotaro eased her with a soft voice tone.

In a sudden motion, the Pit Bull let himself fall to the ground and show his belly to Agatha.

"So cute!" She exclaimed before she began scratching the exposed belly.

"Now that you have his approval we can start the training," he announced. "I already know that you have a healing power, but I want you to explain it to me and I need to know how much control you have over it?"

Agatha sat on the floor, next to Titan. Her hand never stopped her ministrations, and the happy dog rewarded her by licking her arm.

She took a deep breath and started talking.

"Well, I can heal any wound, both in mine and others' bodies. I have to lay my hands over the wound to focus on the healing, and it takes my energy away when I use it. I'm okay with healing superficial or even medium wounds, but if the person is hurt badly then I can't control it."

"When you use it. Can you feel your energy?"

The girl shook her head.

"No, I feel tired."

Momotaro whistled to call Titan. The dog went to his side and lay down next to him.

"We need to work on your connection with your power first, then we can begin to extend the time of usage," he explained.

"Ok. How do I do it?"

"I want you to close your eyes and focus on what you're feeling inside." Agatha nodded, then she proceeded to do what she was asked.

Momo waited until she leveled her breathing to keep giving instructions. "Find a source of energy, the constant tingling that flows through your body. Can you feel it?"

"A little bit in my arms."

"Good, it's a good sign that you can feel something on your first try," commented the instructor. "The next step is to expand the energy."

"How?"

"Our powers are personal, they adapt to us. You must find your way to manipulate your energy and renew it," indicated Momotaro. "It's easier if you imagine the energy flow, picture it in your mind and try to make it move."

Agatha spent the next hour deepening the connection with her power. She confessed that her energy felt warm, the more she expanded it, the more invigorating she felt. At the end of the training session, she was able to expand the energy from her head to her hand fingers.

Momotaro was impressed by the speed of her improvement. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he admitted that she was one of the best students he ever had.

The young woman passed her first task without any big complications. He recognized that Lorcan was right, she would be a good addition to the group. Though they would need to wait for her combat training, the one she'll have to face the next day.

Hi beautiful people! I wanted to say that you're fantastic 💜 I wish you can be happy today.