Abruzzi Legacy: Chapter 12.4 - Not Just A Vacation

Mom and I were in the kitchen making dinner. We decided to make Onigiri and Vegetable Dumplings from the recipe cards Mika sent us and we used fresh ingredients from moms garden. Mika was suppose to be home in a couple hours and we wanted to surprise him. Little did we know that we were the ones that were going to be surprised. We both jumped when we saw him sitting at the island watching us cook.

"Ugh, creeper!" I said, playfully punching him in the arm before giving him a hug.

"I'm sorry," He said as he gave mom and I a hug. "I was just remembering how all four of us use to cook together."

He looked so different now, he wasn't the baby-faced, scrawny teen anymore. Mika helped us finish cooking and cleaning off the counters and then we sat down to eat and catch up.

Mika told us all about his travels, it sounded like fun. He had time to think about everything we had been through and now saw things a lot differently. While he was gone he decided that he was going to join the detective career after getting his degree at university. Mom was so proud of him and we both congratulated him.

"You two amaze me more and more. I can't believe how much you both have grown up in such a short amount of time."

Mom decided to go to bed early again after we cleaned up the dishes, so Mika and I went out for a few drinks. We could tell that we each needed to talk away from mom. We sat at a table as far away from eaves droppers as we could. I began telling Mika about my crazy roommate.

"I don't know what it is Mika but something is off with her. I tried to be moved, tried to report my concerns, but nobody will do anything. They don't believe me at all."

"This is really concerning Mira, especially with how easily she is fooling everyone. We need to investigate this more before you go back. We are both decent hackers so that should help and if needed we could use a spell, harmless of course." He said, rolling his eyes at the harmless part.

"I agree, we need to find out more about her," I said as we waited on another drink "So tell me about your trip. It sounds fantastic, learning about all those cultures."

""It was amazing but it wasn't just about learning about other cultures."

"What do you mean? What's happening Mika?"

"When I was in Selvadorada I heard talks about the Diavolo Coven and Ronan Tortino." He began after looking around. "I used my magic to convince some guys to talk to me. Rumors were spreading that Ricardo and Kole were in Windenburg. They told me that some crazy vampire and a witch had visited Selvadorada and they were very secretive the entire time. Then the same day that they left, some well respected scientists went missing. He had apparently threatened a lot of people while there as well."

Mika stopped talking for a moment when he saw the waiter coming with our drinks but resumed after he left.

"They told me to go talk to a girl named Abbey if I wanted more information because her dad was one of the scientists that had gone missing. She lived in a secluded area of town and ran a shop that only the locals knew about. Abbey completely brushed me off at first because she had a hard time trusting people, especially now. but she quickly changed her mind once I told her my name."

*Memory from Mikas trip*

"Aruzzi!! You're joking right?" She said loudly with a look of concern. " Get inside, quickly!"

She had many questions for me once we sat down. I decided that the best way to gain her trust and answer her questions was to tell her our story. the entire truth came out and none of Ricardos lies. When I was done she was in complete shock.

"I think the best thing to do is to work together. Ricardo is still searching for you guys and some girl named Silvana."

That's his sister that he didn't know was still alive. She's the one I told you about that had helped us but we haven't seen her since my dads funeral."

"We need to get to Windenburg immediately. He had mentioned to my dad that that was his next stop."

We packed our stuff and left for Windenburg that same night. We also had decided to mask ourselves with a magic spell since Ricardo knew what Abbey and I looked like. We looked normal to ourselves but to everyone else we looked so much different. We pretended like we were a married couple on vacation and we were actually very convincing. Abbey and I went to Chalet Gardens, the Ancient Ruins, Island Bluff, and a nightclub called The Narwhal Arms. But while we were doing all the tourist things, we were also trying to locate Ricardo and see if anyone had any information on him. Nobody knew about him though, it was like their minds had been erased.

We parted ways but promised to keep in touch. I spent the last portion of my trip in Mt Komorebi. I tried to clear my head of Ricardo and enjoy my time here.

*Back to present*

"So what do we do now?" I asked him when he was done talking.

"Nothing right now, I am waiting for Abbey to contact me. Do NOT tell mom any of this, it will destroy her."