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Chapter 2: Solace

Northern California, December 2012. Three years before the end of everything.

The warm rays of daybreak bathe the lavish gardens of Thaddeus Axton's manor in the golden radiance of dawn. Constructed on a natural clearing beside a tranquil lake, the manor, a mystifying amalgam of redwood, gold and marble, evokes equally clashing feelings from The Zenith, the five gifted children raised within its walls. Serving more as an institution than a home, Zephyr, Kyran, Kamala, Phoenix and Indigo learned to carve a place of solace within the manor's many rooms, each of which is decorated with florae shaped from stone, steel, gemstone, or grove.

As the chateau's marble walls draw in the sunlight without any of its warmth, the flowers in Zephyr's garden dance to the gentle breeze of winter's breath, and the hefty ashen wolf crouches down to delicately tend to his flowers, his place of solace found alongside the gentle fields of red, pink, white and purple.

As serene as his surroundings may seem, in Zephyr's mind, dark animalistic instincts sprout like weeds, ripping into the furthest reaches of his fragile psyche. He buries instinct by focusing on the hush from woodlands beyond the dancing lights on the shimmering surface of the motionless lake.

Throughout his life, Zephyr learned to cope with the curse of being himself. As a result, he's always aware of how angry he can allow himself to feel, as the cost to his rage often proves deadly. The beast, like a seed buried deep within his soul, begs to blossom. Zephyr pleads with himself for one moment of solace in the garden, but the pendulum is swinging against him.

Zephyr digs dull claws into cold soil as the fangs in his mouth painfully hone to sharp tips. He fights with all his strength, but the beast has worn him down steadily with restless nights. His mind slips as he becomes a spectator in his own body.

But a gentle hand lands on his shoulder, fetching his mind back to the sweet scents and warmth of the garden as the beast retreats into the shadows of his bleakest feelings.

"Thank you," Zephyr pants through pained breaths as Kamala lays beside him in the field of December flowers.

"He wants out. Doesn't he?" She asks, deep concern in her usually self-assured voice.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep it under control," Zephyr admits, trying to silence the ringing in his head by focusing on the rush of splashing water from a granite fountain nearby.

"Maybe it's not about control but about finding balance. He's not that bad once you get to know him. I'm starting to think he likes me more than you do," she teases, smiling.

Zephyr doesn't return with a smile of his own, avoiding her eyes as he picks at the frayed denim of his torn jeans.

"I can't risk it. I don't want to hurt you, or anyone else."

"Don't worry about me. I can handle him, and you, just fine."

Kamala places her hand in Zephyr's and grasps firmly. He hesitates but finds solace in her touch. In his newfound elation, his tail wags, sweeping over the neatly trimmed grass.

"I can't help it," Zephyr says softly, his ears darting backward as the flustered skin beneath his fur grows hot.

Kamala sways her long, thick tail back and forth to mirror him, but it dances more like a snake in the garden, hypnotizing him closer to her embrace.

Zephyr finds his moment of peace at last, as Kamala's radiance melts through the melancholy frost in his barren heart.

"I hate talking about it like he's someone else. He's still me," Zephyr says as she edges closer to him, leaning her weary head on his warm shoulder.

"I don't know who he is, but he definitely isn't you," Kamala whispers.

Zephyr is close to finding the courage to ask Kamala a question burning in the back of his mind, when a toneless voice rings from the edge of the tall pines.

"What are you two doing up so early?"

Zephyr's hand pulls from Kamala's. He stands, trying to draw his gaze away from the base of her tail by focusing on the towering glass and steel conservatory on the manor's grounds.

Kyran either doesn't care or doesn't notice. He stretches, jogging in place as he finishes his daily run while measuring his heartbeat by placing two fingers on his powerful neck.

"So?" he repeats, his question unanswered as he removes his black running jacket to cool his lean body.

"I couldn't sleep," Zephyr admits.

"And I just got home."

"How was the concert?" Kyran asks Kamala, his hands tucked behind his back as the trio approach the north face of the manor on a cobblestone path lined with carefully clipped hedges, most of which are Zephyr's work.

"Loud. You should join me next time, I'm sure you can use some time away from this prison," Kamala says as they climb the wide steps to a series of tall, stained-glass doors.

"Loud isn't something I'm comfortable with," Kyran says, reaching into his jacket pocket for his glasses.

Zephyr pushes open the ornate golden doors to the manor's enormous library. There, thousands of books line the walls on sturdy shelves carved from red sequoia, twisting up the nave-like room from floor to glass ceiling far above their heads. Under a crystal chandelier, velvet-textured sofas and reading chairs decorate the large space on intricately woven rugs. Kyran teleports, disappearing without a word to his bedroom in the library's annex.

"Not very chatty today, is he?" Zephyr observes, taking off his gardening boots, not wanting to track mud onto the mirror-polished wooden floor.

"I hope it lasts, normally he'll talk your ear off if you let him," Kamala says, glancing at the open journal on a sturdy desk, trying to make sense of Kyran's cursive to see what obscure topic he's studying today.

As they depart the library, their own faces stare back at them from the wallpaper-lined walls. The photographs, memories long left behind, capture a time when they were much happier than they are now, mainly because they didn't know the world outside the manor's walls.

They share an elevator to the spacious dining room, where the manors staff, composed of strangers dressed entirely in white, place bowls of fresh fruit before them on a long table. Zephyr tries to thank the nameless audience who often silently celebrate with them on their birthdays, but they ignore him, retreating back into the kitchen.

To their surprise, a sixth place is set as the others gradually join them around the mahogany table.

"Good morning," Phoenix says, lazily striding into the gilded room, still in his yellow silk pajamas. The lion yawns, baring his sharp teeth as he pokes at the logs in the roaring fireplace with his bare hands, turning them over.

"Is Indy back?"

"I'm right behind you, dear," the rabbit says, smacking his rear. They're still in the same rose rhinestone jumpsuit they wore the previous night.

Kyran teleports into the room, reaching for a slice of toast as Phoenix waves his large hands to clear the smoke filling the air.

"Would it kill you to take the damn stairs down just once? I thought we weren't supposed to use our adaptations inside the house!"

"We made that rule up for you when we were kids, so you wouldn't burn the house down. I won't be staying long, I have important research to do," Kyran says, meticulously picking out a glossy apple from a decorative arrangement of fruit as Indigo pours themselves a cup of coffee.

"Not happening. Dad's place at the table has been set, he'll be joining us," Zephyr says, gesturing with his long snout at the throne-like chair as he brushes soil out of his messy crimson hair to make himself more presentable.

"What is it, his birthday or something?" Phoenix asks.

"That was last week," Kamala reminds him, flipping through a magazine as someone pours her morning tea.

"Where was I?"

"You tell us," the pink panther says, her intense blue eyes glaring at him from over the magazine.

Phoenix shrugs, taking the apple from Kyran's hand and placing it back into the flower-like formation at the center of a table too large for a family of seven.

"Knowing me? I was probably fu--

Phoenix is cut short when the doors are thrown open. The staff break into a frenzy to finish setting the table as their adoptive father arrives. Thaddeus Axton's five children instinctively stand as he paces to his seat at the head of the table.

"Sit," Thaddeus instructs, forcing a smile to shine through his preoccupation.

Thaddeus Axton's golden mane has surrendered to the graying of time, and while his frame remains as sturdy as ever, his body is beginning to bow to the blows of the passing years. His mind, however, still races as quickly as it did thirty years ago, when he was a young lion fighting for his place at the top of the world. The older lion sits and eats with them in silence as the team breaks into hushed conversation.

It's not long into their silent breakfast when Zephyr buries his nose into a napkin and sneezes loudly, a fragrant scent irritating his senses.

"Sorry, there's something in here that's bothering me."

"I'll have you meet with Marina. It's about time you all had your semi-annual checkups as well," Thaddeus says, fidgeting with his utensils.

Zephyr sneezes again, reaching across the table for a napkin embroidered with the number one, before Kyran hands him his.

"Lavender. It's the only body wash he had," Indigo whispers, pouring a third helping of sugar into their coffee.

"Who had?" Kamala asks, intrigued enough to set the magazine aside.

"I didn't get his name."

"It smells expensive," Phoenix says as he buries his sharp teeth into a large chunk of cantaloupe.

"It is! It's good to hunt within my tax bracket for a change."

"But you aren't rich, Dad is," Kamala reminds them.

"I could make as much money my own way, darling," Indigo says, pressing their hands against the base of their long ears, their effort to drown a hangover with coffee proving unsuccessful.

"And how exactly would you accomplish that?"

"They could become a street magician," Phoenix suggests with a full mouth, spilling melon onto the table.

"Or they can just make everyone give them money," Kamala suggests. "You'd be a stylish bank robber, and I'm available if you need a partner."

"I don't do partners, but I'll keep you both in mind in case I need someone to blow something up as a distraction."

"Says the walking distraction, and I'm pretty sure you'd be the one doing the blowing," Phoenix says.

"You just lost your cut," Indigo says, playfully pointing a golden butter knife against the lion's bushy canary mane.

Thaddeus clears his throat loudly. From the other side of the wide table, Kyran and Zephyr give the three less disciplined members of their team matching looks of disapproval.

The rest of their breakfast is silent until Thaddeus speaks from his seat at the head of the table.

"I'm afraid I have upsetting news for you, my children," He says, setting his golden plate aside, signaling to the staff he's finished.

"Six days ago, an ally to the Zenith, and a dear friend of mine, was slain in his home in cold blood. His son was taken," Thaddeus says in a sullen voice they've never heard before, one that makes the large lion seem small.

"We have a possible location on the boy, and we have every reason to believe he's alive--

"He was taken by Ziegler, wasn't he?" Indigo asks unexpectedly, pushing a plate away as their stomach churns.

"Ziegler?" Kyran echoes, a hint of fear rippling through his voice.

Thaddeus nods.

"Zenith 5 is correct. It appears the ghosts of our past have rematerialized in our future. It was never my intention for it to happen like this, but it's time you all know a truth I've held from you for so long."

Even Phoenix hangs onto every word as their adoptive father exhales through large, scarred lungs.

"There's another," he says. The silence falling around them is deafening to Indigo, who hears everyone's thoughts drown their own.

"Another what, another one of us?" Zephyr asks his adoptive father, struggling to reason why he could hide something like this from him.

"Yes, another Zenith," Thaddeus responds.

Before the questions burning in their brains can be asked, Thaddeus raises his large hand to silence them.

"Your mission briefing will be held in the library within the hour. After that, you're to travel to Europe, so I suggest rescheduling any plans you may have for this evening. It's paramount that you're successful in rescuing him. If Dietrich exploits his power, the war will be lost before the first battle is even fought," Thaddeus warns, rising while the staff rushes from the edges of the room to clear his place at the table.

Zephyr and Kyran trail him like shadows. Kamala pushes her chair and departs in the opposite direction, her expression too difficult for even Indigo to read, having long learned to bottle in her intense emotions.

"Shit. Another one of us? Did you know?" Phoenix asks Indigo as the light filtering through the stained glass garden casts rainbow shadows on the surface of the table.

"You know I can't help it, but Dad's always been difficult to read. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know it was this."

A tall cheetah with an athletic build like Kyran's strides into the room. The daughter of one of the cooks, she clears the table while trying to hide her smile as her eyes meet Phoenix's.

"Not every breakfast is as exciting as that," he says, rising from his seat to assist her.

"I'm not allowed to talk to you," she says, her eyes focused on the floor.

"Says who? He isn't really our dad. Well, he's my father, but I try not to think about that too much. I'm Phoenix, and you are?"

"Probably fired."

"I'm sure we can make an exception just for you," the lion says, purring.

Indigo rolls their violet eyes at the dirty thoughts they're forced to hear from both of the big cats.

She tries to ignore him, but there's something about the large lion she finds oddly charming.

"Well then, Phoenix. What's your number?"

"Four," the lion says proudly, raising his thick brow as he grins.

She glares at him. "Four?"

"Yes, Zenith 4. It's embroidered here on my napkin, and on my pajamas, see?"

"I meant your cellphone number."

"Oh, I don't have a cellphone. Well, I do have one somewhere, but I lost it and don't know where it is."

"Have you tried calling it?" She asks, adjusting the pin in her beehive of crimson hair.

"I don't have my phone on me to do that. But it wouldn't make a difference, I don't know the number."

The cheetah backs away into the kitchen with a tray full of gilded plates, unsure what to make of the handsome but dull lion, or the realization the Zenith are as unusual as she was told they would be.

"She's probably wondering how it's even possible you have enough braincells to pull yourself out of bed each morning," Indigo says, finishing their second cup of coffee.

"She wants me," Phoenix says, picking at his teeth with his sharp claws.

"She wants a better job."

"I never got her name."

"Would you've remembered it?"

"Remembered what?"

"There's always the next time you meet her for the first time again," Indigo says as they both exit the dining room and split to travel down opposite ends of the long hallway.

***

On the floor above, Zephyr and Kyran chase Thaddeus up a meticulously carved staircase hidden within the manors walls, echoing each other's questions before being stopped at the heavy doors to his private study.

"Enough! I can hardly hear myself think," Thaddeus roars, beckoning for Zephyr to follow him in. Kyran tries to squeeze through the gap between them, but Thaddeus shuts the door in the panthers face.

Kyran curses to himself and skips the stairs, teleporting beside Phoenix as he walks down the hallway to his bedroom in the solarium on the third floor.

"Can you believe this?" Kyran asks, his footsteps heavy as he walks beside him with clenched fists.

"Yes I can, actually," Phoenix responds calmly. "Everything is always a secret with Thaddeus, you should know that better than anyone."

"I wish for once he'd tell us exactly what he's trying to say instead of forcing us to compete for the best guess. Do you know what would be a useful adaptation?

Phoenix scratches his scruffy chin.

"I've put a lot of thought into this Ky, and I think I know what you're going to say. Stretchy limbs!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Stretchy limbs Kyran, limbs that can stretch, so you can sit on the couch and reach into the fridge for a snack without having to ever leave your seat. It's much more practical than the stuff we can already do."

Kyran wipes his glasses as he holds them up to the morning light.

"I was thinking more along the lines of invisibility, so I can sneak into the meetings Dad has with Zephyr and listen to the plan firsthand instead of having to hear it through someone whose already heard it once before. It's ineffective."

"Would your clothes turn invisible too, or would you have to walk around naked everywhere?" Phoenix asks, more concerned with the wrinkles in his pajamas than with what Kyran has to say.

"I imagine so, but eventually we could invent special--

Phoenix reaches his bedroom at the far end of the manor and shuts the door in Kyran's face without another word, having lost interest in their conversation.

"Great talk," Kyran says to the number four decorating the door, turning back to disappear in a cloud of inky smoke.

***

In the private study, Zephyr sinks into a large, plush armchair by Thaddeus's sturdy desk as the old lion peers out at the garden and conservatory beyond his private terrace.

Although he's been inside the tall room with slanted ceilings many times before, Zephyr has never seen it without the usual clutter of papers and maps scattered across the floor. It's the only room the staff isn't allowed to clean. Spacious and lined with books far too sensitive for the adjacent library, Thaddeus's bedroom lies beyond a compartment hidden behind floral wallpaper.

"You've done a beautiful job maintaining the garden this year. This may be the best I've seen it in wintertime."

"I couldn't have done it without your guidance," Zephyr says, more to himself than to Thaddeus from within the study.

"You're about the only one who will actually listen to my guidance," Thaddeus responds, closing the heavy doors to keep the cold air out. The lion removes his lilac colored jacket, placing it on his sturdy chair as he rolls his sleeves up his toned forearms, reminding Zephyr of when he used to test their adaptations.

"Phoenix will come around," Zephyr says before Thaddeus interrupts him.

"It's not Phoenix I'm worried about. I can sense Kamala is growing extensively distant as of late. I can't help but to think about the future and wonder how much longer this experiment of ours can be maintained. There's still too much to fight for, but our days are catching up to us, and it's only a matter of time before time itself slips away. I'm afraid I may have pushed her away by allowing her the freedom she's so desperately desired."

Pangs of guilt devour Zephyr from within his conflicted heart.

"But enough of that. How are you feeling? I can see the immense struggle of a silent war in your eyes. It's becoming much harder to control, isn't it?" Thaddeus asks as he rummages through a bookshelf for his journal.

"It is, but I can manage it," Zephyr tries to assure Thaddeus with a hesitant smile he sees right through.

"How old are you now Zephyr, twenty-four?"

Zephyr nods. Thaddeus sits at his desk, his wide body blocking the sunlight.

"I was around your age when I made the discovery that changed the course of my life. As I sit here and look at you, wondering where all those years went, it's almost too much to bear. I failed you all in not disclosing the existence of the other Zenith."

"Why couldn't you tell me there was another?"

"I couldn't assure you wouldn't tell the others until they were ready. As your paths may have never even crossed, it was not worth the risk to tell you. But what's important now is rescuing the boy Ziegler currently has held captive. I'm afraid his adaptation is far too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. If Dietrich has discovered what he's capable of, then we're facing a task that will require every bit of the power you hold and then some. It won't be an easy mission, but I trust you can lead your team through it successfully?"

"I will," Zephyr says over the scratching of Thaddeus's pen.

"Your team is only as strong as its leader, so keep an eye on the others, Zenith 1. This may be the most important thing we've ever fought for; failure isn't an option. I'll see you again tomorrow."

Zephyr rises to make his way to the doors of the study, but as he grips the crystal doorknob, a burning question from the depths of his mind finds the light at the surface.

"Can we be cured?" Zephyr asks.

Thaddeus contemplates, the unexpected question weighing heavy on his mind.

"What makes you think you need to be cured?" He asks, taking off glasses identical to Kyran's.

"I don't. I just wonder sometimes if it's even possible."

Thaddeus sets aside the journal and tosses his glasses onto the desk.

"There's nothing about you that needs to be cured. I can teach you everything I've learned, I can train you to control your adaptation and defend yourself, but I won't have a hand in encouraging you to hate yourself or feed you false hope that you can rid yourself of the power that latched onto you. Your adaptation is a gift, not a curse. Or do you disagree?"

"No, I--

"Should I have chosen someone else?"

"No. Forget I even asked," Zephyr says as he walks out of the study, the monstrous voice in his head rising from the depths as his hope sinks down an abyss.

An hour later, the team convenes in the library, waiting on cozy reading chairs and filling the air with speculation to pass the time.

"What do you think he'll be like?" Phoenix asks, tossing a paperweight as far as he can at the tall ceiling, finding nothing in the room to keep himself occupied.

"If what Dad's saying is true, he's powerful," Kyran says with an air of anxiety Phoenix easily detects.

"Are you afraid old Thaddeus is going to replace you as his trusty number two?" Phoenix teases, tossing a cushion at Kyran, who reappears by the grand fireplace.

"Any bets on what his adaptation will be?" Indigo asks, chipping the paint off their nails.

"I hope he has the power to run as far away from this as possible," Kamala says as she fidgets with the cold brass buttons of her jean jacket.

"Or the power to fix all of our problems," Phoenix says.

Kyran paces the room, deep in thought.

"If he's so powerful, then why does he need us to rescue him?"

"I'd like to see you try to get through tons of reinforced concrete and steel surrounding a fortified bunker in the heart of the Swiss Alps," a sharp voice with an English accent says from the massive doorway.

"I literally can do just that," Kyran responds to Marina Fletcher under his breath, falling into the soft red cushions beside Kamala.

A tall and commanding peacock, Fletcher elegantly glides into the room as if flying, her cream-colored tail feathers grazing the flawless wood floors far behind her. Initially hired by Thaddeus to teach the Zenith to defend themselves without their adaptations, Fletcher inadvertently raised them with her stern but caring nature.

She clears her throat loudly at Phoenix, who groans and takes his heavy boots off the long center table.

"Let's begin," Fletcher says, tossing heavy files and long paper maps of mountain ranges before them.

"Will Zephyr be joining us?" Kyran asks, examining the blueprint of an old missile bunker.

"He's been briefed by Thaddeus already," Fletcher says. "He's training in the gymnasium as I brief you."

"Well, that's--

"Ineffective?" Fletcher asks, "I'll add that to the list of grievances, Kyran. Now let's get started, you're wheels up in thirty."

***

Hours later, from the nose of the Cepheus, Indigo glances down at the tops of serene clouds as they cross the dark blue Atlantic, each Zenith lost in their own minds as their already vast world expands into the infinite.

"I can't stop thinking about what Dad said," Kyran admits beside them without breaking his concentration on the vast, glittering ocean before him, "or how he said it. It makes you wonder what else he's hiding from us."

Kyran has long confided in Indigo. They're the only one in the manor he can be honest with. He finds speaking to them comforting, even if he has no choice but to be honest around a mind reading rabbit.

"I can't believe the things he didn't say," Indigo says, still able to hear some of Thaddeus's lingering afterthoughts in their head.

"We're not children anymore, he could tell us the truth from time to time," Kyran says, leveling the incline of the aircraft with a gentle touch.

"That would be a first. I mean, he hasn't exactly ever been honest with us, has he?" Indigo asks.

"I guess he only tells us what we need to know. Well, most of us, anyway."

Kyran points at the auto-pilot controls, instructing Indigo to switch them as he rises to stretch his sore legs.

At the rear of the aircraft, Kamala's exhausted eyes ease her mind as she drifts to sleep. Sometime later, she wakes up to find Phoenix sitting in the seat before her, staring down nervously at the patches of changing countryside from the narrow windows.

"Are we there yet?" she asks over the purr of the engines.

"Not yet. Do you think we're ready to face the mad scientist again?" Phoenix asks, his feet nervously tapping on the steel floor of the Cepheus.

"What choice do we have?"

"You're right. I just can't stop thinking about the last time we saw him, in Rome. That didn't end well, and it's not a good sign when even Zeph seems afraid this time."

"We're all afraid of something," Indigo assures him as they take the seat beside him, their slender body able to fit between the lion and the side of the sleek aircraft.

"Not me," Kyran says confidently, passing by them to return to the controls.

"Bullshit. You're telling me you're not afraid of anything? Kyran, we've known you all our lives," Kamala says, her anxiety melting away with their conversation.

Kyran rests his arms on the sharp black surfaces of the jet's interior.

"Try me. The lake? I learned to swim. The forest? I run through it every morning. Heights? I learned to fly. Fear can only control you if you allow it to. Ask Indigo, what do you see?"

"I see someone who's full of it," Indigo lies, seeing a pair of burning red eyes in Kyran's memories.

Zephyr emerges from the rear of the jet. His scarlet eyes meet Kamala's blue ones as he smiles at her, trying to rekindle the solace he felt that morning, which now feels lost in a time long ago.

"What were you guys talking about?" He asks, fidgeting with the zippers on his black and red uniform.

"Nothing at all," Indigo says, crossing their legs and typing furiously on their cellphone.

"We were just talking about the mission," Kamala says, gesturing for him to sit before her. Zephyr shakes his head, his ears tucked nervously as he rests his long muzzle on his chest to focus on the zipper.

"It's going to be okay," Kamala says as she rises to push his quivering hands away to fix the zipper, using her claws to free the fur trapped within the slider.

As they near their destination, the hum from the engine casts its spell on most of them, and they begin to fade into the deepest depths of dreams as mystery looms over them, and questions follow them to the tallest peaks of an untamed mountain range.

Hours later, the Zenith wake to brace the harsh freeze and step out together into deep snow, venturing into the beginning of the end of everything.