Chapter 26

Rean wasn't concerned about Jurai being taken over by anyone.

Ouroboros would be lurking in the shadows and manipulating events in Jurai, not outright seizing anything. Even though tensions were high among the classes and everyone else, people were still also united by the fact that they had all come out of these wars alive and with peace. It was a tentative situation and could go either way. After speaking with the lead doctor about Ash and learning he would be able to come with them, -as if anything would stop Carbide- he had gone to the cafeteria to oversee the sorting of bags, making sure Class VII found their things if they were here.

"He's cleared to leave with us." He informed when Melyssa came in.

"Good, he'll be happy to hear that." Melyssa began sifting through the bags and pulled Ash's out, setting it aside. "I told him I'd bring him his bag, so he can look through it." Rean nodded and she continued looking for hers, thankful she had her name on it. He tapped her shoulder and she turned, seeing her bag in his hand. "Thank the goddess…" It didn't look too worse for wear, none of them did really and she took it, setting it down. "That was pretty sneaky what you did in Ash's room, you know. You could've wished me a happy birthday out in the woods earlier, but you chose to do it while Crow was in the room." Now Rean looked sheepish and she folded her arms in front of her chest.

"Well, in my defense, you weren't going to tell him and-" Rean, who was not usually mischievous in the way Ash and Crow were, had a decidedly impish grin spread quickly across his lips before vanishing just as quick. "It was good for him to have that reality check. Crow doesn't usually overreact and panic that way." He was curious if Crow was just overwhelmed by this young woman, who had come waltzing in claiming to know him and then struggling to remember her. "It's not very often someone is able to catch him off guard like that, I had to take advantage."

"Hmm…so you used me to get one up on your buddy, in other words? I didn't think you were that type, Rean." She stepped up to him, that impish gleam shimmering in his eyes and she let a slow smirk curve her lips. "So, between you and me, he freaked out because of my age, right?"

"Well…"

It was understandable, she supposed, though Crow also shouldn't have assumed what her age was. Or he could have asked before stealing her first kiss. Either way, it was pathetic and she didn't like the feeling of being called a mistake simply because of her age.

"Rean, we're past being hesitant after you decided to out me."

Rean sighed, nodding. "Fine – fine, it was because of your age. He freaked out because he thought you were underage and he's an adult."

"Hmm…thought so." Picking her bag up, Melyssa shouldered it and winked at him. "Thanks for telling me. At least now I know and the unknown won't bug me anymore."

"You shouldn't let it bother you anyway. It's not on you or anything you did, Melyssa." Rean said earnestly, reverting back to his usual serious and concerned demeanor, staring down at her intently. "You are a beautiful, vibrant woman and one bad experience," Yikes though, the first kiss part of that whole debacle was a killer. "Shouldn't ruin… anything for you. We're not all total fools like he is." Well, now it sounded like he had just put himself on the market and offered himself up to her. Goddess, maybe he had. "Altina, right there is yours." He called past Melyssa, pointing to said bag. "Everyone should be ready within the next hour. Let Carbide know, please."

It was her very first kiss, so of course, it bothered her a little. And did Rean just…no, Melyssa immediately dismissed that instantly and nodded at her Instructor. "I will, thanks."

She waved to Altina on her way out of the cafeteria with her and Ash's bags in hand, heading back to his room. On the way, she ran into Juna and Kurt, who both wished her a happy birthday. Juna hugged her, promising they would do something once they were back in Leeves and out of this mess with Jurai. Melyssa agreed to it and let them be on their way to grab their belongings while she stopped in the room she occupied to quickly change. She had just taken her shirt off, leaving her in a skirt and bra, when the door opened and her eyes locked on hesitant crimson. He was the LAST person she wanted to see or talk to right now; the pain of his rejection was still too fresh and she needed time to get over it before they could have a discussion about what happened.

Turning right around with her back facing him, Melyssa picked her shirt up and began pulling it over her head, thankful none of her clothes smelled funky. See, this was how Crow knew the Goddess had a wicked sense of humor. This moment right here. What were the odds of him walking in just as she was UNDRESSING? Only a cruel, jokester Goddess would allow this misery.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, first for walking in. He should have knocked even though, technically, this was his room as well. Crow had kind of forfeited that invitation last night when he had left her there on the bed, confused and miserable after stealing her first kiss. "I shouldn't have barged in like that, Melyssa." But here he was and it was only going to get more awkward because he wasn't leaving until he had at least apologized for his major mistake last night. Walking around until they were face to face, he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, for freaking out on you last night. I shouldn't have, and I should have asked your age and permission to kiss you."

They were really doing this right here and now. Rean must have talked to him about this and pushed Crow to apologize before they had to leave for Jurai. Did he mean the apology? Did she care? She wasn't sure what to feel anymore towards him and grabbed her jacket, slipping it on.

Jurai needs you and you don't need this drama crap getting in the way of saving your home, she rationalized in thought, plastering on a smile and patted his shoulder in a purely platonic way. "It's fine, don't worry about it. I think it's better if we just stay friends and roommates as we have been and forget this ever happened." They had to find a middle ground with each other before returning to Leeves. "Instructor Rean said we're leaving within an hour, so I really have to go give Ash his bag."

Nobody had pushed Crow to come in and do this. He had gotten his stuff loaded onto their new transport and taken a minute to sort his head out, trying to think of how he was going to word things without offending her or making it worse. Apparently, he had not thought it through long enough or there just was no fixing his mess-up. His grandfather had been wrong, apologies did not always fix things.

"Ash was being released when I passed by the infirmary." He offered slowly, aware she was sort of extending an olive branch and he would be a fool not to take it.

Just friends and roommates…he wasn't sure if he could go back to those things, though. Everything had been weird, different, since she had opened Pandora's Box between them with the memory thing, with being mad at him for not remembering a childhood she had apparently cherished. Crow didn't see anything returning to any semblance of normal soon.

"I AM sorry, Melyssa." He said softly, reaching out to place a hand on the bag to stop her when she went to shoulder it. "I didn't mean to make you feel like it was a mistake."

"I know and I forgive you, roomie." She even gave him a smile to show there were no hard feelings. "Come on, let's go find Ash to give him his stuff, and then we need to get to the bus."

They were taking an orbal bus to a destination unknown, where they would board a flying aircraft known as the Courageous II. It was Prince Olivert's private airship and Rean had called in a favor to his friend. Olivert assured him they would arrive safely in Jurai and had been planning on bringing the Courageous II to them even before Rean's phone call. Melyssa grabbed Ash's bag, along with hers, and left the room with Crow, finding Ash in almost no time…and he was fully healed.

"Whoa…"

"Emma performed some kind of healing spell on him." Juna informed them, her hand clasped in Kurt's.

"She is a witch and she can perform powerful spells." Altina added her two cents, eyeballing Crow and Melyssa, who seemed friendly, but there was something…wrong between them. She could sense it.

"Oh okay." Melyssa hadn't met this Emma person yet, but if she could fully heal Ash to make himself look brand-new again, she was one hell of a witch. "Here's your stuff, Carbide. You might wanna go change really fast before the bus gets here."

He smirked, squeezed her shoulder, and took off to change in the nearby bathroom.

"We could have used her last night." Crow remarked offhandedly, shaking his head as Ash took off.

Hell, having a witch last night would have prevented the few casualties they'd had, all of which had been regular people, none of the actual intended targets. That was kind of depressing, actually. They, Class VII, had been the intended targets and none of them had gotten anything beyond hurt. He thought Ash's concussion might've been the worst of it.

"Here, I'll take your bag and put it in the undercarriage." He offered, extending a hand.

"Hurry up, guys," Rean ordered, standing off to the side supervising his students. "We're on a schedule!"

Emma Millstein had saved countless lives from the wreck, which was why there weren't nearly as many fatalities as there should have been. She had gotten there as quickly as she could. A witch could only move so fast, just like everyone else. She wasn't Vita where she could snap her fingers and be in a place a few seconds later. That was not how her witchcraft worked.

"No, I got it. Thanks."

Melyssa tossed her bag in the compartment before boarding the bus, Crow following suit. He didn't sit next to her and she was relieved, still feeling awkward around him. Hopefully, the awkwardness would fade away after a while, but right now, they were on their way, finally, to Jurai. Melyssa took the window seat and stared out, hoping her parents and grandfather were all right. She would soon find out. The investigation would still happen, but it was no longer a field study, so she planned on going to see them, alone, once the opportunity presented itself.

Crow and Ash soon had several others engaged in a game of Blade while Rean was reviewing some things with Juna, who as class president was his 'second in command' so to speak. When he ran out of things to go over, and she insisted they were done repeating it, he leaned back and surveyed the others, noting nobody was sitting with Melyssa. She was still staring out the window and it made him wonder if she was asleep, he couldn't see her face. Quietly, he moved until he was sitting beside her, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

"Everything okay?"

Melyssa turned to look at her Instructor and the turmoil was clear in her eyes. "Crow and I talked, so you don't need to play mediator with us anymore." She assumed that was why he was asking if everything was all right and leaned her head back against the seat. "And no, everything isn't okay. I'm worried about Jurai…about my parents and my grandfather."

Why was it so easy to talk to Rean and why did she enjoy doing it? Melyssa knew it was wrong to be attracted to her Instructor, but how could something so wrong feel so right? He was always there for her when she somehow needed him the most, just like earlier in the woods with their impromptu sparring session.

"Do you think McBurn and Campanella would hurt the civilians?"

"Not this soon I don't, it would be tipping their hand and instead of dividing the people, it would bring them together." Rean said slowly, though doubt began lacing his tone. "Unless they made it look like someone else did it. The ending of the Twilight curse was a bad deal for them, they didn't get anything that they were aiming for… so now they'll have to achieve their means in other ways." Seeing the concern shining in her teal eyes, Rean gave Melyssa what was meant to be a reassuring smile. "I think if citizens were winding up injured, or missing, we would have heard a report about it from our sources."

That was true. So why did Melyssa have a sense of dread wash over her? "This is my home, Rean. I haven't been there in over a year and…I'm scared of what's happening to it." Jurai was beautiful and prosperous, thanks to the Imperial Government, and she wanted to keep it that way. "Look, um, now that we have a minute to talk one on one, without me being upset, I need to tell you something. I've had a run-in with McBurn before. It's the reason why I was…invited to join Thors and the person who helped me get in…saved me from him. He almost killed me." Twice now. "I'm not assuming he was after me with the train attack, but…it's awfully coincidental too. I know I should have told you this sooner, but…" A lot happened in a very short period of time and Rean was too busy running around, trying to do all he could to help.

All Rean could do was stare at her, wondering where this information had been the day he had mentioned this trip AND Ouroboros in the same sentence. "Melyssa," His voice was now 'leader' and 'Instructor', his eyes slightly narrowed as he gave her his entire focus. "That was information I should have been made aware of a while ago." He informed her quietly, wondering WHY she had a history with McBurn, or a run-in as she had called it. "What do you have to do with McBurn?" He asked, keeping his voice down, so nobody would overhear them just yet. If that entire train had been attacked because of HER and it could have been prevented... His stomach lurched at the thought, a wave of nausea washing over him.