Melissa laughed, standing atop of Castle Viscounti with the king's crown in her hands. The knights of the Echo Bell Kingdom kneeled behind her in defeat, their weapons dropped before them as they bowed their heads in shame.

"We were no match for the unstoppable Harlow," a knight said.

"She is simply too powerful for us."

Melissa tucked the crown under her arm and proudly rubbed her knuckles against her chest. "That is what you get for questioning my might. Long live the Foresters, and long live Harlow! This steal will be remembered throughout history!"

She turned away from the knights, ready to jump off the castle and flee the scene. She couldn't get one foot forward before staggering into someone. She shook her head and gazed up upon the man before her, shocked to see it was her own father, Roscoe Penworth.

"So, this is what became of the Penworth bloodline?"

"I…what are you—" She turned around, but saw she wasn't on the roof anymore, or in the Echo Bell Kingdom. She was in the foyer of her castle. She looked down to see herself in a green dress with her own crown in her arms. "I—"

"I should have figured," Roscoe said, stepping toward her in a firm march. "A good-for-nothing princess who fiddles around with fancies of grandeur, and I catch her becoming the sworn enemy of the ten kingdoms."

"N-No, that is not it!" Melissa exclaimed. "I was just—"

"Turning traitor?" She jumped back as Luna popped up from behind. "You are the hope of the people, of the next generation of Verde, and you think you'll amount to anything by becoming a thief? You are a disgrace to this kingdom's legacy."

"A useless subject of my court," Roscoe added. "You are worth more to bear me a new heir, but anything born from you would be equally useless. Much simpler to find a replacement." He flicked his cape, and Charlie stepped out of hiding dressed in royal garb and a golden crown that eclipsed Melissa's puny tiara.

"How tragic that I inherit the throne of a tool," Charlie said in a posh, snooty tone. "How sad must your existence be if a mere peasant can do your job better than the genuine article?"

Luna sneered. "You'd much rather see your kingdom fall while you skip about because it's easier than facing reality."

Melissa trembled as she backed away from them. "N-No, I didn't—did not have a choice. I could do so much more for Verde if you just—" She tripped over her heel and fell onto her back. She bent her head back and gasped as she met the fuming gaze of Jet.

"What's a worthless maggot like you doing here? You never suffered like the rest of us. You never cared about our follies. All you cared about was your damned self!" He kicked her in the side and knocked her across Fort Lucus.

Melissa flopped onto her stomach, feeling her crown pressing against her chest. She struggled to lift herself and lifted her head to meet the disapproving gazes of her fellow Foresters. Their eyes bored into her with an intense shade of red.

Adenine sneered. "Stealin' mah man away from me."

Pandora shook her head. "A worthless minion."

Marie huffed. "A general nuisance who's always getting us into trouble."

Ragger downed a bottle of whiskey and wiped his maw. "Can't even put up a fight."

Leon scowled. "She's just a damned royal like all the rest."

Lucient pushed up his glasses. "How illogical to consider her an ally."

Wyatt groaned. "Her stupid Harlow legend nearly got us killed several times over."

"And how many more after that?" Avel added.

Lillia shrugged. "Enough to where we won't know another peaceful existence."

Melissa stood up and raised her hands. "I never meant to cause you all trouble! I just…I needed—"

"You needed this?" She gasped as Gold and Jewel popped up behind her, dangling her locket in her face. "What's so special about this tacky piece of metal?" they asked. "Are you so inept that you can't do anything without your mommy's help?"

"Give me that!" She lunged at them, but passed through them like smoke. Her neck landed on her crown, but it passed right through and latched around her neck instead. "Huh?" She stood up and tried to pry her crown off. She pulled on it and saw it had turned into a shackle.

"There is nowhere else for you to go, dear Melissa." A chain pulled on her shackle and reeled her back. She fell on her hands and knees, and a wing cupped under her chin to gently lift it. She met the vile gaze of Darby as he smirked down on her. "So, why not throw it all away and accept your destiny as mine? A perfect world for the perfect tool." He leaned toward her.

"G-Get away from me, you sicko!" Melissa tried to run, but the chain pulled her back in. She pushed back on Darby as he tried to grab her. "I'm not useless! I am not useless!" she yelled with tears flowing from her eyes. "Please, stop!"

A hand grabbed the back of her shackle and threw her away from Darby. She landed hard on her back, groaning, and looked up to a sight that made her blood turn cold. It was Jason, wielding his electrified sword over his shoulder. Melissa tried to sit up, but Jason slammed his foot down on her chest and pinned her to the ground.

"J-Jason?" Melissa whimpered. "What are you—"

"You have no idea how much the Penworths took away from me," he said with a growl. "I should've sold you off when I had the chance. I feel nothing but hatred for your impure blood."

"J-Jason…"

He gripped his sword and reared it over his shoulder. "Just another link in a chain of corruption, but I'll end it with the last Penworth."

Her eyes widened. "No. Jason, please! Don't!"

"I wish nothing but Hell upon you, Melissa Penworth!" He swung his sword straight for her neck and cleaved through—

"AH!"

Melissa woke with a start and fumbled out of her hammock. She sat up and frantically looked around while covering her neck. As her heartrate settled to normal, her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She remembered. She left the medical hut the other day and returned to her room.

She looked around and saw Pandora and Marie were still asleep, thankfully undisturbed by her cry.

She nervously patted her neck for a moment before sighing. "J-Just a dream. Just a dream…"

She touched under her eyes and felt dampness in her fur. She vigorously rubbed it dry before climbing back into her hammock. She snuggled under her blankets and buried her head into her pillow, but she didn't close her eyes. She wasn't sure if she could close them.

That is the second night I had that dream. She pulled the sheets tighter around herself. I do not want to see that again.

Melissa was unable to sleep for the rest of the night. An agonizing three hours of silent thoughts eventually brought her into the morning. Just as Marie and Pandora were starting to get up, she marched out of the hut without even uttering a good morning.

The mess hall had just opened for breakfast by the time she got there. Lambert was surprised to see her, more used to her swinging by an hour or so later, but he didn't question any further and handed her breakfast over. It was a plate of mixed corn, artificial sausage, and a single large biscuit drizzled in gravy.

She walked over to a table in the far corner and hunched over her food as she ate. She took slow bites, barely putting in the effort to lift her fork to her mouth. Dark circles formed under her eyes along with dried tear stains in her fur. Speaking of her fur, it was standing up in places since she didn't brush it out. The fluff on her ears was also sticking out of place.

By the time more Foresters crowded into the mess hall, Melissa barely made a dent in her food. Half a sausage, a couple scoops of corn, and a morsel of her biscuit were eaten. Her eyes never once lifted from her tray, ignoring anyone who walked past her.

She heard a tray land in front of her, but she didn't look up to see who. It wasn't until a red hand leaned into her vision and tapped on the table that she lifted her eyes. It was Klaus, who greeted her with a friendly wave.

"Uh…morning, Melissa," he said.

"…Morning." She looked back down at her food.

Klaus grabbed his fork and stabbed it through his biscuit. "This looks appetizing, don't you think? Lambert really outdoes himself. Smart decision to come here early. That's when his meals are fresh out of the pot."

"Mhmm."

He frowned. "Heh. Yeah." He took a bite of his biscuit and swallowed. "So, uh—"

"What do you want?" she asked, and much more rudely than she intended. She didn't correct herself, though. "If you want an energy boost, go find someone else."

Klaus flinched from her tone, but brushed it off. "Listen, I've been…hearing things around the fort ever since you got back from Senbo. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"What does it matter?" she mumbled, picking through her corn.

"Well, we're basically kin. Two members of the upper class. I figured we should stick together in case something happened to the other." He scratched behind his head. "I heard the other day you've been moping around ever since you got released from the medical hut. Are you feeling alright? Are you sick? If so, believe me, I can relate."

She groaned. "I'm not sick."

"That's good, that's good." Klaus scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Either way, I figured if you weren't busy, we could hang out later and get to know each other. I'm quite curious to learn more about you, and I've got quite a few stories to tell about my adoptive father. Actually, there was this one time he was overseeing the markets during a big sale week and—"

"Nothing to talk about."

He frowned again. "Oh?"

"There's nothing to talk about myself. It's nothing."

Klaus narrowed his eyes worriedly. "Melissa, are you sure everything's okay? If you want to talk about it, I can—"

"Ugh, will you just shut up?"

He jolted in his seat. "P-Pardon?"

"I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine, and I don't need you bothering me about it."

Klaus frowned as his friend started trembling in her seat. Her ears flopped over her face, and he could swear he heard her sniffling. "Melissa?" He reached for her hand, but she slid out of her seat.

"I'm not hungry anymore." She shoved her hands inside her pockets and briskly left the mess hall.

Klaus watched her leave, then looked down at her nearly untouched tray. He noticed the numerous stab marks in her biscuit. "Just what the hell happened in Senbo?"

"…And that's basically the gist of our situation."

With the past couple days rife with concern, Jason called in an emergency meeting in his hut with Blitz, Shingo, and Brooklyn. They didn't fail to notice the ragged state of their Pikachu leader, even Blitz. His messed up fur, the long drags in his voice as if he was moments away from passing out, the dark circles under his eyes, and more. Given the seriousness of their situation, though, they opted to stay quiet for now.

Brooklyn looked down. "I can't believe we've been framed for an assassination on Prince Dimitri's life. How could someone be so cruel?"

"I have my suspicions regarding a suspect," Jason grumbled. He shook his head. "That's beside the point. Given the state of our actions last week, we may be in serious hot water with the Senbo Kingdom. If being falsely accused of injuring the prince was bad enough, attempted assassination could garner a war for our heads."

Shingo glared. "And with our reputation in the Verde Kingdom, efforts to push us out of the forest may exceed drastic measures. Our old tricks won't work if they decide to roll in the Senbo Kingdom's military might on the Forbidden Forest. Who knows what tactics they'll be willing to deploy?"

"There's also the possibility of the Verde Kingdom in its entirety being in jeopardy," Blitz added. "After all, since we reside in their territory, the Penworth family would be held accountable for us still being active. If they're serious enough, they might think to overthrow King Penworth and seize complete control of the land."

"Putting innocent people in danger if they get caught in the crossfire," Jason finished. "We can't know for certain what actions they'll take or if they would even risk an invasion, but the chances of Verde coming out on top are slim. Plus, worse case scenario for us, we'll have to deal with both armies."

"Then what's our move?" Brooklyn asked. "Do we send an envoy to negotiate? This is a huge misunderstanding. Surely they would listen to reason."

"There's nothing about our reputation that warrants a right to speak," Jason said. He cupped his hands under his chin and sighed. "Besides, without tangible evidence, we can't prove our innocence."

"But they don't have evidence either," Blitz said. "Someone claiming to be a Forester doesn't mean they are a Forester."

"Except this happened after we extracted Sadie from Castle Penworth, meaning the idea of one of us under the guise of a servant is hard to dispute. And the Talbots have no reason not to take the maid at her word." Jason closed his eyes. "I hate to admit it, but this was a perfectly calculated deception. Our suspect used every bit of information available to the public to twist a narrative framing us. Unless we wrung out a confession or found some evidence this wasn't possible, we're doomed."

"Then how do we get that evidence?"

"By taking it from the source." Jason glared at them. "That's why I called you three here. I've got a mission, and I need the most discreet Foresters to carry out this operation."

Shingo saluted. "We'll do all we can, sir. What is our mission?"

"First, we need to break the assailant who attempted the assassination out of the castle dungeon. We need to figure out who set her up as the assassin, her reason behind it, and wring out any useful information we can from her. I ordered Petra to go to the capital and speak with one of our informants to run a background check on the maid. If we can find proof she never had any contact with us, it's a start."

Brooklyn raised her wing. "But who's breaking her out of prison?"

"You and Shingo, naturally."

Shingo froze. "M-Me?"

"Yes, you."

Shingo slammed his hands down on Jason's desks. "No way! I'm not breaking into a dungeon!" He staggered back and shivered. "Closed-in cells, shackled to a wall, narrow hallways…"

Jason frowned. "Shingo, I know you hate tight spaces, but you and Brook are my stealthiest units. I just need you to push your fears aside for a while and help me get that maid out of there." He looked away. "I don't want our name to be responsible for someone's execution again."

Shingo hugged himself. "S-Still…"

Brooklyn slowly raised her wing and draped it over the Frogadier's back. "Don't worry, I'll be with you every step of the way. Deep breaths, Shingo."

He sucked in some air and breathed out steadily. "Alright…alright, I'll try. For the Foresters."

Jason nodded. "Thank you, Shingo."

"What about me?" Blitz asked. "Am I on guard duty?"

"Not necessarily. I need you for another important task. This assassination started with Dimitri, so he may know more about what's going on. I need you to interrogate him."

Blitz tilted his head. "Interrogate him? Petra said he was barely conscious when she was scouting the castle."

"Yes, barely. We need every scrap of information we can dig up, and everything centers on his involvement. Think about it, why go after the second-in-line to the throne when a political assassination of heir would generate more buzz? Dimitri was with Marie and Pandora when I intervened. He knows more than we do, and a certain someone saw the perfect opportunity to kill two problems with one stone."

Blitz scratched his chin. "I see. Still, I'm not sure how much help I can be with that. Is he really going to open up to me when he barely knows what's going on?"

Jason groaned and leaned back. "Fair point." He closed his eyes for a moment, then his face lit up. "Though, if he's too dazed to think, there might be someone who can lend their help. Someone who experienced that party firsthand."

Shingo raised his brow. "One of the girls?"

"Exactly, and I'm sure one of them would jump at the chance to get out of their punishments."

"How about Marie or Pandora? They met him, right?"

Jason shook his head. "I can't trust Pandora to be the gentle type, and Marie?" He sighed and pinched between his eyes. "She'll be in charge of interrogating the maid, but I don't trust her to go back to Senbo."

"So, Adenine?" Brooklyn suggested.

Jason winced. "I rather not. She's not experienced in field missions, and…it wouldn't be wise to send her back to Castle Talbot with the state she's in."

Brooklyn frowned. "The poor thing."

"I still can't believe she pulled the wool over our eyes about her affair," Shingo said. "I admire the deception."

Blitz crossed his arms. "Well, we definitely can't send Melissa, so…wait, you're not suggesting—"

Jason nodded and stood up. "Come with me, Blitz. Time for Lillia to earn a reduced sentence."

As the Foresters went about their day, they passed by Melissa as she sat slumped against the large tree the walkway was built onto. With her hands inside her pockets and her hood covering her head, she tried to ignore everyone walking around her as she slept, or tried to sleep. Even if it meant closing her eyes and letting the world go on without her, she would at least get some rest back.

The rush hour settled down, and Melissa sighed in content to no longer hear anyone on the walkway. She nestled against the tree and pulled her hood further over her head.

However, with ten seconds of blissful silence, she heard the patter of paws approaching her. She opted to ignore it and go on with her rest, but realized the footsteps stopped halfway. Someone was standing next to her.

"Melissa?"

She lifted her head and peeked out of her hood to see Lucient. He waved with an awkward grin. She glared and pulled her hood back over her eyes. "What?"

Lucient ignored the rude tone and sat on his haunches. "Sorry to bother you, but I've been looking for you. Since you've been discharged from the medical hut, and you've somehow managed to escape punishment from the higher ups, the guys and I figured you wanted to finally get some work done on your heist."

"Hmph."

"Unless you're not feeling up to it or anything." Lucient adjusted his spectacles. "Fear not, though. I've naturally memorized the notes you shared with me, and I'd be happy to give my analysis on how to improve operations. I could always host the meeting and go over the plan with the others, then we can do a workshop on areas that are lacking."

Melissa's eyes widened. "L-Lacking?"

"It's only natural. No plan is perfect, just like no essay is perfect. There's always room for improvement and growth of knowledge. If you wish, I've already compiled some suggestions to how we can improve your original plan. For example, since I'm from the Echo Bell Kingdom, I know quite a lot about the catacombs you intend to use. I've been doing my research, and I believe—"

Melissa shot up from the ground and yelled, "My plans aren't useless!"

His eyes widened. "I beg your pardon?"

She winced and looked away from him. "I mean…" She groaned and shook her head. "Fine, fine! Get the others and meet me on the training platform. We'll have the meeting there or whatever."

Lucient frowned. "Are you sure? We could always reschedule. We have at least a month before the Misty Lights Carnival starts—"

"I said I'm fine!" With her head bowed, she stepped around the confused Espeon and stomped off.

"Um…okay?"

As requested, Melissa's heist team gathered onto the training platform in preparation for the long awaited meeting. There was an air of discomfort hanging around them, specifically the apprentices. Victoria sat on the floor with a glum expression as she rolled one of her explosives back and forth like a ball while Felix had his feelers crossed wearing a sour glare.

Wyatt leaned over to Lucient and whispered, "What's got them down in the dumps?"

He sighed and adjusted his spectacles. "I heard they got into an argument with Melissa a couple days ago. Actually, I've noticed she's been a little…bitter recently."

"Maybe she slept on her pillow weird," Wyatt said.

Avel rolled his eyes. "I seriously doubt that's the cause for her bitterness."

Wyatt smiled. "Well, nothing brightens a day more than some team bonding. I'm sure once we get this meeting going, all those frowns will be flipped around—"

A loud scraping sound cut him off and caused the team to seize up from the irritable grating. They saw Melissa walking onto the training platform and dragging a board with charts and maps tacked on. It scraped along the wooden platform, leaving scrapes in its way.

"Uh…" Avel raised his tongue. "Melissa, we could've just hosted the meeting somewhere else if you needed the—"

"It's fine," she said through gritted teeth. She pulled it until it was directly in front of the team. She dropped her bag, rolled the aches out of her shoulders, and gave the board a firm pat. "Anyway, here it is, or whatever."

"I…see," Lucient mumbled. He pulled out a notepad and quill set from his bag. "So, how will we be performing the heist?"

She wearily raised her finger and traced it along the board. "We go here, do a thing, scout out some patrol points, and boom, crown."

An awkward silence followed after with the team exchanging looks.

"Well, this was certainly worth getting out of bed today," Felix grumbled.

Lucient winced before raising his paw. "Pardon my intrusion, but perhaps you could elaborate on the details? Like, how will we plan our route? Do we have an optimal time to take advantage of for stealing the crown? Do we have any backup plans to keep in mind if things go wrong—"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Melissa brushed off. "It's not mad science. We just break-in and steal the crown. Maybe blow up a wall or two, who knows." She grinned wearily. "Heck, let's just get all the explosives. In fact, Victoria, you're now in charge of demolitions. Let's just blow out the entire wall and swipe the crown while everyone's distracted."

Victoria shrank back. "Um, I thought we were going to do this stealthily—"

"Bah! Who cares about stealth? We need to be bold and brash if we want to show how great we are. Let's leave an impression on King Viscounti's face when we destroy his precious castle. New plan for you, Felix. You will lead the charge into the castle. Recklessly attack all the knights and make them crumble at your feet. That'll show them who they're messing with!"

Felix raised his brow. "As much as I would enjoy the risk, I thought you wanted us to do this quietly."

"Oh, who cares? We need to play to our strengths and show our best selves. In fact, Lucient, you are in charge of distraction. Bore the knights to sleep with some useless facts."

Lucient frowned. "Uh, I feel like we don't have a cohesive plan here. What's the point of distracting the knights if we'll be causing a large commotion?"

"Because we need to be one step ahead of everyone, even ourselves! We're playing mind games with them, a new form of chess that far exceeds their primitive thinking!" Melissa's eye twitched as she laughed. "After all, I got this far being a reckless nutcase and the entire region hates me because I'm so darn cool! If it worked several times before, why not do it again? They clearly think Harlow is amazing, so she's doing something right, right?"

Wyatt frowned. He leaned over to Lucient again and whispered, "Is it just me or does Melissa sound slightly…off-kilter today?"

Avel sighed and raised his tongue. "Melissa, if I may interject. Your plan certainly has…qualities of a sort, but perhaps we should go with the original plan? Since we'll want to take advantage of the Misty Lights Carnival, perhaps we could look into the events planned and see what's the opportune time to—"

"Are you saying my plan's bad?!" she growled.

His eyes widened. "Well, not the exact words I would use, but—"

"Who's in charge of this heist again? Me! I know what I'm doing. I'm the one who has to pull their weight for this team, and you all just need to listen and carry it out for me. I'm the leader! I know what I'm doing, so keep your stupid opinions about how worthless my plan is to yourselves!"

A deafening silence hung over her team, even snapping her apprentices out of their glum states. They watched as Melissa seethed through clenched teeth, trembling in place with her fists and ears curled tight. Her fur bristled with her emotional outburst.

Lucient stood up and cautiously approached her. "Melissa, I think you need to sleep—"

"I don't need sleep!" she yelled. "I'm perfectly…f-fine. I'm fine! I'm strong, and I'm capable of taking care of myself!"

"I believe you, but I really think you need to get some rest."

"What I need is to prepare for this heist." She held her head up and marched away. "Review everything we talked about. I'm going to borrow some ingredients from Shade to construct the explosives we'll be using." She walked up the platform stairs and left the training area.

Victoria's ears flopped over. "I thought I was in charge of demolition."

Avel narrowed his eyes. "My opinions aren't stupid…"

Wyatt sighed and stood up. "I'm…going to get some food from the mess hall. Come on, Avel." He and his brother left the group.

Lucient closed his eyes and shook his head. "I know the higher ups said to give Melissa some space, but they still haven't told us what happened in Senbo. Why hasn't Jason made a statement yet?"

Felix glared. "Who knows? Maybe she's just being a pest."

Lucient sighed. "I doubt it. She was really looking forward to that party. Helping Adenine, getting to see Prince Tetrarch, enjoying the fancy atmosphere—"

Felix's eyes widened. "Prince…Tetrarch? As in Prince Darby?"

Lucient looked at the Sylveon with a raised brow. "She never stops talking about him. Why?"

He stared down at the ground in thought for a moment before glaring. "Is that why Jason's not saying anything? If so, then…"

"Felix?"

He stood up and walked off. "I got to go."

Lucient blinked in confusion as he watched the Sylveon leave. "What was that about?" He glanced back at Victoria, who was sniffling on the floor. He psychically lifted her to her feet and grabbed her hand. "Perhaps we should join Wyatt and Avel for that meal."

She sniffled and nodded. "Okay…"

As part of her punishment, Lillia was tasked with cleaning duty again. She was currently working in the mess hall after the initial breakfast rush was done and over with. She hummed to herself as she swept the floors of food and clumps of fur. Though it was still the winter season, there were some Pokémon already shedding their coats.

"Sweep, sweep, sweep~," she hummed to herself, moving her broom in rhythm with her steps. "Sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep~. Sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep—"

"Lillia."

She paused and turned to the doors as Jason and Blitz entered. She saluted to them. "Morning, sirs. Just getting a head start on cleaning duty."

Jason shook his head. "Forget that. I have an important mission for you. If successful, I'll reduced your cleaning duties for the week."

Her eyes widened. "Wait, really? Why the sudden change?"

He nodded at Blitz. "Blitz and the others will fill you in after you depart, but I need you to go with them back to the Senbo Kingdom."

Lillia frowned at the name. "The…Senbo Kingdom?" She scratched her neck awkwardly. "After everything that happened over there, I never imagined myself setting foot back on their territory. Unpleasant memories."

Jason nodded. "I won't force you to go, but this is really important. Are you familiar with Prince Dimitri?"

"I guess, why?"

"An incident occurred in the kingdom involving him, and we're trying to keep a tight lip. Only the higher ups, trusted individuals, and me know what happened after we crashed their party. It's only a matter of time before the news gets out. I need you to break into Prince Dimitri's room and see if you can extract any information from him regarding what happened."

Lillia tilted her head. "Why me?"

"He helped the others escape, and I need some I can trust to talk to him. I would send Sidney or one of the other Nature Spirits, but we figured he'd be more open to talk if it's with someone who was at that party. Someone who knows what happened to Melissa."

She looked away sadly. "I haven't been able to talk to Melissa since she got released from Shade's care. How's she doing?"

He shook his head. "Shade told me she was doing better physically, but she'll be in therapy for some time." He reached out and touched her shoulder. "I was being firm with you girls after that stunt you pulled, but I was worried when I found out what was really going on in there. I don't want to be the bad guy here, so I want to give you a second chance by doing this for me. Blitz will be there to keep an ear out for you. I just need you to talk to Dimitri and see if you can learn anything useful for us."

She looked down for a moment, teetering back and forth unsurely. She was the only one who didn't experience the horrors the other girls went through. She counted herself lucky, but knowing something almost happened to her friends ached her heart. She always believed there was kindness in everyone and that all deserved forgiveness, but it was so hard to stick to those ideals after what happened last week.

However, if a part of her could do anything to help her friends, maybe this was her best chance. All her friends went through so much when chaos broke loose, and she wanted to do more than sweep floors while some of them were still aching.

Lillia took a deep breath and faced Jason. "I'll do it."

Jason nodded. "Thank you. You're relieved of cleaning duty. Go pack your supplies and get some rest. You'll be leaving tonight."

"S-So soon?!"

"Trust me, every second counts." Jason walked past Blitz and exited the mess hall.

Lillia sighed and fell back into a chair. "Going on a big, crazy mission. Just what I needed."

Blitz patted her shoulder. "I'll be there to support you."

"Thanks, sir." She frowned to herself before asking, "He said Melissa's in therapy, right?"

"Yeah."

"How is she doing? Like, really doing?"

Blitz narrowed his milky eyes and frowned. "I'm…not sure myself. Before we went looking for you, I overheard some Foresters talking about her."

"And…"

"…I'm worried about her."

Jason slammed his door shut behind him and rubbed his eyes. "So tired…" He dragged his feet over to his desk and slammed his face down on it. "Two days with barely any sleep. I just need a moment to rest my eyes."

His eyes started to flutter shut, and he let his mind drift for a few precious minutes of sleep. Sadly, mere seconds away from slipping into slumber, several knocks sounded off his door. His eyes snapped open, and he let out an annoyed groan before straightening up.

"I swear, if it's Saga trying to pester me for questions again…come in!" he shouted.

To his surprise, as the door swung open, Petra flew in. "Reporting back from the Senbo Kingdom, sir!"

"Petra?" Jason rubbed his eyes and pinched his arm on the off-chance he did fall asleep. Seeing he was in fact awake, he glared at the honeybee fairy. "Petra, what are you doing here? I know you're fast, but I expected the informant to take a little longer than that."

She frowned and wrung her hands together. "Yeah, that's…actually why I'm back. Do you want the good news, the bad news, the really bad news, or the terrible news?"

Jason's ears fell down. "What? What happened?"

She tapped her hands together. "You might want to sit down for this." Jason narrowed his eyes and shuffled around his desk, planting himself in his chair. Petra gulped and, after stalling herself between deep breaths and eye twitches, said, "The informant cut ties with us."

"W-What?!" Jason gripped into his armrests. "What do you mean he cut ties with us?"

"He heard about the assassination attempt. I tried to explain to him that it wasn't us, but he was super worried about being ratted out as an accomplice. Now that there have been accounts of two Foresters with secret ties in high places, Prince Erasmus ordered a routine search of the entire capital. Even towns and villages are being swept."

Jason covered his face. "I should've seen this coming." He sighed and shook his head. "Okay, minor setback, but we can still bounce back from this—"

"Actually, there's where the really bad news comes in."

"That was the bad news?!"

"It gets worse, yeah. The really bad news is that…we lost more than just our informant." Petra gulped and fidgeted with her scarf. "I decided to check on some of our other informants and our food suppliers. They also cut ties with us."

Jason's eyes widened. "How…How many of them?"

"I haven't visited everyone, but…in terms of the food suppliers I did meet up with, we've lost around ninety-five percent."

Jason trembled onto his desk, pressing his fingers into his head as he stared down at the wooden surface. His mouth hung ajar, and his disheveled fur stood on end. "That's…That's not good."

"I tried, I really tried to persuade them to reconsider, but we only have three suppliers left, and those are just the ones I checked on." She opened her messenger bag and dumped a handful of scrolls and letters onto the desk. "These are the letters addressed to you from our former suppliers, detailing their reasons why they've withdrawn from us. I…read some of them, and some aren't filled with nice words."

Jason clenched his eyes shut. "Do I…even want to know what the terrible news is?"

"Heh, funny you should mention that…" She smiled nervously. "The Talbots officially declared war on the Foresters."

"Oooooh…"

"And you are being targeted for immediate execution."

"Ooooooooooh…"

"And there's been rumors of them planning an invasion on the Forbidden Forest after they've addressed their concerns to King Penworth."

"Uuuuuugh…" Jason pressed his face into his desk.

Petra frowned. "Jason, are we going to be okay?"

"…" He took a deep breath and straightened up. "Classifying details of what happened is one thing, but I can't stop everyone from figuring this out."

"Sir?"

"Petra, put a notice on the bulletin board regarding the details of the Talbots' declaration of war. After that, we'll let everyone decide their own course of action." He pulled open his drawer and grabbed some parchment. "In the meantime, I'm going to go over these letters and see if I can address the worries of our suppliers. With any luck, I might be able to get them on our side again. This is going to take me a while, though."

Petra frowned. "Are you sure? No offense, sir, but you look a little…frazzled."

"I'm fine, Petra, I-I just…I need to concentrate on this first. I can fix this. I'm the leader, after all."

She narrowed her eyes sadly. "Okay…" She floated toward the door.

"Wait!" She turned back, spotting his hopeful expression. "You said you had good news, right?"

She winced and rubbed her arm. "Um, I was hoping you would ask for the good news first to soften the blow, but…" She opened her bag and pulled out a wrapped muffin. She held it to him with an awkward smile. "Um, it's an apology muffin from one of our former supporters?"

Jason faceplanted into his desk.

"…So, can I have it if you don't want it?"

Leon chewed on the lunch delivered to him by Marianne before she headed out for her shift. Nothing special, just some grits, fruit, and water. He didn't mind. He wasn't in the mood to be a picky eater. Though, with his two roommates currently out for the day, it was just him while enduring house arrest. Tank made the occasional visit, but it did little to alleviate his boredom.

He sighed and pushed his food away. "My one chance to seek revenge, and now I'm sitting here sulking over it. Why am I feeling like this? I hate the royals. They're the reason for every bad thing that's ever…" He couldn't finish his sentence. He dropped his chin down on the dining table and groaned. "I don't even know anymore."

He heard the front door creak open. He tilted his head some to see Lucient letting himself in. He dropped his bag on the floor and turned to his Aron roommate. "Oh. Greetings, Leon."

"Hey…"

Lucient approached the dining table and saw Leon's unfinished plate. "I wouldn't recommend wasting food. It's a valuable part of a daily routine."

He groaned. "Yeah, yeah, don't lecture me."

Lucient frowned. "Well, at least this kind of behavior is expected from you." He walked around Leon and headed for his room.

Leon paused on the Espeon's comment before raising his head. "Wait, back up. What do you mean?"

Lucient faced the Aron with a glum expression. "Ah, right. You've been cooped up for so long, you haven't heard the gossip. It's about Melissa."

He rolled his eyes and returned to sulking on the dining table. "And suddenly, I don't care anymore."

Lucient shook his head. "It was like talking to a completely different person. I'm so used to her being positive and little awkward. I've never seen her act so…callous, especially to her friends."

Leon raised his brow and turned his head again. "Callous?"

"I've been hearing around that she's being snappy with anyone who talks to her. I saw for myself when we had our meeting earlier. We didn't know what to say. She's not the same Melissa we know and love. She got really testy when Avel tried to make suggestions to her plan. It's…I do not know what to say."

Leon blinked, then looked down. "I…see."

"Do you know anything about this? You helped in the escape."

"…" He closed his eyes. "I only heard so much. Jason was more interested in scolding me over my actions. I didn't really hear much about what happened to her."

"I see." Lucient sighed. "Well, I'm hoping she'll feel better with a good night's sleep. The guys and I are thinking of ways to cheer her up. I know you're not interested in making friends with Melissa, but…if by chance you do see her, try and be nice to her. She's clearly been through a lot."

"…Sure."

"Thanks." Lucient opened his door and departed into his room.

Leon crossed his forelegs and rested his chin in them. Someone actually broke that annoying ball of positivity? He frowned. That…That isn't right. Not at all.

With the sun setting, it was time for Melissa's therapy appointment. She dragged herself into the Forester meeting room, which Percival converted into a workable space. She found the Abra floating beside a chair that was converted to recline back. There were cushions attached to it.

Percival finished taking a swig of his coffee and put his canteen away. "Welcome back, Melissa."

"Hi…" she grunted. She flopped onto the reclining chair and folded her hands across her stomach.

"How are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine…"

Percival shook his head. "Melissa, this is a safe place. You're free to talk, and it'll just be between us."

"…" She closed her eyes and sighed. "I had that nightmare again."

"Ah."

"It was different this time. Everyone was yelling at me and saying mean things. I got up to that part where D-Darby shows up and…Jason threw me to the ground." She paused to let a brief tremble run its course. "He tried to kill me. I woke up just as his sword struck my neck. It felt so real."

Percival nodded slowly. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"No. I tried to sleep earlier, but Lucient said we had to do heist stuff and—"

"Melissa, I told you that you didn't have to worry about your heist. We're willing to compromise and push it back to a later date. Your mental health is much more important than—"

"But I had to!" she exclaimed. "I had to work on it! I didn't want to feel…" She frowned and turned her back to him.

"Didn't want to feel what?"

"…" She curled herself up and whimpered.

He sighed. "I'm not going to push you. I did want to talk to you about some concerns I've been getting. I've been getting complaints about some rude behavior you've been exhibiting. We didn't inform everyone what happened to you, but we made it clear that you were going through a rough time right now."

"…I'm sorry."

Percival shook his head. "I understand you're going through a lot, but that doesn't mean you should lash out at everyone. I'm only asking that you try and be more constructive with how you respond to questions. If anyone bothers you, just walk away and talk to me. I'll sort it out."

"I'm sorry."

"We're trying to help you to the best of our ability, Melissa. I can only do so much to help you. I'm not a therapist, but I'm the best we have available." He sighed and floated over to the meeting table. He grabbed a blue potion and carried it back over to her. "Do you have anything else to talk about?"

"…No."

"Alright, then let's proceed with the psychic therapy. Just a little longer, and we'll have the mental triggers out of your head." He handed her the potion, but stopped as she shied away from it. He smiled gently. "I promise, this won't hurt you. It's just going to put you to sleep for a little bit while I work on getting those triggers out."

"S-Sorry, I'm just—"

"I know. I know."

Melissa took the potion and looked at it hesitantly. "Do you think…Shade could lend me some of this stuff to help me sleep?"

Percival shook his head. "You could ask him if you're still having trouble falling asleep, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's not meant to cure insomnia or give Pokémon a restful sleep. If the nightmares get worse, feel free to ask Shade and see what he thinks."

She sighed and raised the vial to her lips. "O-Okay."

"You'll be fine, I promise. This is your choice, though. I just want to help you."

Melissa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She pressed the vial to her lips and hurriedly downed the potion. She sighed and handed it back to Percival before getting into a comfortable position. She breathed softly as the minutes ticked by. Slowly, her mind drifted away, and her breathing became more rhythmic.

"Melissa?" Percival snapped his fingers a couple of times in her face. He leaned in to listen to her quiet snoring before nodding. "She's asleep." He rolled his neck and crackled his knuckles. "Time to work."

He pressed his fingers to her forehead and closed his eyes. A teal glow shined from his fingertips. He breathed softly as he invaded Melissa's subconscious in search of the mental triggers. It was an arduous process, but he was willing to undergo the couple hours if it meant helping her.

I just wish I could do more to help.