Chapter 30

Crow had navigated himself and Ash to the docks, the warehouse and fishing district by memory, feeling things surfacing in his mind as feelings were connected by visuals now, even smells. The saltiness of the ocean air, the fishy smell that seeped into everything, including their hair and clothes. He could hear people laughing and talking, haggling as people conducted business and of course, children running here and there. It made him feel nostalgia, envisioning himself and Melyssa doing that, running back and forth, laughing and playing tag here. This was horrible timing, the return of some memories while they were conducting not only an investigation of Ouroboros, but also a murder and kidnapping. Again, the Goddess had a wicked sense of humor.

"There." He raised a finger and pointed to the warehouse. "There's a side entrance we can take, maybe less people will see us."

Ash could tell Crow was somewhat out of it while walking toward the docks and warehouse. He just hoped the man snapped out of it if they had to battle. Heading to the side door, Crow picked it with ease and opened it, both slipping inside undetected. Crow froze instantly because the warehouse was lined up with closed barrels and Ash noticed it, frowning.

"What's up? Does this place have a connection to you too?" He didn't mean to pry, but it was obvious Crow was experiencing some serious memory issues at the moment. "Come on, try to focus and look around."

Crow was definitely having a memory issue right now, his red eyes firmly fastened on those barrels.

"Help me! Someone help me!"

"Lyssa?" Young Crow asked, approaching the brining barrel hesitantly. They had been playing hide and seek. He had been the seeker this round and this was… confusing. "Are you hiding in there?"

"Crow?! Help, it's hard to breathe in here!"

"Hold on, I'll get help!"

"Don't leave me, Crow, don't leave me!"

He grabbed the top of the barrel, the lid, and tried prying it off. How'd she get in there?! "I can't, it's stuck!"

"Hey Armbrust, get your head in the game!" Ash popped the silver haired man upside the head, seeing Crow had been in a zone of some sort. What in Aidios' name was going on in his head?

"Melyssa, we are headed to your family home next door. I recommend you join us and not leave your mother alone." Altina informed her classmate two hours later, remaining at the bottom of the steps to look up.

It was nightfall and it looked like a storm was rolling in. Her mother had already closed up the fish market and was waiting for them by the entrance. Melyssa nodded silently, descending the stairs and followed them outside, waiting for her mother to lock up. Together, they ventured to the two story house that was right next to the fish market and Melyssa stopped to stare at it. Even in the darkness, it looked the same, but there was a cold feeling about it now that Papa was gone and Dad…she immediately dismissed that train of thought, refusing to believe he was dead as well. They would find him and bring him back home safely, no matter what she had to do.

Miranda looked back at her daughter and wanted to hold her close, but she could tell Melyssa didn't want to be bothered right now. "Come on, I'll make something to eat for everyone. There's plenty of room for you all to stay here."

Altina just nodded, walking inside and Melyssa slowly followed, closing her eyes to breathe in the scent of home. It made her want to cry all over again seeing her Papa's favorite chair with his smoking pipe on the table beside it.

Crow and Ash returned while the storm was in full force. Crow had remembered something else, storms coming in off the ocean were downright dangerous at times. Nobody was in the market, so he automatically veered towards the large house next door.

Miranda screamed when the back door, the kitchen door, flew open. "Crow!" She shrieked, a hand flying to her heart when she seen the silver haired youth come in like so many times before, shaking water out of his hair alongside his friend, who was just as wet. "It was locked!"

"You leave the spare key in the same place still." He said slowly, feeling almost shy under the look she was giving him. Some things were coming back or he just felt like he knew, like he had always known, but not everything, not yet.

Melyssa overheard that and stared at them wide-eyed, her Cutlass unsheathed, ready to cut down any intruder. She had been sitting in her Papa's chair with a cup of tea in hand, freshly showered and in her pajamas for the evening. The moment the back door swung open, she was up with her Cutlass unsheathed and Altina had brought out Claimh Solais, which had terrified her mother. Was Crow's memory coming back?

It doesn't matter, he doesn't want you and you need to move on, she reminded herself, sheathing her weapon and Altina waved her hand as hers disappeared.

"I'll get you boys some towels. Stay put." Miranda ordered, rushing into the bathroom to grab them and handed one over to the blonde while she proceeded to towel-dry Crow. "I didn't know if you'd remember me, boy. Pleased to know some memories are returning." She had asked Rean about Crow after he left with Ash and Rean had told her about his memory loss, not going into much detail. It was enough to know Crow didn't know her or Melyssa or anyone from Jurai besides his deceased grandfather. "All right, get your hair really good and then you can sit down for some hot soup."

Ash smirked at the mothering from the older woman and Crow's cheeks were tinged red, his pink eyes moving to look at Melyssa. Even with the shower she'd taken, her eyes were still red and swollen from all the crying she'd done, though the tears had stopped. He really didn't know what to say to her, so he just winked, letting her know he was here if she wanted to talk.

All Melyssa did was nod back at him and sat back down in her Papa's chair, sipping more of her tea just as flash of lightning lit up the house.

Crow remained silent as this woman coddled both him and Ash like they were little boys instead of grown men. He glanced at Melyssa from time to time, unsure of what to say to her. Offer his condolences? He knew how trite and worthless those were, he had been in her position himself years ago. It was one of the key factors that had led both him and her to this point, a loved one being murdered. He needed to tell her he was sorry for her loss, and Miranda as well, but every time he did open his mouth to speak, he wound up spooning more soup instead.

"She's exhausted." Miranda murmured, brushing a strand of hair from her daughter's sleeping face and covered her up with a blanket that was on the back of her father-in-law's chair. It was his favorite and she remembered the countless times he would snuggle Melyssa up with it to watch the fireplace. "Happy birthday, my sweet girl." Kissing her forehead, she went to lift Melyssa up to carry her upstairs to her bedroom, when a hand landed on her shoulder. "She can't sleep in this chair, her back will kill her in the morning…"

"I know, ma'am, don't worry. I'll carry her up for you." Ash offered, already lifting Melyssa in his arms to cradle her against his chest. She didn't move and he nodded at Miranda, following her up the stairs to Melyssa's bedroom.

Rean and the others weren't back yet, but Ash had gotten a message from their friends a short while ago, letting them know not to wait up.

Jurai was turning out to be shady.

On the surface, a lot of things looked normal, very peaches and cream and the people seemed happy. As they had explored and tried to investigate, without being overly obvious and attracting too much attention to themselves, – that was a bit hard since he was the Ashen Chevalier – he had noticed a few things. A lot of the adults were so 'happy' it seemed faked, forced, and then undercurrents of tension seeped into the stilted conversations. The 'death' of one of their own, on top of the disappearance -because nobody was calling it what it was, a kidnapping- had people clamming up, afraid they or a loved one would be next if they voiced their concerns, or voiced out against the opposition. This town was under a silent type of oppression.

By the time he made it back, the storm was in full rage and he was drenched from head to toe, taking in the house. Every light was off, he doubted anyone was awake. Rean had sent others back hours ago, knowing they weren't getting anywhere else tonight, not with this storm, but he had wanted to go investigate a few locations. He had known that with the storm going on, they would be empty and he had been right.

"Rean?"

Melyssa had slept for exactly two hours and was woken up by a nightmare, unable to go back to sleep. She had padded downstairs quietly and curled up in her Papa's chair again, silently crying. Crow and Ash were in his old room, Juna and Kurt were roomed together in another, Altina in her own and Rean would be sleeping in Thomas's old room. Melyssa stood up from the chair, seeing him standing there sopping wet and held her finger up in a one second gesture to go retrieve towels. Her mother had done a load before going to bed, apparently, because they were freshly washed and folded.

"Here, take your jacket off and I'll hang it up." Her voice was a low and soft monotone, gruff from all the crying she'd done. It was after 2 in the morning, Juna and Kurt had gotten back after she'd fallen asleep and someone had carried her up to her bed.

"Look away." He ordered through chattering teeth, trying to keep from being loud.

Rean was SOAKED, even his underwear, and he began shedding his clothes right there in the kitchen. He spotted a barrel -what was with these people and their barrels- loaded with what looked like Crow's jacket, wet stuff. Ah, he got it. He began carefully adding his stuff, each piece as he removed it, knowing it would all have be laundered, or at least dried before being put back on. His fingers hooked into the waist of his pants, eyes moving to her, making sure she wasn't watching. After the horrible few days she had had, standing here in her mother's kitchen, seeing him naked would probably traumatize the poor woman.

Obeying, Melyssa had hung up his jacket and then walked back to sit in her Papa's chair, letting Rean dry himself off with the towels. The fireplace wasn't on, so she sat in the dark and stared straight ahead, trying to commit the smell of the chair to memory. It smelled just like her beloved grandfather. She could hear Rean chattering and shuffling of clothes, or towels, whatever, the chair blocking her view completely. As tempted as she was to sneak a peek, Melyssa knew better and touched the starry night stone around her neck. Only in her fantasies and dreams would she ever see Rean naked because he was her Instructor and it was wrong to lust after someone of his caliber. Wrapped in that overly large towel, Rean came out and groaned softly. No fire. He bet it would have felt good right about now, warming him. Even his bones felt chilled, the wind whistling outside reminding him of just how bad it was out there.

"Why aren't you in bed, Melyssa?" He asked quietly, settling himself on the floor at her feet, making sure there was towel beneath his naked butt.

Then again, maybe that was a stupid question. If he had been in her shoes and gotten the news she had, sleep would be the last thing he wanted to do. Rean knew he'd want to be out there searching for killers and kidnappers, raining down vengeance, which was always a slippery slope.

"Had a nightmare and couldn't fall back to sleep." Melyssa quietly answered and stood up from the chair, stepping over him to get to the fireplace.

The logs were still fresh, so she took a match and lit it, stoking it a little with the poker to get it going. When she turned around, Rean was slowly being bathed in the firelight, bare from the waist up and that scar on his chest made her stomach flip and her heart race. It was just like their first sparring session, only she knew he was completely naked beneath that towel.

"You were out late." She moved back to him and instead of sitting in the chair, she took the spot beside him, drawing her knees up. "Did you find out anything?"

"Some," Rean said slowly, scooting up closer to the fire, aware she was moving along with him. He stuck his hands out, hissing as the warmth crashed over them. "Thanks, this feels heavenly." It was like dunking himself into a very hot bath at the end of a long, cold day. "Most people are too afraid to talk. I didn't notice it when we first came in, but… a lot of these smiles and the cheer, it's fake, especially amongst the commoners. They're scared." As they should be, he supposed, cocking his head to the side as he watched the flames. Rean started to ask her about her nightmare only to be interrupted by his own stomach, his cheeks flaming just as hot as the fire. "Sorry." It had been a long day, he had been busy from the moment they had arrived and he could already see the next few days would be just as bad.

Melyssa cracked the barest hint of a smile at his gurgling stomach and knew what she had to do, rising back to her feet. "Stay here by the fire and I'll warm you up some soup my Mom made."

Before he could stop her or argue, Melyssa was already on her way to the kitchen. Rean would more than likely come down with a cold unless he got really lucky. He was DRENCHED and she had seen just how sopping wet his clothes were. Luckily, they had an orbal washing machine and dryer, an invention the Reinford company came up with several years ago. While the soup was warming on the orbal stove, she tossed his clothes, along with others, into the washer and started it up. They would need fresh clothes and her mother had done more than enough for them already. Melyssa would grieve in her own time, but right now, she had one primary focus and that was finding and rescuing her father.

Ten minutes later, she brought out the soup and handed it over to Rean, cautioning him to be careful because it was hot.