Chapter 35

Instead of exiting out the gates, there was another passage she took to get to the woods, which was out of sight. Once she was far enough away, Melyssa said a quick prayer to the Goddess and waited, not unsheathing her weapon yet. Instead, she began to do some dancing exercises to loosen her muscles up, keeping her ears and senses open in case Shirley did take her up on her invitation. Suddenly stopping in her tracks at the trees rustling, in lightning quick speed, she had her Cutlass out and clashed it against Shirley's weapon, which was an orbal chainsaw that could shoot flames.

"Sneak attacking your opponent really is a tacky way to go, you know."

"Unfortunately for you, precious, the real world doesn't operate on the Thors principle of honor and other such stupid nonsense," Shirley informed her with a smirk, forcing Melyssa back and snorted when the other woman assumed a defensive stance after coming to a halt. "The real world is going to bite you in the back, without any warning, and strike you down. You of all people should know that. The world isn't fair." Only the strong survived and she knew that Rean would not teach his precious Class VII how to fight to survive, but how to fight with honor and temper it with mercy.

The fool's way of dying.

"Fight fire with fire, right?" She dodged a few more attacks with ease, once again taking her stance and didn't leave any room for an opening. "I know better than most the world isn't fair and, sometimes, you have to break the rules to succeed." The orange aura began surrounding her as Melyssa allowed it to consume her, her eyes glowing orange instead of teal. "I may not be able to defeat you, Sanguine Ogre, but I won't go down without a fight either. So come on, show me why you're an Enforcer in Ouroboros. Show me why you are feared!" Sending a shockwave back at Shirley, she was thrown back several feet and Melyssa went on the attack, their weapons clashing together as they began to dance.

Oh, her little kitten had claws!

That just lit Shirley's blood on fire as she began upping the pace of their little dance. Soon enough, they were both sweating, as she had promised and to her, this was foreplay. "You sweet, precious thing, you fight like you have a chance of winning." She taunted, flipping her hair back over her shoulders before shaking out her arms, rolling her head from side to side to crack her neck. "Well, now that I'm limbered up, I think I'll show you a few things Rean Schwarzer only wishes he could."

Rean didn't fight that way. It was demeaning, cruel, and he was still in his right frame of mind. Currently, he had cornered Cedric and was coaxing information out of him. Cedric couldn't lie to Rean and still thought of him as a friend, deciding he owed the man one and divulged the information Rean needed. Sure enough, McBurn was the one who held Mr. Brackett captive. They would have to go through the Almighty Conflagration in order to save him.

The sheer strength Shirley possessed was unworldly, ungodly, and it terrified Melyssa. She could easily strike her down if Melyssa made ONE mistake and so far, she had dodged whatever Shirley through at her. Doing a dodge roll, she slashed at Shirley and cut her leg, making the Sanguine Ogre hiss out angrily. Like she said, she wasn't going down without a fight and she already had burns on her arms from the fire attacks thrown at her. Rean knew exactly where she was, so she just had to keep going until he arrived to pull her out of the fire, literally.

"Throw whatever you want at me, I can take it!" She went to block an attack and Shirley threw a second fire attack, sending Melyssa soaring through the sky to land on the ground with a sickening thud, knocking the wind out of her. "Damn…" MOVE, you have to move now, her mind screamed at her, her body reacting instinctively as Shirley brought down her weapon in a killing blow, barely missing Melyssa.

"Oh you are SO much fun, Brackett!" Shirley was right back on it, forcing Melyssa to remain on the ground, using her own body weight as leverage to force their weapons lower, basically attempting to take off Melyssa's head with her own Cutlass. "Look at how sweaty you are." She purred, bending down so her own neck was pressed against the blades and stuck out her tongue. "I'm dying to taste you."

Rean was on his way with the information and his Tachi out. He arrived on the scene and halted, giving his mind time to digest this. Shirley was licking Melyssa's forehead, with that Cutlass dangerously close to Melyssa's neck. Snapping out of it, he sprang into action.

"Go…to…GEHENNA!" Melyssa gritted out through clenched teeth, using all of her strength to keep her own weapon from slitting her throat.

Shirley laughed like a hyena and Melyssa could feel her arms weakening, knowing it was only a matter of time before she was killed. Just as the tiniest slit formed on her throat, Shirley was suddenly tackled to the ground. Melyssa managed to turn her head, watching the scene upside down.

"I-Instructor!" She rasped out, doing a kick-up and ignored the pain she was in, seeing him and Shirley doing battle. The Divine Blade of Eight Leaves against The Sanguine Ogre. Melyssa managed to join in, linking up with Rean and together, they managed to force Shirley to back off.

"Oh, this is too precious!" Shirley spat, gritting her teeth madly as she surveyed them both. Melyssa was barely a threat, made weaker by their battle, but with the Combat Link… her eyes narrowed at Rean, noting his stance. "Ooohhhh, you're mad because I made a move on your girl." She singsonged, reaching up to wipe saliva off her mouth.

"Woman." He corrected in a flat tone, though he shifted so his body was poised between hers and Melyssa's, Tachi ready to strike.

"That's really precious."

He didn't say a word, his eyes fastened on her. "Raise your weapon and shut up, Shirley."

Rean's backup he set in place, before talking to Cedric, arrived at that moment.

"Now Rean, how many times do we have to tell you NOT to do things on your own?"

"Seriously, you're an idiot."

"How dare you try to start this party without your favorite, gorgeous Instructor and one of your best friends?! I feel so unloved!"

"Idiot."

Both Sara Valestein and Fie Claussell jumped into the mix, coming out of nowhere, standing in front of Rean and a dark blue haired girl they both assumed to be one of Rean's students. "Sorry we're late, but you know how it goes with us women."

Shirley balked at the Purple Lightning and Sylphid, eyes alight with both excitement and annoyance. "Of course, you just HAD to ruin my fun, didn't you?!"

"As much fun as this is, I'm afraid we'll have to call it a day on this particular dance. After all, it wouldn't be fair to go four-on-one now, would it?" Sara grinned viciously back at the redhead, glancing at her partner, who had her gun swords drawn already.

"Unless you wanna dance with us? That's fine by me." Fie shrugged, in the perfect fighting stance and had gone several rounds with the Sanguine Ogre in the past.

Whoever these two women were, Melyssa was grateful for their arrival because she wasn't sure if Rean would be able to withstand Shirley's onslaught, Divine Blade and Ashen Chevalier or not.

Rean had tussled with Shirley a time or two and was confident in his ever growing abilities. However, given the circumstances in Jurai right now, he wasn't sure what the effect of taking Shirley out would be. He did know leaving her alive would probably come back and bite them in their butts sooner rather than later.

"Run back to your masters."

Shirley gnashed her teeth, but did dance backwards. She didn't know if they would be able to beat her, but even to her, a four-on-one fight didn't have promising odds. "This isn't over."

"Of course, it's not, but for now, we'll have to end the party." Sara sounded almost sad, holding her orbal gun and orbal sword, one in each hand, a purple aura surrounding her, along with purple lightning.

They called her The Purple Lightning for a reason.

"And just when I was ready to have some fun." Fie clicked her tongue and sheathed her gun swords as Shirley took off, both turning to stare at Rean and the dark blue haired girl. "Glad we made it in time."

"Is she okay?" Sara asked, concern lacing her tone and could not believe Rean allowed one of his students, a first year at that, to deal with a veteran warrior like Shirley.

"I'm fine." Melyssa stepped past Rean and extended her hand to the purple haired woman. "Thank you for saving us, Miss Valestein."

Sara smiled, shaking her hand. "Call me Sara."

"You're hurt." Fie pointed out, stepping up to look at her slashed arm and nodded. "Not badly though, you'll survive. I'm Fie Claussell, former classmate of Rean's and a good friend of his."

"It's nice to meet you both. I'm Melyssa Brackett."

"Well Melyssa, I don't think you should've baited the Sanguine Ogre into a fight."

"I know, but…it was the only way to keep her occupied…" Melyssa suddenly looked at her Instructor, teal eyes full of hope. "Please tell me it wasn't for nothing. Did he tell you where my Dad is or not?"

"It wasn't for nothing." Rean assured with a grim smile, the back of his neck slowly flushing as Sara and Fie gave him looks that definitely weren't amused.

He already knew what they were thinking and inwardly sighed. They weren't wrong to think it either. Rean shouldn't have put Melyssa in that situation, she was way over her head and he was sure she now knew it, his eyes moving to the thin slice on her neck.

"I apologize for putting you in that position. As your Instructor, it was wrong of me." As someone else, someone who wanted to ensure there would be no second civil war, it had been necessary.

"No, Instructor, don't apologize. It was the only way to get Shirley away long enough for you to talk to Cedric. You got the information we needed and that's all that matters. Believe me, I've been through worse than this." Melyssa assured him, not wanting Rean to beat himself up over this very necessary plan.

It was a success, even if she nearly lost her head in the process.

"Wait, Cedric? Renounced Crown Prince Cedric?" Sara demanded, her eyes widening when Rean nodded his head in confirmation. "Oh Goddess…"

"That little cutie is here? We haven't heard anything about him since the end of the Twilight."

"He's here…and he's part of the Red Constellation jaeger corps."

Both Sara and Fie looked at each other, blinking. As Bracers, they had gone several rounds with various Red Constellation members and they hadn't seen Cedric in any of the fights once. They were keeping him hidden away for a reason.

Rean cleared his throat, knowing he had to drop another bomb on his former Instructor and friends. "He's also engaged…to The Sanguine Ogre herself."

"WHAT?!" Sara and Fie both shouted at the same time, their jaws now dropped.

Melyssa just nodded, backing up what Rean said.

"So, where is my Dad, Instructor? Is he all right? Is he safe? Is he even alive?" Melyssa fired the questions off left and right, worried about her father and could tell Rean was hesitant to tell her the truth. "Just tell me, please."

"He's in a warehouse about an hour from here. It's abandoned and it's heavily guarded. McBurn is keeping an eye on him and Cedric said, as far as he knows, your father is in good health." Rean explained, his face carefully neutral as Melyssa took in all of that information.

"McBurn…McBurn has my Dad?" How in Aidios' name were they supposed to rescue him from a monster like him?! "Okay…how about we head back to my house for now to check in on my Mom and we can talk to everyone else about this, Instructor?" They needed to devise a plan and now that two Bracers were here in town, thanks to Rean, they had a better fighting chance, hopefully.

"So, all this is a rescue mission?"

"No, but saving her father is a priority." Rean said as they all began walking back towards the gates. Rean, Sara and Fie were all on alert, hands on the hilts of their various weapons. "What's going on here does tie into the Brackett's." He admitted thoughtfully, though he was gathering it was their influence and the former 'Papa's' outspokenness and friendship with the prior mayor that had made them targets. "What might your father know?" He asked suddenly, stopping to look at Melyssa. "About anything besides fish."

"You mean about Jurai? Everything and anything you want to know, pretty much. He was good friends with the last mayor of Jurai, Crow's grandfather. Our grandfathers were best friends and grew up together, actually." Just like her and Crow had and now they were both in the Goddess's hands, hopefully reunited. "Anything regarding politics and history about this city he will know. My Dad is a fountain of information." If anyone could help them reverse what was going on in Jurai, it was her father. "The sooner we rescue him, the sooner we can hopefully stop this takeover Heidel Rogner is trying to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Heidel Rogner is trying to become the next mayor of Jurai, even though it's a Special Economic Zone."

"How is that possible?" Sara was confused, folding her arms in front of her chest. "The only way that could happen is if…"

"The nobility rises up against the Imperial government." Rean finished for her, watching the realization dawn on both Sara and Fie's faces.

"So, you're telling me we might have another civil war on our hands if this isn't quelled?"

"Yes."

Sara and Fie looked at each other again before turning back to Rean. "Fine, we want in. Us Bracers have a duty and that's protecting all citizens of Erebonia, including Mr. Brackett. That's our first priority as Bracers, so the sooner we rescue him, the sooner we can get some answers to the many questions we have."

"I'll answer to the best of my ability any questions you may have now, and once we rescue Mr. Brackett, he can fill in the gaps." Rean offered, glad they weren't the only ones who had recognized the looming possibility of another war, one the country would not recover from so easily.

"We heard there was an accident on your way here."

"McBurn attacked the train we were on." Now they knew it was no mere coincidence. Either he had been targeting Melyssa or looking to send a message. Maybe both, probably both, she would have been the best way get the 'point' across.

"We heard about that. There were minimal casualties, thanks to Emma and Rosalie." Fie frowned, not believing they were involved in that horrific train crash only two days ago. "You're very lucky to be alive right now. I heard the train and the railway were destroyed completely."

They had no idea just how horrific or how close they'd been to losing one of their own. Ash, Melyssa thought sadly, the guilt beginning to eat away at her all over again. Is it my fault he nearly died? Am I responsible for all the death that happened? Did McBurn know who I was in Crossbell during that attack? I need to tell them my last secret and I just hope Aurelia understands.

There was no point hiding anything from Rean or her classmates anymore, not when they were in the midst of trying to prevent another civil war from happening. She remained quiet during the rest of the trek back to the house, deciding a shower was in order since she was filthy and somewhat bloody from her fight with Shirley.