Chapter 36

Once back at Miranda's, Melyssa took off for the shower and Rean remained outside, pacing as he checked his ARCUS II, viewing status updates. He wouldn't risk a call, not out here, not when he knew this house was being spied upon. It was a giant target. McBurn could very easily finish the job because he likely knew they were all there at night, Melyssa included and she was definitely a priority target to McBurn due to her family.

We can't stay here. He thought morosely, the realization dawning on him just how much danger they were all in being here.

While Melyssa was in the shower, Crow, Ash and Altina returned from the warehouse and docks. It was just past 5 PM and Miranda was busy in the kitchen, cooking. She didn't see the condition her daughter was in when they walked inside, only Juna and Kurt. Juna didn't freak out, just guided Melyssa to the shower room immediately while Kurt received the rundown of what happened from their Instructor. Juna was NOT happy to learn Rean had used Melyssa as bait against the Sanguine Ogre and had nearly gotten her head sliced off with her own weapon. Thankfully, Sara and Fie had arrived just in time to save them both or they would've been demolished, at least Melyssa would have. Once Melyssa stepped out of the shower room, freshly dressed, Juna proceeded to doctor her up since she had cuts on her neck, arms and a new one just above her eye.

Crow took one look at her and knew something had happened, his crimson eyes moving to Rean and then back to Melyssa. What in Aidios' name happened during their investigation today?

Rean wished someone WOULD berate him for the decision he had made. It wasn't like him and he knew it. He also knew they had gotten vital information and learned some new things today, but at what cost? Was using people to get further information about this looming civil war worth it? Maybe it would save lives, but did that matter when he was condemning his own soul and compromising his own morals and principals?

"It's what makes you a good leader, you know." Crow said softly, having watched the emotional play going on his friend's face.

"What does?"

"Worrying about your decisions, if you did the right thing."

Rean's shoulders slumped. "That doesn't help."

Crow was probably in a very unique position to see both the ups and downs of leadership, from both sides of the coin. "No, it wasn't meant too. Obviously you did something you regret."

"I put her in danger. She could've died because of my 'leadership'." Rean kept his voice down and hoped Crow didn't hate him for what he did to Melyssa today. He explained what happened during the investigation and his plan to retrieve the information from Cedric, while keeping Shirley occupied. "I wanted her to flirt a little, but…Melyssa went overboard and challenged her to a fight instead. I shouldn't have agreed to it, but…" He was desperate and could not bring himself to say those words, lowering his eyes in shame. "I'm not leadership material, I never was." Maybe becoming an Instructor wasn't the right thing to do.

"She's a lot tougher than she looks, Rean." Sara had overheard their conversation and smiled, joining her former students. "How many times do you think I beat myself up over the decisions I made as your Instructor, hmm? I put you all in danger COUNTLESS times and do you know why? Because it taught you and strengthened you. It kept you on your toes and vigilant. Maybe I went overboard a few times, but I NEVER regretted a single decision I made for Class VII. Look at all of you now – you're flourishing and it's because of those experiences as a class. So, stop beating yourself up over it. She's fine and this isn't ballet. She understands there's risks involved, as we all do, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to save her father. Honestly, she reminds me a lot of you when you were my student."

"Uh huh." Then why had they all been giving him doubtful, 'what you'd do' looks, because they thought the same thing as him? "Regardless, on our way back, I had a thought and it's a sobering one. We can't stay here."

"No, because all of us, your students are enclosed in one space, how many nights have you stayed?"

"Last night."

"Staying another would be begging for an attack."

"My thoughts exactly."

Crow stroked his chin thoughtfully, finally clearing his throat. "I know where we can stay. There's an abandoned warehouse on the docks, Ash and I got in there today with Altina."

Only Juna had given him those looks while everyone else simply had questions written on their faces. They simply wanted to know what happened and Rean had told them. Juna was a mother-hen type and had been giving Rean flack since day one, though in the end, she agreed with a lot of his decisions. It was just the type of person she was and they accepted her for it.

"Really? Is there a kitchen and shower there?" Eating and bathing were a must and Crow nodded, assuring them it had everything they needed.

"Even the lights work. We were shocked and Altina said she can fix anything that may be wrong. We checked it out and it even has beds."

"Must be for fisherman coming off the ocean from long voyages." Melyssa intervened, overhearing Crow's idea to move from her home to the abandoned warehouse. "There should be enough beds for everyone, though there won't be privacy."

"Fine by me. We'll round everyone up…after we eat."

Miranda wouldn't be able to bring all the food over to the warehouse, so they would have a nice dinner and then head over once the sun set.

Melyssa pulled Crow away from the others, smiling up at him. "Are you still up for tonight's Combat Link training together?"

Crow stared down at her, blinking his surprise. Now that Rean had pointed out the likelihood of the house being attacked during the night, the last thing on his mind had been the Combat Link training. "It'll have to be after we've relocated and privacy is going to be hard to come by unless we slip outside." Which they would have too, the last thing either of them needed was an audience. He really hoped Rean was working out the logistics of moving them all without being spotted, having a feeling they were going to have to go in pairs to make them less likely at being detected. "Are you up to it after the day you've had?" He asked quietly, reaching out to trace the tip of his finger along the cut on her throat. She had been dangerously close to losing her head today.

She touched his hand and nodded, seeing the concern swimming in those crimson orbs. "Yes. And I meant after we're relocated and everyone is safe in the warehouse. We can sneak out and go to the outskirts of Jurai to do the training."

They also needed to talk about the kiss he asked for earlier. She didn't forget about it and it had been on the forefront of her mind. Maybe that was why Shirley had gotten the upper hand on her because she didn't have a clear head.

"Don't worry about me, okay?" Melyssa squeezed his hand and released it, jumping when a flash of light suddenly engulfed the house.

"What in Gehenna?!"

"GOODNESS!"

"Sorry, sorry!" It was Emma Millstein, alongside her familiar, Celine, who had shiny black fur and a blue bow around her neck. "I figured this was the easiest way to get here."

Melyssa had to do damage control quickly, seeing her mother was in shock after watching someone just appear in the middle of their home unannounced. "M-Mom, this is Instructor Rean's friend, Emma Millstein and, um, well…she's a witch." That wasn't the way to say it, but Melyssa really didn't want her mother panicking.

"A w-witch?" Miranda didn't know what to think or believe anymore, thinking witches were just part of Erebonian legends and myths. Witches were REAL? "I-I think I need to sit down a moment…"

Melyssa immediately grabbed a chair for her mother, setting her down in it before she collapsed and retrieved a glass of water for her.

"Sorry." Emma frowned, not meaning to scare the older woman and looked down at Celine.

"I told you we should have used the front door, Emma!"

"T-The cat…is…talking?" Miranda promptly fainted, her glass of water falling to the floor.

"Shit!"

Emma narrowed her eyes down at Celine, who just stuck her tail up in the air obnoxiously. "Honestly…"

Sighing, Ash moved to lift Miranda off the floor with ease. "I'll just go put her to bed for now." He muttered, carting her up the stairs as if she weighed nothing.

This poor woman was not EVER going to recover from all this mental trauma she had been and was still going through. Ash was honestly surprised she hadn't lost her mind yet. Now he knew where Melyssa got her moxy from. Crow had almost smiled at the cat is talking bit, but this was definitely not the time for that. Sneaking out later with Melyssa seemed like both a good and bad idea. Given everything that had happened today and Rean's own issues in letting her do something dangerous, he felt like he might be pushing the limits on his friend's patience, if they were caught doing this, after Melyssa had nearly died at Shirley's hand. Fortunately for him, Emma's presence distracted him from his thoughts.

"Not that I'm not grateful to see you, but why are you here?" It was always good to have a friendly witch up your sleeve.

"Well…"

"I called her." Fie shrugged, thinking it was no big deal. "Didn't expect her to POP up out of nowhere like this, but…whatever. She's here now and she's going to help us."

Melyssa raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I can do a transportation spell from here to the warehouse with all of you." Emma had done several of them during the civil war and Twilight. "I've mastered doing it and Celine will help me with her own power too."

"I suppose I could." Celine huffed, rolling her eyes at Emma volunteering her services without her consent.

"Wait, so…you mean…"

Fie cracked the barest hint of a smile. "She's going to make it to where we don't have to figure out a way to travel to the warehouse in a large group or separated groups. One spell and bam, we'll be there, safe and sound."

Could Emma really do that? Melyssa was in awe and looked at Ash when he came downstairs from laying her mother down in her room. "Should we wait until my Mom is awake or…?"

"The sooner we do this, the better." Sara chimed in, everyone nodding in agreement. "Don't worry, Emma's done this before and we all trust her ability. Your Mom will end up in a bed, sleeping soundly in the warehouse with the spell."

"Should we gather the food she cooked?"

"I'll get it." Juna offered, dragging Kurt and Altina with her to help.

Melyssa walked over to Ash. "Didn't take you for the knight in shining armor type, Carbide. Thank you for helping my Mom."

"Don't think I did it for good reasons, beautiful."

Ash winked down at her, looping his arm around her slender waist and drew her into his side. He had been behaving since they arrived in Jurai. Now that they had a better idea of what was going on, as well as a witch joining them, even if only briefly, his spirits were lifting and a return of his wicked tongue was in order.

"I'm thinking about spiriting you away to bed next." His tone was light, teasing and he made sure to keep it down, so he didn't overly embarrass her. "After the day you've had, you look like you could some pampering."

He was definitely back to his normal, crude self and it did her heart good to hear it, even if he made her cheeks tinge pink. "I'm fully capable of pampering myself, thank you." She nudged him with her elbow in the gut playfully, giggling when he doubled over, acting like she'd just given him a killer blow. "Good to have you back, Carbide. I was starting to worry if your near death experience had taken away your personality." She pecked his cheek and his lips brushed against the bandage over her right brow.

"All right, everyone ready to go then?" Emma asked, pulling her orbal staff out and everyone responded with a firm 'yes', giving her the green light to start the spell. "Celine, I'm counting on you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Celine muttered, though she began to glow along with Emma and they both chanted, their eyes turning amber gold.

"Hang on, this will feel weird and you could lose your footing if you're not careful, beautiful."

"Got it." Melyssa didn't move away from Ash, relying on his strength and grip.

A few seconds later, everyone in the house disappeared. Sure enough as soon as they appeared in the warehouse, Melyssa lost her footing and Ash was right there to catch her, keeping her steady against him with both arms around her now. He grinned down at her, pale pink eyes gleaming wickedly.

"You sure about that pampering, beautiful? I'll bunk with you tonight." He caught her hand when she went to mock slap him, pressing a kiss to her palm before letting her go. "It's good to see you smile, Melyssa." She hadn't exactly had a lot to smile about over the past few days, not that he blamed her. Finding out not only was her grandfather dead, but her father had been kidnapped by someone like McBurn… he was worried she'd never smile again.

"You were worried about me, weren't you?" Now it was Ash's turn to look sheepish for a change and she turned to hug him, standing on her tiptoes to do it. He still had to bend a little since she was short compared to him. "I'm okay, I promise." Ash hugged her back, a little tighter than necessary and she didn't mind it, slowly pulling back to tap his nose with her finger. "Don't ever change, Carbide. You had me worried too, you know."

They had a connection that was different than with the others. It wasn't romantic and it wasn't platonic either. Melyssa found Ash very attractive, but she didn't feel that intimacy with him like she did with Crow and…Rean. Crow wanted to kiss her while Rean informed her of the rule in Thors where Instructors and students were frowned upon for being together. It confused her because Melyssa honestly didn't know who or what she wanted anymore besides rescuing her father. Ash was…Ash and he had taken over the best friend role in her life, always there for her when she needed someone the most.

Him? Change? It would never, ever happen, no matter how many times someone tried to beat common sense and manners into him. "My head is hard enough to take, don't you worry about that, beautiful." Ash rapped his knuckles on it, grinning before turning his attention to Miranda who had been 'popped' in, still asleep and on a bed just like Emma had said. "We really need one of those, you know, around all the time." He said admiringly, his eyes sweeping over the witch once she had finished along with her familiar.

Celine fixed her eyes on him, narrowing them.

"Or maybe not…"

"Is everyone all right?" Emma asked, once the spell subsided and looked around, seeing nobody was missing limbs or anything.

"No matter how many times you do that, I'll never get used to it." Fie commented, shaking the effects off.

"Same here."

"Hey, at least we all arrived in one piece." Juna was already setting up the table with the food Mrs. Brackett graciously cooked for them all.

Melyssa walked over to check on her mother and kissed her forehead, covering her up with the blanket that was already on the bed. More than likely, she would sleep for the rest of the night, the dark circles under her eyes speaking volumes. She wasn't sleeping well and Melyssa knew it was because of her father being gone.

We're gonna get him back, Mom, I promise. We know where he's at now. Just hang in there a little longer, she thought, feeling a shadow fall over her and a hand planted on her shoulder.

"She'll be all right, Lyssa."

"I know." Melyssa squeezed Crow's hand back in return, feeling his chin rest on top of her head gently. "Are they done with the food?"

"Yeah, let's go eat."

Melyssa nodded, letting him guide her away from her sleeping mother to the long table to eat dinner with everyone.