Chapter 43

Miranda had no idea what happened, but one thing was certain, she had NEVER seen her daughter lose her temper quite like that and it petrified her.

Emma had been terrified for Melyssa, not herself or anyone else. Melyssa's ability was frightening, but not honed. The day she got it properly under control and learned how to wield it, she would be a formidable ally, or foe. In a rage like that, however, people got hurt or lost their life, this was better. A dreamless sleep.

"Move her to the bed." She ordered, watching as Ash and Crow came forward. "She won't wake until morning."

Rean was already putting her Cutlass away, where she couldn't get to it upon waking.

So much for not walking the path of vengeance.

It was all a dream, right? If only. If only it was just a horrible nightmare that wasn't true. Melyssa slowly opened her eyes the next day and it all came flooding back, including her father's betrayal. Everything. Her father was an Enforcer in Ouroboros. Her father, the man who helped give her life, orchestrated her run-in with McBurn in Crossbell. And he also was responsible for the murder of her beloved Papa. She stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, remembering screaming at Emma to send her back to that church.

Melyssa wanted answers.

She wanted to know why. As much as she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry her eyes out, Melyssa had a duty to protect her mother, who was on Ouroboros' hit list. One other thing that hit her like a ton of a bricks all over again was the fact Aurelia did not betray her…and she had broken her promise to the Golden Rakshasa by telling everyone about how she truly got into Thors. Shutting her eyes, instead of getting out of bed, she simply turned on her side to face the wall and didn't move. Honestly, she just wanted to go back to sleep instead of facing everything that had bombarded her.

Rean had informed Miranda of what had happened and what they had overheard. He hadn't wanted too, nobody wanted to deliver that news, but the woman had hounded him all night and he hadn't slept a wink. He had finally told her, grimly delivering the news of her husband's betrayal, the orchestration of her father's death, all of it. He was the world's largest heel right now, having listened to the woman's muffled sobs of grief and rage throughout the night as Crow sat with her, crying his own silent tears.

"She's awake." Ash said quietly when he seen Melyssa stir, but not move from the bed, nodding when Rean acknowledged him with a bob of the head. He moved to brew another urn of coffee, not many were hungry today.

The events of last night had drained them all.

Dad…why? Why would you do this? Why would you kill Papa and betray us like this? Melyssa couldn't stop those questions from doing a replay in her head as silent tears fell from her eyes to splatter on her nose and arm.

She didn't make a sound or move an inch, feeling the bed dip. It was her mother, she knew the woman's touch anywhere and Melyssa knew she was just as heartbroken, if not more so. This was the love of her life; Robert and Miranda had been sweethearts in school and were childhood friends prior to developing feelings for each other. Her mother told her the story of the little boy that helped her escape a near-death experience from a horse when they were just 6-years-old. It was a love story like no other…and it had all been a hoax.

"Mely, you must eat something." Miranda didn't want her daughter to run herself down and not take proper care of herself. "Please…"

Slowly, Melyssa pushed herself up from the bed and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, finally looking up at her mother. Her eyes were swollen, red-rimmed and bloodshot from crying and her mother instantly pulled her into her arms for a tight embrace. I'm so sorry, Mom. I'm so sorry this happened to you, to us, to Papa. She couldn't bring herself to say the words and started crying all over again, her heart wrenching sobs echoing around the warehouse.

"That's it, my girl, that's it…let it all out. It's all right, I'm here." Miranda crooned, stroking her daughter's back and hair soothingly, her own tears falling.

Today, they would grieve and wallow, but tomorrow, Melyssa would pick herself up, dust herself off and continue on this journey she chose to follow.

"So what next?" Everyone was leaving Melyssa and Miranda to themselves, to grieve together.

Juna had even gone to Rean, apologizing grimly. He had told her not to bother Melyssa right now, she could apologize another time. That was probably an awkward, bitter pill to have to swallow, to have been so wrong and so vocal and damning with accusations. Yesterday's pettiness had been tiring, especially when coupled with the information they had learned last night.

"We regroup. Brackett isn't a priority for rescue anymore."

"No, now he's a priority for intel." Ash nodded his head, arms folded tightly over his chest. "And I'd imagine those two women inside are going to want to string him up."

"I still can't believe he's an Enforcer in Ouroboros." Sara was STILL dumbfounded, trying to wrap her head around what they overheard last night in the church. "And by the sound of it, he's been an Enforcer for a LONG time."

"So then, where was he during the civil war? Why wasn't he in the Noble Faction?" Crow spoke up, leaning against the wall with his eyes staring straight ahead. They were nothing except red fire. "I heard NOTHING about Brackett and I was the leader of the Imperial Liberation Front. Cayenne didn't mention him once, nobody did."

The Noble Faction had worked closely with Ouroboros during the civil war, which had transformed them into the Noble Alliance. Both groups coming together for one cause, though Cayenne had plans of his own not a lot of the members knew about. Crow did, but at the time, he had been consumed with hatred for Chancellor Osborne and wanted him to pay, to suffer, for what happened to his grandfather.

Those were very good questions and nobody had answers to them.

"He was biding his time and waiting." It was Fie's turn to speak, her voice low and almost stoic. "Just like Zephyr did with the Boss."

He had died during the Rivalry in the Twilight with Rean when their Divine Knights clashed against each other and Rean had won. The Boss, Rutger Claussell, Fie's adopted father, had been an Immortal and once his Divine Knight was defeated and consumed by the Ashen Knight, Valimar, he was too.

"I thought the Boss was dead all that time and it turned out, he had died, but had been resurrected as an Immortal."

That was a very good point. "Why would he bide his time and wait, though?"

"And why is Ouroboros on the side of the nobility? Hardly any of them are nobles themselves." Juna added, wanting to help the class any way she could and pushed aside her guilt for how she treated Melyssa at the moment.

"We need answers and the only way to do that is bringing Robert Brackett in for questioning." Sara made it sound so simple, but since he was an Enforcer of Ouroboros, he was incredibly powerful.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Altina asked, knowing even her amount of power wouldn't be enough to subdue him. "I do not think we will be able to capture him. The success rate is .05%."

"Not to mention his allies within Ouroboros." Emma frowned, remembering what McBurn had said about Melyssa and shuddered. They couldn't let the girl anywhere near that monster going forward.

Rean already saw how this had to play out and he shared a look with Emma, raising an eyebrow when she began shaking her head no. You're the one who said we are not friends. They are the students. He informed her via their telepathic link. Right now, they are neither. We need him and she is the clearest way of getting to him.

For all his faults, it did sound like Robert Brackett loved his daughter and hadn't wanted her harmed. Rean was going to have to gamble it, glancing at Ash and Crow. They were going to beat his head into mush when they heard this idea and he wouldn't blame them a bit, but Melyssa was likely the only one who had any chance at getting close to her father.

"WHAT?!"

"You can't be serious!"

"REAN!"

"Even I think you've lost your mind!"

"NO!"

"Yes." Everyone turned with wide eyes, staring back at a freshly showered and awake Melyssa. "I agree with the Instructor and I'm willing to take the risk in order to get answers from my…from Robert." She couldn't bring herself to call the man her father, ignoring the twinge of pain in her heart. "My Mom is in danger as long as this goes on and she deserves answers too." Nobody could argue that logic. "Whatever you want me to do, Instructor, I'm ready."

"Melyssa, you don't understand…"

"McBurn, right?" Melyssa had no idea what the monster wanted with her other than he wanted to rip her spirit out piece by piece. She still wanted to take this risk to talk to Robert and get the answers to their questions. "I can't worry about him or what he wants to do to me. I have zero chance against him, I know that, but I don't think Robert will allow any harm to come to me, judging by what he said last night." Those were the exact same thoughts Rean had prior to her announcing her presence. "When it comes down to it, my Instructor is ordering me to do a task and as his student, I won't disobey."

"This is BULLSHIT! You're putting yourself at risk AGAIN!" Ash growled, not liking this idea one bit and wanted to shake some sense into her. "You're not thinking clearly, Melyssa! Tell her, man!" He directed that at Crow. "Tell her this isn't right and she shouldn't do this!"

"I've known Lyssa all my life and telling her anything is like beating your head against a brick wall once she has her mind made up." Crow said after a long while, frowning as he stared down at her. "I wish you wouldn't, though."

Ash was going to swing on BOTH his friends. "No, I forbid it!"

Emma shifted from one foot to the other, shaking her head. "Rean, this is not what I-"

"Then you should have stayed out of it and kept your opinions to yourself." Rean shot back flatly. "This is the best chance we have. Altina, what's our probability?"

Altina refused to answer, not agreeing with this and therefore, she would keep her mouth shut.

"Hey! It's not Emma's fault you can't separate being an Instructor and friend! Don't take your frustrations out on her, Rean Schwarzer!" Celine snapped, hissing at Rean and ignored Emma's baffled expression. "Perhaps we've overstayed our welcome, Emma. Obviously, he thinks he can do this without our help."

"Celine…" Emma's voice held warning, knowing her familiar was just trying to protect her. "That's not very nice and we can't abandon our friend."

"What friend? That's not our friend. That's not the Rean Schwarzer we know! All because you voiced an OPINION, he has to cop an attitude with everyone? All because you CRITICIZED him? The BOY needs a thicker skin if he's going to continue being an Instructor, that's for sure. I'm done helping him until he turns his attitude around." Celine walked away with her tail up in the air, clearly irritated by the sudden turn of events.

Emma sighed, shaking her head sadly and looked back at Rean, who didn't look pleased with what Celine had to say. "I'm sorry, I'll talk to her and we will help you through this. She's just upset. Excuse me." She took off after her familiar, hoping Celine didn't leave the protection barrier.

Crow and Ash both let out simultaneous whistles, not expecting Celine to go off on Rean. They had been through A LOT together. She had been the one to protect him and save him when he had to escape from Thors at the start of the civil war – the same day he had become the Ashen Knight's Awakener. Celine had used her mana and magic to heal him way up in the Eisengard Mountains, which hadn't been too far from his hometown, Ymir. She stuck by his side and helped him navigate and pilot Valimar, training him essentially. One thing Celine NEVER did, however, was sugarcoat how she felt and let her feelings be known, be it good or bad. It was obvious she didn't even agree with Rean's plan to use Melyssa as bait.

"Instructor, I do need my Cutlass back WHEN I meet with Robert. I need to protect myself somehow." Melyssa informed him, ignoring what Crow, Ash and even Celine said because it didn't matter. Her own wellbeing did not matter right now, not when so much was at stake. Jurai and her mother, among everyone else and all the citizens within the city and possibly others, were all in danger. "I'm in my right frame of mind now and I will try not to let my temper get the best of me again." Following the way of the sword would help her channel her anger and emotions into being a fluid swordswoman.

Rean honestly didn't care what anyone thought of him right now. Whichever way he turned or how he did things, he was going to hear he was wrong and it wasn't anything he wasn't used too, so he wasn't bothered by it now. Emma couldn't have it both ways, where she chided him for being irrational and friendly and then upset because he WAS being rational and suddenly putting HER friend in danger. He mentally pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing doing it physically would invite more words and he wanted everyone to shut up.

"I'll get your Cutlass, and we'll go spar." He informed her, ignoring everyone else.

After last night, Melyssa NEEDED a good, hard sparring session and the Divine Blade of the Eight Leaves was the perfect partner. "As you wish, Instructor." She watched him walk inside the warehouse and wasn't surprised when both Ash and Crow were on her like white on rice.

"You can't do this, Melyssa! It's dangerous and I won't let you get hurt again! You nearly lost your damn head!"

"You can't protect me from this, Carbide." Melyssa narrowed her eyes at her friends, wishing they would be on her side just once. Rean was doing the right thing, whether they realized it or not. "I know it's dangerous, but what YOU don't understand, what NONE of you are comprehending, is Jurai is in DANGER! My mother, the only family I have left, is in DANGER! And we need answers! We need to know what in Gehenna is going on here and I NEED to know why my own father is an Enforcer of Ouroboros!"

"That's a selfish damn reason to put yourself in harm's way on purpose!"

"Fine, then I'm selfish. When it comes to my family's involvement in this, you damn right I'm VERY selfish and NOBODY is going to stand in my way of finding out the truth! So BACK OFF, Ash!" He'd gotten in her face and she shoved him back none too gently, her teal eyes cold and full of determination. "I have to do this and you won't stop me!"

"Her reasons aren't selfish." Crow said quietly, hating that he understood where she was coming from.

If ANYONE could understand what Melyssa was going through right now, it was him, but she had done something he hadn't. She had listed off other reasons BEFORE her own, he had never bothered with any of that. It had always been about HIS revenge, HIS pain and nothing else.

"Jurai IS in danger and she is probably the only one who can get anywhere close enough for answers."

Ash beaned him before stalking off, throwing his hands in the air, cursing under his breath.

"I still don't want you doing this, Lyssa." Crow muttered, cupping his bleeding nose. "But I understand why you're doing this."

"At least you understand. Wish he did too."

As much as it hurt her to watch Ash stalk off, Melyssa couldn't go after him. She had to remain focused and steadfast in her goal, which was doing everything she could to save Jurai and protecting her mother. Melyssa loved Jurai with everything inside of her – it was her home, part of her, and she didn't want to see it crumble under the nobility and Ouroboros.