A/N: Quite a heartfelt moment isn't it. A daughter and a father who has been separated for years have finally been reconnected, it's only a darn shame that one of them had to give up his life in an attempt to save her. Everyone can only hope that Marina will one day recover from all the suffering she had bottled up in all these 20 years.
Chapter 29: New Years
After two hours of crying and mourning, Marina finally calms down. Patrick even returns to the room.
"I'm sorry for my outburst," Marina says.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, it's quite alright. You're just going through emotions. It's perfectly understandable to let them all out."
Marina looks at everyone. "I can't thank you all enough for everything. Why are you all being this nice to me?"
Elizabeth and Mashika are silent. They turn their attention to Patrick. He knows what he's thinking, and then nods. Elizabeth turns to Lumiére and Plumette. "Leave us." Plumette and Lumiére obey without hesitation and leave the room. Once they're all alone, everyone explains everything to Marina.
Marina listens closely to their story, of which she finds it surprising. "The Abduction Agency? I've heard rumors of that syndicate, but I didn't think they were real."
"They have disbanded years ago. And we...were once their slaves." Mashika says.
"I was never a slave, but I was still a prisoner in that heart of darkness." Patrick says. "It's a long story, but rest assured the Agency still lives, but they aren't a threat to worry about. At the moment at least."
"You talking about the Schnee Sisters?" Elizabeth asks him, and Patrick nods.
"The real Agency follows a method, once they have a target they do nothing until they captured them, and the Schnee Sisters are next to impossible," Patrick says. "However, the ones that took you were outside of their organization. Defectors or the Forsaken. We didn't stick around long enough to know their status."
Mashika takes notice of Marina's troubled expression. "You all right, Love?"
"Y-yes. This is just a lot to take in. And I'm still...having a hard time after..." Marina doesn't say anything else. Tears are filling up in her eyes.
"It's all right. Just take it slowly." Elizabeth says.
"If it's not too much of a sore subject, mind telling us how you ended up captured by them?" Mashika asks.
"She doesn't have to if she can't." Elizabeth tells Mashika.
"No, it's fine." Marina says. "Let me first start by explaining what happened after I ran from home."
Marina tells Patrick, Elizabeth, and Mashika about her life story. After leaving home she wandered around the World of Remnant trying to find a new home. A new purpose in life. She lived through a lot of hard times, being turned down by several people, running into dangerous Grimms. Until eventually she's in the middle of nowhere without water and food. She has collapsed and passed out, but when she woke up she was in Atlas in the household of the woman that saved her.
"I explained everything to her about what happened. She once told me that I need to patch things up with Father, but I told her it was pointless. After mentioning what he said, she decided to take me in." Marina says. "When I turned 16, I decided to go to school to study and become a teacher, but it cost a lot of money. So she offered me a job at her work."
"What kind of a job?" Mashika says.
"A Waitress at a Maid Themed Bar and Cafe, Latte Love." Marina says.
Patrick looks alert hearing that name. He knows of that place, visited it once. He knows he never saw Marina there, but he does imagine Marina in their Maid Uniforms. A beautiful long blue hair maid with Amber eyes with a cheerful smile on her face.
"Hmm...I can see why they would target her. She is quite attractive, I admit." He says quietly.
Mashika caught on to what he said and teased him. "Oh? Does somebody with a cold heart suddenly have a crush on an older woman?"
Patrick glares at Mashika. "Shut it, Instructor." He growls.
Marina looks at them confused. "Oh, did you two say something?"
"Don't mind them," Elizabeth says. "Latte Love, I remember seeing that place. Isn't it a bit hard working at that place as a teenager?"
"It was at first, but I adapted quickly. I did very well with greeting the customers and delivering their orders. Several of them often complicate about how much they love me and want to spend the night with them, but I was too busy with work and studying to hang out."
Everyone just exchange looks until Patrick speaks. "Let me get this straight: You said that they love you and they invited you to 'spend the night' with them. Yet you think the love was just a compliment comment and spending the night with them was just hanging out?" Marina nervously chuckles while twirling her hair around her finger. Patrick crosses his arms as he gives her a serious look. "It sounds to me you were pretty ignorant with the meaning of their words."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," Marina says. "People often say that I lack worldly knowledge and am ignorant of most treads, including romance and sexual ones." Everyone thinks that would be Zovaal's influence. "The other Maids and several of my classmates often say I'll never land a husband or even a boyfriend this way, not realizing the affections men have for me."
"Teacher of Year." Patrick says sarcastically, and Mashika bumps him with her elbow.
Mashika clears her throat before speaking. "So, how did those guys capture you?" Mashika asks.
"Well, I should first mention that we had a system in Latte Love. We often get people to drink themselves drunk, so we have the customers write down the address to their homes." Marina explains.
"That sounds dangerous." Elizabeth says.
"Yeah, but for the customers or the waitresses?" Patrick wonders.
"It's not like we deliver them to their homes ourselves, we just let the authorities handle it. When they don't write an address, we just have them sent to a nearby hospital." Marina says. "Anyways, it was at the end of summer. I graduated from all my classes and got a job opportunity for a teacher position in Mistral. It was my last day at work, and around closing time, a regular customer got himself drunk pretty badly."
"Regular customer?" Mashika asks.
"Yeah. He was a nice guy who comes by almost every day for the past year." Hearing that has the look on Patrick's eyes harden. "The address he wrote was only a block across. The odd thing was that he specifically requested that I take him. The other maids were against it but seeing it's my last day, I offered to take him there. When I arrived, the location turned out to be a dark ally. I had thought the address could have been wrong..." Marina puts a hand on her head. "After that, I only remember getting hit on the head. When I woke up, I was bound and stripped, being sold off to those men."
"Bait and Trap." Patrick says. "One of their classic methods. The 'regular customer' was obviously visiting the bar just to observe you and lure you into a trap. And I'm positive that he was pretending to be drunk as well."
"That's what I think too." Mashika says.
"I just can't believe that happened." Everyone looks at Marina in concern. "He was such a nice person, and he played me." Marina wraps her arms around her. "All those men...those perverts...They...I feel so violated!"
Marina feels another breakdown happening. Nobody says anything, knowing this is the kind of comfort that words cannot heal.
While Marina is in her panicked state, Elizabeth, Mashika, and Patrick leave the room, Elizabeth orders Plumette and Lumiére to watch over Marina while they have a discussion of the situation.
"What are we gonna do about her?" Elizabeth asks.
"With those crooks still out there, it's too dangerous for her to be left alone." Mashika says.
"Agreed, and there's no way she'll be able to return to Atlas, that'll be an obvious place for them to look for Marina." Patrick says.
"Zovaal's house might work, but I don't think she'll be comfortable with it." Mashika says.
Patrick groans. "This is not going to be easy to figure out."
"We'll think of something. In the meantime, Marina can stay here." Elizabeth says. "I'm sure Lumiére and Plumette won't mind taking care of her."
"Sounds like a safe plan. They'll never think to look for her at a celebrity's home." Patrick says.
"In the meantime, we have a New Year's concert to attend," Elizabeth says.
Elizabeth gets ready for the concert event. Patrick returns to his Team. They questioned him more about Marina, but he explains as much as he can without realizing the truth about the Agency. Selena and Marlene felt heartbroken to learn that she was actually the long-lost child of Zovaal the Dragon Beast, only to finally return just to learn of her father's demise.
With that said and done, Teams PASM and CPER get ready themselves for the concert. Everyone boards onto the airship, which Roland is piloting, on their way to the concert.
It's almost sunset as the airship arrives at a floating stadium. Tons of other transport ships arrive and land on the docks. The landing bay is crowded with hundreds of people. Both teams and Elizabeth get off their airship, Elizabeth takes the Celebrity entrance while everyone else just goes in the normal way.
The stadium is huge, can pack about five-thousand people. Teams PASM and CPER take their seats, which is the 4th row on the ground audience. As they go about waiting for the performances to start everyone talks among themselves. Patrick is pretty much dead quiet. Instead, he opens his Scroll checking his messages. No word from Mashika, but he does receive a text message.
'I hear you're at the New Years Concert because of Elizabeth Akimura. You're so lucky. Happy New Years, Patrick. Paige.'
He just stares at the message. He hasn't answered Paige's texts in the past two months, not since she's given him her number. But after everything that's happened during the holiday vacation, he feels different this time.
Even Selena's voice is echoing in his head: 'You may not realize it, but it's not easy for an Idol to be friends with people. It's not easy. Not easy. Not easy. Not easy. Not easy.' Suddenly, the scenery reveals that the echoing voice is actually Selena whispering it to him. Repeatedly. "Not easy. Not easy. Not easy. Not easy. No-"
"WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT!?" Patrick yells at her. Selena backs off a bit. Patrick returns his attention to his Scroll. With a sigh, he writes a reply to Paige's text and sends it. Seeing that makes Selena smile. "I can feel you smiling, you know!"
Selena doesn't say anything. Just resumes waiting for the show to begin.
The audience is full, the stadium lights dim, darkening the room. The loud multiple chattering dies down as the audience can feel the suspense.
The stage lights come on and the show became with an opening act of an all-boy band. All of the girls are screaming, aside from Akira. Even Rayla is going wild which surprises everyone. Patrick finds himself feelings really annoyed. Even commented: 'Ugh. Boy Bands...'.
"I fail to see what it is people find them so attractive," Akira says in agreement.
The concert goes on all night. Performer after performer. At around 10 PM, Elizabeth takes the stage. Both Selena and Marlene are excited to see her. Akira and Team CPER are rooting for her as well. Patrick is the only one who remains in silence, he just observes her performance. When her time on stage is done, Elizabeth takes a bow, the audience cheers, and claps for her. As Patrick watches Elizabeth leave the stage, he offers a clap as well.
It is almost midnight, concerts and performances come and go as time passes by, drawing closer to the start of a new year. The audience cheers with excitement as the final band finish its performance, then the countdown begins.
10...9...8...
Patrick only stares at the large monitor on the center stage. Lost in his thought.
7...6...
Staring at the countdown reminds him of an old memory. One he had never thought he would be reminded of.
5...4...
In the Kingdom of Vale, he and Amber are standing among the crowd, watching the big countdown. Patrick was still young and short, he tried jumping but there was no effort. So what Amber does is that she lifts him into sitting on her shoulders, and Patrick gets a clear view of the countdown.
3...2...
Patrick can feel a tear in his eye. "Amber..."
1... "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Meanwhile...
The sound of sparks from weapon sharpening fills the air. Two men are on their knees, overwhelmed with fear as they delivered unpleasant news. The leader is a woman with long green hair in a ponytail, a side of her head shaved off, and with a thorns tattoo over it all the way down to that part of her face.
Upon receiving the news, she responds in anger by slamming the sharpening stone on the desk. "She WHAT!?"
The two-man are shaking in fear. "It-it-it's not our fault! The intruders were really tough and resourceful."
"Y-yea. That's right. We underestimated them. We almost had them until-"
Their conversations are cut short as a knife comes flying at them and lands, nearly hitting them on the head. Startling the man to death. Dozens of knives every 2 seconds come at the two guys, only impaling on the grounds just the very edge of their bodies. They both scream in fear at each close call.
The woman stands with her foot stomped on the ground creating a frightening echo. The woman approaches in her bondage boots clicking with each step taken. "You say that our prized possession escaped...with the aid of a busty slut AND a child!?"
"They...They were Huntress and Huntsman. The woman was skilled with a trident and the boy was a fast sword bow wielder in black." The one-man says.
Hearing that widens the girl's eyes. "I swear, I swear it won't happen again! Please forgive us, Mistress!"
The woman doesn't say anything. She instead turns. "Leave!" The two of them look up at her confused but say nothing. They only remain in place, frozen. "I said: LEAVE!" She throws four more daggers at them, landing on the ground in front of them. Startled, they both jump and run out of the room screaming.
Once alone, the woman is all alone in her thoughts. She looks up. "So...the rumors are true: The Defect lives." She deviously chuckles as she licks her lips in lustful pleasure. "Vanessa is coming for you, Defect!"
"Mistress Vanessa." Vanessa turns to see one of her men approaching. "You have visitors."
"Who dares to intrude in my domain?!" Vanessa asks aggressively as she tightens her whip.
"They didn't say. The group leader said: Pleasure is the Grand Treasure." The man says.
Vanessa is shocked to hear that. "Lord Rufus's code phrase? ...Send them in." The man bows and leaves the room. No sooner than he does, Arthur, Hazel, and Gaia arrive. They approach before Vanessa. "Well, well. If it isn't Salem's little pets."
"Wonderful to see you too, Vanessa." Arthur says with a distasteful tone.
"Watch your tone, nerd." Vanessa says threateningly. "Your 'Goddess' may be powerful but I only answer to Lord Rufus." Vanessa looks past them. "Is my darling with you?"
"We regret to say that Tyrian is not with us at the time. We're here for different business." Hazel says. Hazel moves aside to introduce Gaia. "This is..."
"Gaia Menethil." Vanessa says, crossing her arms. "What a surprise to see you here after all these years."
"Cut the mockery, Vanessa." Gaia says. "I'm only here cause I have nowhere else to go to."
"Ah yes, we've heard of your arrest." Vanessa says. "Still have a thing for the Akimura blood, don't you?" Gaia glares at Vanessa with a low growl.
"Well, despite your treachery against me, I believe it's time to bury the hatchet," Gaia says. "I wish to join your group."
"Aww, how cute. The old man is signing up with us. What's in it for us?" Vanessa asks.
"I don't have anything to offer at the moment, but in time when I find the right opportunity, I shall repay my debt." Gaia says.
Vanessa smiles. "So you say. Very well, we shall take you in. This shall be entertaining at least." She chuckles wickedly.
"You and Tyrian sure are perfect together." Authur says. Authur then turns and leaves. "Let us be off, Hazel." Hazel follows Authur.