505 placed Melanie on the couch of the living room and put a blanket over her while he walked over to the TV and used a remote to pick out a movie while Melanie laid down and curled up under her blanket in a ball of misery.
505 chose a movie, but after only a few minutes, a sad scene came up. Melanie sniffled sadly, and 505 immediately ended that movie and chose another movie.
The next chosen movie was even sadder than the movie before. The next chosen movie was even sadder than that. 505 kept flipping through movies, but every movie was sadder than the last.
Finally, when 505 was on the fifth movie, Flug came in with their pizza.
"Okay, guys, it's dinnertime," Flug said, putting the open pizza box on the coffee table and seeing Melanie still curled up in her miserable ball under her blanket. "So, 505, how is she doing?"
505 paused the movie, looked at Melanie, looked back at Flug, and shook his head sadly.
Melanie rolled over to face the couch and refused to look at Flug.
505 sat down next to Melanie and rubbed her back while looking at his dad to ask what he should do.
Though he wasn't the most emotionally intelligent man, Flug partly wished he could help.
After wracking his brain for a moment, Flug suggested, "How about you get her some ice cream and some soda? I'm sure that'll help her feel better."
505 nodded his head excitedly and left the room to retrieve the ice cream, leaving Melanie alone with Flug.
Melanie rolled over on the couch, grabbed a slice of pizza, saw Flug looking at her, and quickly rolled back over to avoid looking at him.
"The pizza has spinach on it to help with rebuilding your blood supply," Flug said, not knowing what else to say.
"Thanks," Melanie said, without changing her position. "I'm sorry about flapping sand at you. I was really pissed off, and it was super childish."
"Thanks, I guess," Flug said. "But remember what we said about apologizing."
Melanie remained silent and ate her slice of pizza.
Flug awkwardly sat down on the couch next to her. Melanie quickly moved to the opposite side of the couch to avoid being near him and sat down, continuing to eat her pizza until it was all gone.
Flug tapped his knees in a bored tic and asked himself, "What time is it?"
Before he could check his watch, Melanie sat down, checked her phone, and replied, "It's almost 6. But I think it's time for me to go home."
"But we are home," Flug said.
"No, I'm not," Melanie replied sadly.
"Well, it's the closest thing you have to a home for now," Flug said. "Would you really be much better off with your family?"
"I could manage living with my biological family," Melanie replied, sadly wrapping the blanket around her body. "I know however misguided they are they care about me. At least, I think they do. They abandoned me here."
"And how would they make you feel?" Flug inquired.
"Less alone than I feel right now, though not as loved as I felt with my Nunja sisters," Melanie replied. "I really want to be with them."
"Perhaps, Black Hat will spare some of them," Flug said, without thinking through his words.
Melanie's eyes immediately filled with tears as she glared at Flug and then turned away to weep.
Flug looked away, searching for the right words to say for a second before he replied, "You can still save them…"
"What?!" Melanie asked, pausing her crying to look back at Flug.
"There is a way to protect all your Nunja friends," Flug explained.
"Huh?" Melanie asked, not believing what she was hearing. "How?"
Flug looked Melanie in the eyes and said, "Give up."
"What?" Melanie replied incredulously.
"It's simple really," Flug began. "You give up and comply with Black Hat. Give him whatever he asks. And it's possible that Black Hat could show mercy to the rest."
Melanie scoffed and replied, "Yeah, right. Since when has Black Hat ever showed mercy? And besides, even if I did reply, I'd still be betraying Lucy."
"If you do as he asks, there are chances of him showing mercy," Flug explained, pointing one finger into the air before laying his arm on the couch behind him. "Sure, you'd be betraying one of your friends, but you would be saving the rest of them."
"Lucy's my friend!" Melanie snapped back angrily. "She showed me the way out! It's because of her that I now have another life, another family, and a relationship with God!"
"She led you astray and is getting what's coming to her," Flug retorted with an eye roll. "It's her fault you're in this mess."
"Excuse me? You mind explaining those statements?" Melanie asked, angrily narrowing her eyes.
"Kasumi made you turn from your path as a true villain and from your real family," Flug answered with a condescending sneer. "She put you in jeopardy and is ultimately the reason you're being given all this punishment now."
"I chose this for myself!" Melanie protested. "Just like Lucy did 20 years ago! She got away from Black Hat and that's all I want, too!"
"And how has that worked out?" Flug asked coldly, looking at his gloves.
"It's still worth a shot if I can be free from Black Hat!" Melanie retorted angrily. "I'd rather have my own life and my own mind than be another brainwashed lackey like you and Demencia! I want to be truly happy, not a slave constantly in fear for my life like you! Even if I were to give in, I gain nothing good from giving into Black Hat! He's a bigger liar than Lucifer!"
"You really think so?" Flug asked skeptically.
"No, I know so," Melanie replied. "And besides, I don't regret what I've done. I'm happy about the people I've helped and the things I've learned and the relationships I've formed. I'm not going to give that up. It's more than anything Black Hat could ever offer me."
Flug breathed out a heavy sigh as he crossed his arms, looked away, and said, "Have it your way then. But the option still stands if you wish to save your friends."
Too annoyed to come up with a reply, Melanie silently looked in the opposite direction.
Flug and Melanie sat there quietly ignoring each other until 505 returned to the room with soda and ice cream about a minute later.
"Oh, 505, you got ice cream!" Melanie exclaimed, happily breaking the silence. "Thank you!"
505 smiled at seeing Melanie in a better mood and sat between her and Flug on the couch.
For the next hour, the trio ate their pizza and ice cream and drank their soda until they were all satisfied.
Melanie and 505 chatted the whole time while Flug sat on the side and said nothing beyond the occasional comment until they were all done eating.
When the meal was done, Flug finally checked his watch, saw that it was almost 7, and said, "Oh, it's getting late. It's time to make our way to your room so that you can get ready for bed."
"Why?" Melanie asked. "It's not bedtime yet."
"Well, your bedtime is at 8 tonight, so I think it's time that you start getting ready," Flug replied.
"Do I have to?" Melanie asked annoyedly.
Flug laughed to himself for a moment before he tersely replied, "Yes. Now, come on."
Melanie rolled her eyes and leaned against 505 for a moment before she grabbed her things, got to her feet, and replied, "Alright. Let's go."
"You get her to her room, 505," Flug said, getting to his feet as well. "Make sure she's ready for bed on time. Alright?"
With a gentle smile, 505 got to his feet and quickly began ushering Melanie to her room.
"See you soon," Flug said as 505 and Melanie left the living room.
Melanie said nothing, but 505 walked away with a gentle wave.
When he was alone, Flug took the opportunity to check the alerts from the probes he sent out to look for the seal while they were still walking back to the manor. He was studying their progress and the alerts they sent him when he caught something interesting from about an hour before.
The probes were set to identify any animal that wasn't native to the island or the surrounding areas and to set an alert and launch a capture when such an animal was found.
Normally, Flug wouldn't see the need to set the probes for anything other their specific objective, but the doctor had a hunch.
As such, the first probe Flug received an alert from caught sight of the seal for a minute, but the animal disappeared. None of the other probes caught the seal after that or sent any other alerts for anything unusual in water afterwards
However, at that moment, another probe in the air caught something interesting. A seagull surfaced from the ocean at the same spot where the seal had last been seen and flew into the air. That wasn't unusual, but when the seagull flew past the probe, it had set off an alert and prepared capture nets because that seagull was identified as a juvenile European herring gull, a seagull that had never been spotted in the area before.
As if that wasn't suspicious enough, as soon as the probe in the air began its pursuit, the young seagull turned its head to look at the probe following it and then began flying evasively to avoid the probe pursuing it.
Flug smiled wickedly under his paper bag. His hunch was correct. The creature Melanie was talking to was not just a trained seal. It was a shapeshifter in disguise, most likely another Nunja with supernatural abilities like Melanie was.
Flug watched the probe chase the seagull through the air until the seagull flew towards the island. The seagull then flew into the city, behind a building, and then it disappeared. The probe scanned the area for any sight of the seagull, but once it couldn't find her, it returned to scanning the surrounding area.
Flug grunted in frustration as he sent out more probes to cover the island. He now knew that the intruder was a shapeshifter and there were probes all over the island and the ocean to locate her. But because she was a shapeshifter with an unknown level of capabilities, finding her would be extremely difficult. It was going to be a long night, speaking of which…
Flug checked his watch and sighed. It was time to put Melanie to sleep for the night before she got in anymore trouble. He sent a quick report of the probe's findings and the appropriate clips to his and Black Hat's computers before picking Melanie's medication out of his pocket and heading to her room.
Flug sighed more contentedly. With Melanie out, that would be one problem dealt with for the night at least.
Back in her room, Melanie had gone into the bathroom. She quickly used the toilet, brushed her teeth, took a shower, brushed her hair, and changed into her pajamas, an oversized t-shirt and shorts.
When she was done, Melanie headed back into her room to sit on her bed and watch her laptop with 505.
Unfortunately, that was when Melanie heard a knock at the door.
Melanie gave an annoyed look to 505 before she said, "Come on in."
Flug opened the door and entered the room holding a bottle of pills and a water bottle.
"What are you doing here?" Melanie asked, checking her phone to confirm her suspicions. "It's not 8 yet."
"No, it's not," Flug began. "But if last night is any indicator, the medication will not take effect for another 30 minutes. So, to ensure you go to sleep at your set time, you will be taking your medication early now that you're ready for bed so that you'll be asleep when your official bedtime rolls around."
"What?!" Melanie exclaimed incredulously. "You gotta be kidding! That's not fair!"
"Oh, I didn't know we were supposed to be fair in here," Flug retorted sarcastically.
"I don't wanna take it," Melanie complained. "It's too early."
"Keep whining and see what happens," Flug replied with a sneer as he twisted the bottle of pills open and took a pill out for Melanie.
Melanie grumbled under her breath in French as she took the pill from Flug, dropped it in her mouth, and drank some water from the water bottle to wash it down.
"There," Flug said condescendingly. "Was that so hard? You'd think after the day we had that you'd be jumping at the chance to go to sleep."
"With the day I've had, I'll be surprised if I fall asleep at all," Melanie retorted.
"Yeah, well, despite the many admittedly negative occurrences today, mostly brought about by your behavior I might add, I think we've made some excellent progress," Flug said, ushering Melanie over to her bed.
"So that's what you call a day of inflicting psychological and physical trauma…HEY!" Melanie replied sarcastically as she felt Flug moving her hair to the side. "What are you doing?"
"Checking your stitches," Flug said, pulling some more bandages out of his pocket to replace the ones Melanie had taken off in the shower. "They appear to be healing well."
"Thank God," Melanie said, reluctantly standing still while Flug put clean bandages over her stitches. "That's one thing you're good at, at least. You could be a doctor helping people instead of helping the evil demon god torture me. What a sad waste of talent."
Flug sighed as he finished his work and said, "I'll have you know my talents are well-utilized here."
"Yes, I'm sure making my life miserable is very entertaining for you," Melanie retorted semi-sarcastically.
"You could have it worse," Flug argued. "It could be Demencia managing your re-education instead of me."
"At least she wouldn't drug me every night," Melanie argued back. "Face it. You're just as sadistic as Demencia is if not more. Don't try to deny it. I know it's true!"
"I only give you medication so you can sleep," Flug replied.
"Because you don't trust me to sleep on my own," Melanie retorted.
"Your parents did say you had trouble sleeping," Flug reminded her.
"Yeah, you just want to put me to sleep so I don't cause any trouble," Melanie argued.
In an effort to stop the arguing, 505 pulled down the sheets and gestured for Melanie to get into bed.
"I will neither confirm nor deny that statement, but I am pleased with the progress we've been able to make with you today," Flug said.
"Yeah, whatever," Melanie grumbled as she climbed into bed. "Going to sleep means I don't have to deal with you at least."
"Way to think positively," Flug said sarcastically as he turned to leave the room.
Melanie plugged her phone in to charge and unlocked it to check it one more time before she went to sleep.
505 gestured for the phone. Melanie looked at him curiously but handed it over. The bear went on YouTube, picked out a video to play in the background, and set it on the bedside table.
Melanie listened and heard someone speaking in a soft yet pleasant voice.
"What is this, 505?" Melanie asked. "Is this an ASMR video?"
"It's a bedtime story," Flug called out from the door. "He's trying to read you one to help you fall asleep. I play these videos for 505 when he can't sleep sometimes."
"Oh," Melanie replied. "That's very sweet of you, 505."
505 nodded his head happily as he pulled the covers over Melanie and tucked her in under the blankets. He then climbed onto the other side of the bed and rested his head on her stomach.
Melanie rubbed his head and said, "Thanks, 505."
Flug then flipped the lights off and said, "Goodnight, Melanie. I'll see you in the morning. 505, I'll see you after she falls asleep."
505 grunted in agreement, raising his head from his spot on the bed.
"Yeah, whatever," Melanie replied. "You can go now."
With a final eye roll, Flug left the room and shut the door behind him.