Mel ran a shaking hand through his now damp hair as he tried to get his breathing under control. He'd at least managed to mostly stop crying, but he could see he still looked pathetic, even in the reflection of the metal wall he was staring at. His eyes were red and glassy, his hair clung to his forehead, and he kept trembling.

It was so silly how much the punishments always affected him. Logically, he knew he couldn't drown, but that didn't seem to matter because it always left him sobbing, anyway.

He couldn't let any of his friends see him like this. He knew they were too nice to say anything, but he was sure they'd all think the same thing—that Mel was too weak to be of any use to them.

Mel sniffled, a new tear making its way down the side of his face. He wished Kaleth were here. For more than one reason, but now mostly because Kaleth was the only person Mel would consider telling about this. Mel hoped the man was doing okay, even after whatever Relioth had done to him to make Kaleth help him.

When Mel suddenly heard footsteps behind him, he quickly wiped his eyes and nose with the sleeve of his hoodie and turned around, expecting to see another Umbra or one of Mereria's mortal followers. Instead, walking towards him were Alor and Nef, both looking alarmed.

"Mel?" Nef said, his voice quiet and soothing as if he was expecting Mel to run away at any moment. "You okay there?"

Mel didn't trust the strength of his voice enough to answer right now, so he only nodded. Judging by the look the two brothers exchanged afterward, his nodding hadn't been very convincing.

"Gods! We're sorry, man," Nef said, now sounding very angry. "We tried to get you out, but we couldn't get past the door." Mel's eyes widened in horror, but Nef didn't seem to notice and just continued talking. "And then this guy.... Wait, what was his name, again? Oh, who cares? Anyway, this one guy gave us a tour of this place, whether we wanted it or not, and we only now got away from him."

"Y-you can't i-interfere in these things," Mel whimpered, his voice trembling as much as his body was. "W-who knows what would h-happen if—"

"So what? Were we just supposed to let you get tortured?" Nef asked, raising his voice enough that there was a small echo in the long corridor.

Mel looked away. "I-I broke the rules. It's my own f-fault."

There was a moment of silence that got worse with every passing second, especially once Alor started closing the distance between them. Mel kept staring at his sneakers, not feeling brave enough to face Alor. He hadn't said anything yet. That couldn't be good, right? Was he going to punch him? No, Alor wouldn't do that, but why was he walking towards him, then?

Mel flinched when Alor touched him and then gasped as he realized that Alor was actually hugging him. That was probably the last thing Mel would assume Alor had wanted to do, but he wasn't going to question it right now.

Mel hugged Alor back, burying his face in the man's shoulder as he fought the onslaught of tears that were making his eyes sting. The hug didn't last for long enough, but at least by the end of it, Mel had stopped shaking. Well, mostly.

"Better?" Alor asked, keeping a hand on Mel's left shoulder.

Mel nodded, sniffling and attempting to smile at the man. "T-thank you."

"Aw, your maternal instincts kicked right in," Nef teased his brother, having walked to Mel as well, but the tone of voice didn't really match the words being said. Mel couldn't identify it, but Nef definitely sounded different from how he usually did when making a joke.

"Shut up, Nef," Alor replied fondly, but it didn't sound right either. Mel wasn't sure what the problem was, but he didn't want to read their minds and invade their privacy, so instead, he only focused on their emotions.

What he came across was anger, fear, and uncertainty. Both of the brothers were practically radiating those emotions, but Mel didn't really understand why. He could maybe understand the anger because they didn't seem to be happy that he'd gotten punished for resisting Mereria, but what about the rest of it?

Nef and Alor were now looking at each other like they didn't know what to do and were both hoping the other one would come up with something.

"W-what's wrong?" asked Mel shyly, and the two immediately trained their eyes on him.

"Are you serious?" Nef exclaimed, staring at Mel like he was crazy. Mel automatically flinched at the raised tone, looking down again. He quickly got a hold of himself, though, when Alor's hand tightened its grip on his shoulder comfortingly.

Mel heard Nef sigh and looked up again.

"There's no way we're allying ourselves with an organization that has no problems using torture techniques as a punishment for insubordination," Nef explained, sounding like it took him great strength to stay calm.

"But..." Mel started, looking at both of the brothers with confusion. "Isn't that how it's done?"

Suddenly, Alor's hand left his shoulder, and there was a moment of silence that was uncomfortable even to Mel as the two brothers stared at him with horror. Mel had thought that the solution to these kinds of things was similar in Luxarx, but now, seeing Alor's face, he wasn't so sure anymore. "Um, how did Luxarx handle these kinds of, uh, problems?"

"Not like this," Alor said, shaking his head firmly, still looking horrified. "The worst thing I ever did to a superior of mine was calling Kaleth a—" Alor interrupted himself, pursing his lips. "Well, let's just say I made some regretful comments about his personal life."

Next to him, Nef groaned. "Oh, let me guess—you made Mom proud."

Mel had no idea what that meant, but he didn't ask. Alor didn't seem to want to talk about the subject, and given that he'd just been hugged by him, Mel wasn't going to push him.

"Don't you think I feel bad about it enough, already?" Alor said to Nef, scowling at the younger man. "Anyway, for that, I only got a warning that if I did it again, my pay would be reduced."

That was all? Mel had trouble believing that. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if he insulted one of Mereria's lieutenants, or even Mereria herself. He hadn't actually experienced anything other than the simulated drowning he'd just gone through, but he'd heard rumors about other, much worse punishments.

"What did you do, anyway?" Nef asked Mel in a surprisingly gentle tone.

"Back when Kaleth and me freed Mereria from Carcer, she tried to possess him. I stopped her."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"You can do that?"

"Well, she was very weak at the time," Mel admitted, shrugging. He wondered when he'd finally stop shaking. "I don't think I'd be able to stop her now. Definitely not with Mereria possessing Edras."

"How are you okay with all of this?" Nef asked angrily, and Mel resisted the urge to take a step back. "Doesn't it bother you?"

"Mereria is our leader. It's not my place to question her."

"And that's okay with you?"

"It's better than serving Relioth," Mel said softly, looking away. He didn't like thinking about his past, especially after Relioth had turned his memories into a confused mess, but the memory of killing Iritharians was still clear as day. Relioth must have done this on purpose—why else would Mel remember the one part of his life he would be glad to forget?

Suddenly, Rayni's concerned voice sounded in his head. Yo, Mel, you okay?

Mel blinked. He had no idea Rayni could communicate this way. She hadn't been able to until now, at least, but Mel was certainly happy about it. Telepathy was very useful.

R-Rayni? But how—?

Apparently, my watch was a suppression bracelet in disguise or something. Damn that bastard. Anyways, since I took the watch off, I started to feel like I was getting a recharge, so I thought I'd give this mind communication thing a try again. It's really weird.

"What's up, Mel?" asked Nef, noticing that something was happening.

"Uh, Rayni is talking to me," Mel replied. The brothers exchanged a look, but they stayed silent, waiting for Mel to finish the conversation.

You sound kinda different in your head, Rayni continued. But I can still tell it's you. So, so weird. Anyways, the two of us have a mission from Mery. Well, it was just supposed to be you, originally, but like hell am I letting you go anywhere alone.

Mel's heart swelled with happiness at those words. It was so much easier to understand meaning through telepathy. Normally, he'd debate whether she wanted to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't get hurt, or so he wouldn't screw something up, but like this, he could easily tell which was the right one.

We'll meet on the surface in ten, okay?

Okay, Mel replied, all too eager to leave Aren, to get away from that room he'd just spent two hours in. The room that was just a corridor away from him.

All right, see ya.

You don't have to say that. This isn't a phone call, Mel joked, and Rayni sent him a wave of amusement.

Yeah, well, it's polite, you smartass.

Mel smiled to himself. He wasn't good at jokes, especially these kinds of jokes, but he managed when talking to Rayni. It was strange.

Remembering that the brothers were still watching him expectantly, Mel swallowed and, looking first at Nef, then at Alor, told them what Rayni had just said.

"Right, good luck with that, then," Alor said, nodding while still looking a bit concerned. "Be careful, all right?"

"Yeah, and we really should get back to, uh, what we planned on doing," Nef said. Mel had no idea what he was talking about, but since he had no time to lose, he only nodded and told them goodbye before heading out of Aren.

He breathed in the cold, refreshing air as soon as he got to the surface. It was almost sunset now, and the color of the sky was breathtaking. All kinds of shades of orange, yellow, and red. Not needing to sleep nor aging, Mel had seen many sunsets and sunrises, but he didn't think he'd ever get tired of them.

You here yet? Rayni asked, interrupting Mel's sun-gazing.

Yeah, I'm heading to the car now, he replied, receiving the telepathic equivalent of a thumbs up from Rayni. He couldn't fail this mission, whatever it was. If he did, there was no doubt in his mind that Mereria would punish him again, and he wasn't sure he could handle that so soon.

The car was right where they'd left it, parked under one of the many pine trees that grew on the isle. Since Rayni was already inside, Mel joined her, sitting down in the passenger seat. Rayni greeted him with a smile before she started imputing their destination into the car's computer. It seemed they were going to the north coast of Enoria.

"Shouldn't we take our uniforms?" Mel wondered, playing with one of the laces of his hoodie as the car took off and started carrying them to their destination.

"Nah, we don't want anyone to recognize us. Incognito, and stuff."

"What is our mission, exactly?"

"We're supposed to convince this ex-Umbra to join Mereria again. Pretty standard, I've been told."

Mel smiled at her slightly. "Thanks for coming with me."

"You bet. You're terrible at social interaction," Rayni joked, grinning. Mel smiled back, more widely this time.

"Uh, so, what did you and Mereria talk about? Will she try to help you get your memories back?"

Mel frowned when Rayni grimaced and looked out the window. It was such an abrupt change it took Mel by surprise. Clearly, that had been the wrong thing to say. Mel mentally berated himself. He hadn't meant to ruin Rayni's mood.

"Uh, about that—I didn't want my memories back before I talked to her, and I sure as hell don't want them now."

"Why not?"

"I like who I am right now, Mel, I don't want to remember who I used to be. What good will that do me, anyway?"

Mel supposed she had a point. If Mel were in Rayni's situation, he'd definitely want to regain his past, but he could understand her choices.

"Hey, listen," said Rayni, sighing. "Was it common knowledge that me and Mery were, uh, a thing?"

Mel's eyes widened. He'd watched enough romantic comedies to know what that meant, but he couldn't really believe what Rayni had just said. He hadn't thought Mereria was interested in such things, honestly. She'd always been so cold and unsympathetic towards others, especially now after escaping her prison.

She had never taken a living person as a host before, so it was clear there had been some change in her mindset, but Mel would never have guessed that it might have at least partially had something to do with Rayni forgetting her.

"No," Mel replied, still having trouble believing it. "I mean, the Umbra generally don't talk to each other much, but I think they would about this." Rayni stayed silent—a very unusual thing to happen—and Mel was starting to get worried about her. "Are you...okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't tell the others, huh?"

"I won't." Of course, he would keep her secret, but Mel couldn't help but wonder if Rayni didn't want him to talk about this because she thought the others would make fun of her, or something to that extent. Mel bit his lip. He really wanted to hug Rayni, but he couldn't in the car—there wasn't enough space.

The rest of the trip was filled with a slightly uncomfortable silence, but Mel didn't dare say anything. It was clear Rayni didn't want to talk, and he would never force her to, especially just for his benefit.

Thankfully, it only took about an hour to get to where they needed to go, which turned out to be a small village in the middle of a forest. Well, actually, village might be a strong word. There were really only three wooden houses, one of which was supposedly home to a former Umbra.

Mel shot an uncertain look Rayni's way as they climbed out of the car, but she seemed confident in their mission and barely waited for Mel to catch up with her as she went up to one of the houses to knock.

Mel couldn't figure out why, but he felt uneasy. He nervously looked around at the trees surrounding the houses as he walked closer Rayni who was impatiently waiting for someone to open the door, having received no answer so far.

Something about this seemed...off. But before Mel could warn her, he gasped as a sharp pain stabbed in his neck. He reached for it, his fingers coming in contact with something metal, and pulled it out, staring at it.

A dart. It was a dart.

Mel had no idea what had just been injected into his body, but he knew one thing—they were in the middle of an ambush. He quickly changed his form, spreading his wings and growling at their assailants even though he couldn't see them, neither with his eyes nor his mind.

Rayni seemed to have picked up on what the problem was, and without asking she drew her handgun, looking around as she tried to stop whoever had attacked them.

A minute passed, yet nothing happened. Except for one thing—Mel was feeling noticeably weaker. It must have been whatever he'd been injected with. He shook his head, but that didn't help. Now his sight was a bit blurry, and his head was spinning, and he had a bit of trouble navigating his legs.

"Stop hiding. It's annoying!" Rayni yelled, giving Mel a worried look.

After another sixty seconds, something finally happened. Mel saw a shadow move from behind a tree and immediately started running towards it. Just as he was about to reach the person behind the tree, something metal landed on him, and Mel stopped dead in his tracks.

It seemed like a metal net had been thrown on him, but as he tried to shake it off, it only tangled itself around him further, forcing him to fall down as he lost control of his legs. He felt himself grow weaker and weaker the longer he was underneath it.

Mel snarled as he desperately tried to get out, tangling the web more and more until he was finally too tired to keep fighting.

A cry and the sounds of weapons clanging against each other sounded behind him. Mel whimpered, trying to look behind himself to find out what was happening to Rayni. It was hopeless, though—he was too weak to even lift a wing.

Soon enough he felt himself slipping, and finally, he became too tired to keep his eyes open anymore.