New Enemies Appeared, and... New Allies Made?(7)

After twenty minutes of walking, Rodeo and Daniela were now standing in front of a cave that was somewhere in close proximity to the village. 

"This is one of the many entryways to the place where Mother Miranda does her work related to the Cadou." Daniela stated, "I'm not allowed to go in, but you can."

"Well then, here I go."

Rodeo then handed his handgun and shotgun to Daniela before entering the cave and moved forward, made a right turn and then a left until spotting a light at the end of the tunnel and went for it, eventually reaching a makeshift lab of some sort. The lab was crammed with numerous papers, x-ray files, and charts pertaining to Cadou's research, as well as photos and letters related to Miranda's connections to certain people. One letter that caught Rodeo's eye... 

Was the name Oswell E. Spencer, The founder of the Umbrella corporation. 

"To still think that literally everything in this universe begins from here. It's still surprising," Rodeo remarked, his face solemn, "Oswell, you wanted to do great things, but in the end, your corporation created monsters and that led to its downfall."

Rodeo was going to continue inspecting additional aspects of the place's intricacies when he heard footsteps and hastily stood in attention to see her. Mother Miranda, without her mask. 

"Ah! Rodeo, what brings you here?" She asked in a calm tone.

"It's regarding my decision."

"This fast? I gave you one week to decide, are you sure you don't want more time to think over this?"

As she said those words, Rodeo suddenly asked, "Why do you do all of this?"

Hearing his question, Miranda smiled, "To bring back someone I lost long ago, my daughter Eva. For many years I've been trying to find a perfect vessel to resurrect her back with the help of the Cadou and what you see here in this place is the many years of hard work that I put into bringing her back and yet... it ends in failure. The four Lords are the perfect example of this."

"So you act as the leader of an entire village, instructing the four lords to carry out certain experiments and procedures, and turning people into monsters, all in the hope that someone you lost long ago will come back to you and you both will live happily after?" 

"You don't understand, boy. I saw her consciousness within it when I first discovered it and became what I am now, thanks to the Megamycete, an ancient fungal root that keeps the genetic code of people who died within its proximity within itself. The Megamycete and the Cadou that come from it are the answer and key to her resurrection." Miranda explained, "All I need is the perfect time and year to initiate the ceremony, and she will be back in my arms."

Rodeo shook his head in disappointment and murmured, "...Move on." 

"What?"

The words from Rodeo caused Miranda to stare at Rodeo with a cold gaze.

"You're wasting your time on nothing, Miranda. The dead aren't gonna come back to you, and just because you trust a fungal organism just because it has your daughter's consciousness doesn't mean it'll give her back. Your trust in it is a blind one."

Miranda stood in front of Rodeo, her wings spread out and her claws poised, she looks at Rodeo with a deadly and menacing glare. 

"I suggest you choose your next words wisely."

Her words seemed to give the air the chills and cause a suffocating atmosphere, but Rodeo seemed unfazed, "Eva wouldn't want this, she would have wanted you to move on and be happy, rather than do any of this."

Initially, Miranda's eyes turn to cold with rage as old memories from her past begin to resurface.

"And how do you know that, hm? You don't know me. You know nothing, you foolish child!"

"I do know, Miranda! Can't you see what you do is madness here?! You think you're doing something, but all you're doing is feeding the Megamycete more victims and creating more monsters. Why can't you understand?!"

"Because I do not care about the others! The village! Or the four lords! I just want to bring my daughter back! She was the only thing I loved and had in my life! I will not be alone once I bring her back, and we will be together for eternity."

"And even if she does return, what then? Will she be the same daughter you knew, or will the Megamycete turn her into something far worse?"

Rodeo was then viciously grabbed by the throat by Miranda and lifted him up.

"No! She'll be exactly like what I've known!" Miranda furiously said, tightening her grip on Rodeo's neck, causing him to feel the strong suffocation.

"Ugh! You don't know that! You never knew anything! You're just a stubborn old woman who wants to bring someone who can never come back only because you saw her inside an oversized root and living a lie! Wake the hell up, you crazy bitch! She's never coming back! You have to accept that!"

In a fit of rage, Miranda hurled Rodeo against a wall and crashed into it, cracking it as a result.

"Shut. Up."

"You're angry... because you know I'm goddamn right." Rodeo grunts, lifting his upper body to face Miranda with a painful frown, "You're just scared of accepting the reality of things, and even if you kill me right here and now... you can't bring her back. Your daughter would not be happy seeing you... like this. A monster."

Miranda continued to glare at Rodeo with vicious intent, there was a moment of silence between the two in the lab until she took a step forward, but she couldn't took the second when she fell on her knees, bursting into tears of grief and sorrow streaming from her eyes, and for the first time since she lost her daughter for centuries, she cried.

Rodeo got up and said to her, "I'm not joining your damn crazed family, but I ain't leaving the village either, not yet at least," he said, glancing at the literal final boss of the game, crying. Even though he can never forgive her for what she did to the village's people for many years, he began to slightly feel pity for her, so he said, "You know Miranda, you were never really alone to begin with."

Miranda lifted her head and locked her gaze at him with a glare. Ignoring her gaze, Rodeo continued, "While I will never forgive your actions in the village, the four lords were at least by your side and I think they did mostly a good or bad job at keeping you company like children for many years, or did you never realized it and even the people here still trust you even though you manipulated them into believing you though, but at least you were not alone, no matter how alone you think you really are."

Miranda looked at Rodeo for a few seconds, her eyes widened, and then glanced away while still having tears lingering in her eyes.

Rodeo sighed, "Now, whether you accept my words or not, it's up to you, but I'm going back to Castle Dimitrescu."

Turning around, Rodeo was about to walk away and leave her lab when he noticed his phone on one of the tables. 

"Can I…?"

"Just take it and leave my sight!"

Taking his phone from the table, Rodeo gave one last look to Miranda and said, "You know, if you ever want to talk about something then…" he groaned, "I can't believe I'm saying this, just tell me and we'll chat."

"..."

Receiving nothing but silence, Rodeo walked out of the lab, leaving a confused, heartbroken, and somewhat surprised Miranda behind.

As he departs from the lab, Rodeo brings out a pair of sunglasses from his stomach compartment and puts them on.

'You're right, Spy. The best way to defeat your enemy is through psychological warfare which requires intimidate knowledge of your enemy, just like you did to me before. As they say, knowledge is power.'

——————————————————————

Daniela remained outside the cave, waiting as she clutches Rodeo's weapons in her hands. When Daniela saw Rodeo coming out of the cave, he took his weapons from her and began marching forward. Daniela trailed behind and asked him with a genuine smile on her face.

"So did you accept the cadou?"

"...No."

"No!?" Daniela's eyes widened at Rodeo's response.

"Yes, I made my decision and it's final." Rodeo said calmly, "Now we're returning to the castle so that we can gather up the evidence we found."

"Did you…"

"Miranda is fine, and no, we had no crazy fight, we just had an argument, that's all."

As the two move forward, Rodeo grunted in pain, holding his chest since his injuries still haven't healed sufficiently and the continuous walking, combined with the injuries from Miranda earlier is putting a strain on his body, but nonetheless he continued walking as they both headed for Castle Dimitrescu. 

——————————————————————

In the main hall on the second floor of Castle Dimitrescu, Alcina and Bela & Cassandra sat on a well-furnished couch, waiting for Daniela and Rodeo. Soon later, the three finally saw the two. The trio and Daniela had a group hug while Rodeo simply observed their nice family interaction before breaking away from their embrace.

"Any leads?" Rodeo asked the three.

Bela sighed in response, "I went to those areas in the forest where berries grow the most, but I didn't find anything, though I did find some Lycans dead." 

"Oh? How did they died?"

Bela explained, "The conditions their bodies were in appeared to be from some type of weapon that tore and shredded them, but... there are no bullet wounds or burn marks from an explosive or explosive shards on their body, it was a very clean death."

"Hmm…" Rodeo went deep in thought, pausing for a few seconds before casting a glance at Cassandra and asked, "Cassandra, anything from your side?" 

"I watched Anna from afar, and she seemed to be doing fine, although she does constantly mutter some things from time to time. and then she would be talking normally again. Nothing much more."

"I see, but me and Daniela made some interesting discoveries."

"What did you find?" Alcina asked.

Rodeo and Daniela then explained their visit to House Beneviento and how they discovered tunnels beneath the house's well as well as the footprints of various sizes, and they showed them the maps of the village's underground mines, some of which were connected to House Beneviento and others close to Castle Dimitrescu. 

"Seems like Anna's ramblings weren't wrong," Alcina stated, "Something big is being planned, and they are using the tunnels of the underground mines to better traverse the village strategically."

"Perhaps, but for now, we still don't know who they are, and I'm heading to my room, and as I promised Alcina, Daniela is safe, and now I'm tired," Rodeo said to Alcina before heading for his room. "See you all later." 

Watching as he leaves, Alcina caught her eyes on him carrying weapons and and her expression frowned, "Where did he get those weapons?" she asked bitterly, directing her sharp gaze to her daughter who had been with Rodeo all day, Daniela.

">_< Please don't be mad at me, mother, I can explain!"

"This should be good."