First Class

"I hope you are aware of just how reckless you have been these past few days." Helena's father scowled, "You are the princess of Aporia. You cannot be going out to attack a crazy cult. Had they tried anything serious, we would have been able to capture them all instead of just driving them from the city. Do you understand how irresponsible that was?"

"I didn't see you doing anything." Helena mumbled.

"Did you hear me?!"

"Yes!" Helena replied, exacerbated, "Can I go now?"

"Are you listening to me?!"

"Now now, dear. She has preformed a valuable deed." Helena's mother said gently, "Despite all that's happened, she's managed to save a lot of lives. You can at give her some levity for all she has accomplished."

"There was nothing she has done that could not have been handled better and more responsibly with proper authorities. There should be no levity for reckless endangerment."

"Everyone's fine in the end aren't they?" Helena sighed, "The more we waited the more those girls would have suffered. So what if we acted rashly and without proper procedure? We help those poor girls faster than you could have."

"Are you talking back to me, young lady?"

"If she can't say it, then I will." Roko cut in, "Helena's acted in service to her home as any proper princess and future queen should. There should be no reason to treat her this way."

"And why should your words be taken into effect, stranger?" The king frowned.

"Hey, don't talk to Roko like that!" Helena cried, "He was a great help to our efforts! We would have gotten seriously hurt or taken a lot more time. That's assuming it wouldn't have been impossible without him or died earlier in our efforts!"

"He my be your friend but he is still a stranger with no background to him. There is no history to him beyond his time at Memoria Auspice. No matter how well he's served you, he is undoubtedly suspicious."

"Hey!"

"If you don't trust me then surely you trust the headmaster of Memoria Auspice herself." Roko frowned, "It was my job to investigate and rout this cult for their relation to the mysterious unknown creatures. This was a mission given to me directly from the headmaster."

"From Zadkiel?!" The king's eye's widened and he and his wife glanced at each other in surprise.

"Wait, you were on a mission?" Helena blinked.

"Yeah. Did I never tell you?"

"You never said anything about that!"

"Well I was. Shouldn't make much of a difference."

"But it's so much cooler to say you were on a mission."

"Coolness isn't going to get you out of this lecture."

"Excuse me." The door to the throne room opened as Roland walked in and bowed, "I have a report to make."

"What is it?" The king scowled.

"The carriage back to Memoria Auspice is ready."

"Oh good! Come on Roko, let's go!" Helena cried as she ran off towards the exit.

"Wait, what are you doing? There's still two more days of break left!" Helena's mother cried.

"We're heading back early!" Helena grinned as Roko walked over to them, "We've done pretty much all we could so we're heading back before things get too wordy around here."

"Too wordy?!"

"Come on, let's book it!" Helena laughed as she ran out of the court room.

"Excuse us." Roland smiled and shrugged as he clanked after Helena in his armor.

Roko followed after them without another word.

"Wait! Get back here, young lady! You can't just leave in the middle of your vacation!" The king called out in vain.

"Did they see us?"

"I don't think they're looking for us." Roland said, "There's no need to hide yourself."

"Well, you never know." Helena crossed her arms as she stepped out from behind Roland, "My dad could've gotten the guards to start looking out for us!"

"I think your sense of adventure has gotten out of control since you came down from the high of beating a cult."

"You had to be there."

"I was there."

"Hey!"

Roko looked up as Roswell walked up to them with a cheerful wave, "Glad we managed to catch you before you guys left."

"Looking sharp buddy." Roland smiled, "That new armor or what?"

"Actually it's my old armor. Had it refurbished and upgraded after all it went through. Really, it was the first time I've used it. Glad it held up as well as it did."

"Hey, you were the one doing all the work. Give yourself some credit too."

"Well, I suppose so!"

"Wow, they're getting along really well now." Helena blinked.

"To think Roland was refusing to share a room with Roswell only a few days ago." Roko said.

"Ah, right. Lady Helena!"

"Yes?"

"I have someone who wants to meet you."

From behind Roswell, an uncharacteristically shy and meek Melia slowly walked out.

"Melia!" Helena ran up and hugged her, "They let you out of the hospital?!"

"N-No..." Melia said, unnerved by Helena's dauntless friendliness, "I had Roswell sneak me out."

"Well don't go stressing yourself on my account." Helena grinned as she pulled back, "You went through a lot so take your time processing it. Don't be afraid to go to counseling or taking any medications."

"So long as you think you need it." Roko added.

"Umm...thanks." Melia replied, still uneasy about how warmly she was being treated, "Umm...Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"Why did you save me?" Melia asked that while tensing up for the harsh answer she was expecting. Helena looked at her, surprise crossing her face for a quick moment before she smiled again and replied,

"Because we're friends."

Melia looked up at Helena, surprised. An answer that simple must have crossed her mind at some point she didn't dare attempt to believe it. Tears welled up in her eyes as she covered her face, trying to hide her soft sobbing.

"I'm sorry." She said with a shuddering voice, "I caused a lot of trouble for you."

"It's alright." Helena said as she softly patted Melia's head, "Everything's alright now."

"I've been so horrible to you. And then I tried get in your way during your fight."

"Yeah what was that?" Roland asked, "Why did all those girls think those monsters were their children?"

"Roland..." Helena gave Roland a disapproving glare which caused him to balk and quickly try to correct himself,

"I-I mean, I understand why but like, I don't get why. I mean...why did you try to save them? They're monsters."

"I couldn't tell you." Melia frowned, "It was like...a persistent thought that I had. No matter how much I tried to fight against it, I just...felt like if I tried, I could convince that monster to be friendly. That I needed to take care of that...thing. That...I was responsible for it somehow."

"Sounds like you were being manipulated." Roko nodded, "How do you feel now?"

"...Disgust...and fear, probably."

"That's normal. Hold onto those feelings."

Melia nodded, "Are...are you all leaving now?"

"Yep." Helena replied, "Have to make a report to the headmaster and all."

"O-Of course." Melia looked forlorn, "I...wish you the best of luck in your studies."

"Let's do something fun the next time we meet okay?" Helena smiled.

"Yes. Of course." Melia smiled back, the first time Roko had seen her smile since she was captured.

"So you better start thinking of something for us to do! We might meet sooner than you think."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Isn't it about time, you all leave now?" Roswell spoke up, "The king has ordered that you be brought back to the castle immediately."

"Oh shoot! Come on guys, let's go!" Helena cried as she quickly climbed into the wagon.

"Take care of yourselves." Roko said as he also climbed in with his luggage.

"I'll be seeing you." Roland said as he grabbed both his and Helena's bags and threw them into the cart before climbing in himself.

"Take care!" Roswell smiled as he and Melia waved goodbye as the carriage began to rattle away from the city of Aporia.

"My my." Zadkiel nodded with a knowing smile as Roko finished his report, "Things certainly got out of hand there at the end. I definitely didn't expect you to join in, Princess Helena."

"I couldn't just not do anything in my own city." Helena chuckled smugly, "Of course, I had to help."

"Well, I'm glad you helped my little Roko here. I'm sure he couldn't have done it without you."

"You're not my mother." Roko sighed, "More importantly, this is another type of eldritch creature that we've come across."

"Right. The tentacle monsters, the flesh blobs and now these black liquid things." Helena nodded, "Just how many are there?"

"Who knows?" Zadkiel said with a knowing smile, "But you can always just leave it alone if you want. Walk away and forget everything you know about them."

"Not a chance." Helena bit her lip, "If we didn't do anything Aporia might have been overrun by those monsters. They would have captured all the women in the city and used them to breed more monsters. They got my friend and targeted my family. They can't get away with this."

"Hm hm hm." Zadkiel nodded, "And here I thought all you had for your family and country was hate."

"Mmph." Helena made a complex noise, "I don't know if I can say I love them but..."

"Are you coming around?"

"I'm becoming a bit more accepting, okay?" Helena growled, a light blush coming to her cheeks.

"Well, you have my congratulations for routing an unknown danger to your home and country. You're right to be proud and I am proud of both of you. You've all worked hard."

"Yeah..." Helena looked around nervously, "About that."

"Yes?"

"...I'm sure you have your reasons not to do so. But I need to ask. Please, won't you consider allowing Melia to attend Memoria Auspice?!"

Roko looked surprised but Zadkiel just continued to smile warmly as Helena continued, "I know you might not want to enroll someone whose been a victim of those monsters but she's a really nice girl and I promise she will work hard. She might not count as a princess or a high noble but she is trying her best to move up in the social world and this school would really benefit her. She's always wanted to be here and I hope you'll consider allowing her to attend!"

Helena sat there, more nervous and stiff than Roko has ever seen her while Zadkiel looked utterly unaffected by Helena's passionate speech. Silence hung in the air for a short moment before Zadkiel responded,

"I've been meaning to expand our client base. The investors insist they like the exclusivity but there's no point in having this school if there's no students to teach. Tell your friend she is invited to join you in Memoria Auspice."

"Really?!" Helena cried.

"She can come right now, in fact." Zadkiel nodded, "Think of it as a reward for all both you and her have gone through."

"T-Thank you so much!" Helena stood up abruptly, "I'll tell her the good news right now!"

Helena dashed out of the room as she pulled out her phone and began dialing furiously. Roko was left there with the glowing headmaster.

"Are you sure about this?" Roko asked, "She was used by those monsters. There's no guarantee she's completely rid of their influence. That's both physically and mentally."

"What's wrong, Roky? Don't you trust your friends?"

"If you're so cheerful about it, I assume you know what you're doing then." Roko sighed, "You could just tell me what you know for once instead of playing coy."

"But playing coy is how I have fun." Zadkiel smiled mockingly, "Besides, isn't it good that you have more friends at school now?"

"Melia is Helena's friend, not mine." Roko said as he got up to leave, "All I'm concerned about is if you only allowed her into the school to keep an eye on her."

"You don't trust me?"

"You don't trust me."