Never quite that simple (Emily)

[Gabriel Seran]

Gabriel sat in the middle of the Night Owl Cafe with a mug filled with something quite eloquent. The scent of it turned noses in its direction. He had the last bit of business to attend to before things came into order. There were two lose ends he needed to be brought into the midst. One being Emily and the remnants of Militia which still followed her. He had hoped that with her the others would follow, if not he'd have to gain allegiances of other key members namely Ryuu or Trizen.

The whole idea was to use their numbers to his advantage. He'd been planning this upheaval from his time with Unfettered. A pronged attack, tactical advantage which he'd yet to fulfill in combat up till this point. This would be the first usage of it since the attack and liberation of the Correctional facility. To be honest Gabriel was quite excited.

The phone in his pocket rang. His alarm set off, nearly ten at night he'd hoped Emily was ready for a rude awakening if she'd not been up already.

"Hello, Emily yes this is Gabriel Seran I'd like to arrange an audience with you at the Night Owl Cafe." He would pause for a moment, "It seems as though there has been a bit of an occurrence I'd like to address with you personally."

He'd hang up and go back to his leisurely seat calm as ever. Things needed to come full circle soon enough. If all went well the weeks events should turn out with limited bloodshed. Thats what he'd hoped for. A war quick and painless nothing like Aurora had predicted for his future. It could be changed.

[seishounohana]

Emily had been sitting in her bedroom all night. There were many things to think about - one of which being Militia as it is. Sure, they were growing - but there seems to be no order currently. There was no sign of "Unfettered" coming back, and Emily was honestly becoming uneasy with the turn of events in the past months.

Layla had become hard to contact, which honestly put the girl in a bit of mental and emotional chaos.

Emily felt slightly alone; in which case - Trizen and Ryuu had more or less become her saviors from breaking down. The night grew deeper, even as Emily stared into the darkness of her own room. She couldn't find it in herself to sleep, but it was naturally hard to considering the kind of things that were happening around her.

Something didn't feel right about tonight - like she should wait for something. Anything.

That was until her phone rang. It was Gabriel. He made his message short and brief; Emily hadn't been able to ask any questions before he hung up.

Her intuition was almost always reliable: that was something she knew she shouldn't doubt herself for. She stared at her phone for a bit more, clicking a bit on her address book until Ryuu's name came up. She wanted to call him and ask him to come with her.

There was this fear of losing herself to Kari again. Sliding her phone shut she placed it on her pocket and begun to wear her gear, tying her scarf by her neck to hide her burn scars. Emily left her hair untied, but kept a ponytail just in case. There was business to be done.

It took around half an hour more before Emily arrived at the said location.

Emily believed in destiny, but she never believed in it being absolute. The book of life gets rewritten as fast as it gets written. It always changed with every step, every breath, every word. Emily approached Gabriel and tried her best to smile. "Hi." She said, taking her seat on the chair across from him. "You said you had something to talk to me about?"

[Gabriel Seran]

Gabriel's eyes rose from the manilla envelope he left sitting on the table before him. His gaze meeting Emily's with a bit more caution than he had last time. He knew the game this time around. She didn't trust him and there was no reason to do so. His hand crossed the table to retreave the envelope and sift through the brief case of pictures. It was compiled of several photographs, budget reports, and identification labels.

All fraudulent. Yes Gabriel had them prepared specially for this, though they were fakes they certainly were convincing even to his trained eye.

"Emily, it seems as though a few reports I've been handed that we may have another Correctional Facility under construction..." Gabriel stated, not a hint of humor in his cold tone.

He knew exactly how brutal it was to her, to everyone involved. The Correctional Facility had brought the Militia together but also was responsible for their separation and torture. All for experimentation.

Gabriel flipped open to the first file, Damien Cross. The false information stated a desperate need to play sadistic games, forms of torture. Gabriel had linked him through false data proving his relation to the new facility. Linda Osaka, orders coming from a contact involved with Gabriel's severed arm. His face was serious brows concentrated together.

"They're trying to get rid of the competition at this school for their own purposes, I don't know quite yet." Gabriel started, "Thats where I need your help..."

[seishounohana]

Cue music: Unmee no Haguruma ~Kyoto e no PUROROOGU~ (Director's cut) by Noriyuki Asakura

Emily's gaze fell to the envelope and the briefcase; there were pictures, documents - convincing at that. Though Emily couldn't piece together what these were, Emily just looked at them, until Gabriel spoke. "Emily, it seems as though a few reports I've been handed that we may have another Correctional Facility under construction..."

Emily's gaze became cold at the mention of the Correctional Facility - probably an expected response from her, being one of the harder-hit victims of Long Beach's Correctional Facility. Emily looked at Gabriel for a moment before examining the "evidence" closer.

Gabriel then handed her information about Damien Cross, and of a person Emily considered to be a friend - Linda Osako. She frowned at what she read, but found no connection with them and the correctional facility.

"They're trying to get rid of the competition at this school for their own purposes, I don't know quite yet."

"..."

"Thats where I need your help..."

"I've yet to see the connection between this and that so called correctional facility, Mister Seran."

[Gabriel Seran]

Gabriel felt a sting with her comment. His eyes flaring anger on the surface but worked to keep control of such emotions. Because he saw now through her words that he was no longer Gabriel but a mister Seran, he'd fallen far from grace but that meant nothing now. There were greater matters to attend to and he'd be damned if he'd let a speed bump alter his course. Unfettered had said to him that they should stick together for the greater end. And sometimes that end needed a few white lies. At least in Gabriel's blurred perspective.

"That doesn't set aside the fact that they've been neglecting their duties and targeting students." Gabriel said standing, a heated rage boiling in the depths of his throat.

He didn't want to fight now but he wanted an argument, he wanted the rage to seethe inside him painfully till it burst, till it all just drifted away and nothing was left within him but the comforting cold-heart that he'd grown so accustomed to. Gabriel had never been so filled with emotion it irritated him to no ends!

"Can't you see? What happened to Trizen and the others was because of the fact that the pillars could not do their jobs!" Gabriel spouted a bit not as an angry child but as a politician, finding his happy medium and swallowing his anger once its effect had passed. A deep breath and he was back again.

"The two here, in these files are going around, quietly, I can never get too much information on them but I know Linda was the one giving the orders to take me down... Who's next? Are you just going to stand there and let this happen around you and still do nothing, or are you waiting on Winters?" Gabriel said now in a very controlled passionate manner.

[seishounohana]

Emily didn't sit down, but merely looked at the pictures with a keen eye. Emily was an artist, she knew her way around these sorts of things. No, she wasn't able to decipher the pictures to 100% conclude that they were shopped. But Emily's eyes saw many inconsistencies that did not help her make up her mind.

"That doesn't set aside the fact that they've been neglecting their duties and targeting students."

"The term neglect is subjective and requires a base standard.." Emily said, almost coldly, "I think they're doing fine."

"Can't you see? What happened to Trizen and the others was because of the fact that the pillars could not do their jobs!"

Emily took a breath. She was not about to burst in desperate anger like what Gabriel was doing now. Emily knew herself better than that. Trizen, if anything, was a friend of Emily even before the mass exodus from 259. Emily knew little of what happened to Trizen; just enough, but she believed that whatever anyone did was their own responsibility. "What happened to Trizen and the others was a decision they made for themselves - just the same way you, "Unfettered", and the rest of Militia went through to take the Correctional Facility down..--"

"The two here, in these files are going around, quietly, I can never get too much information on them but I know Linda was the one giving the orders to take me down... Who's next? Are you just going to stand there and let this happen around you and still do nothing, or are you waiting on Winters?"

Ouch.

That stung a bit. Emily had always been waiting for "Unfettered" to come, as she believed in him and his leadership. She was never too sure of her own leadership abilities, and never even found the confidence to even try. Emily was a follower by heart, in spite of her own potentials. "I am not "Unfettered"'s lapdog." She said, feigning a bit of irritation. "What do you want me to do? Be your bodyguard or something?"

[Gabriel Seran]

Gabriel compelled himself to change now. At all points this was the tipping of the scales nothing but good could come of this unless of course he faltered. The weight was to be on his shoulders though this time much like Unfettered he would serve as the martyr for good, though few would ever have to bear the weight with him. Gabriel approached slow and cautiously setting his tender palms on her shoulders. His eyes sparkling with held back tears.

"I know that you cannot forgive me for what I've done or even what I'm about to do, but it is not within me to see things go unchanged like this. I'm doing what I see is right, I will give everything within me to see the world changed for the better and here is a good start as any." He stopped to notice his hands near the scars and released realizing what fear he might have been causing, rather now he dropped to his knees and folded his hands as if to pray.

"I want nothing more from you than to do what is righteous and good.... Whether that be at my side as an equal or against me."

Gabriel wiped away the watering eyes and stood to leave. He didn't know the future, no one did. He realized that now that even though prophets like Aurora could see through time, glimpses at the future. They all came down to choice. In this moment alone Gabriel chose good over evil, thanks to Emily and Ryuu he was able to silence the past, silence Reven and his dark deeds. Sacrifice was necessary and he'd give everything of himself to see a brighter day.

[seishounohana]

Emily stood still, even as Gabriel approached her and placed his palms by her shoulders. There was slight fear that he would try to kill her again, or at least - Reven, that is. One thing the white-haired girl could see clearly was that he looked like he was almost about to cry.

Emily didn't move, even as his hands approached her neck as he continued sharing her his thoughts. It wasn't soon before he fell to his knees, saying: "I want nothing more from you than to do what is righteous and good.... Whether that be at my side as an equal or against me."

Emily lowered her level so that she would be at eye-level with a boy she still considered to be a comrade. It was just that scars weren't easy to forget, and all of this seemed too soon for her not to suspect something wrong. Gabriel had still yet been able to regain the trust Emily once had for him, but she looked at him for that moment with warm eyes. "I'm sorry, but this time I don't think I can give you my support."

She would stand before Gabriel did, walking away into the brightly lit streets and disappeared as she climbed aboard a bus. It was time for her to go home. Once seated, Emily began to think.

It didn't take long before she decided to make an important call to a friend, just to make sure that she chose the right thing.

"... Hello, Matrim? It's me."