"I am back?" Janet said as she looked around. Her eyes were a bit red and so was her nose. It seemed she had cried her eyes out.
Namen stood beside her with a complicated expression on her face. Her tensed brows loosened as she released a sigh.
Max looked at them, he didn't know how to react.
"Very well, you two have passed my testâ¦." The old spirit said with a smile as he looked at the two.
"I did?" Janet asked as she looked at him. She didn't remember doing anything except for crying.
"Yes, be more confidentâ¦.what you did isn't an easy feat. Don't forget that feelingâ¦.It will help you aheadâ¦" the old man said as he looked at her.
"As for those who failedâ¦" the old man said as his eyes flashed past each one of the failures. "You lost due to your own weaknessâ¦you have no one to blame...you have no right to demand anythingâ¦."
Elly clenched her fist as she listened to him. He was indeed rightâ¦.she had failedâ¦
"But, it isn't the endâ¦if you don't want to accept this outcome....then beat that weaknessâ¦get strongerâ¦.I will be still be here...Come back if you dareâ¦" The old man smiled as he looked at them. His words had indeed shook them. He had left something for them to ponder over.
The old man didn't say anything else but just looked at Max and Mr. Cool.
"There you have itâ¦I will leave the rest to youâ¦."
And with that, he vanishedâ¦.
"I don't remember allowing him to host a tournament hereâ¦.that old geezerâ¦." Mr. Cool's face turned ugly but the old spirit was gone.
"I see...is this what he wanted to do?" Max muttered.
A hope for the futureâ¦or there was something beyond that he couldn't think....
The first requirement to break the mortal shackles was acceptance...obviously that alone wasn't probably enough...butâ¦.it still was better than nothingâ¦
"Wait? Does that mean?" Janet suddenly turned her head to look at others.
Their expressions made her realise the fact. They had indeed failedâ¦.
"You don't need to feel bad for us?" Aria replied as she forced a smile on her face. She had too much on her mind to smile naturally.
Elly was still lying with the towel on her head and didn't respond at all.
"You two ladies, over hereâ¦"Mr. Cool beckoned them as if he was trying go hit them in some night pub.
Namen walked towards him with a frown. She felt that he was being rude.
Even Max felt a bit odd.
"Uh...it's just a habit...my badâ¦" Mr. Cool realised and laughed it off.
As Namen and Janet stood in front of them, Mr. Cool was ready to deal with the situation but Max stopped him for a moment.
He looked at Janet and then spoke, "I know you have been dragged into thisâ¦..you don't really have to do it. Do you really want the things to change..â¦"
He didn't want her to get caught into this. He knew that she just followed around because she didn't want to be left all alone. But her friends failed and there was no reason for her to go through it anymoreâ¦.
Janet might have had accepted Max's suggestion if it was before but nowâ¦.she didn't want toâ¦.
"I am sorryâ¦." Janet said as she looked at Max with a sad look on her face.
"What for?" Max asked with a confused smile. She didn't need to be sorry for thisâ¦.
"For everythingâ¦." She said and then raised her head to look at Max, "I will make up for itâ¦"
'Huh? What is she talking about?' Max looked at her.
"I want to know the truthâ¦" She took in a deep breath and showed her determination. "I won't leave my brother aloneâ¦''
Max felt his eyes widening.
Did he hear something wrong?
Janet had realised a few things nowâ¦.and one of them was that Max had been wronged. From the very day he was born, he didn't have anything that she had to herself...and yet he had reached this stageâ¦.
And what had she done on the other hand?
He didn't have his parents with him for a long period of time. She had heard from her mother, raised in lonelinessâ¦..and when he returned...they were missingâ¦
She was still going on and hating him for something which wasn't even his fault and was just an accidentâ¦.
Could she imagine herself growing up like that?
If she ran away now, how could she call herself a familyâ¦.was there any difference in his situation even after he returned?
In that case, she would make that differenceâ¦.she would take care of this little brother of her, the one she always wantedâ¦
Even though they were cousin's, she didn't thought of it like that and accepted Max as her own brother.
Reason?
Well, Max's story was one reasonâ¦.as for others, Aunt Lithiya was always kind to her and treated her like her own daughter since she didn't have one, before Lilly of courseâ¦.but even after she had Lilly, her attitude didn't changeâ¦.and lastly, she had taken after her mother, Vitni at the core...
"Girl, did you hit your head somewhere?" Max asked as he looked at her. He was afraid something had happened to her during the test.
"Is this the way you should be speaking to me? Call me Sister Jan from now onâ¦" Janet said as she grabbed Max's head and messed his hair as punishment.
Max's head was down, veins were popping out on his face.
'This isn't happeningâ¦..' Max thought as he raised his head, he had to let people know their limits.
But when he saw her smiling at him, her eyes were still a bit red and wateringâ¦.he stopped and looked at her for a moment...
'Tsk..I will leave her for todayâ¦'
"Come with meâ¦" Max said to Namen leaving Mr. Cool to deal with Janet. He really wouldn't be able control himself if she did that again..
''Why are you leaving me with him?" Janet asked as she looked at Mr. Cool a bit scared of him. He was a bit weird after all.
"Bahamutâ¦.deal with herâ¦." Max asked looking at the kid who had finally opened his eyes and Bahamut nodded his head.
Mr. Cool looked as if the food had been snatched away from his mouthâ¦
â¦.
"I am glad you passed honestly...you were the one I was willing to take inâ¦" Max said as he looked at her.
He could use her to win over Tyler as wellâ¦..and get someone in the Frost family.
Two birds with one stone....
"Do you have a crush on me?" Namen asked as she looked at Max.
"Noâ¦" Max replied with lines appearing on his face.
"Thenâ¦"
"You are just the right personâ¦.you will be desperate when you know the truth after allâ¦" Max said with a smile.
Namen suddenly had an ominous foreboding.
"W-What do you mean?"