177 Waking Up (1/2)

Hearing the conversation between Malene, Vivi and Kennedy was the last straw for Renee as she broke down. She wasn't sure if she should cry, be angry, seek revenge, or what. Seeing Vivi just sitting there and drinking coffee with the one who was suppose to be there leader and mentor, Renee now understood that when Vivi made those comments earlier, she was being totally serious.

And Kennedy just accepted the outcome without so much as blinking.

Seeing this, Renee just blanked, her entire face devoid of emotion while her eyes clouded over. Malene, who had been observing her the entire time, couldn't help but sigh.

”Looks like she broke.”

”Seems like it,” Kennedy agreed.

”She's got about two minutes left though. I'm curious as to what her decision will be...” Vivi said, a bit cryptically. Although both Malene and Kennedy raised an eyebrow at what Vivi said, they didn't comment on it or do anything other than continue drinking their coffee in silence.

Just as the two minutes were about to come to a close though, Renee had finally come back to herself. Reaching out, she grabbed one of the fallen sword like weapons that had been dropped and gritting her teeth, she suddenly vanished on the spot as she charged towards where Vivi was seated. Aiming the weapon at the back of Vivi's exposed head, it was obvious that she was attempting to get revenge for her fallen team. Just before the weapon were to pierce Vivi's skull, a white barrier of light popped up, blocking the attack and sending Renee flying backwards. She had invested everything in this attack, knowing that her vine ability would have been useless. But even still, she was blocked.

Looking over, she noticed that Malene was lowering her hand and figured out that she had been the one to use some sort of power to block the attack. Staring at the three who looked totally detached from what she was feeling, Renee now understood that she and her team mattered nothing to any of them and to top it all off, she would never be able to over power them either.

She would not be able to get her revenge.

Finally understanding this point, Renee once again grabbed the sword like weapon, but this time she brought it to her own throat. No matter what, she was going to atone for her mistake.

”FUCK ALL OF YOU AND BURN IN HELL,” she screamed and closed her eyes as she jammed the blade towards her throat.

Just as it barely pierced the skin, she felt like a vice had grabbed her hand and she wasn't able to move it any further. She struggled for a minute before opening up her eyes and seeing Kennedy standing in front of her, holding the hand that she was trying to stab herself with. Her eyes had taken on a fox like shape while fine, smooth white fur had covered most of her body. Had one been looking close enough, they might have even seen that Kennedy now had a beautiful and fluffy white tail as well.

Vivi raised her unused hand and just snapped her fingers, letting off a spark of purple light. Ironically, nothing happened for a few moments but before anyone could say anything, a loud noise like the sound of glass shattering rang out and all of the nearly two dozen ice sculptures exploded simultaneously, releasing the people trapped inside.

As they were suddenly free from their prison, most of them fell to the ground as the tank like members of the group who had been frozen first were gasping for air while grabbing their heads. Even the ones who had been frozen later were stuck on the floor with wicked headaches and unable to stand.

Seeing all of her team members alive and mostly well, Renee dropped the sword and broke down, crying as though the world was ending. Kennedy didn't say anything, but grabbed her around the back and brought her in close, hugging her while supporting her. Seeing what was happening, the other team members of Blood Moon didn't say anything, but they were able to get a general idea of what had happened. They had lost, and they had lost badly.

They had no way to beat that wolf monster and had it wanted to kill them, it would have. Since they had been frozen in the ice, all of their senses had been sealed and it was almost like time had stopped for them. Because of that, Renee was the only one who knew that Vivi was actually the wolf that attacked them. But she was in no condition to explain that to anyone.

Due to everyone involved being an infected, it didn't take long before their bodies recovered from the effects of being frozen. It actually took longer for Renee calm herself down after everything. But when she finally did, she stood up and walked over to Vivi before bowing and saying, ”I'm sorry.”

”You will only have this one chance so you'd better treasure it. And just be glad I'd gotten this idea from someone, otherwise I would have just been content to kill half of you and let the other half live. Luckily, I'd gotten some good advice in the past.”

Renee didn't say anything else, nor did she try to understand what Vivi was talking about. Instead, she just rejoined her team and they began going through drills again, everyone being focused on working even harder.

While they didn't know what she was talking about, Malene and Kennedy did.

”How did he come up with an idea like this? In fact, why would something like this even come up?” Malene asked as Kennedy returned to the table.

”Well, he has always thought about forming a team. Or, at least he started thinking about it a while ago. And once that happened, he started talking to me about different ways he would train them. As for where he got the ideas? I don't know. Movies or video games would be my guess. Even though he doesn't really play stuff like that anymore, that was a big part of his life in the past,” Vivi explained to the best of her ability.

After they had finished their coffee and snacks, it was time for Vivi to get going. Standing outside the entrance, Malene first hugged Vivi before Kennedy did the same.

”Take care of yourself, ok?” Malene told Vivi.

”Of course,” she replied back.

”And take care of that idiot too,” Kennedy added on.