"Say Aaaa." Janette said and offered apple slices to her wife. Cherry nearly bit off her hand. Marcus watched them being cute and wondered at what point he should leave the room. A knock on the door saved him from making a decision. A small and a giant man moved into the room, Ming and Flores, the other heads of Cerberus. "Amelia!" the giant walked right up to her and hugged her under the suspicious eyes of Janette. "It is good to see you healthy again. To be honest, I was sure we had lost you." Ming said and looked relieved. Marcus nodded to himself, it had been close for a spell but now things were fine.

Ming's eyes wandered to Marcus, "All of Cerberus is deeply indebted to you Mr. Freimann. As it stands we should hurry and raise a Titan or two ourselves, if only for situations like this. In the meantime I hope we can depend on you," the small man said and Cherry laughed. "Don't let Cheng pull you in. I just returned from death's door and he is already looking for an upside," she said and the Chinese man put a faint smile on. "Even in misery we must not stop looking for opportunity," he said with a tiny bow.

"The whole clan is searching for the attackers and whoever is behind them. Every member who is currently not protecting this building is working on it, together with many of our allies." Flores said with a serious look. "If you feel well enough already I would like to ask you what you remember from the attack." Ming added and Marcus got an idea about the dynamic between the two men.

"To be honest not much. One moment I was walking with Rin towards the meeting with the Ghostheart clan with no sign of any attack or ambush. The next moment, I was not able to control my body and pain flooded over me from all sides." Cherry said with a thin voice and Janette held her hand. Marcus listened to the tale of pain and sorrow and stayed calm. She was alright now, that was the important thing. Cherry took another breath and continued, "I plunged into darkness filled with pain, trying not to drown in it. I fought so hard to hold on, but there was only pain and I could feel how I got weaker and weaker. No matter how hard I tried to hold on, I slowly slipped deeper into the darkness." Janette embraced her and whispered something into her ear that made Cherry smile.

Nobody tried to stop Cherry from sharing her experience and she continued "I felt cold and empty, trapped in a cage out of pain. But then warmth flooded into me and with every moment I felt stronger. The darkness was pushed back and the pain started to fade. Not long after I opened my eyes and was whole again," she finished with a smile at Marcus. He swallowed hard and gave her a smile back. Flores had a tear in his eyes and Ming made a thin mouth.

"We will get whoever is responsible for that, I promise you Amelia," Ming said, and like many times before Marcus could feel the essence of Cerberus in these people. Strict, unrelenting, seeker of justice that was Cerberus. The three heads discussed some clan details and finally left when Janette threw them out under the excuse that Cherry still needed rest. In truth she wanted to be cute with her wife and Marcus was about to leave when a knock stopped him for a second time.

The door opened and Kim walked in, carrying a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a familiar travel bag in the other. "Ye-jun!" Marcus exclaimed and the Korean smiled, and offered the flowers to Cherry. "The news of your recovery has traveled fast and far. We all feared the worst when we first heard of the attack," Kim said and showed a lot of feelings on his face. Marcus did not know that the two knew each other well, but there was a lot he did not know about his teacher.

"Thank you Kim. Thanks to a certain Titan I'm still alive." Cherry replied with a smile and took the flowers. Ye-jun gave Marcus a look and he shrugged his shoulders, "My career as a walking medipack is secured. Even doctor Klein has asked me to help in the future." His teacher nodded and offered Marcus his bag. "I hope we can also count on you if Sleeping Sky is in the same situation," he said as Marcus took the bag. "Of course. I'm good at sitting around and getting praised for it," Marcus said as a jest but Ye-jun did not laugh. "You really can not see your own worth Marcus." And everybody in the room besides Marcus nodded.

"While we are saying thank you. I would like to thank you for your quick help in finding Marcus. Without your cooperation Rin would not have been able to locate him in time," Janette said and bowed to Kim. The Korean smiled and waved it off. "It was nothing, lucky enough Marcus was keeping his phone close to him. Something he should make a habit of," he said with a look to Marcus who gave him an apologetic grin.

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Kim sighed and looked back to the hairless Cherry, "I have already talked to your people and Sleeping Sky will give you full support on this matter. This attack on you needs to be answered quickly or it will set a precedent. It is in the interest of all larger clans to make sure that such craven attacks are not an option," Kim explained, and Marcus suddenly understood this was much greater than just Cherry. This was an attack on the power structure of the large clans. Even though there were over a million class holders in the world, the number of people with level 100+ was just over 1000. They and their clans and cooperation represented the nobility of the class holders and much of their power.

After some enjoyable banter Kim left with good wishes for Jura, Jack and Amy. Marcus wanted to leave the two women alone, but Cherry asked him to stay. They moved a couch into the room, and he spent the night there, while Janette shared the bed with Cherry. Marcus unmuted Xeen and filled him in on the horrific incident.

Cowardly cretins, attacking from the shadows with numbers because they do not have the strength or courage to stand up to others. I felt the rough teleports and feared something bad was happening. Next time do not forget to unmute me, Marcus. I might have been able to give advice.

Marcus apologized and promised to be better in the future. They talked more, and Marcus realized that Xeen was honestly concerned about Janette and Cherry.

Your emotions are bleeding through our connection, I can not help and care for them too.

Look at you, finding excuses to like somebody.

Ha!

Marcus did not sleep much and neither did the women. They talked about all kinds of things in the dark, until some time after midnight when Cherry started to cry and Janette held her tightly. Marcus put the lights on, and Cherry wanted them both to hug her. She cried for a long time and they did not leave her alone until the sun came up again. The attack had been as traumatic to her mind as it had been to her body, but one could not be healed so easily. Marcus was doing fine of course, he could feel Janette's eyes on him a few times, but there was no reason for her to worry about him. Her attention should be on Cherry.

It was shortly after sunrise, when they heard running on the floors and people shouting. Marcus opened the door and watched what was going on. People ran down the corridors and suddenly alarm sirens yelled. Janette had to push Cherry back down as she wanted to get out of bed. Ming came around the corner with surprising speed. "Marcus! Please come with me," he said and Marcus was surprised it was him he wanted. "There is an intruder on the grounds, and she is asking for you." Marcus had no idea who this could be until Ming said "She is incredibly strong, and not human."

Electricity ran through Marcus' body and he turned on the spot, ripped open the next window and jumped down from the fifth floor without hesitation. The guard in the area nearly had a heart attack as Marcus rushed by him, and towards the entrance. Two dozen Cerberus members formed a half circle around a tall figure in a long and heavy, hooded cloak. Marcus rushed by them without giving them much thought, and ran right into the arms of Azaa. "How are you here?" He asked after embracing her.

"I could no longer stay away from you, and came to meet you. But this is not your home, right?" Azaa said while the humans still did not know what to do. "It is okay, she belongs to me," Marcus said, and he clasped hands with Azaa. Marcus could see terror in the eyes of the steeled veterans of Cerberus and even Flores, who led the defenders, looked pale. The tension only faded when Ming arrived with word from Cherry that the woman was an ally indeed.

Marcus walked with Azaa towards the building, passing by rows of men and women with open mouths and fear filled eyes. "They have never seen a ginghi, nor such a beautiful woman," Marcus explained and Azaa laughed. He could not believe she was here, but the warmth of her hand was real, and so was her scent and her soft lips… Keep it together Marcus. Ugh, you are right. Marcus led Azaa back up to Cherry and Janette, and explained what happened on the way.

"You were coming to see me too?" Azaa said with glowing eyes. "Yes, I could no longer be away from you," he said awkwardly and she gently rubbed his hand with her thumb. They reached the room and Janette hugged Azaa before she introduced her to Cherry. "I have seen pictures of you Cherry, you truly rival my sister and mother in beauty," Azaa said with a soft smile. Cherry's face changed in surprise and Marcus realized he had never explained to Azaa that 'Cherry' was a special name only he and Janette were allowed to use. "Azaa, ehm, you should call her-" Marcus started but Cherry interjected. "Cherry is okay," the hairless woman said with a smile, and met Marcus' eyes for a moment.

"It is nice to finally meet you too, Azaa," Cherry said and offered Azaa a hand. The ginghi woman took it, but like Marcus had seen before, held her wrist and put her thumb on her blood vessels. After a few seconds Azaa said, "You must have suffered grievous wounds in that attack. Your organs and blood vessels are slightly misaligned. We need to correct it or it will lead to problems." It was an unexpected problem, but Marcus was sure it would be fine.

"I feel good, at least physically." Cherry said in surprise, but Azaa shook her head. "Because you are resting now. If you were to strain yourself you would feel weaker. Not by much but it would burden you for the rest of your life." Janette and Cherry exchanged looks and Cherry said, "Can you fix it?" Azaa smiled and sat down next to Cherry on the large bed. "Of course. Love, would you please leave the room? I need to inspect Cherry's body and correct the misalignment," Azaa said, and Marcus was banned from the room. He leaned against the wall outside the room and took deep breaths.

I expect, I will be muted soon.

Oh, I really hope so.

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