This was easily the last thing Alex and Mei had expected to come across amongst all these illegal weapons and medications.

That and considering the state Adam was in with heavily bruised wrists, ankles, and being marked by a Stigma, it was clear that this impostor group was gonna use him for something.

"Y-You two...................aren't here to buy me........?" Asked the child.

"No." Said Mei.

"These people, what'd they do to you Adam?" Asked Alex.

The kid naturally took a moment to respond as he regained his breathe before speaking.

"T-They caught me and....................were going to sell me. They mentioned something called.................t-the snake...."

Adam's eyes went wide as he seemingly was about to have a panic attack.

"Ah........y-you.........you're not-!"

Mei immediately shushed Adam and patted his head to calm him down.

"Ssshh. Calm down." She said.

"We're not your buyers and we don't plan on taking you. These kidnappers of yours are gonna get their skulls caved in." Said Alex.

"Go now. We'll take care of things here."

Though Mei gave the kid the green light to leave, the young Adam was confused.

"G-Go............where.....?"

"Anywhere you wanna go. You're free now. The bad people can't get to you anymore." Said Mei.

"I've.......................got no where to go.........."

"Shouldn't your family be out looking for you though?" Asked Alex as Adam somberly shook his head no.

"My mom and dad were gone before I could speak and my uncle thought I was a jinx. A curse. I wasn't wanted so I ran away I've been on my own all these years." He explained.

Alex and Mei kept quiet as the girl looked at Alex, seeing a lot of similarities between the two which Alex himself also realized.

'Young boy ran away from home huh? Sounds a lot like myself. Especially after the Siberian War, this easily could've been me.' He thought as he felt immensely sorry for the boy.

"I was caught because someone had sent me to steal something, but they sold me right away."

"You got any friends? Anyone you can trust?" Asked Mei as Adam shook his head no to both questions.

Mei sighed as she pulled Alex aside so the two could discuss.

"From what we've gathered, the kid's homeless, has no family or friends, and carries a stigma. The Honkai's affected his life quite badly." Said Alex.

"He's also a male stigma carrier which is extremely rare. If we take him back to Serpent Quarters, he'll just end up as Jackal's next test subject." Added Mei.

"What should we do then? If we leave him here he'll just be kidnapped again."

"Well, he's definitely here by accident. Neither Jackal nor Gray Serpent should be aware of his presence............."

Mei then thought of something as she'd grab a scrap of paper that was left behind as she wrote something on it and handed it to Adam.

"Here. Take this." She said. "Do you know this address?"

"N-No but............I think I know how to get there...........what is this place......?"

"Just go there if you can trust us. Tell them your story and they'll take you in." Said Mei.

Adam was a little hesitant as Alex nodded and encouraged him.

"Coming from Mei, I can confirm it's 100% safe. She's completely trustworthy." He said.

Adam looked at them two and then back at the slip before getting out of the box.

"O-Okay I'll go. I trust you two." He said. "Thank you."

Adam had a determined look on his face as Alex chuckled.

"Don't go thanking us yet. You have to bail on your own." He said as Mei kneeled and patted him on his shoulders and then his head.

"One last thing, cover up your neck. Don't let anyone see it. Don't worry it's harmless. There's just people who hate seeing it."

Adam nodded and would give Mei a quick hug and Alex a high five before leaving the area as the two watched on.

"You sure handled that quite well. Almost like a mother." Jokingly said Alex with a smile as Mei had a small laugh.

"In that case, wouldn't you be the father?" She joked back as Alex rolled his eyes.

"That'd be the end of me." He said with a groan as Mei smirked.

"Come on let's wrap things up here. I'm sure Sensei's probably waiting for us back at the bar." Said Alex as Mei nodded.

The two would walk on ahead and resume their mission.

[Back to the Present]

Mei's reminiscence would come to a stop here as she continued to drink the glass of water Raven had handed her.

"What if Jackal brings those ashes back from studying? Knowing her she'd definitely do that." Said Raven, though she wouldn't receive an answer as she sighed and began fiddling with a bottle.

"Want a sip of whiskey?" She asked before looking at Alex with a smirk. "As for the kid, he can get a nice glass of milk. He stills needs to grow up after all."

"Haha. Very funny sensei." Said the boy in a sarcastic tone as he got up and sat with them at the counter.

"Sorry but I don't drink." Said Mei.

"Fine. Then how about I give you two something non-alcoholic?"

"If you must."

Raven would get busy getting a drink as the two took this brief moment to chat.

"You think Adam's gonna be okay?" Asked Mei.

Alex took some time to answer before finding his words.

"I trust him. I can tell that he's tougher than he looks. We just gotta have faith in him." Responed Alex as Mei nodded.

Raven would then come back and handed the two glasses of milk which led Mei confused and Alex annoyed.

"Milk?" Said the girl.

"You seriously continuing the joke?" Asked Alex.

"Lighten up. This isn't regular milk it's skimmed. Best for the underage."

By now, Mei had an awkward smile as Alex was close to blowing a fuse.

The girl would calm him down as Alex simply pushed his drink aside while Mei took a sip of hers.

"Sensei. Why do you own this bar? You already have the one in Arc City." Said Alex.

"Well for starters, it's nice to have two different spots to hide out and relax in. That and I actually owned this bar first." She said.

"How'd that come to be?" Asked Mei.

"Couple of years ago. I was drifting on my own and needed some footing."

"You weren't with World Serpent? On a solo mission?"

"No, I quit. Literally. Did the paperwork and everything."

"For as long as I've known you, I thought you were always a part of them." Said Alex.

"I thought you had been raised by them. I recall hearing that you were a kid when Gray Serpent took you in." Said Mei.

"Yeah. He took me out of the Siberian tundra and raised me to become a World Serpent soldier. Despite all that, I didn't like it here. No particular reason really. Just didn't feel like I belonged, so I wanted to go and build my own life. Surprisingly, Gray Serpent agreed with out any fuss." Explained Raven.

"That creeper really just let you walk like that?" Asked Alex who had a hard time believing that someone like that would have zero issue losing someone like her.

"Yep. He didn't even ask why. For a second, I felt like I was just a pawn that the Serpent could ditch at any time. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. Gray Serpent's parting words to me were, 'You'll be back'."

"He knew you well." Said Mei.

Raven would keep quiet for a but before resuming her speech.

"I had initially wanted this place to be a café, but it proved to be harder than I thought. I'm not master barista after all. It got repurposed and became popular with gang members and intel dealers. That's where I learned many things that I shouldn't have."

"Let me guess. That's where your mercenary career started?" Asked Alex.

"That's a tale for another time. Now that I'm back working for the Serpent, I can't keep her open anymore. I can only come and visit."

"Was the reason for coming back to the Serpent involve the children?" Asked Mei.

"Nah. I was just tired. Went a long way and found out that the Serpent was the one who paid best, so I came back." Said Raven.

"So you've always been about the money huh?" Said Alex.

"Hey. That money kept you and the kids safe in Nagazora. I did what I had to. Besides, I'm just earning a living. Why not pick the place that pays most and on time?"

"I'm sure you've made enough by now. Why not quit again and bring this place back to life?" Asked Mei.

"Honestly, you're probably right. Maybe I should follow your advice." Said Raven with a slight chuckle before having a somber smile.

"Unfortunately in some instances, we aren't given a choice."

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Chapter 28: Complete