Luo Yan silently tapped at his computer. Grumbling, he skipped past potential scavenger hires. Not enough experience, too many risks, too old, not blu-

Ahem. He didn't pick scavengers based on what color they wore. That was silly.

He almost skipped one until he saw the credentials. The experience was amazing, nearly eight years worth of experience with weapons, specifically scythes, bows, and hammers. The education could be better, but he was willing to overlook that. Until he saw the age.

"14?" He sat up, confused. "A 14 year old can't get onto this list."

Alright, who messed up? Was it Amir? No, Amir was off in Debia right now. Now that he thought of it, almost every scavenger was doing something. All but one.

"Everett?" Luo Yan asked as he walked in on the man eating dinner.

"Luo Yan? What is it you need?"

"Why did you let this 14 year old pass the initial check?" He asked, holding out a now printed out document. "It's not even trying to hide the fact she's 14."

"My apologies sir. Let me see who it is so I can fix the mistake." Everett held out his hand to take the document. Luo Yan handed it to him, waiting for Everett.

"...Ah, no, this wasn't a mistake." Everett admitted quietly.

"What?"

"Bring her in, I'll deal with her."

"What does that mean?"

With no response, Luo Yan sighed deeply.

"Everett, I can't just ignore the rules without a reason."

"I may or may not know her."

Luo Yan tilted his head, so Everett stood up with a sigh.

"You remember Ophelia and Yassen?" He slowly asked.

"Yes. A traitor and a dead man. What about it?"

"...Ophelia was pregnant before Yassen died."

Luo Yan's eyebrows raised. "Oh? You don't think..."

"I do. Let me handle this."

A long pause followed. Luo Yan inhaled them exhaled deeply, rubbing his temples.

"Alright," he finally said, "but don't try to convince me about letting her in."

"Obviously." Everett nodded. "I've got this covered."

***

"I don't have this covered." Everett grumbled, looking down at the child.

"I'm Blanche!" She yelled. "I want you to help me kill my mom!"

"...I don't kill people, kid." He said.

"But-but Ophelia deserves it!" Blanche cried.

Alright. So his hunch was right.

Now he just had to figure out why this kid came to him.

Easy...Sure...Totally.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Blanche asked. "I mean, I like the silence, but not right now."

"Ah..." Everett slowly blinked, "...why are you here again?"

"I want you to help me kill my mom, Ophelia." She explained. "She's been awful! She agrees with Tang Yun! But he's bad!!"

Tang Yun. Everett felt his jaw clench. Eleven years ago, he slipped past his fingertips after he snatched that music box. A few months ago, he ripped the eyeballs out of two kids. Never mess with kids on Everett's watch. Ok, it wasn't hard to understand why Blanche was here, asking for help.

"...even so," Everett said, "I won't kill anyone."

"Come on, they're bad people. They kill people for no reason!"

"It's against the Union's policies," he explained, "I'd be jailed immediately."

As Blanche's shoulders sank, Everett sighed deeply and continued.

"That doesn't mean I won't help you."

Her head shot up, eyes shining with anticipation.

"Really?" She said excitedly. "But, uh, how will you help me if you won't kill."

"Kid, we have jails for a reason," he pointed a finger at her, "you'll help us locate Ophelia and the other criminals and we'll do the rest."

"Us? B-but I thought..."

Did this kid think he could handle this on his own? No way. Luo Yan had to know about this.

"Don't get me in trouble for asking!" Blanche cried. "I just don't want to deal with my mom ever again!"

Everett was about to retort, until he saw her wide eyes. They stared at him with desperation and panic, pleading with him, leeching on him.

"You won't get in trouble," he said softly, "you're just a kid trying your best."

Blanche stared at him with wide eyes as Luo Yan entered. He folded his arms, giving Everett an approving nod.

***

"We'll have to wait a few days," Luo Yan explained to Blanche, "most of the scavengers are away."

"Is Everett a scavenger?" She asked. Luo Yan nodded.

"There's lots of great people who are going to help you, Blanche, and Everett is just one of them."

"How can I tell who's a scavenger?" She asked.

"We all wear blue." Everett said, glancing at Luo Yan, who exhaled in exasperation.

"They do not," he grumbled, "I'll tell you who they are."

Blanche gave a nod, watching as Luo Yan returned to his work. Everett turned to leave before pausing, then turning back around to urge Blanche to follow him.

"Where are we going?" She asked, running to keep up with him.

"I'm gonna take you where you won't get in our way," he said, "Feng Nuxi will take care of you until we're ready to get the information you have."

"But I-" she huffed as he quickly turned a corner. "-I wanna be with you!"

Everett held back a sigh of annoyance as he stopped and looked dead in the girl's eyes.

"You can't." He said coldly, in hopes it would scare her away. Instead, she puffed her chest out and grabbed his leg.

"I'm not leaving until you agree to train me!" She yelled.

"Wh-?! When did you ever mention...?"

Blanche stared up at him, determination drawn  on her face. He pursed his lips before sighing deeply.

"The answer is no."

"I'll convince you..." and with that, she ran off, much to Everett's relief. Maybe this girl was too much trouble for what she's worth.

***

Everett knew that Blanche had done something once Luo Yan had called him in, and his suspicions were only confirmed when he saw Feng Nuxi. Blanche sat to the side of them, giving him a smug look.

"Everett," Luo Yan said, "we need you to train Blanche."

"Having her trained by a professional is only best," Feng Nuxi added, "for her safety."

He knew that they must also mean "so she doesn't run away too" just by the way Blanche held in her giggles. Everett sighed deeply, putting his hand onto his hip.

"Fine, but I'm not holding back any punches."

"Don't you hurt her too badly!" Nuxi snapped.

"That's not what I..."

"No, no," Luo Yan said, "I think being tough on the kid is a good idea. Get her prepared for life with the scavengers."

Nuxi shook her head in exasperation. Luo Yan have a quick smile before standing up.

"Blanche?" He looked over at her. "Feng Nuxi will show you to your room."

Blanche stood up and quickly followed Nuxi away. Once they were gone, Luo Yan turned to Everett.

"Not only will this strengthen a potential student," he said in a low voice, "but someone keeping an eye on her at all times is also wise, if it's true that her mother IS Ophelia, and she did come from the Shadow Degree."

"I understand." Everett said.

"Good. Your teaching starts tomorrow."

***

Blanche came running into the gym, where Everett waited. Upon seeing her, he walked to and unlocked a door, watching as Blanche pushed her way in and stared in. Inside, was a large catalog of weapons of all kinds. Of course, these weapons were training weapons, meaning they had all the same qualities as the real counterparts except they were mostly harmless.

Blanche took a scythe from the weapons catalog and threw it around lazily.

"Nice weight," she noted, "the blade is a nice size, too."

"Yes." Everett said. He walked towards a dummy and pulled it into the center of the gym.

"Now, show me what you're made of."

Blanche slowly approached the dummy and then stared to attack. Everett watched in awe as he saw someone who was so close to Ophelia, but always just a step behind her.

The dance, it was clunky and awkward, but effective nonetheless. Her swings were powerful, but not meant for the elegance of a scythe. Despite all this, she was somewhat experienced.

"Impressive," Everett said, "but it seems like you're meshing different styles of weapons together."

When Blanche looked at him confused. He elaborated, "You're using a scythe like a hammer, almost. It's weird...but it's also not bad."

"You think?" She said. He nodded.

"Just make sure you understand the basics of both before you merge them."

Blanche nodded, clutching the training scythe with a beam.

"Thank you, Mr. Everett!" She yelled. He sighed, but gave a tiny grin. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.