3rd POV. Dining Room, Heat Haze Palace. A few days before the Impossible Mission.
Klaus gathered all members of Lamplight in the dining room, all eight girls came.
Except for Caelus who went out to town.
Monika: So, what's the big deal?
Klaus: Seems he's not here.
Sybilla: You mean that guy? He didn't change any one bit. Ever since coming here.
Klaus: Hm.
Klaus: He jammed the bugs planted across the mansion.
Klaus: But that was only for 5 hours. We only have one hour left before the interference wears off. I don't know how he did it but.....
Klaus: I did tell you I was part of Inferno, right?
All members of Lamplight nod.
Klaus: Then, I am certain you heard of another member of Lamplight.
Klaus: And many speculated that this member was a just pure imagination.
Thea: Ember, the speculated "eighth member" of Inferno. Known to be an assassin among assassins.
Klaus: Is that how Ember was described in your academy?
Thea: Yes. Said to be behind the most prominent assassinations during the Great War.
Thea: Not to mention, even assassinating top ranking military generals of the Empire.
Thea: Ember's assassinations eventually led to the surrender of Galgad Empire.
Thea: But the nail in the coffin is when Ember tortured the Emperor of Galgad Empire during the war.
Thea: But the Galgad Empire refuted this claim as their Emperor never experienced as such.
Klaus closed his eyes.
Klaus: So that one of the stories of how Ember was viewed.
Klaus: Is there another one?
Monika: Ember was said to be able to infiltrate any nation and leave without a trace.
Monika: Even stealing vital information. That is how Ember was revered to be a shadow among shadows.
Monika: It's even ridiculous to think that.....
Monika: Another story claimed that they disappeared with no trace. Not even Inferno knew what happened to them.
Monika: So...does this story hold true?
Klaus: Yes. We didn't know what happened to Ember.
Klaus: It is just as you said earlier. Ember disappeared without a trace.
Klaus: As for the reason why Ember left, they left because they sustained a serious injury that dictated that their life as a spy was over.
Lily: Huh? But Ember disappeared without a trace, right?
Klaus: I meant it literally. Ember sustained a serious injury during one of her missions, that was also an Impossible Mission.
Lamplight: !?
Sara: Then....!
Klaus: Ember survived the mission and completed it. But it was equivalent as death. Death as a spy.
Klaus: Ember didn't told us anything. No farewells. They simply disappeared in the shadows. Just like how they were during the past.
Sybilla: But what do you think happened to them?
Klaus: Probably living a normal life. I just wish that is the case. After all, Ember left when the war was still raging on.
Lily: Then, can you tell us Ember's goal as a spy?
Klaus: No. Ember never mentioned their goal.
Klaus: We never asked, but Ember was dedicated to our cause. So our goals sre technically the same.
Klaus: Any more stories about Ember?
Grete: Ember was said to be the true boss of Inferno.
Klaus: The true former boss of Inferno.
Klaus: Ember........was the prodigy among Inferno.
Klaus: The only one who completed Impossible Missions without any help at all.
Sara: Without any help!?
Sybilla: Now you're saying nonsense!
Klaus: Ember, during the war.....
Klaus: Massacred a battalion of the Galgad Empire.
Lily: Entire battalion!?
Grete: Is this the part where reality and fiction comes to blur?
Klaus: Ember singlehandedly took care of that odds.
Klaus: Ember......was given an epithet when the story spread out.
Klaus: Midsummer Nightmare.
Erna: Midsummer Nightmare?
Klaus: Because Ember massacred that battalion during midsummer.
Monika: Wait, now you're telling us pure fiction now!
Klaus: Is that how Ember is supposed to be? A blur between fiction and reality!?
Sybilla: Tch....
Lily: But.....
Thea: Are they all true?
Klaus: What other stories about her?
None of the Lamplight dared to speak.
Thus Klaus reached a conclusion.
Klaus: You heard some of these stories?
The other members who didn't share any story nod.
Klaus: I see.
Klaus: Ember.......
Klaus: Was the Greatest Spy in the World. A spy among spies.
Klaus: A shadow among shadow.
Klaus: A nameless among nameless.
Klaus: "Codename Ember."
Klaus: "Time to put down the curtain once and for all."
Klaus: That was Ember's line. Thus their career as a spy ended.
Klaus: We didn't manage to contact them.
Klaus: Until Ember became like some sort of a fairy tale.
Klaus: Although I am still wondering if Ember was still alive even until now.
Klaus: I still don't have a strong proof but there was one who possesses the same traits as Ember.
Lily: Why were you talking about this, Teach?
Klaus: Nothing in particular. I wanted to confirm the stories revolving Ember.
Klaus: Magnificent.
Klaus entered his room.
Klaus: Due to how ridiculous the stories are, they became just mere tales.
Klaus: Even until then......you just manage to hide yourself, huh.
Klaus: But without confirmation about what happened to you, I can't tell.
Klaus: Still magnificent, Ember or rather, Anastasia.
As for Caelus, he came back.
Caelus: We still have a few days before the mission.
As for Caelus, what was he doing ever since he stayed at the mansion?
Simple.
Searching for his missing father.
And no one from Lamplight, even Klaus, was aware of Caelus' secret mission.
Caelus: No information about Dad.
Caelus: It's been 10 years.
Caelus: Dad.......where the hell are you on this world?
Caelus immediately continued to look for clues.....
He went over his notes once more.
Caelus: I even traveled the whole Republic. I even went back to the City of Magnolia, the place where I was born.
Caelus: I even visited my old home, only to find out that it wasn't there anymore.
Caelus: Magnolia changed so much.
Caelus: It wasn't the hometown that I used to know. Even so, I still need information.
Caelus: Unfortunately, no information about Dad.
Caelus: That is to be expected. It was after 10 years ever since he went missing.
Caelus: Then.......
Caelus: No one will recognize his name anymore.
Caelus: I was lucky that when I came back to my house after the attacks concluded, I found our passports, important documents, and anything.
Caelus: And a few moments later on, I found my mother's lifeless corpse. Lying on her own blood.
Caelus: I was forced to bury her.
Caelus: Anyways......Dad.......
Caelus: I wish I will be able to recognize you after 10 years.
Caelus: Then.....maybe.....in this Impossible Mission. We'll infiltrate the Galgad Empire
Caelus: If Dad was held a prisoner of war by the Galgad Empire.....
Caelus: All the more reason.
Caelus: I'd better make my own preparations.
Caelus had something different in mind the moment he infiltrated the Empire.
That something is his personal business.
But if someone interferes him, he'll kill them on the spot
For now.....
Caelus: Let's see how are they holding up.
Caelus gets out of his room and checks on the girls who attempted another attack on Klaus.
Only to end up in failure.
Then......Caelus trips Klaus, tie him in wires, and pointed a sword at his nape.
This shocked everyone by Caelus' sudden appearance.
Lily: Caelus!
Sara: I forgot that we have another one here!
Klaus: Magnificent. I still can't predict your attack.
Caelus: .....
Caelus: I'm heading out.
Caelus releases Klaus' bind and and sheathed the sword back.
Sybilla: Hey! Where are you going—
Caelus: Nothing important. Just do your business.
Once again, Caelus fades into darkness once more.
Sybilla: That jerk! He never even helped us in planning our attacks! He just shows up whenever he pleases!
Monika: And him being a graduate and all.....
Monika: Damn it.
Klaus: So even within this whole time? You only have a few days for the mission.
Sybilla: He never helped with our planning.
Monika: My guess is because we always attack him.
Monika: But even if we did plan an attack, he's always missing all the time.
Lily: To think we wasted all of that time then he'll not show up and then show up just the next morning!
Grete: That is how we can always focus on attacking the Boss but when it comes to Caelus....
Sara: He's been here for weeks now.
Sara: And we still absolutely know nothing about him!
Thea: We can't enter his room.
Sybilla: And ever since we infiltrated it, he installed a bunch of countermeasures against trespassers.
Sybilla: And he went extreme. His traps can literally kill!
Annette: I wanna try to copy it, yo! But Caelus-bro is just too good! I can't copy it, yo!
Erna: I don't get him. He'll be surrounded by misfortune and then that will disappear.
Erna: I can't believe that the scent of his misfortune is so strong I thought I would get sick.
Sybilla: Can't beat him in a fight. Can't get any info about him. Can't even know what he's doing right now!
Monika: Maybe he is better than Klaus.
Lily: ...
Lily: I tried to poison Caelus.
Thea: Did it work?
Lily: No, he was prepared. He's got a antidote from the poison.
Lily: He poisoned me instead. It was a strong potion that I thought I'll be sick for a week.
Klaus: Magnificent. So everyone has been forming plans to take down Caelus.
Grete: But we're stumped now. We can't get close to him.
Thea: Even my seductions doesn't work on him!
Sara: I tried to get a mouse to spy on him but the mouse went missing. He probably killed it and buried it in soil.
Lily: Teach, why bother having a guy?
Klaus: He's a new graduate......
Klaus: I am still trying to get the acquiantance to your accounts.
Now, the other thoughts of Lamplight.
Annette: How should I get Caelus-bro to surrender?
Sara: It can be a bird to distract him!
Grete: Maybe if I plan this one out.....
Sybilla: Maybe I should pull my gun if I need to.
Erna: I can't take him down! His misfortune is so huge.
Monika: I swear, if I finally got all that I need........
Lily: Maybe tear gas?
Thea: How can I even know more about him. His heart desires are still shrouded. Yet his eyes are dead.
Lily: He must've been carrying something else......
Lily: And.....as team leader it is my responsibility!
Lily: I must find a way!
As for Klaus.
Klaus: This can't go on. If Caelus won't be able to coordinate with his team......
Klaus: The girls must find a way. Just at least a common ground. If not.....
Klaus: Caelus will just isolate himself even more.