Cedric cocked his head to the side to look away from the rubble and back at Selena. "Well, sure, I would call it a win. No one died, and we prevented the demon from harming anyone else," he pointed out with a soft smile.

Selena let out a sigh and crossed her arms. "I guess that is more of a win than a loss. But all this destruction is making me think otherwise. I can guarantee someone isn't going to be happy back at the organization," she stated, with a deep frown etched on her face.

Cedric let a nervous chuckle escape him. He ran his fingers through his soft pink locks of hair to calm his nerves. "I don't disagree with you there. But, at least no one will yell at us until tomorrow," he explained. Terror washed over him as he had already managed Dante's wrath.

Selena followed him outside the building. She clenched her hands into fists in frustration at her own inability to do better on the mission. I can't believe my first mission ended up in pure destruction. But it did give me an idea of what I can expect to face next time. I'll just look on the bright side and see this as a learning experience I can improve from, she thought while walking over to Cedric's motorcycle.

Vroom!

Selena lifted her head when she heard the motorcycle's engine come to life. She walked over, scooping up the helmet Cedric had given her earlier, and put it on. She sat down and wrapped her arms around his waist.

When Cedric drove the bike down the street, Selena glanced up at the buildings they passed by. The neon letters spelling out the names of each one became a blur as they zoomed by. She squeezed Cedric a little tighter unconsciously, only to pause when he winced. "Sorry, did that hurt?" she quickly asked.

Cedric softly shook his head. "Only just a little. Just don't squeeze me too tightly; I don't think I can handle any more pain for the day," he lightheartedly stated with a chuckle, causing a pout to form on her lips.

Selena narrowed her eyes after hearing his statement. "You shouldn't be poking fun at your injuries. They looked pretty bad to me," she brought up.

A smile painted itself on his features underneath his helmet. "Nah, I'm pretty fast at recovering. How about you? Are you feeling okay? I was worried about you back there," Cedric stated while turning left at a light ahead.

"I'm mostly alright, and the pain isn't anything I can't handle. Though, I think the cold is bothering me more," Selena claimed, leaning closer to his back. A soft smile formed on her face when she stole his warmth from him.

Cedric resisted the urge to say something flirty after what they experienced for the day. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with as much air as possible. "Transport," he mumbled softly, causing the blue mist to appear in front of them.

The mist swirled around in a circle before it opened up, revealing the organization on the other side of it. Without any hesitation, Cedric dove into it. A breath of relief left him when they were miles away from the trouble that went down at the club. The portal made a slight whistling sound as it closed up.

"Feels nice to be back," Selena stated when Cedric parked the bike. She got off and removed the helmet, handing it back to him.

Cedric nodded his head in agreement. "Well, I'm going to turn in for the night; I'll be seeing you tomorrow. I suggest you rest too to prepare yourself for the yelling that's about to come," he explained with a sheepish smile, wishing he could escape having to deal with it somehow.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Selena breathed out, not the least bit thrilled about having to deal with that tomorrow.

They headed back to the apartment building together, hoping that the next day wouldn't be as bad as they expected it to be.

—--

Dante leaned comfortably against the sofa in his apartment. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV. He reached down, scooping up some food from the plate in front of him with a fork. He paused when he heard the woman on the screen talking about something important; he wished he hadn't heard that morning.

"We would like to announce the pure destruction at a local club," a news reporter woman stated on the TV screen.

Dante's mouth hung open in shock. The food on his fork slipped off, staining the carpet in an orangy red mess. "The fuck!" he breathed out in anger, slamming his utensil down on the table.

Without wasting a minute, Dante got up and finished getting ready and stormed out of his room with a glare filled with daggers. He stormed through the main plaza with a murderous aura that made everyone stay out of his way.

Liam let out a yawn as he stretched his arms. He tilted his head back when he noticed a certain grumpy man on the hunt to kill someone responsible for his misery. "Is something the matter, Dante?" he called out sweetly as he ran over.

Dante glared at him. "I'm not in the mood for you this morning. I have bigger problems to attend to. Did you see the news?" he brought up. His face contorted more in anger when he already imagined the rest of the stuff the newswoman talked about that he didn't hear.

"Well..." Liam hesitantly stated before pausing while he rubbed the back of his neck. He sucked in a breath when Dante suddenly stopped abruptly in his tracks, causing him to bump into Dante's shoulder.

Dante reached out, gripping the collar of Liam's shirt, and yanked him forward. "What the hell do you know that you're not telling me? Before you make up a lie, I already know you're hiding something from me just by how you're acting right now," he stated with rage bubbling in his eyes.

"Woah, someone decided to choose rage this morning," Liam teased with a pearly white smile before nervously chuckling when Dante gave him a death glare.

Liam raised his hands up in surrender. "Alright, you caught me," he said with an innocent smile. "Cedric talked to me way in the early morning before you even got up. He actually went as far as to knock on my door, so I figured it was pretty important. He mentioned that something was wrong with that mission Selena and him had last night," he stated with a serious look in his eyes, which caused Dante to release his hold.

"Go on," Dante declared as he crossed his arms across his chest, seeming interested in hearing what Liam had to say next.

"Cedric explained how the demon was way too much for a first-year to handle and that the two of them narrowly made it out of there alive. With that concerning information in mind, do you think the main office didn't notice such a serious mistake that sent two people almost to their deaths?" Liam asked, furrowing his brows. He didn't understand how a major error like that passed by unnoticed.

"Are you saying that Cedric nearly saw Selena die last night?" Dante blurted out, catching Liam by surprise.

A frown formed on Liam's face as he looked at the ground. "Yeah, he did," he stated as he could see a hint of worry bubble up in Dante's eye. "But, he seemed alright when he was talking to me earlier, so I wouldn't bring it to his attention again," he suggested. He tilted his head to the side when Dante let out an annoyed sigh.

"I'm going to the head office right now to give them a piece of my mind," Dante said, stomping in that direction with pure rage boiling up within him.

"You can't be serious, Dante! Please don't make a scene today," Liam whined, following after him.

Dante looked over his shoulder back at Liam. "If all you're going to do is whine, you can stay behind. But, if you're so damn concerned about me causing problems, then you might as well join me," he offered, causing Liam to shake his head in disbelief.

Liam placed his palm against his face. "That doesn't mean I want to be involved with whatever you plan on doing, you know?" he brought up, only for his mouth to twitch slightly when Dante walked ahead.

Liam quickened his pace and walked alongside Dante. He playfully nudged his shoulder with his. "Come on, Dante, I was only kidding. But I do take no responsibility for whatever you plan on doing, okay?" he said with a warm smile that caused Dante to frown in annoyance.

Dante's eye darted over to the right. "If I don't end up killing someone at the front office over this, I'll probably end you first for all your damn whining," he threatened.

"Looks like you're full of energy this morning," Liam teased with a chuckle. Dread loomed over him as he already expected the meltdown Dante was going to have when he entered the building.