Reid walked towards Mia and sat next to her.
"Hey, Mia," Reid softly called.
Mia raised her head to look at him. There were trails of tears on her cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy. She seemed to have been crying for a while.
The shy and constantly blushing Mia had been replaced by the crying and sad Mia, which was a look Reid didn't think fit her.
"How are you ho—" before he could complete whatever he was going to say, she quickly hugged him and started sobbing again.
Although the hug surprised Reid, he started patting her back softly, allowing her to cry on his shoulders.
This was for the best anyway because he wasn't sure of how to console her. Mia cried until she mellowed in his embrace, her tears welling no more.
Reid kept hugging her for as long as she needed.
Mia finally pulled back, her eyes still wet with unshed tears, but her breathing steadier now. She wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt and managed a weak, "Sorry about that."
"You don't have to apologize," Reid replied gently.
"The worst part is, I can't seem to hate him after everything that happened today, no matter how hard I tried, " Mia snickered in self-mockery.
Reid quietly listened as she poured her heart out. He figured that was what she needed at the moment.
"I still find it hard to believe that he was part of some cult and was willing to put Mom and me in danger because of it," she continued while Reid listened.
"W-we were happy," her tears started rolling down her cheeks again, "or at least that's what it looked like to Mom and me."
She continued for a while before she stopped and wiped off the tears.
"Thank you for listening," she turned to Reid and thanked him with sincerity in her voice.
"It's okay," Reid replied, "besides, this is nothing compared to what you did for me last week, so I should be the one thanking you."
She gave him a light smile before standing up and repeating, "Really, thank you, Reid."
"I already said —" he paused, seeing the look on her face, "sigh, you're welcome."
She was about to walk away when Reid suddenly said, "Do you mind if I walk you home?"
Mia stopped for a minute and processed his words before smiling at him and replying, "Sure".
-----
Reid's walk with Mia was pretty uneventful. He made sure she got home and then headed towards his bunker, expecting old man Scrappy's annoying guest to have left by now.
Unlocking his door, he noted that it was quiet, which confirmed that they had left.
Reid walked towards his sofa and sprawled on it, letting his exhaustion sink in. This entire month had been an eventful one.
He got himself two forged beasts, bonded with Evo, evolved his forged beasts, survived a beast siege, defeated a Silver-tier beast/primal, and even survived a terrifying encounter with a platinum-tier primal.
Speaking of an eventful month, he remembered that he hadn't received his mission rewards yet.
He sat up, preparing to summon Evo when he heard light steps behind him. He quickly turned back.
"Oh, you're back." Standing with a towel in hand and a black T-shirt and shorts was Elizabeth, who looked like she had just come back from a shower. "The hot water's finished, so you'll have to refill it before taking a shower."
This was the last straw. Reid didn't care if she was the granddaughter of Scrappy or even a platinum-ranked tamer. Using his hot water and wearing his T-shirt was taking it too far.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Reid raged, "And why are you wearing my shirt?"
"Oh, this, grandpa said he'd talk to you about me staying the night, he just left to look for you," Elizabeth said with a sheepish grin.
"You just accepted and decided to make yourself comfortable?" Reid asked, feeling incredulous. 'What the hell was the old man thinking?'
"Of course, do you know the distance I had to travel to get here? I badly needed a shower," She said in a tone that suggested that, that much was obvious.
"Sigh, aren't you afraid of me trying to take advantage of you?" He felt stupid as soon as the words left his mouth.
"Hahaha, you? Take advantage of me?" She wiped the tears that formed due to her laughing and suddenly turned serious, "You'll lose your head before laying a finger on me."
She released her platinum rank aura on him to drive her point home. The pressure almost forced him to his knees, but he held on.
"F-fine, I get it," Reid struggled to say, and only then did she withdraw the pressure, "you can stay."
"Thank you," she said with a smile and sat next to him on the sofa. "So, Forgemaster, wanna show me some of your creations?"
"No," Reid simply said before standing up and heading towards his work desk.
"You're no fun," she said with a pout.
"You'll sleep in that room," he pointed to a door at one corner of the bunker. "When you get bored enough, you can turn on the TV. There should be some shows of the past there."
Reid walked away, leaving her to her devices. He was feeling embarrassed at the fact that he was a lot weaker than Elizabeth, who was his age.
[With me here, you'll be at her rank in no time,] Evo assured him.
"Thank you, Evo," he said in appreciation.
He walked to his work desk, waiting for Elizabeth to retreat into the room before he checked his rewards.
"Oh, grandpa said to prepare yourself, you and three others will be leaving with me early tomorrow," she spoke from the sofa.
"So soon?" Reid muttered to himself, not expecting to leave for at least a week.
Elizabeth watched anime for a while before retreating to the room.
"Finally," Reid stood up from his work desk and stretched. He had been sitting there for a while.
"Evo, show me my rewards," he said, feeling excited.
[Alright. Calculating rewards.....]
-------
Answer to last chapter's riddle: The letter "M."
This Chapter's riddle: What has keys but can't open locks?