Ember went to bed early that day.
It's been five years and she dreamed about the past, how she woke up a blank slate. If Jac didn't adopt her that day, she might still be able to survive, but there's no telling whether she'll get the best or the worst of it.
She also eventually realized that the reason Jac took her is due to her potential. Others might feel like they've been taken advantage of, but for her, it's only natural that he nurture her in return for her usefulness. Despite that, she still treats them as her family. They took care of her, played with her, taught her, and they're the only people she knew she can trust her back to.
However, she still decided to keep from them her greatest secret.
Even though she lost her memories, besides her name, there's another matter that she can remember. From time to time, a vague scene will appear in her mind of a woman reminding her to never take off her shoes and to never reveal anyone about its abilities.
She knew the memories were real for the shoes she's wearing can do wonders. It can change to any style she wanted and grow with her. She also didn't need to take it off if she's to take a bath or sleep because it can take the form of an anklet.
She tried to explore its other possible functions but besides providing her a barrier from dirt and clothes redesigning ability, there's nothing else that it can do. Funny that it seems like it was designed to keep her from being naked and to always make her look presentable.
Although it can't provide her superpowers, its convenience is fully welcome during missions. It will significantly reduce her load and allow her to change in an instant. Most of all, she won't feel sticky even if she crawl into the mud.
She still can't help but wonder what her life had been before she lost her memories. Somehow, she didn't find it uncomfortable to be around the people from the organization even if they unconsciously emit a dangerous aura. Training, for her, feels as natural as breathing. Her reflexes are also extraordinary and she somehow knew a lot of survival skills.
So, was her family cut out from the same cloth as the organization? There's a big possibility.
As for now, she can only take one step at a time into unlocking the mystery behind her person. Hopefully, as her mission increases, so are the tracks leading back to her past.
...
The next day, she woke up fully energized and even made extra laps in her jog. She worked with her foundational exercise to ensure the flexibility of her body and to relieve her muscle pain.
Afterwards, she proceeded with doing some weird motions. The way she moves seem slow but the truth is it evades the human perception and attack the blindspots. Then it accelerates into one swift move to instantly kill off the opponent.
Amidst her morning routine, she suddenly felt a killing intent coming from her back. Instead of avoiding it like usual, she met the killing intent with a stronger one.
She saw that it was Bloody Clown who tried to attack her but she didn't stop to contemplate. They exchanged several blows until both of them sweated the morning off. Both of them lay on the floor catching their breath.
"No wonder Jac allowed you to join the mission this time" Bloody Clown can't help but admire this Ember's growth rate. In just a matter of five years, her strength is almost on par with their top tier agents. Now all she needed to do is gain more experience on the field.
"Are you going to join us as well?" Ember was hinted that they're not the only ones who were given the same mission.
"Ohh, you caught on fast. That's right, this time, although the mission is not as dangerous as our previous missions but the importance is ten times as much, therefore they specifically asked our team and yours to handle it"
"Can you tell me more about the mission?"
"It will be revealed later so I guess there's no harm in telling in advance" Bloody Clown decided then continued, "How much do you know about our organization?"
"Hmm, we're like a guild who nurture our own experts that will eventually take assignments that are mostly focused on mercenary work and assassinations" she said after thinking for a while.
"That's right, but that's the only half of it.
Why do you think we can exist in this country without having much trouble from the government despite the nature of our work?" Bloody Clown is leading her somewhere instead of telling her directly what she needed to know.
She started to start the gears in her mind. Before, she didn't think much of it but now that Bloody Clown pointed it out, it's really is weird they can operate such a dubious line of business without being caught by the government. At first she thought that it might have been because they just hid themselves well but now it looks like there's more to it.
Could it be? She seemed to know the reason now.
"Are we affiliated with the government?" She asked excitedly upon the discovery.
"Smart girl. But instead of saying we're affiliated, the term cooperation is more likely. We had an agreement with the government not to take missions that might directly affect the country and in return they will turn a blind eye to our activities. Sometimes when they wanted to have a job done that is against the law, they would also commission us" Bloody Clown further explained.
She can now more or less guess what their mission is all about. Before she can throw more questions, Yogi appeared and told them to gather in the meeting room to discuss the finer details and make plans for the mission.
It seems they're just waiting for them to arrive before starting the meeting. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she immediately found the seat besides Koala. She made sure to sharpen her hearing and focus on the meeting as to not miss anything.