"Mother?," Rose called out, her face full of fear as she stared ahead at the academy's new head director, Ellen Marion.
Allen could not believe what he had just heard. It probably would have seemed very evident that Ellen would most likely be her mother, since she shared the same last name as Rose, but Allen had wanted to ask Rose himself. However, with Rose appearing now, it confirmed his suspicions.
Allen thought back to the very few times that Rose's mother has been brought up. Firstly, back when they wanted to ask William to go on their club trip, when they had met Mr. Garet for the first time. Rose had not taken too kindly to Mr. Garets comments about her mother. Secondly, when Rose had confessed to Allen near the end of the club trip. Rose had indirectly admitted she has had some issues with her mother.
And lastly, during one of Allen's "dreams" which turned out to be true, back when he was younger training with William, and Rose trained alongside him. She ended up having to leave because her mother didn't want her there anymore, which Rose had also briefly mentioned during the club trip as well.
Adding all of this up, it was very clear to Allen that there was some sort of tense relationship between Rose and her mother, and he was now seeing it for the first time in person. But, what was Rose going to do now, that she was face to face with said mother in question?
"Yes, yes Rose. Your mother is here, and on good timing. You as Student Council President, as you should, alongside your other… student council members… will work with me to make the necessary changes we need to adapt to this academy as soon as possible. Now, come with me"
Ellen's tone was very direct and more of a command than anything, as if she expected Rose to be completely obedient. This had only upset Allen more.
"But-," Rose started to say, as her mouth twitched on what to say. Her legs seemed to be shaking, as if she was still deciding whether to move forward, or stay where she is.
"I said, now. Come with me, Rose," she signaled Rose with her hand, almost as if she was commanding a dog to follow its owner.
"I-"
"Now."
The rest of Rose's body started to shake, as if she began to become afraid of what would happen if she failed to follow her mother's orders. Just as Rose was about to move forward, Allen decided he had finally had enough of Ellen's actions today, and decided to say something of his own.
"Hold on," Allen raised his voice, as Ellen turned to him with a look of disgust on her face. "You can do what you want with me, put me back to F rank and whatnot, however I will not stand for how you are treating your own daughter"
"And what makes you think you have any say in our family relationship, Fleming?," she crossed her arms, and had an amused look on her face, as if she decided to humor him. "What makes you think that you of all people have any say in family relationships?"
Allen could not believe what he had heard. He knew exactly what she was talking about. How he has no idea who his real parents are, and has adoptive parents. He loves them as much as if they were really his own parents, however how did Ellen know about them? About his past?
"Oh, I did my research, but it wasn't fun," she said, as if to answer his question. "Now, I would advise you to back off from affairs that aren't your own, Fleming"
This time, the way she had said his last name was as if it left a bad taste in her mouth, something that she reluctantly wanted to say. Allen could only stand there, in complete shock and anger at how Ellen was treating his friends, and himself.
"Ellen. I-"
"Wait!"
Rose finally spoke up, almost inching closer to Allen. The look on her face completely changed, as if now she finally wanted to stand up to how her mother was treating them.
"Do not treat Allen and my friends like that!," she declared, loud enough where everyone in the hallway could hear her. "They are important to me! They've-"
"Excuse me?," Ellen interrupted, a look of shock and disgust on her face. "Your… friends? Really? These three?"
She pointed at Allen, Thomas and Cecily as if they were some homeless people asking for scraps on the street.
"Yes, they-"
"These three are not and will not be your… friends!," she looked at the ground, complete disappointment on her face. "You are not to speak with Fleming, or these two at all from this point forward! They are not important to your success and plans I have laid out for you! Now, you will come with me, as we have very important tasks to get done today"
"I refuse!," Rose declared, crossing her arms, standing her ground. However, Allen could still notice her body twitching, as if Rose still couldn't decide whether she was doing the right thing.
"Excuse me-"
"I- I will not stand for how you are treating them! I will not come with you!"
"Yes, you will Rose," Ellen commanded, the look of disappointment on her face again. "How many times do I have to tell you? I am your family. I am your mother. Now, you will listen to me, or else"
"I will not," Rose shook her head.
"This is your final warning," she declared. "You will listen to me or-"
"I said no!," Rose yelled again, as her body started to move backwards, away from her.
"How dare you!," Ellen said as the frustration on her face grew. "You dare not listen to your own mother? Why-," she cleared her throat, a smirk growing in the corner of her mouth again. "-your own late sister, Lucy, would have never done such a thing!"
Rose's eyes started to widen as tears almost started to form. She began to grit her teeth, as if she wanted to say something, but it was almost as if she couldn't. She had clenched her fists, almost for a moment, until her hands finally gave way as if they almost fell to the ground instead.
From what Allen could remember Rose telling him during the club training camp, her older sister was someone she had deeply looked up to, until she had been murdered by fire mages. The rapier she wields, Riptide, had been her sister's, and now she had wielded it.
However, when Ellen had suddenly compared Rose to her sister, it had completely shut Rose down, with nothing else she could say.
This was the final straw for Allen. He had been putting up with Ellen's tainted words and actions against him, and his friends, including Rose, until finally now. He wasn't going to put up with her anymore.
"Ellen!," Allen yelled as he stepped forward, his hand almost reaching for his sword. He didn't want to resort to anything violent, but at this point it was really hard to keep his emotions in check.
She turned to him, with a smirk on her face as if to say 'what could you do?'. She crossed her arms as the magical knights that had escorted their now former vice director, Martha Clark, off the academy grounds had finally returned, standing by her side. It was almost now Ellen dared Allen to try anything, as if to give her a reason to command the magical knights to apprehend him and remove him, too.
It became increasingly difficult each second for Allen to hold back and not try something. He wanted more than anything to step in, stop Ellen, and help Rose. But, what could he do? Could he really take on several more than likely experienced magical knights all on his own? Even if Thomas and Cecily decided to step in, could they really do it? Maybe if Rose helped them, but at this point Allen did not expect her to step in, with the emotional turmoil she was experiencing right now, and frankly he did not want her involved in this.
"Allen," Thomas called out, as he grabbed Allen's shoulder from behind. "That's enough. We can't do anything else"
Allen turned back to look at both him and Cecily, which both of them had looks on their faces that told Allen they had given up. And truth be told, Allen did not blame them.
Allen looked back at Ellen one more time, then looked back at Thomas and Cecily. "Fine," he mumbled, as he moved his hand away from his sword.
"Hmph," Ellen rolled her eyes, and turned her attention to her magical knights she had with her. "Watch them"
She turned her attention back to Rose, who was still trying her best to hold back the tears that wanted to form from her eyes. With one quick sigh, Ellen finally walked up to Rose, while Rose did nothing to stop her.
"Rose," she put her hand on her shoulder, as she looked directly at her. "Everything will be fine. Just listen to me, follow my orders, and you will be okay. I already have plans for you, your success is already lined up. You just have to follow my orders, and you will easily walk down the path laid out for you. Now, you will come with me, and we will start to work to make this academy the way it should be"
Allen would have almost taken that for a mother consoling her daughter if not for the selfish intent that leaked from her words. As if she was leading an escaped lamb from its pen, she tightly gripped Rose's shoulder, while she started to walk towards the academy offices, no doubt to the one William once proudly worked from.
"Now all of you," Ellen looked around the room, at the many students who had stopped to watch the action going on. "You will all go back to class, and return to your studies! Lest you wish to join your former vice director too!"
The students stood in shock for a moment, before they all decided to quickly disperse back to their classes. Allen thought he saw some of the higher ranked students snicker, but he wasn't too sure as his mind was more focused on what he deemed the enemy in front of him.
"Let's- let's just go, Allen," Thomas mumbled quietly. Both he and Cecily had concerned looks on their faces too, as they too had conflicting thoughts and emotions.
Just before Allen finally decided to give in and leave, he got one last look at Rose, who had looked at them for almost a brief moment that she could, as she seemed to mouth, "I'm sorry", to the three of them, before immediately turning her head forward as she was taken away from them.