"If I had a modicum of care for you, I would indulge your request," The girl spat, wiping at her eyes, sniffling once.  "But I don't.  And you're not worth tainting my conscience, you wretch."  Shakily, she rose to her feet, red eyes on Lydia as she fought the urge to look a fool before one of Edmund's comrades.  Still, it hurt to speak and all of her muscles ached from the stress, the run here, and now the pain of loss.  Her lip curled back in contempt, "Don't be so... p-pathetic," She ordered him venomously, despite the quiver of her lip and trembling jaw.  Even now, she refused to look at him further.

"Master Lydia," Josephine addressed the woman with slight bow, "Master Edmund...  S-sacrificed himself...  To protect one of his apprentices...  That...  That sniveling cur over there is the cause..."  She accused with a fist shaking at her side.  "There...  There's nobody left to take up his place or teach anybody..."

Lydia frowned and looked at Kael.  She did not acknowledge Josephine's words, but they were clearly heard as she approached the kneeling boy.  Holding her scythe in one hand, the shaft parallel to the back of her right arm, she stood before Kael and raised the edge of the weapon to the side of his neck.  Her gaze was scrutinizing, "Is this true, boy?  Did you get ahead of yourself and cause your master's death?"  The look in his eyes said it all, just as his desire for death.  She downcast her eyes, "That's a shame...  Edmund was a damned good hunter.  I look like a fool blundering around on the battlefield compared to him.  Formidable as he was, he lost his gift to return to the Hunter's Dream...  I was amazed at how long he made it, I'm sure he was satisfied, dying for the next generation...  He would have had it no other way."

After lowering her weapon, she glanced to Josephine, "And until you've made a mistake to cost the life of one near to you, you can't possibly understand the pain he's going through...  He's mentioned you two to me, the few times we've met since his exile from the Dream...  Kael and Josephine, right?"  She asked for confirmation, tapping Kael with her foot, "Get up, c'mon.  Let's get back to his workshop...  Looks like we're gonna have to find a way to tell those apprentices...  This should go without saying - do not tell them what exactly happened here.  I still need to decide what I'm going to do about either of you...  And all of the other students."

Josephine's brow furrowed in frustration...  Couldn't know his pain?!  Kael's pain?  Who cared about that?!  It was his reckless, self-absorbed attitude that got Edmund killed, why should she sympathize at all?  Lydia was the mistaken one - there was no way [i]she[/i] could understand how this felt for Josephine.  She didn't even look to see if Kael was getting up to follow as the young apprentice somberly walked after Lydia, headed for the workshop.

A few minutes into the walk, Josephine finally let something on her mind out.  "Master Lydia, if you knew Master Edmund...  Did...  Did you know he was my father?"  She asked tentatively.

Lydia sucked the inside of her cheek in hesitation before shaking her head, "No...  I honestly had no idea that Edmund had found the time, energy, or desire to have a child...  But I suppose it makes sense.  Being attached to a slightly more mortal coil could cause somebody to feel like they needed something to success them.  Or it was on accident," She bluntly mused, shrugging.

"Then...  Do you have any idea who it might have been with?"

Lydia shook her head, "Not a clue.  I only know for a fact that it definitely wasn't Gehrman's creepy doll," She pointed out, laughing at her own joke before she realized that neither of them would understand it.  There was mostly silence before they reached the workshop again, and the Master Huntress looked around.  She decided she could wait for the rest to wake up, glancing to Josephine and Kael she sighed.  "Hey, so... I know this is-"  Just as shew as about to talk to them about what had happened, a low rumble of growls and snarls filled the air around them.  The woman didn't hesitate to put her helmet back on, her eyes scanning the area as several sets of red eyes approached from the mists.  Those were Scourge Beasts, definitely, but there could be a lot more and they could be accompanied by other, more sinister beasts.

She looked to the other two, "Get out of here.  There's no time to grab anything but what you've got, take these vials, but be careful...  They can heal you much more quickly than traditional means, but they're volatile and if you're not a Hunter from the Dream, they can have horrifying effects.  Moderation only.  You need to leave this workshop..."  She took a half-step back and readied her scythe, "This'll be cake, but I don't want you caught up in it...  Besides, I can't teach either of you - not if I'm teaching the rest.  Edmund thought you were strong - prove it.  If you want a real hunter who can teach you, I recommend you find a way into the Astral Clocktower...  It's no easy journey, but Lady Maria may just be a good, and possibly willing, mentor for you.  If not, she might know another option."  She smirked and glanced to Josephine's blade, her heart beginning to thump only a little faster for the impending fight.  Typical Edmund, always hinting, never giving a full answer to anything.

"GO!  Kael, make sure you don't split up until you get to Maria, under any circumstances.  I don't care about your petty squabbles,"  She commanded, spinning her scythe once and beginning to step forward.  With a loud whistle, she fired her pistol at one of them, "COME AND GET ME, YOU GRIMY SONS OF BITCHES!  I'm here to take you home - into your last dream," She shouted with a sadistic grin.

Josephine stood in awe as the woman moved to confront their attackers and pushed the other two away.  What...  What were they doing?  Why were they leaving?  Why wouldn't anybody let them help?  They had to run away, but to where?