Copyright, Aviatrix8, 2009. World of Warcraft and all related characters are property of Blizzard, and are used without permission. (Any original characters were created by myself however, and may not be used without permission.)

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This is my first Warcraft fanfic, as well as my first mystery story, so I hope I get everything right... This story eventually features Jadaar and Asric (AKA those two guys who used to argue at the inn in the Dalaran sewers, but are now downing a few cold ones at the Argent tourney ;).

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World of Warcraft fanfic:

"Mystery of the Violet Citadel"

by Avi

Miki carefully ascended the stairs of the Violet Citadel with a basket of food tucked under her arm; being an apprentice mage of Dalaran could be trying at times, as one often had to run tedious tasks for whomever sorcerer they were currently training under. However, Archmage Vargoth was one of the nicer mentors Miki had had, so far; he was always happy to let her peruse the many books in his tower room, and indeed, she had spent many an enjoyable hour up there reading, or merely chatting with the Archmage.

To be honest, Miki felt a little sorry for him; Vargoth seemed pretty lonely to her, and yet he never left his room in the Citadel. Still, she couldn't really blame him for being so reclusive, considering what had happened to him in Outland.

So the young apprentice didn't mind bringing the Archmage his breakfast every morning... Well, not too much. (As Vargoth himself liked to joke, even though he could conjure food and drink at will, he did got sick of bread and water, after a while.) The only downside to this was the long flights of stairs she was forced to climb up every morning...

Miki sighed. Vargoth had given her a teleport spell that would port her directly into his tower room, but she wasn't that confident with casting teleport magic yet (she only had a range of about ten to twenty feet, and even her Blink spell gave her some trouble). Besides, even she knew that entering a mage's personal chambers without permission was considered bad form; mages valued their privacy, and Vargoth was no exception. In fact, he had actually explained to her how his room was magically sealed; the only way that anybody could enter was with the aforementioned teleport spell.

Miki then breathed a sigh of relief, as she finally reached the balcony outside Vargoth's tower room. After taking a moment to catch her breath, the apprentice knocked on the door.

"Archmage Vargoth? It's me, Miki. I'm here with breakfast."

There was no reply. Miki paused for a moment, then shrugged. Vargoth was expecting her, after all; he was probably caught up in reading yet another book. She then slowly began to recite the spell that would teleport her past the room's magical barrier.

With a burst of magic, she materialized in the centre of the room. Placing the basket on a nearby table, she began to look around for her master.

"Archmage Vargoth?" she called out. "Archmage Vargoth?"

The room was perfectly circular, and well-furnished, as befitting of an archmage of Dalaran. There wasn't really anywhere to hide in here; besides, Vargoth was always happy to see Miki, and greeted her with a smile whenever she came to visit him.

However, Miki's eyes widened, as she realized that there was no one in the room except her.

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It was about an hour later. Archmage Vargoth's once lonely tower room was now filled with people, all of them mages; many of them were casting various detect magic and invisibility spells, as they tried to determine what had happened to the room's former occupant. Meanwhile, at one corner of the room sat a worried Miki, who was being questioned by the chief apprentice instructor.

"Now Miki, are you certain that Archmage Vargoth didn't just go somewhere without telling you?" asked Instructor Viktor.

"But Archmage Vargoth never leaves his room!" sobbed Miki, obviously distraught. "That's why he requested that I bring him breakfast every morning!"

"But surely he must go outside, sometimes..." reasoned the instructor.

"Actually, Archmage Vargoth was very well-known for being a recluse," interrupted an older, feminine voice.

Both mages turned, to see a gray-haired woman in elaborate robes walk towards them; the remains of a teleport spell faded in her wake.

Viktor's eyes widened in recognition. "Archmage Modera!" he gasped. "Surely this matter shouldn't be of any concern to a member of the Council of Six--"

"On the contrary," replied Archmage Modera, with a wry smile. "Vargoth is an old friend, who has been through a lot. The least I could do is offer my help in the investigation."

"Of course," stammered Viktor, and bowed. "Forgive my impudence."

Just then, one of the other mages walked up to them. "Excuse me, Archmage Modera?" he said, and bowed. "We've throughly scoured this room with magic, and there's no sign of Archmage Vargoth being anywhere in here; nor is there any sign about his current whereabouts. We're now trying to pinpoint his current location, but it seems that the room's magical shielding is interfering with our scrying; our spells insist that he's still around here."

Archmage Modera nodded grimly. "I understand." She then looked around the room. "And there appears to be no sign of a struggle, either," she added thoughtfully. "Strange..."

Just then, there was surge of arcane energy. Every mage in the room looked up, as they recognized the energy signature of an incoming teleport spell.

"Ah, perhaps that could be Vargoth?" said Instructor Viktor, trying to sound hopeful. "If it is, then I'm sure he'll be happy to explain what's going on."

As the burst of magic faded, everyone turned towards the centre of the room, to see who the new visitor was.

However, the person who had just materialized in the room was most definitely not Archmage Vargoth. For one thing, she was female, and was dressed all in dark leather (except for her eyes, which were covered with goggles). She crouched in the middle of the floor, in what was clearly a defensive stance; in her right hand, she gripped a dagger tightly, as if poised to attack.

As all the mages stared at her, dumbfounded, the intruder finally seemed to notice their presence. She stood up, pushed the goggles up from her eyes, and then blinked.

"Um... Where exactly am I?" she asked.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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I know Jadaar and Asric are supposed to be in this story, but I promise that they'll show up, starting with the next chapter. ;)