Three figures in black crept through the darkened hallways of England's London townhouse. Silence filled the house - it had the distinct feeling of being unoccupied.
Adelina leaned up against the wall, her Beretta 92fs out and ready. "Two guards at the front, none within." She snorted. "They aren't expecting England back any time soon, Mei."
"Of course not," Mei whispered. "But that's not why we're here. Will, are the remnants of magic use close?"
Will nodded. "Down the hallway a little more, the room to the right."
Mei glanced quickly around, then motioned to Adelina. Adelina slid down the wall and gently pushed the door to England's study open. She turned quickly into the room, aiming the Beretta at any potential threat.
"All clear."
Mei nodded to Will, and they followed after Adelina. Will searched through the pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out a small flashlight. He flicked it on and searched the floor.
"This was the protection spell," he said, kneeling and brushing the edges of England's hastily drawn circle. "It's a little over a day old, now. It's the most powerful spell cast in this house for quite a while. The residue from the other spells feels musty." He looked up at Mei. "It's also the only spell that's been cast in the last few days. One very strong protection spell."
Mei frowned and touched her earpiece. "No luck here, Oleg," she said shortly. "We have a protection spell, but no sign of any other magics and no sign of the nations. Please tell me you have found a better lead."
Across the continent, Oleg smiled and touched his earpiece. "Oh, yes, much better."
"Did you have trouble entering the Kremlin?"
"Jennifer took care of any problems we may have encountered." Oleg glanced at the tiny blond girl, her eyes glowing white as she sat cross-legged on the floor in Russia's cell. "She's made sure everyone in the building is sleeping peacefully."
"Three major spells were cast here," Jennifer said, her voice a monotone. "Two protection spells. One...I'm not sure what it is. A...masking spell, maybe? Whatever it is, it was done by a master."
A pleased voice came over the comlink. "Oleg, you'll want to come up to the security station. I have a present waiting for you."
Oleg touched his earpiece. "On our way, Stephan." Oleg nodded to Jennifer. The girl hopped up, eyes still glowing, and they exited the cell. "Are you doing okay, Jen?"
The girl shrugged. "No biggie. It's just a sleeping spell, and the highway makes a natural circle around central Moscow. So long as I'm tapped into the power source, I can do this all day."
"Still a bit freaky, Jenny." They walked the long corridors of the Kremlin, made quiet by Jennifer's enforced sleep. Elena stood outside the entrance to the security station, her face grim. She stood at attention and nodded as Oleg and Jennifer.
"You don't have to be so serious," Oleg said, patting Elena on the shoulder as he passed through the door to security.
Elena jerked away and scowled. "We are the ones who were chosen for the most important mission this world has ever known," she snapped. "I can't imagine anything more serious."
Oleg shook his head. "Suit yourself."
The security station was a large, square room filled with desks and monitors. People slept peacefully at their stations, undisturbed by Jennifer and Oleg's entrance.
Stephan was gleefully watching old security camera recordings on one of the central monitors, fast-forwarding, pausing, and rewinding them, and setting up multiple camera views on multiple monitors. He had rolled the security guard who would normally be running this station into a corner. He didn't look away from his monitors as Oleg and Jennifer came up behind him.
"Look here," he said, pointing at the paused video on one of the monitors. It showed Russia's cell from above with Russia sleeping in his bed. "They kept a constant watch on him. Convenient for us, ja? Watch this."
He played the video in double-time. They watched as Russia leapt from his bed, made his call on his tablet, arranged his circle of books. China appeared suddenly, then Ukraine soon after, and then they were all within the circle, Russia bracing himself. A glow blurred the video.
"That'll be the first protection spell," Jen said, nodding.
Stephan sped up the video, and the figures danced around on-screen for a moment. Suddenly, Italy, England, Germany and America appeared in the shot, moving quickly about before joining the others in the circle and another burst of light blurred the video.
"Second protection spell."
The glow dimmed for a moment, and they watched as China performed his spell. Jennifer narrowed her glowing eyes. "What is he doing?" She muttered. "Something with blood..."
The president made her entrance. Oleg grinned. "Here we go."
"Yeah, the president talks with them for a bit," Stephan said, letting the feed play. "And if you look over here," he pointed at another monitor and pressed play. "You'll see that she leads them off to get prepped for a journey. Over here and over here I've got video of soldiers prepping travel gear. And here, you see the nations leaving the Kremlin." Stephan finally looked away from the monitor, smiling at Oleg. "Good?"
"Da." Oleg tapped the monitor. "Let's make a visit to the president and see what she has to say. But first, pause this video." He pointed at the feed of the cell. "Produce a good image with every nation in shot and hand it off to everyone. Let them know this is the most current picture of the nations that we have. It's invaluable."
Stephan flashed a thumbs up and got to work. Oleg turned and walked quickly from the security station, Jennifer close behind. As he exited, he waved at Elena to follow.
She was dreaming strange dreams of running through fields of tar when suddenly she awoke to two young women and a young man, dressed completely in black, leaning over her. She gasped and sat up, ready to call out for security.
"Don't bother screaming," the young man said with a smile. "Your security team is safe, and alive, but they are indisposed."
The president gave him a hard look. "What's all this about, then? I've had a very long day putting out fires, and I have a long day tomorrow. I'm not keen on losing any more sleep. Be quick."
The young people shared a glance, and the young man quickly translated for the others.
"You're speaking English, then." The president switched over. "Tell me why you three are here."
"We've come for Russia," the tall girl with a short, brown bob said harshly. "And any of the other nations you so stupidly helped."
"Elena," the young man snapped. He smiled apologetically at the president. "We need to know where the nations are. We have a task of the utmost importance to complete, and they are essential."
"So, are you the group behind the disappearance of the nations," the president said coldly. "Well, I did help them run, which I now see was indeed the best option. I cannot say where they are now, because I do not know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."
"You stupid woman, you have no idea -!"
"Elena!" The young man snarled. Elena clamped her mouth close. He turned to the president. "Come now, madam president, you can't tell me that you aren't tracking them. That's not exactly your way."
The president smiled without mirth. "Young man, I think you underestimate the nations. You are right, we were indeed tracking them, but somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, the link was lost and any attempt at reconnecting the link has been unsuccessful. We know their plane landed in Peru, but with no sign of them on board. They've vanished."
The young man leaned closer. "You didn't seek out security footage of any stopover flights?"
The president laughed. "Of course we did. As I say, young man, you underestimate the nations. Good luck finding them."
The young man's face grew hard. "Jen, knock her out."
Instantly the president fell into a deep sleep, a sleep untroubled by dreams.
Jennifer looked up from the president. "We're at a dead end, then?"
"Not quite." He touched his earpiece. "Stephan, I want to know every plane route headed from Moscow to Peru in the last 24 hours. Come on, we're going to the airport." He exited the president's room, waving for the others to follow. "We know they were there, and we know they didn't arrive at their planned destination. Somewhere between here and Peru, magic was probably done. So long as they're still using magic, they're still traceable."