Adeline awoke when the bed suddenly disappeared from under her, leaving her in the harsh grasp of mistress gravity.

"Damn!" she cursed as she suddenly felt herself falling through the air, hitting the floor a moment later. Catching her breath, Adeline barely pulled herself off the cold, concrete floor before the door silently swung open. The doorway was then filled by a man who quickly reached over and grabbed Adeline's wrists.

"Hurry, now, not time to loiter," the man said in a surprisingly familiar (and surprisingly cheerful) voice. As he dashed out of the dark room, dragging a very confused Adeline behind him, Adeline noticed a small detail. The man was not much then 10 years older than her, if not less.

As they hurried down the dim hallway, Adeline took the time to study her "captor." Chin-length dark hair, rather tall, soft grey coat…"Pierson?" She whispered in horror as the pieces clicked. "What the hell are you doing? You could be killed!"

"Well, I couldn't exactly just leave you in there, could I?" he whispered back in that ridiculously cheerful voice of his. "And besides,"- Adeline swore she could hear the smile on his face in his voice-"I think I'll be ok. Now hush, I need to concentrate." Extending his free arm in front of him, Pierson softly muttered a few words than suddenly they were plunged into darkness. A portal of some kind, Adeline reflected. A moment later, her theory was proven correct as they reappeared in another small room.

A room with some very familiar faces in it.

Pierson let go of her wrist and scurried off behind her. Adeline, now quite awake, suddenly found herself longing for the familiar warmth as she looked around the room.

Henry Jenkins, a high-ranking wizard who Adeline knew specialized in teleportation, stood in the corner of the room. His eyes flickered between a book in his hand and the floor. Besides him stood Azata Daeari, master Alchemist and Adeline's mentor. Pierson was running around behind her.

In front of her, however, there was another man. A man dressed in royal purple robes. A man with a air of undeniable authority. A man with dark lack hair and vibrant blue eyes, just like Adeline.

A man Adeline called "father."

The gnawing sense of panic that had been growing in Adeline's stomach abruptly stopped. Replacing it was a eerie wave of calmness washing over her. She felt a bubble of hysterical laughter began to rise in her throat.

They tricked tricked her into thinking she could escape.

They managed to get her expectations up just to kick it down to the ground. Hysteria was taking over, and Adeline began to tremble involuntarily.

It's clear the lies, gone. All the deception, disappeared.

This isn't escape. This is execution.

Adeline Duthane was about to die.