Father of Despair

by Lord Sar

MOTHER OF LEARNING x OVERLORD : As Zach and Zorian continue their search in hope to find the answers of the time-loop they found themselves stuck into, they stumble upon a name that would change their destiny. An entity that would bring unparalleled despair, that of which even the calamities of old would come to fear.

4. Interlude 1

Heya everyone!

Thanks for the warm welcome you've given Father of Despair's introduction!

Here's the fourth chapter, or should I say first interlude?

I know, I know... most people aren't to fond of interlude chapters, myself included, but hear me out :

Firstly, it is something that I wrote without much thinking, not knowing in advance if it would be a proper chapter or some part of one. But after it grew over 5k words, wasn't in anyway connected to the main story of Zach & Zorian and was nowhere near finished, I knew I couldn't simply try and incorporate it to a normal chapter. So, BOOM, interlude. But trust me, the consequences of what you're about to read will both be far-reaching and have a great impact on the main story, as soon as the very next chapter!

Secondly... hey, what's that behind you?

DISCLAIMER: English is not my first language, so please be patient with me!

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Interlude 1 — " A fool's investigation."

Part 1 - Elayer Inid

Elayer Inid was a special investigator that worked directly under the crown of Eldemar. Royal detective was the more common term used to refer to someone of his status. Though age began to heavily weight on his face, mainly one too many wrinkles and the tip of his hair turning gray, the fifty-six years old man was as sharp as he ever was during his younger days.

In the past, he worked for the secret services of the Eldemar government, more specifically as an agent of the Intelligence Bureau. His range of work experience was vast ; he started as a support where he would coordinate with the operatives on the ground and manage a network of informants. Then, he himself became an operative, a fancy title for spy and, sometime, assassin. There, he had navigated the complicated political landscapes of both Eldemar and the neighboring countries. Elayer was a veteran that dabbled since young in the dark side of society, and was one who held seniority over almost anyone else inside the secret services. As such, his allegiance had been tested and proven time and time again during all these years, but he nonetheless chose to retire early. Though he had never achieved to become an elite operative —nor did he truly ever tried to since most were prone to prematurely disappear, not always due to the actions of neighboring countries... office politics was harsh inside the secret services— he had judged that he had enough. He wished to build his own family, something that couldn't be done by living in the shadow of civilization.

As such, he had been granted his current occupation : royal detective. He became a high official, a position rarely bestowed upon someone of common heritage such as him. But his years of dedication and efficiency had been noted and he had been rewarded accordingly. Of course, he knew that this generosity was a double edged sword. Being kept close to power meant that if his loyalty to the crown was ever put into question, they could easily dispose of him. After all, Elayer was someone who had both the network and the knowledge —confidential information— that could hurt the whole country were he to turn his back to it. Of course, he would never. The mere mention of treason was enough to make his stomach turn in revulsion. His lips were forever sealed shut, and not even torture would loosen them up.

Nowadays, though less, he still often interacted with the gruesome reality that the masses weren't privy to. He never really acknowledged it since he was so accustomed to it. It was rare for him to stumbled onto a case that caused his nerves to spike. Today, however, such an event had happened. It had left him both exhausted and unsure of what he should do. He could feel that something was afoot, something was brewing in the background, and he had absolutely no idea on how to handle it.

Elayer Inid sighed heavily, tapping nervously his finger on the wooden table in front of him where an annotated map and a cluster of scribbled reports were scattered seemingly without clear order. Trying to exhale his exhaustion and frustration away, he caught a nervous glance from one a his subordinates.

The woman, Fiya Nollis, was a young promising star of their field that had joined his team two years ago. She had a slender figure, long auburn hair and generally possessed a gentle aura around herself. Now, however, clear sign of uneasiness and discomfort could be gleaned from her body language. She consciously tried to hide it, force of habit, but it wasn't something a veteran of their profession like Elayer wouldn't notice.

Their team was composed of eight operatives in total, aside from Elayer himself. Beside Fiya, four of those individuals were present inside the room as well, all equally silent and bearing grim faces. Of the last three that were absent, two were on their way —minutes from returning— and one was...

"Vatol, still nothing on your part?" inquired Elayer, turning slightly his head toward the eldest in the room, a master of divination magic and one of the two support operatives of the team in charge of processing, organizing and coordinating information. In front of him, a number of magical circles were active.

"Nothing," he answered drily.

Each operative worked in pair. Three field team, and the support team at HQ.

The reason of this tense atmosphere was because of Fiya's partner disappearance. Not only had he vanished and was completely untraceable, it had happened under the noses of both Fiya's and of the support team that was supposed to keep tab on every agent currently in the field. That was why Elayer had taken the executive decision to recall everyone at HQ until further notice.

He let out another sigh while reminiscing of what had led to their situation.

A few days ago, the crown of Eldemar had summoned him and a dozen or so other royal detectives to the capital. It wasn't unprecedented for such a task force to be assembled, but not a yearly occurrence either. The council of Eldemar entrusted them with the case of a bizarre wave of abductions happening all around the country, with seemingly nothing tying the disappearances between each other.

At first, Elayer thought that the only reason so many special investigators had been assigned to this mission was because of who was being targeted : nobles. But after being presented the few evidences they had, he quickly reassessed the threat level and the magnitude of the situation. It was unprecedented. Nearly all across the country, dozens if not hundreds of people had disappeared in a matter of days, destabilizing entire regions in the process. It wasn't just nobles that were abducted, but it was their presence —or lack thereof— that had done the most damage and was most noticeable.

The task force quickly got to work. First, since the problem happened throughout the country, they decided that they should spread their search efforts as to encompass as much ground as possible. Each royal detective and his team would hence be assigned to a major city and its surrounding.

Thanks to his proven record, seniority, and because he was an alumnus of its royal school of magical arts, Elayer had been entrusted with Cyoria and its neighboring region.

After briefing his team, Elayer and his group teleported to Cyoria within the day and headed to its military police HQ to requisition a room.

Elayer was admired among other things for his decisiveness and quick thinking, as such, he immediately instructed his subordinates as soon as they arrived to their base of operations.

— Vatol and Benezik ; both being the support of the team, they would stay within the confine of the military police HQ and prepare their informants network so they could all be contacted within the week. Also, they needed to regularly check the status of each field agent through their divination magic.

— Meyol and Ramu ; field duties, they would investigate in civilian clothing and search for anything related to their case in the streets of the city. This including hearsay, bar discussion, etc.

— Fiya and Proxi ; contact duties, they were tasked to research and seek information about the case inside government-tied facilities. Notably they were to establish contact with the headmaster of the royal academy of magical arts —through a missive and letter of introduction given to them by Elayer— and to research facilities near the Hole that had divination expert on site.

— Farg and Mea ; contact duties. Those two were to contact the families of the disappeared victims that lived in Cyoria and its surrounding area.

Finally, Elayer himself went out to make contact through his personal network.

And now, not even a day after their arrival, Proxi had vanished. The fact of the matter being that his disappearance was clearly in the same vein of those they were currently investigating.

How did this happened? Elayer thought to himself. Is there a mole on our side?

He found it hard to believe. It was inconceivable that the council of Eldemar had been compromised. Maybe the royal detectives themselves? Also highly unlikely since every special investigator was subject to rigorous examination all year round ; those inspections, aside from reviewing his activities, assessed the mental capacities of the detective, the state of his loyalty to the crown and searched for any sign foreign magic that could temper with the agent. This examination was long, meticulous and included the presence of a mind mage that assured the validity of every answer the detective would submit.

Than... maybe the leak originated from a team member of one of the detective?

He briefly scanned the room and glanced at his subordinates, taking care of not showing any kind of suspicion.

Also unlikely, though not impossible, he concluded. But, another problem arose. They had been assigned this mission only a day ago, how and why would their presumed enemy move so soon, when they still had nothing? This would only raise the guard of the other teams... worst case scenario, more special investigator would be assigned on the case. Maybe even the secret services too if the threat became too important in the eyes of the council. The timing of events made so sense strategically.

Also, why them specifically? Why Proxi?

The more Elayer thought about it, the more he found it hard to believe that this was a conscious attack against them. Was this a coincidence? Then again, their attacker had been talented and prepared enough to both execute their plan fast and erase any kind of traces they could've left.

There was a light knock on the door of the room. Soon after being allowed to enter, the last pair of Elayer's team arrived. Sweat was running down their faces, a testament to the sprint they had subjugated themselves to.

"Now that everyone is finally here," Elayer started. "Fiya, can you recount again from the beginning what happened?"

"Yes, sir!" she answered after loudly swallowing. "As instructed, Proxi and myself met with the Headmaster of the academy. Our meeting didn't last long since he was busy and couldn't afford us more of his time. He seemed a little frustrated with our insistence at first, but soon calmed down once we mentioned your name, Sir. We then agreed to another meeting tomorrow evening at 9 PM. We left the premise of the academy at around 5 PM and headed toward the research facility number 55A1, near the Hole."

As she detailed her route, she pointed on the map while the others congregated near the table —aside from Vatol, the divination master, who continued to search for their missing member on another table in the corner of the room, tinkering with his magical circles and recasting spells periodically.

"Why this one in particular?" Mea asked, touching her chin. "Didn't you and Proxi passed other facilities closer along the way?"

"Yes, but we followed the advice of the Headmaster who told us that a certain Xil Varies was teaching a class of fourth year students there. We were told that this professor was an expert in the field of divination, hence we chose to meet him as soon as we could. Since it was getting late, we feared we would miss him—"

"I can attest the name Xil Varies hold some weight among other divination practitioners," Interrupted Vatol without looking in their direction, continuing to focus on the magical formation in front of him. "Though, I don't understand why he needs to be closer to the Hole if he wanted to carry a divination class, as it is not a mana intensive field. I guess it was another subject?"

"I— I don't know. It never occurred to us, so we didn't ask—"

"Nevermind, we'll ask him later. It's not important right now," Vatol, yet again interrupted the young agent before she could finish. "Continue, lass."

"Yes. When we arrived, the class was nearing its end, so we successfully made contact with Professor Xil Varies at around 6:30 PM."

Fiya then took a piece of paper and scribbled on it the plan of the facility, detailing its rooms. As she continued, she pointed at it to describe their movements within the site.

"When the class ended, we were both there," she said, moving her slender finger on the crude depiction of the area. "Proxi, the Professor and myself agreed that we needed somewhere discreet to continue our conversation. The Professor then proposed his office. We approved and followed him. Along the way, as small talk, the Professor described to us some of the experiments taking place. Notably, this room—" she tapped on the map. "Proxi lagged behind a bit to look at a magical device that was hanging above a hole in the ground, presumably connected to the Hole somehow. I quickly noted his absence, and called out to him. He simply answered 'coming', and that was the last I heard of him."

"When did you actually noticed his disappearance?" Elayer asked.

"Very soon after that, Sir. We were already pretty close to the Professor's office. When we arrived, I called out to him again, but heard nothing. I called a second time, and still nothing." she continued, recalling the event as finely detailed as possible. "I think the Professor and I spoke briefly, mainly me apologizing for Proxi's rudeness, to which he only laughed a bit. Then, when he still hadn't returned nor responded, I started having a bad feeling, so I called out to him again. Sensing that something wrong was happening, I tried to search for him physically by retracing my steps, the Professor not far behind. When I returned to the last room I saw him, no one was there."

"It was then that you started your attempt to locate him through magic, yes?" Elayer inquired.

"Yes, though I only limited myself to the most basic spell since I wasn't confident in my abilities for anything more complex. When nothing resulted from it, I humbly asked the Professor for his help," she continued. "But even him found nothing..."

Others around the table widened their eyes. Even old Vatol turned his head. Something was wrong about this last statement. The air inside the room tensed, as if the anxiety of everyone polluted the very atmosphere.

"How much time do you approximate had passed between the last time you heard Proxi, and the time the Professor tried to locate him?" Elayer asked gravely, folding his hands in front of his mouth.

"Two minutes. Three at most," Fiya answered without hesitation.

A silence weighted upon the room. The gaze of the more experienced agents there —Elayer, Vatol and Mea— turned fierce and dangerous.

"Impossible," calmly stated Vatol, one hand still in the air controlling the still active divination spells. "Someone of Xil Varies's talent not able to locate someone he saw minutes ago? Completely implausible. Even if they instantly teleported away, or if they had a solid anti-divination ward in the proximity. He should've caught on the lingering traces of mana in the air."

"He lied, obviously. Did you see him cast his spells?" Mea added.

"Yes, I assure you I saw him cast—" Fiya tried to answer.

"Were they spells you knew or did they seemed foreign? Do you remember their incantations?" Mea continued to ask.

"I—I... I'm not sure, I panicked and—"

Before Mea could shoot another question, Elayer loudly clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention and silence the room.

"Our first priority right now is to find this Professor." Elayer calmly said. "Vatol, try to locate this Xil Varies, after that you continue your effort on locating Proxi. Benezik, you prepare and send a report to the council and to Klezio's team, since they're the closest to us. Warn them to be on guards. After that, you solely keep tab on Fiya, Mea and me — in that order of priority. Everyone else stay's here in case of emergency. Organize yourself with police personnel so we can have a small operative force ready to be deployed at any moment. If any of the higher-ups gives you trouble, invoke my authority as special investigator and let me deal with them later."

Everyone answered affirmatively.

[. . .]

Nerves were running high within the base of operation of Elayer's team, especially Fiya's. Though it was their job to investigate often terrible crimes, being personally attacked was an exceptional occurrence. And even then, it was often due to the emotions of their interlocutor running high against their better judgment, nothing so... sophisticated and thought through.

First of all, as members of a special investigator's team, people were generally scared of even talking to them, the very thought of harming someone of their position was akin to trying to fight a noble —and most in their position were nobles to begin with. Something nobody in their right mind consciously tried to do. Secondly, they weren't police, nor prosecutor. They were only here to collect information, then give a report to the royal detective. Actively intervening in the case was almost never considered, though not strictly impossible.

Today though, the situation was much different. One of their own was in danger, and time was of the essence. Moreso, Fiya couldn't help but feel responsible for Proxi's disappearance. Maybe if she had noticed the signs earlier, it wouldn't have happened? Were there even signs to notice at all? She also never considered the possibility that the seemingly kind and panicked Professor she talked to was lying to her. Also—

"Breath, Fiya," Mea said, surprising the young woman. "Breath."

Mea was the only other female in the team. She had to be in her mid-thirties, long silky dark hair reaching in the middle of her back. Quite tall, she almost towered over her junior, though Fiya was quite short to begin with. In the girl's eyes, Mea encapsulated almost every cliche a royal detective could have : calculative, cold, intelligent, donning a fearsome expression yet highly sociable and commanding. Even though Mea wasn't stricto sensu a special investigator, simply the subordinate of one, Fiya had no doubt in her mind that were she to aim for the position, she could get it within a couple of years... especially if Elayer backed her up.

From what Fiya had heard, Mea came from a militaristic background, which explained the apparent serene facade she put on. Elayer and Vatol also seemed calm. They sure are something else, she thought.

"Sorry," Fiya said to her senior. "I am a bit nervous, if I'm being honest."

"Of course you are, I am too. It's a normal reaction." Mea commented. "I would've probably voiced my objection to intervene directly if it wasn't one of us, you know? Laze around in the back, relax and wait for the big muscles of our dear government to deign moving," she continued, a mischievous smile appearing across her face.

Mea could see the disapproving look of Elayer. She really enjoyed getting under the skin of her over-the-top patriot boss.

"But... it is our stupid Proxi we're talking about. So of course we have to make sure he's safe." she concluded. "All we can do right now is hope that he's alright."

So far, nobody had commented on the possible fate of their comrade. The reason why wasn't that difficult to understand.

An abduction without ransom... of someone unable to give any kind of relevant information about their side... and whose life hold little to no value in the eyes of the government... without a word from the perpetrator. The odds of finding him alive at all were slim to none. Everybody —including Fiya— knew this very well.

[. . .]

Amidst the silence, while everyone was waiting for Vatol to find the location of Professor Xil Varies, Fiya continued to ponder quietly. Though she was plagued by inexperience, the most valuable resource in their line of work, she was still an academic prodigy that could work her mind like few other could.

And she felt that something was missing.

Actually, a lot was missing in this case, but she especially got the feeling that they were rushing to conclusion about Xil Varies. Was it her nativity that was tainting her better judgment? Or stress? She didn't feel like it. But then again, one wasn't aware of the shortcomings of his character before it was to late. Otherwise, the world would be a far better place.

And because her seniors were so adamant about the seemingly malicious intentions of the professor, she feared bringing it up again to question it. What could she even say? It was only a hunch that plagued her mind, and said hunch might only be the result of the kind nature the professor had shown her earlier in the evening.

She sighed internally.

"Found him." Vatol suddenly proclaimed loudly, bringing everyone's attention on him. "Xil Varies is inside academy grounds."

The old master diviner then stood up from his chair in the corner. He approached the middle table and tapped with his burly finger on the map, pointing the location.

"Hmm... If it hasn't changed since my last time at the academy, the Headmaster's office shouldn't be far from there. Let's go." Elayer said, donning his long dark-gray mantle.

He opened the door, Fiya and Mea behind him. Two other persons joined them not long after : mage officers part of the military-police force of Cyoria. They essentially acted as reinforcement since only Elayer and Mea were skilled in combat magic among the trio.

"Fiya, you stay behind me at all time," instructed Elayer calmly.

She nodded.

Then, the group of five teleported to the Cyoria's royal academy of magical art after an incantation of Elayer —the only one capable of dimensional magic among them—.

---

Part 2 - Xil Varies

[A few minutes ago...]

Xil Varies was thrilled. Ecstatic even. A rare emotion nowadays for the old scholar. As a master of his craft, renown across the continent in his field of predilection, it was quite uncommon for him to ponder, theorize and be completely lost in a conundrum he knew nothing about.

Of course, there was always an abundance of mysteries nobody ever discovered. The elusive treasures of the first Ikosian Emperor, the innumerable Bakora gates scattered around the world —most of which still undiscovered—, plenty of master thieves renown for their skills in concealment that needed to be found and arrested. But those enigmas weren't what Xil Varies was after. In his eyes, they weren't unknown as much as they were rather something out of reach. They didn't fill the description that Xil Varies had of the concept 'unknown'.

But right now, he indeed studied something completely alien to him, something he never heard about before. O the joy of sweet novelty! That of which one could immerse and lose himself for hours and hours on end without even realizing the passage of time or the grumbling of one's stomach. An obsession that both muddled the mind, and also left it barren of any other worldly thoughts. That, the old diviner concluded, was the purest essence of a scholar. It was the reason he had chosen his path so long ago. Xil Varies still remembered his younger days when he and his friends learned about their field of magic, studied it, refined their mastery on it, researched it, tried to look at it through different paradigms without rest, trying the reinvent the figurative wheel of their magic system. Of course, they all had failed in this endeavor, spectacularly so even. And, like his late mentors had in the past, his current self couldn't help but laugh at his past-self's naive —or even stupid— eagerness born from youth's impatience, passion and ignorance.

The old professor let a chuckle escape his mouth as he swiped away the beginning of a tear forming in his eyes. Truly, age have made me weak to tears. The mere thought of his late mentors or of his past friends —now resting eternally— always struck a chord within his heart. Of all of them, only one remained now. Zenomir Olgai.

Xil Varies was currently inside Zenomir's office. The both of them talked quite regularly. They always had a very close relationship. A tight bond that held the testament of time. Though Xil's shy nature wouldn't allow him to say it at loud, he considered the old linguistic goat his brother, far more than his actual blood-related brother, who had passed away years ago during the Weeping epidemic that had spread across the country.

In the past days, they had met a number of time, far more than what they were accustomed to. Sometime multiple times a day even. The reason behind those numerous meeting dated back a few days ago. Xil had discovered the state of his old friend: jumping left and right, taking notes, researching and reading across an ocean of books and documents that littered the ground, almost like a fanatical zealot. Zenomir always was the chaotic type with his organization, but that was... like he had reverted back to his younger-self, at least mentally. Disheveled hair, blood-shot eyes, his appearance was such a mess... like he hadn't slept or showered for days. Which had been the case.

After Xil pestered his friend for the better part of an hour, Zenomir finally capitulated and took a quick nap and showered himself. After which, he shared with Xil what had happened to him... or rather, what he had learned. Of course, he didn't divulge everything, like the identity of his sources.

Apparently, Zenomir and his accomplices had stumbled into what they believed to be the name of a god, of at least a very powerful being. And that had reignited his friend's spirit to uncover the mystery behind a certain phenomenon. At first, like anyone with half a brain, Xil had his doubts. Maybe boredom, dementia or even folly had finally taken over his last friend's mind? But after being shown the evidence, or rather after feeling the effect of this weirdly shaped name '...fi nazari—k ario Ain Ol gon', Xil couldn't deny that something was afoot. Something alien and completely out of the ordinary, out of their conception of magic as they knew it! And he had to study it, to find answers!

And so, without much convincing from Zenomir, Xil accepted with delight to take part in their quest of the unknown.

He relocated his office near the Hole. The reason being that he would probably need to cast long-lasting hyper-long-distance sweeping type magic spells that needed to encompass as much ground as possible to locate any mana-signature resembling that of the name. For that purpose, he needed an ample and constant supply of mana, which could easily be achieved near the Hole.

The Hole in question is an abysmal chasm that defined Cyoria as the magical capital of the continent. Aside from its still unknown depth, this natural formation continuously overflowed with an enormous quantity of mana, coating the very air and infusing the whole city and its surrounding with ample amount of ambient-mana. It was the perfect place for a magical academy to settle ; as any student or researcher could easily replenish their reserve after depleting them by practicing their spellcasting. This alleviated one of the biggest hurdle a fledgling mage had to contend with : mana deprivation. Though Cyoria's hole was one of a kind —both in the amount of mana released and its scale— this specific natural formation was by no means unique, as almost every magical institutions were located near a similar mana-hole.

"So, anything new on your end, Xil?" Zenomir asked, his eyes seemingly booming with anticipation. His sudden question brought back Xil Varies from his pondering mind.

"Hmm... w-well, it was a rather weird day, I have to admit." he answered warily, scratching his balding head. The sudden appearance and disappearance of an agent sent by a royal detective had shaken him up quite a bit, for multiple reasons. First of all... well, someone disappeared out of nowhere nearly in front of him. That would be enough to disturb nearly anyone to begin with. Secondly, even as humble as he was, Xil was confident in his ability as a master of divination magic. Hence, it had been quite the shock to see all his attempts at locating the poor boy failing utterly.

As he shared his early evening with Zenomir, his friend also donned a puzzled face.

"What do you mean failed? Did someone counteract your spell? Or did a protection ward—" Zenomir asked.

"N—no, no. Nothing of the sort. There was no force that pushed me back. It was just... as if the boy didn't exist at all... like this mystery name of ours actually. Or like trying to locate something impossibly far or just plain n—nonexistent." Xil said as he looked defeated. "But I don't understand how this c—could've happened. I saw the boy with my own eyes a few minutes before he vanished."

"Oh... That is weird... Do you even know why they seek you out? The detectives I mean."

"No, the two youngsters just showed up at the end of my last class. They wanted to ask me a few questions...still don't know wha—"

Suddenly, the door of the office opened violently, crashing against the wall, nearly bursting out of its hinges. The wave of air generated made every documents not weighted down flying across the room.

A group of individuals invaded the office of Zenomir Olgai, numbering four in total. Two military-police officer in the back were aiming their magic at the two old professors, another person, female with long dark hair, was also prepared to cast. Her gaze was menacing as she readied herself to kill on command. Finally, at the forefront, a man strolled inside the room. Though his demeanor seemed relaxed, an astute observer would've caught that his right hand was locked in a weird position, no doubt holding a dangerous spell ready to be unleashed with a simple movement of his wrist.

"Who dares barge in my offi—?!" exclaimed loudly Zenomir, standing up furiously from his chair.

Before he could finish, a rope made of light entailed itself around the old linguistic teacher, restraining his movements completely. He fell on the floor amongst the books and papers that somewhat cushioned his fall. He let out a groan of pain, feeling his back acting again.

"Stand where you are. Nobody moves." ordered the man calmly. "My name is Elayer Inid, special investigator send by the crown of Eldemar. Any sign of defiance will be assumed to be highly hostile and will be dealt with swiftly, possibly through the usage of lethal force. Have I made myself clear?"

A heavy silence weighed upon the room. Zenomir Olgai and Xil Varies both acquiesced silently without further remark, understanding quickly their situation. Both knew how much power a royal detective held within this country. As such, neither Zenomir nor Xil wished to antagonize the man outside proper legal channels.

"Good." said Elayer. He then turned his attention solely on Xil. "Professor Xil Varies, you are under arrest on the count of suspicion of aiding and abetting the abducting a higher official."

As he said those words, the same tendrils of light appeared and tightened around the still seated Xil.

"Professor Zenomir Olgai. You're not under arrest nor under suspicion, but your presence around the Professor Xil Varies during his capture compels me to bring you and question your involvement. Please excuse us in advance if you're simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. I assure you that you'll be released as soon as we can attest that your meeting with Professor Xil Varies hold no ties to his suspected offense."

"Can I—" Xil tried to speak, before being shut down by Elayer.

"Do not speak unless I give you my express permission." he said gravely. "We will begin the interrogation right this instant. Fiya, you can come now."

A girl with auburn hair came meekly into the room, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Realization of her identity immediately struck the master diviner as he watched her enter. She glanced at Xil Varies, a mixture of emotion written all over her face that she tried to conceal. Doubtfulness, resentment, anger, anxiety.

"Did you notify a member of staff?" Elayer asked Fiya while still eyeing the captives.

"Yes, Sir! As I left, they told me they were going to inform the Headmaster." Fiya answered, regaining her composure after being called by her superior. Elayer simply nodded in acknowledgment.

Xil Varies witnessed the exchange and sighed internally. The Headmaster had some political power in Cyoria and within the kingdom as a whole. Also, he cared a whole lot about his staff, specifically his renown teachers such as Xil Varies that contributed greatly to the image of the academy. Until sufficient evidence of Xil's involvement were presented to him, he would protect his interests without fail.

Also, the fact that this Elayer Inid went out of his way to inform the faculty of his actions told Xil that his captor was either a very by-the-book kind of guy, or he wasn't out to get him at all costs. Given his demeanor and how they barged in the room, Xil would've bet on the former.

If Elayer really wanted to, he could've acted secretly inside academy grounds and feigned ignorance when questioned about it so he wouldn't have to deal with an influential individual such as the Headmaster on site, but he hadn't.

"Xil Varies, do you remember this woman?" Elayer asked, pointing to the woman he called Fiya.

The old master of divination nodded.

"Y—yes. She and her colleague came to m—meet me at my office near the Hole a few hours ago." he answered while gazing at the woman.

"Correct. What happened next?" Elayer continued.

Again, Xil sighed heavily, slowly understanding why a special investigator barged in so late at night. Zenomir, still on the floor, wanted to say something but restrained himself.

"After my class ended, w—we headed to my office... and one of your agent went missing along the way without a—any of us noticing... we searched for him, but we were unsuccessful in our endeavor. The young girl at your side than s—seemed to lost her composure a bit and excused herself before running out of the site. She didn't tell me if I should r—report the disappearance to the nearest police station, so I assumed she would do it. I—I took it as my cue to leave the matter for the time being and went to meet with my fellow professor there with us, after w—which we discussed until you a—appeared." Xil said, trying to recall as finely as possible the last hours he went through.

There was an uncomfortable silence, as if Elayer waited for him to continue.

"I—I am sorry I didn't report it. I know it sounds bad on my p—part, I truly do, but I really didn't know what I should do," Xil continued, compelled by the dead silence in the room. "I didn't... know why your people tried to reach me. A—Actually, I still don't know. I have nothing to d—do with—"

Before he could finish, Elayer cut him of and addressed his subordinate.

"Fiya, can you tell me what Professor Xil Varies omitted to say?"

"Yes, Sir. Once the Professor and myself retraced our steps in search of Proxi, we both tried casting divination magic to locate him, but failed to obtain any information about his whereabouts." Fiya answered dutifully, recounting the events as she had in her report.

Xil Varies understood where they were going. But chose to let them ask the obvious question anyway.

"Professor Xil Varies. I can understand my operative's failed attempt as she is both young and inexperienced in the field of divination magic. But why do you, of all possible people, couldn't find anything at all?" Elayer asked slowly, a dangerous glare watching over the old stuttering professor. "I was told you were an expert of great renown by another master of your field that works for me. Truth be told, I seldom remember hearing such high praise from his mouth about anybody else. So again, did you really try? Or are you obfuscating critical information from us?"

Though his tone of voice remained the same —calm and steady—, Xil and Zenomir could feel a dangerous aura creeping around the man as he continued. While special investigators were often feared —and rightly so—, said fear was born out of the difference in status rather than the actions of the royal detective in itself. What they felt right now was akin to what highly trained veteran exuded when angered. Something that neither of the two scholars had any experience with. Simply put, he was truly intimidating.

"I—I never said nothing came out of my a—attempts!" quickly rebutted Xil once he regained his composure against the man's weighty accusation. "M—my exact words were 'it's as if he never existed in the first place'. Big d—d—difference!"

"You're stuttering a whole lot, honorable elder, any reason for that?" interjected the dark and long-haired lady who had a murderous look a minute ago.

Before Xil Varies could respond, a new voice was heard inside the room.

"I would advise against any rudeness against an esteemed member of my academy, my dear." the Headmaster of the Cyoria Royal Academy of Magical Art said, his cane resounding throughout the corridor as he tapped it against the rocky floor. "And to answer your impoliteness, Professor Xil Varies's light speech impediment is nothing new, any student or member of staff can attest of that. Such underhanded tactic of accusation through the use of one's inability to appear innocent is both illegal on a legal standpoint and unbecoming for a high official such as yourself."

Anyone who had never met or heard the Headmaster before could only think one thing : he was an outstanding orator. His voice had a charming quality to it, smooth and sweet as honey. A melodious and mellow tone of voice. His appearance also matched the nobleness of his timbre. Blond hair and gentle cyan eyes that seemed to peer inside one's soul, probably the result of magic, and a smile that could melt the heart of the most cynical he to turn politician, no doubt he would easily conquer the heart of his constituency in a matter of minutes. From his overall looks and demeanor, someone would approximate his age to be around the forty years mark.

"Good evening, Headmaster." said Elayer, turning his back to the two professors for the first time since he arrived. "I apologize if our sudden action have disturbed your plans for the evening. My name is Elayer Inid, special investigator of the crown of Eldemar." he bowed lightly.

"I am more concerned about the abruptness of your operation than anything else, Mister Inid. But I do appreciate that at least one special investigator deign to follow proper protocol when conducting such unexpected search inside our royal academy." continued the Headmaster, putting emphasis on the royal part of the academy. While Elayer Inid was indeed under the direct orders of the Eldemar's council, the Headmaster was also working for the royal family, and the council by extension. As such, both were on an equal footing, and couldn't easily invoke a status differential to get away with questionable actions. "Would you be so kind as to inform me of the content your current investigation, and the reason behind your impromptu arrest of one of my faculty member?"

Though he showed nothing of it, Elayer greeted his teeth. Frustration and anger slowly building up. Divulging the subject of a royal detective's investigation was not forbidden, but it wasn't something someone could order nor even request. It was the sole decision of the special investigator if he wanted to inform the other party or not of his activities. For the Headmaster to inquire about it so directly, it was an obvious power-play that conveyed that, unless Elayer indulged him, he wouldn't comply with him, or might even go against him. But what he really wanted was for Elayer to react badly so he could have ammunition for a legal confrontation in the future.

If he was another special investigator, this tactic could've worked. But Elayer had learned long ago to discard any notion of pride he could've had during his work. Fighting against the Headmaster at this stage would only slow his group down, and could endanger the already tight schedule they had to work with to discover what had happened to Proxi. As such, he complied, but wouldn't forget the underhanded move of the Headmaster anytime soon.

---

Part 3 - Mali de Viko

[A few minutes ago...]

Mali de Viko, Headmaster of Cyoria's royal academy of magical arts, was stressed beyond words.

This month was of great importance for him. Aside from the new academic year that started a few days ago, the city of Cyoria would welcome the summer festival at the end of the month ; and this year's summer festival coincided with an historical event that only happened every few hundreds of year : a planetary alignment. An event of great importance for the entire magical community across the entire world. And as the magical capital of the continent, Cyoria and its magical academy was the place to be. Everybody was converging here to either study the phenomenon, conduct research, enjoy the festivities or build their networks. Interests of high and mighty individuals intertwined on this very date. No disturbances would be allowed to happen, either on academy ground or within the city. The Headmaster had already pestered his staff enough about it, but he couldn't help but continue. Nowadays, the slightest commotion from a student was enough to make him internally sweat bullets.

As such, his nervousness would've been enough to make the grown man throw up on the spot. But he didn't. In actuality, he was rather accustomed to such feeling of incomprehensible anxiousness. Since young, the Headmaster had always been a very shy and queasy child, courtesy of his overprotective mother that raised him in a metaphorical black-box of fear and paranoia.

But he'd never let anything of the sort surface on his face, his voice or within his body-language. Fortunately for him, and quite abnormal considering his tight upbringing, the Headmaster was an absolute master of deception —as if he had been born under the providence of the god of social interactions, if such entity even existed—. No matter how much he'd scream internally, or how much he wanted to throw up, his real nature had never been seen by anyone but his lovely wife that he adored. Never a faux-pas, never an unwanted breach of etiquette. An absolutely perfect orator.

And no matter how much his family had pushed him into politics, he had always refused to ever dabble in it, settling for a teaching job as an ethics and management's professor at the prestigious Cyoria's academy. He wasn't a magical instructor as he preferred to talk about what actually interested him —though he had received a formal magical education. All he wanted was a simple life helping students get a good start in their professional career. That's what he adored, he was a pedagogue at heart. But, to his regret, the last Headmaster —now retired— had taken quite a liking to him. Without even informing anyone in advance, he had appointed Mali to take his place... to both the shock of the royal family and the appointee. To this day, it had been the most stressful period of his life... having to deal with loads of special investigators suspecting him to have meddled with the mind of the old Headmaster. Of course, who wouldn't suspect a unknown teacher, almost a nobody, being granted the highest position in the most prominent magical academy in the world on the sole basis of 'I feel he's a diamond in the rough'.

Curse you! shouted internally the Headmaster, reminiscing about his predecessor.

As such, by royal decree that he couldn't reasonably refuse, Mali de Viko had been officially appointed as the Headmaster of Cyoria's royal academy of magical arts at the age of thirty-five... a full twenty-four year younger than the second youngest Headmaster to have ever been assigned to this position.

But even though skepticism was running high at the start, the fact is that he had never been replaced. After a year of operation, the mere thought of replacing him had never even crossed the mind of the royal family ever again ; a testament to his level of competency at managing the academy.

There was a light knock on the door of his office.

"Headmaster, your guests have arrived," said his assistant, pocking only her head through noisy double-door. The young woman had gentle features that she tried to repress to appear more professional... which didn't worked particularly well but Mali mentally complimented the effort nonetheless.

Remembering who he was about to meet, the knot in his stomach tightened once more as he was brought back to the reality he wished to escape.

"Of course, bring them here, please." he said with the most enthusiastic smile he could muster.

Two individuals entered his room. The same two that he had met a few days prior.

An old gentleman adorning an exquisite costume. Despite his whitish hair and few wrinkles —testament of his advanced age—, the man in question had an incredible physique that even athletes would envy. His eyes were sharp and wise, yet gentle when he wanted them to be. The Headmaster didn't exactly know how to describe it, but he felt at peace around this person.

The second individual was a woman of foreign origin ; though he suspected her to be a southerner, the Headmaster didn't actually know the exact location. A red-headed beauty with the body of a goddess and the smile of an angel. Her dark-red dress reminded him of a luxury shop that had newly opened near the city center, the pair must've gone shopping earlier this week. Her eyes seemed mischievous, probably rooted in her young innocence, the Headmaster thought. While he didn't feel uneasy, her gaze had some weight to it that he had a hard time describing.

"Mister Tian, good evening!" exclaimed the Headmaster while standing up to welcome their arrival. "How have you been since we last spoke?"

"Good evening, Headmaster. Quite good, thank you for your consideration. We used what little time we had to visit your enchanting city for the past two days," the gentleman responded with a warm smile, his tone being that of a gentle giant. "As you can see from my daughter, she particularly enjoyed your clothing shops."

The fair-lady took upon herself to turn around in a swift motion, one foot on the ground, making her dress flow in the air.

"I can see that! Wouldn't this dress be from Eleanor's Mercantile? My wife also happened to be ready to throw all of our finance to acquire their newest seasonal garments," the Headmaster joked.

"Not the best I am used to wear, but it is indeed passable considering where we are," said the girl while regaining her proper posture, innocently smiling at the owner of the room.

"Ah, yes I can understand your plight, young lady! It is indeed first and foremost a mage's city. It is quite hard to find clothing that doesn't look like a sad and bland mage's robe!" the Headmaster laughed again, oblivious to the slim verbal spike of the girl, or consciously ignoring it.

The lady simply widened her smile a bit.

"Since we're talking about the city, why don't you two take a seat while we—"

Loud and repetitive knocks resounded in the room. Quite rude, but the Headmaster knew his staff perfectly. This sudden interruption could only mean one thing...

O gods... he lamented internally, feeling yet again his stomach acting.

An emergency.

"Please excuse me for a few seconds, esteemed guests. It seems my attention is needed," he said, leaving the room not long after.

Before him, his assistant clearly distraught kept looking at him with a panicked look.

"What happened?" he asked seriously.

"We've been informed that a special investigator is within academy ground," she started, fiddling her hands together.

"At this hour? And without notice...? What does he want?"

Mali de Viko didn't like special investigators. Not one bit. He knew that they were needed as the eyes of the Eldemar's council, but his personal experience with them had left a sour taste in his mouth.

"T—They... I—I was told they were here to apprehend professor Varies for an investigation they're currently working on," she said with some difficulty.

The Headmaster's hearth skipped a beat.

Professor Xil Varies was an important asset for the academy ; his renown as an academic scholar of divination magic was invaluable. Even more so, he was one of the eldest teacher at the school, a cherished member of the faculty personnel and a close friend of the Headmaster. His sudden arrest would be devastating to both the image of the academy and the moral of staff members.

Anger quickly rose within Mali de Viko.

He gently grabbed the shoulders of his assistant, comforting her troubled mind.

"It's okay, tell me where they are. Let me handle this special investigator," he said with a warm smile. "In the meantime, could you please give our guests a bit of company? I'll try to be brief, but if I don't come back within ten minutes, please tell them that the urgency of the situation prevent me from continuing our meeting further. Tell them that I am deeply ashamed, and try to settle another date for a second meeting."

She quietly acquiesced, and told him the location of the incident : Zenomir Olgai's office.

Zenomir's office? Don't tell me he's also... he thought before rushing to his destination. Fortunately, the old linguistic teacher's office wasn't far from his own.

[. . .]

After demanding an explanation for the sudden action of this Elayer Inid, the special investigator informed him —reluctantly it appeared— that he was currently investigating a series of abductions, and that one of his team member had disappeared while being close to Xil Varies.

"So... you barged in the early night in my academy because Professor Varies's panicked response wasn't to your liking? Need I remind you that the average civilian is not accustomed to make quick decision in such precarious and sudden disposition?" snarly commented the Headmaster after hearing what Elayer Inid had to say.

"With all due respect, Headmaster, I think you are unreasonably oversimplifying the matter. As an experienced practitioner and master diviner, Xil Varies should have identified at least some traces of clues regarding my operative's disappearance. Furthermore, given the gravity of the situation, we cannot afford to waste our time on hypotheses." Elayer Inid retorted, his tone still calm but his fists visibly tightening alongside his body. "Will you allow the interrogation to continue, or do I have to force the matter and waste valuable time bringing him back to the military-police HQ?"

The Headmaster silently pondered while still standing his ground in front of the imposing special investigator.

On one hand he sympathized with Elayer's desperation over the disappearance of one of his protege. If he was in his place, the Headmaster would've rushed and imposed himself to those around him to get his way, probably even more so than what Elayer was doing, actually. All in all, the royal detective's action were pretty tamed compared to what most in his shoes would do. A by-the-book kind of personality that Mali de Viko deeply respected, as it was rare nowadays.

On the other hand, as the Headmaster of the academy, and the friend of Xil Varies, he needed to protect him from any undue and unfair treatments they could make him go through. As the dark-haired lady had demonstrated moments ago by insinuating Xil's stutter somewhat painted him as the culprit, it seemed that the use of those vile tactics weren't out of the question for them.

As such, he only saw one path ahead.

"Yes, you can continue. But I shall remain at his side to ensure the fair conduct of your operation whilst on academy ground."

Elayer Inid simply acquiesced.

Before they continued the questioning of Xil Varies, the Headmaster helped Zenomir Olgai, who was still on the floor after having fell down and being constrained by a magical rope of light, stand up and sit again on his chair. He mumbled a short thank you, to which the Headmaster simply acknowledge with a tiny nod and a smile.

"Now, professor Varies, before the arrival of the Headmaster, you mentioned something about not finding someone being different than not sensing someone? Could you elaborate?" Elayer said, turning his attention to the old professor.

"Y—Yes. As I said, when I tried to locate your partner, it's not that I didn't find anything... it is that the search didn't return any mana-signature in a large radius around us."

"And how is that different?" inquired Elayer, not a trace of sarcasm present in his tone.

"Well, f—for example, if he had been teleported near one of Cyoria's surrounding villages, that is to say still in range of the locating spell I used, I—I could've sensed two of his mana-signature, or rather its remnants. One where he stood initially, and one at the location he appeared at. In the scenario where he teleported directly into a warded area shielded against divination magic, I could've still pint-pointed the general area... depending on the w—warding scheme. At the very least, I could've at least sensed if he went south, north, etc."

"And that didn't happen?"

"Yes! I can guarantee that he teleported away, since I could still feel the remnant of his original position within the room. But I couldn't point to any direction where he would've arrived!" Xil Varies said, more agitated than before. "T—Trust me I was the first one to be baffled by this. It shouldn't be possible by any metric!"

"How so?" continue to press Elayer.

"W—Well, we were just talking about that with professor Olgai before you arrived... You would need to travel unfathomable distances to get the same result that I did. It would be akin to trying to search something from another continent. Or something that d—doesn't exist..."

Elayer remained silent, pondering the words of the professor. While he had a hard time believe him, he didn't recognize any form of falsehood in either his demeanor or his way of talking. The only actual problem was the incongruity of the argument in itself.

Then, Fiya spoke.

"Sir, if I may, I believe he is saying the truth."

"How so? Can you explain your reasoning, Fiya?" asked Elayer, genuinely curious about the opinion of his young subordinate.

"We still haven't had the time to go over all the documentation we've been given regarding the other cases. But I think it is safe to assume that their circumstances are very similar." she continued, speaking eloquently. It was remarkable how one second she appeared as a naive young lady, and the next she exuded the professional charisma of an expert. "The council wouldn't have given us this task if they knew, at the very least, the general location of the victims. So we can surmise that they already tried to locate them and failed. Like we did. Like professor Varies did. But they didn't actually told us why they failed, right?"

Slowly, realization downed on Elayer.

"So you're saying... the same reason why the council couldn't deal with this problem alone and summoned us, is the same reason why we can't locate Proxi now?" he slowly summarized her argument.

"Yes, Sir. And professor Varies would simply be the first person to discover the strange, still unknown phenomenon the perpetrator use to mask their crime," Fiya added.

Elayer deeply contemplated the argument, dissecting it as much as possible to try and find any rebuttal. But he couldn't.

Sure, the premise of the reasoning was the contentious part. A invention, magical or technological, so advanced that it could continuously trump the best diviners in the country and used on a large scale operation... was absurd. Those types of enormous advancement, especially within the magical field, were near non-existent.

But if one were to go past the first hurdle of this argumentation, the rest made sense. As Fiya had rightly pointed out, they —Elayer's group— weren't well versed with the details of the cases as they'd only been appointed to them a day or so ago. Elayer knew that something prevented them to find the victims, but not the exact reason why. He had been more interested in learning the circumstances of their disappearance, as it would've been the most logical and efficient first step in an investigation if this were a normal case. But it wasn't.

Sure, professor Varies's explanation —or lack thereof— was absurd... but if it was the connecting factor that linked all the disappearances together, it couldn't be rebutted nor disproved.

The more Elayer thought about it, the more his initial theory grumbled before his eyes. But, by letting go of it, he would lose his only lead... and any chance to learn what happened to Proxi before it was too late.

Defeated and ashamed, he finally relented. Letting his right hand go limp —allowing the lethal spell he had held since their arrival to vanish— he heavily sighed. With another movement of his wrist, the tendrils of light that had constrained both professors also fizzled away, as if they never even existed.

"It seems I have made a grave mistake. Please accept my deepest apology, Mister Varies, Mister Olgai, Headmaster," he said, bowing deeply in front of them. "Your explanation, while hard to believe, do align with our information so far. As Fiya said, it seemed you were simply the unlucky first witness of something we thought impossible. As such, I must conclude that your suspicion of aiding in the abduction of my subordinate is void of any substantiated evidence," he admitted.

Elayer let the silence linger, as he steeled himself to ask something most would be unwilling in his situation.

"Even though I understand I've wronged you, I must ask for your aid in this urgent matter, professor. My operative is still missing, and we've lost our only lead so far. As a master diviner, and after experiencing first-hand this phenomenon, would you accept to help us? Of course, your services would be generously compensated."

His change in demeanor was so radical that it surprised everyone inside Zenomir's office. It even caught the Headmaster off guard. As far as Mali de Viko was aware, special investigators were deeply prideful creature. He didn't expect Elayer to apologize and admit his wrongdoing so quickly and so openly. A surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one.

In the Headmaster's eyes, Elayer Inid seemed to be the most bearable and respectful royal detective he had ever stumble into.

Xil Varies considered the plea for help, before quickly responding.

"Y—Yes of course. Don't worry, I'm not known to hold g—grudges... especially given your circumstances. I understand that you worry d—deeply about your subordinate," said Xil Varies, a small smile adorning his wrinkled face.

On the other hand, Zenomir might need some time though... internally commented the master diviner, secretly eyeing the annoyed and newly-untangled linguistic goat.

Then, it was the dark-haired woman who bowed her head without prior notice.

"I would also like to apologize for the rudeness I've shown you, professor Varies," she spoke. "As the Headmaster rightfully pointed out, it was both uncalled for and unnecessarily mean."

"Ah, it's o—okay miss. I've teached teenager for nearly all my life," Xil retorted happily. "You were actually pretty well m—mannered and kind compared to them!"

Mea didn't laugh, be she did show a smile. Which was quite rare if one knew her character.

---

Part 4 - Monsters

As it seemed the situation had been settled... at least for now, the Headmaster quickly excused himself, after assuring both Xil Varies and Zenomir Olgai that he would remain within walking distance —at his office— if they needed him tonight. As it had been less than ten minutes since his departure, he hoped to reunite with the guests he so rudely left alone with his poor assistant.

As he arrived back at his office, he found her alone, seated within the comfortable sofa, her back to him. He sighed, as it seemed he had been too late after all.

He approached the girl, who did not seem to notice his return. Odd given how loud those damn double-doors were and how he always used his cane to move around, making an audible sound wherever he went.

He faked a cough, not out of disdain, but simply because he wouldn't want to surprise a young lady so late into the evening.

Still nothing. Strange, he thought. She didn't seem to be asleep. Was she giving him an attitude because he left her alone with the two guests? Had the situation turned sour on her? He hoped not. But it had been uncalled for to ask of her to entertain his guests, he had to admit it. Hence, he needed to apologize.

"I've returned, Natasha. Please excuse me for leaving you alone with Mister and Miss Tian," he said apologetically.

Still nothing. Okay, not need to be this rude, Natasha... he sighed mentally.

"Are you alright? Did they give you any trouble? You can tell me."

Still nothing.

Silence settled once more. As this was getting abnormal, he chose to approach her.

"Natasha? Nata—"

That's when he saw it. The grotesque state she was in.

Her eyes were wide open, almost inhumanly so. Her mouth was agape, wide open and nearly misshapen, as if the muscles of her jaw had stopped working altogether. Drool smeared her jaw and slowly spilled onto her thigh. She appeared stiff as a rock. In a catatonic state almost. A faint glow flickered within her irises, though one would be hard-pressed to notice it.

"NATASHA!" he exclaimed loudly, grabbing her shoulders and vigorously shaking them to elicit some kind of reaction.

And then, as if it never happened, she seemingly woke up from her prior stupor. Blinking a few time and loudly adjusting her jaw, cracking it a few time.

"Oh... Oh! G—Good evening, Headmaster! I am deeply sorry, I must've fallen asleep." she said, redness starting to paint her face out of shame. She quickly wiped the saliva away from her face.

The Headmaster only stared at her with a deeply confused and worried face.

"Are you alright, Natasha?"

"Y—Yes, Headmaster!" she said, standing up from the sofa and bowing apologetically. "I don't know what came over me! This won't happen ever again!"

An odd atmosphere settled between the two as the Headmaster simply continued to stare at her, unsure of what he had just witnessed. Had he been dreaming? Did his eyes deceive him? She didn't appear unusual now that she was awake...

Before the silence could turn awkward, he chose to subtly change subject, though a big part of him still couldn't let go. He felt a certain uneasiness creeping down his spine and tightening his throat.

"Right... Did our guests... give you any trouble?" he asked.

"Oh, not at all! They are lovely people! Especially mister Tian!"

"That nice to hear, Natasha." he said with a smile. "When did they leave? I've just arrived but couldn't find them"

"Oh... Hm... Sorry to ask this, but what time is it?" she asked as she desperately fought a yawn.

"I've only been gone for a little over ten minutes."

Natasha tilted her head. She must have thought that more time had passed, else she wouldn't have asked. She pondered for a few seconds, trying to recall her exchange with the guests.

"I think they mentioned that they would come to meet you since you weren't coming back."

Odd he thought. They hadn't met along the way. And the path from his office to Zenomir's was as straightforward as it could get. A one minute walk with only two turns.

"Did you not try to keep them here? Like I asked you to?" he asked, the same indescribable feeling slowly worsening within him.

"Hmmm... I don't know... I can't seem to remember...I am really sorry, Headmaster. My head is a little fuzzy. I must still be a bit groggy from my little nap."

Would a nap of only a few minutes hinder one's mind as much as this, he wondered internally.

Slowly, ever so slowly, this ever-increasing anxiety seemed to fill his lungs, his throat, his mind. He loudly swallowed with some difficulty before deciding to head back to Zenomir's office, hoping to find his guests there.

As he bid Natasha goodnight, he couldn't help but be reminded of the state he found her in.

[. . .]

When he came back to Zenomir's room, while everybody was still here —Elayer, Mea, Fiya, Zenomir, Xil and the two military-police officer— he still couldn't see his guests anywhere.

Have they left? Or are did they get lost? he wondered, panic now firmly muddling his mind.

Aside from Mea, who stood outside the office in the corridor, the rest of the group hadn't registered his return. He simply passed by, continuing his search for Mister and Miss Tian amidst the hallways of his academy. And while the Headmaster half-ran, surveying his surrounding, the group he just passed continued their conversation:

"—...to g—go back to the subject at hand: as I said earlier, me and Zenomir were actually discussing it. And we couldn't help but notice the similarity between my failed attempt and the current project we're working on," the voice of Xil Varies carried into the corridor.

"Xil!" snapped the linguistic teacher at his friend.

"Come one, Zenomir. L—Lifes are at stack here. I am not going to hide potential critical information if they can be of use," retorted the diviner before his companion could even voice the reason of his outburst.

"Even still! This have nothing to do with it! Our research is confidential! Do not speak of it!"

"What are you studying?" asked Fiya with a gentle voice, full of curiosity.

"Don't!" Zenomir ordered his long-time friend.

"If you're in possession of useful information, I would advise you to share them with us, mister Olgai." calmly stated Elayer.

Zenomir was about to vehemently respond to Elayer's insidious threat before being cut short by the betrayal of his own friend.

"It's okay mister Inid. We were searching for a certain name, one that is supposedly very far away. Which is why we still get no result despite our best efforts."

Zenomir's eyes simply widened at the audacity of his partner.

"Who's name are you searching? How is this worth the effort?" inquired Elayer, one hand supporting his chin.

"Supposedly, it could be the name of a g—"

"STOP!" screamed Zenomir, his face visibly reddening with anger. "DO NOT TELL ANYMORE! IT ISN'T EVEN MY FOUNDING THAT YOU ARE FOOLISHLY DIVULGING! YOU CAN'T RE—"

Zenomir's furious rant would've continued for hours if he hadn't been interrupted. But he had been. And, at the same moment, temperature within his office seemed to drop instantaneously.

Out of nowhere, as if materializing into existence, an enchanting voice resounded throughout the room. Obviously female, her tone was a mixture of sweet innocence and flirtatious beauty.

"A name you say? My, oh my, how interesting!" she said, appearing in the door-way of the office.

The lady in question had an mesmerizing appearance. Clothed in a dark-red dress that only a noble could afford, it matched perfectly with her beautiful red-hair. A mischievous smile adorned her perfect face, free of any blemishes.

Her sudden arrival had left the room stunned ; the reasons of this unexpected silence differed between individuals.

For the two military-police officers, for Fiya, for Zenomir and for Xil, their bewilderment came from the absolute beauty the girl exhibited. Never in their life had they witnessed a woman so far out of their reach. As if she was grace incarnate, molded by the silent gods themselves. Fiya never recalled ever questioning her sexuality before, but in front of the fairest maiden of them all, she couldn't help but blush like a teenager struck by Cupid's arrow.

On the other hand, Mea —while still deeply impressed by the stature of the young girl— was astonished by something far more grounded. The girl had seemingly appeared out of nowhere just next to her. Since she'd been waiting in the hallway, she would've caught glimpse of her if she had walk up to them, but she hadn't. If she had teleported at this exact location —for whatever reason—, she would've heard something, but she hadn't. Then, what? Invisibility? wondered Mea. Again, it wouldn't make sense. This spell, in addition to being highly controversial and borderline illegal in most cases, was not something such a young girl could cast without considerable effort. So, how had she sneaked up on her?

And lastly, for Elayer, the reason of his shock was much simpler than the others. It was something seemingly only he could feel. A sort of raw emotion even an infant could understand. Pure. Unbridled. Dread.

Elayer remained steady on his feet, not moving an inch. Not because he was standing strong against his psyche, but because he had completely surrendered to it. He had simply froze in place the moment she appeared, afraid that were he to move only just a finger, that beast pretending to be human would pounce on him without hesitation.

He felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest. Sweat began to roll down his temple. Still, he deigned not to move. Not even his eyes caught a glimpse of the girl that just arrived. He simply stared straight down at the ground, hoping to regain control of his mind and body.

Elayer's greatest secret, that of which only the highest members of government and royalty were aware of, was that he was a shifter. A deeply despised race within the Eldemar kingdom. A shifter is a kind of creature capable of changing its body into that of another specie, without aid from potions nor magic spell. Scholar described them as 'people with two souls' as they actually were beings of two souls merged into one, generally through genetic inheritance or through ritualistic ceremony. Most shifter were human imbued with a non-magical creature's soul, but record of magical-beast being imbued existed. In the case of Elayer, he was specifically a wolf shifter who had been abandoned at birth and nursed back to health by a lone aristocrat woman of high influence that would come to adopt him.

And it was that part of him, this essential piece of his being, that was currently screaming like it never had before. Not even when faced against a Grey Hunter —one of the most dangerous magical beast in existence— while on a recon mission so long ago had Elayer's soul reacted this way. It was unprecedented. Irrational. Impossible.

Silence remained. Not one soul dared to talk after her.

While wholly enjoying the reactions of the room, the red-headed girl calmly strolled into the office toward professor Xil Varies. She caught a glance at the still frozen Elayer, noticing his state. She sniffled the air in two quick succession, and focused her gaze upon the faintly shivering shifter.

"Oh my, what a cute pup we have here. Do you have a name?" she said flirtatiously, licking her lips.

Elayer's body tensed. Not saying a word. He still hadn't breath since she arrived. His mind was an incoherent mess. Nothing came out of his mouth.

"No name? What a shame... Little old me would've loved to spend some time with you. Anyway, that's not what I am here for anyway." she relented after a few second, donning a disappointed expression. "Mister, mister! I heard you said something about a name?" she then turned toward her initial interest: Xil Varies.

While the professor was still a bit awestruck by her lovely appearance, it didn't prevent him from thinking straight. He answered jovially.

"Indeed, we were. B—But you might you be, young lady?"

"You can call me Miss Tian!" she responded, bowing gracefully while holding her dress. A perfect courtesy greeting from a young noble lady. "I was supposed to meet with the Headmaster of this academy, but I caught wind of your little exchange before I could find him. So, can you tell me more?"

"Hmm... I—I hope to not offend you, but this is a private c—conversation. I don't think I can—"

"Please, please, pleeease! Can't you make an exception for little ol' me?" she said, closing the gap with the professor, cuddly cuteness bursting out of every breath she took.

"Miss Tian, it is quite rude to intrude as you just did. Also, we can't—" Zenomir intervened in the exchange, before also being cut off.

"No, no, no. That won't do at all. [Charm]." she said, waving her hand at the two professors.

As she did so, a faint pinkish mist appeared around both Zenomir and Xil's heads. Their eyes seemed to lose their focus, as they now giddily smiled at her.

"Now, dear friends, could you answer my questio—"

Mea and the two officers acting as reinforcement reacted immediately. They didn't understand with certainty what the girl had done, but it was obvious that some sort of spell had been used to take advantage of the elders.

Was it mind magic? Hallucination? They didn't know, and they didn't need to. It was obviously potent and possibly dangerous.

"What are you doing, lady?!" angrily shouted Mea, holding on a magic missile spell, ready to be fired at a moment notice. The supposed offender simply stood there, not the least bit worried about three adult mages about to unleash fire on her. "Stop that this instant! You are in the presence of a special investigator!", she added.

Mea checked on Elayer, wondering why he still had not done anything. Generally speaking, he was the fastest among them ; always first to handle situation that had turned dire. What she saw troubled her. He hadn't moved an inch. No, he seemed frozen in place even, as he tried to repress a faint trembling.

"Sir...?"

A few second passed as he mustered enough courage to speak. His tone was grave.

"... do not... antagonize her... Mea..." Elayer said, his rough voice barely reaching her.

She widened her eyes, wondering if her superior had also fallen under some kind of spell. In the end though, she relented, trusting the words of her superior with whom she had shed blood and tears along the years. Her palm let go of the magic missile as it vanished into thin air.

"Smart gal you got there, pup. Very obedient! Don't worry, it won't take long!" the wolf in sheep's clothing said as she returned her attention toward the two bewitched professors. "My friends! Could you tell me more about this name research thing you got goin' on?"

"Ah, yes, of course," started Xil, a goofy smirk still on his old wrinkled face giving him a comedic allure. Or at least it would've been funny if the situation wasn't so tense. "We believe that we've found the name of a god from a sentence Zenomir learned a few days ago!"

Weirdly enough, under Miss Tian's spell, Xil's speech impediment seemed to have vanished, as well as his reserved nature.

"Wow! Interesting! What is this sentence?" she inquired some more.

"Yes, yes! It was 'Akio tunbi fua ya dorita manitera kro eloni fi nazari-k ario Ain Ol gon'" answered the diviner, excited. "See, doesn't that last part give you a funny feeling? That's what we believe is the name of the god in question! Amazing, don't you think?"

Air in the room tensed tenfold. Temperature dropped yet again, almost freezing. The origin of this phenomenon was obvious, as she stood in the middle. Miss Tian kept her usual smile, something she was rather proud of. A lovely, beaming grin that humans couldn't help but fall in love with. But, even though her facade was still intact, the other occupants of the room finally understood the gravity of their situation as the aura of the monster in front of them was laid bare.

Mea understood that if she had fired a moment ago, she might not be here anymore. A cold goosebumps erupted on her at the prospect of the bullet she had dodged.

Fiya, who had also been quiet since the start of this ordeal, felt like fainting. Of everyone here, she was the least equipped to deal with the situation.

"Great! I agree, it sure is an amazing name! Though don't compare it again to a simple puny god, silly!" she joked, laughing heartily. Her bloodlust still infusing and saturating the very air. "But where did you two find that? It couldn't have been easy."

Her jovial nature seemed to disappear as she said her last words. Silence ensued. An unbearable pause.

"Oh? Didn't you hear me? I said—" then, her mask dropped. The act she had put on was cast away, and her ugly personality exposed to the world. "Where. Did. You. Find. IT." she said slowly, her smile long gone and her eyes wide open.

"I am sorry I don't know! He never told me!" quickly said Xil Varies, ashamed to be unable to give his friend —Miss Tian— an answer. He pointed his finger at Zenomir. "I asked him so many times, but he never answered!"

"Is that so? So mean! But you would make an exception for your best friend, right?" the lady said, donning yet again her best cuddly attitude while closing in on Zenomir's personal space.

But the old linguistic goat remained silent, uncomfortably shifting in his seat.

"[Charm]" she casted again. "Come on, partner. Who told you about His name?" she asked dangerously.

Still, Zenomir Olgai remained silent. Answering her question would go against everything he stood for. He cherished his students more than anything else. Never would he betray their trusts in him. As such, even as convincing as Miss Tian was, he couldn't bring himself to give her an answer.

Quickly understanding the limitation of her own spell, she angrily clicked her tongue. Her fists tightened, as she repressed her murderous personality for the sake of her orders.

Then, yet again, another voice echoed within the office. It was as calm and serene as it was deep. Nobleness incarnate.

"Lupusregina, what have you done?" he asked, an ounce of anger thinly veiled. "Care to inform me why you exposed yourself? In front of so many peo—"

"Forgive me, master, but I've stumbled into something truly invaluable," she answered with professionalism, bowing lightly her head to the old gentleman who had just arrived. Her previously fake persona gone without a trace. "Hey, you, repeat the name you just told me," she ordered professor Xil Varies with disdain.

And he repeated himself.

The butler of steel widened his eyes. And looked back at his subordinate.

"I couldn't believe it either. Truly, His foresight knows no bounds!" the woman named Lupusregina proclaimed in fanatical admiration. "To think He foreso that one of those maggots would be here! And that I would stumble into him by accident!"

The man in the beautifully crafted uniform simply nodded in genuine satisfaction.

"But, I think my charms aren't enough to loosens this one's lips unfortunately," she said while gently caressing the disheveled hair of Zenomir Olgai as if he was her pet. Still under her spell, he said nothing at the invasion of privacy. "And we can't afford to break him, so I would advice against using your power on him, master Sebas. I don't know how weak he is. We should contact Him for further guidance. Also, we need to know what to do with the rest."

Again, the man known as 'master Sebas' simply nodded. He exited the room while putting two finger on his temple.

"My Lord, it is Sebas..." was the last words they heard from him before they couldn't hear his voice anymore.

Two minutes passed in absolute silence as nobody dared to speak a word. The only sound was the happy humming of the girl in the red dress.

"What... what will you do to us?" Elayer dared to ask, to his own surprise.

The woman stopped, smiled, and approached the special investigator.

Was it courage that had made him speak? Foolishness? Pressure? He didn't know.

As she started to open her mouth to speak, the butler came back into the door-way.

"So?" she asked the man.

His expression turned somber. Almost apologetic to the humans in the room.

Hers... morphed into that of a sadistic abomination. A wide grin appeared on her face, her long fangs now clearly visible. Her gaze became inhuman while she turned to look into the eyes of the shifter.

He understood immediately. As his nerves hit a critical point, he chose to do something he would regret and atone for the rest of his life. He abandoned his comrades.

As the sole practitioner of dimensionalism magic, only he could use the teleportation spell. At first, he thought that he would miraculously take everyone with him when an opportunity would arise... but it never came to be. He knew, deep down, that if he had tried to reach for even one person, that terrible monster would've ended his life before he could even register it... No... maybe he had been to cowardly to try. He didn't know.

As the spell activated, he felt both disgusted with himself and blessed to be able to leave this accursed room. Blessed to be alive. And it wouldn't be in vain. He would inform the council. He would inform everyone! Eldemar would triumph! The entire world was going to converge on those monsters and justice would prevail!

As someone intimately close with the internal affairs of Eldemar, he understood that those beings were not something to be taken lightly. He'd never met the truly strong before, those mythical beings transcending humanity that were renowned across the land for their powers, such as the terrible lich Quatach-Ichl, or any dragon-mage rumored to be able to lay waste to entire city in mere minutes. But he knew, deep down, that even them would pale in comparison to the danger those two represented.

Yes, he wasn't abandoning his two subordinates, he was saving their civilization!

And so, he fled. Teleporting away, alone. In the middle of the night. He needed to reach safety!

.

.

.

But... the grin of the sadistic girl only grew wider. "A game of hide and seek? Damn, pup, you really know you to get my blood running."

---

On that night, a terrible accident happened. The middle portion of Cyoria's Royal Academy of Magical Arts blew up suddenly.

Such incident weren't uncommon, as fledgling young mages were prone to experimentation and often failed to follow proper safety protocol. Still, one of this magnitude was rare. No, a better word would be extraordinary. A one in a decade occurrence.

Another odd factor, uncharacteristic for those kinds of events, was the location and the time of the incident. It seemed that the blast had started within the administrative wing of the academy in the middle of the night. Why would a student experiment there at that time? was the first conundrum that baffled the early investigations.

The shock-wave generated was so great that it had shattered nearly all the windows within academy grounds, and even some from the closest residential area.

Sadly, the human toll had been higher than zero, which was the first time since a full seven years of operation. It also happened to be the bloodiest incident the academy ever lived through: a total of nine people had died from the explosion, fifty-three were injured, of whom four succumbed to their wounds in the days after. And one person was missing.

On the same night, a raving maniac had been seen running along the streets of the city in the dead of night, shrieking nonsensically. A lunatic, probably the result of multiple drugs within his system. He ranted incoherently at the top of his lungs that he needed to meet the royal family, that the world was in danger, etc. Officers had been dispatched to take care of the nightly nuisance, but they couldn't find him after an hour of research, so they simply let the matter go and forgot it ever happened.

[. . .]

In the early morning that followed the tragedy, a young fifteen-year old boy witnessed the still fuming disaster. His name was Zorian Kazinski.

With his eyes wide opened, he saw what other couldn't, and his heart dropped within his chest.

"Shit..." he let out involuntary before hurriedly skittering away from the crowd that had formed around him. When alone, he magically disappeared through the use of teleportation, away from prying eyes.

Or so he had thought. A small looming figure had watched him from the rooftops since he'd left his home. The unknown silhouette —that one might've mistaken for a child—, put two of her fingers onto her temple, and spoke decisively.

"Found him."

---

Voila!

Hope this somewhat quenched your thirst for more! Sorry I didn't deliver on the main story ; though, as you can guess, what just transpired will definitely have major consequences on our poor time travelers.

Tell me if you liked the way the interlude played out (with the multiple switching point of views). I never tried to write like this, so I am unsure if it had the desired effect. It was also my first time writing such a long chapter, I hope it didn't bore you midway through your read! (I thought about splitting it into two parts, but I didn't like the idea of having a two-parter interlude, do you feel the same?)

I wonder what will happen to the tragic survivors of this chapter... if there are any ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

We'll be coming back to Zack and Zorian next chapter! Soon (I hope)!

Anyway, it's getting late. Til' next time!