At the dungeon things went from bad to worse, with Diana being forced to go through the worst things at the hands of Margaret, much by the demands of trying to educate that creature that was created by Ford, who was even creating a friendship, not being so cruel as all the impression that Benson had caused. Still the things were complicated for the other side, since the searches started, as a way to try to find the whereabouts of the trio, this for the corridors of Luna Nova, trying to find something, without falling in the traps made by the brown one so that they don't find the trio in any way.
In the classroom after all the presentation that Laura and Bernadette did of the witch's past, the girls were understanding the motives, a little bit of a fury coming from Hellene even came up, with her annoyed by the seal, but after all the good conversation, that's where the whole group decided to start the search, forming some groups.
" Well, we solve this issue of the seal with the girls, when we find them, our priority is to find Diana, Akko and Amanda, let's split up in groups, try to go to the places where Margareth passed, ask everyone in Luna Nova, we can't let Margareth continue with them or the worst can happen "said Laura.
" Then let's do it right, Mari and I will try to get information from the girls here " Hellene said.
" We are going to search the hidden places of Luna Nova, we are stronger and more experienced witches, in case Margareth has some trap, you may even die, so not to take too long... We are going to look for the hidden places, you all go asking the girls of each floor, separate yourselves in groups " Bernadette said.
" We'll go by the skate track, Amanda used to hang out there a lot and the girls there might know something too," Jasminka said.
" Let's go down the corridor from our rooms, someone must know something " Sucy said.
" And what about us? You simply kept it from us that our Akko ended up being kidnapped," Saori said.
" You two come with us, there's no magic, but that doesn't mean we don't have a way to dialogue " McLaren said with two boxes in hand where upon opening it had a pistol inside.
" Firearms? That's cool! Okay for my Akko I'll use this, we have to get the best odds to find our girl " Morgana said picking up that set with the pistol, a holster that is kind of hidden under her arm, where she then put a jacket over it.
" This wouldn't have happened if we had agreed to put the seal on Akko, at one time or another she would want to know if the magic was real, she is precisely our biological daughter " Kagari said also arming herself.
" Look my love, we don't have to complain, we have to look for our girl, then we'll punish them for hiding the truth from us," said Takahashi, being all intimidating and the others getting a little scared.
Then the search began, Laura, Bernadette, Chariot, Croix, Saori and Morgana, went in groups through the most abandoned places of Luna Nova, since they could be potential hiding places for Margareth, since in a few hours it wouldn't be enough for her to escape far away.
Lotte, Sucy, Constanze, Jasminka, Hellene and Marianne, split up into different groups, through the corridors of Luna Nova, kind of on a search asking student by student, having the pictures of Margareth, Diana, Akko and Amanda on their mobile phones to show each one if they had seen them.
The pair went to the topmost floor, where the most luxurious rooms are located there, the first to be asked being the older Cavendish's roommates.
" So girls, did you see Diana last night at dawn? " Hellene asks.
" She just left out of nowhere, it was right at the time we were taking a bath, then we didn't see her, did something happen? Don't tell me our friend has disappeared? " said Barbara, a bit worried.
" This is all your fault for influencing her, you got her into trouble, now she's gone and you're trying to right the wrong," Hannah said, until Parker interrupted her.
" Hannah! Can't you see our friend might be in danger " Said the dark haired Englishwoman scolding her friend.
" And she is really in danger, this woman here who kidnapped them, have you seen her in the corridors here? Amanda, Akko and her have been missing since yesterday dawn," Hellene said.
" We didn't, we spent the whole night here, we only talked to their mothers, who were a bit desperate and then we came back here... I guess it's more serious than I thought, can you tell us why? " said Barbara.
" You two would never believe it, besides there is still a lot for you to find out, now let's continue the search, someone here must know something," Marianne said.
" What are we not to believe? You always keep everything a secret from us, especially now that Diana only lives with you all the time, we never saw her paying attention to both of us again.
And after that the duo kept searching for the other rooms, but nothing of results, practically the girls of the rooms of higher class knew nothing, already in the lower ones, a little of progress.
Sucy and Lotte arrived at the Aqua team's room, there were Rita and Abigail, feeling relieved to see someone attending to them, especially because they had been putting up posters in the corridors of Luna Nova for a few days.
" Have you found Rachel? " Rita asks.
" Rachel? We are looking for more people who have disappeared," said Sucy.
" More? Someone is taking our girls, who of you is missing? Don't tell me it was Akko? " Abigail said.
" Yes, it was her and also Diana and Amanda, did you see them last night? " Lotte asks.
" I saw Akko coming down the stairs, she was going down, I was putting up the posters, she kind of went underground, then I didn't see her, only the other girls that went the same way, I got a little weird but I continued to hold the posters, then I saw Mrs. McLaren going down there, it was a few minutes later, it must have been serious, because I heard explosions and shooting sounds, I got a little bit shrunk and scared, I tried to see the fight, I saw that there was a woman with brown hair " Said the one with red hair.
" And was she like that? " Lotte shows a picture of Margaret and with that Rita sort of gets a light bulb in her head.
" That's her! I tried to follow her, but I was getting scared, she took Mrs. McLaren to a room, then she was leaving with a sled with three girls and I thought it could be Rachel, I followed that woman being very quiet, I saw her arriving in a corridor where there were several of those sleds, she kind of started to carry the bodies as if they were bags, But I kept following her, but I was noticed, she kind of disappeared and reappeared in front of me, looking like a demon, after that I woke up in a room there, all tied up, but I managed to get free " said the Brazilian.
" And do you have any idea where she last approached you? We've got a lead like that," Yanson said in celebration.
" Yes, if you want to mark it on the map, but tell me, do you know anything? " Alves asks and with that both nod their heads.
" She is a criminal, possibly with Rachel too, I have no doubt that your colleague found something compromising, and so you want to join us in the search, we take advantage and tell what happened to Margaret to appear in front of you " Manbavaran said.
" Sucy! Are you crazy, are you going to reveal yourself to others? " said the Finn.
" Do you want to find Akko or not? In fact, why not? They could be future witches just as good as us, are we really going to continue with just the eight of us? " Said the Filipina shrugging.
With that the two tell a little resumed what was happening in Luna Nova, a little that was magic and had a journey happening, leaving even Rita's eyes full of brightness with that news, she was being enchanted, more motivated to help of some form the group of girls, with the little that she knew, it was already being useful and after the explanation, the pair formed a quartet of searches going girl by girl trying to find the whereabouts of the disappeared ones.
At the skate track there was practically no clue, nobody knew anything about the brown haired witch, neither the whereabouts of the trio of girls, what was getting to a point of investigation where one knew a lot of things.
In the abandoned rooms there was nothing, besides a lot of dust and abandonment, the search for the trio was going on slowly, but it was still happening.
" Damn it! Why did this place have to be full of these things? " asks Laura.
" Luna Nova has existed for 1500 years, love, you'd expect there to be thousands of hidden passages, many witches have hidden, others used it as a bedroom, it was quite a zone," said Bernadette.
" We got a message from Lotte, she said she found a great lead " Croix said looking at her mobile phone.
The six ladies were listening to the audio sent by Yanson and it was exactly Rita saying that she had done a search in a corridor of Luna Nova, exactly where she was left unconscious in one of the rooms, that remembered well where she was left and also where she was followed.
She remembered well where she was left unconscious in one of the rooms, and also where she was followed. So much that an image with a map of the place was sent, with the room and the last point where Benson was seen, giving more hope in the searches. The six of them ran towards the corridor where the brown girl was last seen. It was just a corridor, with nothing much to it.
" This is exactly where Margaret was last seen, let's see if there's a secret entrance or something," said Chariot.
And they went searching the walls, but there didn't seem to be any such secret passage, no brick that was pushed showing a hollow wall, not even with the magic senses used by Bernadette did they reveal some hidden corridor.
" You really don't have anything " Cavendish said.
" Oh, shit! " She knows how to hide, what a fucking bitch! " Said the irritated McLaren.
" It's not over yet, let's see if she left any trace when she attacked Rita," Croix said.
They agree with their heads, start using some magic to see if they could reveal footprints, but on the way there wasn't much, just some half erased footprints that served for something, arriving until this room where the Brazilian girl was left, seeing that it was another empty room, quite dark, very rustic, with an architecture made with stone bricks without any coating, it seemed like a trip in time to the past of Luna Nova.
" No doubt there's something here, I think Margaret must have spared Rita the extra weight, luckily... Now let's see if there's any trace, just find any footprints that match the size of Ford's feet " Du Nord said.
They went sort of following the base of the boots, but by the room there was nothing there either, where giving a rummage they saw that there was simply a barrel full of ashes, which indicated that the boots could be around there and they really were, since Meridies gave a rummage with a spell and it was possible to notice that the burnt material was precisely leather and also a bit of plastic.
" She has burnt her boots, we have to follow some barefoot track, which is a bit easier in reality " Said the Italian.
The six were trying to find some footprints of bare feet, arriving by looking for tracks, where they were following, walking step after step so that the clues would not fade, but soon in a corridor there amidst the maze of corridors of Luna Nova, the footprints doubled.
" Let's split up, she's one of those, I expected her to pull a stunt like that " Laura said.
The groups split up between Chariot and Croix with Saori, the other one was consisted by Laura, Bernadette and Morgana, both were following the tracks where the magic could go on, through the corridors, the labyrinthic underground of Luna Nova, in the middle of some rats and the humidity that was very present there, the rodents really made it difficult to leave the tracks.
The group with Saori soon reaches the end of the tracks, ending in a wall and there was a leaf stuck on the wall.
"Congratulations, you managed to get information out of that redhead, she was alive after all, only I'm not dumb, there's no point in following those footprints, I have my ways of getting out of here discreetly, I knew I could end up with you finding something, swam and swam, all to die on the beach, but how ugly"
" Wretch! " Du Nord said angrily.
" She knew we would come here, it was to be expected, but we can't give up, one day she will give in to her psychopathy and reveal too much, this could be our cue, let's take the clue and go back to where the footprints started " said Meridies patting her wife on the back.
In another corridor, Laura, Bernadette and Morgana also came to a half dead end wall where there was nothing but a note as well, these trails proved to be really a way to escape by hiding in a genius way on Ford's part.
"And they tried the other side too? You guys are pretty dumb huh, I'm not easy to be found like that, you probably saw that from the little redheaded girl who said about her last place, you're lucky I didn't end up killing her, spirits can end up saying too many things, even more so since I know one of you has an easy time dialoguing with these things"
" Son of a bitch! That damned witch knew everything " McLaren said angrily.
" Let's go back, we've already managed to find a good part of Luna Nova and take that as a clue " Cavendish said.
" That one is just playing with us, you are all falling into her traps, I am sorry to say that, but we are dealing here with a witch who is smarter than us, we have to think like her, what would you do in a situation like this? " Takahashi said.
" I'd probably cheat with footprints too, but I don't know what means I'd use to create a path where she wouldn't be found, she can't have walked on the ceiling or the walls, because that would leave the trail of magic, even more so as her own could also end up giving too much away to us, we have the ability to trace magic that way too " Said the Irishwoman.
" So think more like her Laura, she will avoid using magic and use more of her brain, let's go back there and see if anywhere provides a way for her to go without revealing too much " Said the Japanese American.
" I even try Morg, but she always seems to be thinking ahead, anyway let's try to think a little, we're still acting too much out of emotion and it's really something complicated," said the redhead.
" It won't be complicated if you think a bit more Laura, that's what she wants, that you think less, that you fall for her tricks, so imagine you are Margaret Ford, all of you in fact, that's the only way we'll be able to find Akko, Diana and Amanda," said the one with the purple hair.
" Until you have a point Morg, good anyway, let's go back and talk to the others, once again being fooled by this witch.
With that they go back by the corridors where they met, they talked about the same messages that were found, very frustrated, but they go still walking by the corridors in search of what they can find in the corridors of that abandoned part in the underground of Luna Nova.
Inside the hiding place, Margareth had already practically done the act with Diana and was watching through a television, looking for them using some hidden cameras that she left in the corridors.
" They'll never find me, they're a dumb bunch, they always fall for my tricks " Ford said.
" I hope they find us and make you swallow your teeth, you wretched witch," Cavendish said.
" You will keep losing to me, but I can buy you time, now you have learned your lesson, you better do everything I say, teach Diana some manners, by the way not bad, you are as good as your ancestor " Said the brown haired one.
" You did it against my will, only you liked it, I would save a moment like that for someone I love " Said the platinum haired one.
" What a cruel world, we can't always get what we want, now get dressed and make sure you do your job right, that freak is supposed to be obedient to me and only to me " said the one with green eyes.
" If we can't always get what we want, why are you so insistent on bringing back to life someone who has died? Why do you want someone who never loved you as a wife? You love Diana so much that you only wanted to cause disgrace and sadness with her life and after she died, you are a despicable human being," said the blue"eyed girl getting dressed, kind of hiding the tears she felt like letting loose.
Margareth just shrugged at what she said, not caring a bit about all that, all she really wanted was to put narcissism above everything else, not caring if it affects other people's happiness.
The search on the first day didn't have many results, but it served a lot to gather evidence, as well as two new witches joining the search team, Rita and Abigail, the girls from the Aqua team, who ended up having a connection in the case of Rachel's disappearance, little do they know what ended up happening regarding her roommate.
See you, disappeared witches...