"Whoa!" Six couldn't help but gasp as she saw the enormous structure that they were approaching. "This is where you live? It's a castle!"
Leora giggles. "Well, yeah. My mom is kinda the leader of this place? Probably should've told you about that by now, but that's the reason for it. Nice, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It's uh... really pretty." Six replied shyly, fiddling with her raincoat.
"Hey, you don't have to be nervous. Everything's gunna be fine. Well, as soon as I get done with the lecture from Ary. And Mom. And probably Izzy and Lil and—wow, I have a lot of people that lecture me!"
"Any chance we can know who all those people are?" Triple questions.
"You'll find out real soon. Here's the first one coming up. Get ready." Reluctantly, Leora reaches out and presses a button on a little box next to the immense metal doors. A small blue light flickers to life, and the box makes a rather pleasant dinging sound. There's a few seconds of loud static, and then a voice shouts.
"Le?! Oh, thank The Eye you're back in one piece! Do you have any idea how much you scared your mom? How much you scared me?!"
Six and Mono both cover their ears at the onslaught, the former can't help but notice Triple flinch and let out a quiet hiss at the words 'The Eye.' She would definitely need to have a long and in depth conversation with her sister about all this later.
Leora, on the other hand, just sighs and fiddles with the end of one of her braids. "Did you guys seriously expect me to stay put? Now, of all times? I mean come on, first The Deja Vu, and now weird earthquakes? You couldn't keep me from investigating if you threw me in a meat grinder and spread me all across ow world!" Mono's nose wrinkled in disgust at that mental image; Triple smirked at him, and Six snickered a little behind her hand.
The voice on the box didn't seem too pleased with the light caster's words either. "That's disgusting, but yes. I guess you're right. But is it wrong for me to wish you would stay where it's safe?"
"No, no. It's not. But look, can we hurry this up a bit? We've got company."
The static returned for a moment. "...Company?"
"I found her." Leora said simply.
"Her?"
"Uh-huh. And a couple others that were with her. I bet they know something about why and how The Signal Tower fell, but I've not got the chance to ask 'em yet."
"WAIT, WHAT?!" This time, Leora clamped her hands over her ears.
"Ow!" She whined. "Arbor!"
"Sorry, sorry. Y-you should probably talk to your mother about this... with them..."
"That's what I'm trying to do!"
"Okay, you're definitely telling the truth than. If this wasn't as serious as you say, you'd avoid your mom like The Corruption if this was an ordinary adventure of yours."
"Arbor!"
"Okay! Okay! Best of luck..." Then the light on the box went off, and there was a short beep and a click from the doors.
"I really should have remembered to bring my card," Leora grumbles as she pushes open one of the doors, motioning for the trio to follow her inside. "Then we wouldn't have to go through stupid Arbor just so I could get into my own home."
"Who is Arbor, exactly?" Triple asked, annoyed.
"Mom's apprentice. But recently they've been more like a secretary, and they hat it. So they take out their frustrations on lil ol' me. Like, why? It's not my fault you don't get to duel anymore!"
Six took this time to look around at the large vaulting room they'd found themselves in. The ceiling was high enough for even the largest of corrupted bodies to fit, other than that it was rather bare. There were however, floating spheres that illuminated the area, as well as doors leading in all different directions.
"I know it doesn't seem very homie yet, but this building isn't just our home. There's other stuff here too: the office over there, where Mom and their friends investigate The corruption, and some classrooms and arenas where we teach spellcasters how to use their powers. I bet you could do with a bit of that." She says teasingly to Mono, whose hair was sticking up again. Blushing, he pushes it back down.
"This way guys!" Leora calls as she runs towards doors that look to belong to an elevator. "We've gotta head upstairs. Mom'll probably be in her more private study right now."
"Why does she need two?" Mono wonders aloud.
"Sometimes she likes to study stuff where not just anyone can see. I think she's a lil paranoid myself, but meh, she's gunna do what she's gunna do."
The second floor turned out to be a lot more homie in appearance, just as Leora had said. The floors were wooden instead of tile, and the doors were much more spaced out than the ones downstairs. There was a strange looking potted plant with leaves that reflected the light oddly in the corner of the hallway. Six had never seen anything like it before and her curious nature begged her to investigate, but Leora was moving on. She seemed to be a bit tense.
"Mom's study is just around the corner here," she explains, motioning to a nearby door just down a hall branching off the one they were currently walking down. "I don't know what type of mood she'll be in, so let me go in first. I'll get her ready to meet you guys and let you know when it's safe to come in, kay?"
The three nod reluctantly, and Leora slowly pads towards the door and knocks.
"I still don't think this is a good idea," Triple complains lowly. "I mean did you see that magic dome around this place? It could easily be there to keep us in."
"Or to keep the monsters out," Mono interjects. "It could also be for that."
"True, but why is she going to speak with her mother alone? Seems pretty suspicious to me."
"She should just not want us to hear her mom fuss at her. Don't you remember what my mo—what she was like?"
It took Triple all her willpower not to flinch at the memories Six had conjured up with her words. She was giving her an apologetic look now, but she was more worried about Mono's reaction. She knew that he was curious about her and Six's origins, but was considerate enough to leave well enough alone, but how long could that last? He was a kid just like them, and like them he also had a generous amount of curiosity for things that concealed themselves from his view. Triple didn't blame him for this, of course, but did this have to come up, here and now, when they'd pretty much been kidnapped by crazy light casters?
Yes! She would much rather focus on that right now! With catlike stealth, she began making her way towards the study door. "Triple?" Six piped up from behind her. "What are you doing? You're not gunna eavesdrop, are you?"
"Are you going to snitch on me?" She counters. Her sister's silence is all the answer she needs.
Those strange light balls that light this place flicker at her approach, similarly to the light in The Maw when her powers became too overcharged. She takes a deep breath to steady herself, and the flickering calms down. It would be bad to be caught now when she hadn't learned anything. Luckily, she didn't to get too close to the door to hear some snippets.
"irresponsible," A female voice was saying. Leora's mother, probably. "You could have been seriously hurt."
"You say that every time." Leora, grumbling. "I've been into the city tons of times and not once have I ever gotten hurt. I've hurt lots of monsters though, haha!"
"It only takes one time," her mother countered. "It only takes one little mistake."
"Well this wasn't a mistake! I found her, Mom! I found her!"
Again with that? Triple mentally huffed as the room went silent. Is Six really that famous? How?
"...Her?"
"Yeah! Yeah! She's right outside! There are two others, too! They're really something! I had to bring 'em here!"
Sensing that they were about to be sent in, Triple took a quick shortcut through The Shadow Realm to teleport back with the others. She didn't really want to go back there at all given what had happened last time, but she figured it was better than getting caught eavesdropping. Not that she'd learned anything of value anyway.
Sure enough, the door opened and Leora slipped out. "It's the eye of the storm now," She announced. "Let's ride out the rest of it."
The study was a pretty normal looking room, much to Six's disappointment. Bookshelves lined the walls, only broken by a small window that granted a pretty good view of the town below. In the center of the room was a large wooden desk, and sitting at the desk was a woman.
The resemblance between her and Leora was pretty clear. Her long wavy hair was a bit more of a peachy shade than the bright yellow of her daughter's but their eyes were exactly the same. Another similarity was the laugh lines that covered her round face. What wasn't similar however was the fact that the woman was wearing a fuzzy, bright orange bathrobe.
"Mom? I wanna introduce you to Six, Mono, and Triple. I found 'em wandering The Pale City and thought it would be best to bring them here since The City was falling and everything."
Leora's mother's eyes scanned over the three of them, did a double take at Triple, and fixed onto Six. She waved bashfully, but the woman's attention didn't waver. A saddened smile played across her full pink lips.
"I hoped to meet you someday," She said quietly. Her voice was high pitched like her daughter's, but softer and with a little airier in its tamber. "I wish the circumstances were different, but it's good to finally meet you. All of you." Her smile becomes a bit more cheerful, as her gaze slides between all four of them. Six is relieved not to have her full attention anymore. She isn't sure why, but she knows deep inside herself that the woman's odd behavior towards her in particular isn't just because of her supposed fame. It makes her nervous to think about what that might mean.
"My name is Angelica Valentine." She continued. "Head Mage of The Haven. But you can just call me Angie, most people do. I'm sorry that my daughter all but dragged you guys here."
"Hey!"
"You know it's true, sweetie." Angie says with a fond smile in her daughter's direction. "You get so excited about things that you forget to think about others involved and how they might be feeling."
"Sorry," Leora says sheepishly, face reddening. "I just thought it would be best to bring 'em here with all the weird crap going down outside."
"And you would be right about that. But we won't force them to stay."
"You won't?" Triple's outburst drew everyone's attention to her, and she floated a few inches off the ground in hopes of looking bigger.
"No," Angie replied evenly. "We won't. I wouldn't recommend leaving now, though. There's something odd going on out there, and no one is sure what it is. You will need to stay here until it's cleared up, but once it is you will be free to go. I have no doubts you three could take care of yourselves, because not only are you physically and mentally strong but there's also a strong magical potential within all of you."
Six could feel her eyes widening. "All of us?"
Angie's attention fell back on her, and that strange expression crossed her face again. "Yes, Six. Have you not felt it yourself at all?"
Six thought about this for a moment. She remembered that odd feels she'd experienced when she woke up on the street with Mono. Could that have been magic? Six had never thought of the possibility that she could have magic, but now that she did, why wouldn't she? She was the daughter of a very powerful shadow caster, after all.
"Maybe," She decided. "But I couldn't really do anything with it. No shadow, or light, or anything like that."
To Six's surprise, Angie's eyes fill with concern. "That's quite concerning. We'll need to check that out later, but we're getting a bit off topic I think. You three can stay here for now; we have plenty of spare bedrooms. Do you want separate rooms or would you rather share?"
"Share." They all replied in unison, with varying entensities. Though Six was a bit more comfortable with all this than her sister, she still did not want to be away from the others for long periods of time, especially at night.
"Ah, I figured as much but just wanted to be sure. I'll be talking to each of you soon, but for now... Leora, can you show them to the—"
"Tower room? Sure!"
"Leora... never mind."