This chapter is where Katarina starts to show how badass she really is.
Lady Larna quickly returned, and much to the confusion of everyone, she was carrying a teddy bear in her arms. "This is Alexander, a magic tool that I made," she explained, noticing their expressions. "He can track people down by using objects that have a personal significance to them."
"So, we just need to retrieve significant items belonging to my children, and that bear will find them?" Luigi asked desperately. Everyone was excited by what Lady Larna had said, hope surging through them.
"Actually, we only need an item belonging to Master Keith," Larna elaborated. "Alexander has a limitation in that since he uses a person's magic to track them, he can't find those with low magical aptitudes like Lady Katarina."
"But we can assume that the kidnappers have them both in the same place," she added.
"I see," Gerald realized. "So, tracking Keith would lead us to find Katarina as well."
"Exactly," nodded Larna.
Luigi turned to Millidiana. "We'll go to the Academy and get something from Keith's dorm," he said. "The servants should be able to help us find something significant to him."
Millidiana nodded in agreement, and they set off for the Academy.
It did not take long for the duke and duchess to find something that would work. Lucas Brown, Keith's valet, retrieved a box filled with items that were precious to Keith. They were all things that Katarina has gifted him over the years, so any one of them would fit the required criteria. Luigi and Millidiana settled on a handkerchief that Katarina had embroidered and then hurried back to the Magic Ministry, though not before reassuring the servants (including a very distraught Anne) that they were doing everything possible to bring Katarina and Keith back.
Once they returned to the Ministry, they gave the handkerchief to Lady Larna. "Yes, this is perfect," she said as she took it. She presented it to Alexander, and everyone was shocked when the teddy bear began to move by itself. The living teddy bear picked up the handkerchief in its stubby limbs, sniffed it for a moment, and immediately began pointing in a direction.
"Looks like he has a trace," said Larna, pleased. She turned to the gathered group. "I'll set out to find Master Keith and Lady Katarina at once."
Luigi and Millidiana looked at each other and nodded. "We'll accompany you," said Luigi, and Millidiana nodded in agreement, the expression on her face reminiscent of Katarina's when she decided to do something and wouldn't change her mind about it. There was no way they would quietly wait here instead of going to rescue their children.
"I'll come as well," declared Gerald, stepping forward. "Katarina is my fiancée after all." He then added. "And Keith is my friend as well."
"I want to go too!" exclaimed Mary, rushing forward. The others also voiced their desire to also go on the search and rescue mission.
"Unfortunately, all of you can't come," said Larna. "Too many people would slow us down; also, there's no way to know how dangerous the situation is.
"So only me, Duke Claes, Duchess Claes, and Prince Gerald will be going, as well as a couple of knights."
"Wait, how come Prince Gerald gets to come with you?" complained Mary.
Larna raised an eyebrow. "Because he's Lady Katarina's fiancé, of course," she said matter-of-factly. "Besides the duke and duchess, he's the one with the most right to come along." Larna didn't know why Lady Mary was so upset about this, but her indignant expression was highly amusing.
Mary looked like she wanted to keep arguing but was stopped by Nicol placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Lady Larna is right," said the dark-haired young man. "It's for the best that most of us stay here."
The others were not happy with that decision but knew that Nicol had a point.
"I'll do everything in my power to help bring them back safely," promised Gerald, steely determination in his eyes and voice.
Mary hmphed. "You better," but she knew that she could trust the Third Prince to keep his word.
After all, he did love Katarina and Keith as much as she did.
Once Katarina had calmed down from her panic, a determined look came to her face, shocking Keith with how serious her expression was. He was further surprised by what she said next.
"We cannot wait for someone to save us," she explained. "Who knows if they'd be able to find wherever we are.
"So, we'll have to get out of here ourselves!" she declared.
Keith knew that his sister had a point, but… "How would we do that?" he wondered. They were both tied up and, even if they managed to free themselves from their bonds, they had no way to defend themselves - his magic was blocked, Katarina's was weak, and neither of them had any weapons.
Katarina began to look at their surroundings, her bright blue eyes taking in every little detail as she searched for a way to escape. Keith could not recall ever seeing his sister look so thoughtful and focused.
"AHA!"
Katarina's sudden exclamation startled Keith, and he followed her gaze to see what had caught her attention. One of the crates seemed to have been broken - probably from rough handling - with some of its wooden having snapped in half, creating sharp and jagged edges.
Keith frowned in confusion. Why would Katarina be interested in that?
He watched as she dragged herself over to the crate then positioned herself with her back to it. It was then that he realized what she was doing.
Katarina began to rub the ropes binding her wrists on the jagged edges of the broken crate, the thick cords slowly fraying thanks to the sharp, splintered wood. The duke's daughter furiously worked on the ropes for close to a minute then-
SNAP!
-her arms were free.
"Yes!" Katarina cheered as she quickly untied her ankles then hurried over to Keith. "Okay, now let's untie you."
"HEY"
The shout startled them both, and they turned around to see that the thug from earlier had returned. All three of them were still for over a minute - the siblings in fear and the thug in shock they were trying to escape.
The thug recovered quickly. "And where do you think you are going?" he bellowed, charging straight at Katarina.
Keith tensed, preparing to use all his strength to launch himself at the thug and trip him to give Katarina a chance to escape, but his sister was faster.
She whirled around to face the thug, pulled her arm back and -
CRUNCH!
-smashed the heel of her palm right into his nose. The thug lay on the floor, unconscious, blood gushing from his now broken nose.
Keith's eyes bulged in shock at seeing his sister punch someone into unconsciousness, and he felt his heart treacherously skip a beat.
Meanwhile, Katarina stood over the downed thug with a pleased and smug expression on her face. 'Hah! That'll show him!' she thought. 'Thank you, past-life's parents, for insisting that I take self-defense classes!'
She then crouched next to the unconscious thug and removed the sword strapped to his side. Just like its owner, the sword had seen better days, the blade chipped and worn as if it hadn't been cared for in a while. Still, the sword was usable, and they couldn't afford to be picky with weapons. With her newly acquired weapon, Katarina proceeded to cut the ropes binding Keith's wrists and ankles.
Once Katarina freed his hands, Keith noticed a glowing, silver bracelet inclined with runes. "Dammit, a magic suppressor!" he cursed, realizing what it was. "They must have put it on men when I was unconscious!"
Katarina was concerned. "Maybe I can break it," she suggested, but Keith shaked his head.
"That won't work," he explained. "These things are almost unbreakable.". Authorities used magic suppressors for criminals that could use magic and were designed to be highly resistant to damage as a result.
"Do you want the sword?" Katarina asked, offering him the blade. If Keith couldn't use his magic, then he was utterly defenseless.
"No," he refused again. "You need it more than me. I'll find something else." Katarina was better with the sword anyway.
Katarina still looked concerned but stayed silent.
Together, brother and sister set foot into the darkness of the warehouse in search of the exit, leaving the unconscious man behind.
I love the idea of Katarina knowing self-defense from her previous life and making use of those skills.
A magical suppressor is something that I've seen in other fanfictions (My Little Pony ones, to be exact) and decided to use cause there must be a way to keep criminal mages from using their magic to escape.
Lucas Brown, Keith's valet, is an OC belonging to Dulcito that I'm using with their permission.
This chapter original was longer, but I decided that this was an excellent place to stop and leave the rest for the next chapter.
Once again, I thank Cornerverse for their advice when writing.
