A/N: This is the updated version of chapter 9. (2/20/18) And with that, I've finished revising this fic! Please look forward to a new chapter soon.

Two years ago:

Raiten was illusive the week after Adrian's offer. In the glimpses I'd gotten of him, he'd been walking briskly to some other part of the Facility. But a few times, I caught his gaze before he looked away and ran off.

It grated on me. He should approach me with an offer, or stop watching me. I wanted him to make a decision so we could all get this over with. I didn't care if I had to kill him, but I still didn't know what Adrian wanted. I knew the deadline to figure it out was the meeting with the Rane of Synia.

I wanted to know what Adrian's plan was, to have some control. But I also wanted to stop caring, to just let Adrian do all the thinking. After he'd discovered the ID chip, and our talk in the training room, I kept running through my options and ending with shot nerves and a headache.

So when Raiten showed up on the floor only Adrian, Nathaniel, and I could access, I was already frustrated.

I'd just said goodnight to Nathaniel and left for the shooting range. The morning after Adrian discovered the ID chip, I'd asked Nathaniel if anything strange had happened, but he said he hadn't noticed anything. So I'd hidden what happened from Nathaniel. He didn't need to know. He was afraid of Adrian already and he almost never saw the man. As the door closed behind me, the ring of the elevator echoed down the hall.

Frowning, I quickened my steps. I hadn't called the elevator, which meant Adrian was visiting, but he rarely came here. Footsteps echoed on tile, too fast to be Adrian's. I rounded the corner.

I stopped as Raiten froze, our eyes meeting. He held a small metal box. A blinking screen took up most of the front of the device with rows of buttons beneath. On the side between Raiten's fingers was a row of ports.

"You don't have clearance for this floor," I said, my voice cold. Raiten shouldn't be here. Even if he didn't know of Nathaniel's existence, this was too close. If he didn't have a satisfactory explanation, I'd kill him.

Raiten took a deep breath and slipped the device into his pocket. "I have special permission. Don't worry about it." He took a step forward.

I set myself in his path. "That wasn't a question," I said, dropping any civility.

Raiten's composure cracked as he tried covering a wince. "Alice, as your superior, I order you to stand aside."

He still thought I was a machine. He'd expected me to back off with his order. "I don't have a rank," I snapped, "but I'm more important to Adrian than you." I raised my voice. "Computer: lockdown the floor."

"Lockdown confirmed, Alice," the sterile voice of the AI system replied. Bolts snapped into place behind the elevator and other doors.

Raiten spun toward the elevator before turning back to me. "What are you doing? I'm Director Raiten! Why aren't you following commands?"

"I know who you are, Raiten. And I'm not going to obey you." I took another step closer. "How did you get to this floor?"

Raiten ignored me, pulling the device from his pocket and jabbing several buttons. When he looked up, I had my handgun leveled at his head.

"You should start talking." I wasn't going to warn him again.

"You're not a machine," he said, his face slack in realization.

"No."

His eyes widened as he focused on the gun and paled. He understood the situation now. "I used this." He waved the box.

"Throw it to me," I said, gesturing with my free hand. He hesitated, but tossed me the box. I glanced at it, unable to decipher its purpose, before tucking in my back pocket. I'd give it to Adrian later.

"Why are you here?" I asked. Raiten slowly raised his hands.

"I was looking for you." He glanced to the door behind me. If he'd been looking for me, he wouldn't have tried to pass me. So he'd been looking for whatever device he thought I responded to. He'd assumed I operated on a system with a mother computer sending signals to the drones.

"You were going to try hacking me."

He nodded, lowering his hands an inch and looking me over with confusion. "What are you?"

"A human. I was born like you."

"But you're a kid." Raiten grimaced. "Shit, you were announced five years ago." His face contorted as his did the math. Adrian had introduced me as Alice to the rest of Elpedite five years ago to roaring applause. I'd been twelve at the time.

"What did he do, brainwash you?"

I snorted, now certain that Raiten was a Yetz infiltrator. It was dangerous to talk about Adrian like that. "No, I hate Adrian."

Raiten's eyebrows rose and his hands lowered a few more inches. He was silent for a moment and I watched thoughts flicker behind his eyes. "If you hate him, then help me."

Frowning, I remained silent, my aim unwavering. I didn't know if I should shoot him or follow Adrian's instructions and make some kind of deal with him. My first thought was to shoot him just to upset Adrian's plans, or at least annoy him. It would be justified, considering he'd made it to this floor, and Adrian told me to use my own judgment. But that wouldn't accomplish anything. Adrian had said I could start earning more freedoms if I committed to working for him. Might as well start here.

Raiten stiffened as I considered him, his heart-rate rising as his gaze darted around the hall, looking for an out.

"Help you how?" I asked, lowering my gun, but not holstering it.

Raiten took a deep breath, letting his arms drop. "During the meeting between Adrian and Synia's Rane this week. The original plan was to use you to assassinate the both of them, then steal you." I frowned. "But if you're a person, then you can help me and we can escape to Yetz. If you hate Adrian, why stay?"

The plan was doable. Raiten suggested there were people waiting to whisk us back to Yetz, which covered our escape. And we were both scheduled to be in the room, so infiltration wasn't a problem.

But Raiten didn't know that Adrian had his own System, even better than my own. The moment Raiten reached for his gun, Adrian would plant a knife in his neck.

And I was a weapon. Machine or human, it didn't matter. The Yetz wouldn't let me go. I was too valuable, too dangerous. Even so, I'd play along.

"Your people can get us out?" I asked.

"Yes." Raiten sighed, his shoulders sagging. "we'll have several hovercrafts outside the building, ready to go."

"What would I do?"

"During the meeting I'd signal you. I would shoot Adrian and the Rane, you would remove the other members of security. Then we run."

"All right. But one change," I said, "I kill Adrian. There will only be two other security members in the room. I can get those two and Adrian in less than a second." The demand was a mixture of genuine malice and a calculated claim. I'd negotiate responsibility for Adrian's safety, which he'd approve of, and I wouldn't seem suspiciously easy to recruit.

"That's fine," Raiten said. This must seem like an amazing turnabout. A moment ago, I was about to kill him, but now he was alive and had my allegiance.

"But," Raiten pointed to my pocket that contained his box, "can I have that back?"

"No," I said. "I don't want you coming back here. That and the elevator to this floor is monitored. Someone may have noticed your interference, so I'm going to have to erase those records." That was a lie. The elevator was monitored, but after I told Adrian what happened he'd dismiss any alerts. I holstered my gun and grabbed his elbow, marching him to the elevator.

"You'll need it to erase the records?" he said it like a half statement, half question, so the box must have the capability.

"Yes," I lied. "Computer: Release lockdown and call elevator."

"Confirmed, Alice." The elevator doors unlocked with a click before sliding open.

Raiten stepped inside and I braced an arm against the door. "If you need to talk to me, find me after training. But don't come back here, or our deal's off."

Raiten gave me a solemn nod and I stepped away. The doors slid shut.

I'd followed Adrian's orders. I had Raiten's trust and his plan. Now I had to deliver the news to Adrian. I grit my teeth and after a few minutes, called the elevator. I still didn't want to report to Adrian when I didn't know his plan. But if I concealed this, he would kill me. Because Adrian would find out, like he had with the ID chip, and he wouldn't tolerate another betrayal.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"That's perfect. Nice work," Adrian said, smirking.

"Perfect?" I said. "He broke onto my floor and wants to kill you. He never should have gotten this far into your ranks."

Adrian raised an eyebrow, his smirk growing. I waited a moment for him to speak, but he didn't.

"Fine. Then what am I supposed to do now?" I followed Adrian's logic so far. He'd invited Raiten to the meeting to catalyze Raiten's plans and reveal his intentions. He'd done that by speaking to me. Now I'd have to kill him.

"Nothing for now," he shrugged. "I'll have more instructions for you the day of the meeting, but until then, don't worry about it."

"What? He's an assassin. If I'm not going kill him, who is?" Why wouldn't I be the one to kill him? I hadn't killed anyone in the Facility before, but only because it hadn't been necessary. Now that it was, I couldn't think of a reason to hesitate.

Adrian gave me an amused stare.

"What do you want?" I asked, my calm tone slipping into a growl.

Adrian sighed. "If you're trying to discern something and are at an impasse, ask a different question."

I was asking plenty of questions. "What question?"

Adrian laughed. "Not that one." He pushed off from his desk and walked back around it. "Go do whatever you feel like for now. Update me if Raiten's plan changes."

It was a dismissal. I rose from my chair and strode out of the office, fists clenched. He wouldn't tell me anything, and I couldn't figure this out. I smashed the button for the elevator. Time would keep barreling on like always and eventually punch me in the gut.

The elevator arrived as my anger drained away, bled off by the future's inevitability. As I descended, I tried to convince myself that I didn't care what Adrian did. I couldn't stop it and someone would probably die, but people were always dying. This time it still wouldn't be me or Nathaniel, so I didn't care.

I'd follow Adrian's directions and stop caring about the consequences. Adrian would keep his war machine of a country running. The same country that hadn't blinked when my family vanished, or when Adrian announced a new weapon that looked like a twelve-year-old girl.

The meeting was in three days.

Two of the most powerful people in the world would be in the same room as an assassin.

And I didn't care.

Present

"Good morning." Fai waved as he entered the hall. I nodded in return, pulling my attention from the window and town outside. Even after the sun came up, I'd watched the streets, wondering what had happened last night.

After the woman Sakura saw vanished, the rest of the night had been quiet. As dawn approached, I'd slipped into the hall to wait for the others to wake. I'd been trying and failing to tie my neckerchief when Fai arrived.

Fai leaned against the railing opposite me. "Did you and the princess sleep well?"

"Actually," I said, "Sakura saw someone last night. A woman that looked like the princess of legend walking down the street, but I couldn't see her."

Fai's eyebrows shot up. "Well, that's certainly something."

I nodded. "She didn't leave footprints in the snow, and I couldn't hear anyone. There has to be magic involved, right?"

"There could be. Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"

"Positive."

Fai glanced at the door to Sakura's room. "I'm not sure what it could have been, exactly. We can talk with Sakura-chan when she wakes."

"All right," I said, undoing my neckerchief's knot again, resisting the urge to tear it off and fling it out the window.

Fai glanced out the window. "You said there are some techniques to find out what's happening here. What are they?"

"It's hard to know before I look around," I said, glaring at the houses of the town. "It's more about how you look at things and what they mean. I know there are tests that can be done, but I don't have the knowledge or materials."

"Then what will you be looking for?"

I frowned. "Fingerprints. If I can find a set that's consistent between the homes of the missing kids, that would point to a good suspect. Same with shoeprints." The townsfolk hadn't mentioned any signs of violence, just that the children vanished, so I probably wouldn't find and blood or weapons. Hopefully that meant the children were alive. If I could test for DNA, this would be easy, but that wasn't possible here.

Fai raised an eyebrow. "Why are fingerprints so important?"

"They're unique to each person. No one has the same fingerprints as someone else."

"Hmm," Fai said, inspecting his fingertips. "Will you be able to tell if the children are alive?"

I shook my head. "I don't know what the motive could be." I knew they were probably dead. Most missing children who weren't found within forty-eight hours were either found dead or never found at all. And anyone who didn't make it into a warm building for the night would freeze to death here.

But I'd gone missing, and I was alive. I wouldn't give up until I was sure they were dead. And if they were alive, I'd find them and Nathaniel and take them home.

I tied the finishing knot in my neckerchief, pulling it tight.

"Well," Fai said, "no one has mentioned any signs of violence, so besides their disappearance, there's no sign they've been harmed." Fai voice dropped to a sympathetic tone. "So there's no evidence that your brother's been hurt."

I glared at the floorboards. "Right," I said, sharper than I'd intended. But Fai didn't seem to mind, flashing me a smile and letting the conversation drop.

As time flowed by, Kurogane, Syaoran, and finally Sakura emerged from their rooms. Sakura cradled Mokona as she entered. "Good morning, everyone."

"Good morning Sakura-chan," Fai said. Kurogane grunted a greeting.

Syaoran bowed. "Good morning, Your Highness."

"All right," I said, turning to Sakura. "We need to talk about what you saw."

Syaoran frowned, glancing between us. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Sakura said. "Well, I'm not sure. I saw a woman in the street last night. She had long gold hair, like the princess in the legend."

I crossed my arms. "But I couldn't see her and she wasn't leaving footprints."

"Sakura-chan, did you notice anything else strange about her?" Fai asked.

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. "Her hair was strange, like it was floating." I was surprised she hadn't mentioned that last night, but I suppose a detail like that would be overshadowed the other circumstances.

Fai tilted his head back in thought and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a woman's cry cut him off. "My child!"

We all turned to the window. The woman stumbled into the street as the townsfolk materialized from their houses. The man who'd led the town militia ran to her.

"She's gone!" the woman sobbed as the man took her hand. "I can't find her. She's gone!" She clutched something to her chest with her free hand. It was a stuffed toy cat. The same one that the girl with the corkscrew pigtails had been holding.

I grimaced. Leaving the window, we headed out of the inn and into the muttering townsfolk. I knew they would be suspicious of us, and I braced for it. But the whirl of whispers surrounding us, so many I could only pluck out a word here and there, buffeted against my calm.

The militia leader put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Someone broke in?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head. "The window was opened from the inside. But I told her not to touch the locks. It must have been the golden-haired princess!"

Sakura looked to me, her eyes wide. "It was her!"

"Her?" I winced as the man spun on us. "What do you mean by that?" He marched towards us, glaring at Sakura. But Syaoran set himself between them, leveling a hard stare at the man.

Sakura took a small step to the side, so she could see the man past Syaoran. "Last night, I saw a woman in a flowing white dress and golden hair walking the street." The whispers around us turned to gasps and a few sobs.

"It's the princess!"

"The curse!"

"—northern castle."

The mayor and Mr. Grosum arrived, Mr. Grosum's stride parting the crowd as he came to stand in front of us. Kyle appeared in the same moment, running through the mob.

A flicker of confusion broke my thoughts, and it took me a moment to place it. Where had Kyle been this morning? I hadn't heard anyone else in the inn besides us. I filed away the thought as Mr. Grosum spoke.

"Calm down," he bellowed and the crowd's shouting subsided to quiet muttering.

Kyle ran to Mr. Grosum, out of breath. "Another child vanished?"

"Yes," Mr. Grosum snapped before turning his glare on us. "Where were these people last night?"

"They stayed in the inn all night. My room is next to the door; I would've heard them leave." My eyes widened in surprise for a fraction of a second. But forced my expression back to calm neutrality before anyone saw.

That was a lie. When we'd left, I hadn't heard anyone in that room. Maybe he'd stepped out for a few minutes for an innocent reason, but it seemed like a strange coincidence.

The mayor sighed, his back slumping even more. "People," he addressed everyone, "we're doing no good here. We should start searching." The people hesitated, passing hopeless glances around. Then they dissipated into the town, either wandering the streets or venturing into the woods, the mayor and Mr. Grosum among them.

Kyle gave us an apologetic smile. "Shall we head back to my home? I'm sure you'd all like some breakfast."

"Actually," I said, "I'm going to speak to the mother of the missing child." I wasn't hungry, and didn't want to waste time.

"Are you sure, Alec?" Kyle asked.

I nodded. "I'll return when I'm done, but don't wait for me." I directed the last part to the others.

Fai turned to the inn, grabbing Kurogane by the shoulder. "It'll be fun to watch Kuro-pu try to use a fork again."

Kurogane snarled and jerked his shoulder from the man's hand, but followed him and Kyle. As Syaoran passed me, I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Don't trust Kyle."

Syaoran frowned and glanced at the man. "Why?"

"He wasn't at the inn this morning, so he can't alibi us for that time. He just lied to us. And the town." Syaoran's eyebrows flew up. "Tell the others once you're alone, and don't let Kyle know we're suspicious."

Syaoran nodded. "I thought we could ask him about the town's history of the legend and investigate where that led."

"Good idea. I may be gone a while. I'll catch up if I need to." I dropped my hand from his shoulder and stepped away.

Syaoran half turned away and raised a hand. "Good luck."

I waved in return and trudged through the snow. As I passed them, some of the townsfolk glared at me or avoided my gaze. I spotted the mother of the missing child, two other women at her side comforted her.

The woman didn't notice my approach, but her friends stiffened. "Excuse me," I said, bracing myself, "I think I can help."

A fire flared behind the eyes of the woman's companion and she stepped toward me, half hiding her crying friend. "Go back to the inn and stay away if you want to help."

I stood firm, but kept my stance relaxed, inoffensive. I wouldn't try to prove myself trustworthy. They had no reason to believe me and I had no proof. But I could prove myself useful.

"My father was a detective," I lied. "He taught me some of his work. If you let me look around, I could find something that could lead us to the children." I directed the last part to the mother. She'd quieted as I spoke, looking at the stuffed cat in her hands.

Her friend opened her mouth to speak. From her expression I guessed she'd tell me to leave again, but the mother spoke first. "You could find Amelia?" The friend glanced between me and the woman with a frown, before she sighed and stepped back, letting her address me directly.

"I might," I said. "I can't promise."

The mother watched me for a moment, her watery gaze holding mine immobile. "Fine," she said, "do as you like. I suppose there's nothing left to lose."

"Thank you," I said. I didn't know if she believed me, or was too drained to care. Before I could step away the woman's friend seized my arm.

"No," she said, "I'm not letting you go through her house without supervision." She looked over my shoulder. "James!"

I turned to see the militia leader look our way. When he saw me, his expression darkened to a glare.

"Is he bothering you?" James asked as he approached.

"He wants to look in Rebecca's house. She gave him permission, but I don't want him in there alone."

"Rebecca," James said, "you don't need to do that. I'll take care of him." James gripped my shoulder, wrinkling the fabric of my coat. I beat down the urge to throw him off. I'd try diplomacy, but if he got in the way of finding my brother, I'd move him.

"It's fine, James," Rebecca said, straightening. "There no more harm to be done, and if there's any chance to find Amelia, I'll take it. But it would be comforting if you accompanied him." She addressed me. "Please go. Tell me if you find anything, but if not, don't come back."

I nodded and James released his grip. "Thank you," I said.

"Come on," James snapped. I followed him to Rebecca's house. James stepped aside but leveled a finger at me. "Don't steal anything, don't break anything, and don't leave my sight."

"Understood." I tried to stay polite. He was irritating, but his response was understandable. As long as he didn't get in my way, his distrust was fine.

The front door was ajar, left open in the woman's hysteria. Rebecca said her daughter must have unlocked a window, but I wasn't sure. Rebecca had been in a panic, so she could've made assumptions.

I pushed the door open and scanned the ground, letting my bangs fall to hide the light of The System in my eyes, and used The System to highlight the shoeprints in the dried snowmelt on the floor. One was small, Amelia's, and a larger print half that must have been Rebecca's. Carefully, I walked in. I saved the two sets to The System and started comparing them with other tracks.

James shut the door behind us. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for shoeprints." I raised my head when I'd checked them all. The fireplace was dark. On the left was a small wooden table and chairs, dented and scratched from use. Against the right wall was a rocking chair, hung with blankets, and beyond that, a hallway.

So shoeprints wouldn't work. Time to see about fingerprints. If I identified Rebecca and Amelia's fingerprints, then any others would be suspect.

I knelt before the fireplace and found a flaking piece of charcoal. Leaving my gloves on, I crushed the charcoal into powder. Now, what items would Rebecca and Amelia touch exclusively?

"Now what are you doing?" James asked, glaring at the charcoal dust.

"Looking for fingerprints. Their patterns are unique to each person and you'll leave an imprint of them on anything you touch. If I can rule out Rebecca's and Amelia's, then I can find the suspects."

James squinted at his fingers, then glanced back up at me with the smallest spark of interest in his gaze. "Rebecca doesn't let Amelia tend the fire."

I found a poker leaning against the fireplace. Gripping it under the handle, I brought it to the window. James watched as I dusted the charcoal over the handle. I rotated the poker, covering the handle completely, before hitting the rod to knock off any excess powder.

The cloud cover that hung over the town when we'd arrived had yet to lift, so the light was poor. But I was able to see prints, some smeared and some layered on top of each other. With The System highlighting the lines of each print, I was able to find three. I saved them.

I glanced back to see James's gaze flicking between the handle and his own hand, that spark of interest burning brighter.

"I've found three prints," I said. James held out his hand and I gave him the poker.

"I can see some, but this is a mess," James said. "How can you find them?"

"Practice," I lied. "Is there anything else only Rebecca touched?"

James sighed, the aggressive set in his shoulders slumping. "Maybe the knives in the kitchen."

We repeated the same process with the knives, which yielded four more prints. After that, the latches on the door too high up for Amelia to reach completed a set of ten. The System displayed them in my vision, there were some smeared areas, but they would work.

Then I set to work on Amelia's prints. I found a hairbrush on her dresser and James suggested I try the dresser handles. During out search, I found Amelia's shoes and took the opportunity to confirm the footprints in the doorway were hers. After dusting her hairbrush, dresser, and finally the candleholder next to her bed, I had all of Amelia's fingerprints.

"All right," I said, "which window did Amelia supposedly use to leave?"

"Here," James said, pointing to a window. A chair was pulled up next to it and it hung open.

I sprinkled the remaining soot onto the window's latch and blew away the excess. The smears of old fingerprints were overlapped by one new pattern. The System traced the print and matched it to Amelia.

"It's Amelia's."

"We already knew that."

"No. We suspected it." I leaned out the window, careful not to touch the frame. The sheet of snow under the window was uneven, but I need a different angle to get a better look. "Hmm. I need to go outside."

I paced through the house, giving everything a final examination before deciding there was nothing left I could find. I stepped out the door, clapping the remaining soot from my hands.

I crunched through the snow around the side of the house. I used The System to analyze the plane of the ground. Under the window, indents in the snow's surface lead away from the house and into the street. They were what remained of footprints. The storm had filled them in, but given what was left, they'd probably been made around two in the morning.

I rubbed my eyes and sighed. I should have slept last night. Amelia had opened the window, that was undeniable. Her mother wouldn't have let her touch the locks. But if she opened the window against her mother's wishes, that would mean there was someone else she trusted asking her to come outside.

But those tracks were alone in the snow. And Amelia had left her shoes.

Someone had asked her to open the window, and she had. Then they'd either picked her up and walked away, or Amelia had left to meet someone. The fact she hadn't yelled solidified my theory that she'd trusted them.

I glanced at James. This wouldn't go well. "James," I nodded to the tracks, "who do the children trust?" I hoped he would understand what I meant, that he wouldn't lose his temper, and, mostly, that he wasn't the culprit.

James glared from me to the impressions. "No one in Spirit would do this."

I turned to face him and put on the same voice I used when I had to recount a mission: empty. He needed to understand the situation, and the children didn't have time for his denial, so I had to be cold. "There's no forced entry. No sign of a struggle. She didn't yell, and she undeniably opened that window. Why, when her mother told her not to? Because some she trusted asked her to."

James's face reddened as his jaw clenched. I could tell he wasn't sure what to do or say. I'd made him angry, but he couldn't refute my words.

"I want to find my brother," I said, trying to gain back the spark of trust I'd earned. "Let me help."

James's rage boiled back down to irritation as he let out a steaming breath. "I don't know."

"What about Mr. Grosum or the mayor?" I wanted to include Kyle in the list, but he was well liked and I didn't want to destroy his cooperation, so I'd ask about him like an afterthought. I wouldn't ask about James himself. He seemed too gruff to be well-liked by children, and I didn't want to anger him.

James shook his head. "They're not around often enough."

"What about Kyle?" I asked.

"Of course the children trust him. But he's been supporting everyone as best he can, visiting the friends and family of the missing. And he stuck up for you. If he was responsible, it would be easier for him to blame you, not defend you."

"Right," I said. But it would also make him look like a naïve, goodhearted man. "Thanks," I turned back to the street. "I'll go back to Kyle's inn for now."

"Fine," James said, giving me one last glare before he vanished from view.

Tugging off my blackened gloves, I shoved them and my hands into my pockets. I smirked, allowing myself a moment to glare at the snow. I had a direction now.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I shut the door on the final room. It was empty, like the rest of the inn. I'd expected the others to be gone—Syaoran was still looking for Sakura's feather—but Kyle wasn't here either.

Stopping in the middle of the foyer, I crossed my arms. What was I looking for? Weapons? I didn't have any unknown prints from Rebecca's house to compare here. I didn't know if the kids were alive or dead, both of which would leave different kinds of evidence. I understood the town's lack of progress now: there wasn't enough information, and this world didn't have the technology to compensate.

Adrian's voice came floating to mind. "Ask a different question." I could almost see him watching me with a smirk, waiting to see what I'd do. I hadn't understood what he meant then, but I might now.

"Reevaluate," I muttered. I was thinking from my perspective. I needed to change that. Reverse it.

If Kyle wanted to hide something, where would he put it? That was the better question.

He'd let us pick our rooms, so any guest room was out. Same with the foyer. But I hadn't seen the kitchen or Kyle's room.

I'd check Kyle's room first. The door to his room was unlocked, and after I'd entered I left it open. Since his room was by the front door, if he came home I would have to get out fast. I'd have three to five seconds warning if I could hear him coming.

Kyle's room was sparser than I'd expected. A made bed stood in the corner. The desk next to the bed had a stack of books and some papers. A wardrobe dominated the left wall.

I reached into my coat and retrieved my gloves, the ones from my world, and slipped them on. I opened the wardrobe, sweeping aside the hanging coats and inspecting the corners. Aside from the coats, there was a pair of shoes. I inspected the soles and saved the pattern in The System before putting them back. There wasn't anything else of interest, so I moved onto the desk.

As I searched, I replaced everything as I'd found it. The books and paper were in the same writing that had been on the town's sign, so I couldn't read them. I briefly flipped through each, and finding nothing of interest, replaced them. But in one of the drawers, I found a stack of three papers that looked different. They were yellowed, and while most of the other papers had tight, curved handwriting, this one had large looping curls that occasionally spiked before weaving back into the script. Underneath them were two more regular sheets with Kyle's handwriting, formatted like a list.

I pondered them, trying to retrieve some information or decide if I could steal them and show them to Syaoran later. The sound of muffled voices broke me from my thoughts. I recognized the other's voices and Kyle's.

I shoved the papers into the drawer and slammed it shut. I yanked off my gloves, shoved them into my coat and burst from Kyle's room as the front door swung open.

As Fai swung the door open, we made eye contact. Fai's expression flickered with surprise for half a second before his smile returned. He hadn't opened the door all the way when he stopped and turned to look back in one smooth movement. He said something, but I didn't hear what it was. I'd already pulled the door to Kyle's room shut and flown up the stairs without a sound.

Shutting the door to me and Sakura's room I breathed a long sigh. Even with The System, I hadn't heard them soon enough. If Fai hadn't blocked Kyle's view, I would've been caught. I leaned back against the door and listened.

The scuff of shoes on wood and Kurogane growling something under his breath filtered through the door. "Do you have to make house calls often?" Syaoran asked.

"Well," Kyle said, "I have to more and more lately. When the disappearances first started, I wasn't needed as much. But now that it's been going on for so long, and we still have no answers, everyone is afraid. Especially the children." I frowned. What kind of doctor was Kyle? I'd assumed a medical one, but now he sounded more like a psychologist. Was there any distinction here? "Ah, where is Alec? I thought he would've returned by now."

"He may be resting upstairs," Fai said. "He mentioned not sleeping well last night. I'll go check." It was a good excuse. And, incidentally, somewhat true. I was tired, and I didn't want to sleep tonight, so now might be the best time to rest. The others' voices lowered as a single pair of footfalls moved up the stairs. I pushed off of the door before Fai opened it and stepped inside.

"How did your search go?" I whispered.

Fai propped his hands on his hips. "It was . . . interesting. Syaoran was able to borrow a book from the mayor. It has the legend on record, so that's better than the scraps of gossip we've been working with. Also," he grinned, "the castle in the legend still exists. The ruins are a ways north. We went looking around there."

I crossed my arms. "Good. Did you find anything in the castle?"

"Well, we couldn't get inside." I raised an eyebrow as Fai continued. "There was a river in front of the castle. It was too dangerous to cross, so that was a dead end. But we did see Mr. Grosum."

"What was he doing?" I'd dismissed Mr. Grosum, thinking he was to stern to earn the trust of the kids, but it was strange that he'd be there. Maybe I should keep him in mind, and go check out the castle myself.

"Just looking, I think. He wandered away shortly before we left. Did you find anything?"

I sighed. "Nothing concrete. But Kyle has a lot of coincidences hanging around him. I know Amelia opened the window willingly, so whoever wanted her outside was someone she trusted. Kyles on list of people and he wasn't here this morning."

Fai's eyebrows rose. "Is that why you told Syaoran we should be cautious of him?"

I nodded. "He wasn't in his room this morning, when we left."

"Hm. Well, we can reconvene tonight." Fai pointed a thumb over his shoulder to the door. "So, do you intend to be asleep or awake for our story?"

"I'm going to sleep for now," I decided. I wanted to keep watch again tonight, and going another night without sleep wasn't a good idea.

"Sleep well then," Fai said, slipping out the door with a wave.

I shrugged off my coat and threw it onto the foot of my bed before laying down. The muffled voices from downstairs almost disappeared as I lowered my hearing back to normal. My thoughts bit and snarled at each other. Was Kyle responsible? He was trustworthy in the town's standing, but even so, why would the kids listen to him and ignore their parent's warnings? And dead or alive, twenty kids had vanished completely.

I rolled over and sighed, kicking my thoughts away. I couldn't figure anything out right now. I closed my eyes.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So the doctor could be the culprit, huh?" Kurogane asked, before swatting Mokona off his bed with a pillow. The creature bounced back onto the blankets a second later, giggling. Syaoran stood in the corner, flipping through a book. On the other bed, Sakura sat and watched Mokona with a smile. Across from her Fai leaned against the bed frame.

"He's my best guess right now," I said. "Do you guys suspect anyone?"

"Mr. Grosum was at the castle," Sakura said.

"Which is strange," I said. "We should keep him in mind, but I don't think the children would trust him."

Fai nodded, a trace of a smirk on his face. "Mr. Grosum's like Kuro-pin: their faces are a bit too scary for the kids." Kurogane glared at him and Fai snapped his fingers, pointing at him. "Like that!"

"I'll keep watch tonight," I said. "If Kyle is responsible, he'll have to leave the inn, and we'll tail him. If he's not, then we'll follow the children and whoever is with them."

"That's a good idea," Syaoran said, looking up from his book, "but if we can't find anyone to follow tonight, and the townspeople find out we left . . . "

"Then we're back to being the town's scapegoats," Fai said, blocking a flying pillow aimed for his head.

"Right," I said, frowning at the snowflakes outside. If we left, Kyle would notice. If he was the culprit, that would keep him inactive, and if he wasn't, he'd inform the town. And our footprints in the snow would be his proof.

Sakura crossed the room to the window. She unlatched it, letting in a gust of winter air.

"Princess?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura leaned out of the window and twisted to look back up at the inn. After a moment her face lit up and she withdrew back into the room. "What about the roof?"

"The roof?" I echoed. "Oh." I joined her at the window. The roof of the inn had gentle slants to it, and during the night, it would be hidden by the dark. There was still snow. Someone might see the footprints, but if I could get the snow to slide off, then it wouldn't be an issue.

I turned to Sakura. "This will work." She smiled. "If I see anything, I'll knock on whoever's window is closest. Then we can move." I checked the street and, finding it empty, jumped up onto the windowsill. Gripping the frame for balance, I stood. I reached up and hoisted myself onto the roof.

Straightening, I turned to examine my outlook. Some of the streets were concealed by houses, but anyone sneaking through town would have to come into view. I couldn't help a cold smile as the wind tore away the steam of my breath. Tonight, I'd find who had my brother. And when I did, I'd fall on them like a lion, with fangs bared and claws ready to tear.