Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.


AN: Thanks for the reviews…was going to update earlier, but was busy…holidays, you know?


Chapter 12:

Manny looks at the others ad hesitates for a second. Diego has been harmless in the last few interactions; if anything, he seemed more like a young teenager. But he hadn't missed the way the parents had emphasised the word 'young'. Who knew what he would be able to achieve when he reached maturity?

"Mom, dad," Manny says slowly. Ellie gives his hand a reassuring squeeze as Sid nods confidently. "I think I know who the Witch is. And he happens to study at Half-Peak.


Manny ran the conversation over and over again in his head. He still isn't convinced that he did the right thing, which is rather strange. Sure, he seems satisfied now that he had discovered the reason behind his hatred of Diego, but did Diego deserve to be hunted down?

Besides, if he was still considered a minor, then wouldn't they have time to influence him and change him?

Maybe he was getting a bit ahead of himself, but if Diego was as powerful as they feared, then he seemed better as an ally than as an enemy. If the thought even crossed his mind. The only thing Manny would believe Diego would use magic for was homework or getting into Nationals.

Still, he gives himself a firm shake of his head. He can't be soft now. Not when his parents had seemed so concerned about the possibility of a Witch in their midst.

Diego strolls in a couple of minutes before the bell rings and settles in the seat across Manny. Throwing his bag onto the ground, he leans down, rifles through it, then produces several music sheets, which he carefully arranges in order.

He looks up, noticing the looks he's been getting from the other five in the group.

"What?"

"What? What do you mean? What's going on?" Eddie blurts out. Crash elbows him fiercely, causing him to double over in pain.

Diego watches with narrowed eyes. "That." He rolls his eyes. "Never mind, don't tell me."

Ellie swallows, clearly feeling bad. She tries for a smile. "Family business. We just…had a family meeting last night. It didn't…never mind."

Manny raises an eyebrow at Diego's partially sympathetic expression, then remembers the boy's own rocky relationship with his sister. The Witch - Witch! - gives a small hum of assurance, then hands the music sheets over.

If anything, Ellie looks even more guilty now as she accepts the sheets.

"Ready to go to Half-Peak in two weeks?" Diego clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable.

Manny doesn't know why he's trying to make conversation, but he supposes the sombre atmosphere is uncomfortable after weeks of active enthusiasm. That, and Manny notices the look he gives Ellie. Ellie has always been the most friendly with him, and maybe that friendship - if it can be called that - is more two-sided than he realised.

Manny gives a small nod, though it turns into a grimace. "Packing is…going." He finishes lamely.

Diego actually cracks a smile at that. "It'll be fine. Going early means you guys can stay over for the Tournament in March."

Eddie groans. "I nearly forgot about that."

"You're on the team?" Diego asks, though Manny gets the feeling he already knows. The Half-Peak sports teams are scary like that.

"Midfielders." Crash nods miserably. "Playing in that cold, cold winter."

"It's spring," Diego points out. He rolls his eyes. "You get used to it." He hands the last stack of music sheets to Manny. "I've been trying to print more copies, but the printer only allows two."

"I can do it," Ellie offers with a nearly convincing smile, waving her sheets in front of her. "I'll have it ready for everyone by tomorrow."

Diego nods, and though he looks far from relieved, his shoulders relax a little. "Well. You guys do what you guys do best." Then he pulls out his laptop, reclines in his chair, and continues what he had been doing the last week.


Isobel Romano finds herself in front of the Lopezs family home. She had been voted most diplomatic, and had found herself volunteered - even by her own husband, that traitor - to talk to them about this new pressing issue. Taking a deep breath, and determinedly keeping her eyes away from the graveyard, she knocks loudly on the door.

From the other side, she can hear the light pitter-patter of footsteps before a silver-haired woman answers the door, her voice almost as silvery as her hair.

Eliza Lopez.

"Isobel Romano," Eliza gives a cold smile, "what can I do for you?"

Isobel returns the tense smile.

The relationship between the hunters in the area and the Median family, despite all the Medians' claims of neutrality, had always been fragile and wrought with tension. It didn't help that Sid's grandmother insisted on accusing them of some crime or other every few days. Even the interference agreements, signed with blood, wasn't enough to get the matron to agree to a peaceful co-existence with them.

And with the hunters being under the grandmother's jurisdiction, this made them automatic rivals, no matter how well they got along with one another during initial introductions.

Any thoughts that Isobel had of inviting Eliza over for tea and cakes was abruptly shut down both by the grandmother and by the Median's own natural cautiousness. The feud between their children reflected that, with Eliza ordering her daughter to avoid those children at all costs.

"Hello, Eliza," Isobel tried for a smile. "I merely had a quick issue to discuss, one that concerns your daughter. Just so we don't end up crossing the interference agreement."

"Out with it," Eliza says briskly.

"You are aware of the Exchange program with Half-Peak boarding school?"

"Of course," Eliza nods.

"And you are aware that your daughter is…ah…involved with someone from there?"

Eliza sighs, but nods again. "Diego."

Isobel frowns slightly but smooths her expression over at the warning glint in the other woman's eyes. "Do you…know his last name?"

Eliza frowns as well. "No. Other than the few times Shira has dropped the name, she doesn't talk much about him."

"Is that it?" Isobel asks, daring to try and push her luck. Eliza looks more thoughtful than vengeful, so maybe she could try and plant those seeds in the Median's mind.

Almost as soon as she had the thought though, Eliza's eyes narrow. "I believe that's my daughter's private life, which you have no business in." At Isobel's fidgeting, Eliza huffs. "Or Devil's sake, Romano, what the hell do you want?" She snaps.

Just like a Median: always direct and to the point.

"We…my colleagues and I," Isobel clears her throat, "we believe Diego is a Witch."

"A Witch?" Eliza repeats. She frowns. "In training or a fully fledged one?"

"The latter," Isobel answers. "You know as well as anyone that if he were still in training, there would be someone following him. Either a family member or someone of the same…species as them."

Eliza frowns in concentration. "The ghouls in the graveyard told me of a woman who visited here recently, bearing a striking resemblance to Diego." She sounds more thoughtful now, and although Isobel can't tell whether or not she is thinking out loud or willingly providing this information, Isobel decides to push again.

Could this woman be Diego's mentor? She can't ask the question like this, though. After all, the Other World had rules and social norms as well, and speaking of a mentor without either mentor or mentee present was considered highly offensive. "Do you know where she is currently?"

Eliza shakes her head. "She left a few weeks ago, as abruptly as she came."

"Oh," Isobel sighs.

Eliza lets out a sigh of her own. "Don't look like a kicked puppy, Isobel," she rubs her forehead. "I think she was staying at the hotel closest to Valley."

"Thank you, Eliza," Isobel offers her a bright smile. This was a lead - she glances at her watch. She had enough time to rush to the hotel and ask after her before she had to rush back home.

Eliza's returning gaze is cool. "My daughter is happy," she says slowly. Isobel freezes. "Do not mess this up for her, Isobel." Her tone is low. "I would make sure you see fit not to cross the agreement."

Isobel quickly goes through the terms in her head - Sid's grandmother had made them all memorise it by heart - and winces internally as she remembers a line about non-interference regarding Shira's life. A particular sentence, specifically. One that the grandmother had vehemently argued against, but which the Medians were unwilling to sign unless included.

Before Isobel can say anything, the door slams shut behind Eliza.


"Good evening." Isobel greets the person behind the reception. Millicent Aros was a good friend of hers, having been close neighbours before she had moved to a bigger house in another neighbourhood as her family grew.

Millicent smiles back, her eyes holding more genuine warmth than if Isobel had been another customer. "How have you been, Isobel?"

"Lovely," Isobel says. Time is running out and she needs to get back home quickly. Her husband, despite knowing she could defend herself, got tetchy if she returned home late, especially with a rogue Witch on the loose. Millicent seems to notice as her brow creases with worry.

"What is wrong?"

Isobel exhales. Here comes the hard part. "Millicent, you know that my…job requires me to…ask questions and do things I myself might be personally against." Millicent nods slowly, unsure of where this is going. "So, as a professional, I need to know: was there a lady that stayed here recently? Blonde or light haired, blue eyes…" she struggled to bring up Manny and Ellie's description of her. "Stern looking? About this tall?"

Millicent looks thoughtful for a second, then pulls out a book with names scrawled on it. She gives a furtive look around then carefully flips through the book. "This is the only favour I can grant you, Isobel."

Isobel nods, relieved. "I will be indebted to you."

Millicent nods. She scans the list of written names, running a finger down before she pauses. "Here."

She hands the book over to Isobel, who notes the swirling cursive proclaiming that Diana Bennett had stayed in here quite recently for two nights.

"She came in a few weeks ago, and left not too shortly afterwards."

"Did she say why she was here?" Isobel asks, looking at the smudged 'business' written under reasons.

Millicent shakes her head. "She wasn't very talkative, though I heard that she's a lawyer. She helped a customer win a potential lawsuit here on her last night. Other than that, she stuck to herself."

Isobel considers this for a moment. "Do you know if she ever came here with a young boy? Around 16, green eyes?"

Millicent shakes her head slowly, but starts to turn. "I don't know, but I wasn't here when she signed in; I was only responsible for her leaving. Renee was covering for me, since Jack was sick that night. Give me a moment, and I'll ask." She disappears into the half-opened door and calls out. "Renee?"

"Yes?"

Millicent reemerges with a mousy looking woman, glances perched daintily at the tip of her nose.

"Do you ever remembered Diana Bennett coming out here with a kid?"

"Diana Bennett?" Renee frowns thoughtfully.

"That lawyer who got the woman from room 541 a lawsuit and compensation."

Renee snaps her fingers. "It's foggy, but I think I remember her talking on the phone? She seemed like she was having an argument with someone named 'D'?" She tilts her head. "Does that help?"

Isobel's mind connects the dots immediately. The kids had mentioned that Diego had ended up in argument - more than one, if Renee's story is to be believed - with his older sister. It couldn't be a coincidence. D. Diego. "Are you certain?"

Renee shrugs. "As certain as my memory is."

"Thank you," Isobel shoots her a beaming smile. "You have no idea how much you helped me."

"Of course." Renee says, looking bemused.

Millicent chuckles, waving as Isobel turns on her heel and prepares to leave. The hunter turns back to give her a quick hug, then waves goodbye to the two ladies as she quickly strides out of the glass doors, pulling out her phone and hailing a taxi. As soon as she recites her address to the driver, she pulls out her phone and informs her husband of what she's found.

Then she puts her phone away and closes her eyes, thinking it over.

Diego Bennett, a boy who shows up at Half-Peak after a lifetime of being homeschooled, and seems to either be a Witch-in-training or a fully fledged one already - if it was the former, it was likely that Diana Bennett was his mentor. After all, mentors did not make it a habit to leave their mentees alone, no matter the reason. If he was a Witch, then he might already know that Shira was a Median. And he would know there were Dæmon-hunters present.

And yet.

And yet he had killed a Hound before it could try to kill Manny and the children again.

Isobel sighs, feeling a headache come on. This was getting too complicated for her.