Magic catalysts… magicians used them in Negima: Magister Negi Magi (one of the best, if not the best, manga, though the anime's not as good), so I don't see why they wouldn't in Riviera (besides the fact that the two stories are set in completely different universes). Well, I just put one in here… it's just used as evidence.

Anyway, here is the long-awaited (or maybe not-so-long-awaited) chapter 6 to The White Wings. Some SxL hints in here, but nothing to be worried about if yuri offends you.

Cierra gets an average role here… it's not that I hate her or anything, but her role in this fic doesn't seem to large so far. I'll see what I can get her to do in future chaps.

In this chapter, I finally get a chance to mention Serene's house (although it's kinda random). I'll mention it again in a future chapter, probably past chapter 10.

See chapter 1 for the disclaimer, and enjoy chapter 6!

--

"Ah, where did Fia go?"

Ein searched the house frantically but could find no trace of Fia. Her rapier was in the same position as when she'd left it the night before, and her clothes were untouched.

"Ein?" Cierra came down the stairs, rubbing her eyes and yawning, to see Ein frantically searching the house. "Are you looking for something?"

"Fia's gone! Look, every shoe is still here!"

"Hm, now that you mention it, I haven't seen the other four since-"

"GOOD MORNING!"

"-last…night? Lina! Oh, good morning. You too, Serene." Cierra completely forgot for a moment that Fia was missing. "Where did you two go last night?"

"Oh, just, you know, out…" Serene answered, giving Lina a furtive glance.

"Lina slept over at Serene's house!" Lina exclaimed. Serene stared at her, shocked. Lina just grinned and winked, so Serene let it slide.

"Oh my… I suppose Rose and Ledah were-"

"Hello!"

"-Out too? Oh, hey, Rose, Ledah… I guess you two were 'out,' too?"

Rose, who was waving from Ledah's arms in the air, nodded. Ledah touched down on the ground lightly and put Rose down on her feet.

"Gee, what did I miss last night?" Cierra wondered.

"Don't worry, I don't think it would interest you much," Ledah replied, giving Rose a wink. She grinned back.

"Uh, hey, Cierra?" Ein called from inside the house.

"Yes, Ein? What's wrong?"

"Fia's still gone, right?"

"Oh, yeah! I just remembered!" Cierra snapped her fingers and turned back to the group outside the door. "Did any of you see Fia anywhere?"

They all shook their heads. "Not since last night's dinner," Lina piped up.

"Damn…" Ein charged through the crowd at the door and left.

"What's gotten into him?" Serene wondered as he watched him go.

"Dunno," Cierra said. "He said something about Fia missing, but I never saw her leave."

"Should we help him look?" Rose looked worried. "It sounds kinda serious…"

"No, he'll be fine," Ledah replied. Everyone turned to look at him. "That boy's grown up fast. I'm pretty sure he'll be able to find her on his own."

"You do have a point there…" Rose mumbled.

"Yeah, and Elendia's not that big," Serene added. "He could search the whole village in less than an hour. She couldn't have gone that far…"

"Could she have been kidnapped…?" Cierra wondered. Everyone turned to stare. "I mean, she just disappeared without a trace. That doesn't sound like the Fia I know."

"Yeah, something's strange," Lina said. "Lina will check her room!" she chirped.

Lina, with Serene following close behind, entered Fia's room. The window was closed, but the blinds were open, allowing sunlight to stream though and lighting the room up. Fia's bed wasn't made, but it seemed like she was teleported out from under the covers, since the covers weren't moved aside.

"Isn't this odd?" Serene poked at the sheets. "If she got out physically, wouldn't this blanket be in a different position?

"Yeah, that makes sense," Lina agreed. "What else doesn't belong here? Teeheehee, it's like a game!" she giggled.

"Sheesh," Serene shook her head. "Always was a kid, still a kid, always will be a kid…"

"Hey, look, Serene!" Lina pointed at a sword resting against the wall, point down. "She left Rosier here? Why would she do that?"

"Now that's interesting too," Serene pondered. "If she was in a hurry and forgot her sword, she wouldn't have taken the time to make the bed look like that, and if she wasn't in a hurry, she would have done the bed better and taken her sword with her… and if she was just going out for a while it still doesn't make sense for her to do the bed like that…"

"Lina doesn't understand, but okay!" Lina skipped out the door. "Let's go back downstairs!"

Serene glided down the stairs behind Lina, who jumped down the stairs three steps at a time.

"Sigh… one day you're gonna-" Serene began.

"Whoa!" Lina fell down on the last step.

"-trip and fall… oh geez, Lina."

"Why did you have to say that?" Lina half-shouted. "You're jinxing me… ouch!"

"Come on, Lina," Serene encouraged. "Ah, whatever…" She picked up Lina in her arms again.

"Haha, thanks, Serene." Lina blushed, playing with her pigtails.

"No problem."

"What happened?" Ledah asked, approaching with the rest of the group.

"Oh, Lina fell down the stairs," Serene replied.

"I mean with the room."

"Ledah, that was mean!" Lina wailed.

"Oh, it was pretty strange," Serene told him, winking down at Lina.

"Serene, you too…?" Lina mumbled.

"Strange? How?" Rose asked.

"Well, it seems like she couldn't have left the room physically. Why don't you all take a look? It's hard to explain."

Everyone made his/her way upstairs to Fia's room.

"See, her bed is the oddest thing here," Serene explained. "It's not made, but it doesn't look like she got out."

"I get what you're saying," Cierra said, rubbing her chin. "Fia's great at making her bed, so why does it look so bad… but then again it doesn't look like she got out at all."

"And Fia's Rosier is here too," Lina added, pointing at the sword resting against the wall.

"Hmm, was she in a hurry then?" Rose wondered.

"If she was in a hurry, then would she have time to make her bed like that?" Ledah asked.

"Okay, I guess not, but then was she not in a hurry?" Rose tried. "Wait, she wouldn't have forgotten Rosier… maybe she didn't need it because she was going out for just a couple minutes?"

"But it all comes back to the bed," Cierra stated. "Why does it look like that?"

"It's as if something or someone made her disappear from under the sheets," Ledah reasoned thoughtfully. "Could be magic."

"We should go tell Ein. Why don't we go," Serene indicated herself and Lina, "and you three stay and look for more clues?"

"Sure thing," Cierra replied. "Find him fast."

"Okay," Serene called behind her. "We're off!"

Rose was staring at a seashell she found on the counter with Fia's things. "Of all things, why does she have a random seashell here, and not in a container either?"

Cierra went back into the room. "What?"

"See, look at this," Ledah pointed. "Why's that here?"

"Hmm," Cierra picked up the shell. "A… catalyst?"

"Catalyst?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, for magic," Cierra explained. "This seashell catalyzes teleportation magic."

"Teleportation!" Rose exclaimed. "Then she WAS teleported out!"

"So she was kidnapped then?" Ledah added.

"Seems so," Cierra said sadly. "I hope she's fine… and Ein too…"

--

A/N: Another short chapter. Next chapter will be quite long, probably about 2.5 times the size of this one.

There's not too much to say about this chapter. It just sets up the fact that magic was used to kidnap Fia. Don't worry, the culprit isn't some perverted magician XD.

On the next chapter of The White Wings…

Chapter 7: The Trials (Release on July 30, 2006)

After receiving the information from Serene and Lina, Ein meets another unexpected guest during his search for Fia. What does this guest have in store for him? What about Fia? What is the strange voice calling to Ein in his head? And what's this? Ein's transforming?