Sage had claimed to have a problem with depth perception, and couldn’t drive well as a result. This left Verlsa to drive them to Seattle. The SIA offices weren’t that far off from the FBI ones, and that seemed odd to Verlsa. She had figured they’d want anything magic as far away from a city as possible. It was even odder that Suni had so easily agreed to meet the two of them.

Verlsa had explained that she had met someone from the demon court, and Suni didn’t treat it as anything unusual. She simply accepted it and set an appointment for the next day. The two of them entered a normal looking building and were escorted to an interrogation room.

“It’s a scare tactic,” said Sage in a low voice. “They plan on treating us as criminals because we are different.” He reached into his satchel and pulled out an envelope. This he tossed apathetically on the table.

It didn’t seem that much different than some overdramatic tactic used in a cop show. Experiencing it in real life was surreal. “I’m fine,” she replied.

Suni walked in by herself. There were no doubt others watching them from behind the two-way mirror, and the camera was recording them as well. “I apologize for being late. We are in the middle of an investigation at the moment, and I have been moving around quite a bit.”

“And your investigation is one of many opportunities that we may use to improve relations between the US government and the King’s Court.” Sage opened up the folder and slid it over. “Your target is a fae named Kenelm.” He gestured to a page profiling the fairy.

“We already have this information,” replied Suni.

“You will no doubt need our assistance in apprehending him,” said Sage.

Suni shook her head. “We are already aware of his location, and our associates will be delivering him to us directly.

Verlsa looked between the two. Neither had any shifts in their expression, and both spoke in a calm and professional demeanor. This truly was a surreal experience. Her thumbs began to fiddle, one over the other, as she was slowly becoming more and more nervous. Despite the lack of changes between the two, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck begin to stand, as though a fuse had been lit.

“What will you do with him once an arrest has made?” Sage’s expression remained unchanged as Suni stayed silent. “We are aware that the SIA has locations where they have imprisoned and experimented on mithryn and firstborn alike.”

“We do what we must in order to keep this nation safe.”

“And I am here to assure you that such barbaric practices are unnecessary. Anything that you could wish to learn is information that we are willing to share. I meet with you today in hopes of beginning a dialogue between our two countries.”

Suni took a long and steady breath. “You came to me today with a two-faced criminal at your side,” she replied.

“I came to you today with a plan and an offering of peace,” said Sage.

“Who the fuck are you calling a two-faced criminal?” Verlsa straightened up in her chair.

Sage kept his eyes on Suni. “Calm yourself, Miss Rivera.”

“I will not calm down. Not until I get an explanation of exactly what she meant by that,” said Verlsa as she leaned forward on the table. “So go ahead and tell me, Suni.”

Suni folded her hands on her lap. “You became jealous of Callie Kipper and attempted to murder her in order to be with her boyfriend. You claimed she ran into a fire that had started up at your school, then delayed her medical treatment by valuable minutes.”

“I was attempting to heal her with my magic,” snarled back Verlsa.

“You left her with permanent brain damage.” Suni’s words felt like a punch to the gut to Verlsa. “Now that you have revealed yourself to be a magic user, I am inclined to believe that you were the one behind the fire and her injuries.”

Verlsa stood up so quickly that she nearly knocked back her chair. “I have no idea why Callie ran into that fire! I tried to stop her, and when they pulled her out, I did everything I could to heal her!”

Sage reached up and grabbed the back of Verlsa’s jacket. He yanked her back down to her seat with a surprisingly strong tug. “The King’s Legion has allegations that Kenelm will have to answer to. I ask that you allow myself to handle his arrest, and I will turn him over to you afterward.”

“I will have to decline your request,” replied Suni. “This room is surrounded with mages. The two of you will surrender yourselves peacefully. You will then be transported to a separate facility for further processing.”

A faint smile crossed Sage’s lips as he stood up. “Is this the response that the United States has towards my kind?”

“It is the policy of the United States to act against any and all possible threats.”

“Stand up, Verlsa,” said Sage.

She did, lowering her voice as she did so. “I’m not going to hand myself over to be experimented on.”

“Neither of us are.”

Sage grasped onto her waist and pulled her towards him. Together, the two of them phased through the floor. He kept a hold of her until they landed on the floor before, grasped onto her wrist, and took off running. They phased through walls and escaped out unto the street.

That certainly was a convenient power. Verlsa wasn’t going to question anything at this point. She let out a pained grunt as Sage violently tugged back on her wrist, and he switched his grip so he could steady her by the shoulders.

She looked over to him to say something, but he was staring up at the sky. It was a lilac color, and the clouds resembled pink cotton candy. As she looked around some more, she realized that there weren’t any people walking about, and the parked cars looked like oversized toys instead of actual vehicles. There was also a weirdly large amount of gumdrops lying about, and the building windows looked like melted down Jolly Ranchers.

“When did Seattle become someplace where the only goal is to give me cavities?”

Sage side his hand down her arm and intertwined their fingers together. He refused to let go when she attempted to yank her hand free. “They trapped us in a pocket dimension while we were waiting in the interrogation room. Don’t let go of my hand. We don’t know the rules of this world yet, and any loss of contact could lead to separation.”

Verlsa tightened her grip on his hand. “How do we get out of here?”

“Pocket dimensions are hidden within the shadows of objects. They won’t send anyone after us as long as we’re trapped, but they will likely be transporting the object to someplace we don't want to be.” Sage tapped against the side of his glasses with his free hand. “Do you have any contact with the outside?”

“No,” she replied.

“I am speaking to the AI built within my glasses,” he replied bluntly. Sage then looked around and lead them into an alleyway.

“You could have mentioned that you have an AI with you.”

“I have an AI built within my glasses,” he muttered. He wasn’t paying all that much attention to her. Sage looked around again. “The barriers are weak, but we will be running into resistance on the other side.”

“That’s fine, right? We’ll phase through any bullets?” I can heal anything else.”

Sage loosened a pendant from around his neck. It was in the shape of a sword. He blew on it, and it grew into a full sized backsword. “Ready, Blue.”

Sparks began to form around the blade of the weapon as it began to harmonize with the energy around them. It settled on a light blue before Sage used it to slash through the wall. Instead of brick, it tore open like it was tissue paper, and the two of them jumped through.

They tumbled out of the other side, landing next to gumball machine. Verlsa noticed she had landed next to a pair of finely polished black shoes. She looked up and saw they were being worn by a scary looking man that had gold lightning arcing about his body.

“... Uh.”

“Wash, rinse, and repeat,” muttered Sage as he rolled on top of her. They phased through the floor again, with Sage rotating in the air so that Verlsa landed on him.

Versla quickly stood up and reached out her hand. Sage grabbed onto it, and she pulled him to a stand. Now they were running through the halls again, this time dodging bullets and energy spells.

Sage pulled the pair onto the street, and they began to run towards the car. Verlsa was quick to unlock it and buckle herself on. On the passenger side, Sage did the same. He then put both of his hands on the dashboard.

“Drive straight!”

Pushing her foot to the gas, Verlsa didn’t hesitate to drive straight through the wall. They phased through it harmlessly, and she took a hard right onto the street. While she made her way to the freeway, Sage began to look up directions on Verlsa’s phone.

“This isn’t going to turn into some sort of high-speed chase, is it?” Verlsa glanced between him and the road. “This car was built for fuel efficiency. The engine might blow up if I try something like that.”

“They won’t risk getting the police or news involved,” said Sage reassuringly. “The SIA has a plan set in motion. We will catch Kenelm first. He will pay for his crimes, and then I will hand him over to the SIA.”

“You can’t seriously be still wanting to work with those psychopaths.”

Sage leaned back against the car seat. “The SIA will realize that they had attempted to imprison the King’s personal hunter. My word is his law. Once they understand that, they will know that attacking me is an act of war. They will contact their allies and discover that our King has already made deals with them. The US government has no that will stand by their side, and they must either beg for our forgiveness or face the wrath of the King’s Legion.”

The color drained from Verlsa’s face. “I’m sorry, did you say that you were the King’s personal hunter?” Sage nodded. “That’s just the professional way of claiming you’re his executioner.”

“Yes. I am his executioner.”

Verlsa had no idea why such an important creature would be showing up and conscripting her, but she was so petrified by the idea that her fingers had gone numb. “... Alright.” They drove in silence again before she asked her next question. “How are you going to contact the SIA? Or are they going to contact you?”

A smile appeared on Sage’s lips again. “The agent was wearing a wear artifact on the inside of her jacket.” He tapped the side of his glasses as if that explained how he had known that. “On activation, it renders the user invisible to those who are heavily polluted by magic. Firstborn and mithryn alike. However, it doesn’t work on mages.”

“How is that supposed to help her contact you?”

“She’s sitting in the back seat.”

Verlsa nearly drove off the side of the road. She struggled to gain control over the vehicle. “Dammit, Suni!”

The air began to waver, as though it were heated, and Suni popped out thin air. She struggled to grab onto a seatbelt and buckle herself in while Versla swerved the vehicle. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as Verlsa straightened out the car.

“How were you able to get your information about Kenelm?” Sage looked at Suni through the rearview mirror. She didn’t say anything, merely narrowed her eyes at him. “I am capable of having you fall through the bottom of this car and at these speeds, you will no doubt die”

Suni let out another sigh. “We were given a contact by the werewolf tribes, and she has been feeding us information.”

“How will you be capturing him?”

“The SIA will be performing a raid upon his location this evening.”

A raid on the den would require a considerable amount of manpower. Bringing in a rival force would only make the problem worse. Sage fell silent as he contemplated the situation. “Our plan remains unchanged,” he said after a moment.

They pulled up to the farmhouse, and Sage put his hand on Verlsa’s shoulder. Without saying anything, he phased through the car. There was smoke drifting out through gaps in the roof. Verlsa put her hand to her mouth. She turned around as she heard a clicking noise behind her. It was Suni examining her pistol.

“You’re not going there,” she spat out quickly.

“Make sure to not leave me a vegetable when they pull me back out,” replied Suni. She opened the car door and began to run after Sage.

This is where Duke and Adi were supposed to be. Verlsa got out of the car and stood next to it, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see what was going on. There was something large and furry next to the front entrance. Sage had bent over to examine it, then he went inside.

Verlsa ran up and saw that a minotaur was passed out on the ground. She knelt down and immediately began to heal his wounds. Jones coughed and grunted as she did so. He struggled to sit up but was too weak to move.

“Leave him!” Sage called out to her. “His wounds are minor. There are more injured within.” He tapped the side of his glasses. “I need a portal opened at my location. Send healers. Prepare for a mass extraction of mithryn.”

There were bodies lying about the den. Verlsa’s mind couldn’t get a grip on what had happened. It looked as though they had all gone wild at some point and began to attack each other. Mithryn were huddled in the corners, still trying to comprehend what was happening, while others were mutilated beyond recognition.

“Duck-young! Adi!” Verlsa stood up on a table so she could get a better view. “Duck-young!”

“Here!” Sage waved her over. Verlsa hopped down and jogged over, only to glare at him when she realized that Sage was referring to someone she had never seen before. “Do it,” he said in a commanding voice.

Verlsa kneeled and began to do what she could. She frowned all the more as Kenelm looked up and thanked her. “This isn’t for you.”

“When you are done, please arrange the wounded by their condition and do what you can to help,” ordered Sage. All Verlsa could do was nod.

Suni navigated her way through, being careful to keep her gun lowered. “What happened here?”

“We weren’t the only ones seeking a target here.” Sage plunged his hand into Kenelm’s chest.

Verlsa fell back from shock. “I wasn’t done healing him,” she hissed between her teeth.

“I only needed him healthy enough to survive the ritual,” muttered Sage. His expression darkened as he spoke in a low voice. “Kenelm of the Fae, you have been found guilty of breaking the laws issued by our King. Your punishment is exile. You will live among the humans, as a human, and die by their judgment.”

His hand tightened within Kenelm’s chest. Kenelm’s luminescent skin began to darken and take on a peachy tone, and his hair and eyes turned black. “H-have mercy, my lord…”

Sage ripped his hand free from Kenelm’s chest, pulling with it a ball of shimmering light. His fingers curled about it delicately before he crushed it between his two hands. “As I have promised, I present to you Kenelm. He is the only life I will allow the SIA to extract from this place. All else fall under the protection of the King’s Legion.”

He stood up, and portals began to open up around him. “Send my regards to your superiors. When they are willing to hand over their prisoners, I will make myself available to talk.”

Suni raised her gun and pointed it at him. Her hands trembled for a moment and Sage stood there, remaining stoic against her threats. With a shake of her head, she put away her gun and grabbed Kenelm by the back of his shirt. “Run!”

The two of them ran off while Sage turned to Verlsa. She was fuming, enraged at her own frustration. There was no way of knowing if Duck-young or Adi were still alive, and she definitely couldn’t go back to pretending to be a human now. Her life was effectively over.

“It’s time to make a choice, Miss Rivera. Either you stand with your own kind, or you fall prey to the SIA. What will it be?"