Alice woke up to an unfamiliar situation. She found herself sitting in a chair with her hands tied behind her back, and her cheek throbbed with pain. The room she was in wasn't very large; when she clicked her tongue, the echo came back quickly, suggesting she might be in a small, well-padded closet.

Her mind was hazy, and the last thing she remembered was walking along a trail to stretch her legs during a caravan trip to a rest stop on Harrow's Hill. But after that, nothing. She couldn't recall anything else, not even if she had heard screams or not. Her first instinct was to call for help, but she hesitated, realizing that being tied up was not something that happened in polite company.

Alice assessed her situation. Assuming her instincts were right, she was indeed in a closet of some sort. The pain in her cheek, the fact that she was tied up, and her growling hunger indicated that some time had passed since she last remembered anything. The vague memory of screams suggested that whatever had happened to her was not good.

She struggled with the bindings, but found that while they were tight, there was a bit of wiggle room. With one hefty pull, and probably a bruised thumb, she managed to free her hands. Instead of immediately standing up, she patted herself down. All her usual garments were in place, including the necklace she had been wearing in her last memory. If this had been a simple mugging, they would have taken everything, but she doubted she would still be alive.

Could it have been targeted? It was a possibility. Her nobility and the commotion her trip to Betel had caused could have made her a case for a targeted attack. But even then, she couldn't imagine anyone throwing her in a closet and tying her up. If it was a targeted attack, she would likely have been given a proper prisoner's room, considering her station.

As Alice pondered, she absentmindedly put her hand to her face and felt something. She grabbed it and realized that someone had blindfolded her. If the situation hadn't been so serious, she might have been offended. However, it did give her an advantage in terms of information. Whoever had taken her clearly didn't know her well. Only those closest to her knew that she had lost her ability to use divination, and being blindfolded would not affect her in the same way it would others. This all but confirmed that this wasn't a personal or calculated attack.

She reached out to either side to confirm her surroundings. The fabric felt like some kind of thick, coarse sweater material, though still of high quality. On the other side, her hands touched a wooden shelf, and further down she felt what seemed to be a work boot - leather with hardened steel toes. It was definitely a closet, which raised a concern. If whoever had kidnapped her didn't even bother to put her somewhere other than a closet, then they likely weren't too concerned about her well-being.

Alice cursed herself, regret gnawing at her. Why did she have to mess up at her family home? And being blind wasn't helping in this situation either, it was just plain annoying. But complaining wouldn't change anything. She took a deep breath and stomped her foot hard, straining her ears to listen closely. From the sound of it, she could deduce a few things. First, she was on a wooden floor, and a finely made one at that. Second, she wasn't on the first floor of wherever she was. Beyond that, it was hard to tell.

The running theory was that she was somehow back in Aeroae. While she was sure there were other multi-story buildings on Betel, it wasn't likely that she would have been taken too far east, and that for something as high quality as the boots and clothes she felt around her to be around, it would likely be in the rich district.

As for where…

It wasn’t hard to make a guess. She was stuffed in a closet with high quality clothes, in a multi-story building, and whoever took her wasn’t doing it directly because of her. It had to be related to Andromeda, and if that was the case, it was Entai Algoer.

That only made things worse, assuming Rigur was right, and Andromeda was indeed trouble (which was looking very likely now), that meant herself being kidnapped meant she was going to be used as leverage. Possibly. It wasn’t common knowledge that Andromeda and herself were friends outside the college, so unless the college’s security policy really was a joke, that meant they had an inside track on information.

Her first suspect was Grant. Bastard that he was, she didn’t put it past him to try and set something like this up. But not wanting to put all her eggs in one basket, the thought on.

It could have been any number of staff members, top among them was Evelin. Who seemed to be in a constant state of shock whenever Andromeda’s presence was considered. But that made no sense, going this far would be a little too much.

The last guess was…

Albert…

He left before Andromeda did, and no one knew where he went. Then in the days following Andromeda leaving, Alice herself was attacked by a Medea, then the attack on Cylas occurred. Besides their hypothetical friendship, there was nothing stopping that from being the case. But it didn’t feel right. Albert had nothing to gain by getting involved like that…

There were too many things to consider. Operating on the theory that she was captive somewhere in relation to Entai Algoer, it would be a good idea to assume she was at his estate. Because where else could she possibly be, considering the circumstances?

Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard footsteps, from the sound it was two grown men, and a moment later she heard a door open.

“Alright, I think it came from here. Go check on the girl.” A man’s voice echoed through the door. Alice quickly tied the blindfold back on and put her arms behind her and the chair. She slumped slightly and held her breath. The closet door opened, and she could hear the even paced breath of the man above her.

He stood there, silently, long enough that she wasn’t sure he was stood still or had moved somehow without her noticing. But then he grunted and spoke.

“She’s still out, something must have fell.” The man said.

“Blue won’t like hearing that.” The first man said.

“Doesn’t matter, can’t lock down ghosts.” The other man said.

The door shut, and she let her breath go. The stomp must have caught their attention downstairs. Alice waited for them to leave, took off the blindfold, and then reached around in front of her. After a few moments of fumbling, she found the doorknob and gently turned it, and to her immense surprise it wasn’t locked.

Once she was out, Alice felt around the room for some kind of grounding element. Eventually her hand landed on a padded leather seat of some kind. Reaching around in that general space lead to her finding more seats, and a table she very nearly kicked. A closet, but seating for five or more people? What kind of room was this?

Her train of thought was interrupted by the clap of thunder. Then a few seconds later, the soft clatter of rain started pinging off a window she assumed was nearby.

So it was storming outside, wonderful… This was a problem, the storm would make it hard to listen for noises, and thunderclaps would distract her hearing. In a non-hostile situation, she would usually resort to walking along the walls until she reached somewhere with someone to help her. But walking around in this place was a quick way to land her in hot water. Even worse than that, there was the issue of if someone came by to check on her and found she was gone. That would probably set the entire building into high alert. There was no way for her to know what could happen, they might have people standing at the door for all she knew.

Then came a knock at the door.

-----

Albert was sat behind a desk for the first time in weeks. Currently dealing with the deluge of information and drama behind the scenes. Once she got her hands on him, he had been neglecting his responsibilities after the Dante Favor.

As he expected, the entirety of Legoria’s underbelly was on fire. Between the invasion, the crown breaking down doors left and right, and the utter decimation of the King’s Grove Holding Group, it was hell. Thirteen families from Landfall Coast all the way to Skysea had gone dark, two defected to the Halthian cause, and a single family was dead without an apparent reason. It seemed that at the current moment, the only thing preventing the entirety of the country’s criminal element from breaking into large scale criminal warfare was his call on the Dante Favor.

“Blue.” said a voice Albert wasn’t happy about hearing. Aixen Vannse.

“What?” Albert responded.

“I’ve got a message from up top. We’re stepping out and leaving a skeleton crew, we’ll be back in a few hours.” He said. Albert, stunned by this information, just blinked in surprise.

“Huh?” Albert said in a bewildered tone.

“You heard, you’re going to hold the fort until everyone’s back.” Vanse said.

“That is a terrible idea, and you know it.” Martin said.

“Don’t care, you know what’s at stake.” He said. Then he took off, but before he stepped out of the room, he turned and said one more thing. “Oh, and we’re keeping Elias here for now. Order from up top, don’t know why. Keep him breathing, I guess.” Vannse said before ducking back out.

Albert grumbled, stood from his desk, and left the room shortly after. As Vannse said, it seemed nearly everyone in the building walked out like zombies. All in perfect lock step and vacant expressions. In a time that shouldn’t have been possible with a crowd this size, hundreds of men and women filed out without a word. The only ones left were a few guards, himself, and Elias. Who as always, was just standing idly around.

At that moment, the sound of something heavy hitting the floor rung out throughout the room. One of the guards looked at him, and Albert just waved at him to go check it out. The guard took himself and another man to investigate. Against his better judgement, Albert approached Elias and tried to start a conversation. His reasoning being nothing more than curiosity.

As he got closer, Elias turned his attention toward Albert, but his look was distant and neutral. Maybe bordering on annoyance, but that didn’t seem right either. Not expecting him to say anything first, Albert opened.

“So, what’s your story?” Albert asked. He expected nothing, and got exactly that. Elias looked away and ignored the question. “Yeah, yeah, I guess that’s fair. I wouldn’t really expect you to have much to say.” He tried a few more times to prompt a question, but he was ignored each time. Eventually the two men came back down.

“Anything?” Albert asked.

“Couldn’t find what it was, the girl was still out cold. The storms kicking around, something probably hit the roof.” The one man said.

“Fine, regular patrols I guess. Let me know if anything else happens.” Albert said. The Men nodded and went on their way, and when Albert turned back to Elias, he noticed that he was already walking away, up the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Albert asked. Elias turned around and looked back at him without a word, then turned back around. Ironically, saying nothing at all was a good argument.

As Albert returned to his seat, he had to start thinking about the hard idea of what to do from now. She was already making large moves, and it seemed Andromeda was close to the end. The task of how he plans on looking himself in the mirror in the future aside, he had to contend with the potential risk he had to endure being a part of the operation.

High Magister Ferdinand, as well as the other High Magisters and Arch Mages, would probably gun for him as soon as the dust settled. Though, he might have the benefit of not being the top priority on the list. At best, he’d probably have to fake his death. The Martin Blue persona was probably his best bet. Though that would mean having to be even more careful with how the Dante Favor pans out.

At that moment, as Albert was deep in thought, pondering his next move, a sudden and unexpected event shattered the tranquility of the moment. A deafening rumble of thunder roared through the air, shaking the ground beneath him and reverberating through his entire body, leaving him momentarily disoriented. The loud clap of thunder was so intense that it seemed to drown out all other sounds, leaving Albert's ears ringing and his heart pounding in his chest.

As he recovered from the initial shock, Albert's eyes darted towards the window, and what he saw left him in awe and disbelief. The roof of a nearby building had been struck by lightning, and the sheer force of the impact had caused half of the building to be blown apart, sending debris flying in all directions. He could see smoke billowing from the wreckage, and the acrid smell of burnt wood and metal filled the air.

"When lightning strikes nearby, the gods are speaking loudly." Albert said under his breath. Not missing the message.