Account settlement.

The voice of his teacher was something that John could easily recognize. Out of reflex he recovered his phone to check what time it was.

"Your classmates left just 20 minutes ago. I had to tell them there was an issue with the last assignment that you gave me and that you would spend the class doing it again. Some corrupted file I'm afraid, a shame. I only let you do it a second time because you are such a serious student. Now, tell me how you did on this little exercise," said his teacher.

John turned to face her, trying to keep his rage from erupting. He was dealing with someone terrifying, who could kill him as easily as she would blow a candle. Outbursts and indignation were not the best strategy, though he had to tell her that her pet was unreliable.

"The mission was a success, but... The guide you provided was less than forthcoming and at times unreliable. She deliberately omitted information that could have led to my ****, both before and after the mission was accomplished. The Hawthornes have been robbed in their penthouse, **** and will wake up with no recollection of what happened, Vanessa has recovered her former appearance and last I was aware of it, the pill was in her stomach. Are we even now?" he asked. Her teacher looked amused for a while and finally replied to him.

"Katia has always been mercurial even at her best and having been away for so long she must be far from it. Did you suffer any injuries? Any loss of precious equipment? Did you leave anything behind that could be traced back to you or me?" she asked.

"Took some fall damage while escaping, superficial wear and tear on my armor, used only consumables that will quickly decay. I had nothing belonging to you and I left nothing behind apart from the pill. I left nothing behind that wasn't taken from the place itself and none of it had been in contact with my body. I think we are good on that front," he explained.

"You are truthful, how refreshing! You spend so long treating with dishonest people and forget that candid attitude actually exists in individuals. Of course there is that repressed rage, boiling just under the surface... I am a woman of my word and I don't often make promises, but when I do, I keep them. Your mother and sweetheart have nothing to fear of me and your secret is safe with me... This is of course with the understanding that you will not take further action against this family. I don't like them, in the greater scheme of things I find no particular interest in them, but I need them. They are tools and despite their flaws and the problems they bring me, I have to keep them in working condition until they have performed their duties. Do I have your word that you will stop your crusade against them?" she asked, offering him her hand to shake. John considered it for a second, knowing about what Vanessa did and being unable to act on it wasn't a gleeful prospect, but it was a low price to keep his loved ones safe. He shook her hand and nodded his head.

"Good, you will learn pretty fast that what just happened is pretty common practice in the Abyss. I do not consider you my enemy, some boundaries had to be drawn and some wrongs righted. I would advise you to make sure that nothing you took from them ever resurfaces. Considering your particular misgivings about the young Miss I needed proper motivation to make you agree to do this. Our previous understanding still holds true, as long as your shenanigans don't interfere with my activities I will not do anything against you. Now I am sure you have a lot of better things to do than to spend the rest of your afternoon talking to an old lady. Here, for your expenditures," she concluded, putting in the palm of his hand a very small gold nugget. About the size of a fingernail, it was probably worth a lot but she gave it to him as an old lady would give 5 bucks and a lollipop to a young boy for mowing her lawn...

Achievement Unlocked: Out of the Cauldron
Congratulations, the Witch won't eat you and your loved ones today. Very impressive pulling that trick off. You might want to think deeply about what even led you to have to do it. Learn from this, it will help a bit.
+5 Wisdom
+500 XP

Giving up on trying to understand her thinking, but happy to have restored a less frightful status quo, John left the room and walked at a quick pace towards the gates of the Academy. Taking a further look at his character sheet, John realized he had gained a lot of xp during the mission, putting him at 2367/3000 and picked 7500$ from Vanessa's mother's purse.

He had missed the bus and would need to use his bike to go home, but first he wanted to check where Anna was.

As he took his phone out of his pocket he noticed a new message. Opening it showed him a picture of a red, bloated and apparently very sore pair of balls, topped by a very small steel encased dick. Frank had yielded to his mysterious blackmailer. John wasn't in the mood to settle this right now, he put this on the side of his mind and thought about other humiliating things he could get from Frank before taking what he wanted from him. He did not possess the protection Vanessa had, in fact breaking him would probably get him points towards Mrs Wentworth...

"Anna, are you ok? I'm back and the threat on you has been lifted!"

"Oh my God John I was so worried. When I saw you weren't back at the end of the class I feared the worst. I didn't call because I didn't want to distract... Oh I'm so glad... Do you think you could come over to my place? I really want to hold you right now!"

"I need you too... It was really close at times and I need to relax a bit. Let me call my mom to tell her and I will take a tram to your place. Will your parents be OK with that?"

"Sure! I love you!"

"I love you."

John hung up and after looking around blinked to his kingdom just long enough to grab his bike, he always left it close to the entry point. His mom didn't pick up his call, so he left her a message to explain where he would be, he knew she had the Kleins phone number so it shouldn't be a problem. Just to be sure he called Moira, his mother was under surveillance, she should know if she was alright. Now that he thought about it, he did not see the redhead or her motorcycle at school today.

He thought he would get on voice-mail again, but someone finally answered.

"Mage John Newman, I'm afraid Lady Brighton cannot talk to you at this time. She has more pressing matters to attend to," it took John a few seconds to recognize the voice of the woman talking to him.

"It is Lorelei right? I guess Moira is pretty busy. She had someone looking over my mother today, I can't reach her on her phone. I just wanted to know if everything was fine. Can you see anything?" he asked the blind seer, hoping that it wouldn't be taken as an offensive statement.

"I'm honoured that you remember me after only one meeting, people tend to barely notice me usually. Your mother is safe, last she was seen she was at the mall, shopping for underwear. My sight doesn't reach all places, but the wards we used are efficient. She hadn't been harmed and engaged in whatever she did of her own free will. Would this be enough of a reassurance?" she replied. The answer was just enough for John to guess exactly what was happening. His mother was in Felicity's back-room, but with whom? A total mystery.

"I hope Moira will prevail in whatever she is doing. Thank you for the information. I hope I can see you again soon. Always a pleasure dealing with the Order," he told her before hanging up.

John straddled his bike and began riding, he would ride about ten minutes and get to a tram station which would lead him directly to Anna's house.