-William Blake

John stormed through the front doors of the Manor at a striking pace, Sophia in lockstep behind him. Vallya had remained behind, guarding the world just in case something unpredictable happened, and always a quick Summoner's Warp away if things went south. Moira was already waiting at the front of the Manor, holding a stern stance but with a face that could not even attempt to hide her emotions. She didn't try to hide them in her words either.

"John, I'm sorry, this was all my fault."

"How the fuck did they get the stone?" John shouted, gesturing around him to the Manor. "I specifically gave it to Tricia because I thought this place was safe! You're strong, Moira, and you said your father was damn near strong enough to take the whole Albidian Society himself!" Moira’s lip quivered only slightly at John’s ****, but she responded without hesitation.

"I received a call. They had a recording of your voice, and they used it to make me think you were in danger. I should have been more cautious, I should have waited, but I was worried for you, and I thought your life was indanger. We… we think they got your voice recorded, edited, and altered with the aid of a technomancer. They did it when Lady Arista called you."

"God fucking damn it, I can’t believe this!" John shouted.

"John, they used me as a hostage to **** my father's hand… they tried to… they tried to take the Rose, and when they couldn't, they used me as live bait, poisoned me and only gave my father the antidote in exchange for the stone. I tried to tell my father to let me die… but he refused a direct order."

John narrowed his eyes at Lord Brighton, who was standing by her side unmoving. His face was far sterner than hers, unreadable… but the way he stood, and the way his hands were clasped around one of the Order's blades made John think there were some powerful emotions going through him as well. Hadn't he said once that disobeying a Warden was something even he refused to do? Sophia seemed to bristle particularly at that comment, though John chalked that up to her obedience to her "father" above all else.

"I'm sorry, John. I was reckless, and I take full responsibility for everything that has transpired. Tell me what happened to your world."

"I- they… they captured three of them. Three members of my family. Lerianna, Seras, and Mithra."

"They captured Seras? John I'm-"

"Apologies don't mean shit right now," John said bitterly. "What the fuck are we going to do about this?"

John spat those words with eyes alight with anger… literally. He'd noticed the light in the rearview mirror on the return trip here… a glow that fluctuated between golden and red hues, altering brightness and intensity as it played along his irises. The shard was fluctuating between 80% and 95% activation constantly and the heat in his veins kept John's focus razor sharp. He wasn't sure if Moira could see the glow from this distance or not, unable to tell if her hesitance was reading his bloodlust or from her own guilt.

"The Albidians are difficult to track," Lord Brighton said, voice terse as he finally broke his silence. "We've never found a single one of their bases in all our years investigating them. We sent out some of our best Knights to follow after they left, but they destroyed all of our vehicles on their way out to prevent direct chase, so they're travelling on foot. Whether by magic or by vehicle, the Albidians will likely be long gone before they even realize they are being tailed."

"We have to find them! Don't you have a tracking spell? Some way for us to follow them? Surely you must have been able to pull it off. Throw a tracker on him when you handed him the stone, or something!"

"The exchange of the stone and Moira was run through a third-party called the Violet Ledger; they're well-known international mercenaries with special teleportation spells that handle situations like this. They're the equivalent of an Abyssal escrow service… often for people. They ensure that in the event of a hostage situation or a prisoner exchange, both sides satisfy their full terms of the agreement before sending the-"

"There's a fucking organization who only deal with hostage situations and fucking prisoners of war?" John said, exasperated. "By fucking Gaia, Moira, you were right - this world is fucked up."

"I'm sorry, John," Moira said, repeating the only words she seemed to be able to start a sentence with now. "This world, this Abyss… it's a cursed world. Corrupted beyond comprehension, tainted beyond understanding. But we can make one small part of it right today. John, they escaped us once because of my foolishness, but we will do everything that we can to find them. Not a knight will rest until-"

"You know, I think… I think I know someone who can find them," John said quietly.

"You do? John, their concealment spells are incredible. I've asked Kim to inspect the Manor, but they are excellent at wiping away all magical traces that could be used to track them, even to an aura reader of her skill.”

"…Yeah. I think I might know someone who's better."

"Lay-Lay, you min' grabbin' me the seasoning? Forgotta grab it an' my hands are filthy," Tessa called over her shoulder, continuing to slice her way through the evening's chicken.

"Sure thing," Layla said, smiling a little as she strode into the kitchen and grabbed Tessa's "secret spice" shaker. She teasingly refused to tell Layla what was in it to this day, even though she insisted on using it as often as she could - even on pasta night. Layla didn't recognize the taste, but it definitely was not Italian.

"You're a dam' fine woman," Tessa said, leaning over for a kiss as Layla dumped some of the spice onto Tessa's prep board. Layla smiled and leaned in, giving her lover one soft kiss.

"Don't accidentally cut yourself because of me, I don't-"

Layla trailed off as her phone began going off, the generic Nokia tones throwing her for a loop. She stepped back from Tessa to check who was calling - and her heart fought between skipping a beat and hammering in her chest as she noticed the call was from John. He only ever texted her, normally - what had brought this call on, and at this time of day?

"Who's tryin' to steal ya attention away, Lay?" Tessa said, chuckling a little at her own rhyme, still chopping away at her chicken.

"Hello? This is Layla Viorica," she said, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible.

"Layla, something terrible has happened. We were attacked by the Albidians. I need to meet with you as soon as possible."

"Are you alright?" Layla asked, biting her lip as she held back the worry from her voice.

"No, I'm… I'm not. But I'm not hurt. They took some of my friends. I need your help. I think you're the only one that can find them."

"I mean, it does sound serious… do you…" Layla trailed off, unable to justify asking if there was anyone else. John was a powerful mage, with a very powerful aura. Powerful, succulent, maddening… a part of her wanted to dash out of the house right then just to be around it. Getting to see him on the occasional coffee date - and yes, she had to admit now that they were dates, if only in her mind - wasn't enough anymore. How many times had she found herself drifting off in the middle of the day, or even when out with Tessa, imagining the feel of that glorious… pounding mana pouring over her?

Though even that was better than the times she pictured it while pulsing to orgasm…

"Layla, I know this is short notice, and I know you barely know me, but I wouldn't ask this if it wasn't a real emergency. Please, I need your help, Layla. I need you."

Had he really said those words, or had her mind filled them in? She couldn't tell, because they were ringing around in her skull too loudly for her to hear any other thought. Layla only just now noticed that Tessa had finally stopped her cutting, to turn and look worriedly at Layla over her shoulder. Layla was breathing heavily and she hadn't even realized it.

"Lay-Lay? Something wrong? Is it the Academy? Oh, don't tell me they're getting ready to move."

"It's not the Academy," Layla whispered, then turned into the phone again. "I'll be there. Where can I meet you?"

"I don't know where you live. Meet me outside the marketplace, I'm sure you'll be able to find me."

"I will always find you," Layla said as she hung up the phone, only realizing she'd spoken the words out loud when Tessa quirked an eyebrow at her and started to look a little more annoyed.

"Lay, who's the new frien'?"

"I have to go. It's an emergency," Layla said, her mind momentarily too overwhelmed to come up with a good way to justify her words and her sudden exit.

"Wha- you're leavin'? Just li'e that? It's pasta nigh'!" Tessa called out, going back to mild annoyance as she realized her cooking was going to wind up in a leftover container instead of a happy belly.

"I know. I'm sorry, it's serious."

"Wait, then mayb’ I should come with you? Lay-Lay, don't you be runnin' off into dang'r withou' me-"

"I'm sorry, I need to go. Please keep the food ready, you know I love your cooking!"

Layla wanted to call out that she loved Tessa…

…but the words stung of a lie, a little more each day, as she ran out the door and into the streets. If she loved Tessa, how could she do this to her? If she loved Tessa…

What in Gaia’s name was this new feeling?

"Thank you for coming, Layla," John said, glancing around. A hundred yards or so away from the barrier for the marketplace, he'd created a private barrier using a furniture store as cover.

"Sorry to meet you under these circumstances. I'm Moira Brighton. Thank you for coming on such short notice," Moira said, reaching out her gauntleted hand. Layla looked at the offered hand for a second too long before reaching out to take it, narrowing her eyes. Layla had been acting a bit off-puttingly hostile compared to her normal self… ever since she noticed Moira. John wasn’t sure why she seemed to not trust the Order, but given what he had seen of their less generous sides, he was willing to forgive it.

"Layla," the lithe woman said as she pulled her hand back quickly, not offering a last name. "John, what exactly happened? You had me worried to ****."

"Albidians showed up at… my home," John said, finding himself suddenly short on trust after the day's events. He had thought about revealing things to Layla, but with Sophia as his only companion for the moment, he didn't have to reveal his creations or world yet. He’d worry about that when they rescued his family. "They captured some of my friends. They assaulted the Order too. I'm trying to find them to rescue my friends. We don't know what they're going to do with them, exactly, but they didn't kill them, so they're probably holding them somewhere around here."

"Oh my, the Albidians? John, I'm so glad you're okay," Layla said, throwing herself forward and locking her arms around John with a powerful hug. John was a little taken aback by the sudden affection, but he couldn't bring himself to pull Layla away. Moira raised an eyebrow as the contact went on a little too long, but Layla did eventually pull herself away… though John's eyes widened a little as he noticed her legs were shaking and her eyes were closed shut tightly. Layla took several seconds of heavy breathing before she was able to crack her eyes open, though she still wobbled a little.

"I'm so sorry. I have had… experience with the Albidians before. They hurt someone I cared about," Layla explained, averting her eyes. John softened immediately, trying his best to offer a smile but finding the expression oddly unnatural at the moment.

"I'm sorry. Let's get some **** on the fuckers today… can you help me find them? We save my friends and we fucking destroy them."

Layla was still holding onto the oak kitchen table they were standing nearby to steady herself, but she adjusted her stance to look a little closer at John. Leaning in, she got nearly as close as she had been while hugging John, staring into his eyes all the while.

"John, did something happen? Your aura feels very different, and your eyes…"

"I, uh, remember how you told me my aura felt different than others? It's… gotten more powerful. And my anger is kind of setting it off."

It wasn't technically a lie; the Shard was definitely more activated at the moment than Layla had ever been around for before. Thankfully, unlike the singular incident with Willow, most of John's repeated meetings with Layla at the tea shop were pretty uneventful. But now? He couldn't even hide the change from himself, much less a skilled aura reader.

"I see…" Layla didn't seem to want to say too much. Either she was suspicious or she didn't want to comment more in front of Moira. John was starting to feel a strange tension between the two of them, mostly from Layla, but he didn't have enough time or enough energy to deal with that.

"Listen, how well can you track auras? You told me your abilities were advanced beyond normal. These Albidians are good at-"

"If you have a sample from one of them, I can track it," Layla said bluntly, unhesitatingly. John stuttered for a moment before composing himself.

"I have… something. It's not pretty, though."

John opened his inventory and deposited the only thing he had from the **** - the smoldering corpse of one of the slain Albidians. The burned body appeared on the table a moment later, eliciting a gasp from Moira. Layla blinked a few times but seemed mostly… unfazed?

"That's… definitely something," Layla said, narrowing her eyes as she started to weakly walk around the table. "It looks like your storage might have preserved the body somewhat… that's fortunate. The aura is stronger than an aged body would be. I can get a good imprint from this, and… actually, there are multiple magical traces here. At least three."

"He was executed by a spell," Moira chimed in, drumming her fingers along the table. "It's something we've known about for a while; the only members of the Albidian Society to ever be captured always died before they could be interrogated, sometimes even before they had fully given up the fight. The extra traces of mana are likely from his executioner, which might well be the leader himself."

"In that case…" Layla closed her eyes for a few moments, not moving but clearly focusing. She didn't open them again until nearly a full minute had passed, but when she did, she turned to John and nodded intensely.

"If the trail is less than a week old, I will be able to follow it."

"It's under an hour," John breathed, hardly able to believe his fortune. A smile touched his face, the feeling nothing short of pure ecstasy.

"Then what are we waiting for? I’m here for you, John, whenever you want me," Layla said, smiling right back at him.

"I'll contact the Moon Clan, and the Forgotten Legion," Moira said immediately, phone already in-hand. "We will trace them down, and when we find them, the full might of Springfield's most powerful factions will fall upon them. Mark my words, John Newman… we will rescue them. We will wipe our enemies from the earth for this, and all their other sins too. The Albidians will pay for what they have done."

"Yes," a primal voice within John's soul echoed. "Yes, they absolutely fucking will. Whatever happens, they will pay."