-Kiera Cass

The infiltration of the Albidian base started off far smoother than John would have guessed. Thanks to Vallya and Layla, they were able to walk the streets in relative comfort, crossing the sidewalks between the parking ramp and the school as fast as they were able to walk, only slowing themselves enough to give Vallya and Layla time to evaluate the threats ahead of them.

The first detection spells began a full block out, a few runes embedded on the side of a building near a street corner. Moira and Layla both seemed to agree that the rune's composition meant it probably relayed details of those passing by to the Albidians - both mundane details like physical description and magical details like mana capacity or known associations. Easy work for Layla and Vallya to work around as they strolled by.

"All good so far, then?"

"It was a fairly simple rune," Layla explained. "I've seen it before. It's reliant on aura detection with a physical backup."

"I covered up our physical presence entirely for a brief moment," Vallay explained. "Little bit more intense than invisibility, but not too hard to do for quick bursts like that. Lay-Lay took care of the aura detection."

"Please refer to me as Layla," their aura-goddess half-whispered, sighing as they continued onward.

There were more checks as they got closer - some were embedded in the concrete, avoided as simply as by stepping over large chunks or semi-casually walking around them. The school had a few cameras on the exterior of the building but Layla said they didn't appear to have any magical elements, so the invisibility enchantment was sufficient.

"Seriously? Why wouldn't they have any magical components on major security elements? Seems like some kind of ploy," John said, not disbelieving of Layla's talents, but more their luck.

"Not necessarily," Moira noted. "It's possible that they've placed these kinds of runes all around the town at various points near intersections, so it wasn't obvious where their center was just by looking at the layout of the runes. Justifying or disguising a collection of seemingly mundane security cameras with magical components on one building could be more difficult. How certain are you that they have not hidden devices from your detection?"

"It would be… difficult and inefficient to enchant things so powerfully as to protect from aura readers at this distance and strength," Layla said, hesitating only a moment. "It is unlikely."

"How powerful are you, exactly?" Moira asked, sounding uncertain.

"Powerful enough that I trust her," John said, stepping in and stopping the conversation before any doubt could arise. "Keep quiet lest we draw attention or **** Vallya to use more magic to muffle our sounds. I see a ladder near the parking lot. See, around the backside? We can use that to get onto the roof."

The plan drew no objections, so they continued around the block, keeping a bit of distance and staying across the street from the school. Not only did it give them the excuse of crossing the street to avoid some runes, but it gave them a better view of the building. John, for his part, could scarcely tear his eyes away.

Such an innocent building, and otherwise completely unremarkable… How many mundane students walked into that school day after day, worrying about finals and standardized tests and what they were going to do for a living after college graduation? How many were like him, attending pre-college classes because they didn't even know for sure what they wanted to do for a degree? None with an idea of the horrors within. Nobody knowing that they could be sharing a classroom or a study hall with a cluster of prisoners, slaves, or **** victims. Had he done the same at Ashcroft? What went on in those halls he never knew about?

John didn't realize how dark his thoughts had become, how much he was imagining his own lovers suffering beyond his sight, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. John nearly jumped out of his skin until Vallya spoke.

"Are you alright, John? It's your turn up."

"I, uh- yeah, okay," John said, pretending that he hadn't just lost himself in thought. Pretending he had realized Moira had let go of his hand, though she sounded like she was already halfway up the ladder.

Pretending like he hadn't been halfway into imagining his hands wrapped around a man's throat whose face he couldn't even see, because he'd never even met him.

John hadn't heard anything about a spell, so he did the only thing he could - he looked straight up toward the ladder and jumped. John wasn't quite sure how well he'd function on his own - the last time he jumped that high, he was fused with Mithra - but his body carried him just fine, not only reaching but actually overshooting the lowest rungs, having to catch himself halfway up the ladder to stop himself from bashing his head in on one of the rungs… though considering his ever-increasing durability, he supposed it was more likely the ladder would be what suffered from the impact.

The metal didn't even move; John would have been surprised, but before he had a chance to marvel at the stability of the construction, the voice of Moira angrily hissed from above.

"Careful, John! They can't see us, but there's every chance they're analyzing footage for the movement of the building… you are fortunate that Vallya foresaw your ignorance and stabilized this ladder!"

"Don't worry, John," Vallya said, in a voice so happy John could almost feel a smile aimed at him, "I got your back!"

"I'm very glad to have you at my side, Vallya."

"Glad to be of service!"

"There's a hatch we could take into the second floor… probably a maintenance room," Moira said, pointing to a silver rectangle a few yards away from them as they regrouped. "Otherwise, we could go into the third floor. There's a doorway that likely leads into a maintenance room, or a ladder that may lead to nowhere in particular… Layla, what can you tell us about their positions?"

"I haven't detected anyone within the entire building that is within the physical realm who has enough magical power to belong to the Albidians. There are only seven presences within the building, and none of them have more mana than a newborn mage child," Layla said quietly, from somewhere to John's left. They were probably standing in roughly a circle, but had foregone handholding since the way up the ladder.

"So they're all in the Barrier itself… not surprising. We might not have to worry about any purely mundane detection measures, then. But let's not take any chances - treat any security measure as if it could detect us," Moira said, her voice coming from a few feet ahead of John.

"Yes, and the Barrier seems to go through the entire building. So where should we begin our search?" Layla asked.

"Moira, any thoughts on that?" John asked, eyeing the building. "Administrative rooms don't sound like the best prisoner holding cells off-hand, especially if it's some modern open-air office, but I'm not sure how much better classrooms would be."

"The Albidians are known for ****, **** trading, hostage-taking, extortion… anything they think they can turn to their advantage, they will attempt. The offices would be fairly ideal for short-term holding cells, given a proper guard…"

"I sense a 'but' coming on," John noted.

"…but," Moira emphasized, "they are far too small for the Albidians' ambitions. If they are truly making this place one of their more permanent bases, we should go toward the second or first floor locales most isolated from the rest. There will be hostages and captives… more than we know of off-hand. There could be mages and mundanes alike kept within these depths for purposes we may never know. John… you have to be prepared to leave without them. To rescue those you care most about and to leave the rest for the Order to save."

"Wait, how many people do you think they have?" John asked, his voice rising slightly. "If they have dozens or hundreds, we could stage some kind of jailbreak, we might-

"Their prisoners will be well-contained and well-restrained. Some may not be mages, many will be far weaker than you or I, newborn mages or specifically valuable targets with no combat prowess. There won't be a riot scenario we can enact, John… I'm just warning you. If it comes down to saving your family or dying with them, you have to be prepared to make that choice."

John didn't know what to say to that, so he just remained silent, considering the full implications of what Moira had just said. John had imagined rushing into a prison cell, with Seras and Lerianna and Mithra all rushing to greet him, then ushering all of them out through the Barrier walls, chased by the Albidians all the way. Fighting for their lives, of course, and being in danger every step of the way. Now, though, he was imagining instead that he found several cells, every bit as filled as the one holding his lovers, and with all of them begging for salvation… and having to leave all of them behind. Potentially to be used as hostages.

Potentially to be killed as loose ends, should the Albidians try to flee before the Order arrived…

John shook those thoughts from his head. He had to, or they would have consumed him. Right now between the tension of his group, the Shard trying to influence his emotional state, and the adrenaline pumping in his system, he couldn't afford any more lapses in concentration. So he shoved every dark thought that arose to the back of his mind. John repressed them as they **** open the door into the school's third floor. He shuttered them away as they descended the stairs toward the second floor, passing a mundane janitor who was none the wiser to the rescue mission only inches away from his body. He pretended they did not exist at all as they emerged onto the second floor's classroom hallway, and Layla prepared to **** their way into the Albidian's barrier.

"This is the moment the most could go wrong," Layla whispered, from only inches ahead of John. "I don't have much experience with Barriers, I'm a long way from a Fateweaver. I can tell there's a modification to this Barrier to **** anyone entering to the first floor, but not much more than that. I'll try to bypass it, but there's no telling what will happen. We could be denied entry, we could enter but set off alarms, or we could be teleported to the first floor, likely still alerting them… There are heavy enchantments to prevent escape, as well. I can bypass them, but it would take some time."

"I can focus on concealing us, but it's all about what happens during the transition," Vallya warned from John's right. "We need to be ready for whatever we face."

"John…"

Moira's voice came from John's left, and despite not being involved in the breaking and entering portion of the plan, she sounded the most concerned. John felt a gauntleted hand resting on his shoulder, a voice nearly as heavy as steel weighing on him.

"…If you will consider turning back, now is the time to do so. We risk a great deal by continuing further, and we have no idea if our mission will be successful or not. The Order is still hours away… if we-"

"If we activate any alarms, or if we are discovered, I swear to you we will retreat immediately, Moira," John swore, nodding even though he knew Moira could not see his invisible form. "If we enter this Barrier and are unable to leave, I will buy Layla enough time to get everyone out. Alone, if I have to. I won't let them hurt anyone else."

"I almost believe you," Moira said, sighing lightly.

"I do believe him!" Vallya said.

"Let's hurry up and get in there," John said, turning back towards Layla. "I'm tired of not being able to see you all."

"I'll begin now. Please, be ready."

The feeling of entering this Barrier was… different than others, somehow. John wasn't sure if it was his nerves or if it was the nature of breaking your way into a secured Barrier. John felt as if he was being pulled in several directions, and the waves that usually warped reality relatively seamlessly felt suddenly chaotic, as if recognizing him for the intruder that he was.

The world warped and fluttered around them, but when things came to, there were no shouts, nor any signs of immediate alarm. John couldn't see the looks on the faces of those around him, but he felt their hands as they slowly reached out and awkwardly fumbled to find his own.

"…No movement. Everyone is remaining in place. There are many traces of mana moving around, though. Hard telling what is normal and what could be an alarm."

"How many targets?" Moira whispered in response to Layla. Her arm slightly tugged on John as the Warden likely glanced around. John joined in, and noted that the school was partially unchanged - they were still in a long white hallway, the fading paint and chipped edges of cinder block walls surrounding them on both sides, with countless doors down the long side of the hallway, eventually leading to a t-intersection.

The differences that were there were quite stark. Steel doors were mounted where wooden ones once stood, with metal plates mounted over the glass panels beside the doors. No doubt all of them were enchanted or reinforced by some other methods, but that completely sealed off the rooms save for the tiny viewing holes, not even big enough to fit a hand through. Around them there was very little noise, and only the faintest sound of voices reached their ears… but for the moment, they were alone. Hopefully.

"Dozens. Maybe more. It's hard to say how many are enemies, though… there seem to be a lot of prisoners in the rooms here. I can't find Seras' aura right now, and I don't know either of the others who were captured, so we're going to have to search manually. They may have shielded the cells from detection to keep people from snooping."

"We have to be careful here," Vallya's voice warned, her hand tightening around John's. "Watch your sounds, and don't bump into anything."

"Stay as quiet as possible. Stick together. We'll search this floor and then re-evaluate," Moira ordered, slowly and gently pulling at the others. Though unable to hear the sound of footsteps, John's grip on Vallya and Moira's arms told him that they were travelling together - starting with the nearest classroom door.

The rooms were basically unaltered inside, except without any furniture, the floors and walls stripped to tile and cinder block, void of anything that could be used as a weapon, as a comfort, or even as entertainment. The few classrooms with windows had only black voids; the Barrier they were in had been intentionally shaped so that reinforcing the windows wasn't necessary - there was nowhere to go unless they could escape the Barrier, and if they could do that, they'd have already escaped. But the worst part of it were the prisoners.

What John saw shocked him the first time. The second time, it was abhorrent. The third time, it was terrifying. The fourth… it was only sickening. By the seventh it was merely vulgar.

By the twelfth he'd grown numb.

Every cell they approached told the same story, only in different ways. They moved through the hallways slowly, examining each cell in turn. Some were empty, most had one or two prisoners. All of them looked dead inside, unmoving and sitting idly while staring into space with dead eyes. One had what John could only assume was a mother and three of her children… and that man that John kept seeing everywhere now.

The same orange outfit, the same blade on his hip, standing in the corner, watching over them protectively, before glancing at John and disappearing once again. The more cells they inspected, the more the man seemed to appear. When he started walking alongside John, the Gamer had to remind himself that the only visible member of his group wasn't actually there.

He didn't dare voice the hallucinations to the others - if Moira thought he was losing it, she would drag him out of there even if she had to accept his offer to fight him to do so. John tried focusing on the prisoners to avoid his hallucinations, but that only made them worse as John's anger grew with each person he was **** to leave behind. People in dirty clothes looking resigned to a fate worse than ****.

Twice they had to avoid Albidians walking the hallways. The first time it was just a single man, likely patrolling, walking incredibly slowly through the halls, barely glancing into the cells. He passed quickly enough, and showed no signs of noticing them.

The second time it was a pair of workers, wearing **** collars around their necks like some of the prisoners - they were going door to door, casting a spell on the doors that caused them to silently swing open, then tossing food and water bottles into the cells. No one ever tried to escape the open door. John wondered how many had learned from others… or how many had been killed for trying. John and his friends moved around the pair while they were focused on a cell, avoiding bumping into them and letting the two continue with their duties.

They kept their eyes on the pair until they were several cells down the hallway, not daring to speak until they were out of normal earshot, even with Vallya working on muffling their sounds. But when they finally did…

"This is getting dangerous. Layla, how many more cells do you think there are?" Moira whispered tersely.

"Two more hallways have a reasonable number of auras… some of it may be living quarters, though. There are only a few auras above or below this floor, but perhaps they have special cells?"

"Unlikely. They would've needed more prep time. These cells are heavily enchanted; this metal would take great effort even for my hammer to break through. Which raises the question of how we get inside before this floor is swarmed."

"I should be able to get us in," Vallya whispered, with joy obvious in her voice. "I studied what those little dorks were doing when they opened the door - seems pretty simple to repeat!"

"Famous last words," Moira said dryly, but added nothing more.

They continued on, checking cell after cell of hopeless prisoners now begrudgingly feasting on the "bounty" they had been gifted. It was halfway down the second hallway when John finally saw something that lifted his spirits. In a cell all by herself sat Mithra, shivering in a corner. John had a brief glimmer of hope that perhaps Lerianna and Seras would be tucked into another corner, but seeing how scared Mithra was, he doubted they would be leaving her alone on her own side of the room.

"There she is," John whispered as he leaned a little closer to the door, almost touching it as he tried to contain his excitement.

"John is that… a cat-girl? Did they experiment on her body, or was this some kind of fetish of yours?" Layla asked, sounding… oddly less judgmental than John would've expected from such an accusation. "And her aura…"

"Time to explain that later, Layla," John said quickly. "And I swear I'll be happy to go into as much detail as you want for what you've done for me today. Can we get in?"

"Mmm, gonna be rough," Vallya said, sighing. "They've got enchantments to detect the number of people in there, at least I think that's what I'm feeling."

"It's powerful, too," Layla added quietly. "I've felt it in every cell. They probably have a way of attuning the cell to the prisoner so that they can tell if someone different is in there, or if the prisoner leaves… I can hide us, but if we take her out of here, they'll immediately know, and we still haven't found the other two."

"Could we re-route the enchantment? Give it a kind of feedback loop?"

"That's… actually just crazy enough to work," Vallya said. "I figured out the door spell, but this one's a bit more complex. No way I can re-route it to detect itself - the system runs off a mana structure running through all these cells, that's how the enchantment stays active and powers itself. We'd need another target… or at least something that it thinks is a target. I think I've got a plan, John. Just get her to the door."

"I can do that," John said, nodding - a gesture he had to remind himself, again, was useless.

Vallya stood to the door and placed a palm on it, and a glistening pink rune showed up almost identical to the one they'd seen earlier. The door popped open gently, silently, hinged either by magic or some fantastic oil. Mithra looked up from her corner, having not even touched the food or water still lying near the center of the cell, but when she saw nothing, her ears perked up slightly. All of them stepped into the cell together slowly, gathering just inside and scoping the room's full interior out. As John thought, Mithra was alone.

"She can't see me," John whispered, edging closer. The sound of his voice made Mithra flinch, backing away toward the wall. John froze, wondering if she thought she was crazy, or hallucinating.

"Vallya, can you-"

"On it. No cameras in here, right Layla?"

"Nothing I can find. So long as his aura remains concealed, he'll be alright."

With that John's flesh faded back into view in an instant, causing Mithra to jump. John grinned at her and held his arms out, welcoming the captured Neko back to him as warmly as he could.

"Come on, Mithra, let's get you out of here."

Mithra stood for a long moment, eyes locked on John. Then she mewled, an adorable sound…

Then she hissed.

Mithra pressed herself up and into the cinder block wall so hard it straightened her spine out, growling and hissing. John felt his heart plummet, looking at her face as she regarded him with sheer terror, trying to get as far away as she could from him. There was no recognition in her eyes, and as he inched closer to her, her hissing only grew louder.

"Mithra, what's wrong, why are you-"

-12 HP!

"Fuck!" John swore as she swiped at him, drawing blood as her claws struck flesh. John pulled back at last, literally and emotionally wounded. "Mithra, what's going on?! Are you-"

Mithra's hissing started to grow even louder, so loud John was worried if it rose up any higher even Vallya wouldn't be able to hide them were anyone nearby to hear. But before that could happen, Mithra's body jolted as something clearly struck her upside the head, silencing her cries and sending her body toppling over sideways. John froze, staring at her fallen body, arms outstretched as if to help her, even as his flesh once again faded into invisibility. Moira’s voice came from just ahead of him, revealing her as the one to deal the knockout blow.

"John… they may have her under some kind of a spell. An illusion spell, or a memory alteration, or-"

"She didn't hate me," John said, after forcing his jaw closed again. A tear trailed down his face, invisible but impossible not to feel as he blinked away several more. "It was like… she didn't even recognize me. And she was terrified of me as a stranger. Mithra didn't always like meeting new people as much as Maera, but… she wasn't terrified."

The man was there again. He had been gone since the moment John spotted Mithra, but here he was, knelt beside John. His face was dark, expression grim… eyes glowing just like John's.

"John, I know this hurts," Moira said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "but we need to keep moving. Can you send her back? We can't carry her out of here, especially if the others…"

"The others, right," John said, wiping his eyes quickly as he stepped forward. "Vallya, new plan. I'm going to Warp her back instead of her walking out with us. Should be easier on you and Layla too, one less person to conceal. I'll do it on three, are you ready for your plan?"

"Sure am!"

"Alright then. One, two, and three!"

John activated his Summoner's Warp and Mithra vanished. At the same instant… Vallya appeared in the cell, smirking widely as she waved a few fingers at John from the corner where the Neko had been a moment ago.

"We can't leave you behind!" John exclaimed quietly.

"That's not me." Vallya's voice came from directly behind John, outside the doorway. "I have a couple illusion spells designed for low-level magic aura imitation… it's not perfect, won't last forever, buttttt it should buy us a few more minutes to finish combing this hallway! I’ll disguise it too before we leave, just in case they swing by before we’re out."

"I haven't felt any changes in the mana structure of this place, and I don't feel anyone rushing toward us… but we should move quickly. The aura difference is subtle but I can feel it. They will too, in time,” Layla warned.

With Mithra safe - although far from sound - John and his group continued down the hallways, searching for his remaining two creations. They didn't have to look too far. Two more empty rooms away, they spotted another cell, this one with something the others didn't have - a dented door. Dented from the inside. In fact, the door was nearly buckled entirely, hanging from only one hinge. The cell was empty, of course, but Seras and Lerianna wouldn't likely have left Mithra alone if they had made an escape. They were still here.

Around the next corner from that cell, they finally stumbled across Lerianna. Unlike Mithra she didn't seem afraid, but she wasn't much better - she was curled up into a ball in the corner of the room fairly close to the door, hands wrapped around her knees with her gaze locked firmly on the tiles of the floor, unmoving. She was too reminiscent by far of the dead-eyed stares of the other prisoners in this place… what had happened to her in less than six hours to wind up like this?

"Vallya, open the door, quickly!"

"On it. Same plan as before?"

"Yeah, I think she's doing better than Mithra at least!"

Lerianna's long, white ears twitched at their voices - apparently her rabbit ears were sharp enough to catch the noise even through Vallya's enchantments, particularly as the Star Guardian shifted her focus to the spell. This one was even cleaner, fully opening the door with a quick cast. Lerianna sat up straighter, eyes locked onto the doorway.

"Wh-who's there?! You know what happened last time!"

"Lerianna, it's me. Vallya, the-"

"Already on it."

John became visible once again, a sensation that still left him with an odd sense of imbalance. Unlike Mithra, Lerianna was immediately upon him, before he could even say anything, launching herself with her powerful legs directly into his arms and clasping hers so tightly around John it knocked the air out of him and nearly made him stumble back out the door.

"Lerianna, thank god you're okay. They did something to Mithra, really fucked her up in the head… but we're going to get you out of here, okay? I promise," John said, smiling. "We already got Mithra out."

"John, I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I tried, I really did," Lerianna said, now openly weeping. John was so grateful to see the normally standoffish rabbit-girl so happy to see him, all he could do was gently shush her and run his hand through her hair, holding her tightly to him as she shivered with relief, being careful to keep the blade in his hand from accidentally rubbing against her.

"Vallya, are you ready to do the swap again?"

"…Uh… y-yes! Yes, I'm ready, John, on three, right?!"

"Are you okay, Vallya?" John asked, half turning back to face them. She sounded outright panicked. Before he could turn his head, Moira was standing there suddenly - visible again for some reason, and looking disturbed. Her grip on his shoulder was like iron, though the hand she placed against his face was so gentle he barely felt the steel of her armor against his skin. Two more sets of hands were pressed against him from behind, palms flat against his back and rubbing very gently… Layla’s?

"John, listen to me very, very carefully," Moira said, lifting her hand off his shoulder to cup his face with both hands. "The Order will be here in less than three hours. We are going to go back to your world, together, right now - you told me you have left from Barriers before, that it didn't seem affected. We're all touching you, we're all ready. You need to take us away now, before we get caught."

"What? No, I'm not leaving yet, we still have to find Seras."

"John, please listen to me. If you trust me… if you believe in me as a friend, as an ally, as someone proud to stand by your side, you will do this. Take us away, right now. I would not betray you. You will understand why, I promise. This is the only way."

"Moira… what the hell has gotten into you?"

Moira was so close to him that all he could see was her face, especially since she was holding his head in place. The Warden was clearly trying to stay strong, but Moira… she was crying. Moira Brighton was actually crying. He hadn't even seen her cry when she confessed how she'd been captured and allowed the Albidians to use her as a hostage… chills started to run down John's spine. A primal fear, an anticipation beyond terror filling his body.

"What the fuck is going on, Moira? You tell me right now, what's-"

John tried to turn his head to glance back at the others and the doorway, see what had arrived to change things so suddenly, but Moira very specifically held his head as tightly as she could, and stepped over to stay in his vision. John reacted physically, even as she continued to plead with him, trying to wriggle free.

"John, please, I beg of you - take us away, and I promise you will thank me later, I'm doing this for you, John! I'm trying to-"

John gave up trying to "politely" overpower the Warden. He Siphoned as much Strength as he could from Lerianna with her still in his arms, planted his palm on Moira's chest plate, and gave the most powerful shove he could. Moira was caught off-guard and stumbled away, losing her balance and toppling over with a great clatter of metal. John nearly apologized, but instead he started to glance around, growing more worried at her behavior.

"Now what the fuck are you trying to-"

John's eyes widened and his pupils contracted as he at last saw the far wall of the room. His sword, held so tightly in his hand until now, clattered to the floor as his grip failed him. His jaw dropped and he followed closely as his legs buckled, sending him to his knees in an instant. Lerianna stepped back as he stumbled into her, and her hands and Layla’s behind him were the only things that kept him from falling even further.

"No…. no, no, no, no, no…" John said, voice hoarse. He wanted to shout, wanted to scream that word so loudly that he could reject reality itself, but his voice only came out as the barest whisper.

"Please, no," John squeaked, voice cracking as his throat quivered and the tears started again, burning their way down his face uncontrollably.

"…Seras…"