//------------------------------// // Chapter III: Home, and how they worry // Story: Pump Fiction // by NetherWalker //------------------------------// Luna sucked in as much air as she could, letting it go through her teeth as she sat up In her bed, eyes wide and brimmed with tears. "I take it, it didn't go well." Discord said removing his hands from their position over Luna, his power ceasing its transfer. He sighed as Luna merely shook her head, "Figures." "Luna, what did she say? You did not do as planned, I was worried." Celestia looked at her sister with concern, her brow knitted into a delicate furrow. Though, despite this, Luna was sure she caught a sliver of panic in her voice. It was... Disconcerting. "It was as we thought, Twilight is separated from... the others. Though she claims... there are two souls accompanying her, she knows not who they are." Luna said, holding back her tears, "There is worse news..." "Oh?" Discord took a breath, covering his face with a hand before putting on a small, exhausted half smile, "Do tell, what could possibly make this worse?" "Windego." Luna spat the word out, her voice practically oozing venom. "I open my fat mouth!" Discord said, throwing his hands into the air before balling them into fists, "Just what did we go and do to deserves this, it's the worst, possible, thing!" He proceeded to slump onto a disheveled old red couch, throwing an arm over his eyes, only for the couch to collapse under his weight. "Discord!" Celestia stomped the ground with a hoof, the shock of it enough to bounce Discord up off the ground, trailing broken wood and ripped velvet, "This is no time to play the clown! Be serious! I would remind you that Twilight is your friend as well." Discord grit his teeth, breathing deeply. "Serious? Serious!?" He brought himself face to face with Celestia, eyes starring wildly into her unflinching gaze, "Princess! I'm surprised! We all deal with stress differently, and being unpredictable isn't easy. You think I can afford to drop character for even a moment?" He turned, walking to the window of the room and staring out into the early morning, "Though. If you worry I'm not taking this seriously..." He paused, balling his claws into fists, he flashed her a grin, Something about that smile was off to Luna, and she had a hard time imagining it meant anything good, but Celestia carried on, turning from Discord with a rare show of contempt and walking from the room without a second glance. "I hope you do Discord." Eyes mere slits as she stalked from the room, she offered neither farewell nor apology as she slammed the door behind her. "So," Luna said, staring after her departed Sister, her grief rolling away as she forced her will to take its place, "I assume you have a plan to catch our culprit?" Discord nodded, stroking his beard as he looked after Celestia's wake. "Are you so certain this was a malevolent action?" She asked, setting her jaw. "Come on now Luna, we all felt it!" Discord narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Someone or something has been tampering with old, old magic. The kind that summons seas of blood, celestial collisions, undead hordes, replacing our number system with base-24. We are talking about the apocalypse here!" "And yet," Luna pressed her hoof to her chin, eyes closing and the gears behind spinning, "No such signs, no such catastrophe... All to be used against the bearers of harmony, and not even to great effect... I can't help but wonder-" Discord rolled his eyes and slithered his way to her, quietly, slowly. Carefully, he made to grab her shoulders, then striking like a cobra, he lifted the surprised Princess off her hooves and, in a instant, slammed her into a chair. Shocked out of her thoughts, Luna held Discord's name on the edge of her tongue, ready to shout loud as she ever could, till she centered her focus on the cork-board he had summoned. Scrawled across it's surface were line after line of yarn, and on occasion, wire and silly string, mashed together in a confusing jumble of crisscrossing lines, strange geometric patterns, and what looked like a paragraph regarding the chaotic power of cheese stuck In one corner. Though it was a mess, one pattern prevailed above the Discordian jumble, the single picture of Twilight Sparkle in the center, all strings coming to rest beneath it, and twenty or so other portraits that the strings attached seemed to lead to, though it was kind of hard to tell, the whole thing being an utter mess and all. Discord sprang from the ground, his face, for once in his life, stoic. "Luna, I would like to present you with my list of suspects!" Among the gathered portraits were many faces Luna didn't recognize, but a few stood out as familiar. "Is that the one known as Derpy?" Stoic facade forgotten, Discord looked confused for a moment, before he looked back at the board. "Ah, sorry, let me just," he very quickly plucked the picture from its position, "Forgot to remove that one." Luna's raised brow prompted further explanation, and Discord provided, "See, ever since that timely incident with Strobelight Dribbler-" "Starlight." "Whatever," Discord proceeded to trace the lines with his claw, talking as he did, "I've been keeping tabs on anyone and everyone that might pose a 'significant' threat to our little heroines. Not to brag," He said, flashing a smile in the Princess's direction, "But I've probably put more effort into this than I have in just about..." He scrunched his nose, "Actually, never mind. Now, back to the topic! Diamond Dogs, Lind Worms, Ghouls, the Aegis Ogres, Ancient blood Dragons, and so on, these are the obvious threats, they're defined, they have rules they play by, some even have codes of honor. And so, they are... predictable." He smacked his paw to the nearest portrait, a sneering Thestral bound in chains and stuck in a line up, "Ponies tend to be a... little more complex than the average super-mook, you can't just magic zap every one of 'em into submission for one, as for two," He took a sip out of a flask Luna swore hadn't been in his hand a moment ago, "They can wreak just as much chaos, Moon Cruiser, know him?" Luna sighed. "By reputation only." "Puh-Leeeese Lulu!" Discord said, "We both know you were more involved than that!" He curled his lips in a fanged smile, "You took him down after all." Though Luna should have been expecting it, the lance of shock that shot through her still took a moment to reign in. It was Discord after all, what else could be expected of him? ... Though if he knew about that... She shook the thought off as soon as it tried to take root, now was not the time to worry after her... secrets, she had someone else to worry about. "Fine," She said, twitching her tail in annoyance, "I felt responsible." Now It was Discord's turn to reign in the shock. "Oh, wow, not even a denial. Okay. Going to have to push up the timetables." He grunted awkwardly as he fluttered about with note cards Luna refused to question the existence of, "Well, then, I'm sure you don't need reminding what he intended to do?" Luna nodded, willing him to finally get to the point with a hard stare. "Well, turns out, he wasn't as alone as we thought." He moved his paw to the next picture as something caught in Luna's throat, a bulky Earth Pony stallion drinking a coffee, almost looked like a promotional picture for Moonbucks. If it were not for the daggers the stallion was staring at the camera, "Bulk Sale, unassuming business pony, family man, crime-boss, the police had vetted him, released him without suspicion of any wrongdoing. Never realized they had the biggest boss in the city dropped into their hooves till I brought him back to the main station, along with the deeds and addresses of every warehouse and smuggling operation he had even a sliver of a fraction of stock in." Discord let out a small, dry, chuckle, "He was in on Moon Cruisers plot, wasn't just in on it, he supplied all the equipment." His chuckle escalated to a harsh laugh, "Evidently, he resented the Apple family for forcing his agricultural ventures in Ponyville to bed before they'd even got started! Petty bastard." By this point, Luna was working the lump out of her throat. Moon Cruiser was a cultist of Nightmare moon, devout, cunning, ruthless. And when Twilight and her friends had... released her from the Nightmare's grip, Moon blamed the elements, and two years ago he had nearly succeeded in both assassinating Twilight, and resurrecting his master. That incident had been the reason behind the Tantabus' creation. And, much to her everlasting embarrassment, why she was missing during the wedding of her niece. Of course, she'd thought the matter over with, an adventure for the books, certainly, but all consequences were dealt with. Or so she had assumed. Foolish! Did we truly think he had managed to gather all that summoning equipment alone!? The full implications of this were not lost on her. Whether as members of the Cult called Evermoon, or simply individuals seeking vengeance for themselves, every pony present of Discord's board, every last one were out to kill the elements, and she had missed it. "I'm sure you've already come to understand the ramifications of this," Discord said, bringing his captive audience of one back to attention. "I like to call them the 'Elements of petty vengeance'. Twenty-seven ponies in all, from all walks of life, beholden to different ideologies and beliefs," He raised his lips in a snarl, "Somehow managed to band together for one purpose, to-" "How many are accounted for?" Luna asked, seemingly unabashed by her interruption, much to Discord's irritation, "Are you keeping tabs on them? Were are they? Why didn't you tell us sooner!?" Her questions begged no argument, so, Discord gave her his answer. "At this moment, Ten are in custody of Equestria's finest, seven are imprisoned for unrelated crimes, six more are being followed, one is under my personal watch, and three are unaccounted for. And I didn't tell you because you had enough on your plate, I thought I could handle it... I was wrong." He deposited three of the photos at the Princess' hooves, "The Unicorn, Specter, always clever. She caught on to me." Discord sighed, "She was new to the cabal, so I underestimated her. Turns out, there was a very good reason I'd never heard of her before. Because there was no reason I should have, no way for me to know just how many crimes the girl has committed. She's a total ghost, only incident that I can confidently say she's responsible for is the Kronosus heist." "This-This can't be!" "I know right?" Given what he'd been focused on, it wasn't an unfair assumption to make, but the sudden magical grip on his ears made sure that assumption was soon corrected. "Not that!" Luna Pointed her hoof at one photo in particular, "I had thought Twilight dealt with these!" "Ah, yes, that one," Discord said, still held tightly by the grip of the Princess, "Was just getting around to that. Evidently, a few had escaped, I'd been hearing rumors of them in far off places... but... Luna?" Discord looked around, finding his ears released and his Princess gone. "Oh for Pete's sake Luna, I wasn't finished!" And with that, he chased off after her into the twisting halls of the castle. He'd failed her. All he could do was watch. Beyond the shield, the creatures swarmed and tumbled over each other like filthy black maggots, staining the snow with every touch. He hadn't payed enough attention, somewhere so close to safety, the travois had broken apart, leaving the unicorn to the wolves. That failure was bitter, It was almost indescribable. His was a family of soldiers... Military was tradition. It surprised even himself when he had declined service, perhaps it was a wise decision. Because If this was the way he felt, failing someone he cared about out of obligation, he wouldn't have lasted a second on the battlefield. He wanted to turn away, so badly... But he couldn't, for one, he had to confirm. He hadn't seen anything substantial yet. Nothing to tell him... To move on. A sudden jolt in his chest told him to run. Not away. But towards her. Even as he watched the ice break apart like brittle glass at these creatures' passing. He tried to shout himself down, to inject some sanity into himself. Nothing could survive that, the way they swarmed where she was... No way. He'd already taken his first step. This echoed through his mind even as he crossed it, watching, almost without fear as the shadows took notice. He was fully through now, feet away from both danger and safety, life and death... He could hear Twitch, shouting his name still. Not his name... Aurora's name. He stopped, his steady pace halted by a sudden familiar feeling. A faint little push... A heartbeat later, Alan's world turned to white. He blinked it away rapidly, quickly finding the searing white fade into a soft purple glow, he looked ahead, back at the black ball of hatred only to find it replaced by a little purple unicorn, broken wings trying as hard as they could to look graceful and majestic as they and their master remained affixed above the ground. Torrents of purple miasma flowed from her horn, her eyes shown, lit like fire. Relief flooded him, though it didn't quench the anger. No, his anger finally died when she exploded. Where there was once a torrent, now spewed a geyser, the release of power rocketed into the sky, illuminating the area for miles. The cold icy dread returned as the lights of the unicorn's power faded, and she weakly collapsed, the ground embraced her with a wheeze. He had seen them, thousands, the unicorn had stunned them, perhaps even killed the ones that had gotten to her first. But they were there, slowly fading out of sight as the pillar of light receded into the sky. It was... Insurmountable, but even so, he stepped forward, and the screeching began. Such a cacophony was death, it should have been. And yet, with each step, the pain wore away, even as the noise grew. Was it bravado? Courage? Something in between? Alan knew, for once in his life he knew. Much to his own chagrin. He reached her just as she opened her eyes, slowly bringing them up to meet his. He smiled, watching her weary stare manifest the signs of panic, flicking to the sides, her breathing becoming erratic. "Breath!" He yelled, catching her attention once more, his smiled held in place purely by the need. "Can you stand?" She tried to speak, but the noise drowned it out, her eyes shot wild and wide as the shadows grew, threatening to send her into a panic, "Hey!" Once more she focused on him, her eyes now shimmering. "We're going to be fine! Just focus, I need you to stand!" She shook her head, and once again mouthed something unintelligible. "I need you to trust me! Try! Try as hard as you can," He breathed heavy, as he felt his spine tingle with the touch of something foreign, even still, he smiled, "Stand!" Alan couldn't help but feel pride as the shaking subsided, and steel finally began to form in her eyes, she nodded, and with great effort, began to heave herself from the ground. With speed fueled by dread and adrenaline, he ducked beneath the space between the unicorn and the ground, rolling her onto his back and making a mad dash for the shield. Don't you dare let it go! He skidded to a halt on the other side, collapsing as his heart and legs finally gave out. And for moments, sweet blessed moments, there was silence. "OH MY GOD!" Twitch was on them in a second, "Are you- How did- I mean-!" She fumbled with her words a little longer, making vague attempts at language till finally she finished, awestruck, "Wow... You guys are a-freakin'-mazing!" She continued with the strange noises, but Alan was fairly certain she had ceased trying to form words. He heard giggling, and turned. The unicorn was smiling now, worries of moments past forgotten. "I think you need to meet my friend Pinkie sometime," She coughed a little, Alan worried after that, but she got it back under control, "You'd really hit it off." Her smile faded a bit, as she glanced between her two companions, morphing into a pained wince as Alan set her on the ground. "T-thanks. Um... Speaking of meeting," She looked a bit abashed as she looked at Twitch in particular, "I didn't ask for your name. Before, that is..." "OH! Yeah, I, should have said something too, kinda a theme we've got going... Twitch, its Twitch!" The Hydrus had an odd tone weaved into her words that Alan couldn't quite catch the meaning of, though he wasn't given much time to wonder, "And this here is Aurora, she's been dragging your unconscious body through miles and miles and miles of cold, uncaring wasteland..." The unicorn looked between the two once again, now with a face of confusion, "So what I'm saying is she saved your life and you should thank her." "Ah! Yes! Ahem," She fixed her gaze more permanently on Alan, "Thank you very much for dragging my unconscious body through miles and miles and miles of uncaring wasteland, I, um, appreciate not being left for dead!" She said that with a smile Alan thought a little too wide. Fear perhaps? "Well," trying his best to sound authoritative, and make his tone powerful, that worked with calming down kids, "couldn't live with myself if I'd just... Left you there..." Ooooh you just boophed it bro. His voice was all off. That had somehow sounded like the skeeviest thing he'd ever heard, it wasn't the words! It was this... This... Squeaky toy... Tuba, totally wacked in 360 degrees voice he had to deal with! No way to mimic Teal'c now, this was Mark Hamill's Joker all the way! He was never going to get used to this voice! "Oh, yes. I'm sure you want compensation," She said, reapplying her smile, "If you want, you can list your fees now, I never leave the castle unprepared!" He had to raise his... hoof to that, halting her before she hurt herself, dark though it was, Alan was surprise by how many wounds he'd missed at a cursory glance. Wait just a second, Alan blinked, Castle? Shaking it off, he steadied himself, trying to appear as though he actually knew what he was talking about, "No, nonono, I don't need payment! I'm... Not that kind of... Girl...", Eeeeeeeea, "And I wouldn't move around too much right now if I were you, or I'll have to return your favor." The unicorn was still for a moment, the darkness slinking back to cover her face from view. At least he didn't sound like a psycho "I didn't get to apologize for marehandling you like that, did I?" She said, giggling a little, "I am sorry about that, I thought you were going to... Lose something important." "Forget having to apologize," Alan said, a little too sharply for his own liking, "its fine. " "Oh, uh, its Twilight Sparkle by the way." "Ah- Um, Aurora, Nice to meet you." He said, flushing as he heard her giggle, soft and subdued. "I know, Twitch already introduced us, isn't that-" She looked around for a moment, before furrowing her brow, "Um, Twitch?" The responding call came only a moment later. "Over the snowbank Twilight! You two are really going to want to see this!" Twilight smiled and shook her head, moving to rise to her hooves "Uncanny... Wait, when did she-?" A pained grunt cut Twilight off as she nearly fell back into the snow, before Alan rushed up to steady her, "O-oh, thank you." She tried to speak again, only to spit out a yelp. Alan had her draped belly down over his back again, unwilling to let her chance walking just yet, even if they were still on the brink of death. Might as well go screaming into that dark night. At least, that's what his father always liked to say. "Stay steady Twilight," He said, taking a slow pace up the bank, "and like I said, please don't push yourself." Twilight couldn't help but agree, as much as she wanted to say otherwise. It was enough of a strain maintaining a state of calm after an unrestrained release of magic that intense. Struggling to stay awake as well. Aurora's soft, thick, icy blue coat wasn't exactly helping with staving off the wave of weariness that threatened to suck her back into unconsciousness. Now, the panic she had to press all her will into suppressing? That was quite a lot of help there. Facing up to the high probability that her horn was broken was slowly starting to wear her down, getting at her. After all, what was a Princess of Magic without her magic? "And what is the measure of a Princess but her strength in a crisis?" For a moment, tears welled in her eyes, those were some of Princess Luna's first words of advice to her, when she had finally gained her title in full. Words she too often forgot. Words she had too readily disregarded, not as a matter of conscious choice mind you. But it was neither here nor there, until she had confirmed the condition of her horn, there was no need to fret about it... Nooooo need. None what so ever. Not at- "A-! ... W-woah..." Oh, thank Celestia, I was about to crack! Aurora's exclamation brought Twilight's focus back to her sight, giving her only moments to process the shimmering stream of white-yellow light ascending from the center of a simply leviathan cylindrical superstructure and the three great towers that ascended from it it. "What the hell is that?" Aurora said, wide eyes taking in the power on display with a look of awe, fear, and maybe a bit of child-like wonder if Twilight was guessing right. She smiled at the sight. The mare was a... rough one for sure, but it seemed she had a softer side after all. You'd think she'd never seen a shield spell before... Wait. "Shield spell!" Twilight could barely contain herself as she tried to push Aurora onward. Aurora, for her part, only flinched. "Are... Are you okay?" Twitch asked, coming up below them, face pinched. "Yes! Better than okay!" Twilight pointed a hoof at the towers, "Its a shield spell! And an extremely potent one at that. Whoever is casting that has to be either an Alicorn or making use of a super specific talent!" She smiled broadly, "They could help us get out of here!" Aurora looked down at Twitch, her face twisted in confusing, and mouthed something like 'Ali-what?'. Twilight couldn't keep her expression from tending towards shock, or her brow from raising. She'd known from the moment she heard her speak that Aurora wasn't quite your average Equestrian, no regular inhabitant of Equus either. Her language was either ancient beyond counting, or alien beyond understanding. She was just glad that active translation spell had worked so well, and that it had caught Twitch within its range. As interesting as it would be to act as an interpreter, it would waste quite a lot of time. Curious though, Twitch's Equestrian was almost perfect, past all the fair with translation spells, though the accent she didn't recognize. Regardless, they'd found their first clue to help them out of this pit. Of course, she hadn't yet realized the full breadth of the situation, though that was understandable, layer upon layer of thick, glacierized snow coated the great shield's exterior. No one would have been able to see the moons through that. But looking up wasn't a concern at the moment. "Wings and a horn." She couldn't suppress a wince as she pointed to her own appendages, "Now go! I'll explain what I can later, but we don't have the time to waste!" Strangely, her mystery mare didn't seem as eager. She eyed the slope down tentatively, as though it had teeth. So, with a heavy sigh, Twilight said "Aurora... We need to get going." Though she had spoken softly, something about this sudden timidness annoyed her. This mare had faced down a hoard of monsters where most would have balked and ran at the sight of just one, yet here she was, stalled by the prospect of walking down hill. "Y-yes, I know, just... Still a little dizzy, yeah, that's all." It was easier to let those grievances slide when she spoke, though her voice held a sort of resounding brass that Fluttershy's did not, it was none the less starkly familiar, it was just something about words without confidence. And the contrast between her speech now and when she was out there, saving Twilight's life was frank and unapologetically apparent. It didn't encourage her, but she found her solace in the knowledge that no book was simply its cover. The next few moments found her retreating to her mind, losing track of her senses as she put all her focus into her thought. Which was exactly why she was so surprised when she was thrown from Aurora's tumbling backside. Luckily, she came out of her roll none the worse for wear, same as her companions, though as she checked over Aurora's balled, groaning form... This... Was going to be a long adventure. "Turn it around." Corddae Leveled his eyes at his partner from over his notable, a bitter tone and harsh stare kept Bayesian from questioning exactly why. This of course, further frustrated Corddae. "Well? I can't exactly tell you where we're driving if you don't ask." He'd been programmed for politeness after all. "Sorry sir!" He said, trying very hard not to look in Corddae's direction as he pulled off to a cul de sac and flipped on his turn signal. "Just seemed like you-" "Yeah, yeah, sorry." Corddae muttered, flipping through his programmable with a gesture. The magical paper responding by searching the archives as he required. "Just found some a familiar name in the victim's school registry." He held his tongue a little longer, before letting out a sigh. If all Bayesian intended to do in this investigation was eye him sidelong this was going to be a stuttery affair indeed. "Filut, I checked the father's phone records. A match." "Really now?" Bayesian said, his brow furrowing. "You don't suppose-?" Corddae let out a sharp bark of a laugh, his partner spotted a wisp of a smile marking his grey features. "Damn that boy and his sense of humor, 'McMasters'? He ruffles us worse than the Federals. Could well be that this man was McMasters..." Corddae, fiddled a bit more with the paper, "Depends. What did Filut mean by 'Old friend'. But I doubt any teacher of the Great and Powerful Filut wouldn't have a criminal record." Corddae shifted his focus to Filut's profile. He'd long since been taken off the Filut case, but his superiors had been gracious enough to allow him unrestricted access to the file... Files, lots of files. And now that he thought of it, wasn't this Alan fellow the same age as Filut? "He had to learn his flamboyant sense from someone." "Hm, flair Corddae." "What's wrong with flamboyant?" "He's not homosexual, is he?" Bayesian made it more of a statement of it than a question. "Not in the least." "Then flair, sharp, gets to the point. Doesn't have the connotation." "Flamboyant, and I'm sticking with it." His focus narrowed itself on the programmable, interest plain on his face. "Oh ho ho well now! Seems I hit it right on the money!" "3483?" "As sure as day." Corddae thumbed his nose, looking up from his programmable paper, "As sure as this little venture is staying off the books. Fifteen minuets Bayesian, no more no less." "Aye, aye!" Two packs filled with essentials, that's all, no sugary treats, no toys or games, pure essentials. That had been unbelievably hard. Ella and Bailey rummaged through the kitchen as fast as they'd dared, eyeing sweets stashed here and there with longing, though Ella'd always reign Bailey in... And to her chagrin, vice versa. They'd ended their quiet little raid with backpacks stuffed half-full, bread and canned soup, peanut butter and fruit bars. They'd been hoping for more, that most certainly didn't help their spirits. All Bailey could do was keep her chin up, breath deep, and wipe at the sweat trailing off her brow. All Ella could do was think about the thousands of ways it could go wrong. The plan as of now was simple, if a bit morally bankrupt. They had already procured the keys to a vehicle, one that Bailey claimed to have experience driving, so, all they'd have to do was get out of town and find her Grandmother, which would doubtless be quite the surprise. She'd tried using Bailey's phone to text her, but that had fallen through once she'd realized she didn't remember her phone number. Bit of a set back, but thankfully she knew her address, soon, they'd be on their way there. Bend wasn't too far away from Cascadia after all. The trouble would really be getting out of the city. Cascadia was built into the hills, and she'd never paid much attention to how to get out. That was a problem when you couldn't see over the buildings, and honestly, she had forgot the name of the Highway that cut through the middle of the city. So, little help those road signs were going to be. There was a fierce knock, someone was at the door! Who in the ever loving-!? She stowed that question when she heard movement up stairs. Her friend's eyes practically bugging out of her head. "We need to go now!" she said, quiet, harsh. Ella responded with a curt nod, and they both crept slowly toward the backdoor. Unfortunately, someone in the house had probably woken, they could hear their footsteps groggily plodding over their heads. "... We're doomed." Ella wasn't so sure, despite her heart rising to her throat, they couldn't afford to be stopped here. No mater what. She wrapped herself around her friend looking through the darkened kitchen. Somewhere, anywhere, just to hide... "Pantry..." she said, doing her best to keep her nerves out of the equation. Bailey looked up at her, but had a poor time making eye contact, being roughly shoved as she was. The reaction to that being an almost acceptable squeak, almost. Ella swore heard the knocking pick up, the footsteps fall faster. She almost soiled herself right then and there, but she managed to close the pantry door. She waited and listened, feeling rather than hearing or seeing the descent of Bailey's parent finally reach the bottom and come to its completion. A few moments passed before the front door was answered, and Ella spent her time wisely, embracing her friend and gently stroking her hair. Though she wasn't sure if she was doing it for Bailey's sake or her own... Both. Defiantly both. "Oh goodie." Seemed the father, Kent, was the one to draw the short straw, "Two fine officers and I have nothing to show for you!" ... But was that Ken?! Bailey's Dad Ken!? The voice he had put on was arguably more feminine than even Bailey's own mother... "Flamboyant." Came a quite voice, one Ella knew, one Ella feared, "Filut, We need to come in." "Ah ah ah! Tickets, gentlemen, please! I don't run a charity." Kent responded, his... Friendly tone masking a sinister growl bubbling just beneath. "Alan McLane is dead, Kenny." The atmosphere immediately shifted, like there wasn't enough air in the room. Not for Ella at least, and she suspected not for Kent either. "CORDDAE... you better have an explanation- A DAMN good explanation for me, why are you here? What happened to Alan, and where the hell is his daughter!" Now that sounded more like Ken. Didn't stop her from from picking up on one simple fact, he knew that demon's name. "That last one wasn't a question." Ella gripped her friend tighter, as she heard the quickened steps. He was letting them in! Anger spiked, and Ella's eyes moved to meet Bailey's, accusations passing through sight. Did she know? Did she trap her here just to-... No, paranoia washed away the instant eyes met. Confusion, anger, depthless sadness. How this was understood, Ella didn't know. Maybe for now, it was the one thing she didn't want to know. "We've uncovered what we believe to be a trafficking ring... They've been nabbing magic kids. Killing parents. This particular case however..." That was the minion. Bayard? No, that sounded wrong. "Has absolutely nothing to do with that." "So, Officer Bartowski-" "Bayesian." The man in question corrected. Yeah, Ella thought that was right. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Came the snarky reply, and Ella smiled at the barb, "Anyways, what does this have to do with anything, much less me, my child, or my godchild?" There was a mumbling growl, Ella was sure it was Bayesian. "The magic... Moved." There was silence for a good while before Kent spoke up. "Specifics, please." "It was a good while between when we had seen the strike, like a pillar of light fall upon the residence. We called in all the regulars for forensics... I felt like this was bigger that. So, we contacted an Illuminist." Corrdae said. "With no prompting, no energy introduced, it... Attacked us." Once again, there was silence, shorter lived this time. But Ella couldn't help the small bit of joy she found in whatever had happened to the demon. Even as that joy turned to horror. "I'm going to make some tea." Kent said, a heavy sigh escaping him, "Sorry for my lackluster hospitality, either of you-?" "Not at the moment." Corddae swiftly cut off a muttered reply from his minion. Ella heard footsteps approaching, on a twinge, she looked at the shelf nearest her... Stocked full of tea. She had to bite her own tongue to keep from screeching in frustration. She had no idea who was trustworthy here, no clue who might be telling the truth. It was, after all, the first she'd heard of this "Godfather" business. But she held firm. Something told her this was the right call. So, she glared at the door, as if daring it to open. That bravado lasted right up to the moment the pantry's handle twisted. She flinched, shutting her eyes tight as the fear flooded her. She knew keeping herself blinded wasn't going to help. So, she opened her lids, barely allowing the light from the kitchen into her pupils, along with the sight of an inexpressibly confused Kent. "Wuh?" He squeaked, eyes jumping between the girls, anger, guilt, and panic battling for supremacy. This, was of course where Bailey showed just how loyal she really was. One finger pressed so hard to her lips it left an imprint. No sound, just gesture. Kent understood her immediately, she was Daddy's girl after all, though the look he gave promised consequence. Ken took a breath, "Peachy," He turned over his shoulder, "Bad news, I'm out of tea. Jacci hates the stuff, never sending a pregnant woman grocery shopping again." With that, he shut the pantry door. For a few moments there was silence, then  the mumblings of a significantly quieter conversation began, and Ella let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. She couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but even so she now held confidence that Ken was mostly on their side. But how to get out of the pantry without being detected... A tap on her shoulder would reveal the answer. Bailey had struggled out of her grasp and popped the face off of a vent, getting her friend's attention with a tap from her foot on Ella's shoulder. Way to go Bailey! She cheered, her eyes lighting up with hope once again.  Time to go Bailey! Because Bailey had to get out of this house! She breathed heavy, sweating buckets as she remembered the look on her dad's face. She had managed to push Ella out into the hall right behind the kitchen and pantry, and was in turn dragged through the rest of the way. It was Go time, she could see the Keys sitting on their hook. Wrapping her hands and as much fluff as she could, she stood slowly reaching up to retrieve them. With what she considered an all time high in her short but illustrious saving career, she gently lifted the keys from the hook and pocketed them. Giving her just enough time to spy another disturbing sight. He’d spotted her. She knew it. She also wanted to know why he wasn’t letting his compatriot no that’s a very two girls they were seeking were also speeding out the back door on owls wings. He held her in his vision, nothing but calculation, his lips a slight curve. She really didn’t know and she didn’t want to know. She hadn’t really even gotten more than a second to look at the fellows face, but she understood why Ellie had called them demons. They seemed too cold to be men. After that it was all such a rush, Bailey hardly noticed the flight from the back door to the parking garage. Not until Ellie was tapping on her shoulder. Suddenly seeing her face in the pristine glass of her father’s favorite car helped too. Good God she was really doing this. Well, she was always telling daddy that she wanted to go on adventures, seeing all the magical sites. Maybe if you came back with something of value, he might be a little more lenient. Those “law enforcement officers“ on the other hand… Something was very very wrong with them. Treating her father like… A criminal, he didn’t have a true bad bone in his body. What on earth were they lording over his head? Did they let her go just so they could get him in trouble? Is this really the right play? Didn’t matter now, she was in the cockpit. Garage door was open, and despite all the clouds, she could see the stars she needed to guide her. Hand on the gears, foot on the clutch, eyes dead set as the engine roared to life. Tonight, she was going to make this baby fly! A single crack, almost like the snapping of a twig was all Ken need to tell him what the girls were doing. Though his panicked wife also helped in that regard, nearly tripping over herself on her way down the stairs. "Ken!" She yelled, only to stop dead in her tracks as she spotted Corddae and Bayesian. "Gentlemen," she spat out, "Didn't know you had scheduled some 'guy time' To coincide with our daughter running away!” The two looked at each other with a small amount of panic Themselves, and jumped up from their positions. “Yes ma’am!“ They both shouted, before turning their attention towards the already open door. Ken was just beyond, sitting in the driver seat of a constabulary vehicle like he belonged there and honking the horn. “Get in or I’m leaving without you!” Corddae smiled as he fished for his key and came up empty. “ bloody fast bastard.“ he muttered, as Bayesian practically dived into the back, he swiftly walked to the passenger side and sat down heavy. “ I swear Kenny, if our girl doesn’t come back in one solid piece, I’m going to dice you like a tomato!“ and with that, they were off.