It had been over a week since Michael disappeared and Kael wasn't sure he'd ever be found, not if he was still stuck in bed like this. When Diantha had been here she'd done her best to heal him but it had mostly already been healed by Michael. If she had been there in the cave then she would have been able to patch him up better, well if she'd been there none of it would have gone nearly as badly. Unfortunately you can't heal what's already healed.

  Diantha was out again on another one of her expeditions. There were sightings of Network members outside of Rosurnan and Seluka kidnapping wayfarers so she'd gone to be a hero again. The poor wayfarers who showed up outside of cities likely died from the wildlife or were captured by the Network. Those who woke up inside cities were only slightly luckier, there were quite a few institutions looking for cheap labor and even fewer were like the Silver Bell that provided free housing. They were all charity cases to most people and even to Kael but Diantha insisted that they should help whoever showed up near Rosurnan this cycle.

  Being bedridden just made Kael feel even more useless than he already was. His job was to keep the wayfarers safe and now he'd lost the kid ‘cause he wasn't good enough at keeping himself alive. Despite all that he was recovering well, there was no need for bandages, just rest and hopefully he would eventually recover. He would like to say he's seen worse but those were when he was younger, and in an adventuring party over twenty years ago and he had Amy patching him up instead of some kid who just learned weaving. The thought reminded him of their adventuring days.

  Amy, Diantha, him, and… just thinking about his fourth comrade nearly brought Kael to despair. They fought together, they ate together, hell they even hooked up with the other two members of the party together. A Steilae who bore the scales of one of the noble houses of Seluka, those pitch black scales that ever so resembled the kids' dark green ones. He couldn't just let her disappear like that, he needed to save her and he needed to get out of this damn bed. This could have all been prevented if he was just stronger but he just had to relax for the past decade, a lack of challenging jobs does that to a man. Maybe if he'd stayed with Diantha…

  No point dwelling in the past, the here and now needed him and he hoped he wouldn't disappoint. With a heartfelt step onto the wooden floor of the Silver Bell beneath him he immediately collapsed onto the floor with a groan. To make matters worse Damian and Scarlet chose that exact time to enter his room. Kael almost hoped they would laugh at him like his old party would have but they dutifully carried him back onto his bed. He was still in no proper shape to go out but he had to do something.

  “Kael are you alright?” Scarlet asked him with concern in her voice.

  “I'm fine.” Kael shook off the limbs that carried him to his bed with annoyance. “Why are you two here anyways?”

  “Well when we were out searching for Michael we were able to find someone who saw them when they disappeared.” Damian spoke matter of factly as if this wasn't good news. “You told us to come to you if we found any clues.”

  “Help me get out of bed.” He uttered the words with authority, he didn't care if he was still recovering.

  “Sir, we need to trust that my sister will be able to find Michael.” That was by far the stupidest thing Kael had heard all week from Damian.

  “Damian, Michael was lost in the city, there are a dozen things that could have happened to him and being found by Diantha who's outside of Rosurnan is by far the least likely of those to happen. So help me get out of bed!” He shouted the final sentence with finality.

  “But-” Scarlet tried to pipe up but Kael just glared at her which seemed to fix the problem.

  “If you don't help me then I'll just get out myself and I know neither of you two want that to happen.” Kael threatened them with injuring himself further which finally seemed to do the trick.

  The two of them glanced at each other before they got to his sides and helped him back onto his feet.

  —

  The three of them stood in front of the academy's main building, a gigantic mansion that rivalled even Damian's family estate. But this is this and that is that, they served completely different functions. One is meant as one of few massive dormitories for the school's student population and the other was created for the sole purpose of serving the Karizin family.

  Waiting just beyond the fenced gates Damian was surprised to see Aunt Amy in one of her fancy dresses waiting for the three of them. Looking at Kael Damian could spot a sense of inadequacy with his rags meant for rest and not day to day tasks. Her dress was a bright white to compliment her nearly platinum hair that only had a hint of blondeness to it. She looked as if she had barely aged at all since she had babysat Damian when he was just a child, most likely due to her Heavalic physiology. He waved at her and she gracefully waved back at him as they approached her with Kael taking the lead.

  “Amy!” Kael called out to his former party member with a smile on his face, a rarity with the current situation. “You didn't visit me yet here you are.“

  “I have many duties Kael, visiting you is not one of them, although attending to disappearances around the Academy should fall under one of my tasks.” Amaryllis held that smile that all her subjects had grown fond of.

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  “Damian how have you been?” She hugged Damian and even though she was half a foot shorter than him he felt engulfed by her embrace.

  “I've been well Aunt Amy.” Damian felt a blush coming to his face from embarrassment.

  “And you must be Scarlet.” Amaryllis cheerfully greeted the Cambionite with a handshake which seemed to surprise Scarlet. “Diantha told me about your interest in weaving.”

  Damian had no clue that Scarlet somehow knew his sister, they must have met when she came to visit him and Kael.

  “Oh did she?” Now it was Scarlet's turn to blush although it was one from praise and not of self-consciousness.

  “Now then let's get down to business, you've requested permission to interrogate one of my students correct?” Despite there being three of them the question was primarily pointed towards Kael who was the de facto leader of the group.

  “Scarlet and Damian apparently gleaned that some of the students here saw a dark scaled Steilae some nights ago.” Kael's tone was still friendly although much more business oriented now, it's what Damian should have done earlier instead of disconcerting himself.

  “Alright then, I've already gathered the students in one of the common areas, if you wouldn't mind following me that is.” With that Amy entered the mansion and began leading them through its winding hallways.

  Soon they reached a massive common room that held five students, they all looked plain to Damian bar the teenager with fiery red hair. They all sat on various pieces of furniture, couches, grand chairs, and even the odd stool. Of course all the furniture had cushions and all the students wore their white and gold accented clothing. All of them looked up at them as they entered the room, many looked at Kael or Scarlet which left Damian to be ignored, after all he was the only one that looked normal. Kael in his rags and Scarlet being a Cambionite meant they were always going to draw attention especially in a place like this.

  “Now then I have other matters to attend to, good luck in your investigation Kael.” After saying her farewell she left before Damian could say the same.

  Looking around the room Damian could only hope this wouldn't take too long.

  —

  Scarlet was annoyed at Kael since he should be resting but she would've done the same for Michael. As of now she sat inside a giant mansion that called itself an academy. It was probably that place that Diantha had told her about but all she could think about was Michael. She sat next to Damian on a bench as Kael interrogated the poor girl that had seen Michael on the night they had disappeared. Kael had spoken with one of the higher ups at the academy called Amy and she had arranged for them to meet with some witnesses. This was the last one and apparently the only one that had actually spoken to Michael before they disappeared.

  “Of course I talked to her! I mean who wouldn't when a Steilae is staring at you.” The red haired teenager spoke both with annoyance and reverence.

  One for her interrogator and the other for the missing person. Scarlet wasn't quite sure what the significance of Steilae was in Rosurnan but she knew that Michael always seemed to get stares whenever they roamed the city. They were always stares of confusion unlike those towards herself that were filled with weariness and caution. She's a Cambionite and that fact alone is something to be terrified of. Their stares might be misguided but Scarlet knew nothing of Cambionites and what they entail. On Earth she looked like a real devil so she sort of understood where they came from.

  “What did he talk to you about?” Kael asked with that serious tone he used earlier.

  “Well she asked where this stupid inn called the Silver Bell was and obviously I told her where it was. Not like I go there but I heard that wayfarers stay there. I have no idea why a Steilae would want to go there and especially in those rags she was wearing.” As she finished her sentence she turned her head to Scarlet and gave her an expression that showed all the displeasure she held for her.

  It seemed to Scarlet that the red haired lady had no clue that Michael was actually a wayfarer just like her. The contempt she held for the destitute was as apparent as her hair but Scarlet wasn't so easily annoyed as to want to actually hurt this woman. Usually Scarlet would want nothing to do with this girl but she was among the only people that had seen Michael the night they went missing.

  “Did you talk about anything else before he left?” Kael asked another question although Scarlet doubted he'd get anything else from the girl.

  “No, she just left after I told her the directions to the Silver bell but…” There was a brief pause where Scarlet almost thought the teenager wouldn't continue. “But I followed her.”

  Kael almost seemed surprised, almost, as if he had anticipated this since he had started talking to the teenager. It also meant that the teenager probably had nothing to do with Michael's disappearance since she admitted to it outright.

  “Did anything happen when you were following him?” He didn't ask about why she was following Michael and it almost seemed like he didn't care.

  Scarlet hoped she knew better and that Kael only cared about finding Michael and that's why he didn't care why this teen was stalking their friend.

  “Well um… after a while of following her she stopped at that old bridge that has a great view of the waterfall and I didn't want to get seen so I hid behind some buildings. But when I looked back she was gone and there were these guys in blue cloaks on the bridge.” At the mention of blue Kael immediately raised his eyebrows.

  “And you didn't see Michael anywhere near there?” Kael's tone held a sense of seriousness that Scarlet had only heard in

  the cave.

  “I left back to the academy after I lost track of her.” The teenager didn't seem to understand Kael’s tone and neither did Scarlet.

  “Then that'll be all.” With that Kael stood up from his chair and gestured for the two of them to leave the room with him.

  As Scarlet arose she wondered if that really was all there was to it. The teenager was suspicious by following Michael and they might not have been telling the whole truth. Scarlet wanted to ask more but Kael was the one with permission to waltz around the academy while Scarlet and Damian were allowed because they were with him. If she started asking weird questions then she might not be able to attend here later in life. This was the place that Diantha had told her about when she had visited the inn.

  “Is that it? Aren't you going to ask more questions?” Scarlet asked with an inkling of irritation in her voice.

  “She already told us everything we needed to know, especially when she talked about those blue cloaks.” Kael talked about the cloaked men like they held a certain amount of significance to him.

  “What do you mean by that Kael?” This time it was Damian who asked Kael the question.

  “There's only one group of people I know that wear those colors, they're a network of people that traffic people.” He spoke with utter disgust at just the brief mention of them and ended his sentence with a scoff. “It also means that there's almost nothing we can do. The Network moves fast and it really does mean that Diantha is Michael's only hope.”

  Kael held a solemn expression as he left the academy, but to Scarlet it felt like one of hope. If there was even a sliver of a chance that Michael could be safe then she would hold onto that chance.

  “Why would they kidnap Michael of all people?” Besides being a lone target Scarlet saw no reason for Michael to have been kidnapped.

  “Scarlet do you know how rare Steilae are?” Scarlet just shook her head at Damian who answered her question with another question.

  “While there are many races on Ennath only a few are born with the natural ability to weave gems. Of those, Cambionites and Steilae are quite well known for that, though Cambionites tend to have an infamous reputation Steilae have quite the opposite. They are regarded as natural born leaders that have the ability to weave the greatest constellations in the world.” There was great conviction in Damian's words that showed he really admired Steilae, but to Scarlet it made her realize how unlucky she was in becoming a Cambionite.

  “It just means Michael's valuable, Steilae scales fetch quite the high price.” Kael actually answered Scarlet's question instead of beginning a speech on how much he loves Steilae.

  “I hope they're alright wherever they are…” Scarlet wouldn't give up hope until she got confirmation that Michael was truly gone.

  “Me too.” Kael affirmed Scarlet before he walked ahead and onto the bridge that passed by the waterfall.