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Oct 6, 2019 12:50:41 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Oct 6, 2019 12:50:41 GMT -6
Xiaolian took a deep breath and Tyrus was met with silence on the other end of the line. "Tyrus... listen to me very carefully." This headache wasn't exactly welcome, but seemed almost to be expected. She hadn't been able to get a hold of anyone at the Dragon court, not a single connection that they had so carefully cultivated over the years.
"You're a bright guy, but there are some really awful things in that place that if messed with could kill you. I need you to leave and wait until Bronson and I can get out there with a team."
While she was certain that Tyrus meant well, this also meant that he'd be involved in their line of questioning. With a Warden missing, their short staffed problems just got exponentially worse. They'd have to borrow staff from outside their territory, and that meant they were likely to get nothing good.
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Oct 6, 2019 12:55:56 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Oct 6, 2019 12:55:56 GMT -6
"I'll wait outside." He agreed and stepped outside. He could do this. The mage glanced to the apartment. "I didn't disturb anything. I know better than to use magic and poke around someone's home." Especially a warden's. It could be deadly if the wrong sort of magic was used. He wasn't about to do that given her job. There was no telling what she had brought home, or had done. And while he knew her well, he also knew better than to think he knew everything about her.
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Oct 6, 2019 13:06:54 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Oct 6, 2019 13:06:54 GMT -6
"Of course you do, but some wards are triggered simply by the wrong person being there at the wrong time." Xiaolian did not feel like giving Tyrus a crash course in Council grade protections, especially some of the older ones that had been phased out due to their questionable safety.
Often Wardens opted for more offensive magics instead of the defensive, as it tended to give them more time to escape or respond to whatever threat had triggered them. With magic, milliseconds or less counted and often time was a commodity many did not have readily in store.
"We'll be there as soon as we can Tyrus." She added again and hung up the phone. Placing her palms flat on the desk, she took a brief moment to breathe and center herself. This case had just gone from bad to worse, and now more than likely they'd have to involve the Council. No one could say they liked the Unseen Council either, but given the nature of the unseen it was somewhat necessary.
"Hey. Molly. Wake up. We've got a problem." Xiaolian gently shook her partner, who appeared to have fallen asleep in the middle of a desk full of paperwork from the latest case.
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Oct 6, 2019 13:28:23 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Oct 6, 2019 13:28:23 GMT -6
Molly opened one eye and looked up at Xiaolian, then sighed and stretched. "When do we not have a problem?" That was largely a rhetorical question. "What's today's latest problem?" That had been a decent nap. Not the best, given she was taking it at her desk, but decent. That was what all night in the archives would do to you though, and she was glad they had made some progress on identifying the types of runes at least.
Still no progress in reading them, but they had a type now and that made a difference. It meant they could send for an expert or a dictionary of some sort.
Being woken up for a 'problem' though meant it was somewhat serious.
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Oct 6, 2019 13:51:19 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Oct 6, 2019 13:51:19 GMT -6
"That's a rhetorical question Molly..." Xiaolian replied bluntly. She clearly wasn't amused with her partner's smart remark about problems. "I just got off the phone with Tyrus, and the Warden is missing. We need to get out to her place and despell it before he gets himself killed." She explained pulling on her jacket. This entire thing meant that Xiaolian would be in charge again, and that didn't sit well with Xiaolian. There were too many failures and too many unknowns for her liking. The warden was a patient and tolerant woman to an extent, something that Xiaolian was not.
"He already entered the condo and poked around apparently. Said he didn't use any magic, but I find that hard to believe." Tyrus was someone who would use magic to do a simple mundane task like tying his shoes instead of doing it himself. That alone was cause for concern for Xiaolian, herself a null or someone with the ability to ground out the magic most of the unseen had. She had other talents and abilities, but anything about those was a tightly kept secret between herself and the Eastern branch of the Unseen Council.
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Oct 6, 2019 14:00:15 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Oct 6, 2019 14:00:15 GMT -6
That was serious. Molly grabbed her badge and gun and stood. "Tyrus uses magic for everything." Then again, she did much the same. "We're going to need to call for help on this one if we don't find her quickly." And they'd probably need help even if they did. The two of them taking on whoever had taken Catherine was not a winning equation. They would need Tyrus to stand a chance, and that meant getting there before he blew himself up.
Molly grabbed the keys to SUV, then sheepishly handed them to Xiaolian. She still didn't have a driver's license. She really needed to handle that some time soon.
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Oct 6, 2019 14:33:40 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Oct 6, 2019 14:33:40 GMT -6
"Exactly." Xiaolian agreed, checking the time on her watch. Tyrus hadn't been able to pinpoint the exact estimated time, but he said the door had been open and she hadn't shown for the morning class. That told her that it was either sometime during the night, or small morning hours. Suddenly the attempted murder and arson had turned into a missing person's case.
"We're going to have to go another way Molly."
They were up against a ticking clock, and they didn't even known the first thing about what had really happened.
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Oct 6, 2019 14:40:09 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Oct 6, 2019 14:40:09 GMT -6
"I'm bound. I can't take us." She said. "Otherwise I would." She preferred it, but it was denied her because of her own stupidity. Even trying hurt. The woman hated it. A sucker for punishment she reached out again and shrugged. "What's your suggestion?" The SUV was faster than taking the bus, and the warden didn't have a Mirror for transport in her home. That would be insane to do.
She didn't know what the other planned for getting there faster.
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Oct 6, 2019 14:49:55 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Oct 6, 2019 14:49:55 GMT -6
Xiaolian was silent for a moment, as she considered the potential consequences of her choice. If they took the SUV they would have tools necessary, but they could always call in the investigation team after they secured the property. "Grab a bag." She instructed as she reached for the backpack she kept under her desk. "We're not playing by the rules today." Xiaolian added hardly waiting on the other to even ask what that meant.
"We've got 12 hours till midnight, at that point we hit 24 hours and the likelihood of finding her decreases."
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Oct 6, 2019 14:53:46 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Oct 6, 2019 14:53:46 GMT -6
Molly grabbed her satchel and slung it on. "What? Alright." They didn't play by the rules for a lot of cases. This would just be one of many. She shouldered it firmly and checked it quickly for her supplies, tossing in a pencil, just in case she ran out of lead in the one already there. You could never have too many pencils after all. Still, if the other wanted them to go some alternate route, she was open for it.
Xiaolian was right. They had twelve hours to find the warden. They needed to act fast.
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Oct 6, 2019 15:30:45 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Oct 6, 2019 15:30:45 GMT -6
Without another word, Xiaolian grabbed Molly and they were gone in an instant. She had been trained to move much faster than the other, as to avoid notice and detection of other things. To move silently, quickly, and efficiently utilizing every resource available to her had been her directive in the Lotus program. For those not trained in those methods, the trip could be a nauseating vertigo ride at best or a vomit inducing space folding psychedelic horror trip of the worst sort.
It took only minutes for them to arrive not far from where Tyrus was standing, ending their trip without incident. While there was some argument among the varying schools of thought about the right way to do things, what mattered to Xiaolian was getting there in once piece.
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Oct 6, 2019 15:56:43 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Oct 6, 2019 15:56:43 GMT -6
"What the fuck!" Molly stumbled back a little and stared at Xiaolian. She recognized the Unseen, even at a speed she'd never travel through it, would never dare travel through it. "Why didn't you say you're Ratatoskr? Why the fuck would you go that fast in the In Between?" Molly stared at her partner in disbelief. "Actually, you know what, no. We'll have this conversation another time." And they were going to have it.
Molly took a deep breath and met Tyrus' eyes. "Tell me you didn't touch anything?" He was not a trained officer.
"I checked the food on the fridge door, to see how long the fridge had been open. And I pushed the door open some more." He said and her eyes narrowed. He shrugged. "I called once I was sure something was up."
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Oct 6, 2019 18:48:12 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Oct 6, 2019 18:48:12 GMT -6
"You never asked." Xiaolian said plainly as she adjusted her gear and approached Tyrus as if nothing had ever happened.
There were varying schools of thought on the Ratatoskr methods, one was speed and agility, the other was slow and ponderous. The Lotus program had taught it's students to use speed, and agility. They were either already gone before anything even noticed them or too fast to be caught; and those who were lost during the days of the program often got overly confident in their abilities, going as far as to taunt many of the creatures that existed outside between the realms.
"It's a good thing you called, I don't think anyone would have noticed her missing to be honest with you." And that was the sad part, most of Dallas took their Warden for granted. People were rotated in and out of the office so much, that any permanent fixture was met with suspicion and firmly ignored until it was no longer perceived as a threat or went away.
"Bronson.. could you please check the wards on the door? Something doesn't seem right."
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Oct 7, 2019 12:30:37 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Oct 7, 2019 12:30:37 GMT -6
Molly nodded and cast mage sight, going over the wards. She frowned and her eyes flicked rapidly over them again. "Her wards are intact." They weren't touched at all. "And powerful. I'd have a hell of a time trying to get past them. It'd take hours or longer." There were even anti-Ratatoskr wards there which were vanishingly rare. She frowned and pulled out her sketch pad, making a quick sketch of what she saw. There was no break, nothing wrong with them at all. "They're open now, but looks like standard only with a key on the locked door opening."
Tyrus frowned. "I see her regularly. It was luck that I was even able to notice." They didn't have lessons every day. For the most part she had been cut free from his lessons entirely. At this point it was just fine control and she had that so long as she didn't get upset. Most people's control was bad when they were upset or felt any emotion strong enough.
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Oct 7, 2019 14:10:40 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Circe on Oct 7, 2019 14:10:40 GMT -6
Xiaolian squinted at sketch that Molly held up, many of the wards were very specific and extremely complex. It made her wonder just what was Catherine afraid of that had led her to ward her home like she had.
"Simple, but effective. Looks like she set them herself." Xiaolian remarked, suitably impressed. The level of detail specificity was unusual, but then again most Warden's were moderately skilled in defensive magics or knew someone who they could trust for whatever they needed.
"We honestly don't know that much about her, other than what we've learned working her. Do you know if anyone else has a key?"
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