Before the party could make their way home one of the event staff informed them they would have a day to rest, as the finals would be held in two days. Instead, tomorrow there would be an interview with both finalist teams and an accompanying dinner. With Sarbie’s whereabouts confirmed to be at the church, Alvec opted to go rest. Going to the church would be a tomorrow project.

Morning came quickly and Alevec and Rem departed for the church after a quick breakfast. As he entered the building, he found Hoc describing the battle to several other church members who hadn't been able to attend.

"You have no idea how happy I am that I got to see that fight! It's the crowning fight in the entire festival. I don't know if the finals can possibly top it. One wrong move and the Red Banner Army would have been victorious."

"I see you're singing our praises," Alvec said, waving hello. Rem trotted beside him.

"ALVEC, Alvec, the Unyielding everyone!" Hoc shouted as he pointed him out with a big grin.

"The what now?" Alvec said, raising an eyebrow to him.

"Alvec the Unyielding, that's what they're calling you. When it was just you left, the Red Banner asked you to surrender, but you didn't. You stood alone against them and, against all odds, prevailed! Alvec the Unyielding!"

"I don't remember them giving me a choice, but I'll admit, the blood was pounding so loudly in my ears I might not have caught that part."

"We'll see you guys at the finalist's dinner tonight, right?" Hoc asked.

"Yeah, we'll be there; we've got to talk ourselves up a bit more," Alvec said, smiling.

"Bullshit, you do," Hoc said back. "There isn't a person in the city not talking about that hell of a comeback? Your entire team was down. There were three Red Banners stabbing at you, shooting at you, and lord knows what else, and you shrugged it all off and managed to beat each of them. How could they be talking about anything else?"

"Fair enough, seen Sarbie yet?"

"No, but it's okay; the head cleric confirmed she got reassigned to some boring cleaning job in the library. She must be thrilled by it."

"Sorry for not coming to find you sooner. I sent Rem to investigate, and he came to a similar conclusion that she was somewhere at the Church. So I wasn't too worried about that. The timing sucks; having one more person cheering for us would have been nice."

"Ah, thought you might have gotten too caught up in celebrating to remember us little people," Hoc said.

"As if I could; it's not going to go to my head. I promise."

"Good, we'll see you later tonight."

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"Wait, what's the event like? We've never done this before." Alvec reminded him.

"Oh, well, usually there is food, and someone asks questions about your team and fighting style. I'm sure they will ask you a bunch of questions after such a cool fight!"

"Wish I could say anything I did was intentional, or I guess I should say planned out. Too much of it was by the seat of my pants," he admitted.

"None of us could tell; you looked pretty composed."

"I didn't have much else of a choice; I was the last one standing. If I didn't do it, no one would." The two chatted for a few more minutes before Alvec made to head out. "Actually, Hoc, could you show me to the head cleric?" Alvec asked.

"Sure thing. Follow me." Hoc said as he casually led Alvec back into one of the offices deep within the church.

"Thanks, Hoc; I can take it from here." He knocked on the door and received no answer. He took a long moment and stretched his memory. He'd been escorted through large sections of this building already. It was possible that he could get Sarbie into the range of his magic and deliver a message. She was here somewhere, based on the layout of the building, he was confident he was near the library. That's where he'd bet she was. If he could get into this room and press against the eastmost wall, perhaps it would be close enough. Hoc may have accepted blindly that she was, in fact, safe. When no answer came right away, Alvec knocked again. With still no response, he sighed and contemplated his options. He laughed as a profoundly dumb idea came into his mind. He had a spell that occupied space with force and could be "fluffed." He'd never thought to use it to try to align the cylinders in a lock before but fuck it, now seemed like a good time to attempt to use his force pillow to do some good in the world.

He listened intently as he conjured the cube of force encapsulating the door and lock. Tweaking its firmness was difficult, but he could hear the pins shift. He smiled as he gently pressed against each until they aligned to the correct height. He pulled the door handle and let himself in. The room was, in fact, empty. A quick glance around the room showed no signs of struggle. There was nothing to suggest it was anything other than vacant. He walked to the easternmost wall and stood pressed against it. Here went nothing. He reached out with his mind, searching for hers. He encountered a lot more resistance than expected. This place was undoubtedly well-warded, but he was an abjurer; if anyone could tweak their spells to slip on by, it would be him.

The easiest way to ward off any communication-styled spell would be to lock out arcane spells altogether. Then, to alignment lock on top of it, law, chaos, good, and evil. All of them were possible ways to block him out. He pulled his healing wand out and focused on casting magic from it. The wand's tip glows white as he focused on trying to disguise his spell as a divine one. Trying to modify a spell on the fly while bridging the arcane and divine divide... it wasn't something he'd even consider, but he took a deep breath and reminded himself he was a damn good enchanter, a damn good spell theorist, and a damn good wizard. If anyone short of the masters of the Academy could do what he was attempting, it was him.

So he did his best to mimic the frequency of the spell, burning through a few charges in the wand as he actively distorted his spell to hopefully escape whatever block was holding him back. Their minds connected suddenly and with the ease of opening a door. "Sarbie, are you safe? No one has seen you in days."

"How did you? Never mind that I'm fine. I can't say more right now. There will be answers soon. Now cut this connection and get out of here before anyone notices."

"Like flee invisibly? Or just casually walk out?"

"Casually walk out, please." She said. He cut the connection, content enough with her answer. He headed for the door quickly and saw himself out. He was glad he hadn't broken the door in any capacity, as it would have made leaving a bit more awkward. He headed back for the exit quickly and quietly, clutching a vile of alchemist fire in his hands. It would only take cracking the glass to drop a comfortable veil of invisibility. Thankfully, it wasn't required. He exited the church hurriedly.