The local authorities arrived shortly after the ocean-front battle concluded, right after Jade dispatched the sole remaining charmed monster, at least a dozen police officers swarming the scene. Without Luis's ability to communicate effectively in Spanish, and a few helpful words of support from the people they'd rescued, Jade thought things could have gone quite a bit worse. Apparently, a group of armed people suddenly appearing in a foreign country with no documentation or passports was cause for concern, especially when they'd displayed supernatural abilities.

Fortunately, it soon became clear that they weren't the first of those who had been taken by the Labyrinth to return, so Luis's outlandish explanation of portals and monsters was met with suspicion rather than outright disbelief. Excuse or no, they were instructed in no uncertain terms to follow a group of officers to what turned out to be a local police station, where they were made to wait in a lobby while watched by several gruff-looking men in uniform.

"What are they saying?" Jade hissed to Luis, unable to understand any of the conversations around her. She missed the Labyrinth's translation power already. Nearby, a woman in a suit was talking quickly into a phone, shooting furtive glances their way.

"They keep talking about 'other groups' like us." Luis said quietly. "We definitely aren't the first ones back."

"Hopefully that means we don't have to explain everything from the beginning." Naomi said. She looked anxious and was biting her fingernails. "I really don't want to go through the whole 'you're all crazy' routine and get locked up."

"I'm pretty sure we could easily break out of any cell they tried to put us in." Jade pointed out.

Naomi shot her a sidelong glance. "Maybe don't say that until we get things straightened out. I don't think they like us very much."

Indeed, none of the officers watching over them had anything resembling a friendly expression. There was a 'click' as the woman hung up her handset, Jade couldn't remember the last time she'd seen an actual wired landline phone, and headed their way.

"Wait here." She said in accented English. "Someone coming soon for you."

She left before they could ask any further questions.

"You think they mean someone from our government?" Jade asked Luis.

"I think so. Maybe she was on a call with the embassy."

"I doubt it'll be someone from my government." Naomi said with a grimace. "Did you tell them I'm not from the US?"

"Nah, I left that out." Luis said sheepishly. "This is complicated enough already."

"Great."

They fell silent, anxiously waiting for whatever was coming next. Jade took out her phone too and tried to turn it on but, as she'd already discovered, it was dead. She wanted to check in with her family, to check the news, and to get any information on what was happening in the world. Judging from what they'd seen so far things weren't too bad, but for all she knew, it was different in other places.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. A door opened, and in walked a sandy-haired man wearing a ruffled, button-down shirt that was only half tucked into his pants. He had a harried, sleep-deprived look to him, with dark circles under his eyes. Beside him was the woman from earlier, ushering him into the room.

"-weren't they brought to me at once?" he was asking, sounding irate. "You have no right to detain-"

"A group of armed strangers appeared on a beach." The woman said coolly. "We responded accordingly, and you were informed as soon as we learned their identities."

The man glowered at her a moment longer, and then turned to face Jade and her companions.

"You came back? From the other world?" he asked, looking them up and down cautiously. He seemed taken-aback by their well armored, battle-ready appearance.

"That's right." Jade nodded. "What do you know about it?"

"Not enough. You're US citizens, yes?"

"We are." Luis indicated himself and Jade. "And she's with us." He nodded to Naomi.

"Who are you?" Jade asked.

"I'm Jeffrey Caine, I work for the US consulate." The man finished tucking his shirt in, trying to smooth out its wrinkles. "The past few days have seen hundreds of people popping up like you, all over the world. I can get you back stateside. The Response Force will want to debrief you."

"Response Force?"

"The Labyrinth Response Force." Jeffrey clarified. "It was formed around three weeks ago, right after the heralds started appearing."

"What heralds?" Luis asked. "What's been happening? We've been gone for weeks."

The ambassador waved them to silence, cutting off Jade before she could voice her own follow up questions.

"I'll explain everything I can, but we should get moving. I'll have a jet ready for you two within the hour." He was already typing out a message on his phone.

"The two of us?" Jade asked, narrowing her eyes.

The ambassador glanced up at her, distracted. "I don't have any authority over non-citizens. Where are you from?" He said, looking Naomi up and down.

"Um… The Philippines." She said, giving Jade a worried look.

"Mmm." He grunted. "Well, I can let your-"

"She's coming with us." Jade said, taking Naomi by the arm. There was no way they were splitting up and leaving her behind in a far-off country, especially without knowing what state the world was in.

"Look, I want to help, but-"

"What's the average level of people coming back from the Labyrinth?" Now it was Jade's turn to cut him off. She fixed the man with a glare. "Well? Do you know?"

"Uhh… Well…" He had to think for a moment. "Five or six, I think. From what I've been hearing."

From their experience on the first floor, that's about what Jade had been expecting. Given most wayfarers had been randomly plucked from Earth, she imagined most of them were hiding out in sanctuaries and doing the bare minimum to keep the Voice of the Labyrinth off their backs. Not everyone was as willing to throw themselves into the fight.

"Exactly. I'm already level seventeen." She said, choosing to use the Labyrinth's estimate of her true power because it was a higher number. "And they're both right behind me. We're already on the second floor. So, you're going to do whatever it takes to get her." Jade nodded at Naomi. "On that plane with us."

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She let a hint of charm magic sink into her words, locking eyes with the other man. She felt his surprise, tasting it as he processed her statement.

"She's our teammate, amigo." Luis said, crossing his arms. "You want our help? It's all or nothing."

"I…" He swallowed, eyeing them with newfound respect. There was something else there too. Wariness? The ambassador dialed a number into his phone, holding up a hand in a gesture for them to wait. "Give me a minute."

"Thanks." Naomi whispered, squeezing Jade's hand and giving Luis a pat on the arm.

"We're a team." Jade said. "We stick together."

"Besides, you have that laundry spell." Luis pointed out. "I can't go back to- Ow!"

Jade had to suppress a laugh as an affronted Naomi punched him. Judging from how he spent the next minute gingerly rubbing his arm, she'd put a few points into strength recently.

----------------------------------------

True to the ambassador's words, Jade and her companions were in the air within the hour. She had no idea how they had a private jet idling for them in a rural, local airfield, and she didn't much care. What mattered was that Naomi had been approved to come with them.

"We're flying straight to DC." The ambassador said, taking a seat across from Luis in the small passenger cabin as the plane taxied to the runway. "Director Holston wants to speak with you."

"Who?" Luis asked, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the engines as they roared to life, propelling the plane down the runway.

"Director of L-ReF, the group responsible for protecting us against the Labyrinth." he explained. "Similar organizations are being set up in countries all over the world."

Prompted by yet more questions, Jeffrey went on to explain what had been happening on Earth in the weeks following their disappearance. Starting about five weeks earlier, around the time Jade had been plucked from her apartment building, similar incidents had started popping up all over the world. Small sections of land simply vanished, taking with them whatever and whoever was there during the event. Most of these occurrences took place in rural, unpopulated areas, some going days without being noticed. Jade's case hadn't been the only urban event, though, and their frequency had only increased in the time since she'd been taken.

About three weeks ago, people calling themselves representatives from the 'Labyrinth' had emerged from many of these incident zones. Much like Damos had explained to Jade, they had begun disseminating information around the world on the nature of the Labyrinth, the trial, the cores, and the resource extraction that would occur until the Labyrinth was conquered. Unsurprisingly, this information did little to assuage global panic. In the past two weeks the dimensional extractions, as they had been coined, had been slowly increasing in size and frequency.

As promised, the vast majority of these events were taking place in the wilderness, away from civilization. That wasn't to say everyone was safe, however. While a large-scale event in a major city had yet to take place anywhere in the world, smaller towns and villages were increasingly effected, whether from loss of infrastructure or even people being caught in translocation occurrences, pulled into the Labyrinth much as Jade, Luis, and Naomi had been.

"In short." The ambassador finished, rubbing fatigue from his eyes. "People are panicking. Governments around the world are struggling to maintain order against a threat they can't defend against. Populations are fleeing rural areas into the perceived safety of cities, straining already taxed infrastructure. If these 'heralds' are to be believed, then this is only the beginning."

Jade nodded solemnly. The first of the Labyrinth cores were on the third floor, and she doubted anyone had made it that high yet. The entire run of cores spanned all the way to the eighth floor of the Labyrinth. From what she'd been told by Damos, Serrethis, and the others, reaching the level of power needed to defeat the obstacles found in those reaches of the Labyrinth could take years. This crisis was only just beginning.

The flight to Washington DC took several hours, and they took the opportunity to try and get some rest. Jade found it impossible to relax, her mind filled with anxiety over how her family and friends were faring. These feelings, which she had actively suppressed while fighting her way through the Labyrinth, all came crashing back now that she was on Earth again. Was Alan okay? Her parents? Her friends at school? As a succubus, emotional regulation was hard enough for her in the best of times. In her current situation, she was a tightly wound ball of stress.

Am I even enrolled in school anymore? The thought suddenly struck her. Even if she hadn't been declared dead, she'd missed over a month of classes. Had they kicked her out? It was such a minor concern in the face of all the other problems confronting her, and yet she couldn't stop thinking about the possibility. She'd worked hard to get into her program, achieving a highly coveted athletic scholarship that went a long way towards easing the financial pressure their family faced in light of Alan's expensive treatments. That the Labyrinth may have taken that accomplishment from her as well was yet another blow.

After what felt like the longest flight of Jade's life, and indeed, she reflected, it actually had been, they touched down. Jade had expected to arrive at a local airport but when they stepped off the plane it was to find themselves at a military airfield. An unmarked, black SUV was waiting for them, along with an escort of two armed guards in army fatigues.

"Mister Caine." The taller of the two men said, stepping forward while his companion opened the door to the car. His uniform had a patch on it that read 'Mendoza. S.' "We'll take it from here." He turned to face Jade. "Right this way, please."

Jade felt his eyes linger on their armor. They'd stowed their weapons in Jade's dimensional pouch, much to the astonishment of the flight crew, but had decided to remain dressed in their combat equipment. Jade wanted to be taken seriously, and the obviously enchanted gear made quite an impression.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"L-Ref headquarters. Director Holston wants to see you."

"That's the group in charge of responding to the Labyrinth?" Luis asked.

"That's right. We're hoping you have a lot to share."

"Oh, I don't think we'll disappoint." Naomi said with a tight smile.

"What about our families?" Jade asked, crossing her arms. "We want to speak to them."

"We'll arrange for that as soon as possible." The army officer said, tapping something into his phone. "But first, we need to debrief you."

Jade exchanged glances with Luis and Naomi. They shrugged, and she replied with a nod. Information on what was going on inside the Labyrinth was almost certainly sparse. If they could help by shedding light on the truth, then that had to be their top priority. Jade could accept that, so long as this group didn't make them wait too long.

"We'll get word to your families that you're safe, and that they'll hear from you soon." The soldier said, getting into the shotgun seat of the car as the other man took the wheel. Jade, Luis, and Naomi ended up in the back, with Luis's hulking, armored form taking up a good half of the room. It was a tight fit, but the three of them managed to squeeze in together.

"How long is the drive?" Jade grunted, shifting to find a more comfortable position. Her options were to be squeezed against the car door, or against the sharp edges of Luis's breastplate. She chose the door.

"Less than an hour." Mendoza said, punching an address into the onboard GPS system. "Sorry for the tight fit, resources are stretched thin right now."

"Did you three really go to another world?" The driver, a younger man, cut in, glancing back at them as he pulled off the airstrip and onto an access road. "What was it like?"

"Awesome." Luis said, just as Naomi replied. "Terrifying."

"Yeah, that about covers it." Jade agreed, the corner of her mouth curling up in a grin as her friends began arguing with each other.

"Oh, yeah!" Luis cut in, perking up. "Any chance we can pick up something to eat?"

"Luis…" Jade shook her head.

"What?" He asked, shrugging. "We've been living off canned sanctuary food for weeks! I'm ready for something real!"

Jade couldn't argue with that. The three of them looked at the driver, who glanced at Mendoza, who shrugged.

"As long as it's quick."

They set off down the road towards the city, Luis going into detail on all the good Earth food he'd been missing. Jade only half listened, watching the countryside roll by. The modern world looked alien to her, after weeks of fighting through the wilderness and living in Lysara. Even so, it was home, and the relief she felt at being back was surprisingly intense. The Labyrinth hadn't given them time to be homesick. Strangely, it was only after getting back that she realized how much she'd missed her world.

The question was, did she belong here now? She wasn't even human anymore, a fact that was impossible to ignore. She could feel the tension radiating from the soldiers in the car, and even caught snippets of emotion from others they drove past. Not only that, but all of them had returned to Earth with powers that had never been seen before. What was that going to mean for them?

Not all the changes were internal, either. The outside world held subtle differences from what she remembered. Despite their proximity to a major metropolitan area the roads were almost empty, and the few people she saw on the streets moved with quick, anxious steps. Many businesses were vacant, 'Closed' signs hanging over darkened doors. A significant number of intersections were occupied by military vehicles and soldiers, who waved them through as they drove by.

The world she'd returned to wasn't the one she'd left. Just like her, it was changing.