As we all reconciled in front of the mansion, Paul was unconscious, leaning up against the wall as the rest of us stared in awe at the aftermath of Diablo and Anzu’s fight.

“Me and Zepar will go back in to find Anzu and whoever else is left.” Said Diablo turning to open the door.

“D-Diablo, wait.” Stuttered Liam, halting Diablo as he turned to face him.

“Something is wrong…” He muttered, tensing his brow as he stared at the mansion.

“What is it Liam?” Asked Diablo as he took his hand off the door and put all his attention to Liam.

“I don’t sense them anymore… They escaped…”

“They escaped? We would have heard them fighting the team at the only exit.” Replied Diablo.

“Jace, go and check the team at the entrance I’ll do a quick swoop of the inside.” Announce Diablo as he and Zepar entered the mansion and Jace ran off to the other team.

A few minutes later the 3 of them returned. Nothing amiss, the team guarding the exit was unharmed and as Liam said, no sign of anyone inside.

Diablo sighed: “This is just like when Richard escaped the guard station. Someone on their side must have someone who can teleport. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but this is undeniable evidence.”

We all sat in silence for a second as Diablo thought about our next move.

“Okay, there’s no point in continuing with this many injured.” Announced Diablo. “We’ll return to Rein Village to where the medics are and get treated. I’ll send another team out here to search the premises.”

After a gruelling 2 hour walk back to the village, wounded and exhausted; we finally made it back to the Inn at Rein Village. After being treated by the medics, I made my way to the VIP lounge where Diablo sat on the sofa, reading a book on Magicka control.

“Diablo…” I said sitting down on the sofa next to him.

“Shay, I forgot to thank you for rescuing Paul. He’s still asleep right now but I’m sure he will wake up tomorrow.” Said Diablo.

“Oh, yeah. I um, wanted to tell you something.” I said, stuttering at every other word. Diablo turning his gaze to me; waiting for me to continue.

“It’s about Anzu, he uuh-“ I muttered before being shockingly interrupted.

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“Hey Shay!” Called Zane from behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders which commenced a shudder that flew through my entire body.

“Let’s go for a walk, I wanna talk to you for a bit.” He said, guiding me up from the couch.

“Oh uh, sure. I’ll tell you later, Diablo.”

“Of course.” He said turning back to his book as Zane ushered me out of the room.

* * *

The two of us stepped outside and begun walking down the dark street. Before Zane stopped behind me, forcing me to turn to see what was wrong.

…

“Shay, what the fuck were you going to tell Diablo right now.” Said Zane.

“Huh?!” I replied, my eyes widened in response to Zane’s cold expression.

“Were you about to tell him about Anzu’s deal?”

I jolted back.

“How…?!”

“Zane, how?!” I exclaimed.

“I’ll make this easy Shay. I scouted you. I’m a scout for Arcanum. I joined the Guards Guild under Anzu’s orders to find skilful Magicka and cursed users who could join our organisation.”

“This whole time… You were the enemy?”

“Sorry, Shay.”

I clutched my hand into a fist as my body trembled.

“Shay, I know this must be a lot for you. Trust me, we aren’t as bad as we’re made out to be.” Said Zane.

I continued to stare blankly into the concrete pavement below as Zane continued to speak to me.

“Listen, if there is one thing the organisation can offer you, it’s power. I understand your goal is to avenge your family and kill your sister but maybe you aren’t understanding something. From what I’ve seen from Diablo, your sister is about on equal footing with him. If that doesn’t tell you how little of a chance you have, I don’t know what will.”

“Finding her is one thing, but even laying a finger on her is another. As much of a scheming bastard he is, Anzu is someone you can trust and someone who is telling the truth, at least for now.” Said Zane in a commanding tone.

I collapsed to the ground as my legs gave in. Looking up at Zane with my dead, zombie like eyes that were surrounded with dark rings of death. My drained mind racing as I struggled to even comprehend common sense.

“Zane, I don’t think you know what I’ve been through…”

“I don’t mean to be a piece of shit here but. I’m being mentally fucking tortured every minute. First I’m subjugated to an ability that locks me in my mind with all my greatest fears and anxiety, then I’m told my sister works for the council of Aero City and is on equal footing with Diablo who isn’t in fact my ally and I can’t trust anyone in the City because as soon as they figure out who I am they will have me killed…?” I muttered to him.

“Zane, am I the only one who thinks all of this is crazy?” I fumbled up at him as my voice croaked and screeched in between pronunciation and my throat tightened while my body shivered and weakened.

Zane looked down at me in shock for a moment as I practically attached myself to his legs, almost begging him to give me something to latch onto for clarity.

“Look Shay, you’re our ally now. You don’t have to worry. Everything will become clear in due time. I think you’ve had a rough day and I disagree with the way Anzu does things, but this was a necessity. Had we left you as you were, you would have been killed.” Said Zane as he helped me up onto my feet.

“I’ll escort you back to your room. Go to sleep and we can talk in the morning.”

And then, before I knew it, I was in my bed. My mind racing at 300 miles per hour as I pondered everything that had happened before curling up into a ball and facing the wall, pulling the sheets right up to me as I shivered and shivered. Unsure of what to make of everything. Until suddenly, I drifted off.

* * *