Lyn was settling the last plate of food on the table when a note appeared in front of her.

"Your team member. Cydney Yen. Hill behind your apartment. Emergency."

That message, however simple, was enough to jolt her into action. After almost flipping over the entire dining table, smashing her door to the ground, and knocking over a few neighbors, she arrived at the scene—only for her mind to be inundated with even more questions.

What the hell happened here? The quiet, well-kept hill located behind where she lived was an utter mess. Trees, shrubs, benches, and flowers were ripped off the ground and splattered everywhere as if a hurricane had ravaged the vicinity. The hurricane also seemed to have deposited the strangest assortment of items too, from torn books and broken swords to fishing nets and giant pillows. What in the hell happened here?

Lyn rushed towards a crowd further up the hill, her eyes darting around. A bright yellow tape barricaded the middle of the wreckage, and on the side, Brendan from the QA was talking to a group of people. She was going to approach the serious man until she spotted Raph inside the barricaded area.

"Yo, Raph!" Lyn spun on her heels and marched into the barricade, ignoring any officers who tried to stop her from entering. "Why are you here? What the fuck happened?"

Raph did not reply. His swollen eyes were glued to the ground, lifeless and unmoving. He had been normal during the team meeting, but somehow, in just a few hours, he seemed to have had his soul drained from him.

"Ma'am," the officer standing next to Raph said, "you're not allowed in here—"

"Of course I'm allowed in here, I was called to this scene," Lyn retorted, before turning back to the hunched healer. "Raph, come on, snap out of this. What happened? Where's Cinna?"

The annoying officer spoke again, "We're not fully sure what happened currently, and we're trying to figure the details out—"

"Did Millie do this?" Lyn frowned as she glanced around. Some of the stuff on the ground looked just like the quest items from Millie's storage unit, but why would she ever do this? And how did she do this? Lyn knew that the conjurer had always been powerful, but the sheer amount of conjured matter seemed absolutely insane—Millie had had to have used up every bit of her energy to achieve this.

"Do you mean Millicent Martinez?" the officer offered. "Yes, she probably did. She's now taken over to the emergency room and in good hands now. She would've died if not for Raph over here." He placed a hand on Raph's shoulder in encouragement, but the dark-skinned man remained motionless.

"E- Emergency room?" The two words stabbed straight into Lyn's chest. She suddenly noticed the blood on the floor—two circles of dark red, obscured by the chaos. Dread filled her body, turning her limbs to jelly. What the hell happened here?

Raph finally moved as he rubbed his dry, puffy eyes. The sound that came out of his trembling lips was weak and hoarse. "I don't know, Leon... I don't know if I did enough... When I arrived, it was already..." He covered his face with his hands. "She called me with the emergency gem and I... I still took so long..."

Before Leon and Raph could go on a round of crying and consoling, Lyn raised her voice. "Okay, so where's Cinna? Millie was sent to the emergency room, but what about Cinna? They went out together, they should be together."

"I don't know..."

"What do you mean you don't know? There's- There's two pools of blood right here! Is one of them from Cinna? Was Cinna also injured? Did you also heal her? Was she also sent to the emergency room?"

"I'm sorry, Lyn, I- I really don't know..." Raph admitted. "I didn't see her, I only saw Millie..."

Blood rushed to Lyn's head as fury gripped her heart. She grabbed Raph's collar and yanked. "What the fuck do you mean that you only saw Millie? What? Were you so focused on Millie that you forgot about Cinna?"

Leon inserted himself in between the two of them, pushing Lyn away. "Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to calm down."

"Get your fucking hands off me!" Lyn shoved the officer aside and charged towards the healer again. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Raph? I trusted you, and you turn around and neglect Cinna? She had to be right next to Millie, okay, they freaking left together, I saw them! Millie was the one who fucking dragged her out, she was there and you—"

"Can you shut the hell up?" Raph roared. His umber eyes had awakened with rage, while his croaky voice echoed throughout the hill. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I care about Cyd too, but didn't you hear what Officer Leon said? Millie was sent to the emergency room, even after I was here, healing her! She almost died, Lyn! She was on the brink of death!"

"But she's not dead, is she? Meanwhile, Cinna is gone!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" This time, it was Raph who seized Lyn's shirt, his nostrils flaring in anger. "Is Cyd the only person you care about? Millie is your teammate and friend too! Why is it that your mind only has Cyd and none of us! We fight alongside you, and we risk our lives too! Why do you not care about any of us? You're saying that I neglect Cyd? Well, I'm telling you to stop neglecting your friends!"

He thrust Lyn away. She staggered on the spot as she balanced herself.

"Someone was trying to kill Millie, Lyn," Raph spat. "Her neck was cut, and she's still in critical condition now, and- and... all you care about is your Cinna. It's like the rest of us don't exist to you."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Blood immediately drained from Lyn's head. Her legs wobbled. "Wait... Millie's neck... was cut?"

"Yes, and if I had gotten there just a bit later, she would've... she would've... d..." Raph scowled as his Adam's apple bobbed.

"I'm... I'm so sorry, Raph..." Lyn whispered. "I shouldn't have- I didn't realize..."

Raph's tone was bitter but resigned. "Yeah, you never realize, do you? Whatever, just drop it."

A familiar voice cut through the uncomfortable tension between them. "Ah, of course, whenever there's a commotion, it's because of the lightning mage," said Brendan as he sauntered towards them.

"Mr. Oakley," Leon greeted.

Brendan nodded at the officer, who then ran off to his other duties. His expression was somber as he faced the remaining two. "I'm very sorry about your teammate, but don't worry, she's in very good hands now. I just received a report from Blue Cross that she's stabilized and not in life danger. Very good job, Raph, with stopping her blood flow and reversing the injury. It helped a lot, and she's alive because of that."

A gasp escaped Raph's throat. His shoulders slumped as if a weight had been lifted off from him. "Thank god..."

Lyn, however, was far from relieved. "Brendan, can you please tell me what the fuck happened here."

Putting his hands into his pocket, Brendan let out a sigh. "We don't know the full picture yet, but someone must have attacked Cydney and Millicent. Cydney was most likely taken away, but rest assured, we have a tracking device on her magic detector. We are locating her right now, and once we do, we'll get her back."

Lyn nodded slowly. To think the cursed ankle bracelet that she had hated was the key to saving Cydney.

"Lyn!"

Irene was running towards them, brows furrowing in concern. Emily and her girlfriend, Becca, trailed behind her.

"Lyn, Raph, what happened?" said Irene. "I came here as soon as I could..."

As they neared, the three newcomers caught sight of the clutter and the pools of blood; Irene winced, Emily cursed, while Becca paled immediately.

"Oh shit... What the hell happened?" Irene asked.

Lyn did not feel like talking, but thankfully, Brendan was there to give a quick summary. As they listened, the three women's faces all contorted into a range of grimaces.

Irene closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Shit..."

"I'm so sorry," Emily said softly, giving Irene a squeeze in her arm. "I'm not close to them, but I know just how strong they are. I'm sure Millie will pull through, and I..." She glanced at Lyn. "I'm sure Cydney will put up a good fight against whoever did this."

Lyn merely bobbed her head in response.

"Mr. Oakley!" Leon dashed back to the group, holding a black bag. Face flushed, he leaned towards Brendan and whispered frantically into his ears. Brendan's eyes widened.

"What is it?" Lyn demanded, her vigor returning in full force. "Is it Cinna? Did you guys find her?"

Brendan and Leon exchanged a knowing look before Brendan cleared his throat. "Yes and no. There's a—how should I say—situation."

"What situation? What is it? Did you find her or not?"

"We did track Cydney's magic suppressor down, but the problem is..." Brendan pinched his nose and sighed. Next to him, Leon was adjusting his collar and gulping. "We found it in a cornfield in Illinois, but, erm, without Cydney."

"So they broke the magic suppressor?" Emily asked. "How is that possible? Isn't it reinforced with ten levels of specialty enhancement magic?"

"Whoever took Cyd away must be crazy strong, then," noted Irene.

"No, that's not it." Brendan shook his head. "The magic suppressor is not broken. They were removed... in another way, by cutting off an easier part."

There was a short pause before Raph staggered backward. "No- No way..."

Becca gasped and hid her head into the paling Emily's arms, while Irene covered her mouth trying not to retch.

"What?" Lyn blinked. "What do you mean, Brendan? I- I don't understand."

"I'm sorry, Lyn, but don't delude yourself."

"What? No, I really don't get it. Is there a secret way to remove it or something?"

"No, it's not—" Brendan let out yet another slow sigh. "Fine. Show it to her, Leon."

"Mr. Oakley? You- You sure?"

"Just listen to him, goddamn it!" Lyn snapped.

Reluctantly, Leon opened the black bag he was holding. He tilted it a little bit so Lyn could get a glimpse—and a glimpse was all she needed.

The world around Lyn dissolved. A cloud of red—raging and burning—blurred her vision, while the deafening throbs of her heart drowned out everything around her.

A foot.

Inside the bag was a foot, covered with Cydney's sneaker—and the cursed ankle bracelet.

Whoever took Cydney away had cut her foot off.

Air rushed into Lyn's throat, but it stuck there. She couldn't breathe. No, she didn't want to breathe, or speak, or do anything at all; she just wanted to scream out her lungs, scream into the void, scream at the cruel world...

"Lyn, stop!"

Lyn blinked her tears away, only to stare into Irene's equally teary face. "Calm down!" the black woman yelled. "You're freaking zapping us!"

Am I? Lyn lifted her quivering hands. Indeed, bright sparks danced all over her skin. Her eyelids fluttered a little more before she realized how much everyone was affected. Emily, with her arms covering Becca protectively, was retreating step-by-step, while Leon and Raph had already moved a few feet away, eyes darting around in wary. Brendan and Irene remained next to Lyn, but they were flinching in pain.

"I'm- I'm sorry..." Lyn closed her palms and clenched, stopping her magic. "But Cinna... Cinna... She... I..."

"I know." Irene's voice was as strained as her expression. "It's terrible, but you still need to calm down. You need to reserve all your strength to find her."

"Yes," Brendan added, "we've already sent specialty mages to the site to try and track her down from there. Give it time, we'll find her for you."

"No, no, no, we need to find her now. We need to, she's... Brendan, please, can you get them to work faster, she's..."

"I'm sorry, Lyn, but I promise you we are working as hard as we can on this right now." Another officer approached Brendan and gestured for him to come over. "Sorry, I gotta leave now. But if you think of any leads for this, definitely shoot me a message."

The moment the QA employee left, Lyn dropped to her knees and buried her head in her hands.

Cydney was taken. Once again, Cydney was taken, and Lyn was useless. She had promised to keep Cydney safe forever, but she couldn't ever seem to keep any of her promises, no matter how hard she tried. Why was she so damn useless? Why, why, why?

The warm, salty tears soaked her cold, trembling hands. Despite her friends watching, she let herself sob.

A hand landed gently on her back. It was Irene. "I'm sorry, Lyn, but trust in Cyd and stay strong for her. She is the most powerful fighter I've ever seen. Oh, sorry, Emily, no offense."

Emily did not sound offended. "No, she really is. Irene's right. Trust her, and also trust the QA, Lyn. I am sure they'll find her soon."

"The QA can find her much faster with a lead too," Raph chimed in. "If you have any clues at all, you should tell them."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Irene said. "Lyn, we don't know as much of Cyd's situation as you do. Think. Who could have taken her?"

The question brought Lyn back to Earth. She stopped sobbing and lifted her head. "Han," she growled. "Han, and that crazy old man, and that masked guy."

"The who and the who now?" Irene frowned.

"Will the QA know who they are?" asked Emily.

"I don't know, but I do know someone who knows who they are. And maybe even where they are." Lyn wiped her tears and stood up, determination filling her heart. She stared at the people in front of her, who were staring back in confusion. Irene, Emily, Becca, and Raph—together, they could make a great team. They could bring Cinna back.

They had to.

"Who is it?" Raph asked.

"Sybil Dalman."