In the end Gabriel agreed to go under two main conditions. First of all, if this was a ruse, Gabriel wouldn’t listen to anything about Arabelle coming from Kupi’s mouth, even attacking him if he started talking about him.

Secondly, he also had to tell him more about his past life not only to him but also to Arabelle if any of them asked him for this at any point. This was something that Gabriel wanted to use when they got into the restaurant, ‘asking’ him to tell her the same story he had told him minutes ago.

While they walked towards the restaurant none of them talked. The sun was almost gone for the day and the mood was more of a romantic one, had they been partners. But they weren’t and Kupi didn’t want to ruin this chance he had created, while Gabriel didn’t really want to go to the same restaurant once more. He wasn’t even going to order, making him feel even worse.

They had made their way to the door, which was now lit up by streetlights with candles inside of them. Inside the restaurant they had three chandeliers and a pair of candles on every table, but that was all the light that came inside.

They didn’t use mana-filled crystals because they weren’t affordable for the average person and was most of the time not worth the investment, even if they would save money on the long run. Gabriel opened the door and let Kupi enter first and he followed him soon after.

Kupi had clear where he wanted to go, directly into the kitchen. Although that would be quite a challenge at this time because as most businesses closed many went to restaurants and bars to get their fill at the end of the day.

It was indeed peak hour, and they would be forced to wait unless Kupi played his cards right. And if they were forced to wait… well only he’d wait, as Gabriel would probably leave and go back to studying the nail, as he had told him that he was ‘making progress’, which was as unclear as it could’ve been.

Kupi entered the kitchen and Gabriel followed suit. Everyone there was busy, working on two, three or even four things at the same time! Therefore, the newly entered boys had to carefully curve around the hard-working chefs, preventing to disturb them, which could cause accidents.

Gabriel kept silent during the whole trip around the kitchen and simply waited for Kupi to get him to his sister to check her condition. But she was one of the busiest in the kitchen and when they tried to get to her Ted, the owner of the restaurant, blocked them.

- Nope, you can’t talk to her now. You see, she is quite the genius. Not only can she know what to improve on recipes after a bit of tasting, she can also cook very efficiently. Now that it’s peak hour I really can’t let you get into contact with her. – And he proceeded to open his arms, blocking the path towards her.

- It will be short. And it is important. Come on, Ted. – Kupi tried to convince him. – He just has to touch and go, right? – He looked at Gabriel for approval, but he doubted for a second and commented.

- It’s more complicated than that… If you can’t now, then it’s never. IF somethings wrong with her I may be able to heal her for free, but if you don’t let me through because she is making you profit tonight, then don’t come asking for me to help you in the future, in case she gets worse. – Gabriel answered critically. Kupi used this commentary as a chance and continued.

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- Yeah! It can be very bad! Haven’t you realized that she is moving slightly slower than before? And that she doesn’t seem as clever as before! I bet she has missed some improvements already! Come on Ted! It’s free!

Kupi seemed like a businessman trying to sell his latest product to a new customer that knew almost nothing about the topic. The restaurant owner had realized that Arabelle managed to cook less during the peak hours than before, but he thought that the cause of this was more… natural.

It may have been that period of the month. But what if it wasn’t? What if it really was something inside her skull making her dumber. How would he know?! He didn’t know any magic! It could become worse… it was indeed better to make sure everything was alright for now and loose on some profits that day and instead have a safe and healthy Arabelle to work for him for a longer period of time.

- Let’s get to it. – Ted agreed, thinking like a businessman. – But not here, it may disturb you or my workers. Let’s go to my room.

- Ew, I don’t want to see your bed – Kupi joked, immediately lightening the nervous mood between the four of them.

Arabelle, Gabriel and Kupi followed a sighing Ted who knew that everyone understood they were going to his office, but Kupi always chose the worst moments to make jokes. They reached the room, and all sat around Arabelle, who was sat on the ground.

Gabriel put his hands against her skull and started exploring her sister’s brain and mind, trying to find any change in the mana he hadn’t managed to dispel. After not so much searching he found a difference. Whoever did this tried to be sneaky, ‘binding’ the new spell with the remnants of the older one.

Gabriel studied this mind control mechanism but couldn’t figure out too much. Whatever he did find out, didn’t leave him happy, as his facial expressions showed. Ted and Kupi were curious and asked as soon as Arabelle exited the room, as Gabriel requested.

- I have some good news and some bad ones. – He informed. – What do you want to know first? – And subsequently asked the obvious question.

- The good ones! – Kupi said.

- The bad ones! – Ted answered at the same time.

- Well, it doesn’t matter too much anyways. – Gabriel didn’t want to wait for those two to reach an agreement and simply started telling them what he found out. First of all, the mind control is non expansive, as long as the person who casted it doesn’t meet her. Secondly, I have no way to cure her, as it is a new spell I hadn’t seen before. But! I will soon join both the magicians’ and wizards’ schools and there I’ll learn how to heal her. Lastly, the effects of the spell. It seems that it has been done through multiple phases.

- What do you mean? – Ted couldn’t manage being quiet anymore and blurted this question out.

- IF you had let me finish, you would be learning that now. But since you asked such an obvious question, I am now losing time answering to you. What a waste. – Gabriel paused for a second or two and sternly looked at Ted, who felt chills on his back. – ANYWAYS, as I was saying, this was most likely done through phases. First of all, her memory was controlled, to make the identity of the caster forgettable, but give her an instinct to meet it. Then the personality started to change, being more submissive. Had she been mentally sane she’d never let you disturb me to get to her, mad at me or not. She can do that herself and she would want to do that herself, if she weren’t controlled. Now I can see that her physical behavior has started to be controlled, but I can’t tell exactly how. After I have read a bit more about the topic, Ill come back and recheck on her. Make sure she doesn’t meet the caster again! I don’t know in what situation she’ll be in after her mind is tampered with again.

Without wanting to waste his time and worried about his sister’s situation, Gabriel made his way towards the exit and simply said:

- I’m going to study more about her now. – Which was true, but he also wanted to leave to skip an unwanted Q&A session with the two still sitting males. Gabriel was also interested in investigating more about the nail he had managed to buy and find out the origin of its power, trying to harness it to make it his own. – Goodbye.