The Congregation’s response was swift and effective.

Within minutes Cornell’s campus was flooded with Congregation officers with direct orders to subdue the succumbed witch and cover up the incident from the non-magical world. The group had taken care of the first task for them, but they immediately sprung into action to accomplish the second.

There was no time to decompress for the battered party who had saved countless lives by the skin of their teeth. They were immediately taken in for treatment and questioning.

They had descended like vultures on Lorelei in particular. The only reason Levi hadn’t objected to how quickly they were ferreting away was because Oscar had already pushed his way through to be with her. At the very least she would have a handler who is familiar with her, though that would be small comfort to her in the coming days.

Levi noticed as the black creature compressed itself and slipped into Noelle’s shoe, totally unseen by the Congregation operatives. Levi had missed his window to wipe Noelle’s mind with his filter and long term memory erasure was taboo. In all likelihood Noelle would be allowed to keep her memories of the incident under the stipulation she submit to mild surveillance.

Levi just hoped they’d show enough mercy to leave Noelle and the black thing to their lives.

As for him, this was yet another fine mess he’d gotten himself into. No doubt he’d be subjected to an obnoxiously meticulous interrogation by the Inquisitor’s Office at some point.

As he was guided into a temporary shelter for on-field medical treatment, Levi took one last look at the moon. It alone would be allowed to keep its memories of the blue fireball which had nearly destroyed the entire town, the Congregation already hard at work erasing any memories of the impromptu lightshow on Cornell’s campus from the minds of the townsfolk.

Levi reclined in his desk chair as the midday light streamed through the window. It had been a few days since everything had gone down and he had finally been cleared by the Inquisitor’s Office. There was a brief period where he feared he was going to be thrown in the slammer for one violation or another, but in the end he had made it through just fine.

“Don’t those hurt?” asked Hugo.

From the golem’s perspective Levi had gone missing for a few days only to return covered in bandages from various injuries. Levi was pretty glad at the moment that Hugo had no emotions of his own, explaining everything all over again would have been exhausting.

“Living hurts, Hugo. Oh well.”

“I wouldn’t know,” was the golem’s reply.

The door to the shop opened and Talise and Oscar entered. Both were similarly bandaged up and had an exhausted look in their eyes. It seems everyone had paid a toll to make it through that night.

“Back already?” asked Levi. “Shouldn’t you be with Lorelei?” He nodded towards Oscar.

“They already moved her into a temporary children’s home pending the next foster appointment. Out of sight out of mind as far as the higher ups are concerned,” replied Oscar.

“That’s...rather cold,” said Levi.

“I agree but they were pretty desperate to move her into a less densely populated area, at least for the time being.” Oscar crossed his arms and leaned against one of the bookcases. “The woman in charge of the children’s home is top notch at least, she should be fine for the time being.”

“Yeah...just as long as you don’t farm her out to another Dr. Bismark.”

‘We tossed out the entire candidate pool to start fresh. We won’t let this happen again.”

“Evil plans aside,” said Talise, “I was the one who took her there. She didn’t look very well.”

“Let’s drop it for now,” interrupted Oscar. “We’re here for Levi at the moment.”

“What for?” Levi asked.

“Your future plans.”

Silence descended upon the group before Oscar spoke up again.

“No way you intend to keep this bookstore thing going, right?”

“We’re not bankrupt yet,” muttered Levi. “Just...almost bankrupt. Yeah.”

“It’s been almost five years since you left the knights,” started Oscar, “and in that time you’ve popped up all over the place doing all sorts of different things. Most importantly, you always seem to get yourself wrapped up in whatever local trouble is brewing before moving on to the next thing. Am I wrong? What comes after this?”

“You almost sound like you’re kicking me out.”

“Nothing of the sort,” said Talise. “It’s mostly curiosity, though this cute little kid Oscar won’t admit it.”

“Hey!” Oscar protested.

“You have a point,” said Levi, leaning farther back into his desk chair. “I told myself I would try everything at least once until I found my calling. I gave the whole college town bookstore thing a fair shake if I do say so myself.”

“So you are leaving!” said Oscar.

“But…,” began Levi, “that’s starting to feel less like flexibility and more like callousness on my part.”

“What do you mean?” asked Talise, smiling.

“I mean...do either of you feel like our business here is done? Wrap it up and put a bow around it?”

“What are you asking?” inquired Oscar.

“I’m...I just…,” Levi faltered. “It’s never too late to make a change, right?”

“The only one who can decide that is you,” said Talise.

Levi stood and stretched before looking his guests in the eye.

“In that case, I have a few massive favors I’d like to call in.”

Noelle sat at one of the cafe’s outdoor tables expectantly, the black creature resting in her lap. The Congregation had discovered it during her interrogation but they couldn’t figure out a way to restrain it. In the end they had let her keep it since there was nothing else they could do.

“Guess only Dr. Bismark was smart enough to keep you tied down, huh Nyar?” she cooed. The creature had become attached to her and accompanied her home underneath her clothes. In the end it was clear it wasn’t going anywhere, so it might as well get a name of its own.

“What a lame name...what was I thinking? I guess it doesn’t matter, it’s not like I can tell people about you willy-nilly in the first place.”

Nyar compressed itself and slid into her sleeve in response. A server was coming up to Noelle’s table. Lucky for her Nyar was so smart about hiding itself from the general populace.

“Can I get you anything?” asked the server.

“I’m still waiting for someone,” replied Noelle. “On second thought, let’s get two coffees. Black. He’s a grown man, he can handle the taste.”

“Right away,” the server scurried away and returned with two black coffees only a minute later. He also set down a couple packets of cream

“Hey, you never know,” he said, winking, before leaving again.

“...thanks,” she muttered before adding cream to her coffee.

A man came up to her and slid the other chair out from the table and sat down. He had become a familiar person to her by this point, his brown hair and green eyes a welcome sight after days of being interrogated by unknown magicians.

“Why’d you call me all the way out here,” complained Levi. “You know there’s a place right across the street from my store, right?”

“The walk did you good. If you don’t move a little every day you’ll get blood clots in your legs.”

“Right…,” started Levi. “Are you...doing okay? I’m sure the Congregation didn’t treat you with kids gloves just because you’re not magic.”

“Oh...them. Yeah...I didn’t really mind all things considered,” she said hesitantly. Noelle paused briefly to swivel the cream into her coffee before continuing. “I’m thinking of leaving the force.”

“Huh? How come?” asked Levi. He almost sounded disappointed.

“Levi...I shot a little girl,” she stated flatly. “I’m not some weirdo super soldier like you. I have no frame of reference for even attempting something like that.”

“You make it sound like I’m some sort of monster.”

“Sorry. That’s not what I meant.”

“On second thought, I’d rather you call me that than have you apologize. It sounds unnatural.”

Noelle laughed at this. She was happy Levi could spare a little levity for her after everything that had happened. “Very well. It’s just...I’m really just pretending to be a cop at this point. Adding magic on top of that...I can see it being a burden. I’m not cut out for fights like the one last night.”

Levi put his hand on her shoulder. “Noelle...you saved more lives than you could ever possibly imagine the other night. I know it may not seem like it now, but you’re the best damn cop I’ve ever met.”

She leaned into his touch, soaking in the human contact. She was afraid Levi might retract his hand once she did so, but he steadily kept it on her shoulder.

“Of course, it’s up to you,” he said. “I’m not a career counselor.”

“And the magic stuff?”

A smile crawled onto Levi’s face. “I’ve been to many places around the world, and I’ve met even more people. Magic is nothing more than their thoughts and wishes given form. It’s always there, even when we can’t see it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after all this time, it’s that where there is magic...there’s always hope too.”

His hand fell away and reached for his cup. He brought it to his lips and grimaced.

“This is completely black.”

“Ha ha ha!” Noelle laughed at him, tears pricking her eyes. “I almost thought you were cool for a second there! You really had me going!”

“I can take it! You think I can’t drink my coffee black?!” he protested before trying to gulp more down.

“Don’t push yourself!”

The two exchanged repartee awhile, but soon the sun began to set and they had to go their separate ways.

Levi looked reluctant to go, but he pushed himself out of his chair all the same.

“So...what now?” asked Noelle. “I made today about me, but what about you?”

He chuckled at her question, hand rubbing his chin. “I don’t really know, but I usually find that when you don’t know what to do that’s when you should do whatever feels the most right.”

Levi walked off into the sunset to places unknown, his shop in the other direction. Noelle smiled to herself as his back retreated down the street.

Finally she got up herself. There was lots to be done and the shops weren’t closed yet. If she was going to stick around she needed some furniture for that empty apartment of hers.

Lorelei lay in bed listlessly, nothing of interest for her to do in the children’s home. It was just outside the Black Forest, putting her within striking distance of the Congregation’s main city, Vorbild. Close enough for them to keep an eye on her but far away enough she wouldn’t be a threat to them. Not that she was complaining, she had plenty of bad memories about Vorbild. She was in no rush to return there.

She was in no rush to go anywhere really.

It had been years since she’d been alone like this. She started out a sole child, but she had overlapped with Beth in a children’s home between foster assignments and insisted the two of them stick together ever since.

And now Beth was gone.

Lorelei turned over in her bed, unable to even summon tears anymore. She was tapped out. Spent like a dead well.

It didn’t matter what happened to her anymore. Maybe the Congregation would save everyone the trouble and lock her away in some underground bunker in the middle of the Alaskan wilds.

A knock at the door broke her out of her thoughts.

Lorelei sat up as the door opened and the woman who ran the home came in.

“Can you come to the den?” she asked warmly. “I don’t know how it happened so quickly, but there’s already someone waiting to sign your foster paperwork. They said you could meet them to decide if you wanted to first. Best not keep them waiting.”

Great, another idiot looking to take in a witch. No doubt he was completely ignorant of the horrible monster he was inviting into his home.

Lorelei stood and headed over towards the den. Hopefully the simp would get one look at her freak hair and eyes before changing his mind.

She entered the den where there was a man standing with his back to her. The brown hair on his head shifted as he turned to face her upon having heard her footsteps.

Shock ran through her as she caught a glimpse of his green eyes.

“I know I’m being presumptuous coming here,” he started, “but I thought...maybe...maybe it’d be for the best if you stayed with me for awhile. Only if that’s what you want, of course!”

Something squeezed the inside of her chest as she looked at Levi. Before she knew it she was opening her mouth.

Right then and there, Lorelei gave him her answer.