When they’d returned to Freehelm, Gethon ushered them into a particularly lavish room of velvety, maroon carpeting and similarly-colored wallpaper. Three chestnut-skinned women with vividly-colored hair lounged in separate places.

He entered last, closing the sizable wooden doors behind them. Lara noticed that Lethe wasn’t with them.

Zanatos turned, having just closed the curtains when they’d entered.

“Not as sterile as the ward, huh?” Asked one of the women. She sported a fiery red ponytail and messy fringe.

Auras walked over, setting the gun Lara had forgotten down on the oversized desk. The woman lifted herself from her seat in one of the two armchairs across from Zanatos. “Being down there made tracking you all the more nerve wrecking. I’m glad we moved up to Zana’s office, much cozier.”

“Tracking me?” Lara asked, taken aback.

“Thank you for your blatant honesty, Scarlet,” Zanatos remarked to the woman before answering Lara. “Of course you were tracked; how did you think you were being guided?”

Lara felt the prickle of annoyance. “I didn’t exactly have the most time to think.”

“Yes, as evidenced by your exit strategy.”

“Please disregard him; he’s like this to everyone. He goes through his moods,” Scarlet said, cutting in. “He’s so particular about his toys.

“That helmet was a prototype. Brand new.”

Scarlet shot him a look. “And that’s why we’re especially fortunate that we had Lethe to find her when your toy died.”

“Yes, so very fortunate; thank you, Scarlet,” clipped the one standing in the corner of the room behind Zanatos. Her hair, streaked entirely with multiple shades of purple, was meticulously pinned -- not a strand out-of-place as it hung, bone-straight, and ended sharply at her shoulders.

“It feels so positive here, everyone’s thanking me.” Scarlet said sarcastically before sitting back down.

Zanatos ignored her. “The fans?”

Lara’s heart pounded as she unbelted the carrier and placed it on his desk.

“Where is the other one?”

She stared at the table. “I don’t know.”

“You lost it?”

“I was attacked.”

Zanatos glared at the ceiling. The one with the purple hair dismissed his reaction. “You can recover your toy.”

“Do you know how obnoxious it is to send in a clean-up crew, Violet?”

“I’m sure you’ll take care of it.” She said, shooting daggers. “Especially since it was your job to take care of the security.” She turned her stony-gaze to Lara. “I trust that was the only thing you lost. The item that you went to so much trouble for -- the one that we have yet to see, where is it?”

Lara’s brief moment of panic subsided as she remembered the pocket-watch, and lifted her sleeve to reveal it clinging to her skin. After unwrapping its chain from her forearm, she gently placed it on the desk.

“The risk certainly was greater than the current reward,” said the third young woman who, visibly smaller than the other two, looked much more like a girl. Her black and blue tendrils intertwined with one another as they pooled around her. She was laid on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

Lethe entered the room, breaking the purple-haired one’s hard look.

Watching him, Lara felt blood rush to her cheeks, remembering her unasked question. Another unanswered occurrence in a series of bizarre events; the glowing outlines, the soldier’s blood -- and now the river that saved her life.

Until the river, there hadn’t been any true witnesses; Zanatos and Gethon had been on the opposite side of the door in Indianapolis, the soldier had been incapacitated in Vallan, and she’d been alone in the office where she’d found the watch. Lethe was the only one she couldn’t be sure about. He could have seen her fall.

Scarlet ran her fingers through her hair, breaking a single, thick blonde highlight into dozens of strands across its fiery canvas. “We don’t always realize the value of things until we look back, Indigo.”

The black and blue haired one, Indigo, was first silent for a moment -- and then began to hum, seemingly disregarding Scarlet’s response.

But Scarlet continued, unperturbed. “I know it may not appear so in the current moment, but we are immeasurably grateful.”

Unsure of how to adequately respond to the danger she’d been put through, Lara settled on a half-hearted “No problem”. But when she inquired about her departure, she was met with a pause.

“Ah, yes,” answered Zanatos. “That must be the most pressing matter at this moment... for you.”

“And Auras,” she added, the guilt of disappearing still weighing on her.

“We had originally established travel arrangements upon your return. However, as you witnessed first-hand, although the task is complete things didn’t quite proceed as planned.”

“What do you mean?” Lara felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. “What does that mean for us?”

“For you: a minor setback, I’d imagine.”

“Why can’t we just leave?”

“I suppose you could, if you knew your way around,” said Zanatos. “The fact that a group of moderately powerful people is now searching for the culprit of a break-in doesn’t make a very strong case for letting you leave -- tonight, anyway. It makes more sense to let things die down.” He added as she looked back towards Auras. “For now.”

“But we were on our way somewhere, weren’t we, Auras? We don’t have to stay here.” Lara asked, desperately fishing for a way out.

He returned her with a look that confirmed her fears before he even opened his mouth. “I believe this is out of our hands.”

Lara closed her eyes, out of options.

“What happens now.” She asked, quietly.

“That’s a discussion better kept for tomorrow.”

“You mean today,” said Violet. “This ordeal has taken the better part of the night. We’re well into the haunting hour.”

Zanatos stood as Lara heard the door open behind her. She turned to see Lethe leave the room.

“Let us all get some much needed rest,” Zanatos said, finally pocketing the silver gun. “We’ll reconvene tomorrow.”

As Auras exited, she went after him, stopping him in the hall outside the door.

“Why did you bring me here?” She grabbed the coat fabric on his arm, forcing him to turn toward her.

Auras peered down at her from his massive frame. “I was instructed to.”

“By who,” she quipped. “By them? Did you know about this the whole time?”

“If you’re looking for answers, I can assure you, you won’t find them with him,” Scarlet interrupted, closing the office door behind her. “I’ll take it from here, big guy.”

Auras gave Lara one last look before retreating.

“I am your baby-sitter now,” she joked as she began walking Lara through the opposite side of the hall.

Lara was a lit fuse, and silence was the best she could offer.

“I like silence, too.” Added Scarlet when Lara didn’t respond. “No, no I don’t. This is miserable. I’m one to talk, though. You’ve just been dragged halfway across the country.”

She shook her head, looking at anything but Scarlet.

“That’s kinda exciting, though. I bet you saw some interesting stuff. Things get wild when society’s lost its touch.”

Lara focused on controlling her breathing.

“You’d think things would calm down when you build a new society from the ashes, like this.”

They came to two pristine silver doors which opened as they neared. Scarlet hit the button for the third highest floor.

“There are only three other buildings in Circa as tall as this. It may be the tallest -- but don’t quote me on that.” Scarlet added, seemingly reading her mind. “Easier to go down than to come up, when they’re being serviced, let me tell you.”

The tallest building Lara had ever been in was the library where she’d worked. And even then, moving up and down the narrow stairways had, on some days, been a nightmare.

They stepped out into a more welcoming hallway than the one they’d originally come from.

“Security, business, government, residences -- we’re in residences,” Scarlet recited, detailing the layout of the Lissome. “Stacked lowest to highest. Four buildings for the Big Four, all pretty much the same.”

“How did everyone even get here?” Lara asked, baited by her curiosity.

“Long story,” Scarlet responded, placing her hand against a wall and using it for balance and she careened carelessly around the corner.

Lara blinked, gears turning. “Do you also work for Zanatos?”

Scarlet scoffed in response. “Zanny?”

“Is that a no?”

Scarlet, now ahead of Lara, turned to face her. She walked backward, obviously familiar with the hall. “Psh, he wishes my title was more than just a technicality.” She faced forward, crossing her arms behind her back. “He’s a cover; I just pretend to work as his underling.”

“You don’t feel nervous saying that out loud?” Lara questioned, lost in the complexities of who controlled who in the group’s dynamic.

“You’re the only one around to hear me, so I’m not too worried. Plus no one stays in these suites -- not right now, anyway. I’m nearly positive there’s no one left on the floor.” Scarlet added, “Jonathan made sure of that.”

Lara’s stomach sank. “You’re just walking me over, then?”

“Yeah, I don’t like to hover. But you can calm down; people here may be rumor vultures, but most people aren’t going to defy an order from higher up. I’m sure he just did it to keep things under wraps for now considering what happened with his kid before you got here.” Scarlet reassured her. “But that part isn't a guarantee, just a suspicion.”

“And how do you know all this?”

“Excellent question!” Scarlet popped, stopping in front of a door near the end of the hall. “Even longer story, one where -- if you excuse my love of history and its nuances, yada, yada -- I would be happy to explain tomorrow while you’re waiting out your sentence.”

Lara looked at her, knowing fully well that she didn’t have a plan to combat whatever she’d be faced with the next day. Listening to Scarlet ramble had somehow become the least depressing way to spend the day.

It was also the easiest way to avoid Jonathan and his inquisition about everything she didn’t remember and couldn’t explain. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Scarlet beamed. “There’s a library downstairs. You can meet me there.” She pointed to the room. “This is yours. I have to take care of some stuff tomorrow, but I’ll send someone up to let you know when I’m ready, so just take some time to rest.”

After the last few hours, Lara found it very difficult to remember what that word even meant. She opened the door and stepped across the threshold into a comfortably adorned room. In comparison to what she had been sleeping in for the last year, the accommodations were aggressively over-stated.

“Really, I think that if you just focus less on that nudging feeling of captivity and focus more on the fact that you’re not working, this is essentially a vacation. Albeit the fact that you broke into a building today -- but a vacation!” Scarlet yelled, nearly out-of-sight as she careened out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Lara stood in front of the bed, listening until the footsteps had receded. Giving it a bit of extra time, she approached the wardrobe in the corner of the room. Opening it, she found four or five white and ivory-colored dresses.

Nudging feeling of captivity.

She slammed the wardrobe shut.

Back by the hallway door, she cracked it open. When she was sure she was alone, she surveyed the scene before slipping out.