We were able to convince her to stay long enough that she could catch her breath and I could eat something.

“So what’s going on? What’s the prob-”

“It’s Zeckmas.” That had both our attentions. “I decided to do a little investigative work on my own, just to see if I could find something of use for you. Forty years ago he had established some sort of mage group. Records of it were in the official catalogs of magic activity. I couldn’t find anything else on it but I decided to get it copied by a librarian.” she said, shaking her head. “The very next day, my apartment had been broken into and the copy was destroyed.” Tears suddenly sprung into her eyes. “They left a note. A threat.”

“They? You mean the mage group?”

“I don’t know.” Worry filled her eyes and she just shook her head. “It’s too risky for you to stay here.”

“Shit,” I muttered, turning away and trying to collect my thoughts.

“What else can you tell us about them? The group, I mean,” Kelia interrupted.

Hana, who was currently pacing, stopped for a second and then resumed her pacing as she spoke, “They’re called l'Assemblée de Monarchique.” Kelia snorted upon hearing that, something that sounded like a mix between a grunt of anger and sarcasm. It certainly was pretentious… “I think Zeckmas was their leader or maybe a high ranking member. I couldn’t get much before they sent the threat.”

I rubbed my temples, head already starting to hurt. No rest for the wicked.

“What did the note say,” Kelia asked, but her voice was dangerously low, so much so that it was more like a command.

"It said ‘We know where Griffin is. If you keep going down this path, we will have to take action.’” Her voice was shaky, her breath sharp and ragged. She kept smoothing her dress as she talked, mechanical, mindless. There was a pause before she suddenly burst out, “They had destroyed everything! All my silk chemisettes and nice petticoats. They didn’t even leave one for me.” She tumbled into a chair dramatically and I caught her wiping tears away.

Kelia shook her head suddenly. “But doesn’t that note seem odd to you?”

I looked at her confused. “How did they know you were so close to the kid? For all they should know, you’ve known him for 2 days. Shouldn’t they have threatened someone you were more likely closer to?”

That was a good point. It seemed like they would have to have been already watching Hana to notice my sudden appearance.

A dagger suddenly appeared in Kelia’s hands and she twirled it around. For the briefest second, I was worried that things were about to take a turn in a dangerous direction but it seemed like it was more of her way of fidgeting. She was a mysterious figure but I was slowly picking up on the fact that her past was a violent one. Maybe it was just the fluidity by which she twirled the knife or the fact that she always was wearing a scowl.

All these pieces and yet still nothing made sense. The dark magic, the secret order, the threat. “Something else is going on,” I said. Kelia nodded in agreement, likely having come to the same conclusion as I did. We were in sync.

Kelia spoke. “We need to investigate further.”

“Wait, what? That’s crazy!” I said, realizing we were absolutely not on the same page. “I have to go even deeper into hiding, not the opposite.”

Kelia sighed, already exasperated, the knife twirling faster. “You clearly don’t understand the situation you’re in-”

“I understand it just fine,” I interrupted, the fear moving me to lash out in anger. “In fact, I understand it perfectly. People are out to get me and this is quickly becoming something that is far beyond what I’m capable of solving. I’ve been here for a total of three days. Who knows how long all this stuff has been brewing for!”

Her brow furrowed but her tone was measured, controlled. “So far, you’ve been entirely reactive. You’re caught in the deadcenter of it all and you haven’t made a single move of your own that’s done something to shake things up. Not only that but you can’t get out now. It’s clear as day to me that this prophecy is not something you can just escape. Destiny will always find you.”

Hana’s look of concern was now palpable. “A prophecy?”

Shit, I was hoping to avoid telling her about that. She’s already in too deep. Getting her out of this mess would only be that much harder if she knew about the prophecy. Implicating her further was the last thing I wanted.

Hana, seeing I wasn’t responding, turned to Kelia and asked again. “What do you mean ‘a prophecy’?”

“The kid was brought here to fight some great evil. Not only that, but this prophecy in particular was told to us by Giaos herself.

Hana’s eyes widened so large that it would have been comical if not for the tense atmosphere. Her voice dropped quite a bit. “What do we do now, then?” She had been so loud, so forceful, so animated when we first met. Fear had driven that part of her out.

Kelia answered. “We charge into the belly of the beast.”