In the headquarters of the special division rumors were flying wildly. Nicole Byron was suddenly called into duty without any explanations and she just arrived through the doors while painting a little.

Looking around her, the squad had already assembled.

Walking towards her best friend in the squad, she decided to inquire about the situation at hand. ''Hey Erikson! Were you told anything about our new assignment?''

''Oh hey Nicole. All I heard from the captain was that some sick shit was going down in Runa-city. The mayor and the commissioner insisted us to fix their city.''

Erikson strapped on his standard military boots and briefed Nicole up to speed.

''So I can safely assume that it has something to do with the docks incident this morning. Why do these sick fucks have to make such a mess. What happened to the gentlemen criminals that learned to clean afterwards.'' Shaking her head in annoyance, she walked directly to the changing room.

Watching her back recede from his sight, Erikson clicked his tongue and mumbled in a quiet voice. ''You still have a long road ahead of you kid.''

One of the squad members walked next to Erikson. ''Whacha mumbling there Franz? Having a little crush on the newcomer?''

Watching the squad member in bewilderment, Franz snorted lightly and turned his gaze towards the changing rooms.

''Nah bro, she told me yesterday that today was the big date with Mr. Wonderful. She must be pretty pissed off to be called on duty in the middle of a date.''

''Hahahah. The perks of the job are good, but it certainly brings its own challenges.'' Replying gleefully to Franz, they both laughed and waited for their captain to deploy their team.

In the afternoon the special division arrived in the small alleyway. The squad looked slightly disturbed at the isolated crime scene, but none were taken back by the sight before them.

Nicole and Franz walked side by side to the exact place the explosion happened. Looking around them, they inspected the scene for damages.

''Well this is not the way I imagined my day off. Some dude just exploded in the middle of the city and my dating life evaporates at the same time, like that unlucky guy smeared on those walls.'' Nicole said with an exhausted tone and kicked a nearby rock.

''Now now Nicole. There is bound to be some setbacks in life.'' Franz tried to console her and continued on to distract her thoughts.

''Say, Nicole. Have you seen or heard anything like this? I wonder what could have caused it.'' Nicole shook her head and turned her attention towards the captain that marched towards the team with hasty steps.

''Find any clues you can find from here, after this place we still have a harbor to search. Ingrid, you search for mana patterns, Byron and Erikson search the nearby perimeter and the rest will go interview nearby houses and eye witnesses. Move out.'' The captain announced the tasks and everyone focused on their own tasks.

Erikson lightly tapped Nicole with his elbow and divided their area of search after a brief conversation.

Searching separately they covered the area within 30 minutes, and found no clues. Feeling frustrated that no clues turned up, Nicole kicked the nearby dumpster in anger.

Her feet pierced the dumpster, leaving a large hole on the side.

Some trash kept pouring out from the hole as if a dam had burst: At that moment Nicole questioned her choice of career when her military boots were soaked in proverbial shit.

''Fucking asshat criminals! At least leave me something to go...What... Is that?'' Halting her speech in the middle of the sentence when she noticed something different rolling on the ground.

Perfectly intact mug? What are those patterns and markings on it... Strange.

Crouching down to inspect the mug, she felt a strange attraction coming from it. Carefully reaching for the mug, Nicole grasped the mug handle lightly. ''It is so beautiful...'' She uttered in a dumbfounded manner.

And then the sun went out. Skies darkened and Nicole found herself amongst the empty void traveling faster than her eyes could see.

What is happening to me? Where am I? Dumbfounded, Nicole tried to turn around and saw passing starlight flashing by.

No... This cannot be real. My mind is unbreakable steel and I will not succumb to illusions.

Making up her mind that what she saw around her was nothing but an illusion. Calm down Nicole. It will pass shortly.

Lights flashed by slower and slower, until a stop. Seeing a blue planet in front of her eyes, she entered the atmosphere.

Watching civilizations rise and fall from a bird eye perspective, Nicole felt her own insignificance.

Immersing herself into the unknown cultures, religions and customs, she felt that time was a fickle mistress.

Nobody could stop the unstoppable march of time: Even the mightiest empire deteriorates into nothingness at some point.

Realizing an epiphany about life, a strange force was pulling her back into the void. Nicole felt relief and disappointment at the same time.

Just let me see for a bit more... Familiar starlight flashed in the corner of her eyes, and then the sun illuminated her vision once again.

Perplexed, Nicole looked at the surroundings: White ceiling, sunlight illuminating her youthful face and medical equipment.

Holding an unfamiliar object, she cast a doubtful glance at her right arm. The mug...is still there?

Sitting up from the bed, she wondered what happened to her. Feeling that her condition was normal, Nicole ripped out the sensors attached to her body and tried to stand up.

Barely getting on her feet, Nicole heard a loud commotion outside the room she was in.

Doctor and military personnel rushed inside the room with great haste and were dumbfounded at the sight of Nicole standing up weakly.

The doctor closed his open mouth with great difficulty, and then told her to lay back on the bed for a check up.

Running every possible test, the doctor announced after two hours that Nicole was in perfect health.

''You are lucky to be awake, young lady. When you were first brought here, most doctors deemed you brain dead. The light weakness you are feeling should go away after you eat a proper meal.''

''Thank you for your consideration doc. Where is my team?''

''Don't be so hasty, missus, your captain and team members are waiting outside for the good news. Just remember to thank them for insisting that you would be awake.''

''What do you mean?''

The doctor stroked his beard in contemplation and answered after a brief moment.

''You were found collapsed on the street, as if you had lost your soul. My colleagues deemed you brain dead and were about to pull the plug but that guy Erikson insisted that we would keep you on life support. That was two months ago.''

''Two months? I have been in coma for two months?''

''Yes, well I am going now. You can call a nurse by pushing that button over there, but I believe you have other visitors waiting for you.'' Pointing at the red button by the table, the doctor shrugged his shoulders and exited the room.

In a slight shock, Nicole thought back to the strange illusion. ''What in god's name happened to me... And why is this mug still in my hand.''

Her glazed eyes gained vitality as she heard familiar sounds echoing from outside the hospital room.

Erikson and the team mates almost broke the door with their rush, and saw Nicole awake.

''Thank god. I thought I would never see you smiling again Nicole.'' Erikson wept silently and hugged Nicole with a bear hug.

After exchanging pleasantries and making sure that everything was fine, the captain coughed loudly to get the attention.

''Khm Khmmm! Now that the pleasantries are done, can you tell me what happened.''

Seeing the captain's grim look, Nicole started her story from the beginning and hid nothing from her team. Listening to her, the team felt silent and uneasy.

The captain doubtfully looked at Nicole and alternated his gaze with the mug still in her hand.

''Why don't you let go of the mug now Nicole. We could not take it away even with force, trust me. We tried. When you were ''brain dead'' we had experts examine the mug.''

Letting her hand go off the mug, Nicole waited for the captain to continue.

''According to the experts, the markings and symbols appear in history and religion. Some depict fortune, misfortune, love, hate and so on. The symbol in the bottom of the cup was exceptionally interesting.''

''What was depicted on the bottom of the mug?'' Nicole asked with slight trepidation in her voice.

''Pentagram. We are not quite sure what that means yet, but we are looking for clues.''

Nicole picked up the strange mug and looked at the bottom. Seeing a bright red pentagram pulsating along the lines with an ominous light, she had encountered it in passing in her ''illusion''.

Muttering in a slightly fearful voice, Nicole said the first words that came into her mind. ''The Devil. It is the mark of the beast.''

*Achoo*

Wiping his nose on a clean handkerchief, Victor looked with puzzled eyes around his cleaned antique store. Who is speaking about me behind my back? Oh well, all publicity is good publicity.