Myself and Estelle quickly entered the room. If we were to find what that which we sought this room gave us the best chance at it, or so it appeared in the surface. In itself the office was specious, standing in the middle of it realm did not reached the edges. Still for a place that only was meant for one person to work in it sure appeared vainly cluttered. Walls covered by bookselves, an entire living room set in the middle, a few carpets adorning the floors and everything from a globe thingy half my size to a full on telescope. Honestly I wouldn't find it all that difficult to live here. Still there was one feature that didn't sat right with my stomach.

Estelle: This place... It makes me feel so small.

I... didn't noticed it at first but there was something about this room, the very air felt stale, heavy and somehow everything within realm seemed a bit more distant than before. Regardless I lit a small fire mid air on top of the desk

"Start looking through the documents."

Estelle: On it.

While Estelle check the desk I moved around the room, checking for any hidden comparments. Still I couldn't shake that feeling of uncomfort, despite everything being at the same spot within realm and it reaching exaclty as far as when we first got in here... everything felt like it was slowly drifting away from me. There was only one solution to dispell this feeling.

"Estelle can you walk towards me."

Estelle: What? Didn't you said that time is of the essence?

"I want you to take normal step and count them. Quickly."

Estelle: Fine.

She walked across the room. I counted five steps.

Estelle: Here you go, five steps. Are you alright now.

"Yes you can go back. Still count your steps as you do."

Estelle: Okay... you are acting frantic. I do understand what is at stakes here, still you are overreacting.

Five steps. I stayed put where I was, waiting while Estelle shuffled through the documents on the desk. I could be stending my time more constructively but still this feeling was just gnawing at me like a swarm of tiny bugs on my body.

Estelle: There is nothing here!

That was surprising. Still it opened one final place for exploration. Estelle was about to make her way towards me but I stopped her.

"Do like before and count your steps."

Estelle: This again, we don't have time...

She stopped, both mid sentence and mid step. If it truly was for the reason I though then we were in absolute trouble. I had already counted five steps yet she hadn't even covered a fifth of the way. Real trouble.

Estelle: What do we do?

When this revelation donned on us I didn't just sat there trying to process the situation, I immediately gathered the necessary energy to open a portal to Estelle but as I willed it the energy simple... dissipated. A second attemp netted the exact same result. A third was on the way...

Estelle: ...Alex, Alex!

Clearly no matter how many times I tried it nothing will change. I need to take this from another angle.

"Try any chant, the first that comes to mind."

While she chanted I had some time to process everything in my mind. Somehow the space around us had expanded?, stretched? I couldn't confirm the status of the room visually, by myself, but going off Estelle's lack of a reaction to her surroundings, and realm, the objects present didn't show any signs of obvious distortion. I lit a small flame again to confirm that I could use magic as it worked just fine, it was only portals that I couldn't deploy. Estelle also succeded with her chant.

Estelle: Now what?

'The more we stay in here the worst it gets. For now start destroying everything around you."

Estelle: Destroy! How? With chants?

"No that will take forever. Use your magic."

Estelle:...

Estelle: I-I...I can't.

I switched my approach, instead of opening a portal using outer energy I opted to try using my inner energy. Wrapping my energy around one of my socks I willed the effect and it worked, the sock had successfully misported next to me. At least I still had that, not that it would make a difference since I didn't had anything heavy on me... I need to consider that for the future... THINK. There must have been something that triggered this trap.

"Did you noticed anything out of place when we entered?"

Estelle:...

She was't responding, unnaturally so.

"Estelle! ESTELLE!"

Estelle: Present!

"Did you noticed anything out of place when we entered?"

Estelle: No... I don't know, maybe?

How did this trap worked? On what principles? The rate and interval, the exact specification of what it did. I did not expected to see something that so casually broke causality, this one trap completely rewrites everything I know of physics... How absolute exciting... NO. This is not the time for that. What was the trigger? The desk? The floor? Did we needed to say some magic words when, or before, entering? The door? The door!

"Are the windows closed?"

Estelle: Yes, why?

"Did you opened the door when we entered?"

Estelle: What? Of course, what type of question is... Wait, no the door was slightly ajar!

"I see"

This acted either as a limiter or a limitation, an enclosed space to work on, six surfaces with no gaps and when we closed the door behind us we checked that box. At least that was the working hypothesis we were going to operate under. We needed to open the door, turn its handle but it was just too far away from the both of us. I turned towads the table and the various trinkets that decorated it. I was one meter away from it yet I had no idea to how many steps it translated. Estelle was even closer to the desk.

"Run to the desk and throw the heaviest object you can grap to me."

Estelle: Got it.

We both turned and run. It didn't mattered who reached her destination first, only that one of us did. I could feel it in realm, my position was beraly changing and each progressive step covered less distance, I was very interested in finding out what it looked like, to Estelle running with me and to a neutral observant.

Estelle: This is getting us nowhere. No matter how much I run I can't seem to get anywhere.

"Then try to destroy the floor underneath you."

Estelle: I...

She seized all actions and simply stood there, motionless.

Estelle: Can you think of anything else?

"No, either melt the floor or keep running, expecting the best outcome."

Estelle: How can you do it?

"Do WHAT! Out with it girl, time's our opponent.

Estelle: How can you your magic after it scared you like that!

That. How should I go about giving her a satisfactory answer? In the first place to me it's more of Cadence's fault that I simply inherited along with her knowledge and body. To me it's more of a life lesson from a parent.

"Becuase I own it. It's MY magic, a part of me. Denying it is like I deny myself."

Estelle: Even if I use my magic what can I achieve? Bury myself?

"There is a secret room underneath us. All you need to do is open a whole to it."

Estelle said nothing further, instead lowering her body so her hands touched the floor. Her inner energy spilled out, forming a circle around her and little by little the floor split apart and rose around her like magnetic sand in a spiral cage like tower. She was making both steady and quick progress as was a third of her body deep, while me on the other hand could do nothing but continue to tire myself out running.

Estelle: Why didn't you mention anything about the secret room?

"There are very few reasons why this a person involved in something like this would have a secret room under their office and I wanted us to witness none of them. As long as he kept any clues on his desk then we would be spared from heading down and you from even knowing about it but as things turned out it's only downhill for us."

Estelle: Have...have you checked the space?

"I didn't found 'anyone'. At the same time I didn't tried to do so... Give me a moment."

I stopped. My salive felt bitter as I swallowed it down my throat. A fire was manifested directly underneath me close to the roof of this 'cellar'. If there truly was still a person down there then they should be drawn to the light.

Nothing, there were no persons down there and so I snuffed the light.

"I didn't found anyone. Regardless exercise caution."

Estelle: I will.

Soon Estelle broke through falling to the floor. Immediately I began gathering the energy to open a portal to the lower room. The moment of thruth was upon us, taking a deep breath I willed the spell and it worked, the portal was open and ready for us to pass through. The space stretching trap must have been disabled given that 'box' had opened, one way or another. Without losing a moment I jumped in the portal, not wanting to leave Estelle alone down there for a milisecond longer.

She hadn't moved from the place she had fallen to this entire time, which did managed to rile me up a bit. That's why before even the portal had started collapsing I was lighting a new fire above our heads. Moving around to get a better idea of the space I found that there was a passage leading deeper and further away from the house. If we spent the time and actually scouted the perimiter we might had found this path and used it, sparing us all that heartache.

"Let's place a candle here so you look around while I'm scouting ahead."

Estelle: Okay.

Walking down the corridor realm fell upon a side room, empty, containing the most disturbing of furnishing. As soon as I opened the door a strong smell hit my nostrils, a repugnant yet familiar one. Just how many people have entered this room for their last time, this 'fully equiped playground' of his? Gritting my teeth I turned away from the room, even if I were to burn everything donw to ash it wouldn't change anything, my feelings were better kept for the pig in charge. Moving ahead there was a second room, different than the other, this one housed 'presenses' and a lot of them at that, all in various shapes and forms with some so dim they were beraly disernible from the outer energy surrounding them and other so small and misshapen that were but a football of fading energy.

Keeping silent I rushed back to Estelle, as much as I wanted to break them out right there and then I needed her face in order to create a better first impression. She had quite the succes on her side as a small chest was now sitting on the ground along with some books. Getting her attention I led her back to the room and busting the doop open she entered.

Estelle: The... There is no one here.

"What!"

Estelle: People definitely were here at some point but right now it's empty.

"Then...this? This! It can't be, no.

Could it really be?

Turning away from the door I punched the wall with full force. Bones breaking, skin ripping apart yet it wasn't enough, I needed more.

Estelle: Where are you go... You are bleeding! We need to take care of that.

I stopped, raising my hand to singal her to stop talking.

"I'm done. I'm just done. Take what ever you can carry and wait for me at the far end of this tunnel. There is something I need to do."

Using a portal to get back to the office I backtracked my way to the master bedroom. Now I couldn't use my magic to directly light up a bitch but it was a different case when said bitch was enveloped by some real flammable shit. Standing outside the room I set the bed aflame and run back to the office, setting a many fires as I could while running and catching his screams as I did. Falling down through a portal I started another fire on the expensive furniture of the office and yet another on the devices. I wanted this place to go down, nothing to remain but ash.

For a moment I stopped in front of the room. I didn't knew what to do, was there even anything I could do? At the end I followed through with the only thing I could do and also burned the room to the ground. And yet there they stayed, among the flames, for them nothing had changed. They were standing still as one by one exited the range of reaml.