Laying down across one of the benches in the bird shop's aviary, Brook was whistling to himself as he waited alongside Beatrice. Tonight they'd be handing over the first set of payments to the enigmatic Witch, that strange Mage who he still didn't know the true identity of. He had guessed that she was wearing some sort of disguise in their meetings, but it hadn't truly clicked how deep that disguise went until they had been celebrating together. Every time he glanced at that Witch, no longer obscured by her terrifying cloak, her face seemed to subtly change every time, that black hair and purple eyes changing to be ever so slightly different. Her facial features also seemed to contort every so often, like something was writhing underneath it, squirming in its cage of flesh. Perhaps the only person who knew of the Witch's true identity was Beatrice herself, and even then he wasn't so sure. He only had a hint of something along those lines when they had talked in private before the heist. Beatrice had shown a surprising amount of trust in the Witch coming through with their deal, as if she had some sort of guarantee or leverage over her. And even while she was saying that, Brook could see the out-of-place unease on her face as clear as day, perhaps worried that leverage wasn't as significant as it actually was. So, maybe, Beatrice didn't have a clue either.

They didn't notice the obvious signs then as they sat there, Brook too involved in his own thoughts and Beatrice too distracted by the birds. It began as an ordinary sound rang out in the shop, the ringing of the bell as the front door swung open. Then, came footsteps and Janice calling out from the back, something inaudible from upstairs. Except, these footsteps were a few sets too many. Of course, it was possible that a group of people had come in to browse the wares, maybe a family looking for a bird, but at this time of day, this near to closing times? The only people who should be coming to the shop at this time should be the Witch.

Beatrice reacted first, switching her attention to the staircase and straining her hearing. Brook, whilst he was also cautious, remained where he was awaiting further information. Unfortunately, he was rewarded with what he wanted when Janice let out a scream. Bolting upwards, he hesitated for a moment, whether to run out the side door or help the one person in this damned world who had saved them all. Whilst Beatrice was stuck in indecision, deciding on a similar conundrum, Brook acted. Sprinting towards the stairs, he pulled out a knife from his back pocket, hiding it behind his back just in case.

Practically jumping down the staircase, Brook came face to face with what he feared the most. Janice was pushed against the ground, tears streaming down her face, while robed thugs held her hands behind her back. Besides them was a dropped box and what looked like Amy's birds, no doubt brought out for her visit, stranded on the ground next to her. Standing ahead of them were two noble-looking people, one dressed in a servant uniform and the other hidden in an expensive cape and fur jacket despite the blistering late-summer heat. That noble man turned to face him while his servant's eyes widened.

"Careful, sir Archmage, he has a weapon!" The servant called out a warning, beginning to draw what looked like a wand from his belt.

"No worries... That only makes this easier," The ARCHMAGE smirked, raising up a hand towards Brook.

With little time to cry in fear, Brook leapt at the noble and-

Beatrice heard a sound that could only be likened to a raging inferno as the shadow of a horrid blue flame exploded up the staircase from below. She had heard the beginning of - for who else could it be - Brook's howling when it was extinguished just as quickly in another torrent of blue fire. Beatrice stood frozen there, still stuck in indecision among the anguished screams of Janice, bawling at what could only have been the death of someone she viewed as a son. They could only have been Mages, for who else could simply snuff out a life so easily in such an obviously magical way? Who else could simply wander into someone's home and take them hostage? There would be no use escaping here, for these Mages no doubt had ways of finding her, and probably had a perimeter around the entire building watching for escape attempts.

Whatever she attempted, it would be futile in the face of magic. Ironically, it wasn't her dealings with the underground Mages before that taught her that. It was Amy.

So, sobbing and quivering, she sat back down, waiting for them to decide her fate.

"Should we search the rest of the building, sir Archmage? There could be someone hiding in the aviary or the backrooms."

"If you wish, but I believe this is everyone," Harrison stared down at his captives, handcuffed and slumped against a wall downstairs. The older lady continued to cry silently, still staring at the charred shadow of the boy he killed. The other younger girl lay limply, her eyes dead, and seemingly in shock.

"Begin the search!" One of his servants yelled, the rest getting to work swiftly. Harrison could already hear the angry squawking of birds upstairs as their homes and nests were disturbed by intruders. Although he didn't quite care for birds, he'd rather them left alone, as the damages charges always got complex with pets and other like properties involved. There had already been an incident like that occur when they first entered and he didn't want more complication to take place.

"What shall be done with the captives, sir Archmage?" One of the association Mages asked.

"Bring them both in for questioning, but I imagine the girl is the only one with good intel. Just throw them in the standard holding cells for now. The proper procedures can be dealt with later when the Web gets involved."

"As you command, sir Archmage."

Harrison stood there in the middle of the bird shop as he watched the pair get dragged away, the older lady almost hysterical, resisting every bit of the way. Strangely, the younger one followed their demands, still blankly staring forwards.

Rubbing a hand across his face, looking at the mess at his feet, he sighed.

"How annoying."

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* * *

Amy noticed it as soon as she neared the bird shop. A small crowd had amassed around its entrance, with a few mundane police offices trying to get them away. The lights in the shop had gone dark, and although she couldn't see it with the evening lighting, something seemed off with the aviary on the roof. Slowing down to a complete stop just at the edge of the crowd, Amy asked out loud for help.

"Felin."

"I see it," The cat purred, emerging from her purse.

"But what could cause all that mana disruption?"

"...Nothing good, my dear Apprentice."

Swirling in the Mana Ocean surrounding the shop was what could only be described as an ominous storm, like crows gathering in the sky above a corpse. There weren't any distinct flavours of mana that stood out from the norm, remaining remarkably Pure for something with such a stink about it. There was simply something off with the mana, an ephemeral quality to it that set off her alarms.

"Are there any Mages?"

"...Not that I could see," Felin muttered, squinting his virid slit eyes.

"I'm Cloaking then."

Shrouding herself in abyssal shadow, Amy casted Witch's Cloak with familiar ease, well-practiced with the Magick as she had ever been with something as simple as the Inspect or Water Bolt that she had learnt so long ago. The crowd before her, dense and unwilling to move before, now parted like the seas, unknowingly making room for her moving on through. The officers in the middle of it paid her no mind while she walked on past their cordoning off of the area. The shop was completely dark inside, Amy only really being able to see thanks to her enhanced vision, elevated by her new sensory processing enhancements too. Nowadays, it hardly felt like she actually saw with her eyes, almost like they were a redundant feature. It felt more like she could simply See and her magic made it happen.

Stepping over the tape on the wide-open door, Amy entered the shop. The first thing she noticed was what looked like a... stain on the wooden floor. A silhouette of what might have been a body had been painted over the floorboards, but anything casting that shadow no longer remained. Except, through her magical Sight, Amy could see the body as clear as day, outlined in corrupting Fire. Lingering there among the Fire like a soul imprisoned in hell was the corpse of Brook. Fighting to stay calm, Amy couldn't help but rush through the rest of the building, searching for signs of any others like him. Thankfully there was nothing, but her investigation of the rest of the building did not paint things in a good light. The back-rooms were in ruin, torn apart like someone was looking for something. And the aviary was no better, the greenery slashed through and destroyed, though the birds seemed relatively unharmed by it all.

But for signs of Janice or Beatrice, there were none.

Just minutes ago Amy had been excited to meet with them again and even show off Felin, albeit as a mundane cat and not the Archfey he was. She would have seen the hawks and gotten the first bit of pay for the job, and even talked with her... friends? Was that what they were? She supposed they were. And now Brook was dead, with the rest missing or worse. Struggling to fight back tears, Amy descended back down to the body, staring at the imprint it left in the mana. Frozen in time was his last expression, one Amy could hardly bear looking at: a horrifying scream, his eyes bulging unnaturally outwards, burning forever in agony.

Enraptured by his last expression, Amy barely noticed something out of the way, kicked to the side in scuffle and crushed. A small box. A box she recognised.

Intensifying strangely, her Cloak billowed outwards, Unknowable sloughing off and floating up around her, completely engulfing her in dark misery. Stepping tentatively towards it, Amy, immersed in that terrifying abyss, flipped over the box.

* * *

Unaware of anything that had happened inside, the police officers continued guarding the outside of the building. They still did not notice the Witch who stepped out, cradling a half destroyed box in her arms. Looking down at it again, the Witch searched them over, checking it all again. Staring back at her, two birds lay inside, injured but ultimately safe. One of them had a bit of their developing wing crushed, but the Witch knew a Tier 3 Treat Wounds could heal that, something she had managed to learn back in Triesen. Unlike for one of them, it wouldn't be too late. Kept separate from the pair of baby hawks, the Witch carried another body. Crushed underfoot along with the box, one of them did not make it. Only if she had been sooner. Only if she had known.

"It isn't your fault, Amy," Felin tried, pushing up against her face atop her shoulder.

Felin didn't understand, however. Amy might've been miserable, unable to function from her despair. Right now she wasn't Amy though. In this moment, she was the Witch. And the Witch was not sad. They were angry.

"They did it again, Felin," The Witch lamented. "I was happy, again. But the world could not stand it."

"It's not your fault-"

"Of course it isn't," The Witch snapped. Suddenly realising what she had done, the Witch stepped back, and reworded her statement. "I... I know this isn't my fault Felin. I couldn't have known this had happened. I couldn't have come sooner.

"This is just another case of everything wrong with this world. Yet again it's conspired to put me in my place, to keep me down."

"Amy..." He trailed off.

"This time it'll be different though."

"...You're being silly, Amy," Felin shook his head, catching on. "You don't even know who did this-"

"I can find out."

"Trust me, Amy, revenge is not what you want-"

"I know what I want, Felin," the Witch growled, "And I want them to pay for what they did."

"...At least find out what you're up against, Amy. What if this is someone out of your league? You'd be destroyed going after them. The Spell that was used back then was... It was high Journeyman at the very least-"

"Then I will become stronger." The Witch left it at that, as she strained her hearing, trying to sift through the conversations of the crowd and the police.

"It's not that simple, Amy," He said sadly. "I know you're mourning right now, and I know you're angry-"

"Quiet, please," the Witch asked, angling her head to the side. Just out of the way, two officers were chatting, the conversation carrying itself to Amy's ears as she approached.

The pair, two old almost retirement-age men, were leaning against the shop wall, staring at the crowd while the young ones kept them at bay.

"...-do you think got them?"

"It has to be those kids Janice kept around. They finally got her in trouble."

"You think? I don't know if they'd be stupid enough to get into Mage business."

"I don't know. They're young and when you're that age, everything seems possible."

"Janice will walk free I reckon, but the other one? I'm not so sure."

"She'll be transferred to the association soon, and then it's out of our hands. I honestly can't wait 'till they get her out the station, and get rid of the Mages with them."

"Mages are always so needy..."

Standing sombrely just besides them, as if she had been participating in the conversation with them too, the Witch lurked.

"They're keeping Beatrice there," the Witch smiled, but it was not a pretty thing.

"...It's dangerous, Amy."

"...I know," Amy replied, a slither of emotion escaping. For this, a brave face was needed. So, the facade slipped back on just as quickly. The Witch continued, "But it's all I have to go off of."

Struggling with something, Felin managed to say, "The birds need care first, right? Let's do that, before you do any of this. Right, Amy?"

The Witch glanced silently at the cat on her shoulder, her purple eyes watery. Finally, Amy relented.

"Yeah," She sobbed, "We should."

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