Partners

Nora nodded, going along with Riley, then said, "Then you'll be fine on your own, right? I have someone I need to find. Good luck."

She turned around and started walking towards the edge of the fog, only to be held back by the hand.

"Um...," Riley hesitated, her eyes darted around, looking everywhere with unease, "Can I come with you?...I mean, I have a way that can help you find that person."

"Do you mean it?" Nora's head whipped back, the pair of emeralds brightened, "Do you really have a way?"

"Ah...um…" Riley swallowed hard as her eyes met with a desperate gaze. The sight of the zombie's head being separated from its neck by a kick was still vivid in her mind.

What would happen to her if she refused?

Riley had goosebumps just thinking about it.

"Of course!" she nodded with vigor.

Then, Riley brought her palms together in front of her chest and closed her eyes. Her faint eyebrows creased. A few seconds passed, her palms separated, in between was a glowing magic circle. Her wrists twisted, her arms pushed outwards and the circle divided, turning into five in total, each connected to the other by a bridge of symbols.

Nora stared at the majestic sight in awe, speechless.

"The person you're looking for," Riley said, eyes still closed, "Can you describe him to me? As many details as possible."

The girl told Riley everything about Kyren that she could remember, from his height, weight, outfit to his wounds and the place that she lost him.

"That much is enough," Riley said when Nora had run out of memory to tell.

The magic circles started to rotate, resembling the gears of a machine going into operation. Nora felt herself enveloped by an invisible force, as if the air was replaced with another material.

She waved her hand, took a breath. There was no difference. Yet, she was sure that something was around her, embracing onto her figure. It was a strange feeling from a sense that she did not possess before.

The magic circles disappeared at the same time the sensation vanished. Riley collapsed on her knees, taking heavy breaths, her head hung. Nora rushed over, patting her back in concern.

"You're alright?" she asked.

Riley shook her head, "The spell is draining, I won't be able to cast another one for the rest of the day, but I found the boy."

Hearing the positive result, Nora could not hide her excitement, holding Riley's shoulders as she asked in succession, "Where is he? Is he alright? Did you get a close look at him? How is the wound on his arm? Is he in danger?"

Riley twitched her eyes as her shoulders felt sore from the girl's grip. Still, she mustered the strength to answer the questions, "He's fine, he is not in any kind of danger. The wound in his arm looked bad, but the boy did not seem to be in pain or anything. Don't worry too much, he is with my partner, they'll be fine."

Nora released Riley as tension left her body. Her head slumped and a gentle smile bloomed on her face. Once she had calmed down, the girl helped Riley stand up.

"Partner?" she asked, "Did you come here with her boyfriend?"

Riley twisted her face in disgust, "No! That guy is my assigned partner by the department. Who wants him as a boyfriend? I can't even stand him. We were only put together because we have the same first name."

Riley stopped complaining as she looked at Nora, who was listening with obvious worry, and her voice became less critical, "But he's not too bad. He's still an investigator like me. He also has his reliable side, so your friend will be fine."

The girl nodded. Nora then bent down and put Riley on her back.

"W...what are you doing?" Riley flustered when suddenly being picked up.

"You already expended all your magic. I was told that magic depletion can cause reduction of metal capability and temporary loss of body movements. Let me carry you," said Nora as she started walking. There was barely any discomfort in her steps.

Riley was stunned for a moment, then her lips curled into a smile, her arms wrapped around the girl's neck.

"Can I call you Nora?" Riley giggled.

"I don't mind."

"Do you have a boyfriend, Nora?"

"N...not at the moment," Nora's face slightly blushed.

"So when?"

"I...I don't know."

The two of them chatted as they made their way through the fog.

…

"Wait! Hey, I said wait!" Riley yelled while trying to catch up with Kyren.

Suddenly, the boy turned back, running towards him and covering his mouth.

"Do you want to die? Stop yelling," Kyren warned.

Riley wiggled his head out of the hand and said, "We have to rescue the people in these cocoons before heading out."

"We don't have time," Kyren frowned, "We don't know when something will come in soon, better get out of here ASAP."

"But what about them?" Riley pointed at the mountain of cocoons.

"None of my business."

Kyren turned around and once again walked towards the exit.

Riley looked at the boy with flabberation, but soon, his feet picked up the pace.

"Wait for me, goddamn it!"

Outside of the chamber was a round hallway surrounding a flight of spiral stairs leading downwards. Kyren counted as many as 12 similar rooms to the one that he had just walked out from.

"Where did all these cocoons come from?" Kyren thought to himself.

All these missing people were enough to populate a small town. How could the department let so many people get captured? How long had this been going on?

Kyren clicked his tongue. His impression of SPD deteriorated further.

The boy approached the stairs at the same time Riley exitted the chamber. The investigator was stunned at the sight, but seeing Kyren already making his way down the spiral stairs, Riley quickly followed.

"Aren't you afraid something will come up?" The investigator raised his concern.

"Don't worry," Kyren could not bother to turn around as he spoke, "I already checked, it'll be fine."

The stairs creaked and shook with every step they took. The steel frame had rust covering the entire surface. As the two of them descended, the lower floor revealed itself.

The closest image Kyren could relate it to was a ball room. The ground was tiled, at the center was a painted decoration of a snake biting its own tail. On the ceiling was a chandelier emitting brilliant light. Twelve doors leading to twelve different paths surrounded him.

Kyren still remembered every detail of the map. There was only one place that had this kind of architecture, a large room connected with twelve hallways. He was not far from where he lost Nora.

"That girl is probably still trying to look for me around that place, in case she still hasn't been taken yet," Kyren thought.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Riley's voice came from behind.

Kyren pointed to one of the doors, "Use your eyes, see if there's anything behind that door."

"Now you're throwing commands left and right," complained the investigator, but he still activated his spell nevertheless.

The symbols appeared on his irises the same time his vision changed. Riley frowned. He activated the spell one more time, another symbol replaced the previous.

"There's a lot of fog behind that door," Riley reported, "but that fog is filled with contaminating magic particles, it's extremely poisonous."

"What will happen if we go through it?"

"I'll be fine," Riley paused, "but I don't know what will happen to you."

Kyren put his hand under his chin, thinking. Then, he took out a pile of parchments. Riley stared at the parchments with wide open eyes.

"Are those scrolls? Where did you hide it?"

"Don't ask," the boy cut off the subject.

Kyren took out one of the scrolls, handing it to Riley while putting the rest inside his sweater.

"Use this, in case there's something else other than the fog."

Riley inspected the spell written on the parchment and realized it. With glee, he injected magic into the scroll. A magic circle manifested, creating a spherical barrier protecting the two of them.

The door opened with a rusty groan. Riley and Kyren walked through the long hallway in silence. There was nothing to be seen apart from a pure white color. The only sound to be heard was their footsteps.

It took them fifteen minutes to cover the distance. Riley dismantled the spell while Kyren looked back. The fog did not spill out of the hallway, as if it could only exist within a certain area. He remembered when he and Nora were separated. The fog must have been the reason.

It was then that a strange sensation enveloped Kyren. It was different from anything he had experienced before. The closest description he could relate to was being underwater. His vision turned blurred, then it changed into a scene that he did not recognize.

In front of him now were five purple magic circles, rotating. Fog was everywhere. At the corner of his eyes, there was a face that he had longed for. Nora was looking at the magic circles in amazement.

"Endure a little bit more," a voice he did not recognize rang in his head.

It was a woman, wheezing with tiredness.

"Come on, Riley, you can do it," the voice called a familiar name.

Then, the scene ended, Kyren found himself back at the end of the hallway with the investigator.

Riley suddenly became excited.

"Did you feel that? Oh, I forgot, you don't have magic…."

"Yes, I felt it, what was it?" Kyren interrupted.

Riley stared at the boy in puzzlement, but his excitement took over.

"That was a wide range search spell. It must be from my colleagues coming to save me. But that's strange," the investigator said out loud, "I didn't receive any view synchronization."

"What's that?" Kyren asked, feeling that it might have been what he had just experienced.

"The spell is used to look for a specific target. When the target is located, for a brief moment, the target and the caster can share their point of view with each other."

Kyren mulled over the thoughts of the caster that he heard.

"Riley...was that person calling this Riley? But it makes little sense…It sounded more like a self-encouragement…"

The boy decided to ask, "Riley, do you know anyone who has the same name as you?"

The investigator lightly shook, his eyes turned to Kyren, but then started to dart around. His voice lost the previous excitement, "Yeah...I know a person. She used to be my partner. We were supposed to be on this mission together."

"Used to?"

Riley let out a sign, "When the mission began, I was kidnapped, but she wasn't. She was killed on the spot."