Chapter 12) Mom gone Missing.

Cool wind rolled against Xavier's hair as they soared through the evening sky of the city. He could just make out street cars and people down below, most of them retiring to their respective stops and homes for the day. Xavier couldn't wait for his own day to end. This long day that had been full of surprises. From waking up to discovering he was a Mystic to battling in a simulation dungeon to actually fighting for his life in a real dungeon.

Speaking of surprises, he had not heard anything from his system since he woke up from unconsciousness. Shouldn't the system had sent him information about his currents stats by now? Surely he had gotten a few rewards and leveling up points from surviving the Grade B dungeon. Yes, he hadn't vanquished ten beasts as required by his quest, by still...he has done his best.

"System?" He whispered. He didn't want to draw Master Kim's attention unnecessarily.

[System is ready to take your Queries and Instructions.]

"Eh...you've been really quiet lately. Can you show me a view of my profile statistics after the dungeon?"

[System would release a detailed report of Mystic's stats when they enter the database.]

Xavier frowned in confusion. Something wasn't adding up.

"I thought my stats are updated on real time?" Wasn't that the whole point of a Quantum Level Celestial System?

[System specific to host Mystic experienced a slight malfunction when he was under the spell of the Ripper Rose's Stare of Venom. This happened because host Mystic is still unranked among Mystics of his year. It would take another hour for full system functions to be back on track.]

Xavier had somehow forgotten about his little problem of being unranked even after the Test of Worthiness. He opened his mouth to ask Master Kim Sao about it but stopped himself before the words were released. Maybe after he had visited his mother? He had the hunch that being an unranked Mystic was something really terrible, and didn't want to spoil his mood now...not when he was about to say goodbye for a while to his mother.

The magnificent hospital skyscrapers soon came into view. Elsa easily weaved through other tall buildings of chrome and steel till they were floating right beside the neon plates that spelt out the hospital's name.

"Do we have to check in at the front desk?" asked Master Kim Sao.

"Eh...I guess not. I'm already a regular visitor here. Most times they don't even bother with me." Xavier didn't think to add that the nurses preferred not to come close to him or engage him in any conversation.

Kim Sao whispered something into Elsa's furry ear and she dropped down, reducing their altitude. She only came to a stop when they were level with a specific floor. It was the floor for long term patients. The ones who spent nothing less than a year admitted at the hospital.

"There's no way in through here." observed Xavier. That had somehow not crossed his mind before.

Master Kim Sao was regarding the glass wall with a keen eye. "We will simply make one for ourselves."

Xavier was not at all surprised by this reply. With Master Kim Sao, nothing was as it seemed. And nothing was impossible, of course.

Standing on the other side of the glass wall in front of them was nurse Lacy scrolling through her phone and laughing deeply. Her cart of medical equipment idled down the hallway behind her. Apart from that, the hall was empty and silent, all the doors leading into the rooms closed.

Master Kim Sao tapped gently on the glass. She broke into another fit of laughter from something funny she was watching on her iPhone, but didn't acknowledge their presence.

"That's why I don't tolerate smart devices." muttered Kim Sao in mild ridicule.

Xavier stifled the laugh bubbling up in his throat at the Astral Mystic's obvious annoyance. "Maybe you should knock a little harder? She is just enjoying her 10 minutes hourly break. Nurse Lacy is quite reliable."

This time when Kim Sao tapped on the glass, nurse Lacy lifted up her head, glanced around for the source of the disturbance, and gasped when she found it, stumbling back a few steps.

"Oh my goodness! What is...how did you...Xavier Xerxes?" She blurted out, her eyes wide in shock.

"Hello over there, Nurse Lacy."

"What are you doing out there?" She wondered before her eyes found Elsa. "Is that...is that a flying zebra? You are sitting on a flying Zebra!"

Xavier and Master Kim Sao shared a knowing smile before the Astral Mystic spoke to the nurse.

"Nice day, madam. I'm Kim Sao Chen, an Astral Mystic of Celestial Academy. We have come to see Xavier's mother before he makes a life changing journey into the mysteries of the universe. We were in a hurry, hence why we opted for this means of entry into your grand Hospital." He said with a dramatic flourish. "Now, if I may bother you a little more, could you please move away from the glass?"

It took a few moments for nurse Lacy to get herself together after that.

"Oh...right...eh...I'll just move away from the glass?"

"Yes, madam. The cart behind you is a safe distance."

Nurse Lacy stumbled to stand beside her cart but continued to watch them with mesmerized eyes. The Astral Mystic had that effect on everyone.

Master Kim Sao placed a palm on the glass wall, muttering magical words under his breath. He waved his other hand, stringing sparkling runes in the air. Pearly sparks blossomed over the place where his palm was and spread out in a diverging circle. Where the sparks touched, the glass disappeared. The circle grew larger until it was wide enough for even Elsa to go through.

The Snow Peacock swerved through the new opening and quickly went to introduce herself to nurse Lacy.

While Master Kim Sao floated down gracefully, Xavier had to slide down Elsa's backside before tumbling to the floor. He got to his feet and robbed his sore shoulder. The impact had not been a soft one.

"Do you mind keeping Elsa here company until we return?" asked Kim Sao kindly.

Nurse Lacy nodded immediately, though her whole attention was on the Snow Peacock showing off in front of her.

"Thank you, nurse Lacy." He nodded at Xavier. "Lead the way. Room 55 must be the one on the right down the hall."

Excitement filled xavier's heart as he hurried towards the room. It had been more than twenty four hours since he last saw his mother, and for some moments within that time he had thought he would never see her again. He pushed the door open and came to a screeching halt.

Master Kim Sao came up behind him. "Now this is strange."

Xavier looked around but the situation didn't change. The room was empty. His mother was nowhere to be found.

Dread caused a fluttering of nerves to pool in the pit of his stomach. Though stars danced in his vision, he shook the daze off and rushed back to Nurse Lacy.

"My mother....where's my mother? Freya Xerxes?"

There was panic in Xavier's voice for good reason. In all the years since his mother fell sick, she had never been taken out if that room. It could only mean one thing now...

"Oh, I forgot to inform you." Her eyes flickered back to Elsa, the reason for her distraction. "Your mother was taken to the laboratory a few minutes ago."

Relief flooded through him, but there was still something wrong. Master Kim Sao must've felt it too because he asked the next question.

"Why was Freya Xerxes taken to the laboratory? Haven't you been delivering her medications and sustenance to her room all this time?"

"That wasn't possible today. The new procedure the doctors want to try on her condition required that we moved her and some other patients like her to the Research lab instead." Nurse Lacy pointed out.

Master Kim Sao held her eyes captive for a few seconds, and whatever he saw in her mind prompted him to hold Xavier's shoulder.

"We need to get to the main laboratory of this hospital now or we will be too late to save your mother."

This time they headed straight the elevators. They managed to grab a free one and Xavier hurriedly punched a single number into the pad. The very top floor of the entire building was their destination.

"What did you see in the nurse's mind?" asked Xavier, unable to help his curiousity.

"That's not how mind reading works. The mind is a confusing jumble of thoughts, desires, feelings and dreams. That's the past, present and future coming into one messy place. As an Astral Mystic who put in much effort to level up in that area, I can simply string them together to make some sense in the present." said Kim Sao. "I know your mother was taken to the lab, and where said lab is. I also saw what was going on in the lab, but not what's happening to your mother. Since the two of them are related at the moment, it could only mean that what's going on in the lab is happening to your mother as well...we are here."

They raced out of the elevator the moment it dinged open. There were about five heavy metal doors with complicated lock pads on this floor, but Master Kim Sao only stopped infront of the last one.

Xavier moved towards the door but Master Kim Sao stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm getting that feeling again." said the Astral Mystic.

"What feeling?" asked Xavier although he already had a bad hunch about it.

Master Kim Sao kneaded his forehead. "The same one I had just before we walked into a Grade B dungeon."

Xavier sighed. That could only mean one thing. Danger and trouble was on the other side of the magnificent door. And his mother was in there, too.