Chapter 14: It has been done

Vander, the Headmaster of the second most prestigious school in Newark. With an insatiable hunger for the top spot, willing to go as far as invite a Southerner to his school to increase publicity. Reason for suspicion: Has been in the middle of every major point that caused Maze's downfall and seen at the aftermath of her assault with a blood stain on his collar, believed to be the result of Mana poisoning.

Tiffany, ex-best friend with Maze and former Vice president of the student council. Flashy and outspoken with a love for being the center of attention. Promiscuous in nature as she's rumored to have been with many of the guys in school. People-pleaser. Reason for suspicion: Was the first domino to fall at the start of Maze's downfall. Has been mysterious quiet since then, despite her outspoken nature, but most notably, every attack on Maze has seemed to be perfectly curated for her, something only someone who knows her intimately can achieve.

"So, it's either Vander or Tiffany." Moe confirmed, with the other two nodding along, having just compiled all the evidence they had for the two.

"It's Vander. I just know it!" Mitchell barked. "He has been in a perfect position to orchestrate this whole thing in the background. He was the one who allowed the party to happen in the first place, not to mention how he has been doubling down on her torment ever since." His fingers tapped impatiently on his thigh. "I've heard Maze say he shows up to most of her family's events, despite not being a part of their church, so he could be using Maze as a steppingstone to get at her family." He stopped as he reached a stumbling stone in his own logic.

But why would he put the school's rep in jeopardy? He thought as his mind spun for an answer.

"I don't know much about the Schmidts, but if he needed to possess Maze to get at her family then he would've done so after their meeting in his office. It wouldn't make sense for him to let her have a full-on meltdown without capitalizing on it." Moe calmly assessed.

"Why would he want Rosemary to be the top school anyways? H-He already got a lot of accolades to his name, so what's the point?" Chris asked, albeit hesitantly. Unfamiliar with how the group saw him.

"If Rosemary becomes the top school, the number of sponsors double and it becomes the poster child of Newark's education system. That bastard has been chasing that goal longer than I have been in school. Who knows what heinous shit he's done to maintain his top 5 position." Mitchell spat, feeling disgusted with even mentioning him. His words after Maze's assault still fresh in his mind.

"Then it should be Tiffany." Moe said, switching the focus over to Maze's ex-best friend.

"That's absurd, Tiffany has supported Maze even before she was popular. I was friends with both of them at one point, so I know she'd never go that far." Mitchell argued as he got up and started pacing back and forth.

"Did you think that she'd go as far as cheating with Bastien?" Moe's question stung as the answer was obvious.

"She was drunk… There's no way she'd have done it sober. Bastien had to have coerced her or something." Mitchell justified, but even he could tell that his claims stood on shaky soil. The two started dating right after the party.

"Listen, if you're telling me that Tiffany is willing to rape her best friend with the body of her teacher, then you must be joking! She's not even a Mage, it's been tested!" Moe stood up to face Mitchell.

"Calm down," Moe said, confronting him directly. "I understand your relationship with her runs deep, but we can't let our personal biases get in the way of our investigation." Moe put a hand on his shoulder. "You need to relax, we want to find the puppeteer just as much as you do, that's why we can't afford to overlook anyone."

Mitchell's fists tightened under the weight of Mohammed's words, but eventually, he let out a sharp sigh and loosened his grip. "Fine." He said, sitting back down with his eyes focused on the floor. The shame of his outburst coming back at him.

"I-I've talked to Tiffany on a couple occasions." Chris spoke after the tension had died down, hesitant with what he was about to say. "She's a crude person and a little to direct for my liking," a blush formed on the boy's cheeks as he recalled their time at the party. "But one thing that was abundantly clear was how high of a standard she held Maze to, almost as if she idolized her." Chris lifted his head to see both men staring at him intently.

"Th-The thing is I don't believe she'd go so far to ruin the person she looks up to. She not only lost her best friend after that party, but her reputation, credibility and position as Vice prez in the student council were all stripped from her after. She simply has nothing to gain from all of this." Chris made his argument with his only reception being the silence between the three of them as they all thought deeply about the matter.

There must've been something they were missing, something that could affirm the identity of this Puppeteer beyond the shadow of a doubt.

"The greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, once said, 'Magical mysteries can only be solved by magical solutions." Nami interrupted the tension as she stepped out of her bathroom. Her dark brown hair was combed out into a mini afro, looking bigger than usual. She wore an enormous black shirt that was practically a skirt for her with baggy pajama pants patterned with bunnies.

"Hey Moe, d'you know how to braid?" She asked, passing him a rat-tail comb.

"Yeah, but I can't promise that it'll come out well." He teased as he expertly twirled the comb between his fingers.

She sat at the foot of her bed and Moe sat over her with her head between his thighs.

"Chris, there's a notebook in the second drawer of my nightstand. Get it for me please." Chris scurried to his feet with a nervous "R-Right." As he went over to her nightstand.

"So, what's been covered?" Nami asked, tilting her head to look at Moe.

"We're still trying to figure out who the main suspect is between the two. Other than that, we haven't gotten far." He answered.

"That's fine, figuring them out is not the important part of tonight's discussion. The important part is that we find a way to catch whoever it is, which is why…"

Chris rejoined the circle with the notebook in hand.

"I'm about to teach you three magic."

"There are three categories a spell can fall under, known as the three primes. Enhancer Prime(Magic of the body/salt), Emitter Prime(Magic of the mind/mercury) and Mystic Prime(Magic of the soul/sulphur). Our friend, the puppeteer, specializes in the Mystic Prime." Nami's eyes were closed as she explained, relaxed by the light pulling on her hair as Moe braided it. Though her eyes were closed she pointed to the notes in her notebook. Mitchell had to squint and tilt his head to read the abysmal handwriting on it and though Chris wore glasses not even he could decipher her writing.

"Is that a heart, or an 'O'" Mitchell asked, feeling that he'd strain his eyes looking at it.

"It's a heart, where the Enhancer and Emitter Prime originate." Nami opened her eyes to look at Moe. "Wanna know something scary?" She asked, a creepy smile spread on her lips.

"If you destroy a Mage's heart then they'd instantly die." Mitchell looked at her like she was crazy.

"Yeah, and so will anyone else with a heart." He pointed out, wondering why she'd consider it an interesting fact.

"There are medicines and potions capable of healing even the most fatal injuries, but for Mages it doesn't matter what medicine you give them, destroying the heart is a death sentence." She hissed out the last part, her eyes narrowing at Moe who had his brow raised at her antics.

"Then what're you looking at me for?" He asked.

"Just saying, if you ever step out of line, I could easily take you out." Moe yanked her hair, getting her to wince in pain.

"Let's try and stay on topic please." Nami rolled her eyes at him but continued with her lesson.

"Mystic Prime includes spells that can Hypnotize, Possess, Enchant, and Influence. It's also not limited to the Mage's Mana with the only disadvantage being one of the hardest Prime to specialize in." She continued.

"So, does that mean we're dealing with a prodigy?" Mitchell asked.

"That's the best-case scenario. Some Mages are born with an inherent ability to perform these spells. Such Mages are not only much stronger than your average Mage, but they can also gain a divine blessing if they Ascend. We classify these Mages as True Mages."

"Divine favour? But I thought that God is the enemy of Mages, why would she give her favour to the enemy?" Chris asked, slightly breaking from his nervous demeanour.

"Only the God of Man hates Mages, every other God favours the soul of a Mage." Nami answered. Chris was about to respond but Nami raised a hand to silence him.

"We can have this debate another time. What's important now is saving Maze and catching the Puppeteer." Chris bit his lip at her dismissal but acknowledged that it wasn't the time for them to be debating theology.

"If we're dealing with our average Mage, prodigy or not, specializing in the Mystic Prime takes years to get down."

"Which means our Mage is Vander." Mitchell confirmed.

"I still say we should focus our efforts on taking him down, he has done too much to Maze for us to just let him walk scott-free." His fists tightened on the fabric of his sweatpants.

"But if we're dealing with a True Mage, then Tiffany is who we go after… which is easier said than done." Nami sighed, knowing that they'd have to get through Bastien to get to her.

"I'm still not sure about Tiffany; they tested her before, and the tests came back negative." Mitchell defended.

"Uh-Uhm, th-those tests aren't 100% reliable, so it is possible that---."

"And how would you know that!?" Mitchell interjected, causing Chris to flinch at the sudden question. He adjusted the phone in his pocket and said, "Oh, uhm. Re-Re-Research… Lots of research." Chris hid his eyes under his bangs with his gaze glued to the floor.

"Either way, proving that either of them is a Mage is our main priority. Do that and we will be sure of who our target is." Nami concluded.

"I guess now comes the hard part." Moe spoke up after what seemed like forever. He had almost finished braiding Nami's hair. "How are we going to verify who it is?"

Nami picked up her notebook and flipped a few pages before landing on one with lots of symbols drawn on it.

"Each prime has corresponding sigil. The Alchemical sigil of Sulphur, Salt and Mercury. Before Mages were a thing for humans, these sigils were used to influence the environment around them, but the prerequisite for these sigils to work is for the right type of myst to be present." She sat herself up properly after Moe finished his work on her hair.

"Myst in an Oasis is nearly non-existent as compared to the Myst outside human territory."

"So, would it react if a Mage were to use magic on it?" Mitchell asked, having an easier time reading the different sigils.

"Ding-Ding, you are correct! In the absence of myst, Mages are the only ones who can activate sigils." Nami confirmed.

"So, draw a sigil and wait for the puppeteer to use their magic. Sounds simple, but I'm guessing that there's a caveat to this." Moe adjusted himself to sit next to Nami whose face dropped at the mention of the caveat.

"The puppeteer would need to be standing directly over the sigil for it to react." The 4 of them simultaneously released a tired and frustrated groan.

"Do you know how big the school is? Making the puppeteer use their magic at a specific area would be impossible." Mitchell pointed out, his hands covering his face.

"If we can somehow get the puppeteer to use their magic in one area then there's still a shot, but capturing them becomes a whole other problem." Nami regretted bringing it up as it reminded her how difficult her task was.

"That's it, I'm going to bed. Show me where my room is. I wanna slam my head on something that isn't a wall." Mitchell got up, ready to put the night behind him.

"Take a shower first genius, you still smell of ass whopping." Nami teased, helping Moe onto his feet. Just as Mitchell was about to leave the room the doorbell downstairs rung.

"Fuck." Nami sighed, her face dropping as she already knew who it was, and what their arrival entailed. A silence grew among them as they waited for her response.

"It'd be best if you three stayed in here, but you're gonna meet him regardless, so…" She paused as she thought about what to say. "Just don't come downstairs."

"Should we be worried?" Moe asked the question that was on all their minds.

"No, no, it's okay. He's family." She clarified.

"Family, then there's nothing to worry about. I wanna see the monster that raised BlackSilver." Mitchell opened the door but before he could walk out he was pulled back in.

"Stay behind me, there's no telling what he'd do to you if provoke him." Nami warned.

"I'm as much of a fighter as you, I can handle myself." Mitchell reassured, getting a hesitant groan from her.

"Just… don't say anything." She walked out with him following. Moe and Chris looked at each other, both sceptical with what was to come. They stayed upstairs, watching as Mitchell and Nami approached the door.

"It's time." She said, biting her inner cheek as she twisted the knob. The door swung open and there was a moment of silence, bated breath held as the guys wondered who it could be until he took his first step inside.

The three guys were all brought to their knees as the weighted air felt like lead on their shoulders, Chris's glasses cracked at the sudden pressure, and he threw his hand over his mouth to hold back the vomit leaking through his lips.

Moe hyperventilated as he had felt something similar with his dad before, but never to that degree. The weight was crushing, drawing blood from his nose.

Mitchell had long since passed out due to the weights crushing force, his mouth a puddle of drool as he struggled for air.

"Aldred, that's enough!" Nami demanded, and suddenly the weight disappeared as if it was never there to begin with.

A man well above 7 foot in height stood in the doorway, a brown coat over his black turtleneck and suit pants with a belt to match. His eyes hidden behind dark shades as he looked down at the girl who was barely by his chest. His silver hair swaying with the movements of his head.

"I hope you're proud of yourself, good job on threatening a bunch of teenagers!" Nami scolded, her arms crossed over her chest. His only response was his silence as he looked at the 2 guys upstairs, struggling to pick themselves up.

His gaze returned to Nami who still carried an angry expression on her.

"So tell me… did you do it?" She hesitated to ask, nervous with what his answer could entail. He was her last hope of saving her, so if he couldn't do it then no one could.

"It has been done."

The winds blew through the open window of the hospital ward, making the curtains move like dancing specters. It was supposed to be an average night shift with him doing checkups on all the patients that were present. That day the staff had talked of a high-status individual in the VIP ward, and he'd been excited to see her.

But now he was considering how he was going to explain this to his boss. No, he was considering how to break the news to her parents, how devastated they would be, and how quickly he would lose his job because of it.

How was he going to explain it to all of them. That under his care, Mazekien Schmidt had gone missing.