"We're working on it." he said.

"All we know is there was a strange residual mana in the room after." he told her.

"We're analysing it now." he continued.

"But no alarms were triggered, no guards alerted, cameras in the hallway didn't seem to pick up anything..." he listed off.

"We don't know WHAT is happening." he sighed.

"I'm sorry, Erica."

Rene paused for a moment.

"I..." he stammered.

"I had not considered that." he admitted.

"...holy crap, that's actually probably what happened." he then said.

"The weird mana residue is probably from them." he went on, pausing yet again for another second.

"...but why?" he then asked.

"Why KELLY?"

"...Excalibur?" Rene asked.

"...damn it." he then cursed. "Damn those Fallen." he growled.

"Right, I need to figure out a way to find her, and them, FAST." he then said.

"We have NO clue what they'll do to her, or how soon they'll do it." he reasoned.

"Erica, thank you for bringing this to my mind." he continued.

"With this knowledge, we can at least DIRECT our efforts."

"Ah... right." Rene responded. He was wondering what Erica's 'vested interest' in Kelly was, but he realised that this was NOT the time to be asking about such things. Time WAS of the essence right now, after all.

"I shall do so." he told her.

They then said their goodbyes and he hung up.

"...damn it, the Fallen are one step ahead of us." he cursed.

"We need to find a way to TRACK them." he growled.

"Door's open!" Hal called back.

She opened it and stepped in, as Hal looked at her.

"...you're back soon." he said.

"Which... means it's either really GOOD news, or HORRIBLE news." he muttered.

"Which is it?" he asked.

"And WHAT is it?"

"......" Hal was silent for a moment, before snapping his fingers.

And the info hit her. HARD.

It seemed like the Fallen had some sort of protections up, but it wasn't full or complete.

However, something was keeping her from getting a specific reading.

All she got was that it was the Czech Republic... and there was a castle.

"...a Czech castle?" Hal mumbled.

"Hmmm." he muttered.

"Firstly, I understand." he said. "Too many of those forced insights, and it'll do a number on your head." he told her.

"But a Czech castle, a Czech castle... hmmmm..." he repeated.

"Hang on, let me search." he told her, going to his computer.

"Do you want a drink or something?" he offered.

Hal was silent again, before sighing. He then reached down and set the small trash bin he had there in front of her, in case she needed it. He then went back to researching on his computer.

"Let me know if you DO feel ready to do it." he said. "Just so I can potentially avert my gaze." he reasoned.

He then went silent and continued to look, before she saw his eyes widen slightly.

"I think we MIGHT have our answer." he told her.

"Houska Castle in Czechia." he said. "It's an early gothic castle, and supposedly built over a very large hole said to be a portal to Hell, itself." he told her. "Now, that's not true, obviously." he continued. "However, it there ARE the remnants of an old-world nexus there, believed to be one of the originals in the world. One of the first of all the nexuses to exist." he explained.

"So it's a big deal." he muttered.

"However, there ARE also strong spiritual mana readings there, if I recall correctly." he then went on.

"Sounds like just the place they would hole up. It would probably mask their presence." he finished.

"Hmmmm." Hal mumbled.

"Well, the ultimate goal would be to take down and destroy the Fallen's leader." he said.

"I get the feeling that, once they lose their binding element, they'll go back to the way they were before, and be a manageable threat once again." he reasoned, thinking about it.

"But we'd need a team that can actually FIGHT them." he continued.

"If you have any contenders, let me know." he told her.

"And if nothing else, telling this information to those that can use it would be handy as well."

Hal scratched at his chin briefly.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Or see if they know anyone that might go." he said further.

"But you use the channels you have to see if you can't rally some forces." he told her.

"We need to move this into endgame territory."