Ash just nodded in response.

"Ah, yeah..." he said.

"Yeah, I'll... I'll do that." he told her.

With that, he left, and made sure to keep himself open, and keep his ear to the phone.

-About 7 hours later-

Jaden sighed as he looked at his phone, and dialled his mother's number.

"Hey." he said when she answered.

"She's stable and will make a full recovery." he told her.

"According to Rene, she should be ready for visitors in about an hour or so."

Awesome. she received in response.

I'll go there and see what I can learn from her. the next text read.

I'll text you with more info, if you don't show up as well. he then finished with the third one.

And then, predictably, Ash made his way to OLA and sat down in some chairs near Ashley's room, and waited.

And waited.

He waited until Rene came and got him, before making his way into the room.

"Ashley...?" he said, sticking his head in after he'd opened the door.

Ash just sighed as she said what she did, before he closed the door and made his way over.

"...makes sense." he said.

"Better safe than sorry." he reasoned.

"...so, what happened?" he asked her, sitting down in the chair beside her bed. "I mean, it's clear that you were shot down again, but... where? How?" he asked further.

"Were you flying above Scotland again...?" he asked her.

".....damn it..." Ash said quietly.

"That's not good." he said further.

"This Salem movement is spreading... and it seems to be spreading fast." he went on.

"...and to top it all off, no leads on Vicki yet." he continued.

"I'm worried what's going to happen when Mom finds out." he admitted. "Because it's only a matter of time." he reasoned.

"And what if you're not so lucky next time?" he asked her.

"..........." Ash was silent, and nodded.

"...yeah..." he said.

"I... yeah." he muttered, repeating himself.

"The Triad and Council need to hear of this, too." he went on.

"This... this looks like it's turning out to be... another extinction-like event." he then said.

"....damn it all." he growled, obviously angry.

Ash looked at Ashley, almost stunned.

Ashley wasn't scared of much. But when she WAS scared, it meant things were real.

"...I wanna say I'm not." he said.

"But that'd be a lie." he admitted.

"We don't know what the future holds, in the worst way possible." he muttered.

"And that is one of the worst feelings in the world..." he mumbled further, before sending a text to Sydney.

Ashley's fine... but we have some serious shit we need to discuss. ASAP. it read.

Again, Ash sighed.

"Yeah." he said.

"I'll go to the Council after I go to the Triad." he told her.

"I promised Sydney I would update her when I got more information." he explained.

"And unless you have anything more to say, I..." he went on, before pausing and shaking his head. "...I hate to say it, but I should go." he said.

"I really don't want to leave you already, but I get the feeling you'd use your drow mana to make me leave and give Sydney and Hollie the information if I didn't do it myself." he added with a bit of a wry chuckle.

"...on a vaguely similar and less pressing note, did your phone survive the ordeal or no?" he then asked her.

Ash was silent, and just nodded.

"Right." he said.

He then lingered for about 5 minutes, making some small talk and making sure she was all right, before she practically kicked him out of the room, and he left the hospital.

He made his way to the Triad, stopping at the entrance lobby, and texting Sydney.

I'm at the Triad. There any way you can fast-track my talking to you, and not have to fight my way tooth and nail through the red tape here? he sent.

Ash sat down and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well." he said, looking at Sydney.

"Ashley's going to be all right, obviously." he told her.

"However, in general, our problems are growing and spreading... literally." he then said. He then paused for a moment, sighed, and continued looking into Sydney's eyes.

"This modern witch trial mentality? It's spreading." he said. "Ashley heard that it had spread to Auckland when she landed." he informed her further.

"This issue seems to be going global, fast. The Triad needs to start taking massive defensive measures, the Council needs to do so as well, and the guild system needs to be on lockdown until further notice." he finished.

".....I know." Ash responded.

"...I'm scared for Vicki now." he told her.

"It's probable that she was taken by people that subscribe to that movement." he said.

".....but I don't think Alice has received a power boost yet." he muttered.

"So wherever she is... it's safe to say she's still alive."