"All right then." Dom replied with a nod.

He then got up and headed out of the room, reaching into his pocket to grab something. Once he was out of sight, they felt a pulse of mana, and he was gone.

"...right then." Jaden muttered.

"How was it?" he asked her.

"The meeting, that is." he clarified.

"...aside from the end where you were attacked."

Jaden just sighed.

"....he is." he admitted.

"Admittedly, if I ever met him, I'd expected him to be some horrible asshole that I would tear to shreds to teach him a lesson." he told her.

"I had this image of him in my head, and it's been... well... shattered." he went on.

"It's strange. A bit jarring, too." he added.

"......were you able to learn anything about YOUR father?" he then asked hesitantly, after a pause.

"....hm." Jaden mumbled.

"Yeah... yeah, it does sound similar to Ash." he agreed.

"And he's gone missing, huh?" he then asked.

"....sounds familiar." he said, shaking his head a little.

"I hope you got SOME answers, though." he added.

It was at that point, they felt a mana surge near the door.

"...and that'll be Leo." Jaden told her.

Leo just smiled and greeted Desiree with their usual hug.

"Hey, it's all right." he replied.

"It's what I'm here for." he chuckled.

"Anyway, let's go." he said, as they made their way to where the headphones were.

Got it. was all she received in response.

Just lemme know when you want the details discussed. the next one read.

And that was it. The exchange was ambiguous and open-ended, but that's what their communication was like when it came to matters such as thing.

"Well, shit." Rene muttered, looking at his phone.

"Means it's been a shitshow in court today." he reasoned, shaking his head slightly.

Meanwhile, as Kalin ate, she heard people walking by, talking, murmuring, the usual... but she was unaware that a certain set of eyes was on her.

Watching her. Waiting for... something.

She also was noticing that she was feeling a little more tired than usual. Was it the stress catching up to her?

As soon as she was out, a pair of figured approached her.

"Like a charm." one said.

"Shut up and let's go." the other growled.

---

When Kalin finally started to stir, she heard voices speaking. But they were different than before.

"We got the right one?" one asked.

"Absolutely." another said. "Matches the description. She's the one." they told her.

"And she's close to the magician?" the first one asked.

"Heh, yep." another voice laughed.

"Still can't believe it." one voice said. "Such a gift, squandered on the likes of HER." they spat.

"Hey man, life makes mistakes, so we correct 'em." another replied.

"So how long until news of her disappearance reaches the bitch?" one of the previous voices asked.

"Probably not long. Odds are she's already heard of it. I mean, the lawyer just disappeared in the middle of a case. THAT'LL get the rumour mill going." yet another chuckled.

"And they won't be able to track her, right?" one inquired.

"Nah. We got special jammers for crap like that. She might as well be dead, as far as tracking's concerned." was the answer given.

"This is Rene Calder." he said when he picked up.

"Doctor Calder, is Ms Kiczys with you?" the person asked.

"....uh.... no..." Rene replied.

"Has she contacted you recently?" the person inquired.

"Briefly earlier today. But it was nothing important. Why?" Rene responded.

"Recess is over... and she has not returned to court. And we cannot find her." was the reply he received.

He froze for a moment when he heard that.

"...she's... she's missing?" he asked. "Damn it." he cursed. "Well, she's not here, and I don't know where she could be. It's not like her to miss court without letting someone know."

Rene gritted his teeth and punched a nearby wall.

"DAMN IT!" he yelled.

"SON OF A BITCH!" he cursed.

He then sighed, and sent out a text to a number of people. Notably, Jaden, Desiree, and Casey.

Kalin's missing. Seems she disappeared during a court recess. it read.

"The hell happened?"

Rene just sighed.

"I meant what I sent, Casey." he replied.

Then, before she could say anything further, he elaborated, which essentially meant he told her everything that he knew. Everything that the person that called him had said.

"That's all I know." he told her.

"Any attempts to reach her have failed, so I doubt any of us calling or texting will do anything." he reasoned.

"So... yeah. She's missing." he concluded, anger in his tone.