I followed Roen silently through the mansion. The hallways were all lit with dimmed lights and the sun peeking through the window. The sky was a bright blue, with a faint yellow tint that brightened up the hallway even more. It was almost to the point where the lights weren't even needed to be on. The carpet was a red color but looked faint with little dirt patches that led down the hallway. The hallway was silent, except for the sound of Roen sniffing the ground, walking lightly as he tried not to make much noise. I followed him silently while looking at the pictures and different things that were on the walls. I slowed down a bit as I studied them in silence. Each one was a different scenery that was taken at night. They looked like part of the immortal world and nothing from the human world. I slowed and stopped to look at one. It was a night scene with a waterfall as the focus of the whole picture. Around the waterfall were trees, with branches that draped over each other. I looked at it with curiosity and started to get the feeling that there was something unordinary about it. I studied it with confusion as I leaned closer at it. The waterfall glistened a little bit when I inched closer, looking like the water was flowing down into the pond that was painted at the bottom.

I got closer to it as I put all my focus onto it. But once again, nothing happened. Barking entered the room as I glanced at Roen, who switched back into his human form. "Ella, it wouldn't be good to get caught wandering. I don't know where any of them are at the moment," he explained as I looked at the picture again. "Roen, come look at this," I said, pointing to the painting. Roen walked over as he looked at the picture in confusion. He tilted his head to study it better. "What about it? It's just a waterfall painting," he said, as I shook my head. "No. Just study it again. Does it look like the water is actually moving to you?" I asked as he tilted his head. He watched the painting for a moment, as he squinted at it. He slowly walked up to the panting as he pressed his fingers up to it, feeling the texture of the canvas. He moved his hand slowly up and down the water, putting all of his focus on what he was doing. When he was done, he pulled his hand away to examine his fingers. He turned to me in confusion. "The water is wet, but the painting doesn't look like it's been touched in years," he explained. I crossed my arms as I watched him in confusion. "It's wet like... Wet paint, or water?" I asked as he turned to me. "Water. It's like the stream is moving," he explained. I didn't talk for a moment, just stared at him in confusion. Roen sighed as he pointed at the painting. "Feel it. It's like putting a hand in a river," he explained, as I looked at the painting again.

I walked up to the painting as I studied the water closely. Nothing was strange about the painting, which made me think that Roen was just playing around. I walked up carefully as I placed my fingers on the water. He was right. The feeling of cool water brushed against my fingers like I just stuck my hand in an actual river. It was cold and damp, turning warmer as it passed. I took my hand off as I studied my fingers. It was like I never touched the painting, my hand being dry and warm. I turned to Roen. "Your right. But Max had the power of water. So why is this painting feeling like it has water in it?" I asked as Roen shrugged. "I don't know. It feels like Max has been here, but he's still with my kids," he said, lowering his voice towards the end of his sentence. I studied the painting as I thought to myself again. I thought about what position Max was in when I last saw him. I looked down at the floor in thought. I looked back up at Roen. "Roen, is there any way that the committee took some of Max's power and put it into the picture?" I asked as Roen looked at me funny. "What do you mean?" he asked as I looked at the picture again. "The water in this painting is wet. When I visited Max, he looked weaker. Do you think they drained his power and put it into this picture?" I asked as Roen looked at it again. "Maybe. But how would that happen? I don't know anyone that can do that," he said, as he started to look around the hallway. I looked up at the painting in thought, as I looked down. We both stood in silence, due to being on alert. "But we'll talk about that later. Why don't we find Aaron and get out of here," he suggested as I nodded. We turned to go down the direction that we were heading, silently sneaking around the mansion. Roen stayed in his human form, as we continued through.

I looked around as I followed him. "Do you know where Aaron might be?" I whispered, getting closer so that he could hear me better. Roen didn't speak for a second, then tilted his head to look back. "I don't know. He'll probably be with Shiki somewhere, but where would Shiki be keeping him?" he asked as I looked around some more. I studied the hallways, seeing them look completely the same as the rest of the building. Roen sighed as he started to walk down the right of the hallway. "Let's just quietly wander and see if we can find anything. If we feel like it's going to be unsafe, we'll leave and I'll come back," he said, as I shook my head. "No. I want to stay until we find Aaron," I said, as Roen turned back to me. He studied me with a worried look as he sighed. "Ok. We'll search some more and hopefully, we can find Aaron. We just got to keep moving," he said, as he started to walk to the right. I quietly looked around as I followed silently after him.

We entered the hallway to the right, seeing a row of the exact same doors, which were all completely shut. I followed silently behind Roen as he stopped in his tracks. I stopped just a few paces before my face met his back. I looked up at him. "What is it?" I asked as he turned around, putting his finger to his lips. I nodded in understanding to what he was trying to do. I looked in front of him as footsteps echoed through the hallway. I looked around as to know that we were about to get caught. Roen looked around himself as he turned to me. "Ella," he said as to get my attention. When I turned to him, I saw that he was pointing to an open door, down the hallway a little bit. I nodded as we quickly ran towards the door and into the room. Roen quietly shut the door behind us and locked it. I sat down on the floor as we listened to the footsteps walking closer to us. The sound of the footsteps getting louder as it inched down the hall. It stopped right before it got in front of the doorway, making everything turn quiet again.

I watched as Roen turned towards me like he was reminding me to stay quiet. I sat down quietly on the floor, waiting patiently to be told what we were doing next. The footsteps shifted gently in front of the door, barely able to be heard through the door. Roen pressed gently into the door, trying to make it as silent as possible. I closed my eyes as sniffing entered the air outside the door, which made me open my eyes. I looked at Roen as he studied me. "Probably Mage," he whispered as a knock entered the door. My eyes widened as the thought of being caught came into my mind. "Someone in there?" Mage's voice broke through the door. I backed quietly into the wall some more as Roen cleared his voice, locking the door while he did. "Just a minute" he yelled through the door. He walked up to me and gestured me to push back some more. I backed up until I couldn't back up anymore and tucked my legs in. Roen moved a box in front so it blocked me from the rest of the room. "Stay hidden until I come back or he leaves" he whispered as a knock entered the door. "Roen, you in there?" Mage asked, breaking out of his silence. "Be out in a second," he said, as he started to walk towards the door.

I heard the door closed, then peeked out a bit to see Roen not in the room anymore. I stayed hidden as I listened to the conversation. "Organizing?" Mage asked as someone pressed into the door. "It's a bit of a mess in there. Plus I have free time, so why not," Roen replied with. The silence came in once again as Mage spoke. "You don't have anything to do for Rem?" he asked. Something pressed in the door again, making it click completely shut. "No, not at the moment. Plus, this closet is a mess," Roen explained. Mage sighed. "Like some help?" he asked, which made my eyes widened. I clenched my hands around my arms, feeling the cold starting to creep in from my hands. It helped that the closet was cold to begin with, which helped me get my body temperature down. I focused on the conversation again as Mage spoke. "Alright, just let me know if you're in need of help," he said, as he started to walk away from the door. His footsteps echoed as they faded down the hallway. I heard Roen sigh as the door opened and shut again.

"That was close," he said, as I started to walk out of my spot. "I thought he was going to come in here," I said, as Roen took a deep breath. He pressed his back up against the wall. "I thought he wanted to," he said, as I stood up completely. I took a stretch to relieve my back. Roen took a deep breath. "Ok, ready to go find Aaron?" he asked as knocking came on the door again. Roen held up a finger as he slipped out of the room. "Oh Cameron, what's up?" he asked as my eyes widened again. "Have you seen Ella? She's not in her bedroom," he asked as silence took over again. My eyes widened as I thought of the many things that could happen. "Um, she's helping me with something. She's very busy right now," he said, as I took a sigh. I looked at a giant box right next to me as I grabbed it and moved it in circles, making it sound like I was doing something. Cameron sighed. "May I please talk to her? It'll just be a second" he said, as my eyes widened in shock. I stopped moving the box as I thought to myself again. "I really don't think that'll be a good idea. Your dad told me to put your sister to work" he said, as to try to distract him. Cameron sighed again. "Alright. If you think she's busy enough. I'll find her later" he said, as footsteps walked away from the door. When they faded, I stopped moving the box. Roen peeked his head back in. "Alright, let's go find Aaron," he said, as he opened the door even more. I stepped through and got into the hallway as I nodded. "Sounds good," I said, as we both started to walk through the hallway, to continue our search for Aaron.