Lee was in visible confusion. He saw something move in front of him. His predator drive kicked in full flow. He stood the tallest he can be on four with a raised rear, giving a slight wiggle adjusting his hind legs, all ready to pounce and conquer. He had his ears pointed straight at the moving critter, a rat, off to a side in the darkness of the tunnel network between two light spots which were cast by the flickering lights signaling for maintenance. To his dismay, the floor he stood on was not as firm as he would like, as he was not able to amp himself up for the leap he had intended. Even when he managed to make a half-hearted start, something invisible stopped him as he collided face first.

"This brat means trouble," Melody eyed Lee from a few steps behind, watching the feline balancing himself as the surrounding floating bubble propelled the cat forward. Aurelia was right in level with the levitating Lee with Lumien following close behind.

"I don't know why, but this creature is out to harm me," Aurelia sighed. It had happened the last time when she had met with Amy. Lee had growled, making tones akin to muttered insults, and had leapt with the intention of clawing her face. He showed similar aggressiveness complete with a twitching tail, all stressed out and guard up, that they had to resort to the bubble. The cat's tolerance towards Melody was the only saving grace which got them this far.

"We have been walking this way and that for a while now, it's annoying," Lumien made the observation vocal while they were all thinking the same thing.

"How hard can this be? I don't know if the cats of this realm are actually this clever. Are they?" Melody shook her head as she saw the caged beast swatting air and giving off blank stares.

The plan was simple, they wanted to meet the cat's owner. Aurelia knew the house of the village chief. The cat had to be somewhere around there. Momentary distraction due to food was how Lee ended up in this situation. Aurelia had mentioned there was something unusual about the caracal and that the woman was not the owner; the cat had acted on his own. Melody trusted Aurelia's expertise on animals. She had a hunch that Aurelia had something else on her mind that she was not letting them in on.

Melody had used her potion in patches throughout the tunnel to search for paw prints that would otherwise be indecipherable. She was able to trace the animal frequenting in some parts of the tunnel network over others. This could be where the real owner was, or whoever this misbehaved cat was food buddies with. The animal however was intent on harassing them. Other than making faces at Aurelia, total non-cooperation was what they got from him. He either refused to move, even stressed enough that he did his business without scratching out a pit. As he refused to walk, they were now walking him.

Aurelia sensed that they did not have much time on their hand. The tunnel felt like one giant trap. Other than the cart tracks presumably for the mined material, the three managed to activate one or the other crystal as they walked around. Each time it shone gold and drained them a little. Aurelia had told them that the crystals only worked during the night; hence they selected the harshest part of the day to be visiting the realm. But it turns out that the crystal would still work if the magic source is close enough. She was concerned if this crystal pattern would alert somebody. She was also exerting herself to shield others around her from inhaling the toxic air.

After an hour-long stroll interspersed with awkward silences, they approached what seemed to be a bunch of stores – the ones selling essential supplies like clothing material, oxygen masks and cells. Aurelia felt a pang of guilt as she observed water being sold to a high price. There was a separate store that sold medicine for a subsidized price. Not only for currency; a deal could be bartered on a case-by-case basis as well. If she had not been on a mission, the sights would've fascinated her a bit more.

She was sure that a healer was going to be nearby. That would be a good place to enquire; the few purchasing customers already taking interest in them and the cat. Aurelia had made sure she wouldn't stand out among the crowd in terms of attire, but the other two, apparently were not successful enough. One among the curious onlookers extended some device toward their general direction and a flash of light occurred. Aurelia suppressed letting out a gasp; but the onlooker who was dressed differently from the locals paid no further attention. As the group hurried onward, Aurelia snuck in a last glance to see their realistic painting appear on a paper in the man's hand.

As they neared the hospital, they all could see Lee getting uneasy and felt that the feline felt like it was about to explode if not let out. The aggressiveness was back again which meant that the owner was nearby and the cat would not let them in the vicinity.

Melody snapped her fingers and the uncomfortable bubble popped, dropping Lee gently into the ground. Lee decided that the irritation arising out of the collar attached to him by the weird lady could be addressed later and decided to make a run for it. Before either of them could react, Lee was out of sight.

"Great, what now?" Lumien was exasperated.

"I have just the thing we need, as always. What would you guys do without me? I shudder at the thought." Melody expressed a mock concern that infuriated Lumien. The girl and her games.

"Better make it quick," Lumien was about to give up.

Melody focused with her palm placed on her forehead at either side. Her magic would emit high frequency sound, which would help echolocate the wearer of the collar; this time a bothersome pest.

"This way," Melody led the group, sprinting ahead. Aurelia nodded at Lumien as they decided to follow their craftswoman towards their destination.

***

"Are you okay now? You were screaming earlier. I was out there to deliver food to the patients and thought to check out. Are you homesick or something?" Max was concerned as he regretted bringing Kelvin into this. An excursion meant to cheer him up was having the opposite effect on him. In his defense, Max couldn't have foreseen his new friend passing out during a guided tool and being sick in one way or the other ever since.

"I'm good," Kelvin tried to reassure Max, but it was nowhere close to being the truth. His nightmares had only grown worse, with the latest almost seizing control from him. He was feeling extreme mood swings and had not disclosed these to not worry Amy furthermore than she already was.

Till yesterday he had hated his town he wished he could call home, even though it only had sadness to offer. Last memories of his father notwithstanding, he had felt almost ostracized, receiving only the distant form of communication or acknowledgement. He did not know what his fault was. But he was grateful nonetheless. He had attempted to do his job and help out people who were receptive enough. But now, he understood them. What they meant when he was told that it was the benevolence of the townsfolk which aided his stay. His father was a traitor. The town suffered because of him. All the hate he experienced now felt deserved. He could not comprehend going back and facing them again. This break was much needed for him to reflect on his life and choices in future.

"Have you seen Lee around?" Kelvin enquired. The last few days his fluffy friend had been of great help. When he was about to lose himself to something he did not understand, Lee brought him back. That is what it felt like to him, when he recovered from an unbridling fit of rage each time. The feline bit hard snapping him out of it. Later he would make amends by licking the spot repeatedly and lying beside him.

Lee might have gone out to steal some food or talk to Amy, Kelvin thought. There was no reason to panic yet. After all, it was sad to see Lee holed up in the room. Lee was free spirited and Kelvin thought the caracal needed a break.

"Speaking of Lee, I hear him nearby." Max announced to Kelvin, happy that for once he could bear good news. He had seen firsthand even back in the town how out of element Kelvin was without the animal.

Lee paced into the room, visibly panicked. He kept meowing while trying to hide behind Kelvin. Sensing unease, Kelvin stroked him to calm him down, but it seemed as if he was ready for battle. Kelvin also noticed the strange collar and detached it from him, evaluating it in his hands.

Are we in trouble?

Out of the blue, three people appeared in the room, unfazed by the fact that they were uninvited trespassers. One looked in a militaristic attire, Kelvin understandably concerned by the sword that the man was carrying. The smaller of the two women regarded him with relief; seemed to be breathing heavily. The outfit matched the color of the collar. The taller woman had dressed up in a hoodie but her face did not feel familiar.

Kelvin was contemplating the next course of action, while Max was at the loss for words. Max being the one supposedly good at communication tried to make a reasonable impression which Kelvin utilized to send out a message after connecting to hospital specific network from the computer on the bed side.

"It's not cool to mess around with my pet. I was worried. Who are you guys?" Kelvin tried to resume the conversation watching Max stammer. The irony. He was always aware there was an unexplained factor behind their technology, but now knowing for sure, he was able to accept what he saw.

"I'm Aurelia. This is Lumien and Melody," the taller woman introduced the party.

"Nice name," Max shot his shot and got nothing in return.

Kelvin proceeded to introduce himself and his accidental companion who seemed to have got some confidence back but with some hopes dashed.

An unease built inside Aurelia as she observed Kelvin. The cat was apparently his. She sensed pain in him, perhaps something more that added to her worries.

"Princess, there's no time for pleasantries, let's make this quick," Lumien realized it was too late to bite back words. Aurelia attempted to shrug it off with a nervous smile whereas Melody seemed to be disappointed at the speaker.

You had one job

Max felt more of his hope withering away just like his false aspirations of becoming a poet. "It's sweet that people still address their partners as a princess."

"Oh no, she is an actual princess," Melody blurted out as the mental image with the other two as partners was nauseating to her.

Max and Kelvin could not believe that they were speaking to royalty. And they had used magic. This was becoming too surreal.

All Max could say was, "Even in this day and age?"

Aurelia had enough with their antics.

"Everybody, focus. I know this is overwhelming for you. But please try to take it in your stride. There is war waiting to happen in this realm. Result of it would be total destruction. There is a device that we are looking for, which is for sure present in this realm. I need your help to get to it."

Aurelia let it all out in one go to avoid any interrupting questions while offering the replica that Lumien had made out of the self-writing book.

"Why me? Why us?" Kelvin was confused.

"If you don't mind, can we speak to Kelvin alone?" Aurelia asked Max, unable to take away the awkwardness from the situation. It had to be done.

Max excused himself, convinced that this day was never going to get any worse. At least, he could look for Amy. She might know a thing or two.

"May I ask you about your caracal?" Aurelia started.

"Of course, Lee, he is my... pet from my childhood. Seems like he is not in the mood today, sorry." Kelvin saw that Lee was uneasy. Also, he didn't know how much he could share. He did not fully trust them.

"I don't know if you haven't noticed. Lee seems to be quite healthy for a cat considering the age."

"What do you mean?" Kelvin was not liking the connotation of what Aurelia said.

"I'm just good with animals," Aurelia tried to make it sound casual, "with my abilities, I could see that his aging is slower than normal. Or I should say, he has stopped aging for all intents and purposes."

"And you," Aurelia wondered how to present this, "Have you ever performed magic?"

Kelvin let out a chuckle. "I can't even anymore. What is the meaning of all this?"

Aurelia could sense something brewing within Kelvin. She was not sure what it was. But within the calmness, there was raging fire. A struggle within.

"It is rude to trespass, especially when you were shown the door once, Aurelia. I hate interruptions while at work." Amy entered the room, accompanied by three men, all holding a spear, with the pointed end embedded with a crystal.

Aurelia regarded Amy with seriousness, "I've come in peace. Just need your assistance in studying the device, the one the dark wizard built. I sense its presence in this realm, but unfortunately it is obscured by magic. Any information to avoid a devastating war would be helpful to us all." Aurelia tried to reason despite knowing she would not be heard.

To her surprise, Amy relented, asking the men to drop the weapons for the moment, "Why should we trust you to stop a war? Even if we were to assume your story about history repeating itself with the rise of the dark wizard. It's not like you folk gave us any reason to trust. You just want to steal more of what we have."

"I am not representing my kingdom. Came here on my accord. I'll do everything I can to prevent something like that from happening again." Aurelia reassured.

"The crystals we use are extracting, is from the very device you are looking for. As long as you are not doing any funny business behind our backs, I am okay to help."

"Agreed." 

The women shook hands.