I was speechless. I was driving myself crazy, wondering how Daniel Johnston could have come up with that idea.

"Maybe I'm dumb," I feigned ignorance. "But I have something that I'd like to ask."

"I wouldn't go as far as to call you dumb," Edgar rolled his eyes.

"Well, I must be! Something about all of this just doesn't feel right. Mister Johnston, why are you saying that Alice disappeared into another dimension? How can you prove a rift between two worlds opened?"

Thomas Johnston was not known for keeping his cool. He seemed immediately bothered by my words --- he understood what I was getting at.

"I don't need to explain a reason to an ignorant student like you," he replied stubbornly. "If anything, I'll leave it to you to find me proves that something else happened. Until then, I'm blaming your leisure vacation on KI last Spring."

"Oh, shit," Edgar muttered. He still looked a little out of it.

Mister Johnston looked at him defiantly. "Next time," he said. "You'll either show up sober or not at all. I was meaning to ask you to help us find a solution to the power outage, Ryan, but now I see we don't need your help."

When Thomas Johnston left, Edgar looked at me sadly. "You shouldn't let him treat you like that," he said.

"It's fine," I shrugged.

"Seriously, it's not! It's just something you say. I was there, on KI, when a Reaper stabbed you in the heart and you kept acting like everything was fine."

I shivered. It was not one of my fondest memories.

"Well, what we need now is some good night's sleep," I said. "Not that I'll be able to get any, with Alice missing and everything. But if we wait until tomorrow to act on it, maybe things will be clearer. In the morning, it won't even matter that much if there's a power outage."

Edgar seemed to give it some thought. "All right," he said. "Meet me tomorrow at Flora's house. We'll try to cheer her up while we think of how we can help her out and find proves we didn't open any rift."

I wasn't expecting Edgar to propose we did this together, but I accepted gladly. I was glad that he didn't ask me if I thought it really was our fault. Not blaming somebody unless you had proof, even ourselves, was apparently something that we both agreed on.

The following day, we met on the road that led to Flora's house. We were about to ring the bell, when a woman came out and told us Flora wasn't home, and would come back later.

"I'm the landlady," she said, her white bun shining under the fickle rays of the Autumn sun. "And you would be..."

I stole a glance at her. She was wearing pajamas, a long gown the style I'd seen on Flora before on mornings such as these. She had a look in her eyes as if she knew exactly who I was.

"The Typhon, according to a lot of people," I rolled my eyes. "But don't worry lady, it's taking a looong while for my soul to rot."

The landlady shrugged, and closed the door on me.

"Well, that was petty," Edgar commented.

"I'm sorry," I said, and I meant it. "I'm just a little nervous. Alice disappeared yesterday. I really thought I'd wake up hearing good news, but I haven't. She disappeared so many hours ago, it's not looking good."

Edgar seemed to shut up for some time. The look in his eyes was enough to make me understand that he knew how terrible the situation was.

"Where are Raegan and Jeff anyway?" he asked. "Why didn't you bring them along?"

The reason was that Edgar hadn't invited them in the first place, and I wanted some alone time with my bonded warrior. But I didn't say it. They were also busy, that day, so I told the truth.

"Jeff and Raegan are going to a meeting, with Agnes. They didn't let me know what it was about. The Traditionalists? I can't imagine Jeff  wanting to be seen anywhere near them, and Raegan isn't their leader anymore."

"Do they know about Alice?"

"Yes. They were sorry, and they said that if they hadn't decided on that day for the meeting, they would help us look for her."

I looked at Edgar, studying him closely. Somehow, I thought he might share my worries. Maybe he did.

"I was hoping they were going to help us," I admitted. "I don't know if this is a job for two."

"It's better for some of us to be out of town, since we were blamed for the power outage as well," Edgar pointed out, not too kindly.

"Were we?" I asked.

Edgar nodded sternly.

"Perhaps," he added then. "Flora is out town, buying her gossamer gowns. I've heard it said they are called traditional outfits by many middle-aged Enchanters."

"She calls her pajamas a traditional outfit?" I asked, refraining from laughing.

"Those are not her pajamas," Edgar said after a while. "This is a traditional outfit, for women in the Aether Realm. She's been wearing a version of it every time we met her."

"I'm really sorry," I said. "I always thought she was wearing her pajamas."

Edgar looked at me for so long, I almost panicked. I blurted out the very first thing that came to mind.

"Do you sleep fully clothed? I've never seen you in your PJs."

Edgar became very pale, and seemed to think about it, but then he noticed something. "You did see me, with the Academy's pajamas. We shared a room. Are you drunk at the moment?"

"Ha-ha!" I commented drily. "Not at all. That's just my humour."

"Well, I for one can't stand it," Edgar replied. "Stop making jokes."

"Speaking of the wine, though," he added as we were walking further from Flora's house. "Ohda told me it made every Enchanter who drank it go mad. It should have no effect at all on humans, or hybrids."

"But it did have an effect on you," I was reminded of his words the day before. "Do you think your father was right...?"

"Forget about it," he replied roughly.

Edgar did his best to regain his composure, as if we had never mentioned his family at all. 

At the moment, we saw a man reading a newspaper. He looked very sad, and passed fingers through his hair.

"What is happening?" he wondered out loud. "Why do people keep disappearing?"

I approached him. "I'm sorry, sir, I did not buy the newspaper this morning. Another disappearance?"

"A young boy," he commented, and gave Edgar the newspaper to read. "I hope Thomas Johnston is going to do something about it. The other world theory seems so silly..."

He shook his head, and said goodbye as he darted down the teal road.

"This is bad, very bad," Edgar commented, ruffling his wild hair. "Two people have disappeared. They're blaming us. And nobody has proves!"

I agreed with his statement. Then why did I feel like I knew exactly what to do?

"I have an idea," I said. "Maybe they are to blame."

Edgar looked at me like he wanted to argue, but he didn't. I knew he must have felt the same way as I did. I wouldn't put it past Thomas Johnston, or some of the other members of the Senate for that matters, to kidnap people just to prove a point.

I noticed Edgar had tears in his eyes. I've never seen him looking like that. "The boy who disappeared, he was a baby," he said. "A few months old."

I looked at Edgar in disbelief. The weight of his words felt like it could crush my soul and swallow me whole. It would be better, at the moment, to believe the rift in the worlds theory. Who, in their right mind, would kidnap a baby? It was downright immoral. Disgusting.

"And he'd recently become an orphan," Edgar added. "Lost his father to Jinn, the Reaper, last Winter and he recently lost his mother to cancer."

I opened my mouth, trying to find words, but closed it again. Edgar instinctively put a hand on my shoulder. He knew what I was thinking about. If my theory was correct, was the baby kidnapped because he had no parents? It seemed wrong --- just because you had no one to take care of you. I couldn't help but think that it could have been me.

"Well, now that we know that the boy is only a baby," Edgar added, throwing away the newspaper. "There's no way we won't do our utmost to find him. Too bad they didn't mention what his name was --- I would have liked to know."

I thought about the child. He might not understand everything now, but I wondered how does one make amends with the fact that such a thing happened in his past.

Edgar seemed to read my thoughts, though I knew for a fact that he couldn't do it.

"Are you all right?" he whispered softly, as we went into a corner of the street to discuss our next plans. 

"What? Me? Yes" I replied, absent-mindedly.

"I know the boy reminds you of yourself," Edgar said. "But we're going to rescue him, I promise."

"Admitting there's something to rescue him from. But yes, he does," I admitted. "I am an orphan. Just like him."

Edgar raised an eyebrow. "Yeah... I know," he said. "But honestly, it's more than that. You've been kidnapped by your grandfather when you were a few months old, and placed in another realm. The politicians decided for you a life away from your real family. If Thomas decides that this child has to be taken away and hidden, he could place him in the human realm. He could be adopted and live a life he was never supposed to live --- just like you did."

"You're right. I was trying not to think about that," I gave him a grin. "Come, Wollstonecraft, it's about time a scholar like you learns new spells."

Edgar's expression seemed to lighten up. He loved learning, and back then when Vitaly and Brady taught us black magic, his powers had been deemed too uncontrollable to teach him anything.

It was the first time I asked myself if, maybe, it was Edgar himself who decided, back then, he didn't want to learn black magic. While he thought one should be knowledgeable about everything, Jurists were famously opposed to black magic, as it was against their personal understanding of right and wrong.

"I'll show you how to become invisible," I told him. 

"We hang out together for a hour and you're already teaching me black magic," Edgar commented, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

I made a face at him, and proceeded to tell him how to become invisible. Like most excercises of meditation, it required a lot of time we just didn't have. Edgar had to concentrate on getting out the reach of the eyes of the Enchanters who would meet him. That way, he could still be seen by me.

"I don't know... I don't feel too confident about this," he finally commented, a huge admission on his part. 

"Hold my hand," I said, remembering Luna's words.

"What? No!" Edgar looked disgusted. "That's it. That's where I draw the line."

"This coming from the person who made me slit my own hand just to do a blood bond when we were still getting to know each other? Come, take my hand."

Edgar grunted and gave me his hand. I had remembered that Luna told us that it was a way for Enchanters to share power. That way, I made Edgar much more powerful. He became completely invisible, and I couldn't see him either.

"Let's take it down a notch," I said. 

"Why don't you make me visible?" Edgar scoffed. "It's you who's doing all the magic. As far as I'm concerned, you could be very well talking to yourself."

"Ohda was right about you," I told him. "We do share a sense of humour."

"I'm giving up," Edgar whispered. "Does this have anything to do with finding the little boy?"

"Don't worry, I have just the plan," I said.

I placed the index finger of my left hand and the middle finger of my right hand on the sides of my head. The Mudra for mind-reading.

"Black magic again, huh?" Edgar asked. But this time, there was a note of amusement in his criticism.

I shrugged. "It's not illegal yet."

Thomas Johnston was at a critique point where he did not know whether to make legal some black magic spells, like the one I was using. It resulted that, for the time being, practising black magic wasn't illegal either.

I had never tried the spell outside, and that gave me a headache. I received in form of mental messages the thoughs of the Enchanters nearby. Since it covered a long distance, and we were in the open, I could practically hear the thoughts of the whole city.

I tried, out of respect, to avoid Edgar's thoughts. Not that I could hear them anyway --- it was terribly hard to focus on a person at a time.

After about twenty minutes, the spell stopped. The downside was, I had a migraine like I never had in my whole life.

"Have you found something already?" Edgar asked me. When he noticed I wasn't replying, he took out from the pocket of his trousers a root of panacea and gave it to me.

Relieved, I swallowed it whole in just one bite.

"I believe I found what we're looking for, yes" I said.

"Is it supposed to be that easy?" he asked, in a whisper.

"Black magic?" I grinned. "Yes, that's why I like it."

I told Edgar about what I had heard. Thomas Johnston, or the people who worked closely for him, had their minds shielded, their thoughts well guarded. However, too many people worked in the Senate to make sure everybody hid their thoughts well. Enchanters trusted other Enchanters who weren't Typhons not to read their thoughts. Their trust became wasted on me the moment they started kidnapping innocents. Of course, they couldn't expect that.

So, I read quite easily the mind of a janitor who cleaned the place where the Senate held its meetings. He was thinking about the events that happened that day, and he was wondering what happened to the poor boy that was captured by Thomas Johnston and brought in an abandoned shelter, somewhere.

"The point is, we still don't know where they're keeping the baby," Edgar said, clearly concerned.

"At least now we're sure Johnston did it," I said. "And we're going to ask him. Not so nicely."

"Do you want to go there now?" Edgar asked.

"Of course," I said. "It's not too far. They will let me in, because they think I work with them. You are invisible, and therefore can enter the building at the same time I do."

When Edgar got around to admitting that it made sense, we started walking towards the Senate Palace, the place where the British Senate worked.

While we were making our way towards it, Edgar whispered, "Is there a reason why I should be invisible?"

I nodded. "I want you there with me, in the room, but I am not sure the guards will let more than one person in. Sadly Thomas Johnston's boot-licking towards me seems never ending, but I honestly do not know how he feels about you."

As we talked, we reached the Senate Palace. It was a huge building in white marble that reminded me of the castles from the fairy tales. I did not know why the Senate chose their workplace to look that romantic, but if anything it looked expensive.

I did not even have to introduce myself --- the bodyguards let me in. 

I did not waste any time. As soon as the guards let us in, Edgar appeared and we made a run for Thomas Johnston's office. Usually, you would need some kind of permission, but that was another perk of being a national hero. Politicians almost expected me to show up at any time to discuss a strategy. Not that I had ever done that before.

As soon as I entered the office, I leaned towards Daniel Johnston, who was sitting in his chair. When my eyes were close to his, I said defiantly: "Tell us where you keep the hostage!"

"Oh my, such a rage," he laughed. "I guess I could lie to you and say we have no hostage, but it wouldn't be of any use, wouldn't it?"

"How could you have capture him?" Edgar asked. He was asking it morally, but Johnston thought it was a practical question.

"That was actually easier than..."

"No, you insipid jerk. How can you, morally, kidnap a baby?"

Thomas Johnston shrugged. "How could I not? I have had my sights on the two of you and your friends. Loose cannons is what you are. You journeyed between worlds, you know dark magic... even if this leads to a civil war, I know which side I'm on. I was actually hoping you'd come out and tell me you how you tore apart the fabric of the world, but now I see I have to do something even worse to get you to talk and confess."

"Why would you want a war?" I asked.

"Told you. The government is here to control, not letting each magic user do what they like with the aether. Somebody must put an end to this."

"You're crazy," Edgar said.

"Maybe," Johnston decided. "But at least I can see the big picture. You can't."

He turned to face me. "You're a bastard," he told me. "A hybrid. See yourself for what you are. You're half Enchanter and half those who hunted them. Someday a side's going to win. You have the impatience, the brutality, the holier than thou attitude of your human ancestors. The Aether realm has trusted you, but we're going to pay it with blood. Mark my words."

"Stop it right now," Edgar growled. Then, he did something that surprised me. He placed his fingers in the position for the killing Mudra. I'd never taught Edgar how to murder someone, but Thomas couldn't know that.

"Okay, I'll give you the location of the boy," Thomas Johnston said. "But, in exchange, I'll tell everybody that your friend was killed by Vitaly Malinov, another person I want off my chess board, and you have to promise you won't deny it."

Edgar and I exchanged looks. If Thomas said that, not only people would have their hearts broken believing Alice was dead, when in fact she might not be, but people would also stop looking for her. And then, he couldn't blame Vitaly, who didn't do anything. He would ruin his entire legacy, his freedom, his life.

"Ask us for anything else," I said. "Or I swear that not only I won't give you permission to do that --- I'll use everything I've got to stop you."

As I was saying that, I prepared to cast a spell at the man. He opened his eyes wide.

"Anything else? You swear?" Thomas asked. He leaned forward to grab a speed letter and a pen, all the while looking at my fingers.

"Anything else," I promised, though I knew very well we couldn't trust him.

"All right," he said, with a wide grin. He wrote something in the speed letter, and sent it. "I've told everybody that it was you, Ryan Barnes, who killed your friend Alice."