The Madame's Room

Harvet took out the key card and swiped it into the slot next to the up and down button in the elevator. After a few seconds, the light turned from red to green, giving them authorization to enter the basement.

The door to the elevator opened and Harvet went ahead of Uteu to scout out the area.

He adjusted his hold on Judith, feeling a bit worried. Following how dangerous every encounter he's had so far, he's not sure what might happen to the little girl if he keeps her by his side during his search for Uti.

At the same time, he felt even more afraid of leaving the little girl alone in some unknown location while he was away.

He sighed and decided on taking her with him. At least together, they might be able to figure something out.

Harvet came back after a few minutes. He was glad to see her uninjured.

Harvet nodded her head towards Uteu, "Clear up to the Madame's room. It doesn't look like anyone is down here. No traps placed either." Uteu let out the breath that he was holding while she reported.

They walked together, without imminent danger hanging over his head, Uteu was able to look around and observe his surroundings.

He immediately regretted it when he realized that all the decorations in this particular hallway were all based on Harkal. There were statue replicas and oil paintings. Some of them had him in barely any clothing at all.

Uteu gagged, he already hated this man and seeing him like this felt disgusting. He would need to get the full story from his father. Harkal was a very dangerous man, and Uteu wondered if he was exiled from the family to have ended up in the Guild. If so, what was it that he had done?

They quickly reached the end. Three doors and an opening met their eyes.

Peering into the cut opening in the wall, Uteu realized it was a kitchen and bar. It was fairly spacious.

"The middle door is the Madame's room. The other two are storage rooms." Harvet told him as he turned his attention back towards the doors.

He looked at Harvet and down at Judith. He was getting closer to Uti now. He really hoped there wouldn't be any more enemies to face against to get to her.

Harvet swiped the key card again and got a green light to enter the room.

Entering, Uteu felt it was like a deluxe hotel room. It had a small living room area with a large screen television set and around the corner lead to a wide bathroom. The king sized bed was covered in red sheets and fluffy white pillows. It was quite glaring to look at, seeing as how everything else was in earthy tones.

He set Judith down onto the couch and searched a bit more carefully around the living room area. Harvet searched around in the bathroom.

They searched for quite a while and couldn't quite seem to figure out where the hidden room, the one that Jude had mentioned, was at.

Uteu really wished that his thread to Uti hadn't snapped, finding her would be so much easier with it to guide him.

Judith woke up just as they sat down to go over ideas together. She blinked when she noticed her surroundings and then looked between Harvet and Uteu.

"Hey Judith." Uteu said as Judith crawled into his lap and hugged him.

"Grey eyes, why are we in Madame's room?"

Harvet and Uteu stared blankly at Judith.

"You recognize it?" Uteu found himself asking.

The little girl nodded.

"Master Harkal brought me here last night to meet another little girl. Are you going to bring me to see papa after?"

Uteu flinched at her question this was going to be difficult to explain.

"Judith." Uteu and Judith turned their heads to Harvet who was silent up to this point.

"Please tell Uteu here where you went to meet the little girl. Afterwards, I'll tell you what happened to your papa, alright?"

Judith stayed silent for a few seconds and nodded. Uteu looked back and forth between them. Would this really be alright?

Judith pointed at the bed and they shifted it. They noticed a slit in the carpet and pulled it back, revealing that there was a hidden trap door underneath. Twisting open the latch, they peered down at the ladder leading into darkness.

Harvet climbed down first followed by Uteu and then Judith. Uteu was afraid Judith would slip, but found that her grip was quite strong. He could only believe that it was a small chain reaction between his Links.

Now that Judith was awake, he felt a small bit of her ability leak through their connection. It seemed to amplify all abilities in their Chain.

Unfortunately it wasn't strong enough to reveal the silver chain at this moment. Uteu really had to wonder if there was something that was causing an interference.

They reached the bottom. A motion sensor sensed Harvet and the area lit up.

Looking around it really was a tunnel. It was rounded and had similar looks to a sewer, minus all the sewage.

Seeing that it was pretty much a straight path. Harvet and Uteu decided to run the full length. Harvet had Judith clinging to her shoulders. The strength from Harvet and the amplification from Judith gave the little girl enough strength to hold on without falling off.

They dashed forward, they would have to travel the entire length till they reached the teleportation array and didn't wish to waste anymore time.

The run was smooth and uninterrupted. They eventually reached a white hatch door attached to what looked like a giant white sphere of a room.

Harvet eased Judith off her back.

"Is this it?"

Judith nodded quietly.

"Master Harkal... told Judith that if I wasn't good, I'd be just like that little girl inside."

Uteu's stomach dropped at Judith's words. He quickly grabbed the handle and opened the hatch. Uti was just on the other side of this door!