Trap

The woman walked into the orphanage confidently. A sword at her hip tapped her legs as she walked, generating a clacking noise that went along with her plated greaves when she walked on the stone floor. It was the only sound that could be heard by anyone in the orphanage as everyone went deathly silent.

It was clear that even they didn't expect this kind of appearance.

The woman looked around at everyone in the front room with a neutral expression that seemed to look down on them. The moment she caught someone about to open their mouth she held up her hand to stop them before they even started. She then coldly stated, "Do not speak unless you are spoken to."

She looked at everyone once more and frowned. She then pointed to the woman in an apron and asked, "Are you the mother here?"

The woman responded to her instantly as she nervously replied, "Y-Yes."

The knight then asked while waving her hand towards all of the children, "Is this everyone that's in the building?"

"Y-Yes, this is everyone here."

The knight nodded her head once before she turned around and walked back to the carriage. She stepped up into it and no sounds could be heard coming from inside even though the door was open.

After several moments, the knight was knocked out of the carriage by some force that didn't meet their ears. She landed painfully on her back before she quickly kneeled before the door with her head down.

Another person stepped out of the carriage. This person had black hair and black eyes and was wearing white and blood red colored finery. He had a sword at his hip and stood taller than everyone around him.

Altair's blood ran cold at seeing that bastard again. He was the same person who forced her to flee over two years ago. He also appeared to not have aged a single day since the last time Altair had saw him.

'It's been eight years, shouldn't he have aged?'

Reeve strode past the knight and into the building. He then looked around the inside and looked around with clear disinterest on his face.

All of the children stared at him with their mouths agape. This was their hero and he had come here in person for reasons unknown. They all puffed up their chests and tried to stand a little taller just so they could get noticed by him.

Altair, however, tensed up once more. 'This isn't a coincidence. How did he find me?'

Reeve's eyes settled on all of the children and he walked up with a smile on his face that didn't meet his eyes. All of the children attempted to stand even taller as he approached. Her looked over everyone there before his eyes settled on Altair and said, "Found you." He then shot his hand forward and grabbed Altair by the neck and pulled her forward, shocking all of the kids there.

The kids surrounding Altair were pushed aside by his rough movements.

Reeve didn't mind them as he pulled Altair away from the group and growled at her, "I told you that you'd be mine. You think you can hide from me by changing your appearance? Not a chance."

Altair had grabbed his arm when she was yanked forward in an attempt to get some air into her lungs as he was choking her. Her face was already starting to turn red and she glared at him as a fire in her heart that she thought was snuffed out reignited.

'Kill him!' the voice in the corner of her mind roared with all of its strength. 'Ki-' It was then abruptly snuffed out as quick as it came, anger and fury all.

Altair's angry expression deflated along with it to an indifferent stare at Reeve.

He didn't seem to mind or notice as he said, "I already know how your stupid teleportation works. You can't use it while carrying a living person. Since I have you in my hands now, you're already as good as mine." He grinned and started to use his Magic.

A blue circle with intricate additions formed underneath him and Altair, causing Altair's brow to furrow as she recognized the same Magic that he attempted on her before. 'This time,' Reeve thought, 'You are mine!'

The glee in his eyes at his upcoming victory was apparent to Altair. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know as much as he thought as she smirked at him with a smug look in her eyes. Since she couldn't say anything, she just mouthed out the word "idiot" to him before she burned all of her Mana and vanished in a flash of blue light from his gasp.

Altair already had her destination in mind. It was the same room that she had left from in the Empire. And, when the jarring feeling left her, she found herself standing in the same spot she had left from.

She slumped her shoulders and sighed heavily as she felt a familiar emptiness overtake her. 'So, there really is something wrong with my head.' It couldn't have been made more obvious to her in the moment she ran into Reeve again.

She wasn't sure she could have killed him there. Her Shadow Magic was mostly useless on him before and her threads seemed to dissipate when they got within range of him. She wanted a new trump card to use again him before she event attempted it, plus she didn't like her Mana reserves being so pitiful as well. If she failed to take him out then it would be, at minimum, painful for her to return due to Overdrafting. All in all, it just wasn't worth the risk right now.

She shook her head as she rubbed her neck with her hand and looked around her room. Everything was in the same place as before: her shoes were where she left them, her dress was still on the bed, the nightstand, bed, and dresser hadn't moved. Outside, it was still night. The only real difference was a musty smell that permeated her room.

Altair had no idea if any time had passed just by looking at things in her room.

Her stomach growled noisily as she felt the pangs of hunger assault her. She frowned and then moved to leave her room. She didn't remember if she had found a kitchen last time she was here but she was sure that she could tell Number One that she was ready for pick up at least. If there was a kitchen, she would find it and make some food.

Altair opened the door and stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. As soon as she closed it, a wave of dust flitted up through the air and flowed along with the disturbed air.

This caused Altair's brow to twitch as she took a closer look at her surroundings. Everything seemed to be covered in a layer of thick dust. There were no footprints or signs of anyone having moved in the area except for her own. She coughed lightly as she felt the itch from the dust she inhaled and moved towards the front room.

She called out, "Number One, are you here?" She didn't think anyone was here, but, just in case, she called out anyway. Due to the fact that she just burned all of her Mana she wouldn't be able to teleport directly to the Marnithok mansion from here for at least another sixteen hours.

Each step she took left a footprint in the dust on the floor. She even kicked some up when her food landed on the ground. There was a deathly silence in the air that went beyond normal silence. It was like she was the only living creature around. Her footsteps even echoed eerily in the house with each step.

Altair felt her skin crawl as a chill ran down her spine. 'How long as it been? Is my Teleportation Magic really not as instant as I thought?'

She arrived at the front room to find, as with everywhere else in the house so far, a tick coating of dust on everything in the living room. It was even on the dishes and glasses that were left out for who knows how long. The sight of the dishes, covered only in dust and grime, caused Altair's stomach to growl again which echoed in the house as well.

There were clothes spread out half-hazardly in groups through the living room. Men's shirts went with men's pants. A woman's pants went with a tank top that Altair recognized from earlier. In all cases, they were left abandoned covered in particularly thick dust compared to the rest of the room.

"I guess I'm alone here," she said softly to herself in an attempt to kill the painful silence around her. She then turned around and started walking back the way she came. "Perhaps there's some food left that I can eat."

Since she had checked the other side of the building before she left and didn't find a kitchen, that meant that it had to be in the direction she came from. Even if it had been a while there still might be some food left behind. Even though Altair knew that there would be no guarantee that it would be edible, it was still better than leaving it without checking for sure.

She checked the rooms beyond her room as she explored the rest of the building. There was nothing special inside them at all as far as she could tell. Every time she opened and closed the door she wound up disturbing the resting dust. After coughing several times beyond the first door, she decided to hold her breath when she checked them from then on.

As it turned out, the last room that Altair checked was the kitchen. Before she could walk in though, she felt a pinch on the back of her leg. She turned and looked down and saw a familiar black and green colored bee sticking out of her leg. It caused her to raise her brows as she reached down and pulled it out of her leg. 'Where did I see this again…' the thought drifted into her mind as he legs buckled abruptly under her from a thick wave of weakness and she fell chest first to the ground.

No dust was disturbed when she fell into the kitchen.

She felt a sudden wave of drowsiness that flooded over her mind as she heard a masculine voice say, "Target secured."