If she had been asked a year ago where she thought she would be, never would Emelia Seijo have imagined what she was doing right now.

  She wondered what her maid would think if she saw her now. Most likely Emily would earn herself a scolding for being so reckless.

  Then again, everything was going smoothly thus far – three Maestros and five Resonators crept down the hallway, only their continued footsteps echoing off the walls. This place had seen better days, that much was certain. The long thin bulbs encased within their plastic prisons were a coin toss on whether they had burned out or remained in service. The floors were thick with dust, dirt, debris, and other unidentified liquids that long since dried. The scent that hung in the air was musty, with a certain rusty odor that stung the nose.

  If buildings could talk, this one would tell a story of decline; of a slow torturous demise.

  Emily held herself, shivering. It wasn’t cold, but the feelings that hung in the air…

  “Keep your chin up princess,” Albarich advised. “It’s about to get a lot worse,” he warned, quieter.

  She nodded, knowing full well her first was right. At least from what they had been told by Vienna, a not-so-insignificant number of their experiments had been moved to this location. How this was achieved in the middle of the Quiretteh metro area was beyond her. It did explain the lack of other people in the building.

  “This building was purchased several years ago under a shell company,” Elijah informed the group, keeping his voice low.

  “How do you even figure out something like that?” asked Emily.

  “Public records. There weren’t any assets being moved to and from the company, just many properties all around Unis-Resonné,” Elijah said.

  They stopped in a junction between two hallways. “This way,” Colette pointed them down the left corridor.

  “What’s even a shell company anyway?” Ritika wondered.

  “In legal businesses, a shell company is one that exists only in the records; it’s not a real business. No goods, services, or employees. Typically, there aren’t any assets either and no way for it to generate any income,” Elijah explained. He motioned for the group to come to a stop. With a jerk of his head, Zino stepped out into the junction. The dinosaur looked both ways, grunted, and motioned for the party to continue.

  “It’s a good way to hide money; or at least who is funding you,” Elijah continued. “Especially since they’re using it to hide the real owners of these properties,” stated the Klein heir.

  “That’s crazy that it works,” Emily commented, shaking her head.

  “It works when no one is looking. Unfortunately, there came a reason for someone to look and the whole thing fell apart,” Elijah stated.

  The trek continued in silence before Emily broke it to sate a curiosity. “Did the Klein Foundation find out anything about the shell companies that own these buildings?”

  Elijah grunted, furrowing his brows. “Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to go through all the records. I’m sure within the next couple months or so we’ll know everything, but whoever this was obfuscated themselves in several layers of protection, making it that much more difficult to track.” He allowed himself a brief pause. “Thankfully my father’s people are no amateurs. They’ll uncover the true culprit, or at least the one holding the deeds to these facilities.”

  “Too bad we don’t know who the evil mastermind is,” Colette spoke up.

  “Not on the business side at least. I have faith in Mr. Tomoshibi’s deductions,” Elijah said.

  The squad marched on. Emily checked her tuner map, not seeing anything other than their little blob of “friendlies” creeping down the map. Albarich was doing a good job updating it, as she felt the slight tug of him refreshing the spell consistently.

  Thankfully they didn’t need the map to find their final destination, only to make sure they weren’t detected before they got to their goal. Vienna’s earlier scouting was quite useful for mapping out a good majority of the structures. It was almost scary how good she was at espionage.

  “It should be here,” Colette spoke, looking up from the map.

  “Are you ready, Miss Emelia?” asked Elijah.

  The princess’ eyes scanned not the Maestros, but the five Resonators accompanying them. Only Ritika showed any bit of trepidation, and that was being stuffed down in favor of putting out a brave front. The two caught sight of one another – Maestro and Resonator shared a nod of reassurance before Emily confirmed, “Yes, let’s proceed.”

  Kaira took the lead. She tugged her waist pouch open, allowing the contents to snake out of its container. Utilizing her sand, the jackal opened the door and gently pushed it open.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  As the door creaked open, they knew they weren’t alone – and not just from the souls of the tortured they had expected.

  The torturers in question had found their way into the building. In white lab coats, they were clad, carrying papers and tools, their work uninterrupted until this exact moment.

  There was a small silence as the two disparate groups stared one another down. Neither party made a move.

  Emily was the first to break the mental stalemate; her hand snapping down to her side. “Al! Fissare la Ombra, Rubato!” she fired off the hip.

  The lunar dragon followed his Maestro’s command, firing out a wave of black arrows, pinning the scientists down by their shadows, and preventing their escape.

  “By order of the Riterran Hunter’s Association – you are under arrest,” Elijah found his conviction as he entered the room.

  Even the normally well-composed Maestro found himself shuddering as he unwittingly stole the abuse on display. Cages, cells containing many bodies in various states of torment lined both walls, stretching into the distance like a prison block. Many rolling tables littered the space, bearing tools dyed with sticky red life. The odor of filth and those forced to wallow in it, and the horrible cacophonous noise with a backing track of the groans of the suffering clawed at his psyche.

  Emily watched Elijah clasp a hand over his mouth, leaning over slightly. She shook her head, not wanting to bear witness to what he was experiencing.

  But she couldn’t let him face that alone, and for that, she stepped in behind him. It all hit her at once, and she couldn’t remain as composed as the Klein heir had. The bile stormed up in protest of the assault on her senses. She managed to swallow hard, the acid stinging her throat in the process.

  Colette wasn’t so lucky and lost her dinner on the ground as soon as she found her way in.

  “As we planned Colette!” Elijah barked.

  “Urrhg, give me a second…” The redhead averted her gaze away from her previous meal. “Sciame di gioielli, Piano Staccato,” she managed to get out, coughing hard after giving her command.

  Kaira quickly dispatched the speakers stationed around the room, easily slicing away the wires with disk-shaped gemstones.

  “Whew,” Colette sighed in relief.

  Emily too allowed her shoulders to catch slack.

  “Don’t let your guard down,” Elijah warned.

  A warning well founded, as chaos soon erupted at the call of one spell.

  “Grave Esplosione, Feroce.”

  The cell closest to them suddenly exploded, throwing several of their group off their feet, Emily included. Ritika scrambled to her feet in an instant, while Albarich pulled his Maestro back up.

  “What the heck!?” Emily screamed.

  “Grave Esplosione causes a Resonator to unleash all of their rhythm in the force of an explosion!” Colette called out loudly, her hearing must have gone out being so close to the blast.

  “Who called that?” Elijah spun around in a daze, none of the scientists they had bound up in shadow arrows had moved – it wasn’t any of them.

  Emily stared in horror at the source of the explosion – the Resonator who cast it lay face down in their chains, smoldering from the force of the blast they had been compelled to generate. The only beacon letting the would-be rescuers know the victim was still alive was the pang of the tuners’ maps updating from Albarich’s continued casting of Rilevare l’intenzione.

  There was no reprieve from the assault. “Grave Esposione, Feroce,” the same voice called. Now the Resonator caged in the cell to their left exploded with the same payload.

  “Fuck!” Albarich cursed, having thrown himself on Emily to shield her from the force of the attack. Despite his best efforts, Emily found herself on the ground again.

  “I got him!” Zino’s shout reached Emily’s ears before the sounds of his stomping ever did

  “Right behind you!” Elijah shouted.

  “Rika, Soot! Go with them!” Emily cried out.

  “Let’s go!” Ritika shouted.

  By the time the princess had gotten her bearings, their group had split, leaving Emily with Colette and Kaira.

  Albarich helped his Maestro back up to her feet.

  “Lanciafiamme, Rubato; Tempesta di Sabbia, Rubato,” Emily provided the basic fire and earth spells to her two absent Resonators.

  “What are we going to do?” Colette asked. She held herself and trembled slightly, her eyes darting around. Kaira held her Maestro’s shoulders, a ring of sand circling them like an agitated beast.

  Emily let out a short breath, Albarich patting her back.

  “We’re gonna spring these folks,” said the dragon, motioning to the occupied cells.