Their car stopped and Amita left with her Bodyguard. The Zhang car drove past them and Titania could perceive nobody within since the windows were tinted like the ones on her own car. Only the Zhang Symbol was visible. 

She let out a relieved gasp as they made a sharp U turn and drove back toward the mansion. Next to her, Raon took out a sword and placed it on the seat next to him. 

"Get down." He said and then pointed for Lyle to speed up. Titania dived down. Suddenly they were blazing down the street. Titania kept her head down, praying nothing would happen.

A splintering sound rang out and she gasped as their car swayed to the left; they had been rammed. A ripple going through it as Raon started shooting. Titanis tapped her shoulder and was clad in her armor, gun in hand. She handed it up and it was promptly taken as a burst thundered through the air. 

"Stay down little sister." Raon called above her and she nodded at his words. Suddenly, they were hit again. 

"I‘m losing control!" Lyle shouted in front of them. 

"Switch." Raon said and a few seconds later they were driving a lot more stably and two knees were pressing on her. She saw no one and nothing, but there was a tickle of red running down an invisible wall, dripping on her. 

"Stay there young Miss." Lyle said above her and the shooting from their side restarted. 

Their car started sliding. 

"Sniper!" Lyle shouted. Raon in front of Titania did not make a sound, but they blazed along the street even faster. Titania held her breath and kept on praying. She had no idea where they were now, but she trusted Lyle and her brother. 

"Summoner." His voice said calmly in front of them and she cursed as she heard Raon say that. 

All of a sudden, their car was lifted and they seemed to flip. Titania spun and twisted against her will as she was flying through the air. Suddenly, she was grabbed and someone curled around her as they hit the street. Rolling on the asphalt, Titania completely lost her orientation. They came to a skittering halt as she looked down and recognized Lyle but with his invisibility off. He was breathing harshly and his face was covered in blood. 

"Lyle…" She whispered and everything went into some slow motion. She saw how her brother stood above them. shooting. He held his ground as he was deflecting whatever came with shields and by using his weapons. 

You need to get out of the way! 

Her mind screamed. Suddenly her shock seemed over. She grabbed Lyles hand and with strength she did not know she possessed she started to run toward the next corner of the streets. If they stayed where they were, Raon would lose his life trying to protect them. 

She didn't know how long it took but they made it behind a dumpster they could use as cover. Her hands were trembling, and she took out her second gun and turned. No way in hell would she be a mere damsel in distress. Taking cover behind the cover she had found, she started to aim. Both hands on her gun, her breath held. Raon had drawn both his blades. Two Katanas as he tore through the enemy. He was cutting and slashing through humans as if he was born for it. 

Where did they all come from, and just who…!?

Suddenly her brother laughed. He sincerely laughed as he tore through another human being. Titania felt her hands trembling. 

You always knew Titania.

A voice inside herself muttered and she grabbed ahold of herself. Biting her lower lip she pulled the trigger, missing. Cursing, she tried again. Suddenly a foreign hand pressed on top of hers. 

"It's fine, Imagine them as monsters." Lyle said behind her his voice was weaker than it should be. "Calmly aim and shoot. Just another illusion for life exercise." 

She nodded and fired again. This time she was hit and her target's face was blown away. Her stomach turned and she had to lean aside and started vomiting on the ground. From the side of her eye she saw a silvery glint. The one Lyle sometimes used to return her hello. 

"NO!" She screamed and before she could react Lyle had risen and fell back to the ground. Her brother turned around and a second shot echoed through the air. 

It was a bombing, and everything seemed to turn silent afterwards. Suddenly a shadow rose and a scream alongside it. She looked back and saw the woman she had met in Raon’s sanctuary. The robotic one as she leaned over her brother. 

There was red on her white blouse. Next to her, Cedric was standing. His face was full of unspeakable rage. His shadows lashing out and surrounding Titania. They swallowed her up and she protested, punching against the shadows that formed around to protect her. 

"LET ME OUT. CEDRIC!" She screamed, "CEDRIC! RAON!" 

There was nothing but darkness around her. While she punched and punched it. 

The shadow wall was let down and she was hugged tightly. "TItania, Sis, Sis." Cedric muttered in her ear and she saw how all of a sudden she was dragged away. 

"Raon, Raon…" She moaned in grief, despair filling her heart. 

Raon, Raon, Raon.

—--

Titania wound up in her room, lying on the carpet, the shadow from her bed above her. Her hand outstretched, a few birds chirped outside, the noise entering through the open windows.

Titania found herself lying on the floor of her room, the shadow of her bed looming over her like some oppressive thing. Her outstretched hand, reaching for something, anything, yet grasping nothing. The void of the air, broken only by the soft chirping of birdsong through the window; it was morning, but the colors felt dull and cold.

Her body trembled, and she felt her mind running a hundred miles an hour, but nothing would move. 

Raon. Cedric. Think, think, think, think; don't stop.

Her body shot upward Barreling to her door, she ripped it open and shouted into the hallway, "ANNIE, DRAKE!" 

Only to be greeted by total silence’ there was not a person here. Storming out, she barged into Chrys's realms only to find them empty. There was no one here either. The silken cushions and sofas that generally at least one person was lying around were only room temperature.

Turning on her heel, she stormed down the stairs and ended up in the kitchen. Except in the dead of night, there was always someone here… but it as well was now starkly empty. But they couldn't be gone too long. The noodle water for whatever had been planned for dinner was still hot, and the tableware was everywhere. A half-cut cabbage on a wooden board.

What the hell is going on here.

Knowing that she couldn't panic, Titania took a few deep breaths, reining in her mind that kept drawing worst-case scenarios in fancifully dire imagination. She tried to focus on the state of the present. Raon and Cedric were somewhere in the city fighting for their lives. She was back home. That must have taken out a gallon of Cedric's powers. He couldn't do that more than once or twice a day.

Everyone was gone. Where could they be? What could be the reasons? That was what she had to focus on.

Titania could not answer the second question,, but if not in the house then there were only a few places the staff could have gone to. The Greenhouse provided enough space, and the other side was the cellar.

First, the cellar, then the Greenhouse.

The Cellar was a fortress only accessible by those that knew the entrances. Similar to Chrys's weapon rack, it was anything but public knowledge, especially how to get down there in the first place. Walking through the kitchen, Titania squeezed herself into the back, into the servant passageways. The narrow hallways were themselves a small labyrinth that led someone everywhere in the house except for the bedrooms.

Downwards.

The cellar was deep down. Following the hallways, she walked evermore downwards until she was at the training facilities; the first underground level. Titania left them and ran through the empty training halls and shooting ranges until she was where their so-called hall of fame was.

From here it was....left.

Turning, she was in front of a giant computer screen. The monstrosity was old-fashioned, but still a good training tool for showing off techniques. She could almost hear Drake's voice from when she was little; he had shown her how to move correctly. Fingering behind the screen, she searched for the buttons. One for activating it, one for shutting down, those were for the volume, and then... She pressed the last button, and the screen slid aside a staircase that led even further downward. Titania stepped inside. Behind her the screen closed once more, and the lights flickered to life. Rushing downstairs, she ended up in what they called the basement.

"Annie! Drake!" She shouted as she came to a halt, only to see absolutely no one. Now it was getting creepy. She had just been talking with Annie on the phone for about half an hour. Where had they all gone?

"DAMNIT!" She shouted her frustration, gulping down the creepy feeling that was slowly crawling up her throat.

There’s still the Greenhouse. There’s still the Greenhouse. After that, you can lose your shit.

Putting in some speed, she barreled through the basement. The training-hall entrance was a one-way street, and their mother had a habit of drama.

The basement, worthy of its name, had a few stone statues set in the corners. Searching for the one she knew, Titania halted before the ‘pouting mermaid,’ as Chry called it. This exit was a straight path to the living room. Taking the mermaid's hand, she injected her magical energy into it and the mermaid became transparent. Then, running right through it, she returned to the living room and went to the Greenhouse.

Once arrived, Titania immediately  went around searching. Where the heck was everyone?

"Annie! Drake!" She shouted, still recieving no answer. Gulping, she ran to the last place that could hold most of staff and birds.

The sight that greeted her made her breath stop. Chry and the birds were all clad in armor. Even Zhu Wei, their entire security was present, literally everyone. Her Mother, Chry, Drake, and Annie were handing them guns, blades, and weapons. 

"Annie, Drake, Mother, Sis!" Titania shouted and ran towards them as the others parted before her, coming to a halt, breathing harshly. "Cedric...Raon...in the city....they need help." She gasped. 

"Where?" Annie asked, and Titania rattled out the address, or at least the last street name she could remember. Annie left in a blaze of yellow upon hearing her words. 

"Titania." Her mother's gaze was icy upon her, and Titania returned it, unflinching. Seldomly her mother looked genuinely murderous and not half-mad. She had her whims and occasional craziness, but right now…Now, all that was gone. Instead, she had a gaze that made Titania’s skin crawl. Gone were the roses, she felt like she was standing in front of an entirely different person. 

It was just a few seconds then her stare turned warm, almost soft. Suddenly, her mother bowed down and gently kissed Titania's temple, "I love you, daughter of mine. Never forget that." 

"Yes. I love you too." Titania muttered back and then was left standing as she was shoved into Drake's arms. 

"Drake, you take Titania to the basement alongside all non-combatants and children. Don't leave there until you receive my, Annies’, or Chrysanthe’s all-clear. I will be entrusting you with their safekeeping. Food and all necessaries have been stocked to last for the next few months, at least half a year." 

"Mother!" Titania objected. She didn't want to be locked away while the rest of her family was fighting. Struggling, she tried to escape Drake, who kept her in a vice-like grip. 

"Please come with me, young Miss." He said softly and with resignation "We have no choice. Right now, we are liabilities your mother and the others cannot afford." 

Struggling, Titania was dragged along with others like Zhu Wei, followed by Dexter. Most of the people were staff, but a few of her sisters' birds also followed along, leaving a much smaller group of people behind. 

Her sister gave her a wave of the hand and a dazzling smile. Then, despite her struggling,Titania and herself are back in the basement. Escaping from Drake's gasp, she ran towards the exit and placed her hand on it, injecting her magic only to find that it did not work.

"Leave it be, Young Miss," Drake said behind her, his hand on her shoulder, "It’s locked; it will only open when one of the other young masters gives permission or when they die. Right now, you are needed here." 

"But I can't just leave them! I get that I am not a fighter, but I am useful as a high-level mage and a pretty good shooter! I can help." She cried out and was met with a stern gaze from Drake. 

"Do you think we are okay with this?" He asked her quietly, and she stilled, "We are not. But we know that we have no choice. If we stay, we are a weakness since the others will seek to protect us, but right now, they cannot do so; they need to protect themselves." 

Her eyes wandered to everyone else. Most of them looked visibly saddened and angry, all certainly not okay. 

"Young Miss, you are the strongest Mage here and the only Tarajan. We need you, and they need you to be strong. I am not a problem, but look, many of us are your age, are ill like Zhu Wei, or the kitchen staff, even non-mages." Drake continued, and Titania balled her fists. This was not okay. This was most definitely not okay, "We cannot leave here, we are as trapped as you are, and we need you to be there for us now." 

"But you are here," Titania muttered. "You are stronger than me and could do a far better job...I can write up there and shoot...I won't be a... …A hindrance...." Her voice turned faint with her words. 

"But I am not a Tarajan; you are." Drake patted her head, making her feel more like a child than ever. It was frustrating. Raon and Cedric might die, only because she had to go to school and help Amita. If she had just left everyone alone and gone home alone, maybe this wouldn't have happened, and no one would be in danger. If she had just been a bit more useful, she wouldn't be so much in the dark, and doing better at the job with Mikki certainly wouldn't have hurt either.

It doesn't matter now. I should just stop. Drake is right. Wallowing in self-pity and blame won't change anything.

Suppressing her tears, she looked up at Drake and smiled at him, forcing her lips to curl upwards, "Alright."