When Sarah heard her aunt saying they were robbed she quickly took her phone out of her pocket. She was just about to call the police.

“Don’t call them,” said Aunt Caitlyn. “They won’t believe our story.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Sarah with audible fear in her voice.

Aunt Caitlyn started telling Sarah what she believed had happened.

“Do you believe they won’t find us insane when I tell them the robber has magically opened some lock so they left no signs of breaking in and that they stole a magic potion?”

Sarah simply sighed.

“Just this morning this sentence would make me angry,” she said.

“So you finally believe in magic?” Aunt Caitlyn asked cheerfully.

“What I believe in is not important!” Sarah got a little angry after all. “Let’s focus on the robbery! Who do I call? Magical police?”

“Young Dickens and young Alighieri,” said Aunt Caitlyn without hesitation.

“You mean Ursula and Giovanna?”

“Exactly.”

“And what do you think they are going to do?”

“Trust me. When it comes to magical stuff they are the best we’ve got right now.”

 

For the fifteen minutes after she contacted her new friend Sarah was confused as to why she thought it was a good idea. Maybe because Aunt Caitlyn was giving an impression of trusting them so much. After all she was the closest she had to a parent at that moment. But the fact she basically entrusted two girls her age in finding a missing potion made her constantly circle around the dining room.

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

“It must be them. I’ll go open the door,” said Aunt Caitlyn.

And as she did she saw Ursula and Giovanna.

“We came as soon as we could, Ms. Behn,” said Giovanna, not even greeting Caitlyn.

“Welcome, dears,” Caitlyn said. “Please, come inside.”

“What were you doing when the robbery took place, Ms. Behn?” asked Ursula as she was taking her shoes off.

“I went out to do some shopping,” Caitlyn answered. “I wanted to make some toad in the hole for supper and I needed sausages. When I came back I started to put groceries in the cupboards. And then I noticed one of my potions was missing.”

“Do you remember which potion that was?” asked Ursula.

“I don’t. I’d have to look,” answered Caitlyn. “Wait a moment.”

The three women entered the dining room. Sarah has raised her hand to greet the guests.

“Hello,” she said with emotionless voice.

“Pleased to see you,” said Giovanna.

“Hello,” said Ursula as she took her phone out of the pocket of her skirt.

Aunt Caitlyn vanished in the kitchen and started looking through the potion cupboards.

Sarah has noticed Ursula intensively scrolling something on her phone. She became curious as for why she would do that. Maybe she was making notes on the investigation.

“What are you doing?” she asked her.

“I am looking through s/altmag,” Ursula answered. “I think there might be a clue there and I want to try finding it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well…” Giovanna interrupted. “After all Rollit is the forum to end all fora.”

Sarah could not believe what she heard.

“Are you telling me she really is looking through an altmed subroll instead of taking care of the robbery?” she shouted. “That’s why we called you!”

Ursula and Giovanna looked at themselves in common understandment.

“I am going to tell her,” said Ursula.

“Well, you’ve piqued my interest,” Sarah turned towards her.

“Basically, s/altmag is a subroll for evil magicians.”

“No, you can’t tell me they have a subroll and nobody has noticed.”

“That is because they are masquerading as a roleplay subroll.”

Sarah opened her mouth to say something, but she closed immediately. She couldn’t argue with the fact that today a roleplay group is the perfect way to camouflage any sketchy forum.

“So… Did you find something?” Sarah asked.

“I think I did,” said Ursula. “But I am yet to decipher the post. However it does seem promising.”

“Decipher?”

“Yes. Did you think that evil magicians would not cipher their posts?”

After a while Aunt Caitlyn returned from the kitchen.

“I know what went missing!” she exclaimed. “It was my longevity potion. My invention.”

Ursula looked at the post she was reading once again.

“That has to be it!” she exclaimed.

“What did you find?” asked Giovanna.

“Luckily they did not update the cipher,” started Ursula. “There is a post about an auction of mysteries taking place tomorrow at seven o’clock PM in Oftenhides. And there is a mention of selling a youth potion to someone who can reverse engineer its formula.”

In that moment everything clicked together. Everybody was relieved that the mystery seemed to be solved. There was only one thing left to see.

“Where is the auction taking place?” asked Giovanna.

“On Imonida Street. In Golden Shield Hotel,” answered Ursula.

“We’ll go there for observation,” said Giovanna.

“It looks like we are going to leave,” added Ursula. “It was nice to see you.”

And the two turned towards the exit. They embarked on a walk to Golden Shield Hotel.

Sarah looked at them and thought for a moment. This was the first time she has ever seen someone her age so friendly towards her family. For some reason she wanted to somehow thank them for doing all of this. Or maybe she was just trying to battle her loneliness. She ran outside and shouted.

“Wait! I’ll go with you!”

Ursula and Giovanna stopped and looked at Sarah running after them. They were quite shocked to hear what she said.

“Are you sure?” asked Giovanna.

“Yes,” said Sarah.

Giovanna thought about this situation for a while. But she instinctively felt she couldn’t stop Sarah.

“Alright,” she said. “But remember that you can back out at any time.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure I’m safe.”

Sarah was very enthusiastic about helping the newly met girls. Maybe it was the sense of companionship that she kind of longed for. Or maybe the excitement of entering a whole new world of infinite possibilities. She wasn’t sure. What she was sure about was the fact she couldn’t wait to get to Golden Shield Hotel and find her aunt’s missing potion.

 

Soon the girls arrived at Golden Shield Hotel. Sarah was not too familiar with Oftenhides, but she immediately understood where the name came from. In front of her there was a ten-story building painted in white and gold. A long canopy supported on golden pillars was giving a bit of shadow for those who just got outside or were about to enter. The building overall gave a feeling of splendour and bourgeoisie, but also comfort.

Giovanna was looking intensively at the event table in front of the entrance. She found an interesting entry about an antiques auction taking place the next day.

“Looks like that’s how they camouflaged our auction,” she said to the team.

“Is there any event taking place today?” asked Ursula. “We also need a cover up story to get inside.”

Giovanna looked above the entry she pointed out. There she found a note about a tournament of Mages: the Conclave taking place in two hours.

“We could use that as our disguise,” said Giovanna.

The two joined Sarah who was still looking at the hotel in astonishment.

“Let’s go inside,” said Giovanna.

As the three entered the hotel Sarah was even more stunned by the reception. Golden-bronze tiles on the floor were paired with a sandstone counter. The whole room was decorated with sculptures of Roman gods. The whole place was giving a feeling of luxury.

The concierge has noticed them entering.

“Good afternoon!” he said to them. “Are you going to the tournament?”

“Yes, good afternoon,” Giovanna answered.

“Alright. It’s being held at the conference room,” the concierge said. “At the fork of the corridor turn right. It will be the door in front of you.”

“Thank you,” said Giovanna as the three were going.

As they came to the fork in the corridor of white walls and golden carpet they stopped. It was the time to discuss strategy.

“First we have to find the auction storage,” said Ursula. “I suggest splitting up. Whoever finds the storage will call the rest and we shall group up at her location.”

“Hey!” said Sarah. “You think I can do this on my own? I didn’t even know magic existed until today.”

“That’s why I think someone should go with you,” said Giovanna. “You lack experience but you have the will to know the magical world.”

Sarah was a little shocked to hear that description of her.

“How’d you know?” she asked.

“Ursula read it in your aura, I read it in the cards and you are showing it right from our talk at MacBeth’s,” Giovanna answered.

Sarah was flattered, but also shocked. How could magic predict such things? When she was reflecting on this Ursula raised her hand.

“I want to go with Sarah,” she said. “I want to see how good I am at being a guide.”

“You have nothing against that, right, Sarah?” Giovanna asked.

“Not at all.”

“Wonderful. You two go upstairs and I’ll look through the basement.”

 

Sarah and Ursula looked inside every room on the third floor and were about to go to the fourth. Sarah was slowly losing her patience. But she knew she had to push forward to get her auntie’s potion back. Suddenly Ursula turned towards Sarah.

“Sarah, I want to apologise to you,” she said.

“Why?”

“I think that I could have scared you by reading your aura yesterday.”

“Well… I have to admit it was a bit scary, but I think I can forgive you.”

“Thank you. And I apologise once again.”

“But if I may, I want to ask you one thing too.”

“And what is that?”

“Why did you read my aura in the first place?”

Ursula’s answer surprised Sarah, but she felt honesty in it. And indeed Ursula was answering honestly.

“The truth is I am scared of people I do not know. I read their aura so I know something about them. This helps me fight my fear. But I guess it has awoken the fear of the unknown in you. For which I am sorry.”

Sarah looked at Ursula. She had no idea what to say. But felt like she had to say something. And so she said the words she thought were the most beautiful she could come up with.

“It’s nothing wrong to fear. I still fear this city. So I kind of understand you.”

“Thank you,” said Ursula.

“But I have to admit it would be nice to know what you are doing.”

“I apologise once again.”

The talk was suddenly interrupted by an intro to the theme song from Demonman: Tearjerker. It was coming from Ursula’s phone. The more Sarah knew about her taste in anime the more she was surprised. Ursula didn’t seem like a girl who would like anime that are so brutal and bloody.

“What is it, Giovanna?” asked Ursula as she picked up the phone.

“I’ve found the storage,” said Giovanna.

“Wonderful! Where is it?”

“Go to the third floor of the basement using the south elevator. Then turn right. I’ll be standing in front of the door.”

“Got it!”

Ursula hung up and looked at Sarah.

“Giovanna has found the storage,” she said.

“Then let’s go!” said Sarah as she was going to the elevator.

 

Giovanna was waiting for the rest of her team in front of the storage of stolen magical goods. She knew it was just a matter of time until her friends join her and they reclaim everything. But she had a strange feeling. As if something was about to happen that would introduce an obstacle to the plan.

Suddenly she felt a spark in her head. Not physical, only magical. A sign that something has been spotted by the guarding card she left in the corner. She was sure she enchanted it so it wouldn’t react to her friends. Giovanna quickly hid in a niche in the wall. She started listening for steps. Indeed she heard a series of taps. She also heard some whispers, but she couldn’t understand them. Soon she saw a tall woman with long blonde hair dressed in a red dress. She was turned towards the door and Giovanna saw that her right hand was pointed towards the door. But in just a second she pointed it backwards. Giovanna was blinded by purple light and closed her eyes. When she opened them she found her hands and legs binded in purple magical cuffs. The woman turned towards Giovanna and she saw her face. She looked about thirty years old. The woman laughed and spoke to Giovanna.

“You should learn to hide your cards better.”