The old mill stands tall on the outskirts of Amaranthine Town, silent and foreboding. Its rotted wood and shattered windows paint the perfect picture of a place long since abandoned... which only makes Alice more apprehensive.

  She approaches slowly, keeping her guard up as she rounds the building toward the open back door—noisy crickets and the scent of damp earth the only sounds greeting her. Alice takes a deep breath, pushing down her rising dread...

  Then steps inside.

  The old mill is even more ominous inside, filled with shadowy corners and cobwebs—a perfect place for an ambush. Alice makes her way through the dust and debris silently, ears pricked for any sound...

  Until a voice stops her dead in her tracks.

  "Heeyyy there~”

  Alice stiffens, slowly turning in place. Standing in the main mill-room, illuminated in shafts of sun through the broken ceiling, is... the culprit.

  Alice narrowed her eyes as she said, "...What the hell do you want?"

  The stranger, casually perched on a broken table, leans forward with a smirk. "Straight to the point, eh? I like that." His gaze turns almost... gleeful. "You might wanna take a seat~”

  Alice doesn't like the sound of that. But, not seeing a choice, she chooses a fallen support beam to lean against. A safe distance from the stranger, but close enough to talk.

  "Okay. I'm sitting." Her voice is tight, tense as a wire. "Now start talking.”

  "Straight to business, huh?" The stranger chuckles, swinging his legs back and forth in a mockery of casualness. He seems almost... too casual. "I like you. You're straight-laced, aren't you? Always ready to play the hero?"

  The stranger hops down from the table, dusting off his hands with a theatrical sigh.

  "Fine, fine. I’ll cut to the chase." His smirk sharpens into something predatory. "I was paid to keep you busy while the real show starts elsewhere."

  Alice’s blood turns to ice. Paid? Real show? "Where are my friends?" she demands, hand twitching toward her weapon—only for the stranger to wag a finger at her like she's a misbehaving child.

  "Ah-ah~ No sudden moves! Or else..." He pulls something from his pocket: a small, glowing crystal flickering with eerie violet light. "...Let’s just say your little IOTA pals won’t be seeing daylight again if you don’t play nice."

  Alice freezes. A hostage situation. Her mind races—who would want them out of the way? Why? And most importantly... Who hired him?

  Alice glares at the stranger with thinly veiled hatred, a million suspicions running through her mind... but keeps her weapon sheathed for now.

  "...Fine." Alice forces out, fingers clenching. "I'm playing. And you better watch your step—I have more friends than you know."

  The stranger chuckles, twirling the crystal around his finger idly. "Oh, I know. The infamous Black Snake gang, right?"

  Alice's expression doesn't change, but her stance shifts just a fraction. The fact that he knew what they were called sent a chill up her spine. "...How do you know that?"

  He gives her a cocky smirk, leaning against the broken table again, his confidence is a stark contrast to Alice's rising tension. "Oh, Irminsul records everything, and I tend to keep an eye on a lot of things. Comes with the job." He studies Alice, almost appraising her.

  "Enough stalling," Alice growls, fingers twitching toward her blade. "What's your game? Who paid you?"

  The stranger sighs dramatically, rolling the violet crystal between his fingers. "So impatient! Let’s just say…a certain party is very interested in a particular angel, you see." His smirk sharpens. "And they’re willing to pay a fortune to make sure she is delivered to them in peak condition. So I'm going to take your little space-bending friend to aid me in that."

  Alice goes rigid. Hikaru. This was about Hikaru.

  Alice feels her stomach drop at the stranger's words. Her hands are clenched at her sides now.

  "What do you want with Hikaru?" she demands, voice low.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The stranger's smirk widens as he pockets the violet crystal. "Why, your friend has a very rare little skill that's very useful in the right hands...and I need that skill to capture a special someone."

  Alice grits her teeth, trying to keep her voice steady. "And who is this... 'special someone'? Just a name, that's all I want. Then we'll cooperate fully."

  The stranger laughs, a cold, almost cruel sound. "Nice try. But I think I'll keep that tidbit to myself for now." He pushes away from the table with a smirk, getting closer with every step. "You've asked a lot of questions. How about I ask one now?"

  Alice tenses as the stranger steps closer, every muscle in her body coiled like a spring. But she forces herself to stand her ground, meeting his gaze head-on.

  "Fine," she bites out, eyes narrowed to slits. "One question.”

  He stops right in front of Alice, leaning in so close their faces are nearly touching. His gaze flicks down to her sheathed sword, then back up to her eyes.

  "Do you trust your friends?"

  Alice blinks in surprise, the unexpected question throwing her off. "...What...?”

  The stranger steps back with a flourish, grinning like he’s just won something. "I mean, really think about it…why would a professional kidnapper tell you his entire evil plan before the trap is sprung?" He snaps his fingers.

  And suddenly, Alice feels a sharp tug at her belt.

  She whirls around just in time to see Liana snatch the crystal right out of the stranger's pocket, giggling as she cartwheels backward. "NYA-HA! GOT IT~!"

  At the same time, Antiquus drops from the rafters and body-slams the dude into a hay pile. Iritscen pops out from behind a barrel holding what looks like…a very aggressive-looking toaster wired to explode? (No one questions it). Zofie steps from the shadows, casually freezing his boots to the floor with an unimpressed glare. Hikaru appears behind Alice, their hands clasped politely as if they were just late for tea.

  The stranger groans into hay while Alice stares at her very much not-kidnapped friends in disbelief, then throws her arms up in exasperation. "What the hell was this?!"

  Liana replied with a grin, "YOU ASKED FOR A DISTRACTION."

  The stranger lifts his face from the hay just enough to grin through a mouthful of straw.

  "A successful one, clearly~"

  Antiquus snorts and steps off him. "Yeah, yeah—you had your fun. Now spill: who actually hired you?"

  The stranger rolls onto his back with a dramatic sigh, as if he’s not currently at the mercy of an irritated dinosaur and an explosive-happy scientist. "Wouldn’t you like to know?" He wiggles his frozen boots pointedly at Zofie, who responds by icing over his entire torso for good measure.

  Liana twirls the stolen crystal between her fingers (now suspiciously silent). "Nya~ maybe we should encourage him to talk faster?" She glances at Iritscen's jury-rigged toaster bomb with way too much enthusiasm for someone holding a potential WMD made of kitchen appliances.

  Alice pinches the bridge of her nose. These people will be the death of me.

  The stranger seems strangely unrattled, still grinning like he's enjoying himself.

  "Go ahead and 'encourage' me all you want. I have time to spare."

  Iritscen steps into view—the toaster dangling in one hand, an odd spark of electricity dancing between his fingertips. "Then you better start talking, buddy."

  The stranger holds up his hands in mock-surrender, looking far too amused for someone in his situation. "Alright, alright... I'll talk. But first, a question. Is your refrigerator running?”

  A beat of silence, with everyone staring at him in disbelief.

  Then:

  Alice asked flatly: "What does that even mean."

  Liana chimed, "Can his refrigerator actually move?"

  Jax answered in a helpful tone, "It refers to an outdated prank involving telephones—"

  The stranger is trying not to laugh. "C'mon, is your refrigerator running?"

  Charlotte sighed. "...Yes."

  The stranger replied with a twisted grin: "Good, 'cause so am I!"

  And with that...the stranger teleported, leaving behind the mold of Zofie’s ice that trapped him in place.

  Liana, who was still holding the crystal, said "…NYA-HA! WE STILL GOT THIS THOUGH!"

  Iritscen, absently fiddling with his toaster bomb, groaned, "We are never speaking of this moment again."

  Zofie facepalmed, done with everything.

  Alice sighed while rubbing her temples, "...Let’s just go before he comes back with a worse punchline."

  The group began making their way out of the abandoned mill, the weight of their bizarre encounter pressing on them. The crystal in Liana's hand pulsed faintly, casting eerie violet shadows on the path ahead.

  Antiquus stretched his wings with a groan. "Alright, what now? That guy was obviously working for someone. And if they wanted Hikaru that badly..." He glanced at their silent space-bender companion, who simply blinked back at him like this whole ordeal was mildly inconvenient.

  Alice tightened her grip on her sword hilt, scanning the treeline around them as they walked. "We need to figure out who hired him before they try again." Her voice was steady but tense—this wasn't over yet.

  Then Charlotte, still looking vaguely traumatized by the dad joke incident, raised a slow hand.

  "...Could it be related to why we were sent here in the first place?"

  A pause settled over them all because she had a point. Their mission had started with vague whispers about "interdimensional threats," after all... and suddenly, kidnapping attempts tied into that very neatly.

  Liana twirled the stolen crystal between her fingers thoughtfully before announcing:

  "SO! Either way... NYA-HA! WE STOLE THEIR MYSTICAL TRINKET AND RUINED THEIR PLAN!" She grinned victoriously before tossing it up and catching it again…only for Iritscen to yelp and snatch it mid-air before she could juggle what might’ve been volatile magic like some kind of circus act gone wrong.

  Zofie exhaled sharply through her nose while Alice muttered under her breath about “reckless idiots.”

  Antiquus just cackled from above because honestly? This level of chaos was starting to feel normal at this point.

  And as Hikaru wordlessly summoned tea cups out of thin air for everyone (stress-relief beverages mandatory)...one thing is about to become painfully clear: They have bigger problems than bad jokes now