Julian and Angelica were fighting back to back, repelling hordes of guards running at them with enchanted weapons or hurling spells from a distance. At some point, a guard standing on one of the interior balconies creates a fireball the size of one of Nyx’s asteroids and sends it flying towards them. Angelica extends her sword towards Julian, flat side up. The latter instinctively understands, and jumps vertically to land on the blade. Angelica swings upwards, and he is projected diagonally above the fireball and straight into the caster of the spell. Julian raises his dagger to plunge it into the man’s neck, but a single thought crosses his mind.

  - “(...My old reflexes are kicking in, aren’t they?)”

  This slight moment of hesitation causes him to hit the man’s shoulder instead as he lands in front of him, and he locks eyes with the guard. He looked positively terrified, and Julian could see his reflection in the man’s irises. All he saw was himself, with the pupils of his blue eyes shrunken down to dots and an emotionless expression painted on his face.

  - “(And here I go, looking like this again… I need to focus.)”

  He ends up grabbing the guard by his hair and pulling him towards him while tripping him with his leg, causing him to fall from the balcony. He hits the floor down below, unconscious but alive. Julian has a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, the giant fireball reaches Angelica, completely engulfing her in an explosion of flames. Julian is worried for a second, but he then sees Angelica’s silhouette slowly walking out of the fire. Her laugh resonates throughout the hall.

  - “Is this all you have, Spectans?” She shouts. “How dull!”

  She bolts out of the flames unscathed, dispersing them with her speed. She takes down ten of the guards closest to her by smacking them with the flat side of her blade before jumping towards the balcony where Julian was standing. She perfectly lands on the railing, and crouches down to be at eye level with Julian.

  - “Is that a loss of resolve I see?” She smiles and tilts her head to the side, amused. She was wielding her greatsword one handed and using it to deflect any spells aimed at them, barely even looking behind her. "I will let you know that I do not provide my aid to cowards!"

  - “...I don’t recognize any of them from back then.” Julian admits. “I’m… not the same person I used to be. I can’t just kill potentially innocent people in cold blood.”

  - “It might already be too late for the ones you so readily suffocated outside.” She comments and Julian looks down, gritting his teeth. “I ask you, what are you here to do?”

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  - “To kill him.” Julian immediately replies.

  - “So you are seeking retribution against one man.” Angelica gets up. “Then go, elf boy! I shall keep the people of Specta entertained while you enact your revenge!”

  - “Alone?...” He looks around the room as more and more guards flood in, some even coming from outside.

  - “Are you suggesting I cannot? These bores could not take a strand of my hair with their best efforts on my worst day.”

  - “...Thank you, Angelica. I mean it, even if I have no clue why you're doing this.”

  He jumps down from the balcony along with her, and as he starts to run he sees Angelica suddenly pivot and block a spear made of blue ice right before it hits him. A man was standing in what was left of the doorframe of the mansion, his left hand in his pocket. He looked like he was in his thirties, had white hair cleanly styled in an undercut and icy blue eyes. He had the ears and tail of a snow leopard, on top of his head and on his lower back respectively. Ten ice spears were floating in the air behind him, creating an aura of cold mist around him. He was wearing a completely white suit with a black tie, and a purple cape with the symbol of the Arcane Guard embroidered on its back. The receptionist, who was hiding behind his desk the entire time, pops up his head and his cat ears perk up.

  - “Captain Thaddeus!” He exclaims, relieved.

  - “The Fifth Division of the Third Branch will now apprehend the intruders. Order your men to retreat.” Thaddeus replies as he rips off his black tie.

  Angelica dashes towards him with an overhead swing of her sword, and Thaddeus seizes one of his spears with his right hand. They clash, and while Thaddeus’ spear shatters, Angelica is forced back by the rest of the floating ice spears attempting to skewer her almost immediately.

  - “Well, maybe you aren’t total bores after all !” Angelica exclaims before turning to Julian. “Run, elf boy ! I will cover you !”

  Julian nods and dashes towards the stairs leading to the first floor of the mansion. The guards on his way attempt to stop him, but he outspeeds and dodges all of them, not even bothering to knock them out. Thaddeus extends his hand towards him and three ice spears fly in his direction, but Angelica dashes in the way and slashes all of them in half in a single circular motion.

  - “I’ll be your opponent!” She joyfully shouts as she points her sword at him.

  - “...I don’t have time for this.” Thaddeus replies, irritation underlining his voice. The spears behind him slowly start growing in size.

  Julian disappears into the first floor of the mansion, slamming the main door shut after he passes through it. Angelica breathes a sigh of relief.

  - “I sure wish I brought my armor instead of this flimsy dress.” She comments. “The comfort of this city dulled my instincts.” She immediately lunges towards Thaddeus after that, while tens of spells are fired at her from all directions.

  On his side, Julian finds it. An inconspicuous door, revealing a medium sized storage room when he opens it. He enters the room, navigating through the various pieces of furniture and tools until he reaches the far wall. He stabs his dagger in the interstices between a few of the granite slabs making up the floor, searching for the exact spot he remembered. Eventually, his blade hits something metallic, activating the mechanism. One of the granite slabs sinks into the ground and slides to the side, revealing a spiral staircase diving deep under the mansion. He runs down without hesitation, familiar with the layout of the structure after having gone down that exact staircase hundreds, maybe thousands of times.

  - “Maybe I can’t escape you, but that also means you’ll never escape me either.” He whispers as he disappears into the darkness, memories from a distant past flooding his mind as he reaches the basement of the mansion.