Adelaide

Act I Scene II: Trouble in The Alley

"This way!" Penelope said, leading their group of two towards a dark alley. There are many dark alleys in the city of Rynn. Perfect places for mischief to be made.

Rhea shook her head in annoyance. She hated it when one of her friends got themselves in trouble. Penelope explained the scenario with Lydia with descriptions of beings attacked over the phone. She personally wanted to ask Penelope why she and Lydia were on the phone at 12 in the morning, but decided against it. She was just as worried about Lydia as the others were.

"Penelope, are you sure Albert's coordinates are correct?" Rhea asked, turning towards her pink-haired friend. She always was against hair-dying, but admittedly, light pink looked good on Penelope.

Penelope turned towards her. "How should I know Rhea? Apart from Albert, you're the other nerd I know, so you check!"

Rhea rolled her eyes. Of course she could trace Lydia's last call address, no problem. She did trust Albert enough to know that he knows what he's doing. It's just that magic is a better way to track down someone. Though, Albert is very tech savvy.

So, she just ended the argument, and continued to follow Penelope to the alley.

"What was she doing in a dark alley anyway?" Rhea asked Penelope, glancing at the GPS on her phone.

Penelope shrugged. "I know right? This is one of the biggest horror movie cliches ever!" Rhea chuckled at her friend's upbeat response. If she really thought about it, this whole situation did seem a little off.

They made their way to the alley Penelope's phone marked. As they got nearer, Rhea caught sight of a body at the end of the alley. The two friends gasped and Rhea had to cover Penelope's mouth to shut out her scream.

The body had many bleeding points, as if a knife had been thrust into it excessively.

The body belonged to Lydia.

After recovering from the shock, Rhea bent over the body and uttered a spell.

"Inspectis."

An angel white light burst from Rhea's hand and started to envelope Lydia's body. However, the light soon ran dry.

Rhea breathed a sigh of relief as the light soon stopped glowing over Lydia. Penelope still looked panic-stricken. 

"Calm down Pea, this isn't her." Rhea assured her.

Penelope still looked shocked as she turned towards Rhea in confusion. "W-What d-do y-you mean?" She stuttered.

Rhea looked over the now non glowing body. "Inspectis is a spell that inspects a dead body for any clues as to a murder, and for anything on them that is useful to the caster of the spell. The only way for her body to stop glowing like that without me getting at least something is if-"

"Her body was fake." Penelope finished. "Then, where is the real Lydia?" 

Rhea rubbed her head in thought. "She could have been kidnapped. I don't know for sure. I'll try sensing her energy."

Penelope nodded and stood guard of Rhea as she sat down and started to float in the air, her silhouette glowing a faint white. 

Rhea closed her eyes, trying to remember the last time she saw Lydia, which was just a few hours ago, at the park. They had gotten some hot chocolate from Lina's Bevries and were taking a walk, gazing at the greenery. She remembered specifically telling Lydia that she had to go back to her lab to work on a project. She recalled Lydia telling her to not stress herself. 

Soon enough, Rhea felt her. Lydia's energy signature was on a constant move, as if she was in some kind of moving vehicle. However, her energy signature radiated low pulses, meaning that she wasn't conscious.