Elder Loujt sits with his legs crossed in the hospital cafeteria, sipping his coffee. To anyone glancing his way, he looks like any other older man, attractive for his age, blue hair that reads as a fashion choice, sitting quietly while someone he knows is being treated upstairs.

Nothing suspicious about him at all.

The truth could not be more different.

He is using his Water to scan the hospital, tracing the mana signature that matches the snow blanketing the city outside.

He takes a slow sip and lets his eyes drift to the window.

Liam Monfort. He scoffs inwardly. A Monfort turned a city-wide thunderstorm into gentle snow, and he was not even the original summoner. That is more than impressive.

He sets his cup down and sighs.

I am sure the Princess is furious with me. I cannot blame her. She did make a promise on my behalf. But Your Highness, the storm has not ended. It has simply changed form.

He looks around the cafeteria, taking in the people moving through it.

Though I will admit, the effect has lessened considerably. And I cannot ignore that the threat is still present. My mission has to come first.

He scans again.

And once again his mind drifts.

Could I have done it? Could I have turned a city-wide storm to snow, without being the original summoner? And why does it bother me that I am not sure?

Elder Loujt sighs and looks down at his coffee cup.

It begins to freeze.

Slowly, quietly, the hot liquid inside turns solid. The cup frosts over. The frost spreads to the table beneath it, thin white tendrils creeping outward. The faint crackling of something freezing can be heard, but no one in the cafeteria notices.

Elder Loujt blinks.

The frost stops. Then, just as slowly, everything melts back to what it was. The cup clears. The table dries. Steam rises from the coffee again as if nothing happened.

He lifts the cup and takes a sip.

It is obvious my Water level is higher than his. I can call upon Ice. I am certain he cannot. So why?

Why is it that I, Loujt of the Vaelin, one of its Elders, one of its strongest, the brother of the Head Elder herself, cannot shake the feeling that if I ever stood against that Monfort boy in a real fight, I could not guarantee an easy win?

It would be difficult. Not without both of us walking away with significant wounds.

WHY?

The cup shatters.

Frozen solid in his grip, it breaks into dozens of pieces, the sharp crack cutting through the quiet of the cafeteria and turning several heads.

A staff member hurries over with a broom and dustpan, bowing apologetically as she begins to clean up around him.

Elder Loujt looks at his uninjured hand and slowly closes it into a fist.

Loujt. I cannot believe you lost control. Even for a second. Even something this small. A second of lost control is enough to destroy something. He scolds himself. You are not a young mage anymore. You do not get to let your emotions run ahead of you.

He clenches his jaw.

He shakes his head slightly.

I need to forget about that and focus on my original mission.

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

------------------------------

Theo sits on the cold floor in a lotus position, legs crossed, both hands resting on his knees, eyes closed.

He is meditating. Trying to reconnect with nature. Trying to reach his mana. He has been sitting still long enough that he is no longer sure whether he has been meditating or simply sleeping.

Something jerks him awake.

He opens his eyes.

What was that? If I didn’t know I had no mana, I’d say there was a sudden spike, just for a split second, and then it was gone. But how could I detect it? I have no mana. So what was that?

He tries to move his legs and discovers they have gone completely numb.

"Oh, great. I actually fell asleep while meditating. I really have gone completely normal." He mutters at himself.

He makes a series of small protesting noises as he tries to get up, and eventually manages to haul himself back onto the bed.

"Numb legs are not fun." He groans.

He rubs his legs until the feeling comes back. "Ah. That is better."

As the numbness fades, his mind drifts back to the mana spike.

"I could have sworn I felt it. I need to meditate again." He begins to cross his legs.

"Okay, okay. Not now. I hear you." He groans at his own legs and drops his head back onto the pillow.

"I suppose I will have to wait."

He stares at the ceiling. His eyes close slowly.

He falls asleep.

------------------------------

"What? He went back?!" Sonia stares at Dae.

"Urm. Yes, Your Highness. He did."

"Why did he not say anything to me?!" She snaps and turns around.

"Your Highness, where are you going?" Dae moves to block her path without quite daring to grab her.

Sonia gives him a look. "Do you really need me to answer that?"

"I — I..."

"Move." Sonia walks straight past him without slowing down. Both men immediately fall in behind her, trying to keep up with her pace while talking her down at the same time.

"Your Highness, please."

"Elder Loujt had very good reason to go back in there. We have a mission to complete, Your Highness. Please consider that." Dae keeps pressing.

Sonia does not slow her pace by a single step.

"I cannot stop. I gave my word. It may have sounded like a casual remark to everyone else, but it was not. It was a promise. I do not break my promises." She keeps walking.

"Your Highness, with respect, why are you defending outsiders instead of standing with your own people?" Dae asks.

Sonia stops.

She turns to face him, and her voice drops to something cold and precise.

"Are you accusing me of treason, Dae?"

Dae stammers immediately. "No, Your Highness. No, that is absolutely not what I meant."

"Good." Sonia turns and walks again. "Then you have two choices. Help me find Elder Loujt and remove him from that hospital, or go back to the hotel. Your decision."

------------------------------

Elder Loujt steps out of the elevator and onto the VIP floor where Theo, Julian, and Arthur are being kept. Two Sentinels stand at their posts facing the elevator, stopping anyone who is not hospital staff and turning them away.

A few minutes earlier, Elder Loujt had arrived here and been told to leave. The floor was restricted. No exceptions.

So he left.

And came back invisible.

He is using water mirage illusion magic, bending light around himself to render his presence undetectable. It is a technique that would be useless against trained mages, who would sense the distortion immediately. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Elder Loujt moves slowly and carefully down the corridor, giving wide berth to anyone he passes so there is no risk of contact. He is following the faint mana signature he first detected from the cafeteria below, tracing it upward and forward with each step.

He reaches an intersection and stops.

He tilts his head.

To his right, the signature he has been following. Faint. Quiet. Almost too subtle to track.

Straight ahead, something else entirely. A different signature, and a stronger one. Is that Julian Montrose?

Elder Loujt stands at the intersection, looking right, then straight, then right again.

He cannot decide.

Hm. The faint mana is most likely Thea Montrose. The stronger one must be her brother, Julian. Earth, according to the Princess. And judging by the strength of it, a higher level Earth at that.

Elder Loujt shakes his head slowly.

Who is their teacher? Whoever it is, if this person were to train Vaelin children, they would grow up extraordinarily powerful. I need to find this person.

He takes a breath and reconsiders.

I should not go to Julian Montrose. He will see through the cover immediately and we will end up in a confrontation on a hospital floor. That is not what I came here for.

Elder Loujt turns right and begins moving slowly and carefully down the corridor again.

------------------------------

"Your Highness, we do not even know which floor Elder Loujt is on. This is a very large hospital. Please, let us just return to the hotel and wait for him there." Dae pleads.

"Stop trying to talk me out of this. That is an order." Sonia snaps.

She thinks for a moment. "We can trace Elder Loujt’s mana signature, can we not?" She is fairly certain the answer is yes.

Both men shake their heads.

"Your Highness, have you forgotten? The very first thing we learn is how to conceal our mana signature so others cannot track us." Dae says carefully.

"Yes, but the higher your magic level, the harder it becomes to hide it completely. There is always a trace. The same way Elder Loujt traced mine." Sonia says it as though it is obvious.

The two men exchange a glance.

"Your Highness, with respect, it was Elder Loujt who traced you. Not us. We did not have the ability to do it ourselves. Unless Your Highness is able to trace his mana signature personally, we have no way of finding him. His level is higher than any of ours. He can conceal himself better than anyone we know."

Sonia exhales in frustration. She does not know what to do and she does not like the feeling.

------------------------------

Meanwhile, Elder Loujt stands in front of a door with a small glass window set into it.

He is looking through it into the room beyond.