Ilyss entered the restaurant, being absorbed by the magical atmosphere.
She had to take care of the two guards' corpses as quickly as she could so Dannep wouldn't get worried.
Seeing how lively Paradises had become brought an automatic smile to her lips.
It felt good to think that this place had originally been a military academy where girls like her were trained for war.
The memories passed vividly through her mind and she couldn't help enjoying the music even more.
The sense of accomplishment that Paradises gave her was so refreshing; after a long time, Ilyss smiled genuinely.
Nothing could ruin this night, she thought as she climbed the stairs to meet Dannep.
But to her surprise, she wasn't there.
"Where is she? Did she get lost? Or did she go to the bathroom?" Ilyss asked out loud, she didn't expect Dannep to leave on her own.
"Lady Ilyss, we have a problem, something very bad happened," one of the guards commented as he approached her.
Behind them was Mercury, the manager and host of the restaurant.
Ilyss only had to look at everyone's expression to realize that whatever had happened was related to Dannep.
"What happened?" she asked in a cold tone.
Mercury approached her and handed her the golden card: "It seems your companion was kidnapped. We found this at the back entrance, next to the corpse of two guards. I used my tracking abilities; it seems they were magic users."
"WHAT!"
Ilyss's scream came charged with a massive release of mana; suddenly everything near her began to burn, forcing everyone to stop their work.
The lively and cheerful restaurant from a few seconds ago had disappeared, and the dark expression on Ilyss's face was something no one wanted to deal with.
"Who dares to touch something that belongs to me like that? You want to play? Then I will." Ilyss walked down the stairs while the mana from her body spread through the air.
Everyone in the restaurant, including the customers, felt heavy due to the presence of the woman who was walking toward the door.
"Do you want some help?" Mercury asked, who had followed her the entire way.
"No, master, I can handle any minor problem on my own," she replied, raising one of her hands upward.
"Good, I hope that when everything is over you still come to eat. You know our slogan, right?"
"If you make a reservation, you can't miss it," Ilyss replied, lowering her hand.
"GRAAAWWWW!"
The sky filled with a colossal growl accompanied by a massive silhouette visible in the heavens.
The silhouette propelled itself at great speed until it landed in front of the restaurant.
It was a dragon, with elegant blue scales that made her look intimidating.
"Alright Blueryth, it's time to go look for my girl."
***
"Dannep, Dannep"
Dannep slowly opened her eyes as she heard her name being called, but when she did, she found herself once again inside a sea.
"What happened? This dream again? I don't remember, I was with Ilyss at the restaurant, right?" she asked herself, frightened.
"Hey, look over here, look!" the same voice from before shouted. When she turned, she saw a girl signaling for her to come down.
"I'll have to come up, wait," said the girl as she began swimming toward Dannep.
"It seems your mana has been released a little more this time. Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm your aunt."
"My aunt?" Dannep felt even more confused than the previous time. Her mother was supposedly the one who had spoken to her before, but now her aunt? A child?
"Ah, this appearance is because I couldn't transfer 100% of myself to create the spell," she replied as if she understood what Dannep was thinking.
"But that doesn't matter. I don't know the details, but you used a bit more of your magic today. Which means it's time for you to learn a basic family spell."
"A spell? Me? Wait, how do you know I practiced magic today?" Dannep tried to speak, but she couldn't.
"Alright, it's like concentración mana. The only difference is that you're going to keep all the mana in the center of your body, and there you'll accumulate energy. After that, you'll release it as fast as you can outward."
The girl's body began to show cuts and burns while the water turned red.
"Shit, I can't explain more, I'm sorry, I hope this helps you," the girl said before her body split in two in front of Dannep.
"Shit!"
Dannep opened her eyes in fear, but her surprise was even greater when she saw she wasn't in any familiar place.
She was completely tied up with several ropes, while her mouth was covered.
"Shit, what is this? Have I been kidnapped?"
Suddenly everything that had happened before came back to Dannep.
"The girl was a trap, but I don't understand, why did they kidnap me? Ah, I get it now, because of Ilyss."
For Dannep it was obvious she was there because of Ilyss. If they kidnapped her, it would be to try to negotiate with Ilyss for her life.
"I don't think Ilyss cares enough about my life to negotiate for it," she said to herself while looking around.
It seemed she was in the back of a carriage, illuminated by the light of a candle.
"Well, I didn't think a girl would be worth that much," the woman said as she entered.
She had hair as red as blood and an elegant bearing, but without losing her roughness because of her tattoo. She was Eva of the Black Hyenas.
"I thought you were prettier than me, but you only have those weird eyes. That aristocrat must be a fetishist to pay just for this," the woman said as she stood in front of Dannep.
"Wait, this isn't because of Ilyss?" Dannep listened calmly while watching the woman.
"Don't worry, they asked us to keep you alive and not even touch a single strand of your hair, but you're very cute."
Eva ran her fingers along Dannep's ear while smiling.
"Disgusting bitch, stop touching me," Dannep thought to herself. This was a huge problem, how would she get out of here?
"There can't be anything, Dannep," she thought while glancing at the candle.
"No Dannep, there's still something you can do," she told herself as she closed her eyes.
The candle in front of them began to release energy she could feel; suddenly her mind became more vivid.
She began concentrating on the surroundings while drawing out the mana. It was time to try that spell.