It was early afternoon in Croftfall. A man and woman were both sitting at the same table in a small café, conversing quietly. The dark-haired female began, "is it just me, or has Croftfall been really... weird lately?"

"Rin, it's always weird around here. You know you need to be more specific," the white-haired man sighed, readjusting how he was sitting.

Leaning forwards further, Rin lowered her voice and continued, "I've heard that there's a new Warlock about. She's causing quite a stir." Seeing the other's blank look she expanded, "she's not from around here. I don't know much about her but some people think that she's not even from this universe."

"Rin, don't be ridiculous," he laughed. "Most Warlocks use Croftfall as a marker or resting point in their journeys. She's probably just resting here for a bit, I'm sure she'll be on her way soon. And there's no way she can be from "another universe", as you out it." The female didn't looked convinced as the man shook his head slightly. Brushing her dark blonde hair out of her face, her purple eyes blazed in disagreement, however, she chose to not comment further. They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes before the white-haired man spoke again. "Although, I would like to meet this Warlock. What's so different about her, Rin?"

"I don't really know, Tashiou. All I've heard is word of mouth." They sat in silence again as Tashiou absentmindedly scratched the base of one of his grey horns. His fingers scratched against the rough surface as Rin wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I hate the noise that makes."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "It's a sort of awkward, filler thing I do. I'll stop."

"You're finding this awkward?"

Shrugging, Tashiou chose to change the subject, "so. Have you heard anything about the Werewolves recently?" Seeing the female"s confused look he added, "what? It's a good conversation starter."

"Yeah right," she scoffed. Leaning back in her chair, she folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason." Another awkward silence tinged the air before the dark-haired woman replied, "I have, actually. The Lycan and Werefolk are very unsettled. Some sort of pack tension or something. I wasn't there though, so take everything I say with a pinch of salt."

"Vampire?" Tashiou prompted.

"Do I have a story to tell you." Rin's purple eyes glittered as she leaned forwards again. "There's a group of Vampires who like to loiter around the entrance of my apartment block. Nothing too exciting has happened yet, but I can tell you they're just itching for a fight. Nobody dare make eye contact with them."

"That wasn't a very impressive story."

"Shut it, small fry."

"I'm taller than you-"

"I don't want to hear it. Let me continue telling my story." The female had narrowed her eyes so much there was barely a sliver left. Reopening them, she cockily leant back on her chair and grinned. The chair began to tip precariously off the floor, only its two back legs were grounded. "I'm considering fighting them. I reckon I could take them. Look at these bad boys." As Rin began to flex her muscles Tashiou laughed.

"There's nothing there. Joking." Rin scowled as the man looked around, trying to think of another conversation subject. "Speaking of stories," he began, resting his arms on the table and inching himself forward slightly, "do I have one to tell you. Just slightly over a year ago me and Callie were at the school, right?"

"As was I."

"Yes, but you're not involved with this story. You weren't there. Now please let me continue."

"Sorry," Rin laughed apologetically and she returned to sitting normally on the chair (which now has all four feet on the ground).

"So me and Callie are in this corridor with Elena- except Elena goes chasing after a Werewolf or something- the specifics are a bit patchy. So Elena isn't here for this, and we-"

"So she doesn't know?" The dark blonde-haired lady interrupts once again.

"No, nobody expect for me, Callie and now you know,"

"This sounds serious." Leaning forwards, Tashiou and Rin almost accidentally bumped heads as she brought herself and her chair closer to the table. "Shouldn't you tell Elena though? She does work for the government after all."

"I sort of forgot," the white-haired man admitted sheepishly. "And I'm sure she's busy. But anyway, back to the story. Me and Callie are alone in this corrdor. We enter the room this Werewolf just left- and it's pretty much completely empty."

"Which isn't normal?"

"Precisely. It should be like a normal dormitory room. All the wallpaper was peeling off and everything. Callie went over to one of the walls and started to peel off the wallpaper more, and you'll never guess what we saw," the man began to lower his voice. Continuing, he was speaking in barely a whisper. "There's all sorts of... cult symbols. Satanic symbols. Dark magic. Something like that. Spells aren't my speciality but something was clearly off."

"Why haven't you told anyone else," Rin asked, also whispering.

"If this gets out, us and the academy are done for. We've had a few close calls before, especially with all the fires, but this would definitely get us shut down. I think it was just that one room, but still."

"Surely Elena could help?"

"Yes, but," Tashiou paused to gather his thoughts. "She works for the government," he sighed, leaning back and returning his voice to its normal volume. "She'd end up telling them- voluntarily or not. They have ways of getting information out of hair."

Also leaning back, the other stopped to mentally recap everything she'd heard. "I won't be telling anyone, don't worry," she added, seeing the man's worried face. Glancing up at a nearby clock, she noted the time. 2:00pm. "Shit, I'm late," she muttered. "I'm sorry Tashiou but I've got to get going."

"You're... late?"

"It's nothing important," she assured him. "I just have a strict time schedule that I do paperwork and classwork under otherwise I'd never do it. I start at 2:00pm and finish at 6:00pm with the odd break, if that makes sense."

"Perfect sense. I wish you could luck."

"Thanks!" Wrestling on her dark red hoodie, Rin waved goodbye to Tashiou as she grabbed her brown backpack and departed from the café, attempting to work out the shortest route back to her apartment.

Coincidentally, the shortest route back to her home took Rin through the almost-centre of Ashfal. Despite not paying much attention to her surroundings and having her hands shoved in her pockets, she began vaguely aware of her surroundings. Looking up and surveying the area, she found herself standing in a road full of townhouses. Continuing down the road, she stopped in front of a cream townhouse. The door was painted a vibrant (albeit faded and chipped) yellow as were the window frames. The garden was completely empty, minus the odd weed, and the house seemed pretty dead. That's Faolan's old townhouse, she thought to herself. I wonder what happened to him- I haven't seen him in years. Shaking her head slightly, she cleared her thoughts. She was pretty much at the halfway point in her journey, thankfully. She'd be reaching Elena's apartment soon. She contemplated seeing if Elena was home but ultimately decided against it as time wasn't exactly in her favour.

A short walk and a few sightseeing stops later, Rin finally arrived back at her apartment building. She buzzed herself in and began walking up the many flight of stairs it took to actually reach her apartment.