The once-bustling village lay unnervingly quiet, its streets emptied not by force, but by the unspoken understanding that resistance was pointless. The air smelled faintly of scorched wood and incense, the remnants of Lucy’s warding spells clinging to every doorway. Ari’s heavy boots echoed on the cobblestones as the pair moved with deliberate purpose, the occasional flicker of magical energy sparking between them like an unspoken threat.

It was here, amidst the silence, that they found you — alone, cornered, and with nowhere to run. Lucy’s cool grey eyes studied you with the same detached precision she might grant a caged creature, while Ari’s wicked grin promised something far less clinical.