Romance RP

Irene nodded in agreement and replied, "Alright. We won't lose anything if we try."

Summoning her magic, she cast a sleep spell on the soldiers outside and they immediately fell under it. With the way all clear, she said,

"We can go inside now but we have to be careful. If the duke is in there, there could be a trap waiting for us or something."

Alex nodded and turning to the shapeshifter and Lady Penelope, he said,

"I think you two should remain here.  In case we do run into any trouble, you can be our backup."

In truth, Alex was worried about the shapeshifter's condition and thought it best that she stay in the carriage to rest a bit.

The shapeshifter furrowed her eyebrows and replied, "I don't think that's a good idea. We all need to go in together and-"

Her mother interrupted however by saying, "No, Alex is right. It isn't wise for all of us to go in like that. We'll wait here and in case anything happens, we'll rush in right away."

She gave Alex a small smile, silently appreciating his help.

Alex nodded towards Lady Penelope although he didn't say anything.  Ryan then said,

"Ok then.  So it's just Duchess Irene, Alex, and me.  One of us should detect the defenses and another should take them down while the remaining one should be ready to make an attack."

Irene nodded in agreement and replied, 

"You can take care of detecting the defenses and I'll take them down if they are present. Alex should stay on guard in case we need to make any attacks and I would help them. Is that fine?"

Ryan and Alex nodded in agreement, and Alex turned to the shapeshifter and Lady Penelope and said,

"If Lycoris isn't inside, we'll be back soon.  I'll communicate telepathically if there are any problems."

The shapeshifter and Lady Penelope nodded to Alex, and then Irene led the way out of the carriage and carefully to inside the mansion. Things were pretty quiet and there weren't any soldiers inside. At the door of the mansion, Irene looked to Ryan and said,

"Okay, cast the spell for the detection of any protections now."

Ryan nodded and extending his right arm, he cast a spell to detect any possible magic traps.  Meanwhile, Alex was waiting close by, prepared to attack if necessary.

Irene was also prepared just in case there were any protections or defenses for her to take down. However, there was only a single simple and that was a normal defensive shield to protect the mansion from any attacks, but nothing else.

Ryan detected the usual defensive shield in place and turning to the others, he said,

"There's only the usual defensive shield.  Would Lycoris really be here, though?  I mean, if she were, wouldn't there be more protections in place?"

Alex replied, "Possibly but we can't dismiss this possibility until we know for sure."

Irene replied, "We've already come this far. I'll take down the shield so we can enter and make sure anyhow that there's no one inside."

She cast a spell and the shield dissipated. She then cast a spell to open the door and it opened and indeed, things were quiet as ever inside, with the furniture quite dusty and covered up, indicating that there has been no one recently in the mansion at all.

Alex looked around the room and quietly muttered, "Lycoris probably isn't here.  There's no way that Duke Collins would leave this place in such a messy state and keep her here."

Ryan nodded, silently agreeing with Alex.

(Getting sleepy now so I'll get off for the night now and go to sleep.  I'll check back tomorrow and post again.  Nite, nite, Love.  ^^)

(Nite, nite, phoenix. ^^)

Irene nodded in agreement and replied, "Definitely. And he would be here with her, if she were here."

She paused then said, "It was a long shot anyways. She's not here. We better go back to the academy and think about the next step."

Alex replied, "Yes but before we do, I should share something although Lady Penelope and the shapeshifter should be told this, too.  Should I tell you now or have everyone in the carriage first?"

Ryan replied, "I think we should get back in the carriage and along the way, you can tell us."

Irene wondered what Alex had to tell them but nodding, she said, "Ryan is right. Let's go back to the carriage and you can tell us all there."

She led the way out of the house and back to the carriage. As they returned, the shapeshifter rolled her eyes and said,

"They aren't there, now what?"

Alex took a breath and replied,

"Since Lycoris isn't there, I can tell you what my darling told me earlier.  She has this idea that Sia might not have actually gone for you," looking to the shapeshifter, "but rather to Lycoris."

Ryan replied, "That would make sense but Sia isn't going to give us that information."

Irene looked thoughtful and replied,

"It does make sense. Lisianthus may want to go to Lycoris and talk to her herself to comfort her and tell her that she isn't kidnapped or anything like that..."

The shapeshifter replied, "We'll definitely know whether this is true if Alex can contact Lycoris soon. She'd definitely tell him if that queen saw her and talked to her."

Alex replied, "True.  Should I just wait a little while then before contacting Lycoris?  If Sia is there, it would make it difficult for Lycoris to communicate with me at the same time."

Irene nodded and replied,

"Yes, it's best to wait a while until we make sure that Lycoris is alone. We can go back to the academy for now and when the time is right, Alex can contact her."

The carriage soon made it in front of the academy and the driver hopped off, then opened the door for the party to get out.

Ryan got out first and helped Duchess Irene out and then Alex helped out the shapeshifter and Lady Penelope.  Then they all headed inside the academy and towards Duchess Irene's office where Nerine was waiting for them.

At Duchess Irene's office, Irene knocked then led the way inside. Nerine got up as she saw the party coming in and was relieved to find them all alright. She said,

"Thank goodness you're all back safely but umm...you didn't find Lycoris at the house?"

Alex shook his head and replied, "I'm afraid not, darling.  But I told the others what you told me about Sia going to see Lycoris so all we can do is wait a bit and then I'll try contacting Lycoris again.  Then we can decide what to do from there."

(Sorry for the delay. The power went off for a bit then came back just now. XD)

Irene nodded and as she took a seat, she said,

"There's nothing else we can do for now. We can only hope that Lycoris can give us any clues to where she is."

The others took their seats as well and the shapeshifter looked the most annoyed of all.

(Ahh no problem.  ^^)

Alex hugged Nerine and took a seat beside her while Ryan took a seat as well.  Alex looked to the shapeshifter and asked,

"Are you sure you're all right?  If you have any injuries, we should tend to them."

(Thanks. XD)

The shapeshifter looked to Alex and said, "I am fine although I'll definitely be better once we know where Lycoris is."

Lady Penelope commented, "We'll find her, I am sure. We just need to be patient."

She paused then looking to Alex, she said, "It might be a good idea to contact your parents and tell them you're alright, darling. They must be worried about you. They saw us leaving early in the morning and we haven't returned since then so they might be wondering what's going on."