Issue 1 Downtime

Soaked nearly to the bone by the sudden thunderstorm, a large man huddled up against the wall near the estate's gates, trying to get as much of himself as he could under the overhang.

"You know," the amused-sounding voice said, "Most people would just ask to come in out of the rain." Victoria mused. She stood in the rain, but oddly none of the water seemed to want to stick to her.

"...huh?" He asked confusedly, looking over to her.

There didn't seem to be magic on him per se, but the same odd gravity she had noticed in her earlier scrying definitely was present in his vicinity. It was as if the storm, a storm that hadn't been on any forecast, was drawn in by that.

"The rain, darling," she said. "You have to be cold. So why are you just sitting out here in the elements." She looked the man over, taking in his clothes, anything he was carrying... and most notably any subtle spells that might be affecting him.

He was shabbily dressed. It was doubtful he'd showered or changed his clothes in quite some time.

It took some close scrutiny to even notice any spells at all on him, but there was a faint sign of... something. A sympathetic tie to her, to a number of other spots on campus, like a tangle or almost a web.

"Don't have anywhere to go. It's... it's chasing me."

Victoria seemed... unusually wary. For Victoria, that is. "What's your name, darling? How far has it been chasing you?"

"Donnie," he said. "Donnie Martelli."

"Sometimes I lose it, but it always finds me. It found me in the woods, this time."

"And how long has it been chasing you? Where did it start?"

"Head's... fuzzy. I remember trees, and running, then... she showed up."

"Mmm... blonde girl? Gorgeous, annoyingly superior attitude?"

"She's... usually nice to me, but this time she said she wanted me to meet her friend..."

Victoria nodded patiently. "And what did they do this time?"

"Then... something happened. I went away. Nothing's been right since..."

Victoria nodded. "Let's see what we can do about that, darling," she said. As she spoke, the other side of her head began searching, scrying, seeking out the other places on campus that he had a tie to, trying to understand the nature of it, or really just confirm her suspicions. "What do you mean, nothing's been right? Is it something other than the storms?"

The places on campus all seemed to correspond with one of the people that had been swapped.

"You don't understand. It's... it's so angry. I don't want it..."

"I know darling. It's going to be all right." She looked up at the storm, and while the other side of her mind began searching for another sympathetic link that wasn't on the campus, she took a step closer. "Let me see if I can help you. I... let's move away from the gates first. No use making anyone worried, right?"

One of the lines did seem to head off-campus, to a place that Victoria herself had been recently.

"...somewhere safe?" He asked, doubtful.

She smiled ruefully. "Probably not, I hate to say. But if I'm right, darling... you don't exactly need to worry about 'safe'. Hell, if either of us do, it's me."

He gave her a confused look.

"...okay."

"Meantime... let's just get you dry and warm. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, thanks..." He said, a faint smile crossing his lips.

"All right. Then we'll take care of that, first." As the plot thickens...