The Park, Friday Evening

[not_every_mage]

Anders was a wreck by the time he made it to the park. Kathy was gone, again, and all that was left was a strange black mark burned into the ground.

He blinked at the mark through tears he wasn't letting himself shed. (They'd get Kathy back. They had to. Nothing to cry about at all.) He was sure he'd seen something like it in collections of runes, but as to what it meant...

"It looks a bit like a bird," he observed. "See, there's its beak."

Raven	"Okay," Raven said slowly. She wasn't doing exactly great after hearing about what had happened, either. "So . . . what does that mean?" The fact that this was well outside her wheelhouse was not helping at all.
Anders	"Depends on whether the runes are pictographs or not," Anders said, thinking it through. "If they aren't, maybe nothing. If they are -- travel? Freedom? What else do birds mean?" He tilted his head, squinting at the rune again. "I'm almost certain I've seen this one before. Somewhere."
Raven	"Is it from your universe?" If it was, maybe Anders had the magic to counter it and bring her back.
Anders	"If it is, it's dwarvish or Dailish," Anders told her. "Nothing I can read, anyhow. But I don't think it's one of ours." He nudged Dante with an elbow. "Does it remind you of anything?"
Dante	"A little," Dante said, frowning and tilting his head. "The squiggly bits... kinda reminds me of that arcane shit Vergil and Kat were into."
Anders	"That's it," Anders exclaimed, relief making his voice a bit louder than he'd meant it to be. This wasn't getting Kathy back, but it was at least something. "Vergil's book -- it's on the cover. Thank fuck we figured it out. I'll run back and get it."
Raven	"So it's from your world," Raven said to Dante as Anders rushed out. She was having a little trouble processing all this, what with her brain trying to avoid panic by insisting she should be walking somewhere. "That means you can fix it, right? Or you can find someone who can?"
Dante	I don't know if it's from my world specifically," Dante said, shrugging. "Sometimes demonic magic is just kinda universal or something? I don't know. Verg was the one who knew all this shit. But if it's linked to that... we can figure something out."
Raven	Raven nodded, pacing a little back and forth while they waited for Anders to return. "You know if this was all your world's fault, I'm going to be pretty pissed. So -- sorry about that in advance."
Anders	Whatever Dante would have said, it got lost as Anders returned to the group. His nose was in the book; he'd been reading as he walked, and avoided a nasty rickshaw crash through sheer luck. "I think I found it," he said, a bit hesitant. He didn't want to get this wrong. "If it's the same as the symbol on the cover, it means 'travel.' But not just travel. It's also a bit like reunion, like 'we'll see each other soon.'"
Raven	"So . . . someone definitely grabbed her," Raven said, glad it was that and not an "annihilate on the spot" kind of deal. "Someone she knows, who can do -- I'm guessing pretty advanced magic."
Dante	Dante rubbed the back of his head. "There's only one guy I know like that," he said, "And he lost his head."