Chapter poll: Which Crimson Angel edit? Unfortunately, I suck at art, so this is the closest I can get to a visual representation of Jules in costume... 

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"You've had a very long day," Juliana told Chase softly as the Heirs left the lab. Chase, whose eyelids were fighting to stay open, couldn't agree more. "Your family's got a penthouse in the city. Perhaps it would be best for you to spend the night there- it would be a very long drive out to Hewkin Manor, and you're scheduled to start school tomorrow anyway." 

"Wait... school? Tomorrow?" Chase knew he'd be expected to adjust to a permanent life in Arcana, but so quickly? He'd always been a star student, but that was at a mediocre American public high school. He didn't have the slightest idea about the Arcanese school system, let alone how to succeed in it. 

"You'll be at the Royal Academy, with all of us and a thousand more kids like us," Hayley smiled encouragingly. "Everyone will know who you are, and they're bound to cut you some slack. We talk about your Aptitude every day- you're, like, legendary!" 

"Now you're just scaring him even more," Juliana shook her head playfully as they once again reached the 45th floor's quiet lobby. "I promise you it's not that big of a deal. The Royal Academy is a very tight-knit community. We all know what happened with your parents, and we're all here to support you."

"I guess so..." Chase sighed, a knot forming in his stomach as he was reminded of his parents' fate. "Wait a second..." his eyes widened as he stopped in front of the elevator, realizing something. "My sister's home alone. Her babysitter's probably going crazy trying to contact my parents!" 

"There's no need to worry about your sister," Juliana smiled. "The Order contacted her babysitter under your parents' names- she went home last night, and Meg is safe at school. We told her to tell Meg that your parents' visit to Arcana has been... extended. Hopefully, we will be able to rescue them before Meg starts to get suspicious."

Chase nodded, slightly reassured, as the Heirs stepped into the elevator, making their way back up to Order Headquarters' main floor. No matter what kind of a mess the rest of his family was in, at least his sister was safe at home, having a normal day at school. 

"So I'm guessing we get out of here the same way we came in?" Chase raised his eyebrows questioningly. 

"Yep," Juliana confirmed as the Heirs walked back through the tunnel and into the receiving area full of trampoline-like squares. Bungee cords dropped down from the ceiling, attaching to their arms and legs and pushing them down into the trampoline before allowing them to spring back up. The trip back up, at least to Chase, was even more jarring than the way down. He felt the contents of his stomach shuffle as he was sucked up through what felt like a gigantic vacuum cleaner, the air around him propelling him upward until he was back in the employee break room of the world headquarters of Nader V. Hesche Financial, sweaty and a little distraught. 

"Maskeys, everyone," Juliana ordered as her head popped up above the ground, climbing up and out of the hole in the floor. Chase felt for the small device in his pocket, placing it in a now familiar location under his tongue. 

"Roy, Hayley, and I will be returning to the palace tonight in preparation for our return to school tomorrow," Juliana explained. "As for you, Chase, I believe there's someone special here to pick you up- someone very close to your family who was absolutely delighted to know that you're finally back in Arcana."  

"You don't mean the Montgomerys drove all the way up from Hewkin Manor?" Roy asked incredulously, his voice now coming from the Maskey-generated face of a middle-aged man. Chase noted that the Heirs' new Maskey identities were so different from the ones they'd worn while entering Nader V. Hesche that it would be impossible to make any connections between them. 

"I know, I was surprised, too," Juliana nodded as they walked out into Hesche's spacious lobby, now much less crowded than it had been earlier that day. "Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery have been the groundskeeper and housekeeper at Hewkin Manor since long before we were born," she told Chase. "Ah, there they are!" 

Juliana gave a friendly wave, making eye contact with an elderly woman standing near the revolving doors. 

"Ah, it's so good to see you three... well, four, now," the woman smiled as the Heirs approached the door. "Now, which one of you is the one we're looking for?" she asked, careful not to say Chase's name. 

"I am," Chase stepped forward, slightly unsure of himself. "It's... nice to meet you," he smiled, shaking her hand. 

"Well, we'd best get going," she smiled kindly, placing a friendly hand on Chase's back to lead him out through the door. "Your mother has told me so much about you over the years- I was simply elated when I heard that your parents had finally deemed it fit to bring you to Arcana," she remarked as the pair walked toward a nondescript silver sedan that was parked on the curb right in front of the Hesche building. Chase was glad it wasn't a long walk- it got dark quickly in Arcana City, and he was beginning to feel the chilly nighttime air through his thin jacket. 

Chase reached over to open the door of the car, which was surprisingly unlocked. He stepped in, grateful for the warm air, just as the woman entered the back seat from the other side, gesturing to the elderly man at the wheel. "I'm Laura Montgomery, and this is my husband, George. It's our job to look after your family's Arcanese properties while you're away in America. Oh, and take that dreadful thing out of your mouth, will you? I'm sorry- I know it's for your safety- but I so dearly want to see your face." 

Assuming she meant the Maskey, Chase reached under his tongue to retrieve it. Mrs. Montgomery immediately raised her hand to her mouth, stifling a soft gasp. "Oh, my... you've got your mother's eyes and your father's height. I wouldn't have to be told to know you're a Hewkin." 

Chase raised an eyebrow, not sure how to respond to her compliment. He didn't think he was particularly tall, but he supposed he was, compared to the petite Mrs. Montgomery. She sat there with her knees pressed together under her old-fashioned dress and her purse placed neatly in her lap, watching Chase with puppy-like eyes. His first instinct was to deem her enthusiasm as odd, but he soon remembered that she had been waiting for nearly two decades to see him in person. She had the right to be excited. 

He watched as Mr. Montgomery waited for the traffic to momentarily clear before he turned onto the road, driving smoothly past the glowing buildings that illuminated the dark Arcana City skyline. 

"So, where are we going, anyway?" Chase asked, trying to make conversation. 

"Why, Hewkin Heights, of course," Mrs. Montgomery beamed. "Oh, you mustn't laugh. Your father was an odd youth- he was never content to live within the Order. He always wanted to understand the world he was sworn to protect, so he decided to start a real estate business, of all things. The Heights was his very first successful apartment building, so he decided to keep the penthouse as a sort of celebratory gift to himself. It was also where he met your mother."

"My parents met... in an apartment building?" Now that he knew they were secretly Arcanese aristocrats, he'd expected his parents' first encounter to have taken place in a more glamorous locale. 

"Oh, their story is as strange as it sounds," Mrs. Montgomery laughed. "Lady Violet was a law student at the University of Arcana, working part-time as a waitress and sharing a small apartment in Hewkin Heights with a fellow student to help make ends meet. But even though she didn't have a drop of noble blood in her, I'll say as someone who's served nobles and royals all my life that she was as graceful as any princess." She paused, a fond expression coming over her wrinkled face as she was overcome by the force of memory. 

"Your father was interested- no, obsessed with her. He came to me so many times, asking quite timidly if I thought it would be wise to confront her. I nearly laughed- he was the son of a billionaire, too scared to knock on a door in an apartment building he owned- but that was the kind of power your mother exuded. She worked overtime for months to save up enough money to buy a dress for her first date with His Lordship- she wouldn't accept a penny from him. Oh, but you as her son must know that she's independent and proud of it- so delightful an addition to the Order and the Arcanese court that no one could ever accuse your father of marrying beneath him."

"Wow..." Chase found it difficult to wrap his head around the fact that not twenty years ago, his mother had been in the same position that he was in: suddenly pulled into an insanely important secret organization that she didn't even know existed. He imagined from what Mrs. Montgomery had told him that she had handled it much better than he was. 

"Well, speaking of Hewkin Heights, we're here," Mr. Montgomery announced as he pulled off the road and in front of a tall black building punctuated by rows of evenly stacked, glowing windows. Above the main doorframe was a sign in heavy, bronze letters: Hewkin Heights. 

"Why don't you two go upstairs? I'll go park in the back," Mr. Montgomery offered. 

"Why, thank you, George," Mrs. Montgomery smiled, reaching for the door, as he stopped the car in front of the building. She stepped out, walking briskly toward the building's entrance in a hurry to get out of the cold, only stopping when she realized she'd left Chase far behind. 

"Sorry," Chase mumbled as he caught up to her, finished staring in wonderment at the Hewkin Heights sign. "I'm just not used to seeing my last name on buildings." 

"This is only the first of your father's real estate projects," Mrs. Montgomery chimed in as they stepped into the lobby. "He built many more before he and your mother moved to America. And that doesn't even begin to count your family's ancestral properties. In short, you'll be quite accustomed to seeing your last name on buildings by the time you leave Arcana. Now, let me see if I can still find the elevator... ah, there it is!" 

The pair walked over to a pair of elevator buttons embedded in the wall, flanked by two ordinary-looking elevators. Luckily, they didn't have to wait too long for one to open. A weary Arcanese couple stepped out, leaving the elevator empty for Mrs. Montgomery and Chase. Just as the elevator doors closed and Mrs. Montgomery pressed the button for the twentieth floor, transparent screens came to life on the four walls of the elevator, lighting up with an image of a smiling Lady Violet dressed in a classy lilac dress. 

"While I may not look like it now, I know what it's like to be neck-deep in student debt, struggling to find an affordable place to live," she began. "Hewkin Heights saved me when I needed it the most, and that is why my husband and I are working with the royal family on the Student Homes Initiative, a fund that will provide housing grants to the next generation of Arcanese professionals..." 

Before the message could finish playing, the elevator doors opened with a ding. 

"That's an odd form of advertising," Chase noted as he exited the elevator. 

"Oh, it was your mother's idea," Mrs. Montgomery said proudly. "She really does find ways to reach out to every soul. Speaking of your parents, they said they would be here to receive us... it is so unlike Lady Violet not to turn up when she says she will," she frowned, looking around the small, window-filled space that was the twentieth floor. A huge mahogany door loomed in front of her, probably leading to the penthouse. 

"Wait... you haven't heard?" Chase asked timidly. 

"Heard what?" Mrs. Montgomery looked genuinely confused, casually pulling a silver key out of her purse and inserting it into the lock on the door. 

"My parents, they've... they've disappeared. We think they've been kidnapped by the Jackers," Chase responded, nearly swallowing his words. 

Mrs. Montgomery paused in front of the now-open door, her lip trembling as she processed Chase's words. "Oh... oh, my poor boy," she walked over to tousle Chase's hair. "I have no words for this... this depravity! Your parents are such wonderful people- what an absolute disgrace to all of Arcana!" 

"Princess Juliana and the other Heirs have a plan," Chase assured her, though he wasn't so sure himself. "We'll find them."