Puzzle was woken up by someone shaking him. Groaning, he opened his burning eyes, staring at the blurry figure before him. He didn’t have the strength for this. He had been tortured a few hours earlier and passed out the second he was allowed the chance. His body hurt everywhere and the burning pain in his back was intense. Waking up was far too painful.

“C’mon kid, I need you to wake up,” The person in front of whispered, sounding urged.

“...W-what?” Puzzle groaned. He blinked rapidly, forcing himself up. The person sounded desperate. Finally, his vision cleared and his sight settled on Daniel. Now far more awake, his mind began to fully start up again. “Daniel?”

“I haven’t got long. Here, take this,” Daniel held up a glass of water but honestly, Puzzle didn’t even have the strength to hold it.

“I-I can’t,” Puzzle sighed, honestly too worn to do anything at this moment. Daniel sighed, instead holding the glass to his lips.

“Open up,” he ordered. While Puzzle hated being so absolutely useless that he couldn’t even move, he was grateful for Daniel’s help. Daniel tilted the glass carefully, careful to ensure that Puzzle didn’t accidentally drown. Once Puzzle was finished drinking, Daniel pulled the glass back and gave him a serious look.

“Puzzle, I’m going to need your help,” He stated. Puzzle blinked. Well, he at least felt far more refreshed now.

“What is it?” He asked uncertainly. “I’m not sure if my Trait will-.”

“No, not with your Trait,” Daniel interrupted. “I’m not fucked up enough to ask you to use it when you barely have any control over it, let alone try to force it out of you like everyone else,” Daniel explained, instantly pissed at the thought of everyone always trying to force him to use his Trait. The poor kid couldn’t take anymore, yet they kept pushing him. Daniel sighed, calming himself down. This wasn’t what he needed right now. He needed to keep a cool head. Puzzle looked at him, confused.

“No, what I need is for you to talk to me,” Daniel said instead and Puzzle just gave him a bewildered look. “I don’t know much about you other than your Trait. What I need to know is if you have family and if they can be trusted. If there’s anyone you know that can be trusted,” Daniel explained. Puzzle’s eyes widened and tears stung his eyes. The stabbing pain all over his body seemed like nothing compared to the emotional pain he was feeling. However, for once, he felt like he could actually express some of his pain. Just this once.

“...I’m in Mazaila, right?” Puzzle asked slowly. Daniel nodded solemnly. The tears finally spilled. “I-... I’m not sure if you’ll be able to reach them from here. My family lives in Technika and the only other people I can trust live in Venova. I don’t know anyone from Mazaila,” Honestly, at this point, all Puzzle could do was cry. Before, crying had been ignored or just met with punishment, but Daniel let him cry. Let him take out the emotions he had held in for so damn long. His family, Glitch, all his friends… Everyone he loved, he had been torn away from them so long ago. He didn’t know how long it had been, he just knew he had been gone for a very long time. He was sure he had been gone for at least a year. Going back to them was nothing more than a distant dream he had refused to let go, because it was all he had left, dammit. Dreams were all he had left at this point. He wouldn’t allow his dreams to be taken - not entirely.

“I’ll find a way to reach them,” Daniel promised, completely serious. Puzzle looked up, tears blurring his vision.

“You’d actually do that? For me?” Puzzle asked, his voice cracking as he spoke. Could he really see Glitch again? Could he really see his parents again? Technika? Pari and Vex? Could he really go back? Was that even possible? Daniel nodded firmly.

“I’ll help you get back to your family, Puzzle. But I’m going to need your help otherwise I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

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Glitch scanned the paperwork for the umptenth time. He had already gone through this paperwork so much that he knew everything there was to know, to the point where he practically had it memorised. He continued to go over it anyways, hoping, praying there was something that he had missed, that everyone had missed, and it would give them another lead.

Glitch sighed, lowering the paperwork. It didn’t matter how much he tried, it was all the same. He had yet to find anything new and it was driving him nuts. Glitch knew from the way it had taken them years to find a single lead that even his subordinates were giving up, but Glitch himself refused to ever give up, because somewhere, Puzzle was likely still alive, still forced to use his power. He must be suffering. Hurting. Breaking.

Glitch couldn’t do anything about it until he found him and that drove him nuts.

His best friend was suffering because of a power he didn’t even ask for and no one had been able to do anything in time in order to save him. Puzzle’s parents had been worried about him for the day they discovered what his Trait was. It had been spoken about shortly after, even Pari putting her own input in and it wasn’t long before it was decided that Puzzle’s Trait was to be kept a secret. Only a certain trusted few knew of it and yet, someone had managed to find out about Puzzle’s Trait and he was taken. Of course, everyone listed that knew of Puzzle’s Trait was immediately interrogated, but no information regarding Puzzle’s disappearance was discovered.

Glitch, thoroughly frustrated, threw the paper down and began pacing. He was going nuts. Glitch let out a noise of frustration, pulling at his own hair. He couldn’t find anything. His vision blurred as tears invaded his golden eyes. He couldn’t find anything! Anything that led to Puzzle’s current whereabouts, it was all lost. Nothing to be found. Whoever had Puzzle had made sure they were secure and even the buyer didn’t know much about him, other than what he sold.

Glitch marched over the wall and ripped the sheet off. Once the sheet fell, a large map taking up most of the wall was revealed. Across the map were pinpoints, places searched and TO be searched, detailed notes of possible suspects and locations of where Puzzle could be and could have been. Those locations had all been crossed out, confirming that he was not there. Technika, Venova, Terria, Mazaila, all capitals and major cities searched, only leaving the small villages. Searching every single village or town that a sector had was difficult, and it was definitely taking a while, but Glitch had to do everything he could. That could be where Puzzle was kept, in a small village where it was likely no one would find him, then being sold off somewhere again and then brought back to a small village no one paid any attention to. It would be a great way to stay under the radar, if anything.

Glitch scanned over his map, staring at all the detailed notes and pinpoints of locations. Technika had been searched the most and of course, would continue to be searched, especially after the information they had finally found a while back. The fact that such a high-ranked citizen had managed to keep something like that secret for so long only further proved that there was a deeper network somewhere, that had yet to be discovered. Furthermore, that person had been interrogated before and he had been thoroughly searched for any important documents. It was only because of a small slip-up due to a surprise visit that allowed to find the information on Puzzle. Otherwise, it was likely they wouldn’t have found anything.

Of course, this led to another investigation as this meant there was clearly an underground network that had been hiding for a long time, without the council’s knowledge. This also led to an actual discovery of such a network, finally linking into several cases of missing people vanishing without a trace from all sectors. Needless to say, the council and Pari had been furious at the discovery, and this discovery led to a nationwide search for all sectors. Something Glitch was personally happy for, but despite how much searching and determination was put into the search, still not much was found. About the network or Puzzle, only further frustrating Glitch.

Soon, someone was going to fucking die unless he found something.

Glitch ran a hand over the complicated map he had pieced together through the years, a sad look in his eyes. He sighed, looking down. He shook his head.

“Puzzle, where are you now?” He whispered helplessly.

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Daniel sat down, thinking hard. He had to find a way to get into contact with the council of Technika, or even the Queen of Venova. For a few moments, he thought it was ridiculous. That Puzzle would know such important people, but the knowledge he had of them proved otherwise. Then again, it could be that he used his Trait to find out such information, but still. Even if Puzzle didn’t know them personally, reporting such actions to the council would prove useful, even if it wasn’t the Mazaila council, he supposed. If anything, perhaps he should try to get in contact with the Mazaila council? They would be easily to contact and they contact Technika or Venova far easier than he ever would. Plus, as a Mazailan citizen, doing so would be far more beneficial, - Eldwyn would lose power.

He sighed, lying down. Either way, regardless of what he did, he had to do in secret. He couldn’t risk Eldwyn finding out and his sister getting hurt. If Eldwyn was to find out… Well, Daniel wasn’t all too sure he even wanted to know. He at least knew that if Eldwyn was to ever find out, the end result would surely be bad. But he still had to try. He had to do something. He couldn’t just sit by and watch anymore as the kid suffered. Something had to be done and soon. The only problem was how to do it. He needed to find a way to get into contact with the people that Puzzle knew, without Eldwyn’s knowledge.

...rip