Llyn ran upstairs to the Guild's living room (because one living room wasn't enough, given that Alli had countless parrots and Phoebe had brains and Sibby had, well, goats). It'd been over an hour already, and no one had appeared downstairs yet.

For people who somehow made it all the way across Atlantic Ocean, they sure were very slow at getting ready.

To be fair to them, she wasn't the one with the katana - that would be Lani - or the machete - that would be Mya, whose whereabouts were still unknown. She could apparate, and that was enough for her because her enemies never knew where she was.

Someone had complained that even the Guild never knew where she was sometimes, but she digressed. Her hand on the door, she wrenched it open, rushing out, 'Guys, we really - what.'

Sitting on the couch were two girls with their heads bent over laptops and two more conversing with open laptops. Llyn surveyed them curiously, noting that none of them shared Whitney's affinity for cow covers, Ray's K-Pop stickers, Imogene's wild typing or Lucas's mouse which never seemed to stop clicking. She groaned. 'What are you doing here?'

One of the girls looked up, and seeing Llyn, broke into a wide grin. 'The name's Ai, and these are Jade and Ano' - pointing at the two girls still on laptops - 'who need to stop playing League because they're trash at it, and this is Inaya.'

Inaya held up her computer, giving Llyn a conspiratorial grin. 'My whole life's clickbait, but I made this.' It displayed a meme - one of the latest, to be exact, one that she had seen floating around the internet lately.

Ano looked up. 'League is amazing, as you'd know if you actually started playing it.'

'Exactly,' Jade added. 'Just look at this skin! Should I buy it?' The two descended into League of Legends-related conversation again while Ai shrugged, like it was a common occurrence.

'Uh, you're graphic designers, right?' Llyn ventured. 'Is that why you're here?'

'Not really, we came in because we saw the door was wide open.'

That was odd. Mya had installed protection and she herself had installed double protection. Knowing Alli, parrots were probably guarding the house right then. How was it, then, that these four had come in without anyone noticing?

Mya's wards were really strong - they'd kept so many people out so far, and to their joy, Slackie hadn't found them yet. Unless - 'Nothing stopped you?'

'We walked right through LMAO,' Inaya replied.

So something was seriously wrong. She couldn't remember her heart beating so fast since - well, since Lani had ran out of the car trying to attack people and not knowing how to use the katana.

Actually, she'd felt even more scared because of the burrito they'd shared that morning. That was a horrid burrito. 'How did you even know where our house was?'

'We were walking down the street to buy a penguin plushie for Ano but something just pulled us in and here we are,' Jade answered.

'It's weird honestly,' Ano agreed.

Just then, two more people burst into the room, looking frantic. Llyn could only register the fact that they'd had more invaders before one of them blurted, 'Is this really the Guild house?'

She sighed. 'Yes, it is - I'm assuming you're here because the barriers aren't working?'

'You have barriers? I'm Bre, by the way. Or Ash.' She looked intrigued, and Llyn nodded.

'I love that!' another girl exclaimed. She extended her hand. 'Hollie. It's nice to meet you.'

Llyn was truly confused, but she knew one thing: she had to find Mya, pronto. And finding Mya meant finding the rest of the Guild and getting them out the door so she could collapse the house. 'I'm really sorry to do this -'

The door opened again and a girl stumbled in. 'Sorry I'm late, I was trying to avoid getting hit in the face by a parrot.' Gasping, she looked around and mumbled, 'I'm Danae.'

'It's nice to meet you,' Llyn said, raising her eyebrows. 'But Jade, Ai, Ano, Inaya, Hollie, Danae, Bre - I'm really sorry to do this but we're kind of in a crisis right now? And this house is going to collapse. Long story.'

Multiple eyebrows raised. She tried to look as apologetic as she could, but her instincts were screaming at her to find someone, anyone from the Guild. As they turned to go, she yelled, 'Thank you for your support!'

Llyn ran towards Alli's room, knowing the girl wasn't there but hoping for a miracle. She threw open the door and heard a voice saying, 'Bye Shuffle, bye Explody, bye Christmas, bye -'

'Alli!'

'Llyn! I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but I'm back now. Heard about the crisis. Just let me say goodbye to - hang on, where's Party?'

'No idea.'

Alli looked pensive then murderous. 'Imogene!'

The girl appeared at the door - so the Guild came when they were called. Unlike Alli, who had a feather and a pen that Llyn knew was lethal tucked into her hair, Imogene had a rifle slung across her back. 'Present, what's up?'

Lani appeared in the doorway too, asking, 'What's going on?'

'Party's gone!'

'And you're blaming it on Imogene because she said that graphic-ing isn't a word?'

'It isn't! But that's beside the point, you know it was an empty threat. I'd never hurt Party. Wasn't he the one that came to get us?'

Alli looked mystified. 'I wouldn't know, I haven't been here in a while. Was he the one with glasses, who squawks, "Party or die!" and who bobs at a slightly more reasonable pace?' She glared at Fast Parrot.

'Yes. I haven't seen him in a while, though.'

'Nor I,' Lani and Llyn chorused, glancing at each other. Llyn added, 'The wards have broken, by the way. People can see our house. I think we should collapse it and move towards the old house - that one was more secure.'

'What, Mya's house with its basement?'

'Works for me,' Whitney said, also appearing suddenly.

Lucas chimed in, 'At least we'd be able to get to see Mya's machetes.'

Llyn did a quick head count. 'Wait, where are Ray and Jenna?'

'I thought they were with you,' Whitney said at the same time as Alli said, 'I haven't seen them since I came.'

'Speaking of which, how did you come?' Lani asked. 'You left your keys here.'

Alli raised her eyebrows. 'I just walked right in.'

'Our wards are definitely broken,' Llyn decided. 'So what are we waiting for? Let's go!'