~~~~~~~~~Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~

After that, Iv asked Victor to drop her off at her home while the others continued the search. It's not that she didn't want to help them, but she wanted to gather more information about the plausible theory, and see if she could fill in any other mysteries that would agree or disagree with it.

It had already been an hour since then, and the most she had been able to do was question why he'd leave his top hat behind if it was the main source of the demon's power.

It was strange, to say the least.

But it also just meant the possibility that he wasn't the culprit after all, and they hoped that would be the case.

A knock on the door let her go back to her senses, looking over. "It's open."

Alyse walked inside, holding a red and lavender mug. "Mom made coffee and asked me to give you some."

Letting out a sigh, Iv took the mug and sat on the edge of the bed, taking a small sip. "Thanks, I needed this right now.."

"Find anything today..?"

"Well, we can now say for sure that Lidia was in the forest the night she disappeared. We found traces of her crystal shields next to more dust."

"At least you have official proof of it."

Iv only stared at her coffee, unsure of what to do at this point. So many things were all over the place, with so many thoughts and theories yet to be explained. "You.. remember how I told you yesterday about how I may have a culprit..?"

"Yeah..?"

She explained all that she told Noah that morning, about all that's pointing to Bill being the culprit himself. She listened to all the points her older sister had made, understanding how and why she had come up with that conclusion.

But still, something felt off about it.

"What if he's being framed?"

"The only person I can think of that can make someone disappear in an instant is him, how could he be framed? Not to mention block Noah's powers."

"It's not impossible to steal magic."

That sentence alone was enough to catch Iv's attention, looking down at her younger sister. "What are you getting at..?"

"I thought you took classes with Varian's dad for two years already. Mr. VonLance has explained how even though it's difficult, someone can take someone's powers away with a certain spell, and anyone can learn spells, even people with no magic. Of course, if the person who's magic was stolen dies, then the magic that was stolen dies with them."

"... that reminds me.."

...

"Hey, Mr. VonLance, if you don't have any magic, how come you know so much about it? Not only that, but you seem to be really good at spell casting."

"Ah, good question! You see, spells can be used by anyone, even people with no magic like me. I'm the most familiar with Air element spells."

...

"Air magic.." Iv muttered to herself as she grabbed a nearby paper and pen. "Just as Lidia's is similar to Air as well.. Alyse, can you show me the victim list?"

Grabbing her sister's phone, she put on the list, showing it to Iv, who wrote all the names down in the piece of paper, then tapped her chin with the pen in thought. "The other person who has Air magic would be James Jones, and there's exactly a five people gap between those three, so.. maybe.."

"Noah, since your dad's a demon, he has dark magic right?"

"Wow, Laurie! Pretty soon you'll be able to cast a whole freaking tsunami with your powers!"

"Yep, Aiden got water magic while I got fire. Pretty rare, huh?"

"Actually, our magic isn't dark at all. Cynthia and I actually have light magic from our mother."

"Yeah, Leo and I are the only ones in our class with magic. His is dark though."

"North's powers resembles more of your Water magic with ice, while mine resemble your Air magic."

"He barely uses it, but Nate's got fire magic. You should see him, he's awesome with it!"

... she figured it out.

•Bill Cipher - Dark Magic ⚫️
•Justin Merrifield - Water Magic 🔵
•James Jones - Air Magic 🟡
•Jasmin Turner - Fire Magic 🔴
•Ella Lopez - Earth Magic 🟢
•Cynthia Riverton - Light Magic ⚪️
•Leonardo Jackson - Dark Magic ⚫️
•Aiden Anderson - Water Magic 🔵
•Quirin VonLance - Air Magic 🟡
•Kira Smith - Fire Magic 🔴
•Luka Oaks - Earth Magic 🟢
•Cody Valentine - Light Magic ⚪️
•Lina Morningstar - Dark Magic ⚫️
•Laurie Lunetta - Water Magic 🔵
•Lidia Northstar - Air Magic 🟡
•Nathaniel Hutson - Fire Magic 🔴

"That's it!! That's the pattern!! How did I not see this before?!" Iv hit the side of her head, realizing the order in how they were disappearing. "It is because of their magic!!"

"I was only trying to say that framing Bill was a possibility, but I really am a good luck charm!" Alyse smiled to herself, proud of her help.

Iv turned to her. "Not only that, Bill has no need to kidnap people for their magic, he's got more magic than all of these people combined, it would make no sense for that to be his reason! Bill might be just another victim after all!"

"Which element would be the next target?"

"According to this, it would be Earth.." She turned back to the list, writing a few extra names on the side.

•Alyssa Anderson
•Oscar Matthews
•Gianyra Robbins
•Brianna Levington

She tapped her chin with the pen. "The kidnapper has been moving really fast lately, so we need to keep an eye out. As far as I'm concerned, these four are the only remaining people with Earth powers."

Alyse shrunk a little at the realization. "Y-you don't think I could be next, right..?"

"As long as you're not alone, you'll be safe." Iv turned back to the list. "Bree's got a big family so I doubt we have to worry for her, Oscar left town yesterday with his family, you're right here with me, so that would leave.."

Iv's eyes went wide as a thought came to mind. "... Gia was suppose to send us some more info on those gemstones earlier.."

Dropping everything that was in her hands, Iv picked up her younger sister and ran downstairs, where her parents made lunch as her cousin watched TV, handing Alyse to her dad. "Sorry, but I really need to go, keep an eye on Alyse at all times!!"

"What?! Where are you-?!"

As he dad called for her to stop, she grabbed her skateboard and ran out of the house, trying to go as fast as she could to the Robbins' house.

Taking her phone, she tried calling Gia, and when she didn't pick up, she called Lola, who didn't answer either.

"Fuck! Pick up already, dammit!!"

She called Lola once more, this time hearing her voice on the other side. "Hello?"

"Lola, are you still out in town?!"

"Yeah, Victor's taking us home right now, but why do you sound so anxious?!"

"Where's Gia?!"

"At home with Mom, she texted me earlier about how she was gonna get some herbs for Ben."

"Get home now, and don't stop calling her!!" She hung up with that, focusing on just getting to the house without falling face first.

Once there, she knocked on the door roughly. "Gia?!"

No response, so she continued to knock on the door and ring the doorbell. "Gia, please, open up!!"

Seconds passed with nothing, only for a loud thud to be heard from the backyard. Her heart was already beating too fast, and it was getting difficult to even think straight..

"Fuck it!!" Forming a quick orb, she threw it at the window, quickly jumping inside.

Her skin then went pale as she saw Gia lying outside on the floor unconscious, with a strange black silhouette standing beside her..

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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