Alice Rinju has tried and failed to get Yui to stop pacing the gym floor for forty-five minutes now. No combination of tea, pastries, cherry-orange milkshakes, words, or even the assembly of summoned friends has successfully gotten Yui to even pause her stride. Not that she blamed Yui, of course. It was out of concern. Yui Arashi had the same look in her eyes as she did during the Balancing. 

She was blaming herself.

Alice: (after flipping the “closed” sign and locking the door, she closes the curtains before addressing the gathered crowd) … Thank you for coming, everyone. Looks like we’ve got another crisis on our hands. Sorry ‘bout that.

Koharu: … Was the door locked when the winged girl got taken?

Alice: (with a crestfallen sigh, she replies) No. I wasn’t in, but Yui was. We were operating as usual. Yui went out to fight a Witch, but Aoi was still in the basement, so there was no reason to close up.

Yosuke: Hikarizaka… let her own kidnapper in, then?

Koharu: (with her arms crossed, she flashes Yosuke a knowing look) Someone she knows, then.

Alice: I’m pretty sure we know who did it. Question is… Where did Melati take her? And why?

Koharu: Why’s easy. Winged girl is the lynchpin of your entire organization. With her out of the equation, whole system… whole thing you’ve got going on; of fighting the way the Incubators want this to be, falls apart.

Yui: … The why is easy, yeah. There was a bit of torn paper in the clinic. Aoi tried to leave a note, but didn’t have enough time. Melati didn’t want to be traced, and Aisha was the bait to get me out of the gym. …The fault is completely mine.

Hanako: …It feels like something is missing. (Sitting on the steel steps, Hanako doesn’t look up from her pensive position) …If it were merely removing Aoi from the equation and dismantling New Eden, why wait until now? And why only remove Aoi, and not destroy the basement clinic, or even raid Yui’s supply of Grief Seeds? No… Aoi was taken for a different reason, I should think.

Yosuke: … W-Well, I think senpai’s still got a point.

Koharu: No, Hanako’s right. Destroying this project isn’t their… only goal.

Yui: The thought crossed my mind as well. The timing didn’t feel right for it to just be takin’ down New Eden. But figurin’ out why isn’t really my priority. …We need to find where they took her. We find her, we bring her back.

Alice: Care to look into this, Koharu? I’ve heard you’re becoming quite the skilled tracker.

Koharu: (she scoffs) Not likely. Not much we can do about magic.

Yosuke: We can try, though. Let’s have a look downstairs. Who knows what we’ll find?

Koharu: Mmmh.

Hanako: I… I’ll ask Kotori tonight when I go to sleep. Maybe the Library could hold something for us to follow.

Seia: Can you tell with your powers, Yui, that they’ve only taken her and not, um… killed her…?

Yui: No. I can’t like… “track” souls or whatever. Just feel ‘em in the present. …Kinda makes me regret shootin’ Cecilia’s eye out now, though.

Alice: Gonna do this the old-fashioned way, then.

Seia: For seeing, one eye is still better than none. 

Yui: I don’t… man, I don’t want to push her that far. No, we’ll find her without Cecilia’s omniscience. Koharu, Yosuke, I’m counting on you up here to start, Hanako, in the Dreamscape. Seia, you an’ I an’ Alice can help run the clinic with our Grief Seed supply for a little while.

Yosuke: Let’s go have a look, then.

Seia: What should we tell the clinic visitors about Aoi? I don’t know how they feel now, but most of them used to be her friends…