The Sunken District was just as Aurelius remembered it—dark, dangerous, filled with desperation. But now there was something new. Something that hadn't been there before.
Hope.
The reforms that had swept through the city had touched even this forgotten corner. The streets were cleaner. The buildings were less dilapidated. And the people... the people walked with their heads held higher.
Aurelius moved through the streets with practiced ease, his footsteps silent on the cobblestones. He reached the Old Temple and paused.
It was just as he had left it. Crumbling walls. Collapsed roof. The altar where he had descended into the tunnels.
But something was different.
There was light coming from inside.
He pushed open the door and stepped through.
The interior of the temple was transformed.
Candles lined the walls, casting a warm glow across the space. A circle had been drawn on the floor—not a magical circle, but something simpler. A place for conversation. A place for connection.
And in the center of the circle stood a woman.
She was young—perhaps twenty-five—with dark hair and sharp eyes. She was wearing simple clothes, but there was an elegance to her bearing that spoke of intelligence and purpose.
"Professor Veyron," she said. "Thank you for coming."
"Elara." He stepped into the circle. "It's good to see you."
"You too." She smiled, but there was something guarded in her expression. "I know it's been a long time. I know I have no right to ask for your help."
"You have every right. You were my student. That makes you family."
Elara's eyes glistened. "Thank you. That means more than you know."
"Now tell me. What's happened?"
Elara took a deep breath.
"I've been investigating something. Something that started a few months ago. People have been disappearing. Not many—a few here, a few there. But enough to notice."
"Disappearing how?"
"Just... vanishing. No trace. No explanation. They go to bed one night and they're gone the next morning. Their families don't know where they went. The authorities don't care."
Aurelius felt a chill run down his spine.
"And you think I can help?"
"I think you're the only person who can." She stepped closer. "Because the people who are disappearing aren't random. They're connected. They're all people who attended your lectures."
Aurelius's heart stopped.
"What?"
"Every single one. They were students of yours. Followers of your philosophy. People who believed in your message of questioning, of thinking, of pushing back against the system."
Aurelius felt the world tilt beneath his feet.
This is connected to me. This is happening because of me.
"Who's doing this?" he asked. "Who's taking them?"
"I don't know. But I think... I think it's someone who wants to stop your message. Someone who's afraid of what you're teaching people."
Aurelius was silent for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Then we need to find them. We need to stop them. And we need to save the people they've taken."
He looked at Elara.
"Where do we start?"