Chapter 70:
Escape Witch
"[They really do look cute sleeping,]" a shadowy man smiled as he gazed down at the three captive girls.
Serika, Emeri, and Yuni had all been wrapped completely in bandages. Only their nostrils were visible.
"[I think they should be killed instantly, but I do admit, they can be good hostages. Plus Madam speaker personally wished to deal with one of them,]" Archibald stated.
"[And do you remember which one is which?]" the shadowy man asked.
"[No, I think she wanted the twin tailed one.]"
"[In that case, I'll send her to the most secure location. I'll also show Madoka Ginkawa the true intellect of the Moriarty family.]"
...
Madoka stood in the airport, still in her bellboy disguise as she looked around.
"Where could they be? Wait, he mentioned repackaging at the museum before shipping on the plane. Could they be going on a cargo plane?" Madoka thought.
"Why hello Miss Ginkawa, a pleasure to see you," a male voice rang out.
Madoka turned to see a tall masked man in a cloak and hat.
"And who are you?"
"Call me Phantom Moriarty. I'm here to issue you a true challenge unlike that failure Melinda," the masked man stated.
The mask disguised his voice preventing Madoka from recognizing it.
"What do you mean?" Madoka asked.
"Your friends are in the process of being archived. If you wish to save them all, "Dos Biru" is your clue. They are in one piece, but not one place you'll have to know how a living person can be archived if you wish to seek them out. Feel free to recruit outside help, though know that security will increase for each call you make and supporter you recruit. We are watching. As for your time limit, The bronze era. However many years it lasted is how many minutes you have. The bronze age starts at 3:30 in the morning. Use this time to choose the right plane. Farewell."
Phantom then vanished as Madoka whipped out her phone and dialed her mother.
"Madoka? Why are you calling so late?" Harumi asked.
"It's bad, everyone got kidnapped by some guy calling himself phantom Moriarty."
"_! How did this happen?"
"I screwed up. They drugged the food at the hotel, but when I tried to escape early with everyone, they outwitted me and took everyone with them."
"I'm having trouble following, but tell me everything in detail if you can."
Madoka explained everything that happened.
"I can see what you were trying to do. Leaving them back there might've been riskier so escaping to the airport immediately would have been a good plan. You could have taken then to a European bound flight. As for what that goon mentioned, he's most likely referring to the National Archives under the Smithsonian in DC, the "dos biru" clue is likely referencing the two main archive buildings, though one is actually located a few miles away in Maryland. As for the time limit, the bronze age lasted 2100 years meaning you have 2100 minutes or roughly 35 hours starting from 3:30. It's only 11 PM your time and the flight is 1 hour, so I'm assuming the three will not be in place until 3:30. I'd get there early in order to try and get the jump on them. I'll do all I can to help. Good luck."
Madoka hung up and looked for flights to DC.
"At least there's a flight leaving soon," she grumbled.
...
After landing in Washington DC, Madoka checked into a hotel.
"Damn it, I can't do anything until I know more about the place, plus I'm tired. Ugh."
Madoka fell asleep on the bed.
She woke up at 9:30 in the morning.
"WAH! I overslept. Let's see, 6 hours, that means I've only got 29 hours left!" Madoka screamed as she ran out of the room.
...
Madoka stood in the national mall as she looked for the archives.
"Ah! There it is!"
Madoka stood before the archives building.
"Ugh, but how am I going to get inside? There's no way they'll just let me tour everything."
"Hmm? Is that you from the other day?" a voice rang out.
Madoka turned to see Frank Lingua.
"Oh um you're the curator right?" Madoka asked.
"Frank Lingua, curator and busybody extrodinaire. What brings you here? Sightseeing?" Frank smiled.
"Yes, I actually wanted to check out the archives."
"Well today's your lucky day. I'm actually moving some artifacts there today. Wanna tag along as my assistant? Just don't touch anything and your good."
"I'll take it," Madoka smiled.
The two then walked into the Archive building.
"[Frank? Who's the girl?]" a receptionist asked.
"[A new assistant. Came from Japan.]"
"[Well if she's with you it's fine. Just don't let her touch anything.]"
"[Already told her that.]"
Madoka and Frank then descended in an elevator. When the elevator stopped and opened, Madoka gazed at the underground storage area before her.
"Welcome to the archives," Frank smiled.
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