Victor tugged his arm away and I let go and watched as he walked away down the hall. Given what I knew from Tessa, I was sort of surprised that he hadn't locked Cio or me in. That's when I got worried. Cio was curious enough that she'd wander around. And, knowing Leon, there was stuff left lying around that she could hurt herself with. So, heaving a sigh, I set out to look for her, as soon as Victor was out of sight. I'd look for him later.
I Followed my nose, searching for Cio, but since her aura was, as Leon had observed, blocked, I basically had to backtrack to her room and start an old-fashioned visual search.
I wandered until I came to a long hallway. It was dark, but i could see okay. "CIO!" I called. ""Cio, are you here?"
"Maria?" a small voice called back, "is that you?"
"Of course it's me" I called back, "Who else? Stay put so I can find you."
I took off at a run, hoping that Cio had the sense to listen to me. There was something very wrong about Leon's whole fortress, and even more so about this hall in particular.
Finally I caught up to the little girl. There were blue streaks on her clothes.
"Are you all right?" I asked her.
