- - - LATER.

The sun was setting leaving the sky a deep crimson, after a long day of work at the GPAT building outside of town Amity was finally home. A chill had already appeared in the air as the early spring day came to an end, it made her journey home all the  more unpleasant as she didn't have a jacket. She unlocked the door and dragged herself into her dark, empty apartment.

It was quiet overall, with just distant thoughts coming from neighbors settling down in their own home. Which was easy enough to ignore.

She walked over to the dining room table to where she had left a plate of spaghetti that morning and never finished. 'I should probably heat up the rest in the fridge for dinner.' she thought, staring blankly at the cold noodles.

A few seconds of nothing the feline eventually just dropped off her purse and keys on the table and headed over to the living room. The blanket from that morning also still there, still messy. She dropped down onto the couch like a ragdoll, wanting nothing more than some peace and probably some sleep if her head would allow her.

"Just a little." she mumbled, reaching for the remote.

When the TV switched on it automatically went to the news, Amity groaned, having forgotten she had been watching the weather that day. Now at the end of the day the weather was no longer on and instead replaced with reports on car wrecks, petty crimes, and so on that have been going on in the city. Not nearly as bad as how the news has been as of late but that didn't mean Amity wanted to watch it.

'I'm already in a bad place, I don't want things to feel more hopeless than they are.' she thought, remembering what happened at GPAT plus what day it is.

"The anniversary...then the city gets worse." Amity found herself mumbling to herself as she fought back tears. "And I can't do anything about any of it...if Mr Doely gets hurt it'll be my fault."

"My fault...just like with Molli." she sobbed.

The emotions she has been holding onto all day began to spill with the tears on her face. She understood that it wasn't fair to blame herself, after all she wouldn't blame anyone else in her situation but it just felt too true. In the past she didn't do anything even though she could and now, with Mr Doely it feels like she can do something as well but can't figure out what.

"The timing is even the same." the feline cried, pulling her legs to her chest.

'But the day has nothing to do with it.'

"...no," Amity replied to herself, still crying. "...it...doesn't, but it feels too much like a coincidence, too similar."

"-and with GPAT's efforts of trying to break through this odd wall of cloud failing, we must stay strong and pray for the citizens trapped inside." the voice of the anchor fox broke Amity out of her spiraling then.

The feline looked up at the screen. "That's where Layla is."

"To our surprise a MESSAGE was received earlier today by a part of our staff, someone from within the trapped town in their hour of isolation managed to send us insight into what is going on!" she continued with a smile.

"Huh?" Amity released her knees.

"Let us watch and see who could possibly be wreaking such havoc on such an innocent town in this fairy country!"

Right on cue a video that was obviously shot from a phone with a wobbly view in portrait style. It looked like the main street of a town with various shops and diners from what little showed up at a time. The ground was covered in a sheet of ice with no sign of melting, even in the heat of the spring sun. There was no sound coming from the video except a few cries that were easily drowned out by wind.

"There is ice on the ground, even though the coldest parts of winter has been left behind us." the anchor fox said. "How could this be, you might ask. If you watch closely this is not because of some messed up weather but is being caused by an ANIMA! We haven't seen something like this in generations I hear."

She narrated the video as it played out, matching her words to the visuals even if the timing was slightly off. As said by the anchor, a light gray tabby sporting a dark blue attire walked into view, black heels strangely enough not causing her to slip on the ice. She looked like she belonged in the cold with not only her warm clothing but how she moved through the town. Walking as smooth as the ice that coated the streets before her.

And much like the air her expression was equally cold as she turned to the camera and whoever was holding it. There jolted as whoever held it was startled by getting caught. She held up a long staff with a pitch black base and off-white ends.

"And with a magic staff by the looks of it!" the anchor was still talking.

"I thought those didn't exist, Ms Fusha." said a host who has been silent this entire showing. 

"Last I checked those were just an old kit's tale."

"So did I, but as it turns out by this footage, they may not be a thing of mere fantasy! I wonder..." Ms Fusha continued.

Amity found herself unmoving as she watched the footage, completely forgetting all about the news anima that annoyingly had to talk over everything. Her focus on the CAT with ICE MAGIC, an enigma amongst anima…or so it is said.

She watched as the footage abruptly ended as the crystal on the staff  that the cat pointed at the camera began to glow. In a blur of light blue and white followed by a shout, the footage ended. It took Amity a moment to realize it ended as the focus returned to Ms Fusha and her fellow anchor.

Eventually when she did she blinked. "No..NO go back."

Amity frantically tried to rewind the news, almost dropping the remote in the process. Thankfully she managed to rewind enough and then pause on the silver tabby that caught her attention. Right before the video cut off, where the face of the cat and her staff were in full view.

"M-Molli?" she whispered, looking at it full of hope. "I-is that you?"

It looked just like her, except for the obvious fact that this cat was much older than the little kit she knew years ago. 'But she looks just the right age that Molli would've been this year.'

She moved closer to the TV. "And that MAGIC staff...those don't exist, that crystal doesn't exist except for HERS."

Molli was the only cat to use an elemental power in this past hundred years, or the only known cat that did. Amity knew this as she was there when Molli was given the crystal, when their mother was told of such uniqueness, and so much more.

"It has to be...it can't just be a coincidence." Amity said.

She got up, still in a shocked trance at the silver tabby on the tv screen and walked over to her bookshelf by the dining room table. Amongst the multiple self help books and meditation books there was a large thick binder with a stained cover. With a shaky hand she grabbed it, recalling how it once was white but has since yellowed from moves and her looking through it.

Her sadness got bad once more when the pink tabby saw the faded stickers slapped on the front of old toddler cartoon characters and peace signs. She and Molli had put them there, hoping to bring fun to a "boring old book."

"...you died though." she mumbled, returning to the couch with it.

"I'm sorry Ms Harten, but it's been over a month and we have been unable to find your daughter..."

She blinked in mild surprise at the sudden memory from THAT time. Usually Amity does what she can to block everything from back then out...from the happy start to the day, to when they woke up in a dark place...

'What is this?'

"Was I eavesdropping before being told she died?" Amity asked herself. "They said she wasn't found before deciding...dead."

A smile began to creep onto her face. "Decided to pronounce her dead...not actually dead. Just NOT FOUND."

"..well no proof of death." she added after a moment of thought. 

Amity opened up the binder, sadly laughing. "It might be my fault, but not being found is much better than being dead!"

As expected the binder began with a title page, the official title being "Amity Through The Years" but written in blue sharpie beneath it had "and Molli" added. An obvious unexpected addition to not only the book but also to the family. Crayon scribbles littered the page with what looked like some attempt at drawing from a 3 year old.

'Never found. NOT dead.'

'Never found.'

Amity kept thinking as she skipped over every one of her baby pictures and a bit more until she was 4 or 5 when Molli was born. The string of sisterly pictures began with a single one of her holding a tiny ball of fuzz with eyes and ears shut. Pictures of their mother holding the infant Molli was also on the page along with a few other pictures from the day she was born.

Once Molli had reached a playing age, the pictures began to show them interacting more with each other and with toys. A few even showed Amity and Molli timidly hiding a mess that the two had collaborated on making.

The timeline was a smooth transition as their mother loved taking pictures, but then there was a sudden jump. About a year or two, but instead of a bouncing energetic child it showed a tired looking child, as if she was recovering from something. Amity appeared more distant or even afraid in some pictures even though young Molli was still smiling and spending time with her. Accompanying her in the pictures now a light blue crystal strapped to her like a kiddie leash.

'I wish I knew where we got that crystal.' Amity thought. ‘It might help…’

After staring down at the memories for who knows how long, Amity looked back up at the TV screen, keeping the photo album open to a page with a clear view of the crystal. "Hmmm."

"It does look like it." Amity said, holding the album up to compare the cat and crystal with young Molli side by side. "So does the fur patterns...and eyes!"

She choked. "...I found her. I can't believe it, now I can finally make it up to you!" tears began to run down her cheeks as she set the binder down on her lap again. "GPAT can finally bring you home and we can be a family again!"