The stars glittered as the moon slowly appeared across the partly cloudy sky. The street lamps lit. Although the roads were empty, two figures walked the streets without a care in the world.
With the child following closely behind her, Yidhra shifted her head as she continued forward.
"I'm warning you for the last time, kid. Go home."
Jared snapped back. "What are you going to do about it? Attack me? Lay a finger on me, and I'll scream."
"Ughh!" In a sudden burst of speed, Yidhra turned, gripping the child by his collar. "Give me one reason, one! For why you're so glued to me."
Shocked for only a moment, Jared hardened his nerves and replied. "Those guys attacked my family only moments ago; you think they wouldn't jump at the chance to kidnap me too?"
Jared's eyes drifted to her hand, watching as Yidhra's grip softened. He looked back at her, calming his tone. "Face it; My best chance of getting home at all tonight is hovering over you like a fly."
Sucking her teeth, she let go of his collar, walking off. "Just don't blow my cover."
Yidhra's eyes snapped to the side as they approached the street corner. Flicking into a tight alley and yanking Jared along, the voices passing by slowly increased.
" You sure you're leading us to the spot?"
" Just shut it and keep moving. We need to get as many people in here before the barrier gets back on line."
Eyes peeked from the corner as another group of seven walked the streets without hurry.
' The barrier huh… if that's the one Mel told me about then I wonder how long it's been down for?'
" Who's carrying the supplies?"
" Me, Nimue, and Birgitta. It was a lot, but we're carrying the requirements. If we want real artillery, then we're going to need more security than this to avoid the arm's act."
'What the hell?! An artillery. What type of weapons are they creating in Black Treasury? Something like that sounds like you'll need a person from a construction family, maybe even Molecular. '
" Alright keep it pushing. We're wasting moonlight."
' None of this makes sense. The disparity between their goal and equipment just doesn't line up. I thought their goal was to steal some communication concepts for the next Seasonal Shift, but it sounds like they're gearing for all out war. Their plan was doomed to fail anyway, the Insight Elders won't let that happen, but if Mel stops playing… then it would be a bloodbath.'
Yidhra reached down for her knife, which was safely tucked by the side of her leg. Pressing it down on her finger, a drop of blood slid onto the blade as the small group calmly walked passed. With a quiet and clean slice, the droplet splashed on their backs. The group continued to walk, till neither of them could be seen.
"Alright"
Yidhra dropped to one knee as Ore popped out a hole in the ground. Jared peeked over her shoulder.
" A P.e.t?"
Yidhra rubbed a little bit of the blood on Ore's nose till the scent of her blood could be identified.
" So you know what these are?" shaking her head, Yidhra disregarded her own words. "Pets stand for Portable Equipment, Treasury, and Storage. They are not like the animals you just feed and watch at your home. "
" I know what a pet is. I… I've just never seen one in use before. "
" Of course you haven't, you're just a kid. But here you are, clearly showing symptoms of a mental disease by claiming you want to become a journalist. "
" I-"
" And I don't care. Save your comeback for someone else. And keep me out of your idiotic fever dream."
Yidhra rubbed Ore's head and sent her off. "Time to check the scene of the crime, and see what we're dealing with."
Moonlight shone through the stained glass panes. Broken pews and ash laid on the floor. Lifeless breeze filled the chapel as a soft light rained from the center of the room. The center door creaked, breaking the floor underneath it as it slowly opened. Calmly the lady walked in as Jared scaredly walked behind.
'So this is what happened to the place after the fight broke out-'
Yidhra slid her hand across one of the benches, feeling the dried up blood.
' Brutal… I guess that's how they finished the other two distraction squads so quickly. Maybe it would have been better if I talked to them earlier.'
Sniff sniff
Lifting her nose to the air, Yidhra closed her eyes, walking around the room.
'I'm not sure but… It still smells like gunpowder in here.'
Her eyes opened, watching Jared slowly walk past. Gleaming into his eye was a sudden burst of white cyan light that quickly vanished.
" You good kid?"
No response.
' Alright, something weird is about to happen again isn't it.'
Water slowly covered the floor, slowly drifting away from the altar. Yidhra looked up as Jared continued forward. She looked around while keeping her eyes on the kid who seemed to be possessed.
' There were burn marks everywhere. It should still smell more like fried oak since the fight only happened a couple hours ago. Still being able to smell gunpowder is odd.'
Stopping at the front of the bookshelf, Jared mindlessly stared into the distance. The lady stood beside him and looked at the bookshelf as well.
'Is there's something he's looking for?'
She turned to him and back.
' Alright, if this is some type of puzzle then there has to be a secret to it….. Yeah, puzzles like this go way over my head.'
Calmly digging into her cloak, taking out a string tied pouch, Yidhra grabbed two orbs. They looked clear, but within, the wind seemed to be moving.
' It's times like these you can just brute force it.'
With the flick of her fingers and the impact of the orbs to the bookshelf, every book quickly blew from the rack leaving a single book embedded into the shelf.
" Oh there we go. It's probably a manual lever if this thing stopped working."
With a single pull, the shelf slowly opened with a rusted sound like they haven't been used in years. Burnt and soaked books were scattered all over the floor as a single encyclopedia novel, producing water, laid in the center. Colored white, with one corner being solid blue with droplets of green.
Slowly, Jared walked forward, his eyes flickering rapidly. Water gradually moved away from his every step, kneeling to pick the book up from the floor. In an instant, eye blinking light flashed, almost as if a figment of the imagination.
" Are you good now kid?" - Yidhra
" Yeah… I think so."
Walking to her with the book in his hand, he revealed it to her as if knowing she
wanted to see.
"Hmh, a history book. From the looks of it-"
Yidhra looked at the pages.
"- it's very dense." saying nothing more, She continued to look down at the book in Jared's hand.
' No wonder this kid's core awaking was freaking out. This is a hundred times more complex than what a kid his age should be able to handle. What happened earlier must have been his body whiplashing.'
" Guess I should open it-"
Yidhra quickly slammed his hand down, closing the book.
" Ouch! What was that about?"
" There is a time and place for everything. First take this."
The lady quickly took out her Journal, removing all the book markers placed between her pages. In subtle snappy motions, she slid all of them into his pages. With a deep breath, she relaxed her shoulders. With one hand over her face, she sighed.
'It was already bad enough that B.T is gearing for war…. But now there's a kid with Grandpa's mark.'
"UUUUHGGGGH!"
'Damn! I guess leaving in those inhibitors must have done more harm than good.'
Jared- " What, What happened? I thought the book markers were cool. Do they have some type of special ability to it?"
"It's not worth it. This is really not worth it."
Steps slowly echoed throughout the empty room. Sensing the danger late, her hand snapped up, pivoting to the side as blood slowly dripped from the back of her palm.
" Yeah, I don't think it was worth making enemies with us either."-?