Episode 10: Eye of the Storm

5th of Umbralis

Now outside of slaver territory, the group should've been able to relax, but the atmosphere was still tense. Aelita walked next to Ulrich, trying not to look at Jeremie, while the Wise Man walked hand in hand with Laura who seemed to be talking about nothing in particular. Although most of her talking seemed to be directed towards her being nervous about their current location. They were travelling very, very close to the border between Lyoko and Replika. Yumi and Odd trailed behind, the Colonist rubbing her forehead, clearly frustrated.

The border city was called Vaulxerr, home mostly to humans and dwarves who quarried granite for building and oricalcum for smithing, as it was one of the strongest metals, though very rare. Laura claimed that rather than a mayor like most cities they visited, a nobleman named Hans Klotz presided over Vaulxerr, though it was very clear as they approached that leadership had changed.

Xana had sent soldiers there; likely for the oricalcum. They now patrolled the city streets, and many citizens were fearful in their presence. Many of the city guardsmen had been strung up in the town square, though rumor stated that some had taken refuge in a nearby canyon. Laura sighed. "This really shouldn't surprise me. Compte Klotz was always sort of nervous. He likely surrendered as soon as the drow invaded."

Jeremie seemed unimpressed. "We should resupply as quietly as possible and set out as soon as we can."

The others agreed and split into pairs as they navigated around, cautiously avoiding patrols. Luckily, Xana must not have anticipated the Heroes entering Vaulxerr, and they were able to restock with little trouble. Yumi had entered the Warrior's Alehouse, named after the title of the ancient prophet as it was believed that he was born there, to gather rumors to keep Xana off of the party's trail. Instead, she heard something better—a chance to save her brother.

Apparently, Compte Klotz had been asked to host a party, which Yumi found rather strange until the innkeeper explained that Xana was trying to recruit nobility to her cause, likely to pay for the war. The innkeeper claimed that many rich and influential people were in attendance, including Xana herself and that a large number of her slaves were to be serving in place of Klotz's servants. If she were lucky and very careful, she might be able to sneak inside and rescue her brother from Dhaune's clutches.

The only problem was dealing with Jeremie. When Yumi approached him with this news, he only asked if she were insane. "You don't know if your brother will be with them, and yet you want to waltz right into Compte Klotz's manor and start looking?" He demanded.

Odd was unimpressed as well. "Not to mention you have no real plan on getting inside. That place will be locked up tighter than a miser's purse."

Yumi seemed desperate. "I know that it's a long shot, but if there's even a chance that Hiroki is with them or nearby…" She pressed her palms together. "Please Jeremie! What would you do if this were your father? I may not get a second chance to save him! Please!"

For a moment there was silence as Jeremie searched her eyes. Then, he sighed. "This had better be worth it, Yumi. If you don't find your brother you had better make it out with something, or so help me…"

"Yes!" She cheered as she hugged the Wise Man. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet. How do plan on getting in, and you can't go alone." He clarified. "What are your plans?"

"I hadn't really thought about that yet." Yumi admitted. "Though I'm sure that there are sewers or secret passages that lead inside."

Odd folded his arms. "It may be easier to pose as a guest and go in through the front gate if you're looking for someone." He grinned. "And you won't come out smelling like the back end of a troll!"

"There's no way that she could get past the front gate without an invitation!" Laura protested. "Klotz loves to throw parties—I've been to a few—but he takes security really seriously. He'll send six men to take care of a rat in the larder."

Odd grinned. "Leave that to me." He looked at Yumi. "What do you think of the name 'Mayuki Fujiwara'? And guest, of course." He asked.

Yumi considered it. "I guess it's sort of pretty."

Ulrich folded his arms. "You're serious, aren't you?" He asked incredulously. "You're mad! If they find out, they'll kill you!"

"I've got to do this, Ulrich." Yumi said sternly. "If I don't I may never get the chance again."

Jeremie leaned against the aravel. "Nevertheless, have you considered who you want as backup? I won't let you go alone." She shook her head and Jeremie looked at Aelita. "You could go disguised as her handmaiden. You worked for Sissi Delmas, didn't you?"

Aelita's face turned pink. "Yes, but I—I was trained as an escort not a handmaiden. And I never formally accompanied Sissi to any parties, especially not fancy ones!" She seemed to panic as she shook her head. "I'd only mess it up! What if I use the wrong fork? And then accidentally stab someone with it? That sounds exactly like something that would happen to me!"

Ulrich laughed. "Just act offended that they bled on your dress! No one will even notice." Aelita smiled briefly, but it vanished and she shook her head 'no'.

Jeremie sighed. "I can't go with you. I don't know much about nobles and I'm not really good at pretending either."

The Mercenary shook his head with a chuckle. "What is there to know? They like to get drunk and talk smack about one another. Other than that, they're rich and they like to talk about it."

Laura started to brush her hair. "I don't think I should go either. Compte Klotz would recognize me." She looked at Odd. "What about you?"

Yumi drew the line there. "Oh no. The last time Odd escorted me to a fancy party he got severely drunk and started dancing on tables. I found him two hours later locked in the library with a bottle of 4:16 East brandy and some vulgar novel about a man dressed as a cat!"

Odd laughed. "I have no memory of that! I remember the novel though. He was a purple cat."

"I'm surprised." Jeremie said flatly. "Why am I surprised? I shouldn't be surprised!"

"Forgive me if I don't understand the erotic appeal of a man dressed as a purple cat," Aelita said with a raised eyebrow.

Laura seemed disgusted for a moment, but then she turned to Ulrich. "I guess it'll have to be you then, Ulrich."

Ulrich recoiled. "What?! I hate the nobility of Lyoko," Ulrich protested. "They're petty and rude! And everyone thinks that they're better than you because their great-grandfather bought out a tea company or something!"

Laura laughed honestly. "True as that may be, you know about them. You could interact with them. Interaction will make you seem less suspicious."

Ulrich narrowed his eyes at her, but Yumi grabbed his shoulder. "Please, Ulrich." She begged with her eyes.

He sighed. "Fine, I'll go." He pointed at Jeremie. "But I want you outside in case something goes wrong."

Jeremie nodded. Odd ran into town while Ulrich used paint and Laura's illusion magic to mask his appearance. Aelita stood and offered to help Yumi with her disguise. Yumi still had her formalwear from the night of the strike on Capital Lyoko, which she asked Laura to modify with spells so it didn't look suspiciously similar. Aelita grabbed some spare fabric and decorated Yumi's fans, using the fabric to cover the iron ribs. Finally she helped Yumi fix her hair—Yumi had short hair and there was too little time to properly prepare so her hairstyle was relatively simple—and painted her face. Yumi barely recognized herself, and Aelita mentioned off-handedly that the things she'd learned in Arak-Muna had finally come in handy.

Yumi prepared for a fight, hiding kunai and smaller weapons in her obi. She tied her mask around her waist, before joining Ulrich outside of the aravel. Laura had woven an illusion into his formalwear, and he was almost unrecognizable. The Fair did the same to Yumi's obi, though the change was not nearly as dramatic. Jeremie and Aelita unhitched Rorkal from the aravel, and Yumi climbed onto the saddle as Odd ran back from the city. "Here. Remember, you're Mayuki Fujiwara and Chikao Sato. You're nobles visiting from Nippon, and you were invited in hopes of convincing the Emperor to pledge naval support."

Laura grabbed the invitation before Ulrich could. "This… looks official. How did you get this?"

Odd snatched it back before handing it to Ulrich. "Believe me, you don't want to know."

Laura pouted, seemingly put out. "You can't say something like that! Now I want to know even more."

Ulrich grabbed the reigns of Rorkal's bridle and listened carefully as Laura gave him directions for getting up to the manor. He looked up at Yumi nervously, and she simply smiled at him.

It took about an hour to reach the manor, as it was built into the side of the mountain. When they arrived, servants—or more likely slaves—helped Yumi off of her horse. She scanned their faces but none seemed familiar. Ulrich courteously motioned to the gate where a brutish man stood guard. The Mercenary handed him the invitation, and he read it quickly before smiling and opening the gate.

Inside were about two dozen guests in extravagant clothes. Many slaves stood with platters, and at every door stood a stern-looking guard. Yumi snapped her wrist to open her fan, and she held it gracefully in front of her face. "Do you see Hiroki?" Ulrich asked quietly.

"Not yet. Keep your eyes open, though." Yumi said.

As was custom, they followed the line of guests and greeted the host. Compte Klotz smiled as they approached, and both kissed his hand when he offered it to him. "Welcome to my home. I don't believe we've met. I am Compte Hans Klotz; and you are…?"

"I am Chikao Sato, and this is Mayuki Fujiwara. We're here representing Nippon." Ulrich motioned to himself and Yumi, who smiled and nodded.

"Some of Xana's guests, then." The Compte said, his voice trailing off. He smiled and shook his head as he stroked his beard. "Regardless, please, enjoy yourselves. We'll speak more later."

The two teenagers walked off, Yumi pressing her hand to her chest with a sigh. They looked around, but Hiroki was nowhere to be seen. "I guess we should mingle; maybe if we're careful we can ask if someone has seen him." Yumi suggested.

Ulrich nodded, and they approached the nearest person to them. When he turned, they realized he was an elf, though unlike most elves he had let his beard grow out. His hair at one point may have been brown, but he was older and it had begun to grey. He wore spectacles on his nose that hid his green eyes, and his finery was red and white. "Welcome to the party. You look new here, so a word of advice? If you speak to Xavier Gosselin, avoid talking about the military. Or… smallclothes." His voice was deep and almost fatherly.

Yumi laughed behind her fan. "Thank you for the advice."

The elf smiled. "No problem." He raised an eyebrow at them. "My name is Franz Hopper." They introduced themselves with their false names, and Ulrich asked as politely as he could what an elf was doing at a formal party. Either he was a wilder as his vallaslin suggested, or he was a city elf, and many laws prevented them from rising to fortune. "I'm… a merchant, of a sorts, though I'm more of a purveyor of goods both common and rare. I have high-paying clients and connections." He explained calmly, though Yumi noted that he tucked a golden amulet into his clothes after spotting the mask at her side.

"Is the Compte one of your clients?" Yumi asked.

"The Compte and I have been friends for many years before I made my small fortune." He said. "Have you known him for long?"

"No, not long really." Ulrich shook his head.

"One of Xana's guests, then?" He asked, disappointed.

Yumi narrowed her eyes. "I suppose you could say that."

"Be careful around her. The stories of the elvhen say that she will raze the entire world if she gets the chance." Franz said warningly before he sighed, "Why do villains always want to destroy the world? Where do they think they'll live?"

Yumi laughed again, but her face grew serious as she asked, "Have you seen a Nihonjin boy around? He goes by the name Hiroki Ishiyama. He's one of… one of the slaves." Her voice grew weaker as she spoke, as if it hurt to admit it.

Franz shook his head. "I was born in Bastium, so I spent a lot of my life as a slave. As such, I try not to think about it too much. Under normal circumstances I would be fighting to free them but that is unwise in this scenario. Xana has guards crawling all over the place." With a sigh, he smiled weakly and waved them off. "What I mean to say is, no, I haven't seen him. Try talking to the Overseer. She's around somewhere."

Franz smiled and returned to socializing. Yumi looked to Ulrich, who merely shrugged. They scanned the faces of the dark elves who conversed with nobles, and they both jumped as someone spoke behind them. "What do you think you're doing here?" They turned to find Dhaune standing behind them, her hair braided and pulled out of her face. She'd powdered her face to make it look darker, the exact opposite of Yumi's makeup, though her splotches were still visible underneath. "Where are the others? Are you planning on ambushing us?"

Ulrich motioned as if he were going to say something, but Yumi grabbed a kunai from her obi and held it at Dhaune's throat. "How dare you speak to us after everything you did?" Startled, Ulrich moved quickly but purposely so that his body blocked the guards from seeing what was really happening. He quickly scanned the area and discreetly turned to better face Dhaune. The Mercenary furrowed his brows. "How did you even recognize us? We're under Laura's illusion spells!" He hissed quietly.

"Would you believe me if I said… no, that joke would be ill-timed. I've trained myself to recognize illusions. The two of you are twinkling like a diamond-studded rainbow." She looked Yumi dead in the eyes. "I dare you to kill me. I deserve it, I know. But while you're reveling in my death, do me a favor and consider how you'll escape this place after murdering a general." Yumi struggled with this for a moment, but she lowered her hand. "That's a good girl."

"Where is Xana? Shouldn't you be licking her boots?" Ulrich demanded.

Dhaune laughed bitterly. "I honestly haven't got a clue." She said. "She took an elite group of guards with her when we parted ways, though. She might have gone back to the city."

"What about Hiroki?" Yumi demanded.

A light clicked on inside of Dhaune's mind. "Of course! You heard the rumor in town, then?" She asked. "He isn't here. If I had brought him above ground he would've tried to run." Yumi sighed sadly, and Dhaune offered, "He is safe though. I have personally seen to that."

Yumi looked to the side and spit on the ground. "He isn't safe. He's your slave."

Dhaune shook her head, noticing that they were starting to draw attention. "I should get back to the party before I'm missed, and you should leave before I dispel your illusion and order the guards to attack." Dhaune walked away from the two teenagers, and while Ulrich glared at her as she left, Yumi stared at the ground and shivered in anger. She spun around and threw the kunai she held at the dark elf general, who sensed it and stopped it with a burst of dark energy. The guests gasped and stopped socializing, the guards drew their weapons and Dhaune pointed at them. "Take them alive! Xana will want to personally see them hanged!"

Ulrich cursed under his breath. "You had to attack, didn't you?" He asked. He drew his sword. "Go get the others! I'll hold them off!"

Yumi was about to disagree, but Ulrich grinned at her. She moved to place her mask on her face, but Franz distracted her. "Miss Mayuki, drop that mask!" He shouted. She froze, almost getting herself tackled by a dwarven guard. She kicked him in the teeth before ignoring Franz's advice and tying the mask behind her head, disappearing into thin air.

Ulrich watched her vanish, and he started engaging in combat with the guards. He sliced at the first's chest, kicking him into another guard and ultimately into a nearby table. He stabbed a plain-clothes guard, pulling the katanna out to slice at his throat. One guard snuck up on him, and he spun around in time to watch the guard get forced a meter back by a crossbow bolt.

The Mercenary turned and saw Franz Hopper holding a crossbow that he'd taken from a guard he had knocked out. He loaded the crossbow again as Ulrich fought off the guards, though ultimately both Ulrich and Franz were surrounded. Dhaune ordered the guards to take them to the dungeons.

Ulrich was leaning against the wall of the stone dungeon, striped of his katanna and his pride. Franz paced back and forth. "You and Mayuki sure know how to make a party more interesting, don't you?" He asked.

"Those aren't our real names. My name is Ulrich Stern, and Mayuki is Yumi Ishiyama." Ulrich confessed.

"Figures. Still, you aren't half the liar as some of those nobles." Franz joked.

Ulrich shifted. "So where did you learn how to use a crossbow? I don't think that's a skill they teach merchants, regardless of the goods that they purvey."

"I learned quite a bit about archery during my time with the wilders. They're good people. I was even married to one before… the incident." His voice trailed off. He shook his head before looking to Ulrich. "So, we need to get out of here before Xana comes and decides that we'll taste good in the soup, or whatever she has planned. Any ideas?"

"I didn't come here alone." Ulrich smiled.

It had taken a while, but the other Heroes had navigated their way into the dungeon through the sewers, much to the protests of Odd and Laura. Now, they wandered around the dungeons, hopelessly lost. Even when Jeremie tried to contact Ulrich, he received no insight on his precise location or how to get there.

After about half an hour, Aelita stopped running. The others stopped as she said, "Um, Jeremie? I think we've passed that same cracked cornice five times now."

Odd cursed, "Juno's granny panties! I knew things were going too smoothly!"

Laura furrowed her brows. "We've been going in circles and you just thought to say something now?"

Aelita got defensive. "I wasn't sure. Every part of this dungeon looks exactly the same!"

Yumi tore at her hair. "Ugh! What do we do now?"

Jeremie tried his best to calm the others down. "Alright, nobody panic. We'll just… stay here until I think of something."

Aelita smiled. "That shouldn't take long! You're always thinking of things!"

Franz stood up suddenly. "That's it! I'm officially tired of waiting to be rescued!" He walked over to the iron bars and shoved something into the lock. He rushed away with his back facing the door. "Cover your ears!" He ordered, and Ulrich copied his position.

The lock on the door exploded, creating a loud explosion and clanking. Franz stood and gently pushed the door open. Ulrich shot up angrily. "Wait a second. Why didn't you do that earlier?!"

Franz turned to face him. "You said that your friends were coming," He teased gently. Ulrich seemed put out, but he followed Franz out into the corridor. The elf pointed down the hall, and they started running down it. They nearly ran over the other Heroes.

Yumi and Aelita embraced Ulrich. "Oh, Ulrich! You're safe! Praise the Creator!" Aelita called out.

"Of course I am, Kitten. With the help of Franz Hopper, of course." Ulrich said, motioning to the elf next to him. Franz smiled at the teenagers, examining each of their faces. His eyes lingered a second too long on Aelita, causing her to tilt her head in confusion.

Yumi smiled up at Franz. "I'd thank the gods, but I'll settle for thanking you."

"My pleasure." He nodded. He pointed down the hall. "Your escape is likely that way. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." He walked away, his eyes lingering on Aelita and the mask Yumi had tied around her neck.

As the elf walked away, Jeremie looked at Yumi. "No more spying. At all. Period."