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Thorne's POV:
Underestimated
I curiously turn over the metal collar in my hands. Even in the dull light of Cress's basement, it's painfully shiny to look at. Seriously, what is thing made of? Silver and diamonds?
"Won't we be pretty noticeable in these necklaces?" I ask Dr Erland as I try to open up the band.
Shooting me an impatient glare, he takes the collar from me. "This level of flashiness is pretty typical in Luna, especially among the vampires. No-one will even bat an eye." He presses a button on the collar and it snaps open.
"So what's the plan for saving Kai and overthrowing the vampire queen?" Scarlet asks casually.
Cinder stands up and I fight the urge to shrink away a bit. I've tried to joke about it and act like it doesn't bother me, but the fact that one of my best friends is a vampire is actually really, really scary. Suddenly, the girl who used to replace my hair gel with motor oil is a completely different person. A powerful, dangerous person.
"We're going to split up into two groups." She tells us, "Dr Erland, Cress and Thorne will be one group and Iko, Scarlet and I will be the other. Dr Erland's group will infiltrate the castle to search for Kai while my group will scout the less fortunate communities for new recruits for the revolution. Any questions?"
Everyone shakes their heads. I gotta say, I'm a bit surprised. I thought this thing would be super complicated with loads of phases and back-up plans. That's the way it works in the movies anyway. But I can work with simple.
Dr Erland turns to a weird little contraption sitting on the table. It looks like a black glass globe on some kind of metal podium.
"This device is called "The Bridge"," he says, gesturing to the machine, "It's what will transport us to Luna. In order for it to work, you must be within ten feet of it. I warn you, interdimensional travel is not instantaneous, and not comfortable."
"What about that whole thing where your body puts you through a load of agony if you go to the wrong dimension?" Scarlet asked.
"Those collars you're wearing will stabilise your bioelectricity." Dr Erland reassured her.
I glance over at Cinder. "Translation?"
"The collars make your body think your still in the right dimension, so you're spared the pain." She replies.
"Ah okay, that makes more sense."
Dr Erland huffs before turning back to The Bridge and pressing a button on the metal podium. The glass orb glows, softly at first, just a small pinpoint of light in the depths of the otherwise complete darkness of the glass. But it quickly grows brighter, and brighter, and brighter, till I have no choice but to look away as what is basically a second sun is born. And that's not even the worst part. The worst part is the humming. Just this painfully loud, unbelievably annoying humming that's like nails on a chalkboard inside my skull. When it's finally over, I instinctively check my ears to make sure they aren't bleeding.
"Aces and spades, a little warning next time?" I grumble, blinking open my eyes.
"I did say it wouldn't be comfortable." Dr Erland replies reproachfully.
"That was way worse that "not comfortable"!" Scarlet snaps back.
I finally lift my gaze to check out this whole new dimension, a separate sheet of reality that Kai is trapped in somewhere. My first impression? This place is dark. The only source of light is a city a couple of kilometres from where we are, with lights so bright and colourful, the place might as well have been a sun by itself. And God knows this place needs a sun. The sky is black as pitch with just a few points of light where the stars are blinking down at us. Ironically, there is no moon.
I whistle slowly. "Wonder what this place is like in the daytime?"
"it isn't." Iko says, "On Luna, it's always night."
"Poor Lunars. They're really missing out."
"If you are done admiring the scenery, it's about time we split up." Dr Erland called over to us loudly.
I roll my eyes. Aces, what a grouch.
Cress and I follow her dad as he carefully leads us through the bright, bustling streets of the city I saw, which is apparently called "Artemisia". We duck out of the way of laughing nobles and pale, hurried servants, waiting for a chance to steal the right disguises.
Cress's chance comes first. She manages to duck into a boutique while her dad and I wait outside for her to come out with a spare maid's uniform tucked under her arm.
"Shouldn't I be picking up some servant's uniform too?" I ask Dr Erland.
He shakes his head. "it would be better to pass you off as a guard. We should have more freedom that way. We'll just have to hope none of the actual guards smell you and raise the alarm that there's a human in the castle."
I grin confidently. "I can sweet-talk my way out of it if that happens."
Dr Erland glares at me. "You clearly haven't fully comprehended the situation. These aren't simple-minded police officers or teachers, these are trained soldiers that won't hesitate to break your neck if they happen to suspect something's amiss, no matter if you're under eighteen or not."
"You clearly haven't fully comprehended my skill in the art of talking my way out of tricky situations." I reply, mimicking him.
He sighs in frustration. "Of all the kids who had to drag themselves into this, it had to be your kind."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean that the last thing we need on this sort of mission is a cocky rebellious thrill-seeker who sees life as just a big game that they've already won! This isn't a joke, this is a serious, life-or-death situation that will end badly if you don't grow up within the next few hours!"
I narrow my eyes down at the old man, arguments fighting for control on the tip of my tongue. But I don't bother to say them. I know they'll fall on deaf ears. They always do. Every single time I've gotten this lecture with adults tell me that I take nothing seriously, that I'll amount to nothing if I don't get my act together and shape up, and fast, they won't even let me defend myself. Won't let me explain that yes, I do take things seriously, just because I tell jokes doesn't mean I'm a lost cause. They've fixed their view of me in their heads. And nothing I say, nothing will shift them from the view. So why bother now?
Eventually, Cress comes out of the boutique wearing the uniform of a maid, and I manage to hit a guard on patrol with a feathered umbrella I snagged from a shop. I'm tempted to ask what the fur the uniforms are made from is, but I'm kinda afraid of the answer. Now, there's only one disguise left to steal: a scientist uniform for Dr Erland. Which has to come from the royal labs. Piece of cake.
"Our best shot would be to sneak in through the training barracks for the guards." Dr Erland says as we stare at the castle.
"Uh, what about the whole "they'll-kills-us-if-they-realise-we're-not-Lunar" thing?" I hiss back.
"I'll talk us out of it." He says.
Cress glances at him uneasily. "Dad, you're not very good at making up lies on the spot. You're cover-story for having me hack into the Lunar government databases were pretty unbelievable. Maybe we should have Thorne do it. He's good at this kind of thing."
I grin at her, surprised. I thought Cress would've sided with her dad on this!
Unfortunately, Dr Erland doesn't share his daughter's opinion. "He thinks he's good at this kind of thing Crescent, but mark my words if he so much as opens his mouth he'll get us all killed faster than you can blink. I'll do the talking."
Cress shoots me an uneasy look. She clearly doesn't think that we'll fare that much better if we follow her dad's plan.
We circle around the castle until we come across the barracks. Young boys, maybe around fifteen, are all shooting at targets with pistols, doing push-ups under the supervision of an older guard, or fighting each-other in sparring matches. Occasionally, one of the fighters would suddenly turn into a giant wolf and attack their opponent with claws and teeth.
A shudder runs down my spine at the sight. My dad has taken me on a tour of some military schools to try and convince me to join the army and, even with the shapeshifting wolves, this training camp is dredging up some bad memories.
We walk through the barracks, with me in the lead, then Dr Erland, and finally Cress. For a moment, I think that maybe we will manage to walk through the whole place without getting stopped and questioned. The problem with moments is that they don't last very long.
"Hey, you!" one soldier calls out, walking towards us. I try to mimic his rigid upright stance, wincing as my spine creaks in complaint.
"What are you doing here?" He snaps.
Dr Erland opens his mouth, but I beat him to the punch. "I am escorting this scientist and his assistant back into the castle."
The guard raises and eyebrow. "And what were they doing outside the castle?"
Once again Dr Erland tries to answer, once again I beat him to it. "The scientist was studying the bioelectricity of the Earthen dimension and had brought this servant along as his assistant to help him with the equipment. I was brought as security."
"Why didn't he just bring another scientist? There's no shortage of them around here." The guard asks suspiciously.
"It's a personal project of his." I quickly reply, "He believes that it may be possible to simulate our dimension in the Earthen dimension, rendering all of its residents immobile as their bodies destabilise providing the Queen with an easy take-over option. It's a bit too radical for Her Majesty's taste, and it is only being developed as a contingency plan."
"Well, I suppose it explains why you stink of human," the guard said, sniffing the air, "and why your scientist is dressed like that. Fine, you may proceed."
I give the stiffest bow I can muster and march through the barracks, Dr Erland and Cress trailing behind me.
Once we're inside the castle, Dr Erland immediately turns to me, his blue eyes wide behind his glasses. "How did you come up with that story so quickly?"
I shrug, but don't bother hiding my smirk. "I just said the sciency words I understand and strung them with a bunch of talk about dimensions. If it sounds professional enough, people will usually snap it up." I grin at him smugly. "Still think I'm useless?"
A/N: Sorry for the lack of Cresswell, but I just wanted to focus on Thorne and how he's handling all this. I promise, Cresswell will show up in this story.
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