Chapter Two: Sleuthing Around...
I shifted slightly as I glanced around the empty apartment. All that we needed to happen was one nosey neighbor realize that someone was snooping around the place... "Star! Stop worrying over there and help me pull this open. The door is way to heavy for just me to pull it open!" Ella called out suddenly from where she was kneeling in front of the heavy-duty safe that our uncle keeps his most important clues and mystery files in. Darting forward, I grabbed a hold of the door and pulled quickly and hard. It silently gave way, swinging open towards us. Dropping down next to Ella, we continued to pull the door open, until it was open enough for us to see the thick files that were inside of it. Well, not all of the files were thick. Reaching in, I grasped the mostly empty file, picking it up.
"Come on...let's go." I scrambled back to my feet, Ella following closely behind me. Working quickly, we pushed the door shut and Ella quickly locked it back up. If anyone asks, we were just burrowing the file and not stealing it. Besides that... Uncle Ryder was in the hospitable. What could he do to us for snooping around his belongings?
"All of that work for what? An old letter that clearly was in the fire if the crisped edges are anything to go by that appears to be threatening and signed by someone called F. That is helpful." Ella sarcastically announced as she crossed her arms in annoyance, dropping the burnt scrap of paper back onto the table that we were hogging.
I shook my head as I dropped the rest of the file on top of it. "That's the only new piece of information that he has in here. Everything else we already knew."
"Great..." Ella muttered, just as an alarm went off. "What's that?"
"Emergency alarm. We need to get to the bridge pronto." Jay announced as he plopped the pudding cup that he was eating down on the counter before bolting out of the room.
"Should we..?" Ella broke off, not finishing her thought.
"Come on. Let's get going." I darted forward, leaving her behind.
A squawk of hey escaped Ella, right before she bolted after me.
~Kai's POV~
I glanced over at the bridge's entrance to see that the twins were hovering there, but made no attempts to join the rest of us. As if reading my mind, Chamille spoke up, addressing the sisters. "You two can come in here. This is something for all Elemental Masters."
"Kinda surprise to see everyone here for once. It's been how long since we've all been together?" Star commented as she slipped quietly into the room following Ella.
Neuro grunted, shifting slightly where he was standing. "Not quite two years yet. Never mind any of that though. Chamille? Your spying turned something up?"
Chamille nodded, before leaning over to pull up an hologram of a...manor house? "Okay... so I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but apparently some guy claims to have found a way to render our powers useless without the use of vengestone or the crystals in the Crystal Caves on Chen's Island."
"That doesn't sound too good. What is it that he's using, well...claims to be using." Skylor spoke up from where she was sitting on my lap. We ran out of chairs, okay!
Chamille shook her head, frustration dancing in her eyes, "I don't know. Ryder was checking the place out, to see how well we could crash his big reveal, when he was found out. And he was wearing one of Dareth's disguises." Star and Ella glanced at each other, looking almost as if they were having a silent conversation between just the two of them. Before I could speak up about that detail, Dareth, who was hovering near a corner away from all the expensive equipment for debriefing and flying the ship, spoke up.
"They must have a way to scan people to see if their wearing a disguise or not. I mean, the only way for someone to get caught wearing one of those is if their a terrible actor and Ryder has experience working undercover, and Lloyd has made acting a requirement for the rest of you." Dareth frowned, worry creasing his brow.
Lloyd coughed slightly, turning to face Zane. "We need to gather as much information on this as we possibly can before we bust our way into there. Zane? Take Skylor, Paleman, Chamille, and Pixal and see if you can't capture some employees to replace. Paleman will be your messenger. When you find anything that might help us, send it with him. Am I clear?"
"Yeah... any snacks here?" "Yes... you are very clear." They responded instantly. Worry ignited inside of me as I realized that my girlfriend was going to be one of the ones that would be working undercover...and for Lloyd to pick these particular ones to do this job meant that he wasn't placing Dareth in charge of disguises.
"Are you sure about this Lloyd?" I hope none of the others noticed how tiny my voice sounded right then.
Nya raised an eyebrow up at me, her expression made it clear that she had noticed that my voice had been tighter than usual right then. "He wouldn't have suggested it if he wasn't sure."
"Yeah...but this guy put Ryder in the hospital!" I weakly protested, trying to cling on any hope possible to prevent Skylor and the others from doing this.
Ella rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm pretty sure F will find a way to stop us no matter you we send in. Shapeshifters and holograms are our best hope against him." Turning to face the others, she tilted her head to the doorway. "Is it alright if Star and I leave? We have homework to get done."
"Yeah...go right ahead." Lloyd waved his hand dismissively through the air. The sisters hurriedly left, disappearing within seconds. It wasn't until after they had left that Chamille pointed something out.
"How did she know that this guy goes by F?" She quickly lifted a hand up to prevent Bolobo from responding. "I never even mentioned that detail."