Chapter 11 - Escape
Beta'd by A.O. Talmidge
Anankos' mind shifted to the ninja he had set to tailing the messenger (his name is Izana) just in time to watch him die.
Drawing the life, the soul, out of the messenger, the man, the anomaly, took that energy and shoved it into the collapsed form of the red-haired young woman, the one who had been with him before. She started having a fit, and something black pulsed wildly under part of her visible skin. Her whole form flickered (oh, that's not good) for a few moments before stabilizing.
What was that?
Something in his mind dismissed it. Unimportant.
Even so, this was certainly…unexpected. Regardless of how it had happened, the deed was done and he directed the invisible ninja away. They slipped silently down the corridor past oncoming guards, no doubt attracted to the sound of the previous struggle between the messenger and the anomaly.
He felt something like mirth stir in him. Arete had failed in assassinating the messenger because of his own impatience. He had sprung a trap meant for the messenger on a simple thief. The surprise attack had turned into a battle once the archduke did arrive, a battle he could have won easily in Valla.
But here, outside of it, his power and influence were weakened. It took immense amounts of energy to send soldiers through to this world, especially when the Bottomless Canyon's gate was closed. For now it remained open, making transfer easier, but only at that location. Anankos was powerful, certainly, but even he had limits.
However, this…turn of events could work well for his own designs. Initially, he had planned simply for chaos in the aftermath: let each nation interpret the murder how they would, all while Garon's agents would have sewed deceit and discord.
That would still be in place, but with a small twist.
If the anomaly allowed himself to stay incarcerated once he was jailed, he would be executed for his crime. However, that was unlikely to come to pass, given how much Anankos had witnessed him cling to life. More likely, he would escape. Once out, he would be hunted. Anankos would spur that along to make sure the anomaly and the other nations were busy with the chase while his own plans moved forward.
For now, a puppet ruler would need to be installed in Izumo, one with a sympathetic ear to Nohr's plight. The ninjas under Garon's command from Mokushu could make short work of anyone else that rose to power in Izumo if needed.
Regardless, Nohr would be one step closer towards conquering Hoshido, and if the anomaly decided to intervene, he would be hard pressed to do so. Who would believe the word of one wanted for regicide?
If he couldn't kill the anomaly, he would neutralize the threat he posed.
But it still weighed on his mind. The anomaly had avoided the Vallite Curse, which should not have been possible. For ages, ages, it had stood as an achievement, a monument to his control over any information on Valla.
What went wrong? Anankos had felt the curse trigger, the familiar tug on his power as it sought to dissolve the anomaly (are you really going to keep referring to him like that?) into liquid (energy), before drawing him back into Valla.
That pull had abruptly faded to nothing.
And now, not only was he here, he had done Anankos' dirty work for him, just like that. He just kept getting more and more intriguing.
How had he escaped it? Something to do with the power that man wielded?
(Ah, get it. You weren't the one who made that curse; you're just using your own power to fuel it. You're so far gone that you don't even realize that its potency fades the more your spread yourself thin. But then, it doesn't feel like that was what happened here. Something else is happening right under your nose.)
Or perhaps, the curse itself was losing its strength? But why would it…?
His mind stopped short at the errant thought. Where had that come from? He searched the fragments of his mind he had for answers, but found nothing. Nothing that would have led to that conclusion. Nothing that should not be there.
No, that wasn't quite right. There was something foreign, almost like strands of smoke weaved into his own psyche. They danced out of reach when he tried to make contact, as if wary of him. Odd. His mind focused long enough to realize that it was strange to have a portion of your own mind acting like that.
He mentally lashed out at the smoke, trying to capture it, draw it in, but instead passed through–
"Hey…see you're awake…give…your hand."
–the substance, which immediately retreated elsewhere.
They felt similar to memories. His memories, but very much not his memories. That in and of itself wasn't an unfamiliar situation, seeing as he constantly drew in the memories and experiences of those who served him. However, unlike those, these refused to integrate with his own mind. Why was that?
A report flowed into his mind. He could deal with the errant memories later.
Anankos opened his eyes to the view of a servant girl being stabbed through the head by his (no, not your) hand. She fell to the floor without a sound, dead.
(Wow, you really don't play around, do you?)
Anankos shifted the eyes of the ninja, noting the three other corpses nearby. Another servant and two men in armor. The ninja's infiltration had ended poorly after one of the more perceptive guards sensed the ninja's approach. The messenger had likely warned them.
He felt a weight tucked under the ninja's left arm and moved the eyes down to look. The traitor's book on seals. How had the messenger gotten ahold of it?
No matter.
Could it be used to break his own? Perhaps, but it was unlikely he could undo his own seal with just his own power. However, this was a secondary goal, at best. Killing the messenger had been his true goal, and the anomaly had already taken care of that, regardless of his reasons.
With the messenger out of the way, it was time to move on to the next step.
The cell wasn't quite like any Kaden had seen before. Oh, sure, it had some of the usual amenities. Thick metal bars linked closely together, a sturdy metal door with a slat for meals. A chamber pot sitting in a forlorn corner. But, that was where the similarities ended.
The rest of the cell was made of sturdy wood. The whole complex looked largely unused, not to mention it was blessedly clean. It probably helped that it wasn't situated in the basement of the castle, but in a separate secure area on the castle grounds. At least that way it didn't stink of typical dungeon rot.
Though, that wasn't to say the air had a nice smell; the wooden walls must have been recently polished and gave off a smell like resin-based lacquer. Mixed with the scent of incensed candles burning elsewhere outside the cell, it made for an unpleasant combination.
His nose twitched and he sneezed. He sniffed, and rubbed it irritably.
He shifted, sinking deeper into the bedding of the actually comfortable cot, bolted to the wall of course, but completely lacking in bugs, rotting frame or stink of previous occupants.
He sighed, shifting again, but had trouble actually trying to fall asleep. Not only were there two guards, jailers, playing cards at a table near the entrance to the room, talking in low voices, but he was still on edge from seeing Anankos' soldiers so soon again.
Especially the one that talked, the one that had been overflowing with that distinct scent. Izana had called her Arete. Kaden felt like he knew the name from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place where. She and the other soldiers – no, more like assassins – had focused completely on the archduke, uncaring even when he had struck down the others.
His earlier assumption may have been more accurate than he thought. Anankos' soldiers had seemed completely uninterested in him. Maybe that could be a good thing, but he had a feeling if things like this kept happening, that it wouldn't last.
He sighed again. The archduke hadn't been by to talk to them yet. Sure, he was probably busy, and maybe it wouldn't be until the next day that he came around. Kaden still wanted answers.
He jumped, sitting up quickly when his thoughts were interrupted as the metal door to the building slammed open. Quickly making his way to the bars of his cell, he could make out someone, another guard, talking animatedly with the two jailers. One of them nodded and headed off with the newly arrived guard, leaving just the one.
"What was that about?" Kaden called to the remaining jailer.
The jailer looked up from where he was cleaning up cards that had fallen off the table to the floor. "None of your business, that's what."
So he probably had no idea, then. Kaden backed away from the bars and sank back down onto the cot. Back to waiting. He…wasn't really good at it. Eventually he knocked softly on the wooden wall shared by the occupied cell next to him.
He spoke in a quiet voice, hopefully the jailer wouldn't overhear. "Nina, you still awake?"
He knew she was, but people generally reacted poorly when they figured out that he could get a feel for what they were doing when he couldn't see them, both by sound and scent. Though in this case, he could hear her pacing. The pacing stopped near to the shared wall after he called.
"What do you think?" Her voice was hushed, like his.
Kaden winced at the annoyance laced into the question. Probably justified given that she'd had only stayed because he'd asked her to. He doubted she would be here at all otherwise. "You didn't have anything else planned to happen tonight, did you?"
"If you're asking if I know what that was, the answer is no."
"Ah. Sorry."
A long moment of silence hung between them.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked.
"Can you really not tell?"
"Well, I mean, I didn't want to assume." He sighed. "Look, I know you I shouldn't have pressured you into staying, but, you were injured. Escaping would've been dangerous before you got healed."
"And you needed to pick the archduke's brain about those invisible soldiers. Helping him out, even if he probably didn't need it, was the best way to talk to him about it after we tried to steal from him."
"Well, yeah, I guess that's true." It sounded about right, though he hadn't really been thinking that far ahead at the time.
"Whatever. I'm here now. Are you going to tell me more about what happened to your other friends?" Nina asked. "I feel like you owe me an explanation, at least. And it's not like we're pressed for time right now."
He was about to immediately answer, but paused. Maybe some quid-pro-quo wouldn't go amiss. "Only if you tell me what that what you were aiming for in that heist. No one steals from a castle just for the thrill of it."
"Wow, you are demanding today."
He started to protest before he heard Nina let out a quiet laugh.
"Relax, Kaden that was a bad attempt at humor. Anyways, I wasn't lying about that; I really do enjoy the challenge. Watching the looks on people's faces when they realize their stuff has been given to the poor is just an added bonus."
"So what, then?"
There was a moment of silence before he heard her sigh. "Remember the book the archduke asked about before we were lead away?"
Kaden nodded, before remembering that she couldn't see him. "Yeah. Something in it you really desperately wanted to know?"
"Not me, exactly. An…associate."
He let out a low whistle. "Some associate if you're willing to go through this for them. Who are they?"
He heard her huff mixed with fabric moving. A shrug? "It doesn't really matter at this point. There's pretty much no way I'm getting ahold of that book now. That enough for you?
"I guess." He did want to know more, but at the same time realized it probably wasn't the best idea to press her at the moment.
"Your turn, then."
He took a deep breath, dredging up the memories. "Right."
He told her of the attack in the library, the desperation they had felt, Anna's warded safe house, the resolve to do something about what Robin thought to be a mad dragon named Anankos. He paused, at the right before he got to where…
"Why'd you stop?" Nina asked.
"At that point, everything happened so fast. Robin stopped and asked if we could hear something, and the next, he was on the ground screaming. I froze, but Anna moved to help him or something, but started screaming as well. And then they both…disappeared."
"Disappeared? What do you mean by that?"
His ears flicked in annoyance. "Exactly what I said."
"So they were transported away by magic or something, then?"
"I…no, it was different. I'm sure of it. One moment they were there, and the next they weren't. None of the usual signs like runes or something that would indicate magical transportation happening."
He heard Nina snort. "Since when were you an expert on that?"
He shrugged, forgetting again she couldn't see him. "I'm not. It just felt, I dunno, wrong. I…don't really know how to explain it. It wasn't normal."
"Alright, alright." Her tone was placating. "Let's say it wasn't. Why are you agonizing over this so much? They're gone and there was nothing you could do, right? It was out of your control. Besides, it's only been a day, right? You're jumping to conclusions if you're up and moving on already."
"That's…" He wanted to say that she didn't know what it was like, seeing as she hadn't been there when it happened. She couldn't know of the confusion, the suddenness of it. She was being harsh, likely still frustrated from being caught, and letting it show through her tone.
He sighed. "I was going to."
She snorted, sounding unimpressed. "Wow, you move on quick. So then, what changed?"
Kaden kneaded the blanket on the cot a moment, looking for the right words. "Well, like I said before, the archduke knows something about those invisible soldiers, and hopefully he can tell me something about. Maybe he knows something about what happened to them."
"That seems unlikely. I highly doubt he even knows them. Besides, what were you going to do with that information if you did get it? From what I can tell, it feels like you barely understand what's going on."
He let out a mirthless chuckle. "I don't, really. Maybe I just didn't want to ignore my problems anymore." He'd spent what felt like a lifetime running from another issue that even now, he didn't want to face. "This feels like a chance to stop doing that."
Nina went silent at that. The door to the not-dungeon slammed open again. He ignored it and the sounds of more people entering, lost in his thoughts.
"Hang on." Nina's voice sounded confused.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Well, this is interesting. I think I know where your friends are."
"Really?" He folded his arms, skeptical. "That seems…unlikely. I don't think you've even met them. If you're trying to cheer me up, I appreciate it, but you're as much in the dark on this as I am."
He heard a hand meet skin. "Ugh." Was she slapping her forehead? "Come on, aren't you supposed to be the one with keen senses?"
He cocked his head in confusion. "I mean, I don't like to brag, but…"
"Then look out of your cell, Kaden. They're literally being escorted into the dungeon. Right now."
What?! Kaden jumped up from the cushy cot, knocking a knee into the cot's frame in his haste. His hands clasped around the bars, he peered at an angle towards the entrance. His eyes widened.
Sure enough, there they were. His cloak was missing, but it was definitely Robin, hands shackled, being pushed roughly from behind. He could make out more guards behind them, and caught a glimpse of the familiar form of Anna being carried in, unconscious. The procession stopped in front of one of the cells as it was unlocked by the jailer who had left earlier.
"Robin!" he called out.
Robin turned to face him, surprise lighting up his face. He looked absolutely exhausted, but a semblance of a smile appeared, one of the corners of his mouth quirking up. "Oh, is that you, Kaden?" Yes, that was Robin's voice. "What are you doing here?"
His nonchalant tone made Kaden have very mixed feelings. He both wanted to hug the guy and punch him in his stupid face for acting so aloof after literally disappearing in front of him.
One of the soldiers escorting him slammed his spear against Kaden's cell bars near his hands, and Kaden jumped back away from the hit. "Silence. Don't speak to the assassin, thief."
Kaden's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Assassin?" he asked. The guard glared at him, clearly unimpressed at not listening to him about speaking again. "What, you just said not to talk to him, not you."
Robin made an approximation of a shrug. "I committed regicide."
Kaden blinked. "What?" his heart jumped in his chest, even as his eyes widened. He sputtered slightly. "Why?"
A different guard slammed his spear into the back of Robin's head, and he stumbled. "Enough! Silence, both of you."
Kaden relented for the moment while Robin was locked into his cell. He heard another cell door closing soon after Robin's. Were they really just putting Anna in there unconscious?
Thankfully, before long, the guards left, leaving just jailers in their place.
"Robin? Where were you? I thought you and Anna were..." he stopped before he spoke the last word. Obviously they weren't dead. No point in thinking that. Nina was right; it had barely been a full day since he saw them disappear.
"It's complicated. I'll tell you later. For now, let me sleep. I'm exhausted. We'll talk once everyone's awake again."
"Is Anna alright?"
"It's complicated," he repeated. "Maybe, at least. I pretty sure she's just unconscious at the moment. She's been through a lot. Now, please. Let me rest."
Kaden settled back on to the cot. Nina laughed quietly from the next cell over. "You get caught up with the most interesting people, Kaden. I thought I was ambitious, stealing from the archduke. Sheesh." He could almost see her shaking her head. "You really need to put a stopper on those favors of yours."
Kaden stayed silent. It wasn't a favor that had drawn him initially to Robin. It was curiosity, maybe mixed with a little boredom. He owed him nothing.
But why would he murder the archduke? Robin was a bit aloof, but maybe that was because he was in an unfamiliar place. He didn't seem the type who would just kill anyone without good reason. There had to be a good explanation for this. Right?
Unsurprisingly, sleep didn't come easily.
Her first memory was of a sense of terrible wrongness. Moving was difficult, almost painful. It was warm, at least. There was a voice – no, several voices. Only one was distinct.
"So beautiful."
She hated it. At first, she couldn't understand what was being said to her, but she was able to piece it together later. Even at first, her mind was sharp, taking note of the sounds, the vibrations, the timbre, the unbridled joy in that voice.
"Perfect. You're so perfect."
Day after day after day the voice and voices continued. Then, one day she grew eyes. She blinked owlishly at the gigantic figure near her, her vision too blurry to make out anything in detail. Even so, she still felt the intensity of that gaze even through a hazy filter.
Later, she realized the blur was part of her cage; she was being held captive.
The figure's eyes moved into focus. There was a focused sense of madness in those eyes. Mad, but with purpose.
Red liquid, blood, was forcefully fed to her. She despised it, but recognized that it was helping somehow, gave her more strength. She didn't know if she would have survived without it. Something dark flitted through her burgeoning mind, something that didn't feel like her own. The other voices grew louder.
She desperately wanted to kill this creature. She could tell that it wasn't her own suggestion, but it seemed like a good idea, even though she didn't fully understand why.
"Ah, you have eyes now too. Splendid, absolutely marvelous. You really are amazing, aren't you? I wonder if you can see me yet. Mmm, no, unlikely. Your eyes are newly formed, so the muscles won't contract correctly just yet, will they?"
She stared into the eyes of her creator and longed for the day when she would be able to escape.
"What will happen next, I wonder? Ah, so perfect, my creation."
Anna woke up.
She felt…fine? Hadn't she just been…?
Been what? Doing something?
She felt like she should be hurting much more than she was. She distinctly remembered a lot of pain. Part of her wasn't complaining, but the other part felt that it was unnatural; people didn't just get over from pain that intense just like that.
As if responding to that, her head started pounding. She opened her eyes, then immediately closed them, wincing as a bout of pain lanced through them. She shifted, feeling something soft give slightly underneath her.
Whatever it was, she couldn't exactly remember what happened. No, that wasn't right. She could feel them, the memories were there, but they were…blocked? No, that wasn't it either.
She remembered sensations, a feeling like she had been riding a storm, going with the flow unconsciously. It had made perfect sense at the time. But now? Now, nothing was left but a vague sense that something was off.
"Ah, you're awake? Can you talk?" A familiar voice. The tone was quiet, hushed.
She clutched her pounding head. She opened her eyes slowly this time, but couldn't make out much. She groaned.
A sigh of relief from the same voice. "Good enough."
The name came to her. "…Robin." Her voice sounded slightly hoarse. She cleared her throat.
"That's me." The source of his voice was coming from somewhere to her right, slightly muffled.
"Where…" she glanced around, blinking rapidly to clear the blurriness out of her eyes. Her vision resolved into the view of a room with polished wooden walls. She sat up slowly, supporting her weight with one hand. Those were metal bars in front of her. This…"Is this a prison cell? How did we get here?"
She heard Robin chuckle. It sounded like it was coming from the next cell over. "We, well for lack of a better way of describing it, appeared in one of the corridors of the Izumite Castle."
"Appeared?" She carefully slipped her legs off the surprisingly comfortable cot to the floor. It was solid. She didn't know why she felt that was surprising. "What do you mean?"
"I'm still not sure myself, to be honest. I got us back here, but that's about all I'm sure of at the moment. I don't really know where we came back from."
"But we were…I don't…" Her right hand itched and she scratched absently at it.
She stopped when she noticed the scars. Grey scars crisscrossing over her right hand, tracing the pattern of her veins. She pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and saw that they stretched all the way up her arm past her shoulder. She peeked underneath her shirt.
They stopped at her heart.
That was new. It came with dull surprise. She felt like she should be freaking out a little more. Yes, this should worry her more. At least besides itching slightly they didn't hurt. But how did she get them?
Was it important? She was alive.
She shook away the thought, and asked anyways. "Why do I have so many scars going up my arm?" She asked Robin. Why did she sound so calm?
"I'd guess that they're a side effect of whatever was happening to you before. I have a few theories, but now probably isn't the best time or place to talk about them. We're a bit crunched for time."
"Why?"
"Before you woke up, someone official looking came around to inform us that all of us were going to be executed for crimes against the kingdom. Likely today, if I'd have to make a guess."
Anna's eyes narrowed. "What crimes?"
Robin let out a laugh. "Well, I killed the leader of Izumo and they seem to think you were an accomplice."
Huh. That was…bad.
Another familiar voice spoke up, sounding cheerful, but with a nervous undertone. "Well regardless of that, at least you both are back in one piece, right?"
That voice. "Kaden? What are you doing here?"
He sounded sheepish. "I may have participated in a heist stealing from the late archduke of Izumo. We were caught by Izana, but he wanted to talk to me. Unfortunately it turns out that the new guy in power doesn't share the whole 'I want to talk' sentiment."
"Huh?" Anna tilted her head, confused. "Why were you stealing from the archduke in the first place?"
A new, feminine, cocky-sounding voice spoke up, annoyance clear in her tone. "He owed me a favor for saving his life."
Anna didn't recognize the voice. "Do I know you?" she asked.
"Doubt it." It sounded like a young woman, maybe.
"She's Nina," Kaden supplied. "The leader of the vigilante group I was helping."
"Kaden," Nina sounded frustrated, "you don't just tell people that."
"Well at least we all know each other's names now."
Nina let out a sigh. "Yeah, we have a thief, a kitsune, a murderer and a merchant all sitting talking to each other in jail cells. Sounds like the start of some bad tavern joke. Regardless, Kaden and I were being kept here for questioning since we helped the previous leader take down another intruder."
"More of those invisible soldiers," Kaden piped in, answering Anna's unspoken question.
"Right," Nina continued. "And he wanted us, or rather Kaden, to answer some questions about them."
"Izana seemed to be familiar with them somehow." Kaden added.
"So your problem is that now that he's dead, the deal is off." Robin sounded contemplative. "I take it the new stand-in ruler has no idea what's going on and wants to save face with the upper echelons of society?"
"Seems like it," Kaden agreed. "Nina's vigilante group isn't popular with the nobles."
"Or in other words, execution is likely for you as well, once they deal with the ones who killed their leader."
Anna shook her head, bewildered. "Hold up, hold up. Just, stop for a second. There's still something I don't get it. Why would you kill the archduke in the first place, Robin? That's…" She struggled to come up with the right word and eventually just settled on, "Why?"
"Oh, I guess you weren't really all there enough while it was happening to remember. I did it to save your life."
"…How does that work?" There was a tug in her memory and something bubbled to the surface.
Something black quivered, pulsed in her veins underneath the skin, out of sync with her heartbeat.
She shook her head again and focused back on what Robin was saying.
"…more complicated than this, but basically I took the life energy out of him and transferred it to you. Sort of. You can think of it as something like a Nosferatu spell, but multiply it by however much it would take to kill a person."
Anna heard Nina speak up. "That's unnatural." There was a bit of disgust in her voice.
"I wouldn't claim it to be anything else, but I don't have access to traditional healing magic. At all. I didn't even know if it would work, but I had to make do with what I had and there wasn't really any time to look for another person or alternative. You were on the verge of death, Anna, and I didn't know what else I could do."
"I…"Anna didn't know what to feel. She was grateful. Apparently he'd saved her life. But he'd also killed someone else to do that. She settled on saying, "Thank you. For saving my life."
The words echoed what Robin had said to her after she'd pulled him from the dead caravan.
Something else clicked in her mind. She felt like it should be more horrifying, but the answer just settled into her head without any fanfare. "That's why you were surrounded by corpses."
"What?" Robin asked, sounding confused.
"When I first found you, outside of Izumo. I had just made a sale to a caravan traveling a ways ahead of me. Later I found them all dead, except you. They didn't have any wounds because you drew the life energy out of them."
"Ah." He didn't sound surprised. Did that happen often to him? It also brought up the disturbing question of how and why he was able to do something like that in the first place. She'd never heard of something like this.
But, maybe she didn't know as much as she thought she did.
She curled up, bringing her knees to her chest and linking her arms around them, before laying her pounding head on top of her knees. The others started talking again, but she stopped listening for a moment.
She felt like she was missing something important. Once more, she tried to remember what it was that she'd been doing. Once again, nothing but sensations. Her hand itched again. Her headache pulsed.
No, there was something that stuck out though. Six eyes. She looked to her right hand, but aside from the new scars, it seemed no different from any other time she'd looked at it. Why had she expected it to look different? Had she seen that pattern somewhere before?
Yes. The cloak, Robin's stupid, tattered cloak, the one he'd flat out refused to take off, even after she'd insisted he wear something more presentable to sell merchandise at her stall. There were three eyes depicted on each of the sleeves. Six in total.
Something else in her mind connected, and she remembered ash, talking with... someone. Her brow furrowed as she struggled to remember. It was so muddled, like a half-forgotten dream. It almost hurt.
The memory blurred into a sort of half-focus. Talking with someone wearing a similar coat, but less worn looking. They had claimed he couldn't help her because he was...
"Robin?" she asked abruptly, interrupting the conversation between the others.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"You're not-" she hesitated, "…dead, right?" She almost felt silly asking it.
"What kind of a question is that?" He chuckled, sounding bemused. "I mean, last time I checked I was still alive."
"Right, sorry, dumb question. Forget I asked."
"If you say so. Regardless, as I was saying. Because I killed the previous archduke, it's probably safe to assume that if I even do face trial, it would be heavily biased against us. Yes, I did save you, Anna, but that's not going to matter to them. That's assuming they don't just execute us outright as some sort of scapegoat. I wouldn't be surprised it something similar happens to Kaden and Nina."
"So what do you plan on doing?" Kaden asked.
"I'm going to get out of here and find information on Anankos, and then I'll find a way to end him."
"You really think it's going to be that easy?" Nina asked, sounding skeptical. "Didn't you barely last against this guy's soldiers before?"
"True, our little fledgling group didn't even go past its first meeting, but I'm going after this guy regardless of what all of you want to do. Something big is going on here. But…"
Anna heard him sigh. "Honestly, I don't even know where to start looking. However, that won't stop me from doing it. 'Know your enemy.' It's the first rule of any war. I need answers, and sitting around waiting for a government to decide what to do with thieves and murderers is going to take time I don't care to spare."
Kaden spoke up. "Izana knew something-"
"He's dead," Nina pointed out.
"However," Robin argued, "if he could find something out, chances are that I can as well, but first, I'm going to bust out of here."
Nina scoffed. "That sounds great and all, but how are you supposed to even get started on that if you can't even get out of here? Nice as it looks, it's still a prison cell."
"Anna, are you well enough to walk?"
Huh? She stood, and her legs were able to stand firm. She felt a bit shaky, but otherwise physically fine. "Yeah, I think so. Why?"
"Well, in the guard's haste to put me away, they didn't account for one important thing." There was a sound of screeching metal, like it was twisting, then snapping, followed by a huge crash. Anna quickly looked through the bars in time to see the two jailers go down, bodies crackling with lightning. The door to Robin's cell lay on the floor nearby, bent severely out of shape.
"Tome-less magic." He turned towards each of them, grinning. "Now, do you want me to get you out?"
Nina let out a dark chuckle. "Is that really even a question? I never wanted to be in here in the first place."
"Well, since the archduke's dead," Kaden spoke up, sounding somewhat resigned, "I've got no reason to stay here either. Never was great with being in confined spaces anyways."
Robin moved to Nina and Kaden's cells, melted through the locks with what she though was likely concentrated fire magic, and simply swung open the doors of their cells. He walked over to her door.
She backed away from the bars. "Robin, I… don't know if I can go through with this."
Robin cocked an eyebrow, but still moved forward to repeat the process of melting the lock.
"I won't force you to come with me out of the city, but regardless of what you do, you shouldn't stay here. If you do, you'd likely be made into a scapegoat. If you don't want to come along with me, I suspect your sisters will be able to help you out. You'd likely be able to go back to being a merchant before too long once this blows over if you want."
The lock melted through and Robin swung open the door. She hesitantly stepped out. Kaden and Nina were retrieving the personal effects from what looked to be a small storage closet near the entrance. She realized her dark maroon cloak was missing.
She meandered over to the small storage room, and found her things. She swung her cloak on. What Robin said made sense, but she wasn't sure she should go with him.
She should go with him.
She blinked. But, why?
Because she wanted answers, and following him seemed like her best chance at finding them.
But, her sisters had a big information network, they could find something out. Besides, as she had already proved, she wasn't really cut out for fighting, especially against a threat she couldn't see.
Yet…did she not want to get away from being a merchant, from being just another Anna? Had she not been bemoaning her lot in life? This was the chance she wanted, to experience something new, to do something great.
Robin killed the leader of a peaceful country.
To save her life.
Nina and Kaden arguing broke her out of her own internal exchange.
She saw Nina shake her head. "Count me out, Kaden. You guys can get me out of here, but don't count on me going off to help you and Robin against this Anankos guy."
"But Nina, you fought those invisible soldiers with me. You saw how real they were."
"And because of that, I know that I'm severely out of my league." Nina placed a hand on her hip and waved a hand dismissively. "Go and wage war on a dragon or whatever, but leave me out of it. Besides, Robin kind of freaks me out."
"But-"
Robin put a hand on Kaden's shoulder. "Let her do what she wants, Kaden. She's under no obligation to help us."
Nina crossed her arms, frowning. "At least you're sensible. No offense, but I've got my own thing going on already."
She saw him duck into the storage room and shrug on his tattered cloak. "That's fine." The stitched eyes on the sleeves seemed to stare at her as he turned to face her. "Regardless, Anna, after we make it out into the city, do you want to come with Kaden and me?"
Anna nodded. She wasn't exactly sure why she did. Her headache receded some.
A thought crossed her mind. "Robin, one of my sisters should be willing to smuggle us out of the city if we explain what's going on. It would probably work better than just running."
If she was going to go with them, she could at least make herself useful in some way.
He smiled at her. "Sounds like a plan. Now then." He opened up the door to the building. "Let's go, shall we?"
Odin's steps were hurried as he rushed towards castle grounds. He could still scarcely believe it.
The archduke has been assassinated last night.
Rumors were saying it was a Nohrian who did it. But his group knew differently. Niles had been able to get a glimpse of the man responsible being led off.
He had the brand on his hand.
Izana had been killed by the avatar of the Fell Dragon.
The new temporary leader of Izumo wanted him dead as soon as possible as a show of power. Odin wasn't sure what to think, but he needed to get answers before that happened.
"I'm still unclear as to why you didn't mention anything about this sooner." Behind him, Niles kept pace with him. Lord Leo and Prince Takumi were stuck playing politics with the temporary new archduke. They'd likely need to leave the city soon, or risk being caught up in a power struggle.
Odin threw out his hand to the side, fist clenched. "Because Grima was dead. Very dead."
Niles let out a laugh. "Obviously, you didn't do as good a job as you thought. No doubt sweeping into a grandiose speech while they slipped away."
Odin didn't look back as he stepped out into the castle's courtyard, towards the complex that held prisoners. "Really not the time for that, Niles."
"Regardless of what you think happened, this avatar of Grima murdered the archduke."
"I know what they're saying, but it just doesn't seem like something he would do."
"Know him, do you?" Niles asked.
"No…well, yes. It's complicated."
"Really now? Try me."
Odin took a breath. "His name is Robin. I knew them both as a person and as the avatar of Grima. I need to see them. If I could just talk to them, maybe we could figure out what in Naga's name is going on."
"Naga?" Niles asked.
"Deity where I come from. I'm pretty sure she's the one who told Izana about Grima being here."
A loud boom shook the ground, and he stumbled slightly. A warning bell started sounding in the distance. Dust and debris rose from a section of the outer wall surrounding the Izumite castle.
Odin started running towards the rising dust, Niles close behind him. He didn't take the time to stop and check the forms of either unconscious or dead guards as he passed them. Takumi's retainers came running up from a different direction to the scene along with more armed castle guards, but he didn't care about that. He stopped short at the sight of a large hole in the castle's outer wall.
Four people were starting to make their way through the hole. A young woman with white hair done in two braids, someone with distinct red hair - an Anna sister? - and a kitsune. The first two were already moving through the hole, but standing to the side, it was him. His distinctive cloak was tattered, but the rest of the features were absolutely him.
"Robin!" Odin called out.
Robin looked back. He answered to that name: a good sign. He looked at Odin, cocked an eyebrow, before he smirked. The kitsune whispered something unheard in Robin's ear which Robin responded to by shaking his head.
Odin stepped forward. "What are you doing?"
"I think it's pretty obvious." Runes swirled around him as magic runes built in his hand. Those were for…
Odin's eyes widened and turned to those approaching. "Get back!"
Thankfully, they heeded his warning, just before an enormous wall of flames erupted between the two groups, cutting off the view of the hole. The scorching fire seared the stone of the wall near it, burning the grass underneath to a crisp.
The blaze lasted less than a minute, but Robin, and the ones with him, were already long gone.
A/N: Robin continues to make waves. Are they good waves? Bad waves? Were his choices good ones? Were they terrible?
Regardless, this marks the end of the first story arc of sorts.
What do you think so far? I love hearing all of your input.
