"Hey Gideon," Chandra smirked and jumped off the roof to land next to him. She had long since figured out he was a planeswalker. She found him on a different world every time she found him.
"Chandra," Gideon looked surprised, "Um...can you not go leaping off roofs at me?"
"But just walking is boring!" Chandra sighed. I swear he's still so controlling and definitely boring. He's boring as sin. AGH!
"Just walking will keep you out of trouble," Gideon pointed out.
"I haven't gotten in trouble with anyone but you," Chandra snapped.
Gideon sighed. She knew he had long since given up on trying to get her to abide by even some of the rules that existed. Chandra had stayed in this city, annoying Gideon and following him around, since she'd arrived on this world. She didn't feel like going back to the Black Lotus. The two of them spent a lot of time hanging out with Saerris as well. The pinkette often met them outside her house and the three of them spent plenty of time together. Gideon often tried his very best to keep the two, slightly more carefree, girls out of trouble. Chandra often ignored him. Saerris just laughed along. Chandra excelled at getting out of trouble. The city had long since become accustomed to the groups endeavors.
"Oh come on. Don't be so boring," Chandra sighed and followed Gideon into a beaded jewelry shop. She picked up a necklace, "Ooh pretty."
"Chandra, put that down please," Gideon asked.
"But it's pretty," Chandra smirked.
"You don't have the money to buy it," Gideon pointed out.
Chandra stuck out her tongue and set it back down. Jeez. I'm not a very good thief so I don't see why I would just hijack it. Of course then again I might. I might be a terrible thief but practice makes perfect right? She glanced around and made a sour face. Never mind. Not here anyway.
Gideon talked to the shop owner. Apparently he was doing an investigation.
"So what are we looking for?" Chandra asked as she followed him out of the store.
"If you're helping me we're investigating a string of jewelry shop robberies," Gideon explained.
"Okay," Chandra nodded. She glanced around, "And we're doing that just by talking to people?"
"We're getting every witnesses description of the person they saw doing it. If they're similar enough then we can assume it's the same person. If they aren't then it's more than likely separate people."
"Alright," Chandra nodded. She gave Gideon a confident look and slipped into the nearest alley.
"Chandra!"
"Continue with your investigation," Chandra shoved him back out onto the main street, "And I'll meet you in front of that big statue in the plaza." She darted into the back of the alley. It didn't take long for her to find a group of thugs in the darker side of town. They were harassing a young woman probably around twenty. Chandra slid quickly between them and her, shoving the woman back, "That's enough. I need you maggots to answer some questions for me so it'd be great if you could focus entirely on that."
The woman quickly left now that Chandra had intervened and was picking a fight.
"Maggots?" the biggest one snarled, "Boys teach this little brat a lesson."
"If you can catch me," Chandra smirked.
"You scared Girlie?"
"What is there to be afraid of?" Chandra shrugged. She ducked under the first one's swing and back flipped, kicking him in the chin. She landed and spun, knocking his feet out from under him. He fell into his buddy. She shot forward and drove her foot into another guy's side. She cartwheeled and rolled under another's swing. She shot towards the one in front of her. She used fire to boost her power and speed and slammed her fist into his gut.
The leader quickly called his minions off. He walked up to her and leaned over her. He grinned in a slightly menacing way. Chandra responded by punching him in the nose. He stumbled back and shook his head.
Chandra put her hands on her hips, "Now. Are you going to answer my questions or no? Because if not I think I'll drag your unconscious bodies out onto one of the major streets and let the city guard pick you up." She smirked, "Oh and intimidating me won't work."
"Alright what do you want?" the leader hissed.
"There's been a string of robberies lately and I want you to tell me everything," she let her eyes glow brightly and her hair caught on fire. Her entire body glowed as flames flicked along her skin, "And I mean everything."
They all stared at her in shock, fear and horror.
"Well?" Chandra prompted impatiently, "My patience with you is already thin."
"Well I know that there's been this woman that's been recruiting the thugs in the city," the leader said quickly.
"Have you been recruited?"
"No."
"Why not? If she can get the thugs in the city she must be paying well," Chandra allowed the impatient annoyance to remain in her voice.
"The thugs that she recruits seem to be under some sort of spell. They will do anything she tells them to."
"Alright, so tell me about the jewelry shops that have been targeted. What's so special about them?"
"The jewelry shops we've heard about all carry mundane as well as magically enhanced jewelry."
Chandra cocked her head to the side, "Alright. Anything else I need to know? And if you're keeping something from me I will know." She glared at each one of them individually before glaring at the entire group.
"The woman lives in a castle just outside of town," one thug said, "and everyone of her thugs that I see have blue eyes."
"Blue eyes?" Chandra cocked her head to the side, "All of them? Did they have blue eyes when you knew them?"
"Not all of them. Not most of them even."
Chandra nodded, "Alright. Now," she allowed flames to leap to life at her feet, "You are going to help repair the shops that have been damaged and give your strengths to something other than being heartless greedy dickheads. And if you decide to ignore me I will find you." She smiled and all the flames died. The glow in her orange eyes faded, "Kay?"
All of them nodded quickly.
Chandra turned and skipped out of the alley. She waited at the statue impatiently. C'mon Gideon. Hurry up Gideon. Gideon! Let's go! She scanned the plaza again. She saw Saerris walking up to her, "What's up?"
"I'm waiting for Gideon. We're investigating a string of jewelry shop robberies."
"Can I help?" Saerris asked.
"Sure," Chandra nodded. She smiled, "Can you go find Gideon? He's not here yet and it's frustrating me."
"Alright," Saerris nodded. She jogged away.
Chandra waited for many more moments. She flopped onto the ground and started throwing lose pebbles at the statue. HURRY UP! She glanced at the clock tower that sat in center of the plaza. Five minutes had yet to pass. Chandra felt like she was dying slowly and painfully. Finally her two friends walked up. She leaped to her feet, "There you are!"
Gideon quickened his pace to a jog, "I didn't get anything."
"I got plenty but here's not the place to talk about it," Chandra looked around. She could see thugs starting to creep ever closer to their location from all sides. Every single one of them had sapphire colored eyes that had a kind of glow. She hissed through gritted teeth, "Knew it." She led her two friends quickly out of the plaza and out of the city entirely. She could just barely see the castle in the distance. It looked broken down and abandoned but underneath the projected image she could see thugs repairing it's walls and setting a roof. The castle was almost completely repaired. Chandra was suddenly very glad she had learned to see through illusions. She turned to her friends, "Someone's interested in magical jewelry."
"Are you sure?" Saerris asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Is the source of this information reliable or are they leading us into a trap?" Gideon asked flatly.
"It's been proven correct," Chandra snapped, "In the plaza we were subtly being converged on by thugs from all sides. All of them, and I mean all of them, had blue eyes. That's exactly what I was told."
"How?" Saerris asked.
"If I had a guess I'd say mind control," Chandra shrugged. She pointed to the castle in the distance, "Whoever is controlling the thugs is in there."
"It's broken down and ruined," Gideon said.
"No it's not," Chandra shook her head, "Not anymore. The image you see is an illusion."
"And illusion? That's a powerful illusionist then," Saerris swallowed nervously.
"I'm going to find out who it is," Chandra stated confidently.
"Not alone you're not," Gideon's voice was hard.
"Okay," Chandra shrugged, "If you want to come along go ahead but I won't make you."
"C'mon. We've done things together. Why'd we split up now?" Saerris asked.
Chandra led the way to the castle. Their approach had obviously been expected. Thugs ran out to meet them. Flames swept through the unorganized ranks of thugs.
"Don't kill them if they're being controlled," Gideon ordered.
Chandra rolled her eyes. "Sorry but I'm not good at sparing people," she muttered under her breath. She was the first to make it to the castle. She crouched close to the wall and listened to the voices she heard inside.
"I don't understand why I have to control them. We're sending them to their deaths."
"Jace, they wouldn't do as they're told unless we controlled them." Chandra recognized the overly sweet voice. She couldn't remember the woman's name or if she ever got it but she remembered hearing that voice a long time ago. She waited impatiently for Gideon and Saerris. When they caught up to her she interrupted the conversation by blowing a hole in the newly repaired castle wall.
Jace whirled around to face the wall that explode. Chandra smirked. She put her hands on her hips and looked around. She saw three people. Jace, a brunette and a fire mage. She grinned, "We're evenly matched."
"Numbers wise," Gideon told her, "That doesn't mean we're evenly matched as far as power level goes."
"Jace leave," the brunette ordered.
"He stays here," Chandra countered.
Jace glanced from Chandra to the brunette and back again. He took a step back.
Chandra shot forward and grabbed the back of his collar. She slammed him into the ground.
"Baltrice!" The brunette snarled, "Fine." She got to her feet and pink-ish purple lines began to glow on her skin. Gideon readied his sural.
Chandra let Jace get to his feet, "You're the one that's controlling them aren't you?"
"So what if I am?" Jace snapped. He tried getting into her head.
Instantly flames rose on the ground around her.
His eyes widened and he stepped back. He shook his head and just managed to dodge her attack. Chandra enveloped him in flames and then pushed against the resistance he gave. The fire took the form of a giant bird and slammed him high into the wall. Jace fell to the ground. Suddenly there were seven Jaces. Chandra snarled, "I don't like you." She shot straight forward. She saw "the wall" shift as she flew at it. She smirked and twisted. The invisibility spell fell as he realized she had figured him out. She hit him in the jaw with her boot. He turned it into a cartwheel and a sphinx flew at her. Chandra squeaked as she was flung into the wall by a strong paw. Okay. Chandra landed in a crouch. Pain shot up her side. Jace had a look of mixed surprise and confidence on his face. The sphinx pounced at her. Chandra augmented her speed and shot towards Jace.
"Jace get out of the way!" The warning came to late. Chandra hit him full force. She enveloped herself and therefore him in flames. He put up a shield but that didn't stop her from knocking him through the castle wall. He tumbled into the overgrown courtyard. Chandra walked out after him. Suddenly she couldn't move and felt his presence in her mind again. Anger boiled up within her and her hair turned to flames. Jace was trying to put her to sleep but couldn't hold her mind long enough. Her hair and eyes went cold. Jace's eyes widened in shock and he pulled out. He put up a shield that was pretty much impenetrable. Chandra didn't care. She still attacked him. He managed to hold it until her attack eased off. This isn't working. The sphinx knocked her into the castle wall and she fell to the ground. It took her a moment to get back to her feet. That moment was all Jace needed. He held her still and images flashed in her mind, confusing and psychedelic. A cry of pain cut through the images. Saerris. Chandra pushed past Jace's holding presence in her mind and shot back into the castle. She protected her friend from a cat made entirely of fire as it leaped at her.
"We need to go!" Gideon called.
Chandra glanced at him and then at her unconscious friend. Saerris was bleeding from a wound on her head and had many burns, mostly on her arms and upper torso. Chandra looked at Gideon, "Go!"
Gideon shook his head at her as he barely managed to block a blow from another zombie. Chandra hissed, "Gideon I said GO!" Her eyes glowed in frustration and rage. She saw Jace hovering in the hole he had left in the wall when she had knocked him through it. He looked shocked. Baltrice leaped at Chandra. The redhead barely managed to get out of the way. A knife slid into her hands and she sliced through the other fire mages cheek. The solid steel-like claws of a firecat sliced down the side of her face. Blood dripped onto the ground, attracting the attention of some of the zombies. She clenched her teeth. Jace. Help me. Please. Tell Gideon he needs to wrap Saerris in a protective shield. Please Jace. I can tell by your face that this isn't what you want. Help me fix it. Chandra hoped she reached him. Fire started rising from the ground around her. Jace's eyes glowed for a split second and Saerris was wrapped in a white glow. Gideon then protected himself. Chandra allowed her fire and her rage to overwhelm her and the entire castle came collapsing down around them. She felt Jace and his two companions' presences fade as they planeswalked. She collapsed as the flames died around her.