A/N: Sorry about the delay. I overestimated the amount of free time I would have on my trip, which ended up being next to nothing.
The best time to sneak up on something is usually when its sleeping, but sleeping hours for angels of darkness could be unpredictable. As creatures of darkness, they were usually awake and active at night, but could also be active during the day. The only times it was guaranteed they would be asleep were the morning hours from just before dawn to a few hours before noon, especially around dawn. This time of day for some reason had a naturally sedative quality for them; even though Chell had slept for plenty of time before then, as soon as dawn began to approach, she became drowsy again.
Elli gave each of them a small cup of a drink he said was coffee. It looked, smelled, and tasted like normal coffee, but its effects were much stronger than caffeine could have given. Soon, both of them were wide awake and twitchy to the point that not even GLaDOS, with all of her self-control, could sit still.
Elli handed Chell two vials of healing potion and gave GLaDOS the teleportation powder, and a puff of smoke later, they were standing in a dark, misty courtyard. The floor was made up of large, grey cobblestones, and in front of them laid two rows of statues made out of a shiny black stone with a larger one in the center of the far end. The statues on either side faced the middle and all portrayed life-sized, carnivorous winged creatures, including winged lions, wolves, and snakes while the one at the far end was an angry-looking male angel wearing a spikey crown and holding a broad sword with its tip pointed into the ground. The air hummed with dark magic, and while GLaDOS had only ever dealt with one angel, she could tell it was distinctly angelic.
She pocketed the remainder of the powder. "Any ideas on how to assault this place?" she asked, sounding rather casual.
Chell shrugged. "Brute force?"
GLaDOS rolled her eyes. "That would never work. This place is full of power; we would be killed if we tried to blast our way through. Even if everyone's asleep, there's probably some sort of security system."
"Like these statues?"
GLaDOS followed Chell's gaze. The statues on either side had turned their heads to look at them.
"I know we were advised not to use magic," GLaDOS said as a stone lion stepped off of its podium, growling, "but how are we supposed to defend ourselves?"
"By running?" Chell suggested.
All of the statues were moving now, as fluidly as if they were made of flesh and bone, jumping off of their podiums and slowly moving toward the duo, looking around as if not sure exactly where they were.
"Now that I think about it, that sounds like a good idea," GLaDOS agreed.
Chell looped her arm around GLaDOS' and ran through the mist deeper into the courtyard. Suddenly, the castle loomed into view. It resembled an eleventh or twelfth century church with its tall steeples and pointed arches, though it looked much younger, and rather than crosses at the top of the steeples there appeared to be statues of birds in flight, and the statues of angels portrayed them dressed as warriors with weapons.
They ran along the castle walls, quickly scanning for an indirect way in. They rounded a corner and stopped for a second to glance back at their pursuers. Most of the statues appeared to have already lost track of them somehow, sniffing the ground and baying or roaring loudly. However, the statue of the angel appeared to be moving purposefully closer. Unlike the others, it did not move, and instead its podium slowly rumbled along the ground. The effect was highly unsettling.
Chell tapped GLaDOS' shoulder, dragging her attention away from the statue's hypnotic movement, and pointed at a large window that was just high enough to be out of their reach.
"I know he said to not use magic, but I doubt we'll find an unlocked back door," she whispered.
"Yes, but you can't just shatter a window and expect that to not attract attention," GLaDOS hissed back.
Chell smiled. "Who said I was going to shatter it?"
She flew up to the window and touched it with her hand, whispering something. The glass rippled, and her hand went through it like it was water. "I trust you still know that levitation spell?" she called softly down.
"Of course," came the reply.
With that, Chell slipped through the liquefied window. Moments later, GLaDOS followed.
They ended up in a large, dark dining room, with a long, narrow table made of polished dark wood dominating the center with many cushioned chairs surrounding it. The walls were lined with supportive columns and soared upward until they met in the ceiling as a pointed arch. A golden, unlit chandelier hung over the center of the table and there was a large fireplace on the far left-hand wall.
"Well… I guess we won't have to worry about different individual security systems, since this castle seems to be one big security system," Chell noted quietly.
The air was thrumming with hostility toward them, bringing a strong sense of not belonging. However, even as they stood there waiting to be attacked, nothing moved.
"At least these little necklaces appear to be working nicely," Chell said. Even though she whispered, her voice seemed to echo loudly in the utter stillness.
"What makes you say that?" GLaDOS asked, her voice just as quiet but also seemingly loud.
"I bet this castle and those statues were designed to sense auras, since those statues lost sight of us pretty quickly and this castle," she paused, "I don't know. I feel like it knows we're here, but not sure where."
She cautiously started to walk toward the large oak double doors on the wall opposite of the fireplace and opened one of them a crack. Seeing and sensing nothing alive, she slipped through, GLaDOS close behind.
They found themselves on the far right side of a massive foyer and slowly approached the middle, automatically looking up at the high ceilings. Down the center from the actual entrance to the castle was a wide walkway lined with columns on either side that extended skyward to the ceilings and met in more pointed arches that could barely be seen due to the darkness. Unlit chandeliers hung from above over the center of the walkway. On either side of the walkway were large, luxurious sitting areas with doors along the walls like the ones leading to the dining room that they came out of.
They began to proceed down the walkway, watching and listening for anything that could attack them. Again, nothing stirred, but there was still the pressing feeling of being watched, hated, and unwelcomed.
The walkway led to a staircase which led upwards until it met the back wall of the castle and then split into two staircases that each led up to a door. Above the space in between them was a large, circular stained glass window depicting two ravens facing each other in flight with a variety of blues and blacks decorating the background. This was the only source of light in the entire chamber, as the moon shone straight through it. Beneath the window, the wall was decorated with weapons, and at the bottom appeared to be the three main pieces.
In the center, standing up against the wall, was a suit of armor designed for an angel, with metal plates coming out of the back to protect wings, and held a long spear. On its right was a crossbow, which reminded Chell of the crossbow the hunter had, and on the left was a sword.
They were certain this was the sword they were looking for. Its blade looked like it was made of dark black stained glass and was covered in nicks and scratches. The black leather binding on the hilt was peeling off, and the ruby decorating it was dull and scratched. However, it radiated with a faint power, and matched the description Elli had given them.
"Well, that was easy enough," Chell said lightly.
"Too easy, actually," GLaDOS replied.
"I bet if we take it, something terrible will happen," Chell added.
"Most likely," GLaDOS agreed.
They glanced at each other, then back at the sword. They both wanted to just reach out and grab it, but also had a sense of foreboding about it.
"Well," Chell said, "This is what we came here for, so… no sense in staring at it and then leaving without it."
"And, we're hopefully prepared if anything does happen, since all we have to do is throw down a handful of powder to escape," GLaDOS added.
"On three?"
"Why not?"
"One… two… three!" they both counted before one grabbed the hilt while the other grabbed the blade. They nearly threw it up into the air due to how unexpectedly light it was, but kept a hold on it.
"I can tell why Demonite is useless," Chell commented, examining the blade, "The edges are so dull, you might as well use it as a blunt weapon."
"You can't even use it as a blunt weapon because of how light weight it is," GLaDOS pointed out, "It'd probably shatter if you tried."
Suddenly, they heard the crack of a whip and spun around. The foyer was now filled with dark angels, all wearing the same black, hooded uniform. The closest one, standing at the base of the stairs, wielded a black whip that had a large hook attached to the tip. He raised the hilt of the whip, and on cue the other guards began to summon weapons that appeared to materialize out of the very darkness of the room, forming whips, spears, bows, and others.
"I command you to stand down," he said, his voice deep and cold.
Without replying, Chell and GLaDOS both took off at once, heading up the stairs to the left. Through the door, they found themselves in a bare, narrow hallway with smooth stone walls, which they hoped would slow the guards down as they all tried to push through. They ran around a few corners, going any direction that didn't look like it ended in a dead end, with shouting echoing through the corridor behind them, and finally stopped to fish out the teleportation powder. GLaDOS threw a handful down, but the silverish dust splattered harmlessly on the floor between them.
"It's probably the castle," Chell said quickly, "We need to get outside, find a balcony or something."
A dagger flew by Chell's head, almost slicing her. A guard appeared at the end of the hallway, more undoubtedly behind him in the narrow space. Chell quickly created a smoke screen between her and them, and they set off again.
They went through a few doors and ended up in a wider hallway with carpeted floors and wooden walls. A few torches on the walls were even lit, casting an eerie, flickering glow on the walls. Standing at the end of the hallway, looking out the window, was another young angel of darkness. He wasn't a guard, since he wasn't wearing a uniform, and was dressed more formally – or rather, as formally as one could be in pajamas. He did, however, have a large coat covering his wings.
His black hair hung limply over his steely grey eyes, which looked at them with a startled expression. "Who are you?" he asked, trying to sound authoritative.
"Sword thieves, of course," Chell replied coldly, handing the sword to GLaDOS and stepping forward, "Who are you?"
The boy straightened up. "I am Prince Alistair, heir to the throne," he replied in a formal, well-rehearsed way, "And I command you to return the sword and surrender."
"A royal, huh?" she sneered, "And what are you going to do to make us surrender?"
"Don't bait him," GLaDOS warned, "If he's one of them, then he may be powerful."
"For some reason, I don't think so," Chell replied, cockily walking toward the prince, who only backed away, "Why are you hiding your wings, hmm? Is something wrong with you?" Even under a heavy coat, his wings appeared to be a bit small.
His face had paled until he was almost white, and his hands were shaking. "I…" He finally composed himself and said, "There is nothing wrong with me," he insisted determinedly.
"Then why aren't you attacking?" Chell asked.
"I… I see no need," he finally answered, managing to sound calmer and stronger, "Why should I do manual labor when I have guards? Besides, the sword is useless and unsightly. Go ahead and take it." He casually stepped aside.
Chell walked right up to him and looked him in the eye. He appeared to be about the same age, but was shorter than her, and very scrawny. All of the angels GLaDOS had seen looked scrawny and thin – yes, Chell included – but this one had a particularly boney frame. Chell held his gaze for a second before finally passing by, gesturing for GLaDOS to follow.
At the end of the hallway was a glass door that conveniently led out onto a balcony, which contained a single chair and two flower pots containing silverish white roses that pointed their blossoms toward the moon, which shone brightly in the clear sky.
"Wait a minute," GLaDOS said, "Shouldn't it be morning by now?"
"It's an illusion that covers the castle," Prince Alistair suddenly spoke up from behind them, "It tricks the guards into staying awake and the lunar roses in full bloom."
GLaDOS took a closer look at the roses.
"Don't touch them," the Prince advised, "The barbs are highly toxic, especially to an angel, which you are, partially, it seems." He frowned slightly, "What are you, actually?" he asked.
"I…" GLaDOS began uncertainly.
"Let's just go," Chell interrupted, saving her the trouble, taking the pouch and throwing down a handful of powder.
After a poof, they found themselves back in Elli's shop.
"Well, that was… frankly, anti-climactic," GLaDOS said, "I had expected more fighting."
"Well, I suppose we should be glad that we were able to essentially just run straight through the house of the most powerful angels around with only one confrontation with a weakling," Chell replied with a shrug.
"You made it back unscathed?" Elli asked, confused, as he walked in the room, "That's surprising. How'd you do it?"
"By running, of course," Chell said.
"And I thought you two were fighters," Elli questioned.
"We knew better, in a place like that," GLaDOS replied.
Elli shrugged. "I guess I should have known you would be the voice of reason, as usual. That, and I doubt the royals are used to enemies that want to just get in and get out rather than pick a fight."
"Anyway," Chell said, taking the sword from GLaDOS, "What do you want with the sword?"
Elli grinned. "I'm a salesman. I'll find the highest bidder, of course."
With that, he covered the sword in a black cloth, careful not to touch the blade, and took it out of Chell's hands. He carried it upstairs and called behind him, "Now that I have my payment, the real training can begin."