Episode 3: Fanning the Flames
30th of Ferventis
Ulrich summarized Aelita's story to Yumi the next morning, and she cringed several times. "Poor Aelita. That must have been horrible."
The Mercenary agreed. "Anyway, we'll probably be leaving in a few days. I heard Jeremie say that he wants to get out of Thomas Vincent's district as soon as possible."
"Did he say if we were reinstating Aelita in our group?" Yumi asked, leaning against the aravel. She crossed her arms, and Ulrich did the same.
He shook his head. "I don't know. I hope that he will, or we may have to smuggle her out of Falcon's Bridge." He laughed, and Yumi giggled in spite of herself. Ulrich took a step closer to the Colonist. "Listen, I think the best thing we can do is try to throw the magistrates off our tails. So far, none of them have approached us, but that won't last long. They must've gotten our description from a messenger of some sort. I'll bet that if we destroy the message, we may stall them."
Yumi seemed hesitant. "I don't know, Ulrich. Don't you think that T.V may have already read the report? I mean, he sent magistrates after us."
He laughed. "And he memorized it?" He looked away and continued, "Listen, I don't much care if he's memorized it or not. Destroying the files will help get him off our backs. And while we're at it, we may want to destroy files on Maya Tyron. He'll remember Aelita's face, but it may help."
"What makes you think that I want anything to do with this?" Yumi demanded.
"Yumi, I need your help. You can get into the outpost easily with the help of your mask, and I certainly can't ask Jeremie to help me." Ulrich leaned against the aravel, and he turned his attention back to her.
"You two still aren't speaking?"
"You didn't see Aelita's face before she flew away. You'd be mad at him too."
Yumi looked down at her toes. "I—I'm not sure about this, Ulrich."
"I'll watch the entrance, and you sneak in and get the files. It'll be easy." He said, and then he smirked. "That is, unless you're scarred…"
She looked up and stared into his eyes. He wore a boyish grin, one that had gotten her into trouble countless times when they were younger. And there it was again, about to get her into more trouble. "Oh, fine! But you owe me one, Ulrich."
After flying away from Jeremie and Ulrich, Aelita spent the rest of the night in the woods trying to comprehend what had gone on during her absence. It had only been two weeks and yet the entire group dynamic had changed. Ulrich and Jeremie had been close friends, now, they barely spoke. Jeremie had been angry at Laura and now they were to be married. How had this happened?
Against the morning's light, Aelita snuck back into Falcon's Bridge, her hood pulled over her head to hide her face. She'd changed since she'd last been there—she'd lost weight, thus losing her roundish features in turn for thinner ones, her hair was short and almost always a mess, and she was much taller—though that was expected; it had been five years. Nevertheless she moved through back alleys, carefully and quickly darting between the deep shadows to avoid the magistrates that patrolled the outer rims of the city.
The effort took its toll on her and, out of breath and in pain, she stopped and leaned against the wall of an alley. She slid down and buried her face in her arms before pushing her bangs from her face. The Outcast looked up to the sky and watched for rabbits and hawks, or anything that might have signaled that things were getting better.
She returned to earth when she heard someone coming her way, and she pushed up against the wall in case they attacked. Aelita relaxed slightly when she saw that it was William, but she still felt tension, knowing that the Vanguard was a lackey of Laura's. Mustering her courage, she spoke. "William, can I ask you something?"
William stopped and looked around, as if he hadn't seen her. When he spotted her, he crossed his arms, clearly not pleased at the sight of her. "I suppose I can't stop you, can I?"
Aelita looked down at her toes, and then back up. "When did Jeremie accept Laura's proposal? How long did he wait?"
He rolled his eyes. "He didn't."
"What?"
"He didn't wait. He accepted my lady's proposal almost as soon as he returned to camp."
She shook her head and pushed her bangs out of her face again, this time knocking her hood off of her head. "How did this happen?" She asked, and William began to walk again. She tried reaching out to him, to reestablish what little relationship they'd had before. "You feel it too, don't you? To have people judge you for what you are, not what you've done or what you say?"
William turned, his ashen skin almost ebony in the shadow. His red eyes were embers in the alley. "What are you saying?"
"We're two of a kind. I wanted to learn about my culture, to be among my people. You wanted to make the dark elves accepted in a culture that doesn't care about them. I was sent away because of the magic that I use. People put up barriers around you because of your heritage. Doesn't it bother you?"
William rushed towards her, and startled, Aelita backed up against the wall. He was dangerously close to her, and the anger in his eyes made her feel very small. "Yet I made no deal with a demon to accomplish my goal!" He shouted, and Aelita was afraid that he would attack her. "You had a life! You had a family! And yet you abandoned all of it to chase ghosts!"
"That's not true! You have no idea what I went through!" Aelita shouted, standing up on her toes to get closer to his face.
"Believe what you like. Just know this—we are nothing alike, witch. Don't even begin to think that we are." William stood intimidatingly over her for a few moments more before he turned and stormed off. Aelita watched him as he left, slowly succumbing to the pain in her chest as she struggled to catch her breath from shouting. She slid down against the wall before burying her head again.
Two newly initiated magistrates stood silently outside the door to the outpost. Their shift had just started, and they had taken on the most boring position of the day. To pass the time, the magistrate on the left asked, "Hey, man, did Billy and the others ever come back from their patrol the other night?"
The magistrate shrugged. "Fuck Billy. Billy's dead."
They saw a boy approaching, and they drew their swords. Lefty spoke up. "No civilians past this point without official business."
The boy drew his katanna and egged them forward. "I have official business—kicking your ass."
Lefty looked at his partner. "We're under attack!"
"I'm not an idiot! I could've figured that out for myself!" Righty shouted. The magistrates charged the boy, who took advantage of their clumsiness and merely stepped out of the way. He kicked Lefty's feet out from under him and knocked the helmet off. Then he sliced off the magistrates head while Righty turned and tried to attack the boy from behind. A girl leapt from a nearby tree and landed on Righty's shoulders. She used one of her throwing knives to slice his throat.
Ulrich sheathed his blade and hid the bodies in the bushes after stripping Lefty, who was closer to him in size. He donned the armor and hid his face under the helm. "I'll stay here and keep watch. Be sure you get out alive with the information that we need."
Yumi nodded as she took a key from Righty's belt. She unlocked the door and tied the rabbit mask behind her ears, causing her to vanish from view. Ulrich counted a few seconds then closed the door behind her. Now, all he could do was wait.
Dhaune knocked on the door to Xana's bedchambers, and she entered to find two slaves fixing the Matron's hair. "Matron Mother?" Dhaune said quietly before approaching. She looked to the Eluvian against the wall. She always hated how the ancient mirrors never reflected anything—it was always unnerving. "Matron Mother, I've been watching the Heroes. They've taken refuge in Falcon's Bridge."
Xana sighed, and after deciding that the slaves had done an adequate job, she ordered them to go. "What are you proposing?"
"The Veil is very thin there. You could easily summon spirits and send them there." She suggested. "I also have some… other ideas, if you'd like to hear them." Dhaune pressed her hands together, but she didn't back down from Xana's stare.
She held her head back and smiled. "I'm listening, Dhaune. Let's hear it."
Yumi had trouble getting used to invisibility. She could not see her feet as she was walking, and therefore had major issues when climbing the stairs. She had barely gotten used to climbing stairs without the usual visual cues when the sound of heavy, metallic footsteps moving downwards cased a momentary sense of panic. Thinking quickly she pressed herself against the sidewall of the stairs and edged forwards until she came to a corner created by the winding stairs. There she waited, with knives clenched in her hands ready to strike if she was discovered.
The magistrates passed by, none the wiser, speaking of the troubles with Replika and the dark elves. Yumi waited until their voices faded away before jumping back onto the stairs. She tiptoed up several more flights before coming to the top floor. A guard stood outside, his sword at the ready and his eyes fixated towards the stairs. Yumi panicked for a moment, believing he could see her, but he did not move, and she relaxed. Slowly she moved around the guard, careful to not make a sound.
The Colonist regarded the door, and she cursed under her breath when she saw that it was closed. The magistrate returned, apparently hearing her. She threw kunai at him, striking him in the neck, nose and forehead. He stumbled back, and though he was clearly dead—or at least dying—Yumi slammed her bo staff into his face, lodging the kunai in his nose so far in that she had no hope of recovering it. She unlocked the door with the key around the magistrate's neck.
Closing the door behind her, Yumi removed her mask and tucked it into her obi. She was taken aback as she saw her hand. It was translucent, and she could see her bones before opacity returned to her skin.
She searched the desk in the center of the room for recent reports. Finding nothing, she dug through the drawers. She came across a letter written in strange symbols attached to a satchel of gold. She slipped the letter into her obi, hoping to have Jeremie or Aelita translate it later. Next she found a file written in a leather notebook with a sketch of an elf girl and a caption reading 'Maya Tyron.' Yumi grabbed the book. Finally, she searched through letters piled near the window, and found one with their descriptions written. She tucked this letter into the book and moved towards the door while struggling to attach the mask to her face.
She heard a gasp as someone discovered the corpse outside the door. Dropping the book she attached the mask quickly then bent down to retrieve the book. She managed to grab the book and stand up before the door opened. "There is someone in here!" A man with short brown hair shouted, pushing his spectacles up his nose. Yumi concluded that he was T.V. She snuck over to the wall and slid against it as T.V searched for her.
He threw open the wardrobe and tore at the curtains on the west wall. Yumi took his paranoia as a gift and sprinted out of the office.