Having to redye my hair back to its natural colour was actually the most difficult part of it all. Since my conversation with Skylar, I had been slowly putting things together to meet up with the gang. I found and resharpened the blades of my staff, and I also found my old clothes in the depths of my closet. When I put it in on and looked in the mirror, it was as if I was Mariellena again... well. I was always Mariellena, but looking between my hair and my outfit, I had to fix the hair before I did anything.

I glanced at the clock and it was only 10pm. I was in the process of drying my hair when I heard a knock on my door. I nearly jumped and I immediately shut off my hair dryer.

"Marie, can we talk?" Skylar's voice was muffled through the door. I panicked.

"I'm about to get into bed, so could it wait for the morning?"

There was a short silence.

"I'd really rather not. Can I come in?" I saw the doorknob turn, and rushed towards the door. I basically ran right into it, preventing the door from opening.

"I really don't want to right now. I'm tired and I want to sleep." I said turning to put my back up against the door. I could hear Skylar shuffle around before returning to his room and locking his room. I let out a sigh, not realizing I was holding my breath. I realized then I had to work quickly and quietly if I really wanted to leave without Skylar noticing.

I cleaned up my room a bit, grabbing my old shoulder bag and only bringing the necessities. I picked up the note I wrote for Sky from my dresser. It was an apology for the most part. My heart was pounding in my chest. I hated to leave him like this. I knew very well how bad it would hurt, but in truth I was not meant for the life he laid out for me. Maybe, I thought, I would come back after I settle things with the gang. Or maybe I won't come back at all and he'll have to fake a missing persons report.

I turned towards my window, pulling away the curtain and taking a look at the city before me. Paris was crawling with guards, and it seemed like the police force couldn't do much about it. The gang was onto something, and in realizing that I felt the craving for adventure once again. I felt a twitch in me that wanted to be there to finish the heist. I could barely surpress a smile when I unlocked the hinge of the window. I took a deep breath before pulling and pushing it up, being wary of the noise it could make. I was only centimetres away from returning back to my old way of living.

I turned back to my room, taking it all in. The first time I had the closest thing to a normal life. I glanced down at the side table beside my bed, and I looked at the cellphone. I hesitated for a moment before taking it and pulling the charger in its stead. I shoved both into my shoulder bag. I don't really know why I felt like I needed it, but I trusted my gut before I pulled myself up onto the ledge of the window. Maybe I'd try calling Skylar sometime. Or maybe i'd get a call. Who knows? I smelled the fresh air you could only get from the rooftops of Paris, and I leapt from one building to the next.

I won't lie, I was a little out of practice. I almost slipped and fell to my death several times. I almost broke my legs a couple other times. I didn't even try cable walking, let alone spire jumping from point to point. I stayed up on top of the roofs and in the shadows as I needed. There were countless guards on the roofs of these buildings for no reason. I didn't try to get violent, not wanting to test my two years of out practice. Didn't want to cause a ruckus leading it to the gang.

I thought I wouldn't remember where the old hangout was, but to my luck, I wasn't too far off. I could see it only a couple metres away from where I stood in a small alley. I glanced all around me, making sure there were no guards around. I kept thinking what would be the best point of entry, but alas the only one I could think of was the front door. I couldn't sneak in through a window and enter as if I never left. I couldn't sneak in through my old room. I had to confront them sooner or later. The best chance I had was to knock on the front door.

Looking around for guard once more, I walked across the street towards the safe house. I looked all around it and it looked exactly like how I left it. The van was in the garage, so I didn't think they would be leaving any time soon. I climbed the steps up to the safe house, and I found myself at the door. Was I supposed to knock? Should I just try opening it? My questions were shortly answered when the door swung open.

"Marie?"

"You're on your way out, Bentley?" He looked so shocked to see me he almost jumped out of his shell. He blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing right.

"Y-yes, just some field work. But you're here why are you here?"

I was a bit confused. I'd thought that Sly would mention the night he saw you, but I guess that was an issue for another time. I had just realized Bentley was actually going out on the field. I guess they had to compromise for my absence somehow.

"I was here for a press conference not too far from here."

"Yeah so shouldn't you be heading elsewhere by now? I mean I guess I wouldn't know the exact details of your schedule." He scratched his head looking at me.

"Skylar actually rented an apartment here a couple years ago. I stay there in between my working days, and I only stayed at a hotel because the conference was there and it was complimentary."

Bentley perked up at the sound of Skylar's name.

"He misses you guys." It was really just an assumption, but it really seemed to make him happy. He then snapped back into the reality of things.

"I don't know if it's exactly safe for us to talk right now, I need to head out as soon as possible." He slipped right past me and headed down the staircase.

"You're on edge. Is a heist in the works?" It was a joke and I tried to crack a smile, but the turtle seemed to tremble with every second wasted.

"Yes and we only have so much time. We could actually use your expertise."

"Expertise? I've been out of work for two years." Then a resounding voice that I held so dear to me echoed all around.

"Marie! You're back!" I turned back towards the front door, and I was met with a bear hug. I was lifted right off the ground and I couldn't help hugging back.

"Murray, it's been too long." I chuckled. When I was set back down, I saw Sly stick his head out from behind Murray, giving me a wink and a small salute.

"I'm sorry but there's really no time for for an explanation or a reunion right now. Murray, let's get going. Sly, Marie, wait on my call."

Before I knew it, they were scurrying off to their first objective.

I turned to look at Sly, and when we both locked eyes he smiled.

"I still don't know what you guys are up to?"

"I'm just about ready to head out to my position. Come with me, and I'll explain on the way."

I was amazed how quickly things escalated. It was almost midnight when Sly and I were scaling the night club's peacock sign.

"So you're telling me that each member of this Klaww Gang has a different Clockwerk part? They're making bank off of pieces of a dead bird?" I didn't believe it. I was shocked that someone was even able to fish the parts from an active volcano.

"You say that, but this guy is printing money with the Clockwerk tailfeathers." Sly leapt in position and helped me up on top of the peacock head.

I grasped tightly onto his hand for support, and sat myself just behind him. He was turned towards me, waiting for Bentley's cue. I didn't have an earpiece so I was just following things as they occured. We shared a short moment of silence.

"How was the past two years for you?" Sly's tone had changed. It was gentle and soft, almost reminiscent.

"I guess it was good." I shrugged.

"That's what a newly found star calls her past two years of work?" Sly teases, and I let out a small chuckle.

"It was almost normal. There were crowds chasing me down as opposed to police officers," I joked along with him, earning a laugh from him as well. It felt good. It felt like a long time since stuff like this happened. I think I really missed it, but it still really hurts somewhere. "What did you boys do?"

"A couple heists here and there. Found a couple paintings, necklaces, gems. Even a bottle of wine back in Italy."

"You guys really pulled a heist for wine?"

"Should've seen how they worshiped a bottle like some sort of deity."

We were both laughing now. It was as if things never changed, and like I never left. Of course all good things must come to an end. Sly reached into his earpiece and stood up.

"I'm in position."

I sat back and watched as a truck drove down the centre street. The repair truck launched a harpoon up towards Sly. I almost fell back, but Sly was able to catch it.

"It's all good, Marie. Just according to plan." Sly said, trying to reasured me while he hooked the harpoon onto the head of the peacock. He helped me up before pulling me onto the cable. I held his hand all the way down, scared that if I let go that I would lose my balance. Once back down on the ground, Sly smirked at me.

"Yeah, we'll have to get you back into it." He teased.

"I'm sorry I couldn't practice while I was gone." I shot back.

Sly reached into his earpiece again, turning away from me and rushing to the front of the truck.

"Is there anyway that Murray can switch positions with Marie?" Sly asked, trying to keep his cool.

"What's going on?" I asked leaning onto the driver's window. It was pulled down a bit until I could just see Murray's eye and a bit of Bentley's head.

"Enemies have noticed us and are incoming. You guys have to protect the truck!" Bentley cried out. "Murray can't let go of the accelerator or the harpoon will come lose."

As the window was rolled back up, I looked at Sly in panic. I rushed up to him.

"Sly, like you said I'm out of it." He reached out to my arm and gave me a squeeze.

"I know but you have to trust me and take out your staff."

"I won't be able to hold any guards back."

"Okay but I can't take them out by myself. I'll be right beside." He said looking me right in the eye. Sooner than I thought, guards were running at fullspeed towards the truck. Sly looked at me and nodded and I nodded back. Sly went ahead as I rummaged through my bag for the daggers. I revealed the blades of the connected staff. I threw my bag down and kicked it under the truck, praying and hoping that the truck wouldn't need to back up as much as it has to.

As I looked back up towards the nightclub, I saw more rats coming from left and right. As one came closer to the truck, I held my staff with two hands and charged towards them. I nearly fell back on impact, but I was able to recover. They fell back onto the building, knocking out cold. I heard more coming from behind me and I spun my staff around causing them to stop in their tracks. I charged again, swinging my staff to try and hit them its sides, and trying for a stab between several swings.

I missed a lot, but I also got a lot more hits in than I thought I would. By the time the coast was clear, I took a moment to catch my breath and look around. However when I tried I was pushed back so hard I fell onto the ground. Everything started shaking, and dust obscured my view. Just after that I felt something hover over me and it went dark. It was only a couple seconds until everything went back to normal.

I opened my eyes and saw blue, but as the weight was lifted off I realized it was Sly that pushed me. As he got off, I saw that the peacock head had fallen onto the fountain just in front of the nightclub. I guess Sly, pushed me from getting caught in it all. I got up, wiping off any dirt that had got on me.

"Behold the majesty of gravity and inertia!" Bentley cried out gesturing to the scene before him. I smiled a bit. He was just proud of his work.

"That was real subtle, Bentley."

"Ok you jump in, grab the Clockwerk tail feathers and we're out of here!"

Sly turned back towards me.

"Are you coming with?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I'd rather not try to be any means of a distraction. I just barely kept up before this." Part of me wanted to go

and be the support like always, but I felt like I would just hold him back. It was just retrieving the tail feathers, but even if whoever was behind all this was going to try and get in the way, Sly would be fine.

"Okay, suit yourself." He gave a small wave with two fingers before hopping right into the fountain.

"Let's head back to the safehouse and get the van up and ready before the cops show up." Bentley said, ushering me to follow him. Murray squeezed out of the truck and followed suit.

Time to get the show on the road.

This game is like 10 hours long wish me luck -Mirai Akemi