"I see you look well. Are you ready?" Ancestor Origin was the first person Mane bumped into once he was outside his room. The blind old geezer claimed that he was only taking a stroll, but which person took a troll so close to another's room? Besides, Mane had watched the man, just like the other ancestors, leave last night after their discussions were over. Logically speaking, the only person who should have been here was the owner of the house – Ancestor Specter. But Ancestor Pier was nowhere to be found. It was highly likely that Ancestor Origin told him to make himself scarce. From the little of the old man's personality that Mane had seen, this wasn't beneath him.
"I am," since Ancestor Origin's first statement was straight to the point, Mane didn't see the need to reply with any pleasantries either.
"And the others?" Mane asked. It was imperative that the other Ancestors were with him when he went into the barrier because he needed their complete approval to access its core.
"They are already at the site," Ancestor Origin seemed to prefer this manner of speaking. He wasn't a big fan of formalities. Living longer than most people meant that he had met all kinds of men and women. And after a certain point of your life, you just want things to happen more effectively than what the world referred to as 'proper'.
Although Ancestor Origin stated that there was no other person here, Mane still extended his senses to every corner of the large mansion to ascertain the truth. And he was comforted to find that Ancestor Origin didn't lie to him.
"Then we must make haste. I wouldn't want to leave the other Ancestors waiting for too long." Mane nodded his head with a bit of respect and jumped out a window. Ancestor Origin smiled slightly seeing the boy's action.
"I like this lad," he mumbled to himself before taking to the skies in the same manner. When one reached a certain level, using doors and staircases became rarer. Windows and balconies became more popular; so there were several Ancestors who didn't even have staircases in their homes. Soon the figures of both men became blurry images as they rushed towards the site of the barrier.
Intentionally or unintentionally, Mane had left through the window that was right next to Lily's room. And the path he used as his exit point meant that he would have to fly past her window to get away. For the average man, this would have been unintentional. For one who knew exactly what he was doing, this was highly intentional. Mane was a young man who knew what he was doing. Just like most of his daily persuasions, this was planned. And it was but the first step of his plan.
"They are gone," Lily closed her blinds when the figures of Ancestor Origin and Mane disappeared entirely from her view.
"Good. Let's get to work then." On the other side of her room was her twin brother, Lam. He arrived here at dawn and had stayed here all this while. And that was because of what they had discussed with Mane last night.
The three had come up with a series of plans to investigate the ancestors, and they had to start with their very own Master – Ancestor Pier. He had to be eliminated as a suspect, so that their hearts could be put at ease. Mane recognised this, and that was why he promised to use the window close to them when he was leaving so that Lam and Lily would be aware of their departure. Initially, Mane thought he would be leaving with Ancestor Pier. After all, this was his house. But it mattered little that Ancestor Origin was the one who was here. As long as no other person was left, that was okay. Lam took a deep breath, before casting his mind back to the conversation they had the night before.
"It is going to take about 8 hours for me to completely finish upgrading the barrier. They do not trust me. So it is likely that they will be there the entire time to watch me. Well, 'monitor me' is the proper phrase. But that is good. It gives us a chance to get a lot of things done."
"This is where things get a bit tricky. Searching Ancestor Pier's place shouldn't be an issue for you since you both live here. Lily is a Scholar. Use her abilities to aid in the search in order to find anything peculiar."
"The issue would be with the other Ancestors. Elementals are famous for not having servants, but their homes will not be so easy to trespass. There will be security measures in place. Luckily for us, Ashera knows all about these measures. And I have the 'keys' for unlocking them here with me. I only hope that they haven't changed anything over the past thousand years."
"Next I need you to search them just as thoroughly as you searched your master's home"
"Hold on Mane," Lam interrupted. "We have no idea what we are searching for. So how will we know when we have what we seek?"
"That is why Lily's presence is so vital in all this."
"It is?"
"Yes. Her abilities as a Scholar aren't known to anyone else right?"
"No. Not even Grand Grand knows about it. I promised to keep it a secret remember?" Lily replied
"Good job. Use your senses to track down anything that contains the aura of another race – Barbarian or Ancient. Elemental Ancestors don't leave the nest right? So such items should be rare. Of cause there will be items and artefacts from the countless conflicts between the three races over the last thousand years. So focus on the smaller items – letters, medallions, handkerchiefs, jewelry and anything of such size and quality for that matter."
"And then what? It isn't like that is a strong piece of evidence. No one would confess to something as grave as betrayal with such little evidence to lean on to. Not to mention that we would be the ones presenting the evidence, and we aren't exactly of the same status with the ancestors"
"First and foremost, I will be presenting the evidence. It is too dangerous for you lot. Secondly, we aren't going to present the evidence just then. We are going to observe the ancestors for a while."
"What for?"
"For clues. These people have lived for so long and no one is better at hiding anything than they. If we take something that could incriminate the culprit, no matter how much composure they have racked up over the years, they are bound to slip something. Plus, if they have nothing to hide, they will report to Ancestor Origin about a mass break-in. However, one who doesn't confess to having anything stolen would be the likely culprit."
"It is also possible that someone will not admit to losing anything because of other reasons. But it is a small possibility."
"And what if they all confess that they have lost something valuable? What do we do then?"
"Well, in such an instance, it would mean that we didn't take anything of value. That is why the other part of the plan is so vital."
"Leaving the note?"
"Yes, leaving the note. The note must read, 'We know you are up to something'. It wouldn't be enough to rattle anyone. But when they all realise that they had the same note, the one responsible for all this hard work will feel a bit of relief. And my senses will pick that. Then we can slowly narrow our efforts on that one person."
"And if even that fails? If they are so good at hiding themselves that even that doesn't rattle them?"
"Everyone would be rattled when called a traitor. From the way they treat Ancestor Origin, they all seem to fear him. If you are branded a traitor, I doubt your fate would be pleasant."
"So you're saying this as long as we get the basics right, we would have completed the most difficult part of the job?"
"Yes. And if everyone is still composed at the end, it will only mean one thing."
"Which is?"
"That the culprit is the one person whose home we cannot and will not be searching"
"You mean…"
"Yes. It will mean that Ancestor Origin himself has betrayed the Elementals."
Lam sighed and calmed his throbbing head. Although it was only a memory, it shook him each time it surfaced. It was a very risky thing they were going to do.
"I hope we get things done right," Lily mumbled.
"Yeah. And I hope it isn't the worst case scenario that occurs." Lam replied, before both quickly left their rooms to search the house.
****************************************
"So this is the barrier's core? It is majestic." Mane was full of awe for the beautiful structure before him. And he didn't bother to hide it, much to the amusement of the Elemental Ancestors who stood right next to him.
Before Mane was a huge dome that was suspended by 7 large pillars. Each pillar was of a different color. The pillars represented the number of gateways to the core, and each gateway had a key. Each key belonged to a different element and was guarded by an Ancestor. Mane had one of the keys. For the one belonging to Ashera was with him. However, the others had to unlock their pillars as well before he would be able to access the core. If not, its automated defense mechanism will fry him to nothingness should he attempt to breach it.
"We can start now," Mane stated and moved towards the green pillar, the Pillar of Wind. Ancestor Origin nodded his head without much complaints. Mane was main lead here. They all had to listen to him. Soon, all the Ancestors were in position, with each standing before their respective pillars.
"Ready?" Mane asked as his hands flashed with a green glow, revealing a strange mark that resonated with the pillar before him and caused it to tremble. Whilst the others marveled at how quickly the boy had activated a mark of their race, their strove to activate theirs as well. It took longer with them than with Mane, with only Ancestor Origin beating Mane's time by a few seconds and the others lagging behind by several dozen. Soon, they were all ready.
"You can proceed, Ashera's Herald," Ancestor Origin gave the go ahead when everyone was ready.
"Are you ready for this, Mane?" Hildegarde who had seen exactly what Mane had seen in the designs a day ago was very excited for what lay behind the dome. And her excitement was felt clearly by Mane.
"I am," Mane smiled, before giving the others the signal to unlock their pillars, "Now!"
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
There were a series of loud booms, and the dome before Mane descended slightly before revealing a small entrance, one large enough to fit just one person.
"Good luck kid," Ancestor Origin blessed Mane. Mane turned back and nodded his head at the ancestors, before disappearing speedily into the hole. And just in time too, because it sealed itself up shortly after and the dome moved back to its rightful place. In the moment that he met up with them, he didn't ask about the man he had sent help to in order to find the materials in such a short time. The materials had been delivered. Yet the person himself was nowhere to be seen. Mane didn't ask his whereabouts though. For they had already spoken.