11 - Ray
I was looking forward to Zleigh. Not excited by any means, but I will admit that I was interested in what venturing there had in store for myself. I'd always liked travelling to different places to do jobs, something about doing my work in a new setting will always appeal to me, especially when I'm in a place like Zleigh. You see, Zleigh is one of the biggest trade capitals of the world, many of the biggest manufacturers of the southern regions have their headquarters nestled there.
This of course means that not only will there be the current job that we have assigned to us there, but other juicy clients that want their share of revenge on all sorts of Lords will be pleading for us to help them, which of course means more money for me.
"Ray? We need to discuss the plan further."
Cornelius had snapped me out of my daydream, "Sorry," I responded, "I guess we do have some things we need to discuss."
"Brilliant. Now, we were discussing the security system, were we not?"
"Correct."
"So as I was saying, each guest had a special id card that must be kept on their person at all times, if anyone walks in the facility of the building without one the alarms will sound and we'll be compromised.
"Magic I'd guess? Isn't it illegal though?"
"Correct, though this type of magic is allowed as it's authorized by the supreme court, making it legal."
"Got it."
Remember Ray, this is our only shot at this, so we have to do it once and do it right. Now, the badge includes photo identification so we can't just steal one from another guest. Security would know immediately."
I slipped another beer from one of the many cabinets that lined the walls, the smooth glass and sloshing liquid felt almost comforting in my paws, "I see, and let's say we somehow get good enough identification and make our way inside unnoticed, then what?"
"I guess once Lord Earl is alone, we strike. Whether that means luring him away from everyone or we just get lucky and he leaves is completely up to destiny at this point."
"And just how do you hope to get in without being caught Cornelious?"
Cornelius got up from where he was seated next to the kitchen counter, his glasses glowing as the sunlight from the single window reflected off of his lenses, "Well, like I mentioned earlier I have a few connections in Zleigh so I'm sure I can get somebody to forge fake identities for us."
"And let's say that these connections aren't around anymore…"
"Are you trying to say that I'm old, Ray?"
I shrugged, "I guess so, I thought it was obvious."
Cornelius sighed, "Well then, let's say that we manage to find one of the few that can forge us some fake identities, it won't be easy to get those ids."
"Why?"
"Well, I'd assume he would need the actual thing in order to make a fake copy, correct?"
"That's true, I'd never thought about that. But how do we get our hands on identification before the actual party? We can't snatch some id as it begins, we'd be out of time when we get it to whoever is forgeing fakes, assuming that it takes a significant time to forge copies.'
"Once again you are correct, it does seem like we've gotten ourselves into quite a predicament haven't we?" Cornelius stroked his chin, it looked like he was deep into thought, like he was considering each outcome.
I leaned towards Cornelius, catching his attention, "Hey, do you know anyone who is going to the party that we could… confront?"
"Oh come now, that would be far too barbaric."
I raised a single eyebrow, "Cornelius, you hired the Marauders, you can't expect us to not do things our way. We've had no trouble doing it a little messy in the past."
"But there must be some way we can get the id from someone without you… Hurting them?"
I flipped both of my revolvers into my hands and admired them. I loved my revolvers, from the silver handle to the crimson red finish, everything about my guns seemed to comfort me, like a friend I could whip out of my holster at a moment's notice.
"I'll try," I rasped, "But it won't be easy, I'll see if I can get Corra to sleight of hand it first, but if she doesn't succeed things will have to get ugly."
"Very well, but please try to hold back on the violence, and don't let the victim see your face, if they were to find out who it was that ambushed them our mission would be compromised."
I chuckled, "You can't find out who someone is if they never existed." After looking up to see Cornelius' unamused face, I decided to change the subject, "So anyways, why exactly do you want Lord Earl dead, I mean, you can't even bear for us to beat up someone for id but you'll allow us to kill him? Just seems sorta' odd to me."
"This is different, I've sworn myself to his defeat many times and have failed to actually defeat him. I can't go back now, not after I've already sworn an oath."
"An oath? To who… Or what?"
"An oath to my father, he had always hated the idea of men with high status controlling the many trade districts scattered around the south, and when Lord Earl came to power, it became reality. He would always banter on and on about how merchants should be free to sell their goods via the trade ports, but he never did anything about his dream. That's why I'm so determined, I have to build on the idea my father started."
"Alright, fair enough. Anything else you want to discuss? We should probably let the others know what we—"
"Yes, there is." Cornelius pointed to the crimson scarf hung around my neck, I hadn't realized I had been clutching it this entire time, my paw wrapped around it's silky fabric, "The scarf, tell me about it."
A bead of sweat started to drip down my face as I answered, "I'm afraid I—I don't understand."
"Don't lie to me Ray, I've seen how you've been clutching that scarf, something's up."
Great, I was just about everybody going to know about the scarf now? This just wasn't turning out to be my day.
I sighed, "I… Don't really know. One moment, I'm sitting there, and then all of a sudden I start to feel like I'm on fire, like something is trying to take over. Then I just sort of… Black out."
"I assume this has to do with the scarf and that you aren't just "Sitting there" when it happens. Has it happened recently?"
I gulped, "Uh.. It has actually."
"When?" Cornelius seemed almost intimidating, like he was trying to get me to spit out valuable information.
"Yesterday… Last night."
"And what happened last night?"
At that moment, the image of Corra's pale dead body in front of me made my stomach turn like the wheels of a carriage. I couldn't remember what we were talking about, all that I could hear, see and feel was that single moment where I leaned over her corpse… and cried. My tears of desperation slowly falling onto her lifeless face. Even though she was alive and well now, it still didn't feel real, like she was still dead, her body buried underneath the wreckage of that disgusting tavern.
"I witnessed something that was truly horrifying." The words barely escaped from my mouth, like the memory was suppressing my speech.
"And what was that?"
I tried to speak, but nothing would come out, the memory was still burned into my head, taunting me.
"Well?" Cornelius slammed his fist down on the table, "What is it?"
Rage, pain, agony, those words all make sense to me now.
My scarf started to glow a bright red as Cornelius yelled, the image of Corra's bloody, beaten body felt like it was being pressed into my brain by a hot iron. Before, it had felt like anger was the thing that would cause this to happen, but this time, it was fear. I fell to the ground, drenched in sweat as I felt anxiety, dread, and despair start to overcome my body, taking control of my actions.
"Ray? Are you alright?" I could hear Cornelius talking but it was muffled, as if some was plugging my ears with cotton.
You cannot ignore us anymore Ray Mejia
A distorted voice rang through my head again, it's deep sound making my ears ring as I screamed. Everything was spinning, the room, my head, Cornelius, I couldn't control it, like a wild beast that refused to be tamed. As I clutched my head, I could almost hear my father's voice. We were back at our home now, a cup of hot cocoa in our hands as we sat by the fireplace.
My father clasped his hand on my shoulder, his grip was somehow firm and gentle at the same time, "Ray, whenever something or someone is letting you down, look to the past. I'm sure you'll find peace once you dwell in it."
I had never really known what he had meant when he said that but now I understood. As I sat there, being tormented by memories, I tried to force the bad away and pull in the good. That time Rico had laughed so hard that milk spilt out his nostrils, when Corra and I had first found Rico and cared for him, and of course how could I forget the times when Corra and I would stay up late at night, completely alone, just enjoying each other's company.
As I lay on the floor, clawing at my pounding head, I started to feel the feeling of fear that was flooding my thoughts start to melt away, my scarf's glow slowly fading as my body slowly got less and less tense. Even though it was over, I could still struggle to stand, it was if my body was telling me to rest.
"Ray? I'm guessing that's what happened?"
I lifted myself up, using the stool next to me for support, "No. That was different, it was as if fear itself was trying to consume me."
"Then what was it like before?"
"Rage, anger, hatred. It felt like all of those things were growing inside me, trying to take control. It wasn't like that at this time, it sort of felt like I was being suffocated."
Cornelius offered his hand, "We'll come back to this another time but I assume that's enough for today, you think you can stand?"
I clasped my paw in his hand, his grip was firm like a bear trap, "Yeah, I think so. Just a little dizzy that's all."
"You should get some rest, you're drenched in sweat." He sniffed the air, "And shower as well, you could use one. I'll talk to the others about Zleigh in the meantime."
"Alright, see you tomorrow then."
As I walked towards the door that led to the foyer, I felt a sense of emptiness, as if the world was still, something was wrong. I opened the door, the door creaking ominously as I looked into the foyer and noticed immediately what was making me feel uneasy.
I turned back around to the kitchen, "Cornelius! They're gone!"