It was a crisp Sunday morning. Drinking hot chocolate outside in my personal garden surrounded by my three personal aides with only one central idea in mind.
What will be our plan of attack now that we know the mages' location?
So far we know the location of the mages' research facility. We also know that going in through the front will be near impossible due to the alarm they have sought up.
There are three things that we still don't know:
1. Where the villagers are being kept
2. How big the mages' stronghold actually is
3. If there are any other alarm system scattered in and around the building
"Delic, can you find the blueprint to the old candy store in Father's office?"
"Of course, Master."
Practically, the whole city is in Father's office, so it would be weird if the blueprint wasn't in there. The blueprint should give us an idea of where the mages could keep the villagers.
"Xander, how many dark elves live in your village?" I ask while sipping my coffee.
"There were roughly one hundred or so. A typical household had five members in each family which would normally consist of two grandparents, two parents, and one child."
"So that would make sense if there were about twenty mages who raided your village if I recall from the information you told me last week."
One hundred dark elves. The mages would need a considerably large room to house them all.
Delic arrives a few minutes later with the decaying blueprint in hand. He lays it out on the table and pins it down with the snack plates.
I scan over the blueprint and notice that it is not as small as it looks from the outside. The candy store's most notable areas are the game room, the candy room, the storage, the office, and the security office. There isn't a single place that can hold one hundred dark elves without cramping them, so it would be logical to split them up. However, how the mages would split them up can be unpredictable.
The mages took the dark elves for their immense strength. If I was researching for strength, there are a few ways I would divide everyone.
1. Grandparents - Parents - Children
2. Men - Women - Children
3. Height - Weight
4. Potential strength
There is a chance that two or three rooms in the candy store are being used to house everyone, so we need to be prepared to split up in order to free everyone.
I place a finger on the blueprint where the back door is. "The front door must be a diversion in order to catch intruders, so the back door should be how the mages get in and out. However, it might not be that easy to just walk in through the back door either. There could be a chance that the door is locked somehow by a keypad or a normal key."
If there is a keypad, how would we get the code? If I recall, police investigators are able to pick up the fingerprints using whatever magic dust they have, but I don't have that sort of thing. What can pick up fingerprints?
"Delic, can you retrieve my phone? I leave it in the top drawer of my office table since I don't use it."
"I never even realized that you had a phone, Master."
"I shut it off ever since my family died. I had no use for something if there was no one to use it for."
Delic stays silent but nods to show that he understood. He felt it. I know he did. He felt the sharp sting in my heart when I mentioned my family. That's probably why he didn't ask anymore than necessary.
Without delay, Delic appears again, handing me my phone. I hesitate to turn it on at first. I haven't opened my phone in almost seven months, so I don't know what might pop up, but I can't let that stop me. I'm only doing this to search for something.
I hold the power button until the little robot dances on my screen. "Power on" is all it sings before continuing its little dance. The screen goes dark then lights back up to expose my lock screen. A picture of my mother, father, and I at the park covers my phone.
Delic feels my heart tighten, so he gently takes hold of my shoulders. I dart my head over to look at him with my tearing eyes. He just gives me a warm, sincere smile. Out of all the annoying smiles he has in his inventory, he only has one smile that calms me down. I glance back over, take a deep breath, and unlock my phone. After a simple search, I found something that could be useful.
"Alex, how good are you at water magic?"
"I would probably say that I'm intermediate level, but I haven't checked since last year."
"Do you think you can manipulate extremely small amounts of water very carefully?"
A confused expression rises on Alex's face. "It will probably depend on the situation. Why do you ask?"
"Fingerprints are made from extremely tiny sweat glands. Sweat is a mixture of mostly water and a little bit of salt. In order to pick up fingerprints, with good precision, your ability might be able to pick them up in case the back door is locked via keypad."
"I don't know if I have that great of precision, but I will do my best in order to get it right."
If we go by the alarm system from yesterday, I'm pretty sure the inside has some alarms sought up as well as cameras. In order to bypass those, I will need someone to be able to get into the security room. Of course, there might be mages in the room, so we need a way to confine them without alerting anyone.
"Alex, do you also know how to cage in someone with your ability?"
"What do you mean?"
I point over to the security room. "I'm going to have you infiltrate the security room in order to shut off any alarms that might be in the building. You will also be our eyes and ears since you will be in front of the cameras. However, there may be a chance that a couple of mages could be inside. If there are mages in there, you are going to need to cage them somehow to keep them from running."
"I don't know if I'm capable enough to fight mages by myself, my Lady."
"I never said you had to fight them. You can use your Serpent Wave to quietly move past them so that you can quickly cage them. Of course, you're also going to need to cover their mouths. Since you are going to be up against mages that could possibly be stronger than you, you are going to be training a little harder and fortifying your mind."
"Fortifying my mind?"
"In other words, you will be building your confidence. You just said that you don't know if you're capable enough to fight. That means you don't have a lot of confidence in yourself. Strength not only comes from your muscles but also your mind. If you think that you aren't strong, your body will respond accordingly and will not be pushed to its full potential which means that you basically threw away all of your training. Confidence is key to strength. If you're not confident in yourself and in your ability, you will always be weaker than everyone around you."
"I understand, my Lady," Alex responds. I can see in his body that he just mentally slapped himself. He looks more straightened out than a few moments ago.
Security is covered by Alex, so that's done.
The candy store has a lot of winding hallways that were used as a way to move candy around without going through the main candy area. There are too many blind spots and corners. I need something to be able to peek around corners without being seen. Not seen... invisible... transparent... Got it!
"Delic, you will be on lookout. When we enter the candy store, I need you to be in your spirit form so that you can check the hallways in front of us. You will be the one to tell us if the coast is clear so that we can proceed over to you."
"Why can't Alex tell us if there is anyone in the hallway before we keep going?" Xander asks from behind a plate of cookies.
"Alex will be having his own battle with keeping the mages in the security room in check. Plus, security cameras only have so much range. They might not be able to pick up certain areas. To Alex, the hallway might seem empty, but there could be mages on the other side of the camera that he can't see since they are out of view."
"Ah~ that makes sense," Xander replies through a mouthful of snacks.
"Do you think you can do it, Delic?" I question looking over at Delic next to me.
"Something as simple as scouting is not hard at all. I'm just worried since I won't be next to you."
"I think I can handle myself pretty well, but just in case, I will have Xander next to me. Xander's Shadow Movement only allows him to go into shadows that he has been in before, so he can't check corners and hallways as efficiently. However, he can move among our shadows, so he can go from my shadow to Alex's shadow in the security room to your shadow in front of us. If ever I'm in danger, Xander can use his power to quickly go to you, but because of our internal connection, you might notice before Xander can even tell you."
"I have always wondered about that," Alex states, setting his coffee cup down. "Delic seems to be really sensitive regarding your health. How are you two connected internally?"
I glance over at Delic. He gives me the okay, so I start to explain.
"Delic is a guardian wolf spirit. Those with Winter blood are automatically given one at birth. The Winter Vessel will always be given the highest ranking wolf spirit the Arctic Wolf because of its innate ability to live in extremely cold conditions such as those within the Winter Vessel.
"A Winter Vessel and his Guardian are destined to intertwine with each other because the Guardian will ensure that the snow and ice flowing violently within the vessel is under control. This means that the hearts of both parties will always be connected so that the Guardian will constantly be aware of the vessel's emotional condition since a calm mind is essential in containing the snow and ice.
"Every emotion I feel is fed to Delic. My anger, sadness, and joy are literally equally shared with Delic. However, sometimes my emotions can be a bit much for Delic's heart to handle, and his body will take the toll so that I don't go out of control."
"Well, that's a short way of putting it," Delic comments while eating his sandwich. "We are also able to communicate through a mind link if ever we are separated."
"So that's how you knew that the Young Lady was getting married in the afternoon and the location!" Alex shouts, choking on his biscuit.
Mind link.... communication...
That's right! We need to have a way to talk to each other while we are in the mages' territory without being too loud. Is it possible to mind link with Xander and Alex, though? I know it's possible. I have seen Father perform the ritual, but I was never really paying thorough attention. Unfortunately, the ritual takes a lot of energy, that's why it's only performed on the leaders of each division of the Winter Mafia so that they can communicate to Father.
"Alex. Xander. It takes a lot of energy from me, but I'm going to need you two to undergo the mind link ritual," I suddenly mention.
Xander jumps from his chair and stares dead at me. "What do you mean? Why would you put yourself through that?"
"We are going to have to communicate somehow when we infiltrate the candy store. Walkie-talkies are too loud and whispering to each other is even worse. Plus, Alex will be alone in the security room. He will need a way to talk to me and vice versa. I will be fine. I just need a day or two of rest afterwards."
"As much as I am against this, Lady Viola is right," Alex says dejectedly. "I don't want the Young Lady to get hurt, but if it will help us save our village as well as keep the Lady safe, then I will support her."
Xander falls back into his chair and crosses his arms. "Fine. Just don't overdo yourself. You are the backbone of this mission, and if you're out of commission, then I don't want to proceed with the mission."
I smile at the two boys. They really want to save their village, but they are also taking my safety into consideration. I shouldn't delay it.
"I will study the mind link ritual for the rest of the morning. Alex, work on trying to lift fingerprints as well as your caging method. Xander, help out your brother, but also work on expanding your Shadow Movement. It will be useful during the mission. Delic, prepare the items needed for the ritual once we find the excerpt about it in Father's office."
"Understood!" the three guys yell.
"Today is Sunday. I will perform the ritual this evening and probably be taking it easy for the next two days, so I'm really going to be relying on the three of you to help me out. Just because I won't be with you does not mean that you two can slack off during training. I'm going to tell Edward to push you two until you drop for the next two days. You guys need to be strong enough to fight back against the mages. Getting in will probably be easy, but getting out will certainly prove to be a challenge.
"Wednesday morning before going to school, we will go over the plan again to make sure everyone understands their part. Immediately after school, we will initiate the plan. We need to get to the villagers before the sun sets. We all saw how dark it was at the border of the city. Does everyone understand?"
"Yes, my Lady," Alex replies with fire in his eyes.
"Loud and clear!" Xander declares, grinning like crazy.
"Of course," Delic states, gazing at me.
It's time that I repay the twins for their hard work. I know that it has only been a few weeks since they came, but I have really grown attached to them. God, I'm going to miss them like crazy after this mission is over.