"Are you done with your story?", Belinda called out, "The portal is fired up and your jump can happen at any time."
Anya went inside the penthouse with Lirian, the insides shouted high class from all angles, even the lights were intricately shaped with inlaid gold patterns running through it, the others were lounging at an open bar and the smell of potent wines filled the air.
Anya looked at the portal they brought warily, it was different from the others they had used to come here, those were able to transfer to any relay portal they locked onto but this one was a fixed portal, it could only relay to one place and that was the fixed portal placed on the passenger ship.
Fixed portals were a lot more stable, efficient and faster than ordinary portals, but due to the lack of flexibility, it was only used for important tasks or in strategic locations, in this case, Anya was preparing to jump on to a ship moving faster than the speed of light without a fixed portal the jump would be impossible.
Anya was certain that even if she was unsuccessful, she would survive after all she was a saint, but she feared that she might not be able to protect Lirian as they jump.
"AI what the odds of success?", Anya asked.
{Beep, checking clearance…}
{Your odds of success are 100%} the AI informed in an overly cheery voice.
"Why do you need to check my clearance?" Anya asked with a frown.
She hated the AI of emperor Albus Clovis; he gave it a horrible personality module and if someone didn't have a high enough clearance it would make up its own answers.
{The emperor has only made such information open to people with high enough authority, anyone without enough authority will be given a 100% success rate} as the AI spoke Anya could swear that the AI was snickering.
Her lips twitched uncontrollably as she cursed at the emperor and AI.
Cain and Belinda heard it all and they were both silently snickering at her plight, after all, Anya was the newest of all the maids and butlers so her authority was the lowest.
"Watch and learn newbie this is how it's done." Cain looked at her smugly with a face full of pride, "Ai calculate the odds of a successful jump."
{Beep, checking clearance…}
{100%} came the reply this time they all heard a devilish giggle coming from the AI.
Anya immediately broke out into a bright smile and started laughing at Cain, "You've been a butler from 300 years before me and your clearance is no higher than mine, you've been wasting your life old man."
Cain looked down his mood now despondent, he just wanted to look like a capable senior, but his dreams were crushed, he walked away despondently and started drawing circles in the air.
'All that he needs now is a cigarette and scraggly beard and he'll look like your typical middle-aged man.' Lirian thought inwardly.
"AI calculate the odds of a successful jump.", Belinda said with her position as head maid she knew that she had the clearance, but until now she was gleefully enjoying the torment of her juniors, after all, she was way too familiar with the personality that the emperor designed for the AI.
{Beep, checking clearance…}
{Tsk. Party Pooper recognised} the AI said hatefully, {Odds of success are at 63%} after that the AI went silent.
Belinda frown as she heard the new name the AI designated to her, 'At least it beats Poop Licker.' She thought with resignation.
Meanwhile, Anya was heaving a sigh of relief since the success rate was over 50%, she was happy.
{Beep, portal detected}
{Initiating Relay}
{Jump will occur in: 3:26}
Lirian was soon placed in a golden cradle, it reminded him of the one he had in the god realm, after he was placed inside, it was sealed resembling a ball and with that, he couldn't sense the outside anymore. He shut his eyes and went back to sleep.
Anya stood at the portal in silence patiently waiting for the gate to open when only ten seconds remained, she covered the cradle with her energy and watched the familiar ripples of the portal as it opened.
"Good luck," shouted Belinda, ", and remember if anything goes wrong with Lirian miss Taliyah is going to kill you."
A second later Anya stepped through the portal and the familiar tugging at her feet could be felt, it didn't even feel like a second had passed when the gate opened and spat her out into a dark room.
The cradle appeared beside her and she sighed in relief, she opened the cradle and checked on Lirian, to our surprise she found that Lirian was still sound asleep, 'Wow this kid must have a gut of steel to not wake up from that.' she thought with surprise.
Anya shut the cradle, and opened the panel at the door, after checking that the outside corridor was clear she moved stealthily inside the steel corridor the corners of the roof had lights lighting up the corridor and the metallic walls served to reflect the light.
Since it was a simple transportation ship there weren't many guards present and Anya got past them with ease, she quickly found the room with all the children, there were over a thousand children sleeping in pods all of them orphans from the wars on their world.
Anya found an empty pod and placed Lirian inside it, she then put his cradle into her spatial storage and faded into the shadows as she crept back to the room, she arrived in to announce her arrival on the ship.
It was impossible for the portal to have been placed on the ship without anyone knowing, that's why as soon as Anya got Lirian in place she made he presence public to the ship.
Not a minute had passed when the captain arrived, he was dressed in his navy-blue uniform and had a rather large mustache.
He approached Anya cautiously scanning her clothes to determine her rank, and when he noticed the gold seams on her clothes, he took a deep breath and looked at her with reverence.
The golden seams represented only the aids of the emperor and empress and if the women in front of him were on his home world she would have the authority to take control of the entire planet.
"Your excellency may I inquire what brings you to my humble ship, if there is anything I can do for you please let me know so that I may be of service.", he spoke politely, it was well known that the aids of the emperor and empress had all kinds of strange personalities.
If he wasn't mistaken based on her description, she seemed to be Anya a.k.a the phedo...no he scram internally and shut down the thought in its track, who knows if she had some mind-reading ability. He sighed in relief as he thought that he was too old to draw her attention and he was secretly glad that he didn't bring along any of his children on this mission, he wondered if this was the danger his superior warned him about before he left.
Anya scrutinized the captain, sadly he wasn't to her taste so it would be no fun teasing him. "Are you aware of the reason for your mission captain?"
He nodded his head and answered, "To my knowledge, this has been organized by her majesty the empress, her majesty seeks to give the unfortunate children of her home world a chance at a better life."
Anya simply nodded and did not refute him after all that was the story they were creating and wanted the public to believe. "Indeed, it's good that you pay attention to the news, however you ought to know that there are some nuisances that oppose her majesty's position, whilst they are unable to do anything to her majesty in the open, they still may attempt to attack her reputation by obstructing some of her projects. Hence I am here as insurance."
That last part was true while the emperor had killed many of his past suitors for their attack on the empress, there were, unfortunately, those who belonged to the super worlds and he could not afford to sour their relationship, especially by killing their empress candidates who were elites amongst elites, as such they never gave up on pushing the empress down in secret.
The captain sighed he had grown used to the politics of the upper echelons and this wasn't his first time being dragged into a storm. 'Kira is right I'm getting too old for these things perhaps I should just retire after this.', he thought.
"I see, I'll have a room arranged for you, I guess that we'll all be in your care."
Anya nodded and silently watched as the captain pulled out a cigarette and left the room leaving a trail of smoke behind him.
She looked outside at the distant stars and a little smile appeared on her face, "Now don't disappoint me I've been itching for a fight it's been too long since I've gone out for a stretch."
Two red blades appeared in her hands one short and one long, "Perhaps we'll taste a little blood in the coming days." the sword hummed in her hand and she smiled, it had been a long time since she last fought, at the time she was still unable to hear her blades but now it would be a completely different game.
As the saying goes, 'When a saints sword sings, the melody of death begins.'