The family of Bandittis was getting ready to commence a heist. All geared to the fullest, ready to reap an abundance of spoils. It was going to be a great night.
The beautiful teenager wore the lightest of clothing, her cloak covered nothing but a skintight black suit that had sheaths and pockets strapped to it.
In the sheaths were throwing knives and in the pockets were throwing stars encased.
She is a beauty, with a prominent curvy body frame, even with the cloak on. All this she had in semblance to the mature woman who looked like an older version of her, with braided black hair and brown eyes.
They all waited for her and soon after, her cloak started shifting and formed into a high-low flay gown, with flare sleeves from the elbows to the wrists, tie neck collar, and lace-up bust detail.
Her supple thigh was exposed briefly to her knees, the rest of her legs covered by the knee-length high-heeled fabric boots with crisscross lace-up she wore. Her hand was masked by fingerless gloves and her knotted hair was covered with a hat.
She looked like a noble, gentle lady. Her cunning smile widened as she looked at the men who were fascinated by the youthful charm she exuded.
"How do I look?"She asked the men, looking to know from the opposite gender if her perfect disguise was okay.
"...Charming."The second man said all his thoughts in one word, seeming lost in a daze, as he looked at her.
He had a striking resemblance with the first man and he was young but older than the girl, his dark brown hair greased to the back, the same as the older man's hair, and eyes as brown as the earth.
Two sword hilts extended from his back, what they looked like were masked by the cloak.
"...Oh, you look beautiful daughter."The voice of the mature rung in a playful timbre alluring the gaze of the men towards her.
Her apparel had also changed to form a disguise, similar to that of her daughter's but with a few changes such as; Sleeveless and round neck details, with gloves extending from her bicep to the tip of her fingers and especially the provoking cleavage that was revealed by the lace-up that tightened on her bosom, which in turn filled the gaps between the laces.
She looked at the men who looked at her with enthralled gazes before smiling and asking, though she already knew the answer.
"How do I look?"She asked with her chin high, filled with smugness, making the younger one roll her eyes.
"...Perfect!"The men chorused in breathy voices.
"Oh well..."The first man sighed and blinked "...Finalize your disguise and let's move, the auction will start soon."
The women nodded and brought out different musical instruments. The teenage girl brought out a lute from her flare sleeves, while the mature woman, or if suffice to say, her mother, brought out an ebony flute, both black as their dresses.
They weren't musicians, needless to say...
The men nodded in satisfaction and their cloaks also started shifting over their outfits and formed into a black knee-length coat, buttoned up on the chest and the sleeves.
"You look good, son..."The man said to the younger one who appeared to be his son, and he was literally. The young man smiled in response and didn't reply, which disappointed the father as he hoped to be complimented in return.
"You don't look bad, father..."The teenage girl said, earning a contented, smug smile from the older man.
"Let's go Duiro..."The mature woman said and intertwined her arm in the older man's whose name was Duiro.
"Yes, Bianca..."He accepted her advance and pecked her on her flawless cheek before looking at the two younger ones "You heard that Benni, Benitte, put on your masks."
The two younger ones put on their black smiley masks and so did the older ones—their parents. They were a literal family and criminals at the same time.
They planned to infiltrate the auction at the duchy tavern and start a heist by entering as an anonymous rich family because the others who will attend the auction will also do the same.
It was required that every individual who attends the auction wore masks on their faces to protect their identities and to avoid being robbed as only the rich attend such grand auctions.
The banditti family prepared their minds and readied their spirits, or suffice it to say, "spirit cores". But suddenly, a bright yellow light flashed from the distance and they knew something big was happening but that only made them feel more at ease.
"...Let's be quick, that thing will grab the attention of the Enforcers long enough for us to access our best escape routes. Whoever created that flamework, bless you..."He said and then ignored the flame, to them it was a sign of good luck. They proceeded under the guise of 'family'—they were in a literal sense but they were so much more.
And thus, the bandittis, went on an important business venture towards the Duchy, to the Duchy Tavern. Hoping to have a smooth operation and escape like the ghost they had always been.
...
At the same time, two beautiful girls and an attractive but cold boy were looking out the window, looking at the explosion that suddenly manifested in the distance.
"That's Liam's flame..."Kitty muttered, even though the light appeared to be small due to the distance, it was still vivid enough to discern Liam's flame.
"They used the Blast Arrow, I thought it was a working progress."Zoe casually said, not caring. All she cared about was the adventure that they were about to go on.
Hopefully, it'll be thrilling enough to lift her boredom.
Kitty, however, was cognitive as she stared at the flame.
The arrow Conan shot was a way Liam employed to control his power output due to its explosive nature through spirit codes and mechanics.
But a problem presented itself as Liam continued in his attempt to create explosive arrows that can store his explosive and bright yellow flames and make them explode later.
He had to put a considerable amount of his energy into each of the spirit codes he inscribed. Also, the inscriptions he had to use were Aether Origin Codes and Fire Law Codes due to the nature of his powers, hence, it was arduous and time-consuming.
But all the arrows he made always exploded even if he didn't infuse them with energy.
The effect wasn't even satisfactory as Liam wanted and it was too time-consuming after his first success In making an explosive arrow. So he just stopped since he already achieved a high level of mastery over his flames.
The first and only successful arrow he made however was left with Conan and looking at the flame in the distance, kitty concluded that it was Conan who fired the arrow.
But why did he do so? Was he calling them? Even if he was, she won't go anywhere but where she wanted. She had her mind set on the door situated on the first floor already.
"Loki, go and check Liam..."Kitty instructed and Loki who had been silently watching the two girls went Immediately to the room and removed the bedsheets on Liam or at least that's what he thought until he saw a mannequin made up of straws, expertly woven together.
Loki's face hardened and he felt betrayed, his jaw clenched and his crimson eyes shook.
Kitty came to the bedroom on feeling the anger he emitted and asked "...He's gone? So what about that?"
"H-he..."A trembling voice escaped Loki's mouth but the difficulty to speak made him shake his head and gesture instead [He left me, why didn't he take me along?]
Loki was angry at Liam and even felt hate towards him for his selfishness. They were just two boys out of their babyhood that came to the human kingdom and yet, he didn't take him along?
Where is the brother code? Weren't they supposed to always be together? But the selfish dragon went to have fun all alone.
"Heyy, don't mind it okay? We also have our business to take care of here. I know you always enjoy my company."Kitty patted his cheek playfully to console him.
His face loosened up gradually but his distrust towards kitty didn't. She was too unpredictable to be trusted, even when they were still at the Citadel.
"I bet he went to pick mortal girls to start his harem."Zoe suddenly said, bluntly pouring hot oil on Loki's already sour mood and worsening it further.
"Shut up you!"Kitty girlishly erupted in pent-up rage "...must you say everything that comes to your perverse mind?"
"Just stating the fact..."Zoe shrugged and looked away, not minding the offensive intents behind Kitty's words. She knew she was still venting from the fight they had on the rooftop.
"Whatever..."Kitty harrumphed and took out a bag from her spatial ring and placed it on the bed, then proceeded to unzip it, revealing a neatly folded dark blue suit.
"Should I-"Zoe was about to ask if she should also start suiting up but it was like kitty was waiting for her to ask.
"No, please don't..."Kitty sarcastically cut her off midsentence and continued with her business.
Zoe however shrugged again but she was shrugging off her anger. If it wasn't that she was too excited to think rationally, she won't be asking her for an opinion in the first place.
She opened her palm and channeled her spiritual energy into her spatial ring and willed what she wanted to come out.
A blob of black muddy substance appeared on her hand and slowly shifted to form a miniature form of Zoe, except that the muddy thing had an absurdly high ponytail, held high by a narrow tubular crown, and was appareled in an absurdly luxurious empress gown, with layers over layers of clothing and jewelry, albeit all these appeared black.
But the black slimy thing shared one similarity with Zoe apart from the resemblance, which was their expressions which speak of nothing but blankness.
It was a product of Zoe's boredom. First of all, the thing was made from mud slimes from the most swampy areas in dartale—the plane which houses the nether energy. Their mud but nether-filled bodies were used by Conan to create form-shifting armor, that can bend by the user's will.
But when Zoe received hers, she had nothing to do with it, unlike the others, simply because there was no danger back then. The others used it to appear intimidating by making it make them appear as warriors or something more to the younger ones, but she was too lazy to be interested in such.
Lazy and bored, so she decided to create a pet that'll entertain her.
"What?"The Empress blankly asked.