Ether puts his feet up on the desk leaning back in his chair drifting in and out of sleep. Rose is video messaging one of her many suitors to keep herself occupied. Her laughing is almost muted by the sound of the storm outside which has only gotten worse. He drifts off again only to fall backwards in his chair. Hitting the floor with a thud. Rose turns around, her amusement stretched across her face.
"You won't believe this guy just fell back in his chair." Rose laughs showing the guy she was video messaging.
"Shut-up Rose, the chair slipped." Ether says as he flips up to his feet.
"Yeah sure Eth..."
Suddenly an alarm sounds in the tower. Ether quickly calls headquarters to find out what's going on. Rose hangs up her call and walks over to him.
"Headquarters this is guard tower six what is the situation?" Ether asked.
"All towers are to remain on high alert a thief as infiltrated palace defenses. We are going into lock-down." Command says.
"What was stolen?" Rose asks.
"Sabrous' unholy spear Oli."
"Did you say Oli? Is the princess alright?" Ether asks.
"The Lord and Lady are both in the banquet hall with our unexpected guest. We were told not to interrupt so they are currently unaware of the situation. Command out."
Rose stands up and pats Ether on the shoulder. "Looks like it's time to get to work."
She walks over to her station and picks up her helmet. She puts it on and picks up her sniper rifle, which is more like a sniper cannon in a human's hands. Ether puts on his helmet as well. He cycles through its vision modes, ensuring that they all work.
A sudden knock on the door of the guard tower jars Ether and Rose. They walk over to the door. Ether opens it slightly on edge. To his surprise it is Joel and Carma; the relief squad for he and Rose. The two walk in.
"I guess you guys just heard the news." Carma says.
"Some crazy bastard actually stole from an Immortal." Rose adds. "Yeah we heard."
"We were sent to relieve you guys but since we are on lock-down now I don't know." Joel says.
"Well, Rose, since we're stuck here, we might as well be the ones that catch the thief." Ether says.
"You just want to be the one that returns the spear to the princess." Rose says. She shrugs her shoulders. "Well if it weren't for this thieving bastard..."
"Actually they said the thief was a female." Carma interjects.
"Thieving bitch then." Rose corrects herself. "I could have been going home right now getting it on with my date. We'll see how much she likes stealing when I put a hole in her chest."
"Capture, not kill." Ether says as he opens the door. "We need to find out how she knew where to find Oli and how she infiltrated the palace."
"Yeah-yeah, okay dad." Rose says as she follows Ether out. "See you boys later."
As they walk along the palace walls they hear an explosion set off at the keep entrance in front of the courtyard. They both turn looking in the direction of the explosion. Rose points her sniper in the direction to get a better view.
"Looks like amateur hour down there." Rose says. "Our little Miss Thief must not have been very bright after all."
"What do you see?" Ether asks. "Can't see that far with all this rain."
"The thief just ran out into the courtyard. She is being surrounded as we speak." Rose says with a sigh. "And I was really looking forward to getting my load off tonight."
"Don't say it like that." Ether responds. "Anyway we might as well go back to the guard tow..."
"Wait a second." Rose says. "She's gone! She just vanished."
"Was she wearing a stealth suit like mine?"
"No, she just had on a jumpsuit as far as I can tell."
"That means magic most likely." Ether says assured. "Thanks to Sabrous's barrier teleportation is impossible within the city. Not even a master mage could overcome Sabrous' magic."
"Not to mention our mages down there are trained to detect invisible magic." Rose adds.
"We need to get down there."
"Agreed." Rose says as she puts her gun on her back. She grabs Ether's hand and jumps over the edge of the wall pulling Ether along with her. "We'll take a short cut."
Rose opens her massive wings gliding them down to the sight. When they are a few feet off the ground Rose drops Ether and lands beside him.
"A little warning next time would be appreciated." Ether says.
* * *
Withra sat in the dark tunnel beneath the courtyard. Only the whispers of ghosts and the scampering of rodents echo the throughout the corridor. She put on the visor taking her senses back to her armor which sits in her stead at the banquet table.
She looks around through the eyes of the armor. Not much has changed since the last time she had checked in on them. Luintris and her father still going on about his trip to the Nether and what Luintris' duties will be as the temporary deity over his covenant. Withra rolls her eyes as Luintris slithers closer to her father taking a bottle of wine from one of the android assistants. She fills his glass and then her own.
Luintris herself once had a covenant but it was destroyed by the Gods over three hundred years ago. All because she protected Sabrous' covenant when he was cursed to the Nether. Since, she had become a roaming deity occasionally mentoring to the Gorgon Society to the south.
"Princesss Withra, you have been awfully ssilent," Luintris says. "Iss ssomething the matter?"
"Oh, no, I am just observing how immortals reach agreements." Withra says. "But if you don't mind me asking, Lady Luintris, how do you feel about birthdays."
"Withra!" Sabrous yells nearly spilling his wine. "Now is not the time."
"Sorry, Lord Father, but I was asking Luintris."
"Ah... now I ssee why you have been sso quiet." Luintris says as she cuddles up with Sabrous filling is glass again. "It iss common knowledge that immortalss do not celebrate birthdayss. Time is moot to we who passs through unbound. However, I have come to appreciate thesse celebrations asss my children the Gorgon have shown me the joy of celebrating life. Time iss preciouss when it iss sso fleeting. "
"Do not humor her Luintris." Sabrous says as he takes another swig from his glass. "Immortals have no place in such arbitrary tradition."
"Well, all the more reasson she can take part. Unlike uss full blood Immortalss the Demi do not become immortal until they are twenty-five. That iss, if they become immortal at all. It iss my undersstanding that she iss mortal."
Sabrous leans back in his seat. "She may be mortal now but..."
Withra takes of the visor hearing what sounds like footsteps in the crypt with her. She puts the visor in her bag and quietly stands up. She didn't expect they would be checking the underground passages so quickly. She starts walking down her escape tunnel map in hand. The footsteps she heard earlier get closer speeding up. Withra's walk becomes a jog then a full fledged sprint as the unknown presence gets closer. She uses magic to see in the pitch black catacombs. She finally comes to her target a ladder that should reach up to the subway system.
She climbs the ladder and at the top comes to a hatch. To her dismay it is locked and worse the area had been magically sealed meaning she could not phase through it. She will have to blow it open giving away her position to whoever is chasing her. She takes a deep breath and puts one hand on the hatch. Less than a second later a small explosion sets off and the hatch is blown to smithereens. As soon as she climbs through the foot steps below gather.
"She went up this way." Withra hears Ether's voice call.
That's bad. If he recognizes her the plan for escape is over. They will have reason to get Sabrous involved. She starts running down the subway station and finds a service door. She runs in and makes her way through the cramped service hall. She stops and looks in her bag and finds a mask she brought just encase things went awry. It isn't long before she reaches another door but this one is locked. She promptly kicks the door down then continues through the empty subway terminal.
She runs up the stairs to reach the street but quickly turns around when she sees five covenant officers start down. She runs back to the service door but it was too late she was surrounded. Ether and Rose among the crowd. They all pointed their guns at her. Even faced with such odds Withra was more worried about how to get out without killing anyone. She knows how frail mortals can be. After all she on more than one occasion nearly killed Ether during training. The problem is her magic is difficult to control in small bursts. Even non lethal magic can easily kill when overcharged with her power.
"Drop the bag and put your hands on your head." One of the officers says. "Now."
She puts the bag on the ground and kicks it at Ether. It hits him in the face and he falls backward. She realizes that if she doesn't use magic on them directly she stands a better chance in not killing anyone. While everyone was caught off guard she raises her hand to the ceiling and electricity shoots out in a terrifying light show. Then just as suddenly all of the lights in the station burst and it is completely dark. The officers start shooting but she is already gone. Ether feels someone take the bag off of him but can not see until he turns on his night vision.
Withra runs up the stairwell outside. She is immediately shot at by snipers, but manages to avoid the shots as she darts to a nearby building. She uses her magic to phase through the walls inside. Hopscotching haphazardly through buildings, making sure it is impossible for anyone to follow her. She finally comes to a stop when she realizes that she is entered into a club. She is almost instantly enthralled by the music and dancing. It was just like she had imagined it on TV.
"You have to focus." Withra says to herself.
She took off her mask and made her way to the bathroom, pushing through the scores of partygoers.
When she finally gets into a stall. She takes off her jumpsuit, putting it into the bag and changes her outfit to more casual wear. She puts on a hooded long coat and takes the visor and Oli out of her bag. With the new coat on she could conceal them easily. She decided it will be best to ditch the bag. The covenant officers and palace guards would be looking for woman carrying it.
"Now to check on dinner," she says to herself while she puts the visor on. "Hopefully I did not miss anything important."
* * *
It was obvious that Sabrous and Luintris were drunk. The two laugh and giggled over nothing. Then Sabrous jumped up on the table and started dancing after ordering the androids to play music. Luintris watched with lustful eyes and used her magic to cause gold coins and priceless gems to shower over him.
"Take it off." She yells while clapping.
"What the hell did I miss?" Withra says to herself. "Uh... Lord Father, Lady Luintris I think I will be taking my leave."
Withra stands up and makes her way to the door. She takes one final look and sees the Luintris has joined him on the table. They both start dancing together with surprising grace given how wasted the two of them are. She closes the door and walks into someone. She surprised to see the breastplate of a member of the Myrmidon Unit. Withra looks at her, but can't tell who it is because she is wearing her helmet.
"Princess? I did not expect to see you in your armor." The Female Myrmidon says. "It doesn't really matter though." The woman suddenly reaches behind her and pulls out a sword. Before Withra can react. The woman slashes the blade cutting the head off of her armor. "What is this? No one inside? She didn't use magic I would have sensed it. That means." She reaches down and picks up the helmet. She aims it at her self so that Withra could see her. "Princess are you there? Here I thought I finally caught a big break. Thief comes in and rattles the nest causing a perfect distraction for me to finally take you out."
"Who are you?" Withra asks.
"Well Princess, I am the heroine that is finally going to kill the Destroyer." She says. "Now that I know you're in the city I will be seeing you soon."