Xander watched through an upper window as the guards walked into the castle to sleep and some new ones came out, a good few less. Xander counted around seven come out of the castle, half of the fifteen there previously. He opened the window right in front of the courtyard, so hopefully Tsuki and Priyanka could see it.
"Hey, what you doing here?"
Xander turned around to see a guard decked out in the same neon green uniform as the rest of them. Only this one looked much younger.
"Oh, me?" Xander asked, trying to act nonchalant through the shock. "I'm Luminita's date for the ball tomorrow."
"Oh, so you're going?" The young solider asked. "Makes sense, she's a beaut."
"Oh, totally."
"Also, I don't think we're allowed to open windows in here." The solider said, closing the window.
"Wait, really?"
"High security, you know how it is." The young solider said while rolling his eyes. "Can't have a risk like this open, you know?"
"Yeah, I get it. Well, I was only gonna get some air, but I'm just gonna go for a walk and go back to sleep."
"Nothing wrong with that."
The solider continued his patrol while whistling something to himself. Xander patrolled in the opposite direction, searching the first floor for what he was looking for. Eventually, his search led him to the centre of the castle's first floor. It was a circular room There were two grand doors about twice the size of all the other already large doors in the building.
"Halt!" Said one guard, putting a sword in between Xander's eyes. "If you're not a member of the royal family, look away!"
"It's temporary, but he is!"
Marcel's voice rang through the hallway behind Xander.
"He wants to see the shield, that's all."
"Yeah, when you get the chance, you know?"
The guard pulled his sword back, gave a nod and a quick apology, and opened the door. Xander walked in with Marcel in tow to admire the shield. On a pedestal with seemingly no protection lay the shield in front of them. A circular white relic polished to a resplendent shine, with a blood red gemstone embedded in it's centre with black triangles surrounding it. And on each end was a narrow transparent tube. It looked like an amazing piece of history, but just how easy it looked to steal concerned Xander, even if he was aware how stupid a complaint that was.
"No security in the room, huh?" He asked, trying his best to seem relaxed.
"Well, the soldiers should hopefully be enough. But now that you mention it, something more advanced certainly wouldn't hurt. Actually, you know about computers, right? Any idea where to start?"
Well, no chance of him learning something basic, right? He couldn't install anything he'd need to stop him in a few hours, anyway.
"Yeah, sure. First thing I'd start with is a camera system. Just put a couple around the hallways and have a guy watching all of them. Then have a set of walkie talkies between all the guards to contact them. Then maybe have an alarm system to evacuate any important people. And an old castle like this'll probably have it, but if you don't have any secret exits in case the worst happens, I'd recommend fitting those in there somewhere."
Marcel calmly took the information in while stroking his beard.
"It's so obvious." He muttered to himself.
"Well, I'm not too sure just how obvious it is when you're not in cybersecurity, you know."
"Now now, mister Dobalina. Don't downplay advice you just gave. As soon as the ball ends, I'll get right to work on implementing those ideas."
"Well, good luck with that." Xander replied, feigning a yawn. "I'll be going to bed."
"Yes, I suppose it's that time." Marcel said as he turned around. "Oh, one more thing."
"Go on."
"Should everything go well tomorrow, I wouldn't mind you taking things further with my daughter should you want to. You've got a good head on your shoulders"
"Hey, I'll keep that in mind."
Xander walked back up to his room, making sure to count the guards on his way up. He counted seven. Two groups of three and one by their lonesome in between. Okay, this shouldn't be too difficult. He tried opening the window by the second floor, but the same guard was approaching, so he left it. The only real option was to open the window in his own room and hope Priyanka could boost to it.
Seeing as he was an important guest, he was naturally at the top of the castle. Which meant climbing the staircases until he was near the top. It was a trek through the five floors of staircases that seemed to get longer nearer the top he got. He was tired when he finally got to his room, but luckily not as much as on the Cluster. Luminita lived on a separate tower to him on the right of the centre where Marcel seemed to live. She must have insane stamina if that was what she was climbing everyday, but there wasn't time to think about that. He went into his room, a spacious bedroom with empty shelves lining the walls and a large double bed. Probably for esteemed guests such as himself, but the room honestly looked like it was never slept on. He sat on the bed, almost falling back as he sank into the perfect warmth of the red blankets. He forced himself to jump out of the bed, quickly opening his phone to text Tsuki.
Tsuki got the text from Xander as she was dropping all of her new clothes at the ship. She managed to get a white shirt with a spiral heart design as well as a light grey jacket made from cotton. Just one size too big, she thought it matched her aesthetic better. Follow that up with black jeans with stylish zippers on the knees, and you got a pretty complete outfit. Anyway, back to the text.
'ready when you are call when you need me'
Tsuki got Priyanka ready and hit call. She was still dressed in what she brought, fashion was a game of people with too much time to kill.
"Okay, I'm ready." Xander said as soon as they were connected. "But Pri, I gotta know one thing about your powers."
"And that would be?" She can ignore the Pri thing, that's for later discussion.
"How high could you boost while carrying Tsuki?"
"I don't know, about...an average personal ship and a half, maybe?"
"Okay, you might need to boost higher. Way higher. Because I can only open the windows on the top of the tower without raising suspicion."
"Excuse me?"
"Look, It'll be one time, and you can have as much recovery time as you need. The window will be on the left hand tower, so come over as soon as you can."
Tsuki and Priyanka left their airship and went the short distance towards the castle.
"Tsuki, you're really going in your new clothes?"
"Yeah, well...would it be too late to change now?"
"I'd prefer it if you didn't, but I'd rather not see you so sad over losing them."
"Well, I think I'll probably be fine. Quick in and out, right?"
"Well, that's the dream." Priyanka said with a breath. But they were at the castle walls. Xander put Tsuki on her back, and she boosted to the main walls, and directly in front of her was Xander's room with the open window.
"Hey, Pri." Tsuki asked. "Not the best time, but you have really dry hair."
"Not Important." Priyanka replied, still not liking the whole 'Pri' thing. What mattered was guessing the distance it would take to get both her and Tsuki up there, and just how hurt she could get from doing so. Only way to see was to test it.
"Okay, on my back." Priyanka said. "Also, might be best to get your hands out to stick them to the wall."
"Oh, good catch."
Priyanka readied herself, feeling her hair stand on edge, feeling the energy pulse around her. She tried to ensure Tsuki wouldn't get ripped from her skin by holding on to her legs. And with her preparations made, she jumped forward.
The burst got her from the outside wall to the edge of the castle in a moment. Tsuki thrust her hands forward by the window, sticking to the wall with Priyanka holding onto her legs. Her arms were clinging on in sheer desperation. But she felt Xander pulling her and Tsuki up.
Once Priyanka was in the room, she felt the world collapse around her. Her eyes were blurry, and the few sounds in the room faded into the background as an intense ringing burst into her ears. Finally was the sensation in her limbs. When she tried to cover her ears, her arms flopped to her side, and her legs collapsed a second later. Xander caught her before she fell to the ground and placed her safely in what felt like a bed.
She had no idea if she was going to die. Everything around her was a formless shape, and all she felt she could do was scream. But scream, and let people know Xander's not alone. So she stayed shut for several minutes until everything started to make sense again. Her vision focused on the white ceiling in front of her, and her hearing adjusted to the steady breathing of Tsuki standing over her.
Once Priyanka was adjusted, she quickly leapt out of the bed like nothing ever happened.
"Okay, we ready?"
Priyanka approached the door, standing behind it with her hands behind her back and gesturing for Xander to lead the way.
"Okay, but we don't have to fight anyone, okay?" Xander said as he opened the door. "Get the shield and get out. Simple plan."
Xander walked with Tsuki behind him and Priyanka behind her. Xander started running through the halls to get to the ground floor. Xander heard noises in front, urging the other two to duck behind the corner from whatever it was.
Xander saw some guards in front of him, one of the trios he encountered earlier.
"Ah. Xander, am I right?" The one in front asked. "Mind if I ask what has you making so much noise?"
"Oh, I'm making noise?" Xander asked, acting unaware. "So sorry about that! It's just that I'm, like, really hungry and just need a snack as soon as possible, you know?"
"Did you not eat with the king?"
"I did, but seconds exist. Meals are wayyy smaller here than in Ropear, you know? So I'm still a little hungry, you feel?"
While Xander was talking to the guard, Priyanka put Tsuki on her back and dashed to the wall. A guard looked in her direction, but she was able to dash behind them before his eyes could realise something was up.
"If that's all that you want, I won't stop you."
"Cool. Keep up the good work, guys."
Xander paced past them to Priyanka and Tsuki waiting for him.
"Okay, I think we're almost there."
The three descended the final staircase to the door that housed the shield. Priyanka boosted into the one on the right before he could react, knocking him over. Priyanka quickly took his sword and threw it aside. Tsuki ran into the other guard approaching her, managing to barely grab his spear and glue it to herself, pulling it out of his hand.
"C-code red!" The guard yelled out just as Priyanka pushed him against the wall by boosting towards him, knocking him out.
Nobody was nearby and backup was certainly approaching. Get the shield, get out. Xander ran over to the shield and took it from it's pedestal while the girls kept watch.
"Xander, you ready?" Tsuki asked, her voice beginning to waver. Xander instantly ran out to the girls looking at the top of the stairs.
"Just run!" He yelled, not even looking at what was above them. He felt a shadow loom above him, but didn't bother checking what it was. And just as he got to the door, it crashed in front of the door.
"Xander." Marcel asked calmly. His face looked slightly pale, but the colour was returning to his face quickly. "What is this?" He didn't even sound mad. Just disheartened.
Xander tried running past him to the door, and was slammed to the ground with one disinterested swipe. Xander got up, not feeling any major damage besides his back hurting, and even that would subside quickly. He looked up at Marcel, and the hand used to strike him was as pale as his face was.
"Xander, why are you doing this?" He still refused to raise his voice. "Or rather, who's making you do this?"
"I'm doing this because I want to." Xander replied.
"Don't lie to me. Hand over the shield, and all charges will be dropped. And I guarantee all of your friends will be protected."
Xander looked at Tsuki and Priyanka. Priyanka saw the gears turning in his mind.
"If we leave, they hunt us down!" Priyanka yelled. "And this is the first place they'll look!"
Xander knew there wasn't any way to leave without the shield. So he tried charging through, only to get swatted away by Marcel again.
"You are not leaving." Marcel said calmly. "Try to resist again, I will have to resort to restraining you."
Marcel let the blood flow back into his hand, with a little more to power up his next strike.
"Dad? What's going on?"
Marcel looked up to see Luminita standing above the stairs, trying her best to access the situation.
"Luminita? Get out of here!"
Priyanka saw the chance to strike. She dashed towards the wall behind Marcel, and then up the stairs. She was behind Luminita before she could comprehend where she was. Priyanka had her in a headlock.
"Get away from her!" Marcel roared.
"Here's the deal. We leave with the shield, and your daughter leaves alive."
Marcel slammed Xander against the wall with one swipe, leaving him on the floor. He picked up the shield and placed it on his arm. The tubes slowly inserted themselves into his body, and in a single bound he was besides Priyanka. Priyanka quickly shoved Luminita in front of Marcel.
"Go ahead, do your worst."
The tubes turned red. They detached from Marcel and inserted themselves into Priyanka's arms. The blood rushed into Priyanka's arms, causing her to drop Luminita, who quickly scrambled behind her dad. Marcel made the blood rush to his legs and kick Priyanka with all the force he could.
Priyanka was slammed against the wall, struggling to catch her breath. She felt something was broken inside of her. It hurt to breathe, and Marcel was slowly approaching her.
Xander looked on as Marcel went to do who knew what with Priyanka. He had to do something. Take Luminita, who was just standing on the sidelines? No, that would definitely make everything worse. The only thing he could do was run up to help and hope for the best. Tsuki followed behind, rubbing her hands to get the gooey substance ready, just in case. Xander felt some kind of energy well up in his left hand. When he looked at it, a single translucent blue dagger was in his hand. With only one option, he flung it with all his might at the back of Marcel's neck.
Marcel stopped in his tracks, his eyes bulging in front of Priyanka as the dagger disappeared from his neck. In the brief moment he was stopped, Priyanka got under him and boosted to his face.
The crack reverberated throughout the castle. Marcel's head snapped backwards as Priyanka boosted his more coloured stomach down the stairs, and he fell without resistance. Xander grabbed the shield as Luminita tried tackling him to the ground. Tsuki managed to catch her, covering her coat in the glue and sticking her against the wall. Xander grabbed the shield and tossed it to Tsuki, putting Priyanka on his back and running out out of the castle. Luminita got her coat off and ran towards her father. She assessed his neck, broken in nearly all places. She got her phone out, calling for an ambulance as soon as possible. A hand was put on her shoulder, and she panicked before realising who it belonged to.
Her father.
"Luminita, I'm afraid it's too late for me."
"It isn't! We'll get you to the hospital, and then I can-"
"My sight is already fading. Please, just stay here a while. I need you to be the last thing I see."
Luminita did as he instructed, clutching his hand into hers to feel a slow pulse.
"Luminita, I'm sorry for everything that'll be thrust upon you soon. But if I can make one request for your future rule, you need to go forward with compassion above all else. All people can be reasoned with. Don't hold any hate towards the people who did this to me. I'm certain they can be brought to the right side of history if you try hard enough."
"But, but..."
"Your mother and I will be looking over you, so please don't worry. Goodbye, Luminita."
And the pulse slowly faded.