Veronica was running through the city as fast as she could. Her heart was racing, and the feeling of fear never left her.
With a lot of anxiety, she waited for Michael to wake up. She then told her everything that had happened, and how she felt.
They didn't waste time, and began to walk towards the inn, but the bone in his left leg still wasn't fully mended, slowing them down. After a brief conversation, he sent her away, saying that he will catch up.
It didn't feel right, leaving him a few streets away from the destruction, but her mind wasn't in the right place either. She gave him a quick kiss, then started sprinting towards her home.
She was only a few streets away from her destination when she saw the long plume of smoke. It was originating from the area somewhere close to the inn.
As her eyes landed on it, she doubled her speed. Most of the people were still hiding somewhere in their houses, but a few, upon staring out the window, saw something move along the street.
The person was so fast that they couldn't possibly make out anything more than the bloody and dirty clothes on them.
Veronica sprinted so fast that the dust along the entire street got disturbed, like a horse was galloping through it.
Her mind was jumping to conclusions. She was trying to convince herself that the smoke wasn't coming from the inn.
The denial worked for a while, long enough for her to reach the inn...
That's when her world fell apart...
The large stone building, where she spent the past months, where her family lived, where she lived... Nothing was left from it. The entire structure got demolished, like a bomb exploded.
There were a few people standing around, talking and gossiping with each other. There were also cops trying to keep the people away, but Veronica didn't notice any of them.
She walked towards the ruins of her house, of her life, like she was a ghost.
There were no tears in her eyes, no feeling in her body and soul. All she felt was numbness, emptiness, like the life had been drained out of her... Like a ghost.
Each step brought her closer to the broken building, and after each, a new memory popped into her head.
Step... A young woman wakes up in an alley confused and afraid, a middle-aged woman walks out of the nearby building and helps her...
Step... The same young woman sits at a bar and talks with a middle-aged man, they both drinking and talking merrily.
Step... Two young women lying in a small bed, talking to each other like two sisters.
Step... Step... Step...
With each step, more memory returned, but her facial expression hadn't changed. After a long day like this, there was nothing left inside her. It felt like her spirit went away, and her body moved only on a reflex.
After a few more steps, she reached the ruins, but hadn't stopped. Behind her, the talking grew louder, and more people left the area with terrified and pale faces.
Veronica didn't even look at them. When she reached the middle of the destroyed building, she bent down and lifted an item out of the rubble.
It was a broken perfume bottle, one of Suze's. Even after living with them for months, Veronica wasn't allowed to touch and use them. Nobody was. They were Suze's special collection.
While looking at the broken bottle, Veronica felt wrong. It shouldn't be here. It should be in the bathroom... But there was no bathroom anymore.
For an outsider, it was easy to spot that she was in shock, but for Veronica, it was impossible to spot.
She walked through the mess without purpose. The thoughts in her head were all over the place.
She wanted to clean up the mess before her family returned home... But there was no home to return to.
For a moment she saw broken pieces of the dining table, and she thought about where they would eat dinner without the table... But there was nobody to eat dinner with.
She saw a few broken glasses and a few trays. She then thought about changing out of her dirty clothes, since the afternoon rush would start soon... But she didn't have clothes, and the main room was gone.
Finally, she spotted a bloody shoe, one of Suze's. At that moment, seeing her mother's clothing in that state, the reality started to dawn on her, and the shock came to an end.
The numbness remained, but there was something else under. She wasn't sad; she ran out of that emotion after losing most of her friends. She wasn't feeling pity; she ran out of that after discovering her past.
She was enraged. She was full of hatred and vengeance. There was nothing else she wanted more than to find who caused all this and to kill them.
While walking through the ruin, she spotted something familiar. It looked like a piece of brick, something any regular person would miss, but Veronica instantly recognized it.
She bent down and grabbed it without care, and in that moment, the cops finally had enough.
Five of them approached her. They didn't draw their guns, but kept their hands close by, in case they needed to use them.
"Excuse me Miss! This is a restricted area, because of pending investigation! Please, leave the premises and don't touch any other evidence."
Veronica turned around with the brick in her hand. She didn't drop it, which caused a bit of concern to appear on the cops' faces.
They also got a better look at her state. Her tattered dress was barely holding on by a few stitches, while it was soaked in blood, dirt, dust and a dozen other disgusting substances.
There were also a few wounds that hadn't fully healed on her body. But the worst part was her face.
Her hair was disheveled and in a similar state as her dress. Most of her face was also obscured by all the dirt, but her eyes were clear.
They seemed to pierce into the cops' souls. Their bewildering pink color was almost mesmerizing, and they held an unnatural amount of authority inside them.
Veronica stared at each of the officers for a few seconds, before ignoring their request entirely and asking a singular question... "Who was responsible for this?"
The five of them trembled. It felt like their highest superior had asked the question.
They each stammered a bit, none of them making clear sentences. But when Veronica narrowed her eyes a bit, a female officer in the back finally answered.
"It... It was the DSS... It was reported that this place had pirate activity, and they acted accordingly... There was resistance, and the place got destroyed..."
The cops began trembling more when her gaze got furious. The DSS was an abbreviation; it meant Dracish Secret Service, which was basically a nice way of saying the Dracon Empire's Ascended force.
They were under the control of the current Emperor William. But he wasn't the sole leader. There were a few Directors who controlled the day-to-days of the DSS.
Likely one of them gave the order to take care of this pirate activity, but this caused a question to appear in Veronica's mind... Who gave them the clue?
"How did they know that there was pirate activity here?" she asked, but none of the cops answered this time.
They were just here to keep people away. They knew nothing about the inner workings of the operation.
Upon realization, Veronica grunted with anger, and began walking away, with the brick still in her hand.
The cops stared at each other, and they silently decided to let Veronica go. They had no need for a piece of brick, even if it was evidence...
They would've thought otherwise, if they knew that the plain-looking brick was an extremely valuable Relic of the 3rd Order.
...
In a large study, a middle-aged man sat behind his large desk made of expensive wood.
He was writing a letter when two people appeared inside his room out of nowhere.
The man had noticed them minutes before their arrival, so he wasn't surprised at all.
"Report." he said, while continuing to write.
The man and woman looked at each other. They both bowed to the man respectfully, then the woman stepped forward and began the report.
"The operation on the hideout was a success. There weren't any pirates inside, unfortunately, but we did eliminate the three owners of the establishment. A family ran it; James Miles, Suze Miles, and their daughter Sofie Miles..."
"There were also two other children, but they are under 18 years old, so we had to back down."
The man finally looked up with a thoughtful expression. He was annoyed that there were two people left alive, but it was always difficult to operate in the Free Cities... Too many rules they had to follow.
"How did the operation go?" he asked, then returned to his writing.
The man stepped forward this time.
"We breached the place, but killing the three members proved more difficult than we initially thought. Although they were regular humans, they had amassed a large quantity of Ascended Items and Weaponry..."
"After a few minutes of fighting, we took care of all three, then I destroyed all the place. We also looted all of their Items, and a large quantity of money!"
The man nodded without looking up.
"Good job, Agent Lowe and Agent White. Depending on the value of the Items you both will get a sizable bonus at the end of the year. You can have the week for yourself. Dismissed!"
The two could barely hide their excited expression. They hastily bowed to the man.
"Thank you, Director Isaac!" they said in unison, then left the room.
He didn't say anything and just continued to write.
A few seconds after the agents left, a woman stepped out of the large mirror placed in one corner of the room.
She wore a revealing dress, which barely left anything to the imagination. With a small foxy smile, she went around the table, and hugged the Director from behind tightly, pressing her large bosom onto his back.
"Thank you for taking care of that! How should you like me to repay it?" she asked in a seductive voice.
The man stopped writing abruptly and turned around with a despicable smile. His pants were already bulging, and the woman sat onto it.
The Director ran his hands through the mature woman's black locks, then pulled her head closer.
Her blue eyes widened for a moment, then she just smiled alluringly and began kissing the man.
Soon the room filled with the sound of moans and screams of pleasure...