Realm of the Sun

Chapter 24

"Hurry up, the guards are going to rotate shifts soon!" Roza whisper-yelled.

"I'm trying!" Gwen replied, fiddling with the second pick. The lock wouldn't budge. The archives were locked up better than she thought.

Roza beckoned for the general to move over, and instantly took over. Locks like this were the same ones they used on the bedrooms in the palace, meaning it was the same one Roza had on her bedroom. Also meaning, she knew how to force it open, thanks to the practice she received from locking herself out by accident. Keys lifted cylindrical pieces of metals upwards at all the right times, and when every piece was moved out of the way, and the key was turned, the door would open.

She further examined the metal- silver, plated with gold. Conductible, but a bit malleable. Someone would notice if she zapped lightning through it, and it wouldn't do much anyway. But, if the wind was fast enough, and condensed enough...

"The other guards are leaving. Might want to hurry it up."

Roza nodded, then continued inspecting the lock. The cavity was big enough for her to blast air into, but she wasn't quite sure if she would be able to lift the metal pieces, or even turn the lock. She just had to hope that maybe the syzmeiskazki would help enough. Dwindling the rain so that she could concentrate more on the wind, she let a whisper of a breeze into the keyhole, just to feel how much wind she would need. After coming to an estimate, she increased the amount of wind funnelling through, and felt the first piece moving. But the guards would be coming back around soon- she didn't have time to open the lock manually like this.

Instead, she took a great step back, raised her arms, and summoned an enormous gust of wind, blowing the door right off its hinges. "Let's hope the guards feel like taking the scenic route," she stepped into the dry building. "We're gonna have to put the door back on. And fix the lock."

Gwen followed suit, and picked up the door. "Let's just put the door back, and fix the lock on our way out?"

"Yeah." They both heaved the door upwards, Roza providing air support and Gwen attaching it back onto the hinges.

"That... doesn't look quite right."

"Nobody pays attention to the door. Come on, Gwen, we don't have all day."

They hurried towards the stairwell, like harried newborn birds frantically attempting to stay in the air while flying. As soon they made it to the military archives, they found exactly who they were looking for.

"Irena," Roza greeted. "They gave you this job?"

"Volunteer work," she clarified. "Have to do it to graduate from the academy. Forty hours of unpaid labour, I'm afraid." she sighed. "Is there anything you need?"

Roza let her eyes fade back to normal. While that meant the storm would meet its end, it also was imperative to keep her powers under lock and key for the time being. She was growing weary, and while she would never admit it, having the rain in the background gave her her own headache, worthy of comparison against Yue's. "We have to double check some papers I signed earlier. I was half-asleep, and I'm not sure if I filed all the signatures correctly."

Irena blinked, confused. "You're never sloppy with paperwork. Everyone sends it to you because you're so good at it. I can tell whose handwriting is whose."

Roza restrained an eye roll, before salvaging her lie. "Irena, I think we both know what half-asleep actually means." she said in a voice as close as she could to Ashlee's. If Irena thought she was in on some kind of secret, and that she would get some form of gossip, she may let them pass. That was the hope, at least. Ashlee and her friends were mostly unpredictable.