Tales of Undeath: The Von Virtus Chronicles

LIX. Dance of Thieves

Rel clenches his fists in anger, the thought of coming face-to-face with one of the men responsible for putting his childhood friend in such an agonizing state made his blood boil.

Rel: He's... Here? Now?!

He asks, grinding his teeth in fury.

Syl: Easy, kid! Last thing we need's a loose cannon for this op. Sure is, seems like Cabdan appointed him as the acting head... Man's a crazed maniac, only ever cares about his little experiments. On the one hand, it works out for us, probably means the guards aren't as pressured to do their work and are more likely to be slackin'. On the other though... Won't be so easy for you to get your hands on your highly-coveted antidote. Dmitri's probably holed up in the lab as we speak.

Tyssa loudly blows air out of her nose, also making her displeasure known. 

Tyssa: Good. We can beat the crap out of him and get an antidote by force -- even if it means he'll develop it for us then and there.

Syl scratches his head, his face reflecting his doubts on the matter.

Syl: Yeah... Good luck with that. He'd probably just give you guys a bottle of poison and call it the "cure for all your ailments".

Rel: Last guy who tried to give Tyssa poison disguised as an antidote got a sword through his eye socket and the poison shoved down his throat... And that guy was your boss. Do you really think he'll risk it?

Syl shrugs, heading up the stairs.

Syl: Don't forget it's likely that, far as the guy knows, Cabdan's still alive and kickin'. But you're welcome to try, get your chance to find out soon enough... In the meantime, I'll head for the office and grab those documents -- if we split up, we can get this done faster.

Jargen quickly grabs the back of his clothes, pulling him back.

Jargen: Always the joker, eh Syl? Weren't born yesterday. You're not going alone.

Syl aggressively twists his torso away from Jargen's grip, releasing himself.

Syl: Hands off! Look, it's a waste of manpower for the five of us to all go get the same thing. We oughta split and speed things up... Easier to move around in smaller groups, draws less attention too.

Jargen: Sure, nobody's gonna deny that... But if you think I'm letting you go into the office alone, you got another thing coming. I'm coming with.

Syl's eyes widen as he swallows dryly.

Syl: Y-you're better off going to the lab, Jargen... Your imposing figure'll make Dmitri quake in his boots, you'll make things much easier there!

Jargen: Ehh, dunno about that. I've heard I've grown soft since leaving Cabdan, I'm prolly not that intimidating anymore... I'll leave it to Punjo, I'm sure he'll do a fine job!

Jargen looks at Punjo, who winks back at him. Bitterly, Syl concedes.

Syl: ... Suit yourselves. We oughta get going then, before anyone else comes down here to clean up. I'll check if we're in the clear.

Jargen clears his throat, not about to let him anywhere far from his reach.

Jargen: We'll check, you mean. I'll signal you guys if you're good to come up.

Rel, Tyssa and Punjo remain down in the cellar, as Syl and Jargen make their way up the stairs. Once there, Syl puts his ear to the door -- not a peep. He then goes for the door's handle, quietly opening it... On the other side, a long corridor greeted them, perpendicular to their current position. To the left, there was nothing but closed doors and a couple of lights to aid with the corridor's visibility. To the right was a similar picture, with but one difference: there was a three-way intersection not too far from the cellar's door, which seemed to grant passage to an upper floor via a set of stairs. As far as guards were concerned, there were apparently none in sight nor  earshot.