Suuuuperrrrr Unedited. Sorry folks, but don't act like it isn't regular for me. I try my best.
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Alexios smiled as he adjusted the lapels on his jacket, combing his hair back with his fingers. He pushed open the doors to the casino with a final breath, striding down the red felt stairs. Bawdy drunks and sneaky liars alike gathered in this casino. They have wanted to hit it for the past three months, and they finally had the chance. Nour sat at the bar, a buttoned-down black get-up with combed hair and the pinnacle of rich asshole trying to gamble away his money. He stirred his dirty martini and looked over the masses with feigned disinterest.
Maha wore the black suit and white button-down combo as she dealt the cards at the blackjack table in the middle of the casino. They originally planned to have Ruy behind one of the tables since he was the best pickpocketer and slighters they had, but Maha agreed to pick up his role since he was out of commission. And only a few tables over, his sister, Amalia Hera Morretti, read her dealt cards with a blank face.
She didn't even look at him when he sat down at the table across from her. She wore Maria's jewelry, seeing as she didn't have any large pieces herself. It matched with her satin body con dress that looked like the ocean was draped over her skin and ended a bit too short. The metallic sheen of the satin and the glittering silver of her necklaces and dangling earrings radiated wealth and superiority. His sister's hair into a tight high ponytail that swayed with each move of her head as she reached to grab her chips.
"Call." She sighed, her cards tight in her hand as she threw the plastic chips into the money pot. The men and women around her folded their cards and called her bet, respectively, watching as the man at the table revealed three cards to all of them. Two tens and an ace of spades.
Amalia kept her face as cold as ever, but Alexios didn't miss the slight twitch of her right eye. His guess was she didn't have that good of a hand. And she knew the others' cards just as much as he did. A perk of being a trained killer, you notice everything.
Alexios quirked an eyebrow when she threw in even more chips and leaned back in her chair, "I raise 5,000." With that, everyone else threw their cards in except for one lith female and one ogre. Alexios tuned out, instead glaring over the casino floor. When he tuned back in, the final cards have been placed and it was final bets. The ace of hearts and a two of diamonds had also been turned.
"All in."
All of the color in the woman's face was gone, and her hands gripped the cards tight enough for them to buckle slightly and allow Alexios to get a peek at her cards. She had a four of clubs and a 10 diamonds. She had a pair, but she had no idea what Amalia had. The Lith woman spat awful curse words at Amalia as she folded her cards, crowning him the winner. Amalia smiled as she scooped all of her winning chips into her corner and waved down the man to count her winning.
"Aw, come on blondie-"
"I told you Jason, you can't call me that."
"And why not?"
"Because someone much more attractive calls me that and also, my name is Vienna. Not blondie."
"Alright then Vienna, can't you tell us what your cards are? You just out bet everyone on those cards, the least you can do is show us what ya got!"
Amalia smiled as her chips were counted and she grabbed her drink, turning over her two cards.
A four of spades and a one of diamonds. Completely useless. She bluffed all of them out of their money.
Everyone at the table raged, but Amalia merely placed a hand on her hip as she took an obnoxious sip of her drink. Two men at the very end that folded their cards in the second round looked ready to throw hands. When they watched Amalia walk away before getting up to follow her, it seems like that is exactly what they would do. And Alexios let them.
Amalia turned into a dark hallway, winking at Maha as she passed her. The two guys followed her into the hallway, clearly ready to get their money back.
But when they didn't follow Amalia back out the hallway, Alexios knew they were onto phase two of their plan.
Amalia slid two key cards out of the back of her dress. The two guys had them in their waistbands, just like they were told. Amalia was the key to phase one, getting those two Neverseen informants away from the table by stealing them of their money, then beating the shit out of them to get their keycards. All completely to the Neverseen guards and employees packed in the casino. Alexios never would've guessed that the Neverseen would've hidden an artifact in one of their criminally owned casinos in the Neutral territories, but he had to admit, he never would've thought of it.
Alexios watched as Amalia walked up behind Nour, pretending to be his girlfriend. If it were real, Nour would be getting Alexios's fist to his chin, and they would be doing a different plan. But Nour was pansexual with a preference for men, and he saw Amalia as a sister. She slyly handed him his card as they looped arm in arm and began walked through the seas of people. It was hard to keep track of them with all of the drunk patrons and screaming losers, but he managed to watch them begin their ascent up the stairs.
Alexios glugged down the rest of his drink before striding away from the poker game and picking up another vodka cranberry from one of the waiters, right as Maha switched shifts with another dealer. Alexios had already apologized to Maha time and time again when they were coming up with the plan. Still, when he collided with Maha, his brain was racked with guilt even as he started screaming his script as his drinking dribbled down his shirt.
"Are you kidding me?!"
Maha gasped, snatching a white cloth from behind the counter, "I'm so sorry sir! It's my first night shift and it isn't normally this busy during the day-"
Alexios scoffed, "Is that the blubbering excuse you tell your boss whenever you fuck up?!" One of the patrons stood up, pointing a finger into Alexios' chest, "Hey buddy, it was an accident!"
"You would say that! At least she didn't spill vodka on your thousand dollar jacket. But you wouldn't even know what fashion tastes like, would you? Where is that vest from, your mother's bedroom?"
"How dare you-"
"Oh it couldn't possibly be from your mother's closet, I would've noticed it there last night." Alexios had to admit, he was improvising now. And having a blast with it. By the way Maha was pursing her lips, she was trying not to laugh from his sudden choice away from the script.
The patron went bug-eyed, his round face turning red, "Why, you are the most annoying scummy man that has ever graced this planet-"
Alexios gave him a smirk, "That's not what your mom said last night."
The patron grabbed Alexios by his shirt collar, matching his screaming. Neverseen guards and employees came running to pull the yelling men apart from each other as a riot began to simmer. And this was just the beginning.
"I'm very proud of our spies for finding out what they did about the artifacts." Nour whispered stoically, their lovey-dovey couple act falling the minute they were out of sight. They strode side by side down the elaborate hallways of the casino's hotel, the map memorized.
"I was thinking of improving their spy wing in the guildhall as a reward for their hard work."
"That would be smart."
"I also sent a messanger to my men on Kephalonia. They set sail early this morning for the Ancient Vatarians. They are going to provide protection and bring back any important info they may have."
"Are the settling on Kephalonia well?"
"Very well actually. They have already created barracks and are inahabiting the old arcitecture of the island. Apparently it was very important during the Old Republic era of Inalia, now Kephalonia is nothing but ruins."
"I see. I will see if any of our men can do research on it."
"No need, they should focus on our artifacts. Kephalonia's history is the least of our problems-" Nour and Sophie turned their final corner, nearly stumbling over their feet as a young boy stood in front of them. His lip quivered as he finally noticed them. Their nothing but business talk fell to a grinding halt as they stared at the small boy as if he were an alien.
"A-Are you my ma and pa?" He asked.
"No." Nour monotony replied.
"Where are they-they then?" He asked, starting to cry.
"Oh, gods, don't cry! Please, uh, shit. If only Ruy was here, he knows how to handle these things." Sophie groaned.
"You mean children?" Nour scoffed, crossing his arms.
"Same thing." Sophie awkwardly held out a hand, "I'm sure your mom and dad are around here somewhere. I'll help you find them," Sophie looked over her shoulder as they began to walk away together, mouthing, "Get moving."
"Without you?" Nour mouthed back.
The boy began to walk faster, dragging Sophie away faster, "I'll be back in a minute!" She mouthed before they turned the corner. Sophie grumbled as she sped down the stairs, dragging the kid behind her like a rag doll. She found a familiar couple weeping at the concierge desk and threw the kid at them. The couple sighed with relief as their son ran up, and Sophie yelled over her shoulder, "Don't lose your damn kid in a hotel please!"
By the time she was back up the stairs, Nour had already pried open the elevator doors open and hooked up their harnesses. The elevator had been broken earlier that day in an incident that totally didn't have anything to do with them and provided a straight shot towards the vault.
Sophie plugged in her earpiece and slid her gloves on, Mansi's voice filtering through her ear.
"Ugh, I'm the fucking computer nerd now?! I should be out there damn it."
"You're the one that got knocked up, Mansi." Sophie laughed as she slid on her harness over her dress.
"YoU'Re ThE ONe ThAT GoT KnoCKeD Up-" Mansi impersonated, the sound of her pacing in their small surveillance room copying through the comms.
"Mansi, I swear to the gods if you do not hurry up-"
"What will you do to me Dawoud? Run me till me legs are jelly during training? Make me do so many squats I won't be able to stand properly- ohhh, wait, you can't! Cuz I've got a kid in me and now I have pregnant lady privelages. So, Nour, I'm going to go as fast as I want to."
Sophie glanced behind her, hearing some passing guards two halls down.
"He's got a point though, Mansi." As if on cue, the lights zigzagging through the chute flickered away.
"There. Now quit your complaining and move."
Nour grumbled, but Sophie was too familiar with Mansi's attitude and merely laughed. The two Vatarians took a few steps back before launching themselves down the chute. The rope barely burned through her gloves, the thick black leather reminding her of hiding her enhancing. One of the many abilities stolen from her by Kynareth. But those were Black Swan powers, tainted fake abilities that they programmed into her. At least now her powers were all her own.
Lights zoomed past them as Nour and Sophie dropped. The familiar feeling of her stomach in her chest was something she missed. She hadn't been able to take Ricin out for a ride in ages.
Nour and Sophie clicked the carabineers on their harnesses as their floor came into view, the friction against the rope slowing them down just in time for them to urk to a stop in front of the silver doors. They dangled as the blackness beneath them continued on for ages. She used to be scared of the dark, but now she savored it.
Part of her wanted to let go of her rope and let the darkness consume her, the silent and calming dark. But she swung her legs no matter how much the dark summoned her, swinging and sticking a small device onto the silver doors. She and Nour grabbed the pipes outside the door, sticking them to the sides of the doorway. With a satisfying sizzle, the locks were fried, and Nour peeled open the doors. Sophie blew out a breath of relief as her toes touched the carpet of the floor, loosening her harness from around her legs and waist. She pulled her knife from her thigh strap and her pistol from her crystal bag, slide her bag back around her shoulder as she loaded her bullets.
"We're in." She muttered.
"You're clear to keep moving." Mansi said through the comms.
Maria had left behind a lot of her notes. After a lot of consulting Maria's handwritten user's manual and her poorly printed but vigorous notes, they were able to get a lousy feed of their destination's above-ground levels but feed nonetheless. They got a weak signal that allowed Mansi to connect from an isolated location. With her pyrokinetic abilities, she could get a blind heat signature of the place simply through her mind for the lower levels.
Nour and Sophie kept their guns traced in front of them as they began to move. One foot in front of the other, their polished shoes silent as they turned down a small set of metal stairs.
"Hold it. You've got two soldiers coming your way." Sophie peeked over the edge of the metal railing, watching two men turn onto the flight of stairs beneath them. Sophie smiled as she rolled her wrists, sliding her knife and gun into her belt. Nour tried to grab her, but Sophie launched herself over the railing, aiming between them.
Her blades launched out from her wrists, the two men not even getting the chance to scream as Sophie landed with one blade each in their backs. She flipped up and smiled up at Nour, who looked entirely done with her dramatics.
"We do have smoke bombs you know." Nour grumbled, coming down the rest of the stairs.
"That was quiter and cooler."
Mansi cut in through their comms, "I have no idea what she did, but I'm sure it was super cool."
Nour pinched the bridge of his nose and strode past Sophie, grimacing when she wiped her blades off on his jacket before sliding them back into her gauntlets. They soon approached the large doors of the boss's office. Here we go.
"We have a delivery for the boss." Sophie grumbled to the two security guards.
"This wasn't scheduled. Show us your identification." The one on the left humphed. Sophie reached into her purse the same time Nour reached into his suit jacket. With the synchronization that could only be the result of years of training together, they pulled their pistols out and pulled the trigger simultaneously. The two soldiers dropped, their key cards waiting in their coat pockets.
Nour grabbed one and swiped it, motioning for Sophie to wait on the other side of the door frame. They both waited for a few crucial moments as the doors slid open before glancing in.
It was empty.
"Start your search in the left side of the room, I'll take the right." Sophie ordered, placing her bag on the birch deks in the center of the room. The office looked like it was straight out of Harry Potter, both with the dark silver and green Neverseen accents and the massive wall of silver paned windows that showed the dark expanse of the lake the casino above looked over. The lights emitted a dim hum from the ceiling, making the search even harder.
There was an artifact here. But where?
According to their resources, it was what they called a sleeping artifact. Only one or two of the artifacts were sleeping, but it seemed that they were the most powerful of the artifacts but also the most dormant. They don't do anything when your skin touches them. Only something, in particular, can unlock them. It seems the Neverseen didn't even realize what they had in their possession. Not one artifact, but two. At least, not for long.
"Do we have any clue what this thing looks like?"
"No."
"Well how the hell are we supposed to find it?"
"Use your heiress mojo or something, Lia."
"You're useless, Dawound."
"I'm just saying, you are kinda Kynareth's mini. Maybe that could work in our favor-"
"Shut up."
"Now that I'm actually talking, you want me to shut up?"
"Idiota, shut up! Don't you hear that?"
Nour pressed his lips as he scanned the room, shaking his head when all he heard was the lake surrounding them and the distant sounds of the rowdy upstairs.
Sophie strode over to Nour's side of the room, casually pushing him aside as if he were a curtain to lean down. She swung open the cupboard that Nour had already looked through, an annoying ringing now growing louder and louder. Next to a copper pitcher and a bundle of dried poisonous herbs (Sophie assumed the Casino owner used those for totally decent reasons) was a pair of broken circle framed glasses, the silver rusted and the glass cracked. The humming halted as her fingers wrapped around the arm of the glasses and held them up to the light.
"This is it."
Nour peeked over her shoulder, unimpressed.
"A pair of broken glasses?"
"The other artifacts we've come in contact with was an old piece of rope and a rusty key. This surprises you?"
"Fine, fine, whatever."
Mansi's voice crackled through the mics, "You've got company- coming, h-hide!"
Sophie and Nour spun, their eyes widening at the sound of approaching footsteps. Sophie cursed, following Nour as he ran for the thick green curtains surrounding the floor-to-ceiling windows looking into the lake. The bottom-most level was sunken beneath the lake, making it nearly impossible for Mansi to get accurate heat signatures. Nour tucked his body behind the massive curtains, nodding for the armoire where they found the glasses. Sophie may be pretty good at climbing and parkouring, but she is no contortionist. But it isn't like she had much of a choice. Climbing into the small cupboard, Sophie bent her long limbs and tall body before closing the small door behind her. The closed armoire washed darkness over her, making her panicked breathing that much louder.
"-Just what we needed."
"But Madam, your son isn't going to comply. He just isn't."
"Oh come on, you don't think she is stupid, do you?" Sophie's blood went cold at the sound of that voice. She opened the door with the tips of her fingers, a small beam of light reflecting onto her eye as she peeked out of the cupboard.
Elrond stretched out his wings, leaning against the wall as Vespera strode back around the desk. The casino owner was with them, a short ogre troll that kept her hair pomaded and short.
"Y-You aren't keeping your son as a soldier?"
"Ruy spent 17 years as my personal soldier and has fully exsercised his use. Dorian has found Ruy, along with the Dunmer people. He is valuable now, he is worth more then just some bastard soldier now. He is pretending to be something he is not. Something of worth."
Sophie nearly kicked open those doors and throttled Vespera with all of her strength. And by the slight shuffling she heard from the curtains, Nour was containing himself too. It seemed no one heard it by the pacing of Vespera and the casual way Elrond picked at his nails.
"I know he isn't under Maha's control. That is just a lie I fed him to make him think he has the upper hand and will stay in the Castello."
"So..." The casino owner trailed off.
Elrond rolled his eyes, "He is a negioting chip. A powerful prince from the Dunmer kingdom."
"You want to use the future king of the Dunmer for ransom?"
"Ruy will not be the king. Ruy is bastard born, even if he is the oldest. The only way Ruy could become the kind is if proclaimed him the crown Prince. But he is still important due to the fact he is beloved among the Dunmer people." Vespera explained.
"Okay, you are going to use him as ransom for the Dunmer kingdom, what for?" The Casino Owner questioned.
Elrond tensed, curtly muttering, "Egil's daughter."
Sophie nearly tumbled out of the armoire.
"You found her?"
"We found her. She is hiding in the Dunmer caverns. We trade Ruy for her."
"Does the Assassins or the Black Swan know about her?"
"Not a damn clue."
"Then we have the upper hand!" The Casino Owner exclaimed.
Elrond rolled out his neck, glaring at Vespera. The Casino caught the look, "Or... not?"
"Elrond wants us to waste our resources to run after some little girl he has a hunch about."
"Damn it, Vespera, you weren't there! I had Amalia compltely unaware in the Egypitnat library, yet that little sister of hers knew where I was, when I was going to attack, and how!"
"I had that miserable brat sequestered in my bases for most of her life, she never showed any signs of this power you speak of. What was it? Scrying?"
"She's a seer, Folend! It is a rare power, but a power nonetheless. When i served under King Dorian, his other right hand man was Zuberi. Zuberi is a seer. He also knew I was chasing after Amalia and held me back in the skies along with Dorian while Amalia got away. If that little brat truly is a seer, then she will become a massive pain in the ass. Especially if she gets training!"
Vespera glared over her shoulder, "I am not talking about this with you anymore. I will say it one last time. Eumelia's brat isn't a seer!" Vespera gritted her teeth, "Remember your place, Elrond." After the seething enunciation of his name, Elrond took his place leaning against the wall once more. Was even he, the Black Armored Man, the Murderer of Inalia, scared of Vespera?
Vespera leaned down under the desk, pulling out a complex elven safe Sophie recognized from her time in the Lost Cities. Pricking her thumb and wiping it onto the scanner, Vespera pulled out a Vatarian crown.
An exact copy of Kassandra's crown.
"I want this escorted to the Castle in Inalia. And you are sure this is the only artifact you found in the Egypitnat?"
"That was the most decadent thing we could find it Arsinoe's safe when we raided the palace, and it matches the description you gave us. Everything else is in that cupboard- we collected a couple artifacts, some papers, an old pair of glasses." When everyone turned towards the very cupboard Sophie was hiding in, it reminded her of the scalding looks of the elven kids at Foxfire when she first walked in. It felt like these three monsters were looking through her.
Elrond began towards the armoire, muttering about wanting to check the papers they found. The walls of her hiding spot crept in tighter and tighter as Elrond noticed the crack of the doors, stepping back to observe the off-center rug Nour tripped over while hiding.
"I think we have comp-"
"Emergency! Emergency on the main floor!" A young attendant barged into the office, much to Elrond and Vespera's anger.
"What happened?" The Casino owner demanded.
"A fight! A massive fight broke out- it's madness! They are stealing the chips and threatening the bankers!"
Elrond spun on his heel, snarling at the Casino owner, "Those very funds they are stealing are 40% of what funds our operations!"
The Casino owner steeled her resolve, grabbing her baton from her desk, "Quick, I want everyone rounded up." The three of them dashed out of the office. Sophie and Nour waited for a few moments before revealing themselves.
"Nour-"
"I know," He took a shaky breath, "I know."
Sophie swallowed, rubbing her collar bones to massage the stale breath she was holding.
"We need to go. Alexios and Maha's diversion won't last long."
"My baby sister, Nour. The monster that killed my pater wants my baby sister."
"Amalia, we need to move. Now." Nour insisted, taking the broken glasses from Amalia's shaky grip and tucking them into his suit pocket, "They think that crown is the artifact, not these glasses. Are you sure they aren't right about the crown-"
"No. I'm sure. I can feel the gods in those glasses, Nour. That crown has nothing." She shook herself out.
"Let's go." He breathed, taking the lead out of the room.
When they arrived back upstairs, it was complete madness.
Alexios's specialty.
Sophie ducked beneath thrown fists and raging kicks, trying to avoid thrown drinks on her new dress. Nour kept his hand on the suit pocket above protecting himself, thinking only of the glasses as they darted through the various fights on the casino floor. They saw Alexios and Maha slide out the employee's exit, giving them a quick nod, but it was quickly covered by Neverseen guards trying to avoid anyone leaving the building.
"We can't get caught in here." Nour hissed as more of them began to cover exits. The crowds began to get worse as they realized they were getting trapped inside. Sophie had some old butt in her face, and she kneed in the gut by accident once or twice.
"This wasn't our most brilliant exit strategies."
When some old man hit her with his cane for a third time insisting she had stolen his chips and was a stupid blonde, she ripped it out of his hands and thwacked him away with it.
"Follow me." She growled, stomping through the mass of people, cutting through the with the old man's cane. Nour slid underneath a pool table when Sophie stepped on top of it, wrestling a man off of him. Sophie's dress and silver jewelry reflected the hazy light of the casino as she raced from one pool table to the other. She felt like she was strutting in some off-brand fashion show, but instead of an adoring crowd, it was a group of fighting drunk idiots she was hacking back with a cane. But it was her 11-year-old self's dream.
She made eye contact with Nour, sprinting through the thinning crowd towards the final exit. Nour kicked the door open and held it open as Sophie sprinted out after him, cane still in hand. Maha and Alexios glanced up at the sound of running footsteps, Alexios sighing with relief when his sister and shield brother came into view.
"We need to go, now!" Sophie insisted as they started off into the wood surrounding the casino, away from the lakeside fight.
"What did you learn?"
"Many things, but above all, I want contact with Ruy and to find our baby sister."
"Our sister? Amalia, why is Lilac in danger."
"Elrond knows about her powers. He knows."
Alexios faltered in his running for a moment, shaking his head as he muttered, "Merda."
Sophie swore she saw the shadow of a white-haired Dunmer flying overhead them, his shadow outlined by the moon.
But when she blinked, it was gone.
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_Sibylline_