Quis est hic! I told you I'll upload chaoter thirteen soon and here it is :) I tried to make this chapter as interesting as possible so I hope it is. Enjoy!
Iterum me!
I though to add another pic of the Dux ;) ^^
- Third Person's P.O.V -
"Fuck!" Clara hisses, dropping her hands and glancing behind her. She has only two minutes left until the guy comes out again and she still has the damn key. For some odd reason, Remy has just abandoned her and she needs him in order to leave this place unnoticed.
Luckily, she still has the gadget she used to retrieve the key in the first place. If she didn't, this whole plan would've gone bust before it even started.
Clara glances back at the open ventilation shaft, sighing before placing one foot against the wall and pushing off, lifting her hands to grab the edge of the ventilation shaft.
The Shade grabs on and with a grunt lifts herself inside. She rests her upper body on one side of the open shaft and lifts her legs onto the opposite side so that her body basically covers the shaft.
Ten seconds, She counts down in her head, pushing herself to the opposite side. When her face is directly above the shaft, she pulls the shaft door closed just as a door opens and the guy strides out of the room with a stack of files in his hands.
Clara reaches into her pocket for the small gadget she used to retrieve the key and connects the key to the magnet at the end before lowering it down through one of the holes of the ventilation shaft door. With her free hand, she rips a button from her vest and chucks it down the shaft behind her.
The echoing sound of the button bouncing in the shaft causes the young man to pause and glance behind him, allowing the hook on his belt to be near to the key that dangles on the magnetic disc.
Clara carefully leads the hole of the key to the hook but the man turning around moves the hook further away. The Shade curses under her breath and attempts once again to move the key closer to hook on the man's belt.
The man glances quizzically down the hallway after hearing something. It sounded like something small was thrown but there's no one down this hallway apart from him.
He scans the empty hallway one more time before shrugging and turning back to continue walking to the archive room.
He stops at the door and pushes his lab coat back, grabbing the key to unlock the door.
After putting the documents in their appropriate place and collecting another batch, the guy locks the door again and walks back to the room he came from.
At the sound of the door clicking shut, Clara pushes the shaft door open and makes sure there is no one down the hallway before crawling out.
She manages to turn her body around in the confined space so that her legs dangle out before jumping down, landing silently in a crouch. She quickly scans down both ends of the hallway before closing the shaft door.
OK, where should I go from here? she asks herself, stealthily running down the hallway and disappearing through the final door.
Several hours earlier
Elijah fingers incessantly tap against the worktop as he rests his head in his palm. He's been waiting almost fifteen minutes since the adults went back up into August's office to do a final review of the plan and he's starting to grow impatient.
How long does it take to review a plan? he thinks, huffing out an impatient breath for the hundredth time that hour.
Elijah suddenly stops tapping his fingers and glances at the busy workshop through hooded eyes when the office door opens.
Thanks to his keen sense of hearing, Elijah whips his head around and grins in relief when he sees Remy walking out and jumping from his stool, the young teenager runs over to the Ember.
"Are you guys getting ready to go now?" he asks excitedly as he watches at Remy fixing the straps on his bulletproof vest from shining orange eyes.
"Yeah." The older Ember distractedly answers without glancing at the boy giddyly walking beside him.
He glances at Elijah after his task, arching a brow at the boy's grin. "Why you grinning at me like that?"
Elijah's grin grows wider. "Well, I was wondering if I can, ya know, come with you and Clara." His grin drops when he notices Remy's flat look. "I won't get in the way and I won't be dead weight. I promise."
"You can't come with use Elijah and you know why." Remy states, sighing as Elijah pauses.
He scowls at the back of Remy's head before blocking Remy's way, causing the elder to close his eyes and sigh again heavily before opening them.
"I want to come, Remy," the young Ember stubbornly says, his brows creasing. "I wanna help you guys. Not sit around while you guys risk your lives-"
Remy placing his hand comfortingly on Elijah's head cuts him off and he glances up to see Remy smiling fondly.
"Kid, I can't take you with us because it's too dangerous," Elijah is about to protest but the Ember quickly continues. "I'm not saying that because I think you'll be dead weight, which you're not. I'm saying that because I can't risk you being found by the Authorities. If they find you, they'll put more emphasis on you as a target other than Clara and me. They'll even go as far as imprisoning your mum just to get to you. I can't risk that."
Elijah's shoulders slump and he sighs heavily, knowing Remy's words to be true. He sighs again, pushing Remy's hands off his head and offering up a sad smile. "Alright...I'll wait then..." Remy smiles and ruffles Elijah's hair before walking past him.
Clara walks past the young Ember without a word and Elijah tries not to flinch around her, watching her walk past from the corner of his eye. Though Clara doesn't look at him, she sensed the sudden tensing of his body, making her internally arch a brow.
Pushing it to the back of her mind, Clara arches a brow at Remy as he holds the door open for her.
"Ready?" he asks to which she pauses in front of him to send him a flat look before walking through the door.
"I'll take that as a 'yes' then." The Ember mutters before following after her. Elijah watches the retreating figure of Clara and Remy until the door closes.
Fifteen minutes later
Blue eyes scan the series of cars queuing up as the drivers wait to be given permission to pass the border into the inner city. The young man keenly watches each car, his eyes narrowed when his eyebrows relax and stands to attention.
"Found them." He calls over his shoulder at the female standing behind him that's making sure her gear is in check.
She glances up at her partner's voice, arching a brow and walking over to him, gazing in the direction he looks to and spotting a blue van two cars down from the check point.
The driver let's his arm dangle from the open window and the female lets her eyes travel behind it, spotting a Mercedes car with the windows tinted black, immediately knowing that's the escort car.
"As expected there are two agents. The twins can do their job easily." The brunette says, adjusting his earpiece as the red head glances at him in her usual nonchalance.
"You shouldn't count on them so much, Remy," the Shade rebukes calmly.
"And why shouldn't I?" Remy replies without glancing up from fixing his vest. "Without them, this mission won't be able to start and we won't get any Intel on what the Authorities are truly up to."
He picks up a black bag with some equipment and slips his arms through the holes before glancing at the Shade. "Don't be so crude, Clara. We need their help to get started and you know that. Stop being jealous."
The corner of Clara's lips lift into a smirk and she snorts. Her jealous? Laughable.
As Remy and Clara watch from their hiding place, the door of the Jeep behind the escort car opens and two identical looking girls exit.
One of the twins wears dark blue skinny jeans and black heels, a low cut vest top and a black jacket while the other wears ripped, washed light blue boyfriend jeans with cream heels and a black leather jacket. One has her hair down and the other has her hear in a high ponytail.
"When Natalie lifts her leg, that's when we move." Clara nods, adjusting her earpiece one more time when the twin closet to them lifts her leg.
Without further ado, the duo runs over to the truck with Remy taking the lead and the Ember quietly opens the back door to allow Clara to jump in. Just as he's about to step in, Remy stares at the driver of the car behind them.
A female, probably in her mid-thirties, gazes at the male in confusion, opening her mouth but suddenly pauses. Her eyes glaze over and her shoulders relax as if she's been put under.
The woman's eyes quickly lose their glazed look and she straightens herself, blinking rapidly and shaking her head before gazing in front of her, frowning when she sees that the traffic still hasn't moved.
Two cars down, the twins wrap up their distraction, Natalie and her sister, Alicia simultaneously kissing the two escorts' cheek.
"Aww, thank you, sugar." Alicia purrs, taking the offered slip of paper from a blonde haired guy and slipping into her back pocket. From the corner of her, Natalie sees the blue door of the truck close.
"We'll see each other very soon." She says suggestively, leaning away from the window. Alicia does the same thing and she blows a kiss at her target before they both walk away.
"Who'll be seeing each other very soon?" Alicia asks when she closes the passenger door of their jeep. Natalie leans back in her seat, resting her elbow on the open window sill of the driver's door before glancing at her twin with a devious smirk, both breaking out in laughter as they wait for the line to move on.
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Clara and Remy crouch opposite each other, their bodies bobbing as the truck moves closer to their destination. Remy's eyes are downcast in thought with his arms leaning on his bent knees and his hands interlocking.
"You alright?" Clara whispers and Remy glances up. He was so deep in thought that he forgot she's with him. The Ember shrugs a shoulder before glancing to side.
"What do you think will happen when we step inside the building?" he inquires, flicking his blue eyes back to his partner who shrugs herself and sighs.
"Anything could happen, if I'm being honest," she answers simply. "We just have to be vigilant and level-headed if we want to come out of this thing alive."
She gazes at Remy evenly and brown haired male purses his lips before looking away.
They're silent for the remains of the journey and fifteen minutes later, the truck stops. Remy moves over to the door and grabs the handle, glancing over his shoulder at Clara whose poised and ready to jump out.
Clara nods, signalling that she's ready and Remy pulls the handle.
He opens the door a fraction and peers out, holding his index finger up, the universal symbol for wait. He suddenly signals for Clara to move when he notices the space clear of anybody and jumps out, Clara following closely behind him.
The duo stealthily moves across the large garage as the truck driver discusses the precious cargo with a security guard.
The escort car has parked to the side of the entrance of the garage, the blonde haired agent that Alicia flirted with stepping out and leaning against the car as he fumbles in his pocket for his cigarette packet.
"I thought you said you'd quit?" The blonde's companion, a dark haired and slender but bulky male, inquires while stepping out of the car and glancing at his partner over the roof of the car.
The blonde takes a drag of his cigarette before lowering his hand and blowing out smoke, pocketing his free hand. "Yeah but decided against it." he answers with a smirk at the dark haired male.
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Clara and Remy move across the large expanse of the garage and hide in a darkened corner just as a security guard passes them.
"Alright," Remy begins after the security guard is out of ear shot. "I'm sensing two people in the camera room. We need to somehow get them out."
Clara peers out of the corner at the garage before closing her eyes and focusing her energy on her ears. The sound of a toilet flushing echoes in her ear and she opens her eye.
"There's a bathroom quite a distance away." she informs the Ember evenly who gazes at her flatly
"Oh, good. We're gonna overfill their bladder, are we?" he questions sarcastically causing the Shade to roll her eyes before giving him a look.
"Alright..." he concedes before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, infiltrating one of the minds of the security watching the monitors.
'You need to go to the bathroom and on the way get yourself some coffe,' Remy says in his mind and the guard suddenly eyes glaze over. 'You need to go now.'
Remy withdraws from the guard's mind and opens his eyes, glancing at Clara and smirking. The Shade rolls her eyes when they hear the door open, voices flowing out of the room.
"Alright, alright." The security guard mutters as he closes the door. He walks along the garage and passes the darken corner and when he turns a corner, Remy pokes his head out before stealthily moving to the door and silently opening it.
He quickly moves over to the guard, placing his hands on either side of his head and the guard's immediately falls unconscious, his head hanging. Remy gently lays him back in his seat before glancing at the monitors that show different aspects of the building.
"That's a lot of cameras." He mutters before taking off his backpack and opening it up, taking out the tablet August gave him. He also takes out a lead and connects the main monitor to the tablet, entering a password when the screen powers up. A loading bar immediately pops up and it slowly builds as the tablet synchronises with the cameras.
"Get your butt out of there, Remy. The guard is coming back." Clara speaks through the earpiece causing Remy to curse.
"Come on, come on, come on..." The tablet lights up upon its completion and Remy water no time yanking out the lead and hurrying to the door.
As soon as the door closes, Remy snaps his fingers and the guard starts into consciousness. He blinks and lifts head, confused by his sudden fatigue.
He puts a hand to his head when the door opens and the security guard that had his bathroom break walks in with two paper cups filled with coffee.
"Here's your coffee." He says, placing his cup in front of him as his partner rolls his neck. Pushing what just happened to the back of his head, the blonde picks up his coffee, saying his thanks before resuming his job.
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"Well, that was close." Remy mumbles jokingly, chuckling half-heartedly and Clara gazes at him flatly.
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Only when I get away with it." The Ember answers simply, not removing his eyes from the tablet as he answered. Small windows of different cameras show up on the screen and he quickly gazes out of the corner before pressing a window, enlarging it.
"OK, we're here and we need to get here," he begins, tapping on another window as Clara looks at the screen. "We need to take the stairs up to where the archives are stored which is on the 20th floor. And as the plan goes, we need to enter the ventilation shaft just outside the door."
"Well, isn't that a trek." Clara mutters sarcastically when Remy replaces the lead in his backpack.
"Think of it as unofficial training," He suggests with a chuckle. "We've gone through more strenuous training before. This should be a walk in the park."
Clara sighs while Remy wears his backpack and he glances at her, holding out his arm in a gentlemanly manner. "Shall we get going, my lady?"
The Shade rolls her eyes at his stupidity before peering out of the corner. When she's sure the coast is clear she quickly runs to the doors to the stairs, Remy closely following behind her as he keeps an eye on the cameras.
They walk through the door and Remy glances at the amount of stairs they must run up. His look morphs into flatness, his shoulders slumping right after.
"Reconsidering your advice?" Clara asks smartly, gazing at Remy with a foot on a step and her arm on the railing. The Ember redirects his flat gaze to his partner though he arches a brow.
Clara smirks before running up the steps, causing Remy to sigh. He glances up again before running after Clara.
They sprint up the series of flights of stairs, taking two stairs at a time and counting the doors as the make their way up the 20th floor.
In five minutes they make it to the 20th floor, considering they used their abilities to boast their speed. They need all the time they can get if they want any chance of escaping this building in one piece.
Upon reaching the floor, the duo search for the entrance to the shaft. "There." Remy whispers, pointing to the ventilation shaft opposite the door that enters onto the 20th floor.
Remy runs to it and he opens the door, handing the tablet to Clara before interlocking his fingers with his palms facing up.
Clara steps on his boast and he pushes her up, the Shade grabbing the edge and lifting herself up. She pulls herself in and when she's further in, Remy pushes off the adjacent wall, grabbing the edge of the shaft and lifting himself up before closing the shaft door.
The duo crawls through the shaft in silence as quickly as possible. Their breathing is able to be heard in the confined space as they move closer to the room.
Clara reaches a section of the ventilation shaft that allows her to see the floor and she glances through it before passing the section and turning her body around. Remy crawls forwards and glances down at the floor before glancing down at the tablet.
He presses the window that records the room that has the people studying the files and other things. "OK, the guy is about to come out." He informs Clara as she retrieves the device that'll help her get the key.
The door opens and a young man in a white lab coat walks down the stark white hallway with a stack of files in his hands, his dark blue jeans and red shirt standing out.
Clara and Remy silently watch as the man walks to the door of the archive room and pushes his lab coat back, taking a key off the hook on his belt and unlocking the door.
He enters the room and a few moments later, he comes out with another stack of files in his hands, closing the door and locking it before replacing the key on the hook and walking back to the room he came from.
Remy silently takes out a pin from his pocket and is about to throw when the man suddenly stops walking.
He scans the corridor for anyone before pushing his lab coat back and taking out his phone. The lab coat gets caught in the ending of his belt, allowing the key to be visible.
Quickly using this opportunity, Clara unwinds the rope down, keeping a steady hand as she leads the magnet to the key. It magnetises and she retracts while the man keeps his attention on his phone, chuckling to himself before typing a reply.
Just as Clara takes the key off, the man replaces his phone in his pocket and walks back to the room. Remy pushes the door open and Clara slides out, grabbing the underside of the shaft and pulling her legs out.
"Five minutes, Clara." Remy reminds her just as she lands and she quickly goes over to the door and unlocks it, entering the room and shutting the door quietly behind her.
Flicking on the light, Clara glances around the room of cabinets and folders organised in against the walls. The Shade moves to one of the cabinets, opening them and scanning through the names of the folders.
She moves onto the next one, closing it when she doesn't spot folders of any significance to her.
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Remy closes the shaft door and waits for his partner to be finished in the room.
Everything needs to go smoothly otherwise they'll be found out before they can get to the bottom of whatever the Authorities are up to. It was not by chance they're made into targets. It was all planned. Planned right down to the hotel they'll be staying in.
But why? What could be significant about Remy and Clara? They're just like all the other Shades and Embers recruited. There's nothing different about either of them other than the fact Remy likes to enjoy the other side of life.
But one thing still unsettled him. When August showed them their mug shots, Clara's blood type was highlighted. Why was that done? There is something important about her blood that has made her a target as well as him. Could they have injected something into her blood?
If they did that, then what exactly is it? It can't be a virus. Maybe a tracking device but that wouldn't make sense. The Authorities know their location by all the equipment they used. Or maybe something naturally has occurred in her blood so the Authorities kept a close eye on her.
But if that's the case, wouldn't they have done something about it earlier?
Remy glances down at his watch before putting a hand to his ear. "Clara, you have three minutes left."
"Alright, give me a minute." She replies distractedly.
"And then you'll have two minutes left." The Ember informs her smartly, smirking when he hears her sigh. If they don't find anything, then this whole mission will be a waste of time. He prays she finds something of value to them.
Remy suddenly perks up at a smell wafting through the ventilation system. Is that...smoke? he glances behind him, noticing a grey cloud suddenly appearing down the shaft. The shaft fills up with smoke rather quickly and Remy squint his eyes, covering his mouth from the toxic gas.
He suddenly curses when the smoke grows to an unbearable level and regrettably, he makes his back to the way they came from. He can't stay in there unless he wants to suffer and ultimately lead them to their location.
When he reaches the entrance of whence they came, Remy kicks the shaft door open and slides himself out, landing silently on the ground. He holds in a cough before quickly making his way down to the ground floor.
Remy reaches the ground floor and carefully opens the door to the garage, glancing around before making his way to the corner they were first hiding in. He suddenly pauses in his step.
"You've got to be fúcking kidding me..." he curses under his breath when he notices the truck is gone and the garage door closed. They still had another five minutes to go. The truck can't have left early. Now, how are they going to leave here?
The Ember grits his teeth before turning on his heel and making his way down the opposite direction. The garage is locked and Clara and he are now stuck in the building. He has to find another way to leave this building undetected.
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Clara closes the door behind her and locks it before running over to the ventilation shaft door. "Remy." She whispers up, frowning when she doesn't get an answer. "Remy." She tries again but no answer. "Remy."
The Shade grits her teeth before reaching up and pulling the shaft door open, stretching to feel inside.
"Fuck!" Clara hisses, dropping her hands and glancing behind her. She has only two minutes left until the guy comes out again and she still has the damn key. For some odd reason, Remy has just abandoned her and she needs him in order to leave this place unnoticed.
Luckily, she still has the gadget she used to retrieve the key in the first place. If she didn't, this whole plan would've gone bust before it even started.
Clara glances back at the open ventilation shaft, sighing before placing one foot against the wall and pushing off, lifting her hands to grab the edge of the ventilation shaft.
The Shade grabs on and with a grunt lifts herself inside. She rests her upper body on one side of the open shaft and lifts her legs onto the opposite side so that her body basically covers the shaft.
Ten seconds, She counts down in her head, pushing herself to the opposite side. When her face is directly above the shaft, she pulls the shaft door closed just as a door opens and the guy strides out of the room with a stack of files in his hands.
Clara reaches into her pocket for the small gadget she used to retrieve the key and connects the key to the magnet at the end before lowering it down through one of the holes of the ventilation shaft door. With her free hand, she rips a button from her vest and chucks it down the shaft behind her.
The echoing sound of the button bouncing in the shaft causes the young man to pause and glance behind him, allowing the hook on his belt to be near to the key that dangles on the magnetic disc.
Clara carefully leads the hole of the key to the hook but the man turning around moves the hook further away. The Shade curses under her breath and attempts once again to move the key closer to hook on the man's belt.
The man glances quizzically down the hallway after hearing something. It sounded like something small was thrown but there's no one down this hallway apart from him.
He scans the empty hallway one more time before shrugging and turning back to continue walking to the archive room.
He stops at the door and pushes his lab coat back, grabbing the key to unlock the door.
After putting the documents in their appropriate place and collecting another batch, the guy locks the door again and walks back to the room he came from.
At the sound of the door clicking shut, Clara pushes the shaft door open and makes sure there is no one down the hallway before crawling out.
She manages to turn her body around in the confined space so that her legs dangle out before jumping down, landing silently in a crouch. She quickly scans down both ends of the hallway before closing the shaft door.
OK, where should I go from here? she asks herself, stealthily running down the hallway and disappearing through the final door.
She looks at the entrance they took to the ventilation shaft and seeing the door open, curses. Bitch... She closes the door and runs down the stairs, taking two at a time.
"Clara?"
Clara comes to an abrupt pause, her hand practically flying to her ear. "And where the fúck are you, Elyota?" she hisses through gritted teeth, glancing down the hallway cautiously as she hears him sigh.
"There was smoke travelling down the shaft," he explains wearily. "I had to get out of there unless I wanted to die."
Clara rolls her eyes before continuing her descent down the stairs. "You're an Ember, Remy. It'll take more than smoke to kill you."
She reaches the 19th floor when Remy replies. "But that doesn't mean it won't hurt my insides like a motherfúcking bitch, Clara."
The Shade can imagine him rolling his eyes while he said that and shakes her head before speaking back into the receiver.
"Since we're separated, do you mind telling me where you are?" she inquires of the Ember, slinking to the wall when she hearsay door close. Silence elapses between the two of them before Remy responds.
"On the ground floor, trying to find a way out of here since the truck has left." Clara's shoulders slump and she puts a hand to her head, groaning.
"So what do we do?" she inquires after a few moments. "I'm on the 18th floor."
"Remy?" Clara questions when she doesn't receive a reply but a door shutting cuts her off before she can say something.
Her head snaps up and hearing footsteps coming down, she quickly runs through the door of the 18th floor. A bare corridor similar to the corridor on the 20th floor greets the Shade and she goes through the door closets to her when the footsteps become closer.
"Clara, you there?"
Clara hears Remy's question but remains silent as she waits for the footsteps to disappear. When she's certain she can't hear the footsteps anymore, she presses a hand to her ear. "I'm here. What about you?"
"Oh," Remy's teasing voice sounds down the line. "Worrying about my wellbeing, now? Any other surprises you have for me?"
The Shade rolls her eyes before sighing heavily. "How do we get out of here?" she asks, swiftly changing the subject and Remy chuckles, a swelling feeling filling Clara's chest at the sound before she quickly dismisses it.
What the hell was that? she wonders in confusion before focusing back when Remy speaks.
"Just do as I tell you and we'll get out of here alive." He instructs seriously, all trace of his earlier teasing gone. "But wait for a min-shít!"
Clara narrows her eyes at Remy's sudden cursing. "Remy, what's going on?" she demands but receives no response.
"Dammit..." She mutters, glancing up. That's when the Shade notices she's in a room with numerous work stations. It's dark apart from the light of the light tables, allowing her to see her way.
Clara slowly walks down the room, glancing at the equipment and odd looking objects on either side of her.
"Yeah, I know but Danny isn't ready for that kind of commitment."
Clara's head snaps into the direction of the voice, quickly looking for somewhere to hide. She spots a door to her right and she runs towards it, closing the door behind her just when the voices pass her.
"That was close." She mumbles in relief and that's when she spots it. The artefact that she stole from Adrien de Forda lies on a white cloth on the light table with its twin next to it.
Clara slowly moves over to the light table and gazes at the artefact. This is the cause of her anxiety and it seems the Authorities had already found the second piece of it.
Memories of what happened last time she touched it replays through her mind and the Shade hesitates to touch it. She's about to turn away from it and leave when inscription on the twin slab catches her attention.
The language seems foreign but to her it's somehow familiar. The Shade looks at the other slab and notices inscription on it as well, both broken down the middle. She lifts her hand but they hover over the slabs for a moment before she slides them together.
Her breath catches in her throat and her head jerks backwards when she's suddenly pulled back into the past.
An elegant hallway comes into her mind, the walls a dazzling white while the edges of the wall are shimmer silver.
Along the silver skirting, intricate designs of swirls and waves imprint the plaster, bearing resemblance to wave of the sea and painted a darker silver to stand out.
Silver candles in white sconces dot the walls, embezzled in sapphires and emeralds, creating shadows from the flames that flicker with every small disruption of the air.
The columns that hold up the white ceiling are made of pure silver, the edges curling into waves that look like they're moving the longer you stare it.
The floor is a beautiful white marble with a silver carpet down the middle, cream colouring the edges.
A young woman sets a stark contrast the bright room in her elegant, deep blue dress, her blonde hair falling down her back in slight waves and some of her hair is tied over it. A diamond wreath sits on top her head, giving her a full regal look.
The girl would've been a sight to look at if it wasn't for her running down the hallway with such urgent, holding her blue dress to stop herself from falling.
She runs onto the balcony and stops against the stone rail, her green eyes wide with horror.
The vast city below is filled with flames of orange and yellow, setting a stark contrast to the midnight blue sky. Screams and the roaring of flames echo into the evening air, orange, yellow and red fingers stretching to the sky as people run for refuge from the ferocious flames.
One of the buildings crack and snap at its foundation before dropping uselessly to the earth with a resounding crash, the rest of the building splintering upon impact.
This snaps the girl out of her trance with a jump and with a horrified gasp runs back into the building. Holding the bottom of her dress, the girl runs down the elegant hallway and turns a corner.
"Mater! Patrem!" the young woman calls urgently as she runs down the hallway, stopping in front of white double doors and pushing them open, immediately running up to an older woman that turns to her.
The elder woman looks exactly like the girl, with the same slightly wavy golden hair. The only thing that separates them is the molten grey eyes of the elder woman.
"Alaura, thank goodness you're safe." The woman sighs in relief, embracing her daughter. Alaura hugs back fiercely before pulling back and gazing at her mother in fear.
"Mater, what's happening? Why is the city in flames?" she asks anxiously and her mother gazes at her sadly.
"It seems like we're under attack by outside forces." Alaura's eyes widen.
"No, that can't be!" she denies in horror. "The city is hidden from the world and cannot be entered unless you're a citizen! You said so yourself, Mater!"
"I know, I know, Alaura but it seems that the enemy force has found us," the mother reiterates sorrowfully before grasping her daughter's hands. "You can't stay here anymore, Alaura. You have to escape. The enemy is on their way to the castle as we speak."
"But where would we go?" Alaura inquires quietly. "They've probably occupied the surrounding forest by now."
The Queen stares deeply into her daughter's eyes, her brows knitting with obvious pain and Alaura steps back, glancing between her mother and the man standing out on the balcony, his back facing them.
"Wait..." she murmurs, staring deeply into her mother's eyes as realization slowly dawns on her. "You're not coming with me, are you?"
The Queen shakes her head and reaches out for Alaura's hand. "Oh, honey, it's for the best."
"I won't leave you and Pratem." Alaura stubbornly says with a frown. "If I leave, we're leaving together."
By now, the man standing at the balcony has walked over to mother and daughter. "Your mater is right, Alaura," he speaks up. "You have to leave here while you have the chance."
The King stops by his wife and places a comforting hand on her shoulder as Alaura's turns to her father, green eyes locking with green eyes.
The King's eyes reflect his pain and sadness that he has to depart from his daughter. But it also shows his plea for his daughter to do what they say. For them to separate under such circumstances is like numerous hot daggers impaling his heart.
He wanted to watch his only daughter grower up into a finer beauty and fall in love. She could've taken over the kingdom and be a better ruler than him but unfortunately none of that will come to pass.
Alaura holds her father's stare blankly, glancing between him and her mother. Suddenly, anger bubbles to the surface and she yanks her hand from her mother's grasp, making her gasp.
"No!" she refutes heatedly, gazing angrily at her parents. "I'm not going to hide away while you both sacrifice yourselves for me! How will I be able to live knowing that my parents are dead? And it's all for me! No, I won't stand for this. If we go down, we go down fighting together!"
Alaura's parents stare at their daughter in stunned shock as she stares at them in anger. How dare they say she must be the one live and they stay to die? There's no way she's going to allow that to happen!
The King, after coming out of his shock, walks over to his daughter and grasps her hand. "Alaura, my princess..." he grasps one hand but Alaura doesn't react, only glares at him.
"My star..." he grabs the other hand and puts them together, kissing the top of her hand before he covers them with his own and holds it to his chest.
"My life..." Alaura's anger dissipates at the sadness reflecting off her father's green orbs. Right then and there, she could tell that it was killing him to do this.
"Please, do what we say. It's for your own good."
"But-"
The King pulls her into his embrace, holding the back of her head and cutting her off. "Please, Alaura. We don't want you to stay here," he tells her, turning his face to bury his face in his daughter's hair as he blinks back tears. "Your safety is more important than anything else. You escape through the secret portal I told you about. Wherever it takes you, you'll be safe there."
"But patrem, I can't leave you and mater behind to die," Alaura says tearfully, her voice cracking and tears brimming her eyes. "I'll...I'll be all alone."
The King smiles sadly and rests his cheek on top of her head.
"We'll never leave you," he replies, stroking her hair. "We'll always be with you, watching over you." He pulls away and gazes at his daughter as she cries. "We'll always love you, filiola mea."
The princess sobs, her head hung low before nodding. She glances back at father, smiling through her tears. "And I love you too, parentes cari."
The King smiles down at her, stroking her cheek and the Queen walks up to her husband, taking her daughter's hand and squeezing tightly.
"You remember the way, don't you?" she asks to which Alaura nods. The King smiles again and raises one hand to wipe her tears away.
"Be strong, fillia mea. Have faith in yourself. I know you can do this."
And the vision ends...
⊙■⊙■⊙■⊙■⊙■⊙■
Remy quickly runs into a room when he spots two security guards standing a few metres ahead of him. He silently closes the door, breathing a sigh of relief before glancing at the room he entered.
The Ember glances around, noticing a sleek black table in the middle and cabinets along the sides. A flat screen TV hangs on the wall at the far end of the room.
Remy scans the room one more time before moving, searching the cabinets for anything that can help them escape from the building.
After a short while of searching, Remy pauses at the sound of voices approaching the door, gritting his teeth and glancing around to find somewhere to hide.
He glances at the ceiling, spotting the ventilation shaft when an idea hits him. He glances back at the door as the voices gain closer before standing on the table, opening the shaft door and lifting himself inside.
Just as he shuts the shaft door, the door to the room opens and the Dux walks in with the head of the archive centre and the general of the army of Gurges.
The all sit down with the Dux at the head of the table. "So, William," the Dux address casually and the lead scientist of the SDDG after Ace turns to him. "Is there any progress regarding the cavern door?"
The lead scientist of the SDDG, a middle-aged man with dark blue hair shakes his head. "We're trying all that we can but the door won't move," he answers honestly though the Dux doesn't react. "There is also an inscription on the door and we've figured it out that it's in the same language as the inscriptions on the slabs we've have in our possession."
The head of the army of Gurges, another middle-aged man with black hair turns his head to him. "You mean the slab the Shade brought in?" he asks to which the William nods. "But I thought the scientists deciphered it."
"No," William corrects with a shake of his head. "They only managed to decipher a part of it. The rest, I'm afraid, can only be translated by a true Argentum Maria citizen."
Richard rolls his eyes. "Well, isn't that helpful..." he drawls sarcastically. He turns to the Dux who has remained silent throughout.
After a while of being deep in thought, the Dux glances at the two males in the room with him. "Richard, continue with your effort to find the Ember and the Shade. Maybe we'll come up with some leads on their location."
Richard nods and the Dux turns to William. "Continue with the infiltration of the door. You are to take up to ten of your workers and send them to assist with the deciphering of the slab. I'm going to visit my wife."
At the mention of his mother, Remy tenses his body and anger spread through his veins like wildfire.
She's still with him? Well, it shouldn't be much of a surprise. After all, she's unaware of what the Dux did to him. She was told that Remy migrated to Americae and his poor, innocent mother believed him, because she knew it has always been his dream to live in Americae.
When Remy was able to visit her (after regaining his mental stability) he had to keep up with the story. It wasn't to please the Dux because that's far down his motive list, but he didn't want to upset his mother, especially when she had just given birth to his sister. He only wished he could stay away from him.
The Dux subtly tilts his head up. The movement was so subtle that even the two men sitting so close to him didn't even notice.
He glances at the two men in front of him, staring absent-mindedly ahead before standing up from his seat. The two men stand up as well and all three of them leave the room.
The two men bid the Dux goodbye and walk down a direction, while chatting to each other. The Dux, however, glances back at the door.
Suddenly, a smirk tugs at a corner of his mouth before he shrugs and pockets his hand, whistling a merry tune while strolling down the opposite direction.
After confirming that the people are gone, Remy pushes open the ventilation shaft door open and crawls out, landing silently on the table.
"What cavern door are they talking about?" The Ember mumbles, climbing down the table. He moves to the door and slightly opens it, glancing left and right before fully coming out. He runs down the direction the two walked down before suddenly stopping when he hears footsteps, his hand moving to one of the daggers strapped around his waist.
"Remy?"
The Ember whirls around, drawing a dagger and coming face-to-face with Clara appearing from a door. He breathes a sigh of relief before sheathing his dagger.
"Where were you? I got worried when you suddenly stopped talking." Remy informs the Shade who stares at him through hooded eyes.
"I was stuck in a room," she eventually answers as she passes him. "Let's just get out of here."
Remy frowns and turns to Clara. What's gotten into her? he wonders, arching a brow before sighing and following after her.
The duo silently runs down a hallway, passing numerous doors when they turn another corner.
A door with a bold exit sign on appears on their right and Clara immediately heaves herself through the door. Remy dives through the door and it shuts just as a guard appears down the hallway.
They come out onto an alleyway, Clara walking down it and peering out onto the road.
"We're too open," she states, pulling her head back. "We can't possibly make it to the car without being noticed. We need to car to come here."
"But it'll be too noticeable." Remy replies from his position by the door. The Shade glances at Remy before walking to the other side of the alleyway and gazing out of the opening.
She notices that they've ended up on the side of the building and that's when an idea strikes her.
"Call our ride and tell them to meet us here but on the road next to the terraced houses." She orders, prompting Remy to give her quizzical look. Clara raises her eyebrows in a 'trust me' gesture and Remy shrugs before pulling out his phone from a pocket in his vest top.
He dials the number and holds the phone to his ear. The person picks up after the first ring.
"Bring the car to the right side of the building, in front of the brown terraced houses." He instructs before listening to what the person has to say. He nods his head.
"Yeah, I know," he admits, quickly glancing at Clara who watches him. "But just do it. Clara knows what she's doing."
He goes silent before nodding again. "OK." He hangs up and pockets his phone. "The guy's coming." He informs the Shade who nods before glancing out of the alley.
The few minutes to two have to wait pass in silence with Remy watching the surveillance on the tablet. He glances up when Clara calls to him.
The pick-up car pulls in front of the terraced houses and the driver unlocks the car doors, glancing to side at where Clara and Remy hide.
They're about to run to the car when an unexpected guard pops up. He just came out of the garage when he noticed the black car pull up.
The Shade and Ember pull back and hide in the shadows of the alleyway as the guard walks over the driver's side, tapping on the tinted window and it slides down, showing a young man, probably around Remy's age smiling.
"Is there a problem, sir?" the guard asks to which the man shakes his blonde locks.
"Nothing at all," he answers, letting his arm hang out of the window. "Just here to take some pictures of the houses here. It's for a piece of art I'm working on."
The guard glances at the houses and back at the man quizzically. He's about to ask where his camera is until he spotted it on the passenger seat. The young man watches the guard with his smile in place, quickly glancing to the side.
Will this guy hurry up and go? he thinks, glancing back at the guard when he makes a face of disregard.
"Sorry about disturbing you, it's just that that building is heavily guarded. So, you know, we're just taking precautions." The guard explains, pointing to the archive building over his shoulder as he moves from the car.
The blonde makes raises his hand that's hanging out of the window.
"No problem, officer. You're just being careful." He replies before he picks up his camera and takes a few shots of the houses.
The guard nods before turning around to walk back to the garage. He turns back to the car when he hears the door shutting.
"I dropped my camera lens." The blonde explains when he catches the guard's quizzical look and the guard narrows his eyes before shrugging and turning away.
When the guard is far enough, the blonde breathes a heavy sigh of relief before putting his camera down and starting the car, reversing back onto the road.
"Thanks Jamie." Remy says gratefully after peering out of the back window of the car. He relaxes into his seat as Jamie glances at the duo through the rear-view mirror.
"You guys are lucky," the blonde notes as he continues to drive. "Hope you found something useful."
"I hope so too." Remy mutters, glancing at Clara as she stares out of the window.
She turns her head when she feels Remy's stare and arches a brow. "We'll talk when we get back to the workshop." She says, turning back to the window.
de Bortano - Burton
Hernueus - Harvey
Filiola - My Dear Daugher
Parentes Cari - My Dear Parents
Fillia Mea - My Daughter