Faw knocked her heels on the glass box when Ariden and Lufi made it into the gallery. Her mask lay discarded on the ground, next to the tool roll and the copy of the pedestal's key. "Took you long enough," she said, a lopsided grin showing her yellowish teeth.

"What are you doing? Get down from there," Ariden hissed, shouldering past Lufi and hurrying to where the child and the Earthshaker sat. How...sacrilegious. He frowned, aware of something missing. The room was bright. Shouldn't that...? He turned to Lufi. "Where's the darkness thing you mentioned?"

The priestess in costume scanned the room and craned her neck to the domed ceiling. "Don't know," she said. "I swear it's real when I first came. If not for the cloaker, I would have been found out."

"Ah, you slowpokes," Faw leaped off the pedestal and snatched the key from the ground. "I disabled all protection spells before you entered. See those statues?" she pointed somewhere behind them, and Ariden whirled in that direction. "Those are the magic men. They do everything. So, destroy them..."

"You destroy the system," Lufi breathed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

The girl shrugged and crouched until she's eye-level with the keyhole. " 'Cause you're not creative," she said. "You're...bland. Dull."

Ariden snorted at Lufi's indignant expression. "Are you seriously going to let a kid say that to you?"

Faw rolled her eyes. "Same goes for you, Your Highness."

"Hey!"

Lufi burst out laughing at that. Ouch.

Ariden massaged his chest as if both Faw's verbal jabs and Lufi's unabashed guffaw stabbed him there. "I'll keep watch," he stalked off before Faw invented more creative ways to roast him on an open fire. "Hurry up."

He reached the rim where the arch and the statues waited for him. His weight pressed against his shoulder and, in turn, the wall. Overhead, the real bland corridor went forth. The design was deliberate. The endless twists and turns of nothing but empty halls would turn even the most ambitious thief away. Sadly for them, those without ambition and only looking for a way to pass the time were now inside a trove of the Earth Sprites' most prized treasures.

Not that Ariden cared about those save for the Earthshaker. They're the High Priest and the Head Curator's most prized possession, and over the years, they've found ways to make the people treasure these artifacts too, and now, no one could separate their value from their culture and heritage.

Perhaps, if Ariden had enough time, he would dig into the origin of each of these items and pick them off one by one.

It'd be good fun.

A loud thud followed by a distinct wail rang in the distance. Ariden peeled off the wall and lowered himself to a stance, hand resting on the dagger on his belt. "Oh, I'm suddenly not feeling well. Oh," Tria's exaggerated voice and excellent acting skills echoed off the marble walls. "Let's go back to the main hall, shall we? Then, we can continue our discussion."

A cloud of footsteps stormed away, their traces fading into the distance after a few seconds.

"Good job, Tria," Ariden said aloud, a smirk pulling at his lips. That's Tria for them. She could be anyone in a span of seconds, and she could fake an entire life story if she willed it. Gods, she even taught them how to alter their voice to fit their current predicament.

He glanced over his shoulder to find Lufi bracing her knees and watching Faw with a concerned frown. Throwing one last look at the otherwise empty corridor, he rejoined his comrades. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Lufi straightened and flashed him an exasperated look. "The key isn't working," she said. "I don't understand. They couldn't have changed the lock since I went in, could they?"

"They are perfectly capable of doing that," Ariden pushed past Lufi and studied the key stuck into the keyhole. It went in perfectly, but when he turned it, the gears rasped and stayed locked. "That's weird," he said, glancing at Lufi with a panicked face. "It should work. The locksmith was meticulous. She couldn't have made a mistake."

"Move," Lufi shoved him to the side, and if not for his fast reflexes, he would have sprawled face-first like a discarded doll. He righted himself in time for her to grip the key's handle and jiggle it without avail. "That can't be. Wait—"

Faw jutted her hips to the side and knocked Lufi over. The priestess in costume tripped on her way back and landed on her rear. The glare she had thrown the younger girl's way couldn't have been more acidic.

"No use in jingling and jangling this way and that," Faw ranted, taking a hold of the key's handle and pulling it out. A wince colored her features when she tugged and it didn't budge. A low curse hidden under a flavorful growl ripped from her lips. "Damned lock," she hissed. "This wouldn't do."

She turned to Ariden and Lufi and wagged a finger at them. "This will take a while, but it seems like I've met my match," she said. "Don't speak. Don't rush me. And don't look at me while I work. Got it?"

Lufi scrambled away from the girl and dusted her skirt. The cloak she threw over her priestess uniform glinted against the flickering lights from the corridor beyond the arch. She waved a hand in Ariden's face when he stayed seated on the ground, jerking her chin towards a vague direction.

Ariden cast a quick glance at Faw whom she met with a flat glare before following Lufi back to the arch. A distinct curse and a click of a tongue resounded behind them. They looked back to find Faw fumbling with the toll roll, murdering it with her tongue.

"Where's that blasted hook?!" she snarled before throwing it away and her hands in the air. "Ah, whatever. This mission's cursed before it even started. I'll work with what I have—what the hell are you lookin' at?!"

The last bit speared straight into Ariden's gut, reminding him of the...rough environment these people grew up in. If he talked as such inside the Palace that way, he would have been flayed to death in the town center. Or maybe he's just being dramatic. Nerves. That's all it was.

Nerves.

Ariden was about to bite back with a scathing reply when a plume of dark green smoke slunk in his periphery. What the...

His eyes widened, and he scrambled back. "Forget the diamond," he said. "Let's go."

Lufi glanced behind her, saw the plumes, and shook her head. "What's going on?" she asked. "What is that?"

Ariden whirled to her. "Are you kidding me? That's a military-grade flare!" he glanced at Faw again and gripped the girl's arm. "Wear your mask. Let's go."

Faw yanked her limb out of Ariden's grip. "Don't you dare tell me what to do," she said, inserting one more hook into the keyhole in an attempt to loosen the key's hold. "I'm close. I just need a little more time."

A brand new storm of footsteps and clanks of metal lumbered closer. "We don't have that," Ariden answered, snatching Faw's mask from the ground and tying it around her head. He could say he knotted it well. And tight. "Let's go."

"No!" Faw whirled and jabbed a hook into Ariden's boot. The metal bit into his skin, puncturing through leather. "This diamond will be mine!"

"Faw, this is not the time to throw a tantrum," Lufi interjected as Ariden stumbled away, clutching his throbbing foot. "Ari's right. We should go."

The girl answered by pushing her tools deeper and harder. A distinct crack matched the rising doom echoing from the horizon. Then, before their very eyes, the key snapped from the handle. They froze as the bulbous handle peeled off the keyhole and tumbled to the ground with a hearty clatter.

The footsteps halted, listening only to the echoes. Then, they tripled in speed.

Ariden shoved the tool roll into Faw's arms and yanked her up. This time, the girl followed, swiping her tools from the keyhole and sticking them into her hair and vest. "Find Aeril and Cohnal," he said over the roar of his heartbeat. "They'll get you to safety."

Lufi grabbed his arm and whirled him to face her. "Don't talk as if you're not coming," she said, moving her hold to his hand. "The route is this way. We have to get Tria and Ralei too."

"With you on that," Tria's voice rippled from the ceiling as if on cue. She clambered past the displays on the wall's ornamented top shelf before sliding off the velvety curtains protecting no windows. It's done in such a fluid manner that Ralei's attempt, despite being done well, looked like a tamus' attempt. "I tried my best to stall the guards but they seemed on to us. We had to bail."

She was back in her usual veils now that her part on the plan was done, as well. It's enough. They're done here.

"Let's go," Ariden led the way towards their planned escape route.

"Halt!" a deep voice bellowed from the direction of the arch. The footsteps screeched to a pause as ten, twenty, forty soldiers rushed inside. A bright light rained over them, placing them in the center of the attention. "Hands up where we can see them!"

They're caught.

Ariden showed his palms in the air and turned, finding himself face to face with none other than Avorel Pource, the Head of Security of Otralo. What was he doing all the way here in Jehnasson?

"We will come and restrain you," Avorel said, keeping his flintlock leveled at Ariden's face. Behind the mask, he smiled. So, he's after that promotion, after all. "It would be in your best interest to cooperate quietly."

The rest of the platoon crept forward, their boots thundering across the gallery's floor. Avorel jerked his head at the nearest soldiers to him. "Sweep the room," he ordered. "Make sure nothing's missing."

That'd be a fair warning. Faw, no doubt, had taken her fill before he and Lufi made it inside. Perks of always arriving at the heist first. It paid to have her precious skills.

Avorel and his goons got within dagger's reach. "Arms behind the head," he waved the flintlock's muzzle to signify his point. "Go on."

"Greet Pidmena yourself, witch," Lufi hissed.

Before Ariden could react, she curled her hands on the dagger jutting from his belt and pulled it from its sheath. She lunged forward, swinging the silver blade in a wide arc. The soldiers scattered, caught by surprise. Ariden froze, torn between fleeing like Tria, Ralei, and Faw did, and saving Lufi who waged war on her own.

A second was too long to linger.

Lufi's dagger met a sword and instead of a loud clang, a resounding crack webbed into the blade. Then, the dagger exploded into a hundred shards. Lufi stumbled back. "What—"

"Lufi!" Ariden dashed forward, cursing himself for dallying for as long as he did. His weight pressed against hers as he tackled her down, away from the path of another sword. They crashed to the ground with him rolling off her before she thought it to be weird.

"Go with the others," he said under his breath. "I'll be right behind you."

"Freeze!" yelled Avorel. "Don't test me! I will shoot!"

Ariden kept his eyes on another soldier creeping behind Lufi. "Go!" he screamed, leashing the marble underneath the soldier's feet and bending it around his boots. He pushed Lufi out of the way as Avorel made good on his threat and clicked the trigger.

A loud boom echoed in the gallery. Ariden turned in time for a burning force to slam into the rim of his mask. He flew backwards, falling on his shoulders in a slump. A new kind of frenzy rose from the soldiers, and he knew why.

As soon as he pulled his weight up, the cracks in the mask webbed down from where the bullet dug itself into and split the disc in two. The halves clattered to the ground, followed by a thick silence when the face behind them tumbled into view.

The Crown Prince of Avalora had been a Cutlass all along.