~Myself
It's a bit of a long one, but very important, so read all of it.
~Charles
It was our fifth day of travel. Morale seemed fairly high among our group. We had gotten our grieving out of the way, and minor wounds treated. Des had her wings treated enough she could fly short distances. Jasper's cut had been bandaged, and seemed almost healed. Rei had his bullet wounds treated, but looked like he could use some additional treatment. K'satri seemed to be near 100% physically, but she still seemed hung up over Steve's death... oh and that other girl's death. As for myself, I was still missing an arm. I didn't mind it much though, I had gotten used to it.
We were approaching the walls of Haven. They were a large metallic structure, dented in numerous places by angry surge. The walls had turrets built into them ever hundred feet or so. It had to be at least thirty feet high. In comparison to the wall of Service though, it wasn't impressive in the least.
As we approached the gates, the turret nearest, pointed directly at us. It waited there inactive, seeing if we were of any threat. After enough time, it seemed to decide we weren't adequate enough a threat to fire at, and re-entered its resting position.
On our approach we were panicked several times by the sound of gunfire, but they were far off, at some surge that were unfortunate enough to come too close. This city was known for its frequent surge attacks. Many theorize the frequent attack are caused by Haven producing the majority of the food, others think it's due to this city being where the majority of the people are. I'm inclined to believe the latter though. I know when my parents got killed, the surge didn't seem too interested in our food.
An large arc in the wall raised when we neared the end of the road. There were no customs to go through when entering a city, everything was automated. Customs weren't of any need in a society only containing three cities.
The entrance lead straight into one of the more populated parts of Haven. The entrances had this effect on population, as it made for good trade. The roads were large, flat, and concrete, and the cities architecture was less the artistic, most lacking colors, but they still were more than functional.
Des had taken on her leader role again, stepping out in front of us. "For right now, we should try to find a place to stay, then make a plan from there. We should try to avoid soldiers as much as possible, though chances are they'll be too busy to notice us."
With those few words, we set out to find a place to stay. Rei hurried up front next to Des to whisper something to her. Once he was finished, she whispered something back, and they started moving quicker, the rest of our group following suit. I got close.
"What are you two whispering about."
Des looked over, "I'll tell all of you later."
We soon arrived at one of the nicest hotels in the city. No one would argue that it was five star. We stopped in front of it.
K'satri walked in front of it. "How are we supposed to afford this?"
Des started to walk inside. "You forget who my father is." She held up a large clump of cash.
We waited outside for her to get everything ready.
I just remembered something. "Rei, what were you and Des talking about?
He made a nervous look. "I overheard some people when we came in. Stern has definitely arrived in town.
~Glory
We've been waiting in Haven for the past three days. It's the only place those five could flee, so it was just a waiting game. I didn't mind the wait though, we were given first class accommodations. We were located in an upscale portion of the city, in a building made to contain soldiers of high status. I was staying in my personal quarters listening to some song from an ancient musician.
We had direct orders from the Furor to not harm anyone while in the city. I doubt the rest of the group had listened at all though, because several people had gone missing. This is why the furor only entrusts me with items of value, even though I'm number three. Like this particular trinket. It was a simple vial filled with a liquid of changing color that I was given on arrival. It was more than relaxing to watch. I was unaware of what it was for, but I was insured that it was of great importance. I had orders to guard it with my life until... well I was never told what to do with it besides to guard it. Honestly, I'm not sure if anyone would even care if I lost this, but I'll at least believe it is of the importance I've been told.
I set it down, and started on my book. Similar to my music, the creator of book had been gone for years. Most items of entertainment came from long ago since resources couldn't be spared on the frivolous. I had gotten through about twenty pages before I heard the door open a crack.
I lowered the book and looked up. "Roset, I told you I don't have any snacks for you. I thought you were leaving with the others to go to town as well. Why are you still he-"
I looked around the room. No one was there. I went over to the door, and looked outside. No one was there either. I turned back, and my vial was gone. "DAMN IT!" I spread out my vines over the area. They found a target, and wrapped around it. There was a girl laying on the ground, with the vial in her hands. Her skin and clothing matched the surroundings almost exactly. "You ignorant brat." I gave her a kick, and her body gave a quick color change. "You thought you could steal from me and live."
The girl had a panicked look in her eye. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words didn't come out at first. Eventually she formed a sentence. "Please let my orders be right." Before I could react she had the top off and drank a small portion of the liquid in the vial. Then she completely disappeared.
"That may have worked for a short time before, but my vine still has your foot. Why would you think camouflage would do anything?" It was silent for a moment. "Very well, I'll end your life no-"
A searing white light was given off from her. My whole body retracted from the sight. When I opened my eyes, I saw her running off... and her running off... and her running off. There were several of her running in different directions, toward different exits.
I chased after the one that was still close enough. She made it outside, but I followed behind. I tried to wrap a vine around it, but it went straight through. Not the usual kind of straight through for me where there's blood, but the kind of straight through that it was never there in the first place. It was an illusion. I turned to go after the others, but they were gone. "That b*tch!"
I looked over at a beggar that was laying on the street watching the event. "You! Did you see that women." He had a terrified look on his face. "If you don't tell me who she was, I'll kill you were you lay.
The man stayed there hesitating for a moment. "Her name is, Nyx."
"Nyx what?"
It was obvious he didn't want to tell me, but he was to frightened for his life to do otherwise. "Her name is Nyx Glynis. She is a thief in the area."
"Why are you so nervous to give up a simple thief?"
He had given up by this point hiding thing. "She helps us less fortunate around here. Does the whole Robin Hood thing. Pretty foolish if you ask me, but I do appreciate it."
"Thank you." I left him be. I knew any of the others would have killed him though.
I put out an order over my communicator to the rest of my squad to kill this Nyx on sight, and retrieve the vial she is carrying. I used the database to put a picture of her next to it. Almost instantly after issuing the order, I got a response from Nathan. "I found her, and a little birdie." He sounded hungry, and I was fine with what was coming to her, and our recent arrival.
~Charles
Jasper, K'satri, Rei, and I were waiting up in the hotel room. We had been relaxing for a good few minutes discussing the finer points of why I'm an obnoxious ass. I had made some excellent arguments as Charles the Diplomat against this, but they still seemed convinced they were right. Des had been gone for the last few minutes getting supplies.
We got a knock on the door, and K'satri went to answer it. She looked in the peephole, and shouted back to us. "Des is back, and there's a girl with her. They both look pretty beat up." She opened the door, and they rushed in.
Des closed and locked the door. She was out of breath, and had some cuts. She sat on one of the beds and began talking. "We ran into Stern, we lost them though. We referring to my new friend and me. Her name is Nyx Glynis. She has some amazing modifications, without them, we'd be dead."
I sat up to see her. She looked familiar.
Des got back up and put an arm on Nyx. "She made tons of illusions, and we were able to get out of there."
She pushed the arm off. "That's not usual for me. I have no modifications that should allow what I did. It was something I drank."
"Something you drank?"
"I'm a thief for hire. I had orders from an anonymous client to steal a vial from Stern for a substantial sum of money. I like challenges and money, so I took the job." Everyone had a look on their faces of the expression, are you stupid or something. "The client said that if anything should go wrong, to take a sip. Something went wrong, so I took a sip, and as soon as I did, I could feel my body go into overdrive. Everything was going stronger than ever before, especially my modification. I could feel it not just changing the color I gave off, but projecting new light. Allowing me to create false images. That feeling of powers is gone now though. I don't think I could do it again without another sip." She held out the multicolored vial, then put it back immediately.
Des began after the end of the story. "Due to her being in a similar position of the government wanting her killed, I have agreed to let her to join us for now."
My brain just made a connection then. "Wait Nyx. NYX!"
She took her first good look at me. "What... what is he doing here?"
Rei looked quizzically. "Do you know Charles?"
She made the greatest look of shame I'd ever seen. "When I was younger, and stupid beyond imagination, I agreed to go on a few dates with him."
"You know you loved our dates. We were the perfect pair." She ignored me. "Come on, don't be like that." She then disappeared into her background.
