All Good Things Come At A Cost

[Myuka]

((RP with @Crono))

The night was nothing more than the comforting blanket that shadowed the girls through the night as they continued their work. After weeks of planning, strategizing, organizing, and double checking they were finally ready to pull it off. Plus throughout these weeks and a little bit of in team arguing there was a wager on the line that the girls needed to win, they just needed to! The peak hours of 2 am always proved to be a perfect time to get in and out of a guarded museum in the western hemisphere of the human realm! It was the time when the night shift guards were praying for a break and they were all worn out and no longer as aware of their surroundings, it was perfect.

The youngest of their team was up first, shifting her ways through the shadows as she ran towards the side window of the museum. It was hard to see her features in the dark of night, but she couldn't have been any taller than 5'2 and no older than thirteen, a small and skinny little thing. The girl looked like she was weight watching to be a ballerina someday, she looked a tad too skinny to be healthy. Her short neck length straight slick black hair with straight across bangs swayed in the wind as her blank clouded over white eyes looked up the wall of the building. She looked as if she was blind, though that blank look in her eyes couldn't have been more misleading. Her tan skin was the last human like feature she seemed to offer before it was plainly obvious she was anything but human. When she turned to her teammate it was odd to see a pair of animalistic like ears on the sides of her head, large and fuzzy tan ears like that of a fennec fox. To go along with that light tan set of ears she had a small tan tail to go with it. Even her feet, which wore no shoes, looked like that of a small desert fox. The only articles of clothing the girl seemed to wear was a spaghetti strap white dress and a small ruby pendant that hung around her neck. She finally motioned for her teammate to join her near the building.

The only other girl of their team ran towards the side of the building. Her frame was larger than the smaller teammates but still small for her age. She looked no older than nineteen and stood no taller than 5'6. She was small in frame but had just enough muscle on her skin to make her look like a healthy human being, though she was far from human. Her porcelain pale skin was well accompanied by her icy blue eyes and jet black mid length black hair. She had bangs that framed her face and swept across her forehead as well and a small but decent looking hour glass figure to go with her small size. She like her companion, had a small set of silver fox ears with a large bushy fox tail that was in constant motion. If her tail was not moving there was a good chance it would just drag across the ground. She was a bit more complete in outfit, with a dark blue tank top and black leggings to go with her black boots she looked up to the second floor.

"You sure this is it?" She asked her smaller companion.

The younger girl nodded. "I'm positive."

"Alright." The older girl muttered before jumping to the second floor, a very inhuman like gesture. She opened the window and jumped through, quickly followed by the younger counterpart.

The room they happened to enter was the security and control room of the museum, cameras and heat sensors alike, all controlled in this one room by this one guard. He quickly turned around and almost gasped, but the younger girl was all over it. She ran quickly to the guard, placing her palm over his face, muttering a strange and forgotten secondary language that not even her accomplice was familiar with, as if chanting something into the mind of the security guard. As she chanted those blank vacant eyes began to shine just a little bit, waiting for a response from its victim.

"44736." The security guard spoke in a voice that was more robotic than it should have been.

As the numbers were spoken, the older girl typed the numbers into the computer and easily gained access to the security mainframe, shutting everything down inside the building. With a slight successful laugh she smiled and put her hands on her hips. "I knew we could do a heist without the boys!" She told the smaller girl, making her smile. "You hear me Rylee?! We don't need you!" The older girl spoke into a communicator that was in her ear, pride deep in her voice.

"Yeah yeah whatever. You don't even have it yet so don't get too excited." A male voice could be heard faintly on the other side. He didn't sound to impressed just yet.

 

[Crono]

If the security cameras were on for just a molment longer they would have shown a encounter between a sleepy night guard and his vast superior. The night guard in question was a lanky blond who couldn't have been older then 19. His bloodshot eyes batted fiercely to remain open, but the urge to rest for even a moment was overwhelming. Fuzzy memories of his short and angry boss ,which the guard liked to call Napoleon behind his back, making it perfectly clear that he was taking no chances with the museum's newest installment floated lazily about in his mind. He slowly turned to veiw the end of the hallway, there, incased in two layers of bulletproof glass and (formally) surrounded by a grid of invisible lasers was a small yet stunning Buddhist sculpture made entirely out of lapis lazuli.

Somehow the shimmering blue that resulted from light hitting the artifact managed to be the one thing needed to lull the night guard to sleep. He closed his eyes for about three seconds before his skull was grabbed and pulled up to face a furious man in a trench coat. The man looked to be in his early thirties with a body that was taut and lean but not particularly muscular. He had a slight tan, eyes the color of grass, and well combed black hair. The trench coat he wore was a dark grey with a white collared shirt underneath and black pants, all very tidy and without a wrinkle in sight. His voice was sharp and pointed, like a sword that the night guard could feel being cut into him.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" "I-I um..." "That's what I bloody thought. You think now is a good time to have a nap? Unbelievable." The man in the trench coat would have loved to continue stabbing the poor night guard with steely words when he saw the little light on the security cameras fade away.

The man swiftly withdrew a walky talky from his coat while still clasping the now very awake night guard's head. He first sent a knifelike message for all the other guards to be alert, then contacted the guard in charge of the building's security measures. "I saw the cameras turn off, report immediately." While waiting for his 'immediate' response the man thought about the reason he was here. Apparently there had been increased reports of priceless relics, pieces of art, and so on being stolen with the very few witnesses all claiming to see people with ears and tails like foxes. What was more was that people were beginning to believe that the thieves were demons, which the man got a good laugh at. However the FBI eventually had to get involved and, of course, had to send him of all people to make sure that the newly discovered sculpture would remain where it belonged. "What part of immediate do you not understand around here," he spat into the walky talky.

 

[Myuka]

Both girls instantly went back into motion as their eyes scanned the now very angry sounding man on the other end of the walkie talkie. It was clear that there were more people in the building, but nothing to get too panicked about just yet. The older girl gave her counterpart a nod, as if knowing what needed to be done. When the younger one caught on, she went back to her now unconscious security guard that she earlier received the numbers from and decided to use his voice one more time. She lifted his head up by the back of his skull and held the walkie talkie up to his face. That same strange glow in her blank eyes that she had before came back as well as that odd sounding secondary language being muttered from her lips, it was obvious to her that the words he spoke were not his own, but the ones she implanted in him.

"Apologies. Slight technical difficulties. Cameras will be back up in just a few minutes." The man spoke back in the walkie talkie, though again his voice did sound a bit more robotic than normal. She didn't even bother putting him back down gently, she just dropped his head which fell back on his desk, again unconscious.

"You couldn't make that sound even a little more realistic?" The older girl asked, almost as if annoyed.

The younger girl looked disappointed, putting her fox ears against her head as if she'd done something wrong. "Sorry boss." She muttered lowly.

"No it's fine, you did fine." The older girl muttered back, thinking through the next part. "We should be two halls down from the sculpture. We can probably get to the sculpture without getting seen, but getting the sculpture out will take a bit of time." She began as she pulled the younger girl by the arm, out of the room and down the first hall as she continued explaining. "Once I start working on getting the sculpture out I want you behind one of the other displays, just in case I get interrupted you can become a valuable distraction for the time being. I should be able to get through the bulletproof glass in a good minute." She explained, finally making it to the room before looking at the sculpture and realizing she miscalculated just a tiny bit, "okay, two bullet proof glasses, so two minutes." She muttered, letting go of the smaller girls arm and heading straight for the statue.

The younger girl did as instructed, she looked for a good spot to be. She noticed the room had two entrances, one south and one west. She found a pretty decent sized sculpture between the two entrances that she could temporarily hide behind while she watched her boss continue the work, knowing that if anyone came to interrupt it would be her job to intervene. "Just to clarify," her voice was a loud whisper, "no killing them, right?" She asked.

The older girl, only known so far as boss, shot the girl an angry look as she pulled one dagger from her boot. "I want everyone in this building to still have a heartbeat when we leave Cadalena. If you fail me on this there will be consequences, understand?" Her tone was harsh, she was serious.

"Yes boss." The young girl known as Cadalena responded, again taking her hiding spot as she heard the older girl begin cutting through the first set of glass with the dagger.

"You're taking quite a long time, I'm not sure you're gonna make it out. You're positive you don't need our help? I mean, we can always jump in and save our little damsels in distress." That same male voice could be heard in her ear, though he had a teasing tone of voice as he laughed.

"Shut up Rylee." She muttered jokingly, almost finishing up on the first set of bullet proof glass.

 

[Crono]

The man in the trench coat rolled grassy eyes at the mechanical reponse he received. "You lot sound so stupid I could mistake you for a damn robot." He stashed the walkie talkie back into his coat and turned to face the frightened night guard he was holding hostage. He looked him up and down from battered boots to crumpled blue hat, he scowled. "Your a sad excuse for a generation you know that?" The night guard nodded, feeling it was his best option currently to agree with whatever the man was saying. The man released him and looked over to see a shadowy figure standing by the sculpture at the hallway's end.

The man swiftly dodged behind a large statue and brought the night guard with him. When the teen opened his mouth to cry in surprise the man in the trench coat silenced him with a cold glare. The figure didn't seem to notice their presence and continued to do something that looked like cutting into the glass case with a blade. The man could hear words being spoken but didn't pay them much attention as he turned to the night guard and wispered in a hardly audible but still sharpened tone, "call the others, quietly." He brought out a shiny black pistol with a knife attachment and quietly moved down the hall to where the heist was under way.

On the way to the location where his fate would take a wild turn the man in the trench coat concluded that the thief had turned off the security measures and threatened the residing guard to respond when the man questioned him. If this was true then the the theif was organized and resourceful, for someone who wore fox ears and a tail to a heist of course. As he neared the scene of the crime he noticed the thief was female, did in fact have fox ears as well as a tail, and seemed... strange. Something about the woman wasn't right, the ears and tail were too natural looking, but he couldn't lose focus.

With a sudden sharp burst of noise and light the man's fire went off, the bullet nearly grazing the the theif's ear. The man stood in the center of the hall, pointing his bladed gun at the woman. "That was a warning shot," the man spoke with the cold and sharpness of a sword, "the next one will be a bit more, effective. John Unsteele, Federal Bureau of Investigation. You have the privilege to drop the knife and turn yourself in, and it can be taken away very easily."

 

[Myuka]

For a split second she could have sworn she heard words, her left fox ear twitching at the whispered words coming from a corner nearby. She looked at the young Cadalena, slightly confused. "Did you say something?" She asked the young girl, taking a quick break from her current slicing through glass project to look at her companion.

"No boss." Cadalena prompted, shaking her head in disagreement. She didn't think much of the comment, figuring her boss was just over worried, as always.

Shrugging it off, she went back to work. That work only continued for about another fifteen seconds before almost getting her nice beautiful and very real ear blown off! She didn't turn around right away and didn't move a muscle, listening carefully to his words and his demands. When he explained his name and what branch he was from, a smirk formed on her face, she could have much more fun with this than she anticipated.

Still not looking at him she put both of her hands up and slowly turned around, looking at the man straight in the eyes, still a smirk on her face as she dropped the knife on the ground in front of her. Her very realistic fox tail swayed with excitement as she looked at the man in front of her, doing her best to take in as much detail of the man as she could when her eyes scanned him from the top of his head to the soul of his boots. It might have been strange for a girl that could look no older than a young adult to look so confident in such a sticky situation, it just didn't fit things properly. From all his training in the Bureau, she should have either been frightened and given up, surrendered peacefully, or put up a fight. Instead she stood with a confident smirk, as if he was in the wrong.

"The Federal Bureau of Investigations?" She asked him, a playful tone in her voice. "What a fancy department." It was hard to tell if she was sincere or if she was teasing him as she slowly put her arms down to her sides, still not moving from her spot. Sure she was strong, sure she was not human, but bullets did still hurt pretty bad and she really didn't feel like getting shot today. "Though not the department I'm used to dealing with." It sounded as if she was going to start an explanation, but before she did so she gave a slight nod. At this point John might have figured out they were not the only two people in the room. That shadow he saw earlier actually belonged to the young Cadalena.

As if she understood was her boss wanted, she took a step out from her spot, not going towards John though. Instead standing between the two entrances to the room, holding both arms out, one to face each entrance. Once this began those blank cloudy eyes began to slightly glow, an odd look for an already odd looking young girl. Once this gesture was done, both entrances were blocked with a thick cloudy black mist, no one would be able to enter or exit while Cadalena had this block up.

"You see, your department is such a small sub department in a much bigger picture. There are many things they would rather you not worry yourself with, John Unsteele." Now she did begin walking slowly, but she also did not walk towards John, she walked to the other side of the artifact, the other side of the glass. "There are scary things out there John, much bigger than yourself or even me. But, now that you've seen it first hand you have two choices. You can either act like you've seen nothing, or try and explain yourself to your department. Most will think you've lost your marbles, and the few that actually believe you will do whatever is necessary to silence you, even if that means you get pink slipped. Is that something you're willing to risk for such a silly artifact?" She asked him as she put her hand against the glass. With a blue fire the first layer of glass was gone, and with a second blue fire the second layer was gone. Not the cleanest way to do things and not the way she wanted, but it would get the job done.

Now that she was hoping she confused him and shocked him enough, she calmly picked up the artifact, looking from the artifact back at him. "Lets play a game John." She prompted him, walking a little closer, probably putting him a bit on edge but she stopped before she got to close. With that same blue fire as before she was able to produce five copies of herself holding the artifact, all of which looked exactly similar. There were six in total, all standing in a line. They all spoke at the same time, "if you can shoot the real demon girl, you can have the artifact back. But if you shoot a fake, we're getting out of here." It was quite a wager, he had a one in six chance to hit the right target, but with no tell it was a difficult task.

 

[Crono]

As soon as the confident smirk appeared on her face John's expression changed from serious to annoyed. He continued the point his gun at the thief girl as she spoke, feeling compelled to shoot her as she was talking but changing his mind midway. She stood there, that unnatural tail swaying, she spoke with such confidence that the officer's hatred grew with every word. He doubted the girl even knew what the Federal Bureau of Investigations was, but saw her words as a challenge for a battle of the mouth. He matched her smirk, 'if so may the swords clash,' he thought!

When the girl gave her little nod and mist covered both entrances John caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye but hid it so she wouldn't notice. His mind was beginning to panic as he heard the sounds of people banging against the doors to no avail. The woman's words and actions unnerved him but he kept the appearance of confidence that challenged the girl's, she just melted the glass with some form of blue fire, was it true that she was really a demon? Then as the icing on the cake she grabbed the artifact and... cloned herself?! John was smart enough to understand that he had a one in six chance of hitting the girl, but how would he tell?

John had a plan, but he would not act with this girl thinking she had defeated his iron tongue. "Well well well. You've really got it figured out huh? Your right though, there are many things about the world that I don't want to know about, but do you know why? It's because I don't care. I could care less about the poor, and inflation, and bloody demons, because all of them don't effect me or my life. Your also wrong about my options."

Unsteele's words sharpened, his smirk grew more savage. "I've got another option. Kill both of you and bring your corpses to my superiors. Then I'll get even more praise and reward, not only as the one who stopped you but the man who discovered the existence of 'demons.' And as I stand in glory your dead bodies will be cut up and dissected in some cold distant lab. Because that's now it works in America, we find something we don't understand and pull it apart until their is nothing left, taking what we want for ourselves."

"Enough talk now. You want me to shoot a real demon girl? You got it." John then proseeded to walk back and fourth, seeming to closely examine each clone with a calm look in his grass green eyes. When he reached the leftmost side of the hall he saw it, just barely in his view. A single, small, skinny shoulder. The magority of the body was behind a large statue, almost invisible, but not quite.

John Unsteele flashed the clone closest to him a cold smile and raised his gun. With a bang that lit up the room for a milisecond a bullet was sent speeding at the demon girl Cadalena's exposed shoulder. The FBI agent found it to be like weaponized poetry in motion.

 

[Myuka]

When John had finally started speaking back to her his personality and overall outlook of things somewhat surprised her. She figured he was a man of the law, had some moral upbringing that had him dying to do what was right for him, for his people, for his country, and so on and so forth. This is not what it sounded it though, it almost sounded, maybe self centered? She knew there were always a few odd balls in the bunch of the law world, but it was very rare to run into one and that only made things more fun.

When John started explaining how he would be the one to 'discover' the existence of demons it took everything in her tiny frame to not bust up laughing right then and there. She figured it might be rude to interrupt him with laughter, though she couldn't hold it long. When he started talking about cutting them up, dissecting them and studying them she finally cracked, laughing to her hearts content. Just to keep up with the illusion her laughter could be heard and seen through all six copies that stood in a line, all moving with the same pattern of bent over laughter. When she finally looked up at him to make eye contact she still looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"You don't get it, do you?" She questioned him, finally calming down a bit and standing upright, still holding the artifact. "We've already been discovered. Decades ago, actually! You think a few of us already haven't been caught, studied to your little hearts content? The only reason you haven't been informed is because we're too much for your little public to know. You have an entire department trained and specialized to deal with us, and I'm guessing you're not a part of them." She looked him up and down again, shrugging. "It's quite a shame too, you seem to have the fun drive they could use." Then she felt interrupted with his next few words, 'enough talk now.' She looked at him straight in his eyes, all moments of previous laughter gone, a cold stare as if waiting to see which he would shoot. She already knew though, no matter which he shot at she could easily and swiftly move, even if he managed to aim at the right one, it was a losing game regardless.

Unless, he turned at the last minute and aimed for her counterpart. She heard the gunshot before even realizing where the bullet actually landed. All of her clones still stood, she was uninjured, he couldn't have that horrible of aim. When her eyes followed the direction of the barrel she realized he aimed towards Cadalena, her eyes quickly shifting from earlier amusement to worry.

Cadalena on the other hand looked more confused than anything. She looked down at her shoulder, seeing a small bullet sized hole on the back part of her left shoulder. Since it was only on the back part she assumed the bullet was still lodged in her flesh, watching as the blood began to drip down onto her clothes and down her arm. The weird thing about this young girl was that she didn't scream, she didn't cry, she didn't even look too pained, just confused. She kept up with her work, making sure the doorways were sealed to the best of her abilities. She didn't move her arms down, in fear of if she did move that left arm it might actually hurt a bit. She moved out of her hiding spot though, John could finally see both girls fully.

"He shot me boss." The young preteen girl said, somewhat shocked. "Was he supposed to do that?" She asked, confused. It was strange that the young girl didn't seem to show such severe signs of pain, it was a lucky trait she seemed to posses. Though that must mean her weaknesses lie elsewhere.

"Did I just hear that Cadalena was shot? What are you doing?!" There was his voice again. This wasn't what she needed now, he didn't need to be barking at her, now was not the time.

The girl that to this point is only known as 'boss,' clenched her teeth together, clearly irritated. She disbanded her copies, revealing that she was actually second to the right, still holding the artifact with one hand. She looked at John, clearly not amused by his antics. "We're done here." She explained to John quite vaguely. That same blue fire she loved to use for many other things she used one more time, to vanish in front of John's eyes and appear directly behind him. Though the blue fire always looked realistic enough, John could probably tell now that it was not a realistic fire, there was no heat to this flame. She found the handcuffs around his belt loop and pulled them off quite violently. In one swift motion the handcuff was around one wrist, yanking that wrist behind his back to meet up with his other that she joined to his back to cuff both hands behind his back. The weapon he held she disarmed simply by releasing the clip of the gun and kicking the clip to the far end of the room, no more bullets for the law enforcer man.

Just out of sheer anger she gave John a swift kick to his back in the attempts to make him fall forward, hoping he would lose his balance and buy the girls more time to escape before he could regain his footing and get help from the others in the building. "Cadalena, once we get out the window you can open the doors." She instructed the young girl, who nodded in response and began walking towards the window with her boss. Cadalena jumped through the second story window first, landing on the ground and causing the previous block on the two entrances of the room to vanish, leaving open entry for anyone wanting in or out. Quickly after Cadalena the older girl jumped down as well.

As Cadalena jumped down to the ground she finally felt it, that ting of pain from the gunshot wound. She held her left arm with her right arm, holding onto it tight as if trying to make the pain go away. Too bad for her, her older counterpart knew they needed to keep moving. Her boss placed a hand on her right shoulder, doing her best to cloak them in a temporary invisibility. It wasn't strong and it wouldn't last long, if the girls bumped into anyone or anything the cloak would instantly come off. Also, the cloak would only last a good five minutes, so they sprinted quickly, trying to make it back to the safety of their undetected and still illegal portal entry to their side of the world.

 

[Crono]

John had passed the demon thieve's reply as nonsense, half because he still did not trust her word and half because he was blinded by the dramatic molment. The FBI agent frowned at the girl's lact of reaction to being shot, he understood demons were probably made of sturdy stuff but he expected at least a wince of great pain. Regardless of her failure John had won the little bet that the demonic woman would have most definitely cheated in. The girl's milky eyes distracted him for a moment before he turned to the head of the duo with a massive smirk. "Well looks like I win-", but she wasn't there.

It all happened so fast that he didn't have time to react. John Unsteele was still registering that the woman had said 'we're done here' when he felt his belt being ripped and cold steel clamping down on his left wrist. Soon his right joined it as the officer realized that he had just been handcuffed by a criminal. His gun was disarmed and tossed away, then he hit the polished floor. "Cheating lying pointless stupid BITCH!!!" His voice was like a finely fashioned blade, shattering upon hitting a solid shield with the peices falling to the ground one by one.

Soon after the thieves escaped the museum night guards came rushing into the hall and came swiftly to the aid of the screaming FBI agent. After being freed of his own handcuffs John hurriedly retrieved his gun and got another clip from his belt, snapping it into place with one swift motion. "They went that way," he gestured in the direction they would have been taking by jumping out of the window they did, "find them or I'll shoot you all." Like a savage knife his voice had became, desperate and dangerous. Needless to say one guard went to call the police while all the others ran outside the building in a hopeless attempt to find the thieves and avoid Unsteele's wrath.

As the girls ran away, hidden by a fragile cloak they had a very short encounter with a very odd person. The person was unnaturally tall as well as completely hidden by shadows and dark gray clothes providing said shadows. He seemed to come from nowhere and appeared to make contact with the duo, however the cloak remained unaffected and the girls wouldn't feel anything touching them. The person didn't seem to notice and continued on his way.

 

[Myuka]

The two girls waited a few seconds before moving, doing their best to make sure they would be safe to move before traveling to their safe place to get on their side of the world. The older girl could hear the voices on the floor above but didn't bother to look up, she didn't want to see how many people were probably looking out the window trying to find them and probably blow their heads off. Once she felt stable enough to hold both her and Cadalena's invisibility she took her hand off of the young girls' shoulder and slowly took a step forward. She had this awkward cold feeling as she stepped forward that she couldn't quite explain. The only way she could think to describe it was maybe like a feeling of a ghost, if ghosts really existed.

After feeling that strange feeling she continued moving, finally feeling that they could move freely without getting caught. She kept moving, listening to hear Cadalena's footsteps closely behind her. She was happy to hear that she was able to get herself and Cadalena out of the dangerous area and off to safety, and with the treasure none the less!

After rounding a few corners and making sure they were not being followed she took her cloak off and sighed in relief. "Well that was fun." She muttered with a smile, looking back at Cadalena, who soon after also took her cloak off. "Ready to head back?" She asked the young girl.

"Yeah, I wanna fix this shoulder." The young girl explained, still holding onto her shoulder, looking down at it. Maybe it was finally starting to get to her, especially since she was pretty sure the bullet was still lodged somewhere in her skin.

Her boss looked at the dumpster that they were near, double checking around one more time before moving the trash collector to the side. Behind it was a small hole probably three feet around that lead to an entire different universe. One that lead through to the Demon World, a strange land with a different overall feel than the world the two girls were currently in, a world they could call home. Once they were through Cadalena was able to close the portal, making sure that no one might accidentally see the portal when they passed by.

After walking a few more minutes in the strange desert land, they finally made it back to their base. A large metal looking building, almost like a strangely shaped business building. Walking through the door of the main base the two girls walked in, a proud look on the older girls face. "Got it!" She yelled into the building, her voice echoing through the huge building.

Her voice echoed through far enough to catch the attention of one of her other teammates. He came walking from one of the nearby hallways of their base, stretching his arms out as if he was tired. He stood taller than the two girls, standing around 6'0 tall though very skinny for his height. He also looked pale, like he was not outside much. He had short messy blonde hair and bright blue eyes that hid behind his thin framed glasses. He looked slightly older than the boss of a girl, but maybe only by a year or two, making him in his early twenties. He wore a dark blue sweatshirt as well as black sweatpants, at this moment with no shoes. He was a little different than his counter parts. Unlike them he did not have the fuzzy animal like ears, instead he had a more pointed version of what normal human people had for ears, and he also had no animal like tail either. He looked at the girls and shook his head, somewhat in disbelief. "You actually got it." He muttered. The same male voice from earlier on her earpiece.

"Yep!" She said back, putting the artifact on the counter next to her, a smile spread across her face and her tail swaying back and forth as if proud. "You know what that means Mr.! You and the other two boys are making us ladies dinner tonight! No exceptions! What do you want Cadalena?" She asked the small girl, who was just about to answer.

"Hey there was no rule saying you also got to pick the food!" The man interrupted, crossing his arms as if irritated. "You just be happy we decided to actually take your silly little bet!" He explained, sighing as if defeated.

"Fine." The boss girl said as she rolled her eyes, placing her hands in her pockets before looking confused. "What on earth?" She muttered, pulling out a small flash drive. "What's this?"

"How did you not know that was in your pocket?" The man asked, taking it from her hand and analyzing it. "You need to be more observant Myuka. You're gonna get us all killed one day with your carelessness." He lectured her, motioning for the girls to follow him.

"Don't you lecture me Rylee!" The girl, known as Myuka challenged. "You may be older but whose in charge here really?!" Both Myuka and Cadalena followed Rylee to his actually bedroom. His room was so poorly lit, so dark and filled with computer monitors and what Myuka could only assume and properly name a 'super computer' since she didn't know anything about Rylee or his technology. All she could focus on was the mess of everything else in his room! Bed not made, clothes on the floor, soda cans everywhere, she couldn't help but role her eyes. "Clean up your room when you're done here." She barked at him.

"Yes mother." Rylee's answer was filled with sarcasm as he took a seat at his computer. "Lets see what's on this drive." He muttered, plugging it into his computer.

 

[Crono]

Back in the Human World a group of frightened night guards returned to a man in a trench coat. The man seethed with anger, he clenched his fists so tight his knuckles turned as pale as his face. He stood staring at the ground in center of the guards who looked to each other for the one that would tell him that they didn't find them, no one stepped up. The mind of John Unsteele was having a meltdown, a perfect, spotless record, ruined. He was going to be promoted, he was going to be famous. But it was all stolen away and no one would believe him if he explained how. There was nothing he could do about it.

And in this state of helplessness, of drowning in his own molten fury, John Unsteele blacked out. For a few seconds he felt his body move like he was trapped inside it, then he regained sight to see something that shattered him. The teenage night guard from what seemed like a eternity ago, the lanky blonde, fell to his knees. A knife was stuck in his shoulder, a knife attached to a shiny black pistol, John's pistol. The two looked at each other, each mirroring the other's horror. John would never forget that face, that face that screamed at him, "you're a monster."

"You're a monster." "You're a monster." That face, that scream. The next few days would fly by John Unsteely like wisps in the air. The arrest, the trial, the disbandment. He spoke with broken weakness, his finely honed blade of a mouth was shattered and rusting. His mind would not return to him until he was dragging his feet down the steps to the Federal Bureau of Investigations' Headquarters, carrying a box full of things he once used to liven up his office with, now they were nothing but heavy.

He heard a voice with a strong French accent saying, "poor poor chevalier. Fate is such a cruel woman no? Have no fear, I, Monsieur Avidite, could use your talents in protecting my very valuable collection." Without even looking from his box the ex-officer asked, "how much do you pay?" "More then you will be getting anywhere else." The reply was colder then its predecessor

"..."

"Deal."



A few molments after the 'flashdrive' was inserted into Rylee's computer the screen flashed to life, showing a desk and a empty chair in a extremely dark room. From the point of view it seemed that this transmission was coming from a computer that sat on the before mentioned desk. After a molment a door opened and closed out of view, a yell shattering the thick silence. "I TOLD YOU TO PUT THEM ON HOLD DAMN IT." Even from behind the monitor the voice held some form of gravity, a force that seemed to flow with it like a current.

A figure, shrouded by darkness, came into view and sat at the chair. The silhouette only revealed that the person had what looked like two small horns protruding from his forehead, and the light from the computer reflected off rectangular acidic green glasses. The male exhaled and spoke with a true apology, "I'm sorry about that. I tend to become overly angry when my instructions are not followed. I would like to speak with your leader please."

 

[Myuka]

When Rylee's screen finally showed a picture they could only assume it was a picture of a room, maybe a room of another base? It was clear it was not their base and it seemed as if it was a live feed. Both Rylee and Myuka leaned in as if trying to get a more clear picture of the empty looking room before hearing a yell from a door that seemed to open and close in the distance. When they heard the voice, the two of them couldn't help but let out a slight surprised yell and duck from the screen, as if finally realizing that they could possibly be seen as well.

Looking like childish idiots both Myuka and Rylee laid on the floor looking at each other as they heard the strange voice on the computer. Cadalena however stood in the corner of the room, tilting her head at the two. She had stood out of the cameras view the entire conversation, but still was confused how two teammates older than her could sometimes look and act younger than her.

When the voice requested their team leader Myuka and Rylee continued staring at each other, with Myuka pointing at Rylee quickly after. Rylee put his hands up in a surprised defense. "Are you kidding me?!" He yelled in a whisper tone of voice to Myuka. "You were just complaining about being the leader! Act like one!" He continued to whisper to her.

Myuka sighed before putting her fox ears down. "Fine." She muttered, pushing herself from the floor and looking back into the computer screen, looking as confused as she felt. "This is the leader speaking." Myuka said in a somewhat joking sound of tone, though it was obvious she was still extremely confused. "How did I end up with this flash drive?" She asked the voice over the computer.

 

[Crono]

Although the rectangles of green glass were incapable of portraying emotion it was rather clear that Myuka's rather unofficial entrance somewhat displeased the person on the screen. Well hidden disappointment tinged his polite words, "ah, yes. Good evening. That flashdrive was given to you a few molments ago by one of my most trusted assistants. Here he is now actually," the male lifted his right arm and motioned for someone to enter.

The sound of the same door opening and closing came, it was now noticeable that the door sounded rather metallic and heavy. Soon a pair of long legs and the lower half of a thin torso, once again hidden by the darkness, appeared on screen to the side of the male. Long, hooked claws carfully lowered a fragile looking glass of red wine onto the desk in front of the first person. "This is Shadowtag. Say hi Shadowtag." The figure promptly left.

"I'm afraid he hates you," the male stated observantly, "but that's alright, he hates basically everyone." He took the glass with his left arm, which bore a black gauntlet. In the brief time it was visible to the observers the black metal gauntlet was shiny, with sharpened triangular fingers and a altogether look that bought unexplainable unease. After a brief drink from the glass the person spoke again, "I'm sorry, I believe I got off track. You wanted to know why you were given that flashdrive correct?"

The person exhaled and reclined in his chair slightly. "We have been observing your work and have taken a interest in you and your team's capabilities. As the leader of a very large and very delicate organization you would understand why I would only hire the best of the best for particularly difficult tasks, and you, in this situation, are the best. I want to hire your team for a series of very difficult and dangerous heists. I will go more in depth at your approval, you have the right to deny my offer until you officially accept it."

 

[Myuka]

The man on the other end, even though so clearly irritated with her at times seemed so strangely polite. When he explained how the flash drive was given to her, Myuka couldn't help but roll her eyes at herself, scolding herself for her overall clumsiness and unaware nature of her surroundings. If Rylee had actually been her superior, or maybe even her brother, she was sure he would have whacked her on the head for her mistake, though the stern eyes he shot her hurt her just as much. When the man mentioned his assistant Shadowtag she tried hard to actually see the tall figure, though couldn't see much. She waved to the screen, wondering if she would get anything in response, though she didn't get any sort of response.

"Well hate is a strong word. I really thought we could be best friends." Myuka couldn't help but joke under the circumstances of talking to a complete stranger over a computer screen. When he began explaining about the flash drive once more Myuka's focus was back, her left fox ear twitching once and her eyes glued to the screen. When he explained how he had been observing her and her team she couldn't help but wonder how. Was she careless? Were her teammates being tracked without their knowledge? Was her base bugged? The insecurities building in her mind made it hard for her to accept such a position. Cadalena on the other hand sounded more than on board.

"Sounds like fun!" The young girl shouted from the back of the room, still out of sight from the cameras, but easily drawing attention to herself as both her and Rylee turned sharply to look at the youngest member of their team.

"Hush!" Myuka yelled at her as if she was actually yelling at a twelve year old... because in reality she was. She looked back at the screen, her eyes showing some distrust and concern. "If you have such a large and delicate organization why would you need an outside source like us? We don't work for others." She began explaining, expecting Cadalena to throw some sort of tantrum but to Myuka's pleasant surprise the young girl behaved herself. "So, what exactly is this organization? And what are you in search of that you need a team of demon thieves to help you retrieve? I hope you understand that we will do these heists for ourselves no problem, but to risk our lives for a third party isn't exactly ideal." It almost seemed as if Myuka was interested in hearing what would be offered as she put her chin on her two hands, looking up at the screen. "So, what would you offer?" A lot of questions, but that seemed to be her final one.

 

[Crono]

A small "heh" escaped the mouth of the man at Myuka's joke about her and Shadowtag being best friends. He acted as if it didn't happen and carried listening to the leader. When Cadalena suddenly shouted the person nearly dropped his glass and looked in the young girl's direction. "Do you need to remove that one from the room?" Suddenly the voice was heavy and cold, it's polite air dissappeared for a moment. The man observed what he just said, "sorry," he stated quickly.

After Myuka finished the man placed his glass back on the desk and began to reply to each of her questions in order. "That is very simple, because my organization has many enemies and cannot risk being discovered. If one of my own is captured and beaten the truth out of, we're doomed. However, on the off chance that you are captured, all you know is that a silhouette hired you. I understand that it sounds a bit cruel but it's how we've always used mercenary-types."

The man cleared his throat. "This organization," he implied himself with the gauntlet, "my organization, does many things. We collect, we trade, we sell, we buy. We save lives and end them, we dystroy and create. But most importantly, we solve problems. Someone comes to us with enough cash and anything's possible, that's our policy."

"As for what we are hiring you to get, have you ever heard of the Black War? It was a great and bloody part of demonic history that very little is known about besides that eventually divine intervention was needed to stop it. It was what started the whole third dimension Angel World theory. Anyway one of our clients has appearently learned of three relics from that time period, that is what we want you to get. Another reason why we need you is because one or two of the relics might be in the Demon World."

The person caught his breath and continued. "Finally, reward. Upon success I plan you pay you in full. How does," he appeared to bring something else up on his side of the computer, "three times what your last ten years of work will get you upon sold sound? In addition you will obtain free aid from my organization for life. If you are captured, we'll free you. If you want someone killed or protected, we'll do that too. So," he clasped hand and gauntlet together, "do we have a deal?"

 

[Myuka]

Myuka couldn't help but slightly laugh at the man's comment about Cadalena, looking over at the girl once more before looking back at the screen. "Oh no no no she's quite alright. Trust me you'll learn to like her. She's able to do things I can't even pretend I want to know how to do, but they're very useful for certain operations." She was pretty vague on her description, but that might be on purpose, Myuka hadn't fully decided if she was on board yet.

She couldn't argue against his security measures. She had many discussions with her own team on if they were captured and what to do during interrogations, so simply being cautious wasn't anything Myuka should be too weary of.

"Black War, huh?" Myuka questioned, looking over at Rylee. "Think Charu knows anything about it?" She asked him quietly, still loud enough for the man to hear on the screen, but not loud enough to cause the up most attention.

"He should. He was a college history professor for a good few years. I'm sure some of that history will come to good use." Rylee answered back, giving Myuka a bit of reassurance that they might have a bit more of an edge on this than most cases.

Rylee's eyes lit up at the number the man presented. He was obviously the one interested in the money, the girls however, oddly enough, weren't as impressed by it.

"The money would help maintain the base." Myuka muttered, thinking about the other perks he offered. She wondered if his organization would be able to aid in her own search. Maybe that was something they could exchanged as thing progressed. She smiled. "Sure, why not. Give us any info you have on the relic in our side of the world and give us a few days prep to decide how we want to go about searching for it. We'll do our best." She said sincerely.

 

[Crono]

The man nodded at each of Myuka's replies' until she finally agreed. One would think that this would relive the person, however the man appeared to stiffen and become very delicate with his words. "Ah, yes, er... You see there is a bit of a catch. There's always a catch. The artifacts have a particular defense system on them that, well, instantly kills demons on contact." He pulled at his collar as if hot. "And it's a form of pulse as well so if you touch it with a pole it would still sense and kill you."

The man seemed to wait to let his words sink in, the force was now weakly pushing downward. "Fortunately we have a solution to that problem. His name is," he paused briefly, as if steeling himself, "Celtic. He's a... well we don't know what he is, he's not human and he's not demonic, but he can travel to the demon realm and back. We've come to believe that he will be able to touch the relics without, you know, dying. So your going to have to take him with you..."

Another pause, yet the next words were more positive. "But he's a good listener, he follows directions well and is smarter then he seems. He's actually the one who came up with our code name system and helped find solutions to our more difficult favors." Then the man returned his more serious, businesslike self again. "I know it's extremely inconvenient for you but it really is the only way that this will work, trust me we've tested everything. You may back out if you wish."

 

[Myuka]

Myuka was fully on board until the mysterious man mentioned Celtic. The excitement and gleam in her eyes instantly vanished and was replaced with instant regret. It was obvious she wasn't excited about the idea of bringing along a stranger. "No no no no no." She began spouting off, waving her hands in defiance. "I don't work with people I haven't personally tried and tested. I don't want to have to babysit a kid the entire time and worry about where they're going to wander off and what they're gonna touch along the way." She argued, standing up from her chair as if she was going to end the conversation.

She was stopped by a team member grabbing her on her wrist before she could fully stand up from the chair and leave the screen. Rylee held her somewhat firm in her place but obviously was not being authoritative towards her, he was just trying to grab her attention, literally.

"Myu think this through." He encouraged her, somewhat quietly. He knew he could probably still be heard over the monitor, but maybe not entirely clearly, maybe a word here and there. "It's one blemish on the entire operation that sounds like an amazing challenge that can prove promising rewards. Since when have you been someone to run away from that?" He asked her.

"Since your safety is in jeopardy." She answered back, looking from him to Cadalena, referring to her entire team. "I can handle something happening to myself, if something happened to you four over someone elses' stupidity I wouldn't get over it. You know what happens when I get upset Rylee." Her last sentence seemed like a worried warning, pretty vague if the man over the monitor did happen to hear that term.

"If this Celtic man causes that much damage to where all four of us are in danger I'm sure you'll be the least of his problems." Rylee encouraged her with a smile, trying to convince her.

Myuka stared up at him before sighing, giving in and sitting back down, looking at the screen. "Okay, that should be fine. When do we get to meet this Celtic?" She asked the man.

 

[Crono]

As Myuka ranted, the man nodded understandingly. He seemed to begin to say something but was interrupted by the woman's coworker grabbing her wrist, at which point he leaned back in his chair and watched the conversation unfold. About halfway though, while the two were focused on each other, the man leaned forward again to do something with his computer. When the two were done the person returned to his previous position almost immediately.

"Exellent. I'm very glad you came around." The man spoke with the first actual resemblance of happiness he had shown this entire encounter. "You will meet him tomorrow. He will be at the Desert Bazar, a small yet popular trading village that I assume not to be too far away from your location?" He then quickly added, "the assumption is purely because that's typically were you get the highest profit from Human World trinkets."

After another sip of wine the man continued. "There's no possible way you'll miss him, he stands out in a crowd like a broken finger. When you meet him make sure to say-" once again the sound of the metal door followed by a faint, stuttering voice. "U-um, Sir? I-I-It's a b-bad-d time is-isn't it-t?" "Not at all Chess, I was just finishing up." "Of c-c-course Simo-Sir."

The man prepared to get up, looking at the screen once more. "He will have the finished information on the location of the first relic. The phrase you have to tell him is: All good things come at a cost. When you need to contact me, most probably after you've gotten the relic, just insert the drive again. Goodbye and good luck." With that the screen shut to black and the 'flash drive' popped out of its slot.

 

[Myuka]

Myuka listened to the instructions given to her about where to meet Celtic and how to interact with the man. Simple instructions, it shouldn't be too hard. When the screen went blank and the flash drive popped out of the slot in the computer it was a safe assumption that the conversation was done, her brain began thinking. "Grab the others." She commanded in a melancholy tone. Who it was directed to wasn't exactly clear since Myuka didn't give a name, a finger point, or even a head nod to a specific person in the room, but Cadalena had no problem taking the role as she left the room.

After waiting around another two minutes her two other members met with her in the room where they were previously talking with the man over the computer screen in Rylee's room.

One member looked to be maybe only a year older than Myuka, possibly in his early twenties like Rylee. He was a pretty short man though, only standing around 5'7 and not bothering to hide the fact that he was also a full fledged demon since he was in the safety of his home and his 'family.' He had short spiky bright white, almost silver looking hair and piercing icy blue eyes that looked cold and emotionless to match the expression on his pale face. His small stature was well accompanied by a well toned muscled form, almost looking like a typical jock from a high school fantasy. His well toned arms were shown due to his sleeveless dark blue shirt, though he also wore a pair of black sweatpants and no shoes, like he had been working out or practicing before being called to this room. His demon features were similar to Myuka's though also somewhat different. His fox ears were somewhat larger than hers, and pure white. Also his fox tail was giant and fluffy, almost looking like a blanket you could lay over a couch. He seemed like he would do well in cold weather.

The other member was also a male, though he seemed at least teen years older than Myu, Rylee and the new man that walked in the room, possibly his early thirties. He was a huge man, standing at 6'2 and his frame took up a good corner of the room. He looked like he could have shared some gym time with the new counterpart, though not as toned, just huge. His slick short black hair worked well with his tan skin. He very obviously carried a small firearm on his waist, visible to everyone in the house though no one seemed bothered by it. He wore a very simple outfit, a dark green button up shirt, dark blue comfortable jeans held up by a light brown belt, matched with a pair of light brown boots. He too had demon like features, close to matching Cadalena's. His tan fox ears were long and narrow and his fox tail, though soft was not nearly as long as the others. It seemed that both he and Cadalena would do well in desert areas.

"We have a new employer." Myuka started off, interesting the two new men that weren't in the previous conversation. She stayed sitting in Rylee's chair, her feet at the edge of the seat as if she was curled up in a ball, her arms holding her legs. She looked over at her oldest member, "Charu, know anything about the Black War?" She questioned him.

The huge man looked somewhat confused, "You get me out of teaching history and then ask me for history? What is this?" He muttered, scratching his head as if he was trying to recall anything. "It's a pretty faded area of history. Sources are scarce, but the basis I've heard is that it was a demon world event that became so corrupt that not even the nations in demon world could control its outcome anymore. A third party of higher power had to intervene, some would even say angels were the ones who had to stop the war. Rumor has it some items went 'missing' during that time period that could prove certain theories to be either true or false. But everything to this point is just speculation." Charu simply shrugged.

"Sounds similar enough." Myuka muttered to herself after listening to Charu's explanation. "We need to find one of those relics. That's our task. Our employer believes one or two of these items, or relics, might be here in the demon realm. So tonight Charu, I want you to find out more about that Black War, see the areas that were involved and the areas most traveled during the war so we can have good starting points." She instructed, getting a nod.

"Here's the problem." Myuka stated as she sighed, still not liking this whole side of things. "Even though it's in our realm, it's obviously not meant for us, we can't touch it. It's instant death. Rylee might have a shot since he's half demon, but I'm not risking it. So, we're temporarily babysitting someone who can touch it brought on by our employer." As soon as she mentioned that both of the new men started instant objections.

"After all the work we've put in to be careful between worlds?! No!" Charu objected.

"What do we know about this new person? What use does he have besides being able to hold onto something? Is this person only going to get in the way?" The smaller and quieter gentlemen asked as he stayed leaned against the wall.

"This isn't up for discussion Charu, it's already been decided. We're going to do the best we can." Myuka looked from Charu to her other member. "To be honest I don't know much other than a name and that he follows directions. So, just like when we tried all of you out, we're going to do the same. He's not going to be a permanent member, just for this mission. Understand?" She asked, seeing the other four nod. "Good."

"Now, we have to pick him up tomorrow. It's not wise to go with one member and I'm not bringing everyone. Charu you're staying here to look into the war. Rylee you stay to keep security systems up to date, especially since we just had a computer interaction with an outside source, and Cadalena... just... stay here." Myuka obviously couldn't think of a good reason for the young girl to stay, but Cadalena didn't seem to have any objections.

"So Rosue, it's me and you tomorrow morning. Get ready for the Desert Bazar." She instructed him, and his response was to simply push himself from the wall and leave the room, a typical response from Rosue.

The next morning...

Both Myuka and Rosue wandered the Desert Bazar in their human disguises. Obviously and demon features the two had were dis guarded and hidden as to not alert the human public. Instead of slick black hair Myuka had dirty blonde hair, and instead of a mixture of blueish-green eyes she had emerald green eyes. Rosue's hair stayed a pretty light white, almost looking like he dyed it to match a much different style and different crowd. His eyes though did darken up to a much more dull brown as to not draw more attention than his already fun hair might.

The two didn't look any more out of place than anyone else wandering the bazaar as they looked at small shops and looked at trinkets. Myuka already instructed Rosue on the type of person they were looking for and was hoping he too was keeping and eye out for a man that might be Celtic.

 

[Crono]

The Desert Bazaar was, of course, in a desert. And the presiding owner of the booming mercantile town had to deal with countless complaints the lack of shade from the blistering sun. His most recent attempt at saving himself from reading a thousand angry emails each day was planting imported palm trees throughout the Bazaar. Of course this failed as the roots of the trees didn't have enough time to grow before they dried out. This only managed to annoy the owner more as he had to hire a team of people to remove the trees, who had arrived early that very morning.

The team uprooted the trees fast enough, finishing before too many patrons showed up for business, however when they got to the last tree located in the center of the Bazaar something unexpected happened. The palm was perfectly healthy, it's green leaves casting a refreshing shadow on the baked earth. The owner was sure the tree had been dry enough to combust into flames at the mere mention of a match only the day before, so this was shocking to him. The owner kept the tree although it looked a bit odd in the middle of the Bazaar, he thought it to be a good omen, perhaps he would try planting trees again after doing a bit more research. He did not see the boy.


As a matter of fact, not one human being at the Desert Bazaar saw the boy, he was invisible to all but the two demons. He seemed very young, perhaps only just broken into his teens, however his jet black hair reached below his belt. His skin was pale as a corpse and the peace he was in almost death like. He wore pants, a shirt, and a coat all threadbare and brown like ancient paper. Finally, two branches protruded from his shoulders, drooping slightly. Only a few leaves hung on each, seeming like they would fall if you stared at them hard enough.

The boy sat with his eyes closed and legs resting on the concrete that held the dirt for the tree on which he rested his back on. His eyes were closed and his hands rested on his stomach. He was clearly the only person who could possibly be Celtic.