The Devil's Crown

L Underground Tunnels.

“It means that you are wrong, Rebels”.

They looked at each other and it was before long that they noticed that it was none of them that spoke those words. West turned around to look behind them, the first thing he did was pull Scarlet back to the safety behind him along with the others. The pain in his legs was getting worse as he forced himself to upfront. To be the leader that he was supposed to be.

“Who are you?! Reveal yourself now!” West yelled out. More on edge than usual.

“I don’t think that it would make a difference”. Now that he heard it again, he realized how muffled the voice was as if he was talking with a hand on his mouth. He could barely make it out as a man’s voice.

Their eyes were fixed to the darkness beyond the red light of the hallway, watching as a tall slim figure seemed to form purely out of the shadows.

“What the hell…”.

West wasn’t sure if it was Allen or Julian or both for that mattered. But he could see where they were coming from. The man that came before them was covered in black from head to toe. A mask covering his face all the way up to his right eye, the only thing that stood out was the gold of his left eye. They glittered like kin to the sun amidst that darkness that he was wearing.

Black hair fell through the hood to cover his already covered right eye. West heard a tsk off from behind him.

“What the hell is Margret doing up there?!” Julian mumbled under his breath to the 2 next to him. The look that he got from Scarlet proved that his assumptions are wrong. This wasn’t a noble. There was no way a normal human would have gone through the security measures that they have set in advance. He would have had to pass through Allen’s cameras as well…there was no way he was from inside.

Or outside for that matters.

“I would love to stay and get to know each other but I believe that you don’t have time for that,” said the unknown man. “Allen I believe…you know what I’m talking about right?”

They could see the smirk through his mask reaching to wrinkle the one eye visible to them.

“Allen you know this guy?” Julian turned to Allen who was mind blown as well, he barely shook his head.

“What are you doing here?” West spoke. “No, how did you get here?”

“The same way that you don’t know anything about…which also happens to be the same way that your…guests are arriving from”. He paused. “However I do admire the effort that you put in your profiling but this time the White Cross was a step ahead of you”.

West turned to look at Allen over his shoulder. The weak nod that he gave made it clear that this man was talking the truth.

“Well, since it’s all known, shall we go now?” said he with a tilt of the head as he turned his back to them.

Was he expecting them to follow him? No, was he really turning his back on people that can very well kill him before he took a single step?! This man was either too bold or too…strong. That was the conclusion that West arrived at.

“Tell me one thing and I will follow you”. West took a step forward.

“West you can’t…”. Scarlet took a step forward to stop whatever was happening but halted when West raised a hand to stop her.

One look at his blue eyes as they glared at her from over his shoulder was enough to deliver the message that he carried at heart. ‘It’s about time you follow orders, Scarlet’. She bit on her lower lip as she moved back to her place.

“Why are you doing this?” West finally said. The clock was ticking, he wondered if that man refused to say his intentions were he still going to go with him. Well, was there a choice at the moment? The plan that Allen came with was already up in smoke. However, this man was saying that there was still a way to stop it from happening.

Did it really matter then what his intentions were?

West decided that he would deal with those later. He was now grasping on to any hope to save everyone, and who knows…maybe finish this heist till the end and walk away with it. Something was telling him that this mysterious man could do it, with him they still had a chance. Screw his identity.

West only cared about results. No matter the cost.

The man looked over his shoulder. “Because I need you”.

West smirked himself. That was all he had to hear. “Fair enough”.

“West you can’t!”. This time it was Julian protesting, his eyes digging holes in the dark figure in front of them. “We don’t even know who that guy is and now we are going to do as he is telling us?!”.

“Do you have any other option, Julian?” West asked through a clenched jaw.

“Don’t mean to interrupt but we are running out of time…”

They turned to look at the man who was for a moment looking…awkward to step into this family business.

‘Elfric there is no time for these humans playing house,’ Orathan’s voice rang through Elfric’s head.

“I know. Now, shut up”. He mumbled under his breath looking out at the quarrel. If he didn’t stop them then the White Cross would be on top of them before they even start moving.

“Alright,” interrupted Elfric. “Whoever doesn’t trust me can stay here and guard whatever it is that you are guarding”.

His voice was stripped of every emotion. Sarcasm with a straight voice appeared to be Scarlet’s second most hated thing after hating what’s happening so far.

West couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There will be at least a dozen men down there heading to them as they speak and this man just wanted to go there…with him alone? He was too confident to suspect that he didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. West nodded once.

Elfric stared right at him before nodding himself. He has wasted too much time, he could already feel them walk in right beneath their feet. He turned on his heels and knew that West was following him, despite the bad leg he was doing well catching up to him.

“Wait!”

West was the one that turned around. Elfric has already made up his mind that he won’t involve himself further with them.

Allen was on his feet. Sweat still running down his temple. “I’ll come as well!”

West stared blankly before he nodded his head. Whatever he was about to witness he needed someone to put a word for him that he wasn’t crazy – not yet at least. Not to mention that it was comforting to have someone you know beside you.

The two of them hurried to catch up with Elfric who was disappearing in the darkness. If it hadn’t been for the faint light guiding their way, there was no way any of them would have known that this guy was there…West thought.

He has never seen someone move so soundlessly on the ground before. He thought that Scarlet was something fascinating. Watching him move made her look like a joke.

They halted as they saw Elfric do the same. There was nothing around them other than hallways and turns…did they reach their destination or…was he lost?

Elfric turned his head to the side. There it was, the stone with the engraving of CH on its corner. “See this?” said Elfric. “This engraving stand for Casablanca hotel. You will notice that they are only there on some stones along the way and not all.”

West and Allen followed his gaze. Allen is already caught up with what he wants to say.

“You can’t possibly mean that these are clues for…”

“A secret underground tunnel, Bingo”.