The Devil's Crown

XL Power Out.

“What are you doing here?”

The moment that Scarlet came to the fact that this wasn’t a voice that she should be hearing at the moment. She guessed that the sound must have been transmitted to the others as well from the way total silence fell.

She didn’t dare to turn around. Did he hear her? Did he see her press the button?! She swiftly returned the disrupter to her pocket pray to all the Gods out there that he didn’t notice her. Even though she trusted her swift movements, her soundless feet. The way that all her limbs movement with the bare minimum disruption to the image seen by the viewer. She figured that it must be impossible to spot her, especially when she gave whoever-that-is her back. Her voice wasn’t that loud either.

She took a deep breath. It was only a second of thought and that was all that she could spare her mind to figure out what to do. Obviously running away wasn’t an option either. She turned to look over her shoulder.

'A noble guard, ' she figured from the one star that was pinned to his shoulder. Simply, he wasn’t someone that she should have a hard time dealing with.

She flashed a smile trying to make it look less fake as possible. “Oh my,” she faked. “Did I stumble somewhere I shouldn’t?” she tilted her head in faked ignorance.

“The party is over there,” he stated a little too rudely considering his rank. Scarlet knew that whatever her appearance was, she could still be noted as a noble.

“Who the hell is this fucker?!” she heard Julian curse in her ear. The silence around her and the guard made her wonder if the noise from the in-ear was resonating around them, she had to gamble with the hope that it wasn’t.

“Scarlet,” West spoke before she returned to the guard. “Take care of him fast. The longer the cameras are out the risk gets higher.”

She could hear in his voice the calmness that he was trying to emit to not add to her already ravished nerves. “The party was a little too suffocating so I came out here to catch my breath,” said Scarlet still keeping up the faked bright smile.

Oh, how she wanted to slam her fist on that nose bridge to make him learn some manners. Noble or not, self-respect should be a given not a luxury. Maybe that was also one of the reasons that she picked up a gun.

He was silent as he eyed her up and down. “I believe as the daughter of a Count I have the right to be anywhere in this building,” she figured that talking nicely wasn’t going to get him to move. What did she do to deserve such an arrogant knight to stand in her path?!

Her eyes narrowed. Finally allowing the true annoyed face to surface on her innocent features. But still, it did the job of cracking that shield. He cleared his throat.

“Enjoy your stay,” he said while turning on his heels to exit the staircase and leave through the door that she just came through.

She waited till the door was shut after him before she rushed down the stairs. “I’m on the move,” she mumbled as she struggled down the stairs with her dress. “Damn it! how do they move in this crap!” she whispered hearing faint giggles in her in-ears.

Do they actually have the ability to laugh at a time like this?! That was what she used to wonder about during her first jobs with the Rebels but she soon came to realize that it was their way to handle the nerve recking anxiety that she was sure running through them.

She didn’t dare to stop and catch her breath when her feet met the tiles of the basement. She thanked her brain that it was able to memories the layout of the basement. She gathered the dress in her hand and hurried towards the place where the panels should be. Half of her brain was focused on keeping her out of trouble.

She heard footsteps coming from the far end of the hallway. It was dimly lit so she had to thank every God out there again for that. Her eyes were soon accustomed to that dark and she could make the two shadows that were coming her way.

She hid behind the wall that created a crossing that gave access to different faculties to the building. She had to pray again that the crossing that she hid in wasn’t the one that they were going to take.

Her grip found comfort on the hilt of the dagger that was hidden underneath her dress. Noble or not, it was going to open a door for suspicion. What was she going to say if she chose to do it peacefully? There was no way out of this one.

As the noises got closer she heard the echo of her heartbeats in her head as it throbbed. The others were saying something to each other which wasn’t helping her concentrate at all. She couldn’t help the urge and yanked the in-ear out and left it dangling on her shoulder. The moment she did that she felt her hearing amplify, she should have done this a long time ago but she would have to deal with West later.

He must already be pissed off that she dared to take off her in-ear.

“If we lose communication with each other then it’s the end of us,” West always reminded them. “For our safety and the safety of the Rebels…if we lose contact with one of our leads he is to be considered dead unless proven otherwise. I can’t risk your lives.”

They were here. The two shadows were now right on top of her. She held in her breath as she laid her back flat against the cold wall. Drawing her dagger halfway with a tightened fist.

Their giggles were loud as they passed right by her without noticing her in the shadows. She held her posture till they were completely gone from both her eyesight and hearing range.

She placed the in-ear back in place. “Scarlet do you copy!!” She heard West scream.

“Yes, I’m here!” she mumbled while panting finally taking her breath not wasting another second. “I had to deal with something, I couldn’t focus.”

She heard the long sigh from West as he probably held himself from nagging her.

Thankfully, she was just a turn away from the panels. “I’m here!” she finally said. “Allen what should I do?”

It took a second of static as she figured that 3 minutes have passed since she launched the disrupter. The guards are ought to send someone to check on them if they shut the power down now!

“Do you still have the USB that I gave you?” Allen asked though he knew that there was no other choice but for her to say yes.

“Yes I have it,” said Scarlet as she brought it out with firm hands and eyed the panel with no idea what to do.

“If you open the led in front of you, you will find a USB socket,” he said. “Place it in any of them and let me do the rest.”

She moved as she heard his instructions. She placed the USB in place and prayed one last time for lady luck to be with them once more.

“Alright, I’m in!” Allen exclaimed. She could hear the excitement in his tone as he said.

Less than a minute later, she heard the shutting down of the engine. Total darkness was surrounding her.

The first phase: Chaos, was now complete.