Crimson

Storybook heroes.

Mama had weird habits .

One of them was searching.

According to her , it gave her hope .

I had always been curious but I had never asked. I regret that now.

Whenever we met up with Mama's old friends , the merchants ,she would go through their wares searching for this hope , they usually came in the form of books.

There were still books but they had been filtered and watered-down by the Utopias Conclave. They only contained post-cleansing information and were utterly boring.

In a world were possessing books of before the cleansing was a crime , Mama read series.

When other adventurers hid one book to read for a lifetime ,Mama read one and went on searching for the next book in the series.

One of Mama's favorite series was a book in a different language, french mama called it. Mama's own mother had taught her to read french , and she taught me every part of the strangely unique language that she had also learnt as a child.

Mama admired their stylishness.

She had loved their hairstyles particularly .She would spend hours putting our haird in strange twists or braids she had seen in the books with pictures.

The stories were magnificent ,Mama read aloud to me and after I had learnt to read ,we took turns reading to each other.

We read of the good, the bad and the beautiful world that had existed beyond the Utopia.

Mama and I built memories and stories just as the heros and heroines from the stories.

We wrote our story on their stories.

I lost the books when I lost Mama. Fate was one cruel hag ,she took mama and our stories.

But , at least, I had gotten Ali.

*****

Ali was not anywhere I could see.

We had agreed to meet in public and I had been on the lookout for any strange occurrences.

Ali was always trying too hard to be discreet, he ended up being unbelievably flamboyant with that.

There still wasn't any strange sights , I was getting worried ,I was the usually tardy one of our duo.

I saw it at that moment ,what Ali had decided was discreet.

A coach stood to the side of the main road leading to the heart of the market.

Was this what he had meant by "a place everyone could see"...

The coach was dark-themed ,with dark curtains and even a dark coated mare at the helm.

The mare was unfamiliar. I crossed the road , checking if I was being followed while pretending to check if the road was safe to cross.

As I approached the coach , a thought started to form in my head .

What if the coach wasn't Ali's....would I be walking or climbing into a couple of s*x crazed lovers?

The thought must have excited some part of me, I was walking faster.

The mare paid me no attention , I found the door and pulled the latch. I might have also closed my eyes to exaggerate the surprise.

" What are you doing ?"

I would have recognized that voice anywhere. I opened my eyes and saw him diverging from the darkness of the coach's insides.

I grunted.

" I was hoping to catch some people having passionate s*x ".

I heard him snort. I continued to inform him regardless.

"I need to be involved in a passionate rendezvous, it doesn't even have to be mine or an acquaintance's. A total stranger's would do for now".

My eyes had adjusted quite well to the darkness now...he was dressed completely in black.

" Is this your idea of trying to blend ?",I inquired.

" This is usually something you do...I don't know how to blend in".

Ali looked extremely uncomfortable as he admitted this.

" You don't have to try so hard ,You could never really blend in".

I realized a second later how this must have sounded. His white lashes were fluttering.

I sighed ," What I mean is, unlike me ,you are hard to forget .You are so beautiful,you always leave a lasting impression".

He was silent.

" It's only you that thinks of me that way ",he said quietly.

I smiled ,I had seen the looks women gave him a lot of times.

" No, I'm certain a lot of people think that way of you. You intimidate them ,so, I don't see them confessing their interest to you".

He was silent now.

"I think so too.That , you're beautiful ".

He was looking directly at me. I cleared my throat noisily.

" Let's get to business ",I suggested.

He nodded and pulled a dark clothing from behind him,the gold had indeed been packed into smaller pouches and stored in the coach .

" I wanted some of the guys to meet us and section the gold here in the city, but the city Is on high alert,It seems the ring is more valuable than we predicted..."

The coach suddenly lurched forward , cutting Ali off ,I instinctively reached for one of my many knives.

Ali touched my shoulder," It's okay, he is with us".

I relaxed, adjusting my clothes. I had been on edge lately and I wasn't sure why ,the brigadiers didn't scare me and even though the ring was easily the most expensive item I had taken ,I hadn't been scared to take it and I wasn't scared of the consequences now , but,I still couldn't shake off the weird feeling I was having.

I had to focus for now.

" Since we can't meet up here in the city , we will have to meet up somewhere between the outskirts of the city and the forest that protects the shelter ".

I nodded showing Ali I understood. I had not been to the shelter since the building had been completed.Ali had been scared that one of the people at the shelter might be a spy and would end up causing trouble, which was why he was here ,as a chaperone of sorts.

The coach tilted, it was going too fast.I turned to Ali.

" Is it supposed to be this rough? "

He was on his feet trying to reach the curtain that blocked us off from the rider.

I adjusted myself, pressing myself deeper into the coach seats.

Ali was listening to something the rider was saying ,he nodded a couple of times and then said something to the other man . He then patted the mans shoulder before turning around.

He looked at me briefly before sitting and averting his gaze.

I waited a couple of beats for him to say something , I finally gave up .

" What did he say?"

"The brigadiers saw a map reader this morning and are currently meeting with a scout ".

I blinked and let out a low whistle involuntarily, they were faster than I wanted to give them credit for.

Agrippa wasn't that big ,it wouldn't be long till they discovered the shelter.

They couldn't do anything about it though ,Ali had taken care of the shelter in such a way that it had no affiliations with our private lives.

Things were getting hectic....it would seem like Vita hadn't just been wasting his time at gambling dens and bakeries.

I had changed my clothes and hairstyle completely.

I reached inside my shirt for my mask . It was a weird looking , one-eyed costume I had begun to wear to draw attention away from my actual features.

Ali was watching me , I montioned to him that I was going out ,I needed to do something to calm my nerves.

I lifted the curtains and came to face the rider ,he was hard to convince ,but ,he finally agreed .

I grabbed the reins and tried to speak to the horse... she listened like they always did.

Coaches were harder to navigate because of the obvious weight.

But, I managed to convince the mare that we could go faster , she listened again.

We were approaching the hills behind the forest by the Western boundary of Agrippa when I felt her begin to resist ,she was warning me of something ahead.

I weighed my options ,there was a chance that it was the brigadiers up ahead .If I told Ali ,he would want us to turn back, safety came first for Ali.

I continued to soothe the horse as we approached this obstacle.

If it was really the brigadiers,then I couldn't let them see Ali, Vita had seen Ali at the Haze . Ali wasn't exactly someone you forgot that you had previously encountered.

I finally saw them up ahead ,they were on their horses.

A lone carriage stood opposite them,the driver was completely covered up in large woolen cloths that managed to hide his features.

They had blocked the path off preventing him from riding out.

They probably already knew that the drop would be here that's why they hadn't arrested or searched his carriage.

They turned their horses to watch me arrive,I slowed down as I got closer to them.

"You're in my way",I said.

Vita's partner Nero smiled and turned to exchange a look with Vita.

I sighed loudly,"Do you have to check the coach to let me pass through?"

Nero answered again ,"You seem to understand the situation very well".

Vita wasn't saying anything.

When I looked closer ,I noticed he was struggling ,his horse was acting out ,it was similar to what the mare had been doing for a while.

" Is your partner having issues with his horse?"

I asked quietly ,I needed all of their attention on me.

He finally answered me," Stay out of my f*****g business".

I laughed.

He was usually so nice to Juno,I deepened my voice a little and he was suddenly an asshole.

I got off the mare and put my hands out to show them that I was unarmed.

Nero got off his horse to walk over to me.

"I feel like you think I might be a criminal".

I was in a really chatty mood today.

Nero reached me.

As he reached forward to push my mask off ,I grabbed his arms and put my weight forward, sweeping his feet from under him and pushing his face into the snow, with my knees resting on his head, I took off his coat and shirt. I had done this move so much,it came as easily as changing clothes.

Vita jumped down his horse in a flash ,pulling out a steel blade and getting rid of his coat in one precise move.

He was fast ,but, I was faster.

I threw the blade I had been readying for him,it swam through the air grazing his cheeks lightly.

He stopped.

"The next one will either be in your head or his".

I emphasized my words by pulling out a jagged dagger. I used it to brush Nero's hair back.

Vita's eye followed the movement of the dagger.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

He didn't answer so I continued.

"It's called plunge but I renamed it Jagger ,very self explanatory".

I laughed , a small laugh.

Mama had read me a story with this same sequence.

The bundled driver of the carriage opposite finally stood and began to walk over ,Vita let his eyes stray.

I let him at least watch , benefits of being sexy, I guess.

The driver arrived and got onto the coach, giving the mare a simple order.

She began to trot forward.

I could see the muscle on Vita's temple throb...His partner Nero had stopped struggling.

I grabbed his collar and pulled him up,his face and chest had gone up several shades of red.

"I feel almost sorry for the Utopia,how can you folks be the private guards of the Royal Crimson family?".

The muscle was throbbing faster.

Vita was easy to rile. I looked up at Vita.

He must have realized what I was planning to do but he couldn't possibly do anything.

I pulled a black throwing blade from my sleeve and threw it at Nero's horse.The poor horse reared back,made a frightening sound and took off.

The carriage that had originally blocked the path had also left.

Whispering softly ,I called for Vita's horse hoping he hadn't forgotten me.

He came forward easily...

I grabbed his reins and pushed Nero forward.

No one had moved ,I pointed at where Vita had thrown his Jacket.

" You should cover your friend,the cold in Agrippa is unrivaled. It kills hundreds every year , that's why I stole the ring".

I sighed.

"You have lived off our taxes in Caeso ,you should have an idea of how it feels to live as one of us,albeit for a few hours".

I released two more blades, one silver and one dipped in black paint,they struck each other creating a flash.

His horse was as fast as I had suspected.

****

Vita threw his jacket and Nero's discarded clothes at Nero. They both struggled , rushing to put Nero in clothes.

Nero was livid ,he was ranked second in the the brigade.

How could...

" What's that ?"

Vita was pointing at his pocket. He stuck his hand in and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

He opened it and was silent.

Vita snatched it, it was a detailed map of the location of the shelter.

Why had the thief left it with them?