The Elusive Thief

In city of Cales, there are multiple houses built out of bricks and wood, painted with various colors like white, gray, blue, and many more. The people were properly dressed since their economy was good enough to prevent them from wearing nothing but rags. It was peaceful until a certain individual came an wreak havoc...by theft. The thief is wearing a dark green vest, black jacket with inner pockets, pants with multiple pockets, lace-less shoes for sneaking, and a large duffel bag.

In the bank were people in suits who manage the money and guards who're armed with swords, rope, crescent shaped pike for restraint, and handcuffs. Those guards are stationed here and is usually have 10 guards in the entire bank. Thanks to the thief's actions, the number has tripled. However, that did not deter the thief since he has the place at the back of his hand.

The thief manages to reach the small lockers that are stacked high enough to have him grab a ladder. Those lockers which hold the Qieras in place that are exclusive to rich families in case of certain situations. He pulls out a lock pick and began unlocking it. With a click, he opens the locker to see a golden necklace with a thumb sized emerald surrounded by ruby and sapphire along with many coins wrapped in a paper cylinder. There are 100 cylinder coins in there.

"Hmm... 5000 Qieras per tube and a necklace. 60k right off the bat." the thief said casually. He puts his duffel bag forward and began dumping them in his bag until it's empty. He then closes it and locks it. He then finds another one, but it's empty. He could go all the way, but he'll take too long and suspicion will grow. He finds a large cage door with five locks. On the other side were a multitude of gold, silver, gemstones, and large bags of Qieras. The locks are no ordinary locks since each lock is made for a different key, but if a foreign object happens to enter any of those locks, the intruder suffers an electric shock and alarms the bank. However, there is one fatal flaw. People who can turn their bodies in magical form can slip through the bars. Darkness and Wind users can do this without damaging anything.

The thief turns his body into a black mist and moved through the bars effortlessly, cleanly, smoothly. The treasure is up for the taking.

"All of this could amount to at least 25 million at first glance..." the thief wondered. "Since the guy wanted diamonds, I better get going."

The thief grabbed the diamonds, each of them the size of a thumb and were 50 of them each container. He began dumping them in his duffel bag and pulled out the same container, but out of acrylic. He sees two remaining carts full of diamonds and repeats the same process including the replicas.

"Okay...time to get out of here..." the thief said. He zipped up the duffel back, put it on his shoulder and became black mist again to exit the cage. He began sneaking back to where he came until a door opens in front of him. The thief instinctively hid inside a empty closet nearby.

"Hey, you done yet?" a man's voice said. The thief recognizes the voice.

"Damn near gave me a heart attack, Sean." the thief said. "Yeah, I cleaned them out."

"You also put the fakes down too?"

"Yeah."

"Let's bounce so we can get paid."

Sean and the thief briskly walked through the door that Sean walked through and went to the right side of the room which leads to an exit. Upon exiting, they see a woman leading the carriage.

"Got the stuff?" she said looking back.

"Yeah, let's get going." the thief said. They jumped inside the carriage and left the bank from the rear to reach the main road along with other horse carriages. No alarms were raised, no suspicions were raised as the thief and silently infiltrated, stole the diamonds and switched to acrylic ones so that no one suspects it. Even if they do, the thief and his accomplices were already gone.

The trio reaches to a pawn shop a few blocks from the bank where it is out of the way of the main road. They park their carriage and jumped out along with their duffel bag full of stolen goods, but they didn't enter the front door. They went around the building to meet a man leaning on a door.

"Got the diamonds?" he said in a deep scruffy voice. The thief brought the bag forth and revealed the contents to the man. He looked at it and back at the thief.

"Come with me." he said and led them to an alleyway where there are trash, dilapidated abandoned buildings, and some neglected walk ways. They reached an abandoned gate, covered with peeling paint and rust along with a man wearing a black suit underneath a brown hooded cloak while being accompanied by two men wielding longswords. The thief walks to the brown cloaked man to show him the diamonds in the case.

"How'd it go?" the brown cloaked man said.

"They were none the wiser. Now that I placed the fakes thanks to you" the thief said, giving the diamonds to the cloaked man. The cloaked man gestured the man on the left and he pulls out three large suitcases and opened all of them. Each of those cases were organized and amounted to a large amount.

"15 million Qieras in three cases, 5 million in each case. Inside of that have 1 million. All yours." the brown cloaked man said. "Get ready to take the diamonds."

The man in the right pulled out a large brown sack and the thief dumped the diamonds in the sack. The brown cloaked man noticed a golden necklace he stole and is intrigued by it.

"That necklace...you stole that too, right?" he said.

"Yeah, by looks of it, 60k is what it's worth."

The brown cloak looks at it and knew right away that the gemstone are real including the gold.

"This is the same necklace my wife had when one of the nobles stole it, she was livid. You'll be paid extra, but you'll have to come to Fynis to do so."

"Fine with me, but I'll get myself situated first before heading to Fynis." the thief said.

"Understandable. Until we meet again." the brown cloaked man said, turning towards the gate. They opened the rusty gate, letting out a creaking sound as it opens and closes with a clang. The thief picks up the suitcases and walked with his group.

"Wow...15 million?! This could-" the thief cuts Sean off.

"Shh! We're not out of the woods yet, we need to secure the money." the thief said, Sean closed his mouth and nodded. The four walked back and headed to the pawn shop.

A few hours go by and the trio are in an abandoned building where it has windows seeing the main road which allows them to look out for anyone looking for them.

"Are you sure you're heading to Fynis alone? You have a sizable bounty there so it's risky." Sean said.

"I'll avoid the main roads and take the alley ways. Once I come back, we'll drink to our successful heist." the thief said. The woman looked out the window and her smile faded at the sight of what she is seeing. She is seeing an army of White Swans entering Cales through the front gate where the members amount in 100 including the Luster Order.

"Guys, we're gonna have to cut this short, we have company and it ain't a good one." the woman said. The thief looked out and became very concerned.

"Looks like they're serious. You better head to Servano since it's the closest. I'll head to Fynis and head back as soon as possible." the thief said as he hurriedly grabbed his duffel bag which still has the certain necklace the brown cloaked man mentioned and began running outside the abandoned building.

The thief reaches the rusted gate, opened it and closed it behind it. He let out a whistle in the forest. For a short moment, a neigh was heard in the distance. A jet black horse came to the thief and slowed down to a halt.

"Hey, buddy. It's time to run." the thief said to his horse. He jumped up and whipped his reins and the black horse began running to Fynia.

Meanwhile at the gate of Cales, Rhysius, Agatha, and Mikhail arrive there along with many members behind them. The three got off the carriage to look around the city where the people look at them in awe. Some cheered for their presence as their reputation is highly regarded. The three would wave at the masses, but there are pressing matters at hand.

A group of city guards come forth and dispersed to reveal a man. A man who wears more armor than the other guards, his hair is short and have the color of rust, and his eyes the color of pumpkins. His armor is the same gray color of guards, but his shoulder pads are blue. Additionally, he wears a bright blue cape.

"We thank you for coming. Our men were spread thin due to various circumstances. Especially the elusive thief. You are here to assist us, correct?" the rust haired man said.

"Yes, that is correct. You must be the captain?" Agatha said.

"Yes, I am Captain Kyron Solfin. I command the city guards." Kyron said, bowing. "Seeing that you three are here, then Elric is also here as well."

"Not this time, Elric went with Izanna Panzite to Fynis." Mikhail said.

"I see. If it's them, they'll find the thief in Fynis. We'll assist you in any way we can here." Kyron said. A guard came up to Kyron and whispered to him in urgency. Kyron's reaction is anything but pleasant.

"It happened again...!?" Kyron said with his eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" Rhysius said.

"The bank has been robbed again. The bank did a check in the vault and one of the staff who is a Crystal user found that the diamonds were fake. He could still be here at this moment." Kyron said.

"All members, lock the city down! No one leaves or enter!" Agatha commanded. The members dispersed to secure the exits and lock them down to prevent anyone especially the thief.

"We are enforcing curfew effective immediately. No one is to be outside at nightfall to sunrise." Mikhail said.

"I will assist you, but remember that keeping it closed for too long will adversely affect the masses." Kyron said.

"That is why we'll lessen the restriction after a week, but will still be under watch." Rhysius said to Kyron and then turned to the members "As of now, find any places that can still be considered an exit. Holes, sewers, or the like."

Meanwhile, Sean and the others that ran out of the abandoned building saw the members spreading out and coming closer. They cannot waste time here otherwise they'll be trapped if not caught right away.

"Crap, we better head to Servano now." the woman said.

"Come to my pawn shop, quickly!" the owner said. The owner took the horse that the three used for the heist to the pawn shop. The three ran to the pawn shop, but at the back door entrance of the shop. They head downstairs to find a basement with various miscellaneous items. The owner walked to a lantern and tilted it and a stone wall moved away to reveal a secret passage.

"If you go straight ahead, you'll find the exit that is outside Cales."

"Good thing you made the doors wide enough for a horse, right?" Sean said.

"Yeah. Now get going, it'll get sniffed out sooner or later." the owner replied. Sean and the woman got on the horse and he cracked the reins. The horse began running in the tunnel until they disappear in to the darkness and soon after, the stone wall closes to match the surroundings.

Meanwhile, a small group of members and guards is travelling by foot in the woods outside Cales. One of the guards notices a trail of footprints that comes from the rusted gate. Those footprints indicate that someone was there before.

"Get the locks and chains ready." one of the guards said.

"Hey, I found an entrance!" one of the guards said waving his hand. The rest flocked to the entrance where it seems to be a tunnel and converges to an embankment for water to flow out.

"A tunnel merging to sewage, but where does it come from?" one guard said.

"Do you hear that?" one member said. The men listened closely and heard galloping footsteps reverberating in the tunnel and is gradually getting closer.

"It's a horse. What's a horse doing there?" one guard said and suddenly, a horse's cry was heard in there, which alerted them.

"Get ready to stop the horse!" one guard said and all the men pulled out a net and some rope to stop a seemingly runaway horse.

Meanwhile, Sean sees an opening, but it's blocked by the people he doesn't want to see.

"Crap, it's them! They sniffed it out!" Sean yelled.

"That quick!? No matter, we're breaking through!" the woman yelled. Sean cracked the reins and makes the horse go on a full sprint towards the masses. They're intent to go to Servano is clear. Sean summons a ball of Lightning and launches it at the net. The ball hits the net, igniting the net on fire.

"We have contact! Blades ready!" one of the guards said, but the woman summoned a water magic circle and created a wave of water to push them out of the way. The two turned to the right and kept going. The people who didn't get hit came after it with haste.

"No! Don't chase them! Judging by their general direction, they're heading to Servano."

"We must inform them!" The guards and the members ran back to the direction they came from to inform the higher ups

"Hear that? Servano is gonna be hit soon." the woman said.

"Then we'll head to Millund instead!" Sean said. He cracked the reins and the horse neighed to maintain speed to disappear into the horizon.