Chapter 24: The City of the Amazon

They descended from the plane. Limbs sprawled out at all sides, wind rushing through their hair. Jewel struggled to keep her eyes open against the heavy winds, to the point she naturally migrated next to her fellow sky diver.

An ocean of green leaves awaited them below. Birds flocked once they got close, and breaking through the trees, Kairas sent out a slide of ice for him and Jewel to slide down on.

He skidded to a stop in the soil, Jewel hopping off the ice slide and landing softly next to him. Rising, she brushed any lingering dirt from her clothes and looked around. She raised an eyebrow, confused at the jungle scenery. "Did we jump too soon?"

Kairas moved towards a bush, spreading the branch and vegetation aside and peaking through. An open area, illuminated by a strong sting of lights underground. Gesturing to Jewel, he led the way through the path. The closer they got, the more it came into view. Hidden from the sky, a single staircase that led downwards into the earth, dirt lit bright white lights at the side of each metal step.

Kairas descended first, his feet echoing on each metal platform. Jewel kept close, eyes constantly rushing back and forth the deeper they went. She couldn't help but hold a twinge of nervousness.

It was her first time, truly, in the field and she wasn't sure what to expect. A battle outright, or to be eased into new territory? Her mind flickered between the two choices constantly, until she decided to focus on the back of Kairas head.

The light of the sky vanished overhead, replaced by an intense glare of brightness erupting below. Jewel's jaw dropped.

Building after building, stretched out for miles underground. Roads built long, people littering the streets like lint on a blanket. Giant is an understatement when describing the City of the Amazon. It looked futuristic, from the vehicles to the buildings that were colored in a metallic style of chrome and blue.

The two touched down on the edge of the park. The overall atmosphere was peace, isolation.

Kairas hated it.

"Let's check into a hotel before anything else," Kairas suggested. "We're also going to need to buy some clothing to blend in."

"Disguises, huh. I feel like a secret agent."

"You're far from one," He replied, looking at her.

They passed by the ocean of people. While distinguishable in looks, two things remained the same. The clothing, and average height. Women capped around six feet, men capped at five foot nine. Aside from those two key factors, they couldn't be picked apart as strangers. Kairas knew of the culture, to which he can easily mingle if need be. Jewel, holding a look of pure amazement, stuck out like a sore thumb.

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The tenth floor. Amazoness Hotel, the building furthest from the city limits. The view was clear from the window. The room was decorated in red silk across the edges of the ceiling, with black drapes over the bed to shield it from the outside. Beige carpeted floor, with a slight chill emitting from the running tub in the bathroom. Jewel had her hair propped up in a messy bun, soapy water glistening on her tanned skin.

Kairas was strolling through the halls of the hotel. His thoughts were split down the middle. Jewel's words and yoga lesson replayed through his mind over and over. He could still see it clearly. Her sweaty, yet beautiful skin, the way he clothes hugged her frame and the way she pressed against him. He was unsure of the feelings before, but it was clear as day to him now.

He wanted her, plain and simple. The question was how? Was it a partner he wanted, or purely physical? Kairas' heart had been skipping beats since those moments, and he found it difficult to really focus on the task at hand, which is where his thoughts would struggle to shift.

Searching the city while hiding in plain sight would be difficult. He didn't know who could be working for the Kult, or doing the recruitment process. As far as he knew, the man at the lobby desk downstairs was the one seeking people out, and he'd be none the wiser if he had given away who they really were. The plan would've been ruined before it even truly began.

Between Jewel and the Kult, Kairas really wondered what he had to focus on the most at the moment. Choosing the Kult meant keeping a reasonable distance from Jewel, but that was proving to be more and more difficult, even as he was heading downstairs to scope out the rest of the building.

Once the elevator doors closed in front of him, he let out a loud groan and leaned against the wall. The coolness brought him down from the thoughts of the flight, and he noticed a twisting feeling in his stomach.

Something felt wrong.

Very wrong.

While he didn't sense anything, something inside was telling him to be wary. Watch his surroundings, pick out individual people. Faces, voices, anything.

The elevator opened and revealed the full lobby.

Kairas stepped out, looking around slowly. It was difficult to get a good glimpse of the faces since many were taller than he was and obstructed the view.

Making sure no one was watching him, he uttered simple words. His body first became transparent, until it completely vanished from sight. Being invisible, while strange, would make it easy to move around. He hopped onto a wall, using magic to keep himself stationed, and scanned the lobby more thoroughly.

Kairas clutched tightly to the marble, and like a spider, crawled onto the ceiling and moved to the other side. For whatever reason, his eyes kept darting back to the front desk. At the front of the long line were two people. The man, a bit shorter than the woman, handed the man behind the desk a pamphlet. Looking it over, the one behind the desk stood and whispered something into one of the worker's ears, then led the two towards the back rooms. Kairas counted a few seconds, then began to follow.

He crawled slowly towards the double doors near the desk, slowly pushing it open and slipping through. Still attached to the ceiling, he quickly spotted the three moving down the hall. He would follow them still, drinking in anything that was said or done. First, the woman began to shrink in size. That already rose multiple red flags in his mind.

They weren't normal. Or at the very least, could use the most basic methods of magic.

The lack of a mana signal meant they were at least well versed in how it worked.

The three opened another set of double doors and stepped inside. Kairas quickly sped through the closing metal and clung to the wall above the door. The lobby man brushed his arm, turning and facing the pair, speaking in an annoyed and gruff tone. "You need to stop coming here."

"What's with the cold welcoming? And here I thought you missed us."

The male guest's voice sounded familiar, but Kairas couldn't piece it together from where.

The lobby man sat on one of the crates in the room, shaking his head and rolling up his sleeve. He pulled out a clipboard, and from what Kairas could tell, it had all the guests' names on them.

The Fallen Angel bit his lip in frustration.

The man took a moment to look it over slowly, flipping from page to page to take in each name. The woman stiffened a bit, something neither male took notice of, and turned her head. She didn't look at the doors, or at the sound of any of the rates in the room. Her eyes fell directly on Kairas, and the boy's orbs widened in response. She didn't call him out, but merely kept silent.

Her face, however, took him by complete surprise.

Hailey was healed up, good as new, as if the fight with Takabi hadn't happened a day or so prior. The corner of her dark glossed lips rose in a smirk, and she turned and faced the other two men.

If Hailey was here, then the other man must've been Carlos. It had to be.

"What's with the smirk," The lobby man asked.

Hailey shrugged at him, unzipping her leather jacket. "Nothing. Just thought of a funny joke."

"Is that everyone," The man asked, handing back the clipboard.

It WAS Carlos. That fact made Kairas stiffen in worry. It was dangerous. Too dangerous to have brought Jewel with him. First chance he got, he'd send her home.

"Yeah. Look, what you guys do is none of my business, but can you not come to my place of work, potentially get me fired by the way, and harass the tenants? I owe you, so I let you poke around when I'm not supposed to, but you've been coming here a lot more often."

Carlos shrugged. "Yeah, sorry about that. Business is becoming more brutal. Gotta keep up with the boss' demands." He crossed his arms. Once again, Hailey looked back at Kairas. If he had doubts, that confirmed them. She knew he was in the room.

Why isn't she saying anything?

"At any rate, we'll pick the most gifted of these guys and bring them with us when we leave. Just hope they don't cause too much ruckas, or you could be out of work." Carlos turned on his heel, quickly leaving the room. Hailey watched Kairas for a moment, before following after Carlos. Kairas crawled down, head peeking through the doors at the pair, before he looked up at the lobby man. To his surprise, he was gone.

"Most gifted," He repeated, landing on the floor. "Surely he doesn't mean me and Jewel. No, if he did, he'd have guessed I was in the room with them. Hailey was the only one that even noticed me, so there must be others here."

He slipped from the back rooms, making his way back to the lobby and looking around. Hailey and Carlos were gone, and didn't leave much of a trail to track. His heart rate began to pick up.

If they knew, or if Hailey said something, their positions would be compromised. Kairas wasn't dumb enough to put his and Jewel's real names on the manifesto, so that was a none issue.

The problem was Hailey.

If SHE knew he was there, they were already in deep trouble.

There was still a single question in his mind as he entered the elevator and began heading back upstairs. Why hadn't Hailey said anything to him, or at the very least, rat him out?