Secrets

Dear King Adrian,

We, the members of the High Council, would like to kindly reject your request in signing the official approval form to legalize your investment towards directing your nation's profits into marketing and the economy.

Us members of the High Council are responsible for ensuring that there is equality in terms of power amongst the five great nations. We guarantee there is established peace and bonds between the nations by preventing one government from overpowering another.

We rely on the Neo empire to fight our battles and win wars against the mighty military of the Ember Domain. If I must remind you those people can never get along with anyone within Pyrulia, not even themselves. They thrive off of bloodshed and have an eternal fighting spirit equivalent to that of a flame that never blows out.

We need the Neo Empires' strong relentless veterans to fight against the Ember soldiers if they ever so choose to strike war with the other three nations. Your military is the only reason why this entire continent has yet to burn into flames under their barbaric rule.

If you were to slack and falter in the slightest of the ways then all of Pyrulia will surely crumble and despair. Your people's lives and empty bellies are mere fractions to the bigger equation. If you are willing to run the risk of total world domination just to ensure your land is fed then you might as well revive your late father back from the dead or give the crown to that son of yours.

Perhaps he would make smarter decisions than you ever could.

If you harden your heart well enough then the rumble in your bellies will disappear, we promise you. Until you have actual concerns in regards to your nation never contact us or this address ever again, if we have made ourselves clear.

Coldest regards,

The High Council Twelve.

-

Barbaric was right.

On the other side of the grey wall was an entirely separate office, one where the floors were splashed around with papers and what they hoped was red paint. In the center of the room was a desk that was littered with hundreds to possibly thousands of abandoned documents. A chair oddly positioned stood behind the desk, and behind that chair was a wall covered by a thick blue velvet drape.

"It's..." Samantha murmured to herself, "it's some kind of secret room!"

She stared down at Daphne in shock, "However did you know of this place? Obviously, it was well hidden, and couldn't even be open without a key."

She spoke nothing, her voice still not progressing despite everything that has happened so far. Instead, she seemed unfazed in comparison to the other officers, as though she had been in here hundreds of times.

Which was true.

She had witnessed her grandfather enter the strange room when he had thought she was asleep, and ever since she would steal the key from his desktop at night and scatter all the papers around when she was bored.

While Samantha was in shock Jones found himself drowning in the hundred files on top of the desk. One seemed to catch his eye, from the way his hand gripped it tightly. "Now we know why his office was so empty, just look at these documents."

With one hand on Daphne and another to her chest, Samantha slowly entered the dimly lit room, staring at the documents he was currently holding. "Are those....military records?"

"Hundreds of them, each file an individual report of every Gaean officer who fought in Eflorre related wars. Some of these are even recent too," Jones shook his head and laughed. "This is crazy! This has to break some rules in regards to possible identity theft or violation of the privacy conduct code."

Samantha rubbed her chin, "That would explain his bizarre attitude when he saw us at his doorstep. Chances are he probably thought he got caught, hence why he put up such a fight."

She looked down at Daphne again, "When was the last time you recall that man ever leaving the establishment?"

Daphne looked up at her momentarily before shaking her head, which was enough to answer her question.

"If he never left the estate then I suppose he wasn't a killer after all," guilt swelled in Samantha's chest as she sighed. "Not only that but there's no way someone with this many secrets would do something as obscure as ordering Aparian baked goods."

"He wasn't a killer but he sure was a threat. If he had told anyone about the contents to which he kept stored in this room half the entire nation would be a risk of a global war."

"The owner seemed very secluded and paranoid, so I doubt he had anyone close to talk to. I don't think he did all of this just to tip-off enemy nations and provoke war. There must be another reason for all of this."

Samantha scanned the room around her, eyes falling onto thick drapes on the other end. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "Check behind that curtain, I want to see what's on it."

Following her orders, he grabbed at the covered and pulled it down in one fell swoop. On the wall were several faces, of both men and women alike, photographs attached and connected by a pinned down red string, which covered nearly the entire wall.

"It's...."Jones started, "what even is this?"

"It's some sort of evidence board," Samantha assessed, staring at the sticky note that with the words 'who are they?' written in thick black ink. "I can't exactly tell what to make of this, however."

after a short analysis, Jones sighed and shoved his hands into his pants pockets, "That stuff doesn't seem as important as the stuff on his desk. It looks more personal than it does professional to me."

"I suppose you are right."

What stood out the most to Samantha was what appeared to be a pinned letter, handwriting is done in terrible cursive and no return address on the back. She removed the letter to bring it closer to her face.

"What does it say?" Jones questioned.

She pressed her lips together and pushed up her glasses, attempting to get a better read at the paper, "It's hard to tell because the writing is so small, but I think it's asking for confirmation on an already predated meeting. Possibly with the deceased man from before."

Jones snatched the letter from her hands to read it out loud, "Sir Williams, I do hope this letter finds you in good health." He paused halfway through to let out a snort, "As scheduled, we will rendezvous at Markeb Empire inside the central planetarium. The meeting will occur during the great big reveal of the newly discovered meteorite at exactly high noon three revolutions from now."

"The Markeb Empire? That's located on the other side of the continent, it's at least a three-week journey," She pressed her thumb to her lip, "How could they expect such an old man to travel that far all by himself? And what could be so important they'd pick such a busy day to schedule?"

"If I had to guess," Jones inquired, "a part of me feels as though our Sir Williams was not the only person who received a letter like this. What are the odds that Sir Williams wasn't gathering this info for himself but rather for someone else, someone he later planned on meeting."

Samantha sighed, "If that's the case we have no way of confirming when the actual meeting date is. This letter has no receive date, so the event could be tomorrow for all we know."

Jones shook his head, "It's exactly like you said it is at least a three-week journey from here to the Markeb Empire, and Sir Williams has not yet packed any of his belongings. That indicates that there is at least a significant amount of time left for us to figure all of this out, and there's an extremely obvious clue here in this paper."

He turned the note around and tapped it with his finger, "It says they're going to a planetarium that's revealing a newly discovered landed asteroid. If we can figure out the date of the reveal then we will know the date of the rendezvous."

"But you're forgetting something, the Markeb Empire thrives for their futuristic inventions and astrology-based discoveries. There's a revealing of meteorites nearly every day of the week! And at least a hundred planetariums to search through till we can find the right one. Plus there's also the complications of who are we meeting with and where exactly it's taking place."

Jones sighed in defeat before turning over to look at Daphne, "And I don't suppose you have any idea what we're talking about, do you?"

Samatha tapped her chin, "If we informed Camille about what we found and told her the contents of this letter, she-"

"Would fire us on the spot. Or worse, hand us over to the EPD custody."

There was a surprised look on Samantha's face, the sudden outburst shocked her, so Jones took a deep breath and begun explaining.

"We could...we could tell the other officers and Camille that we found this room, and maybe then that could justify his demise. Not only that but we could also be revealing the contents of a potential secret terrorist organization in the process.

"However, there are more secrets in this room that I am sure the head of the EPD would want us to know about. This man was a traitor to his own kingdom, and we got caught in the crossfire of it all.

"In an act of self-preservation, they might take us into custody or have us transfer faculties to prevent leaking these documents components," He finished. "It could cause further trouble between the EPD and APD, and Camille could get fired for issuing to command. That would be the worst possible outcome yet."

Samantha couldn't imagine a department without Camille in tow, the women practically built the place from the ground up. She was one of the oldest members on their team and the strongest too, so there's no doubt in her mind she's also the most wanted in several people's bingo books. Word of her retirement would leak like wildfire and it would only take days before assassins and killers like the ones who took the baker's life away start targeting her for information.

If that were to happen, she'd be better off dead.

But what could they do? It's not like they can just simply unsee everything they just saw. If they were brought in for further questioning non of them could lie about what transpired. And there's no way the Efflorian Police Department would treat two top service Apparian officers involved in one of their citizen's death with any respect whatsoever.

They were, as you could put it, screwed.

"Would they really make us switch kingdoms because of something like this?"

"If Camille caught an Efflorian officer in a room filled with Aparian secrets would she not make them do the same?"

She would, she had to, there would have been no other choice, and that was the hard truth behind it all.

Samantha chuckled depressingly, "That whole running away idea is starting to sound a lot more interesting now."

Jones looked down upsettingly, this obviously taking a toll on himself as well. In a moment of fury, he slung his arm on the desk, causing the several files to fall and tip over.

"We know too much Samantha if they found out we were here our lives are official over. Even if we did decide to quit now it would look too suspicious, Camille is smarter than that. She would ask all the right questions and it would only be a matter of time."

Both officers felt their fears growing increasingly, the consequences of their actions weighing against them even more than before. This was all a trap, one gigantic obvious trap and they fell right in the clutches of it. Just when all else seemed impossible to most unexpected thing occurred.

"Hide."

The voice was quiet and soft and almost neither of them heard it. They both stared at each other, thinking to themselves it was the other who spoke, then looked down at the only other person in the room, now standing in front of the two.

"What did she just say?" Samantha asked.

Rather than repeating herself, she pointed towards the painting that was still resting lopsided outside.

Ah, she thought, she was telling them to hide the room again. If they locked the door behind them and put the painting back over then perhaps they might succeed, they could just pretend they never saw anything and hope for the best.

There was a moment of thought and contemplation on both officer's faces.

"Could it work?" Samantha asked more to herself than to Jones, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean," he quipped, "we wouldn't have found this place if she didn't tell lead us directly to it. Unless they are intentionally searching for this room those same principles should still apply the same."

"But what if they run their own private investigation? They'll have the time too, and won't be rushing around like we were. They could find it-"

"Even if they found it they can't open the door without the key," He pulled out said object from his pockets, holding it between his two fingers. "We're the only ones who know of this place and can enter inside."

"They could hire a locksmith and open it, not all secret hatches and entrances are secured just because there's a lock on the door. They'll find a way."

"Even if they do manage to open this door they'll have no idea that we found it ourselves, nor that we've even been in here."

Samantha pointed towards the several documents and papers Jones took the courtesy of slugging around just seconds before in his moment of frustration. He gave her an apologetic look before scratching the back of his neck.

"The good news is that we kept our gloves on, so there won't be fingerprints anywhere. All we have to do is walk back out and send the goddesses our prayers."

It was risky, for sure. The EPD officers she sent for could arrive at any given, and it would be more than humiliating for them to catch them in the act of it all. They were running out of time so they needed to reach a conclusion soon.

"Do we really have a choice?"

It was more of a rhetorical question on Samantha's end, knowing the answer well.

"It should work if we're efficient," Samantha noticed his features soften as he stared at Daphne in the face. He rubbed her hair carefully, "I dread for the day she's old enough to understand the ends for our irreversible actions."

With that, he gave his partner a reassuring glance, "It's almost been half an hour now, so I suggest we get a move on before it's too late."

-

"Let go of him right this instant!" Jack shouted, anger and fear coursing through his body at the sight of his first-year cadet currently in the hands of death himself. As he tried to get closer Micheals' head was tucked back, exposing more of his neck.

"Tut tut tut," Jasmine cooed, "all he has to do is just taste it, and he'll be as blue as carol lights."

"Stand down officer!" Camille shouted, not willing to let one of her recruits get downed tonight by her mistakes. Never again. "If you approach her you and I both know she will kill him."

Micheal made gasping sounds, trying to look down at the weapon that was pressing uncomfortably close to his skin. He was attempting to remain calm but kept breathing embarrassingly hard.

"It's fine Jack," he stuttered, his own voice betraying him. "Don't worry about me okay? Just take her down, it's my job as an officer to lay down my life for others. If she's still alive then who knows which one of us will be next. Just do it, take the shot, it doesn't matter to me anymore."

Jack gritted his teeth, "Like hell, it doesn't! It's my job to protect you, if I let you die then what am I even getting paid for?"

Jasmine let out a sickly sweet laugh, pulling Micheal up even higher, "Oh officer tell me how it feels? To have someone you care for so deeply standing right in front of you and you can't even save them? It makes you feel worthless doesn't it?"

"Don't let her foul words get to you Jacqueline, just stand down and retreat right now," Camille warned, an expression of defeat on her face.

It was pointless, there was no reason to put up a fight. In an act of surrender, Jack raised his hands and backed off. Micheal felt like he was about to piss himself, a part of him relieved at their cooperation but also upset that once again he had just gotten in the way.

"The cards are in your hands now Jasmine," Camille spoke spitefully, "what's your next deal?"

"The Beckerson files, remember?" Jasmine swung the blade between her fingers, "Don't tell me you've forgotten already Auntie. old age really is starting to catch up to you."

"And how exactly do you expect me to do so with my hands on my head?"

Jasmine tilted her head to the side and let out a long strange whistle. The window she had just came in through was pushed open by a bird, who had a strange head and an ugly body. It flew its way over to Jasmine sitting perch on her shoulder, before pecking at itself.

"This sweetheart has been my company for the past few years, she's the only reason why I haven't gone insane yet."

Camille scoffed, "Like you already aren't"

Ignoring her Jasmine continued, "I know you've got pen and paper in your pockets, so send a note to your friends back at the station to bring the documents unarmed. Betsy's smart enough to return if she senses any danger, so if your people try anything-"

She tilted the weapon in her hands, to ensure the light reflected off it teasingly, "I'll sit his throat so deep the blood loss will get to him before the poison does."

Another whistle and the bird flew off towards Camille. She extended her arm out and waited for the bird to pitch itself on top of it.

Jack couldn't help but grimace at the small creature, "That ugly thing is your only friend? Couldn't you find something easier to look at?"

Jasmine shrugged, "Betsy is one of a kind, your appearances don't matter when your entire species is practically extinct."

Using her free hand Camille wrote out the instructions on the paper and slipped it into the cuffed ring around Betsy's leg, before throwing her arm into the air, allowing the bird to fly off.

"And you're sure she knows where to go," Camille asked doubtfully.

Jasmine merely smiled, "Wouldn't be her first time I promise you. Now it's the waiting game, an hour tops. Anything longer and you can say goodbye to one of your men today."

For a moment she let her guard down, staring at the window Besty just flew back into with curiosity. "You better hope it's not too windy right about now."

-

This had to have been the second scariest moment of both of their lives. Never in written history would you have ever seen two officers more terrified of their own kind before.

They had both received all kinds of dirty looks from each of the EPD officers as they carted away the old man's body. They already made an attempt to grab at Daphne and were now currently getting interviewed by an officer to hear her side of the story. Both partners prayed the little girl's consistent quiet attitude would remain with her even during these troubling times.

At that moment they themselves were answering questions from an unidentified Efflorian Lieutenant, who was handling the situation very maturely, yet still quite clearly pissed off and frustrated at the two from his body language.

"When you arrived what was Mr. Williams's behavior like?" He questioned a suspicious look on his face, close to a snarl almost.

Samantha and Jones both looked down embarrassingly. After a few more seconds Samantha decided to speak up, "He was paranoid, had frantic behavior from the minute we reached the door. We didn't even touch him before he started running."

He cocked his eyebrows at her, "Normally when a civilian runs away back inside their establishment it means they're attempting to retrieve a weapon. Was that not of your concern at the moment?"

Jones scoffed, "He fell before he could even get anywhere. If you're suggesting that we should have shot him it'd be a waste of a good bullet."

The officer's eyes narrowed specifically at Jones's snarky attitude before turning his head to the side to stare at the Daphne in the distance.

"And what of the little girl? A relative of his?"

Samantha shrugged, "We assume she was the suspect's granddaughter, but she hasn't spoken to either of us since we arrived. She probably just lost the only other guardian looking after her so she's still a bit shaken up."

The officer tsked, "And whose fault is that?"

He pointed accusing fingers at the both of them, "Your lucky that the only external injuries he sustained were bruises on his wrist from his resistance. Suspect or not there was still a legal Efflorian citizen that died here tonight. Our chief would have most surely had you both hanged if he were here, so count yourselves as lucky."

With that, he turned away bitterly before walking off likely to share his obtained info with another officer. Upon the officers leaving both partners sighed heavily, letting out bundles of oxygen they weren't even currently aware of holding.

back"Well," Jones crooned, exhausted, popping the muscles in his back, "that went surprisingly well."

Samatha couldn't help but stare at Daphne in despair wondering what the little girl's future would look like after all of this. "Did it really?"