Midnight Heist

Nikol and I celebrated until late into the evening. It turns out, Nikol cannot hold her liquor. Two drinks and her face was as red as a ruby. She slurred her words so much that even though I knew the intent, I had no idea what she was actually saying. I was pretty sure she was trying to thank me for giving her the idea and piloting the bot. I just nodded like I understood what she was saying while I worked on my dinner and soda. Soon enough she nodded off into a pile of her own drool. I called over Blair, the guard captain, to take my mother back to the hotel. I still had plenty of fish and chips in front of me, I wasn't going anywhere until I was satisfied. The restaurant owner had made the mistake of making them bottomless. After Rosie and I ate our way through dozens of platters, I'm sure he changed his policy. My remaining guard, Fred, watched the display in impressed disgust.

After the cook came out of the kitchen and demanded that we leave the restaurant immediately, I ate one more platter while Fred held the cook off, and waddled out of the restaurant holding my bloated belly. Rosie was worse off, her belly dragged on the floor as she clawed her way along the ground. The moons were already high in the sky when we started trodding down the street to the hotel. Altalune was full today, I could feel myself being empowered by the moon's rays. I couldn't see my eyes, but right now they were giving off a faint, green glow to match the light Altalune gave off. My emerald eyes were even more enchanting under this glow.

As we walked I started feeling a sinister intent. It reminded me of when I had given Nathan his nickname, except it was worse now that I had physical form. Someone was targeting me. Fred had noticed too. We began running down alleys and side streets trying to escape our pursuers. It didn't take long for us to find a dead-end, unfortunately. Since we weren't natives, we didn't know the area well enough to navigate. We turned to face our opponents. A fat shadowy figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Andy.

Wait, just Andy? Why are we running? I can lay Andy out by myself. Then another shadow stepped forward. Sensing the energy coming off this new person, the only thing I could think of was "run." But how? Our only escape path had been cut off. The walls of the shops were made from the same smooth stone as the outer walls of the city. I had no ability to climb these walls or break through them, judging by the fact that Fred had turned too, he couldn't do anything either. Fred drew his bastardsword. My crazy guard was actually going to face this guy? Even I could tell the difference in their strength.

"Your priority is to get the fox alive. After that get the girl, or failing that any jewelry she may be carrying." Andy ordered the man.

I doubted this was just about Rosie, Andy wanted to get back at us for humiliating him in the tournament. Fred charged at the hired man. The man didn't even draw a weapon. He merely snatched the blade of Fred's sword with his bare hands, ripped it from Fred's grasp, and then tossed it to the ground with a loud clatter. He then backhanded Fred and sent him flying into the wall. The wall we had no chance of passing was actually dented in by the force. Poor Fred.

The man turned to me next. There was no order to keep me alive. The hitman was a careful man, he believed in no loose ends. As little threat as I possessed, I was still the one remaining threat on the board, and he intended to end me. Before he could, Fred stumbled back to his feet. "Still alive?" a sickenly-sweet voice came from the man, reminding me of a venomous snake. The man grabbed Fred by the throat and lifted him in the air. He took his time, while Fred struggled to free himself. "That just won't do." Our assailant punched Fred hard in the gut while releasing him, sending him flying over the roofs. Well, that was one way to pass this wall. As for Fred, whether he was alive or not, he would no longer be able to help me.

I prepared myself to do what little I could to defend myself, while secretly hoping the town guard or passing good Samaritan would intervene. I knew my odds of surviving were essentially zero right now. How could I be so stupid? I knew that jealous and powerful people would try and steal good things from me. Rosie was just such a good thing, and I flaunted her around the capital. I had gotten so used to letting her roam around the Villa and Market Town with me, that I had forgotten how dangerous this world was. As her friend, I didn't want to cage her inside the pendant, but by allowing her to roam free, I had committed a worse betrayal. I drew the sword of Altalune and faced the menacing man. Just standing before him took every ounce of my willpower. Dark waves seemed to roll off him, while his figure seemed to loom like a giant.

The man laughed. His hood concealed his features, but I could still see him smirk. He was looking down on me. He slowly walked forward to where Fred's sword landed and picked it up. He walked to me slowly, step, by step. This was his favorite thing. Striking fear into the weak. I resisted the urge to walk backward. It would give me a few more seconds to live, but then I wouldn't be able to maneuver when my back hit the wall. Soon he was within striking distance, he lazily swung his sword. I blocked. It didn't matter. The sword of Altalune, the sword my sister had gifted me, shattered. I didn't have time to be angry. There was suddenly a fluffy red figure obscuring my vision. It was Rosie! She was in the path of the Sword! Before I could scream, I was hit with a tremendous force in the chest, shortly followed by a matching thwack to my back. My head impacted the wall a second later, and I crumpled to the ground. I was still conscious, but I knew I was in bad shape. Everything hurt, the back of my neck felt damp and I knew that wasn't good. But more than anything, I was worried about Rosie. Her little body was in my arms. It was her body that had impacted me and sent me flying back. All I could see was blood, blood on her fur, blood pooling on the ground, blood on my hands and robes. Rosie wasn't moving and there was a nasty gash drawn from her left ear, through her shoulder and chest, and down to her right hip. It was deep and blood flowed from it continuously. She had saved me from dying with the intent to die herself. No! I wouldn't let that happen. Tears began flowing down my face.

Before I could even gather myself to try and save Rosie, a heavy pressure descended on me. I was forced to kowtow over Rosie's body. It took all of my remaining strength to keep my body from crushing Rosie under that pressure. I turned my face angrily up at the source of the pressure. The man was still a few dozen feet away, he was using his cultivation base to suppress me. Under such a suppression I couldn't do anything. The man was angry, I could see his arms trembling.

"You caused me to fail my task, brat! I'm going to make you suffer!" The composed snake voice was gone, replaced by a high-pitched and irrational voice. He began walking towards me while dragging Fred's sword along the ground. I knew he was trying to make me feel fear, but at this moment I only had room for one emotion: wrath. He had hurt Rosie! He wanted me to pay?! No, I would make him pay first! Wrath made me blind to the power gap. I glanced downward, carefully avoiding looking at Rosie, I didn't want to confront ... not yet, as long as I didn't look, she wasn't ... I wanted to find anything I could use to avenge her. The shards of my sword glistened in the moonlight. I carefully moved one hand forward to grasp one of the larger shards. The effort nearly caused me to collapse. I turned my face upwards at my opponent again with great strain. He was only a few feet away now.

As he came almost close enough to start injuring me, I activated my power-crazed state. I was seeking power at this moment, the power to avenge my fox. At the same time, I let my rage control me. It had been threatening to burst forth this entire time, all I needed to do was let it. DIE! DIE!! DIE!!! As rage consumed me, something started to change within me.