[Chapter 3]
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"Hey. Hey! You alright?"
The thief's voice cut through the fog, sharp with concern. KiAera blinked, her vision slowly clearing. The woman had taken a hesitant step forward, her playful facade completely gone, replaced by a wary seriousness. The feather in her grasp seemed to pulse, a soft, worried beat against her chest.
KiAera forced herself to stand straight, to reignite the flames of her power. The name was a poison, but she was immune. She had to be. "Don't say that name," she rasped, her voice stripped of its earlier strength. "Don't you dare."
The thief's magenta eyes widened, a flicker of understanding—or was it recognition?—crossing her face. "So you do remember."
"I remember enough," KiAera shot back, her grip tightening on her weapon. The memory of Lorgagore was a wound that refused to heal, a source of a trauma so profound it could shatter her if she let it. "He's an Overlord. A genocidal monster. What does he have to do with this?"
"He has everything to do with this!" the thief insisted, her earlier bravado returning, laced with a desperate urgency. "One of his Seated, one of his top commanders, is here. On the lowest plane of Zeldritzon. He's been watching you, watching the Chimeron Crew. He wants the feather, Ki!"
KiAera feigned passivity as she processed the information shared with her. The Omega V were five of the most powerful monsters in Zeldritzon, excluding the Sovereign Emperors who they served. Each member of the Omega V had ten seated monsters ranked accordingly to their power. The fact that one of them was here, coveting GamaGen's feather, changed everything.
"Who?" she demanded, her mind racing. "Which one?"
The thief hesitated, her gaze darting away. "That's… the problem. I don't know for sure. He's been careful, operating in the shadows. But I know he's close. I can feel it. And when he makes his move, it won't be pretty."
KiAera's mind reeled. A Seated member of the Omega V. The implications were staggering. The Chimeron Crew was powerful, yes, but to face one of Lorgagore's chosen… "Why didn't you just come to us? Tell us this?"
"And say what? 'Hey, a mysterious big bad is after your shiny feather, but I can't prove it'?" The thief scoffed, gesturing dramatically. "You'd have locked me up and thrown away the key before I could finish my sentence. This way, I have your attention."
She has a point, KiAera thought, a grudging respect for the thief's audacity dawning on her. But her methods were… reckless.
"So what's your plan?" KiAera asked, her voice low and dangerous.
The thief rubbed her hands together, while licking her lips lecherously. "I got a taste of your of power. If we can find the fool before he reveals himself, we can murk him and bury his ass. We can make sure your feather never falls into the wrong hands."
"That's not a plan. That's a death wish," KiAera retorted. "We don't know who we're looking for, or where they're hiding. We'd be flying blind."
Was she trying to jeopardize the safety of the Chimeron Crew? KiAera recalled how she and Szylla painstakingly spent years erecting protective mechanisms and anti-surveillance wards around the Chimeron Sanctum. Yet, the thief had somehow bypassed them all, proving that their defenses were not as impenetrable as they'd thought.
The feather, a symbol of hope for her people, was now a liability. A beacon for their enemies.
"Okay, okay," the thief said, raising her hands in a placating gesture. "I get it. You're not the 'leap before you look' type. But we have to do something! We can't just wait around for him to make his move."
KiAera frowned despite the fact. She had to protect her crew, her home, and the feather itself. But how?
"Tell me everything you know," KiAera demanded, her eyes locked onto the thief's. "Every detail, no matter how small. If we're going to face this threat, we need to be prepared."
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The thief's expression turned serious. "I've told you most of it," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "There's a faction of Omega V's goons, all working together in secret. They've been watching your crew, studying your strengths and weaknesses. They know about the feather, and they know what it can do."
KiAera's blood ran cold.
"Maybe," the thief admitted, a wry smile playing on her lips. "But we have something they don't."
"And what's that?"
"Me," the thief said with a wink. "And you. Together, we're a force to be reckoned with."
The sincerity in the thief's magenta eyes was undeniable. She wasn't just playing games anymore. This was a matter of survival, not just for herself, but for the entire Chimeron Crew.
KiAera weighed her options. The thief was a wildcard, but her information, however incomplete, was too valuable to dismiss. And there was that nagging sense of familiarity, a ghost of a memory that refused to be silenced.
"Fine," KiAera said, her tone resolute. "We'll do this your way. But the feather stays with me."
The thief's face lit up with a triumphant grin. "Deal!"
"But," KiAera added, her eyes narrowing, "if you betray me, I'll personally drag you to the deepest pits of the Abyss. Understood?"
The thief squealed excitedly and skipped forward with bouncing steps. "Absolutely! I definitely won't betray you! Well… you might regret having me around just a tiny bit." She emphasized her promise with an 'O' gesture made with her fingers, highlighting the size.
KiAera opened her mouth, but instead, a tremendous thrill of instinct and self-preservation washed over her as she realized the thief was standing too close. KiAera was left speechless when the thief gleefully threw her arms around her and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. Was she Mediterranean?
"That seals the deal, yeah? We're partners now!" the thief chirped, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
KiAera touched her cheek, where the faint warmth of the thief's lips lingered. "Don't push your luck," she warned, but her words lacked their earlier bite. She stared ahead, dazed from the violation of her space. This was such a Skadicritt move, yet it was even more devious.
The image of the bubbly pink-haired girl flickered in KiAera's mind, and she grimaced at the thought: the thief and Skadi must never meet, especially with her being trapped in the same room as them. There was no doubt Skadi would have gotten along with this woman; in a nutshell, they were like two peas in a pod.
The thief giggled, a surprisingly melodic sound that seemed out of place given her rowdy demeanor. "Oh, I won't! I promise! So, where do we start? Should we gather your crew? I've always wanted to meet the legendary Chimera Chief's infamous Oni Lord."
KiAera sighed, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. The thief's energy was relentless, a stark contrast to the heavy burden of responsibility she currently bore on her shoulders. Perhaps she could pass her off to someone else, like Loa or Yaella.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "We keep this between us for now. The fewer people who know, the better."
The thief pouted, but nodded in agreement. "Alright, alright. I get it. Top secret mission. My favorite kind. So, what's the plan, boss?"
KiAera winced in irritation, but her strategic mind kicked into high gear. "First, we need to identify this Seated member. If they've been surveilling us, there must be a trail. We'll start by reviewing our security logs, checking for any anomalies."
"Oh, wow! A tour through your village—city—sanctum—whatever you call it nowadays. How exciting!"
KiAera grumbled. Of course, she wanted to sightsee. Perhaps that would help the others warm up to her before they met up with Oath, EliTa, and Yaella. Those three would have their eyes on the UvoSath.
First Division Captain Oath Ossedia resided deep within the Chimeron Observatory of Mnemosyne, while EliTa and Yaella lived in their personal mansion-laboratory, a hybrid abode nestled within the shimmering waters of Lumina Lake.
They would be the last place to check, but KiAera doubted it would take long to find traces of an intruder if they had indeed wandered close.
Then there was Nex, the division leader of Chimeron's intelligence gathering, who could provide answers. That would have been straightforward if he were not always out on reconnaissance.
However, KiAera had a bad feeling about the predicament that would arise when Jalkra encountered this one… the situation might quickly devolve into a harassment case. A shudder traveled down her spine at the mental image of the two clashing. So, no. She was not bringing her anywhere near the Chimera Keep. That was out of the question.
KiAera stared intently at the woman's pretty face. The thief had such an odd mixture of elegance and vulgarity that KiAera couldn't help but find herself drawn to her. There was an aura about the thief that seemed to transcend her chaotic nature, hinting at a deeper complexity KiAera couldn't quite grasp.
"First things first," KiAera said, her tone firm. "You still haven't told me your name."
The thief grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Xeltrulnia," she said, her voice a playful purr. "Just Xetra to make it easier for ya."
"Xetra," KiAera repeated, the name rolling off her tongue. It felt both foreign and familiar, a paradox that mirrored the woman herself. "Alright, Xetra. Let's go."
She turned, her wings flapping gracefully as she prepared to take flight. Xetra followed suit, her mismatched wings beating in a rhythm that was both chaotic and mesmerizing.
As they soared through the sky, the wind whipping past them, KiAera couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled in her gut. The mention of Lorgagore, the threat to her crew, the enigmatic thief who called herself Xeltrulnia… it was all too much to process.
But she pushed those thoughts aside, focusing on the task at hand.
First Milestone Upcoming: Artwork for Valkyrie Ki or Xetra?
