“You guys ready?” Lysandra asked. “Well, we still gotta go ahead if you aren’t.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” Nikolay replied drily.
“Lighten up a little! It isn’t every day that you get to sneak into a lab and break some shit!”
Just as they’d discussed, Raine and Nikolay had shown up at Lysandra’s place a few hours before night fell. The festivities only started on Christmas night, so it was highly unlikely the Order of Truth would be planning anything earlier.
“I hope that isn’t the only thing you’re planning to do,” Nikolay sighed. “Yes, we’re here to disrupt their plans, but gathering information could prove useful.”
Lysandra pouted. “Seriously, it’s like you can’t have fun… Let’s go already, before Nikolay decides that it’s too risky and tells us to stop.”
“Yeah. We should be heading out, anyway. It’s nearing sunset,” Raine said.
Even though he’d been waiting for this day to come, Nikolay couldn’t shake the unpleasant feeling of being a puppet. This was just a small cog in Irideis’ prophecy, not a daring move concocted by their own judgment. Whatever happened in the labs would be predetermined fate. It felt useless to try anything else, however; the only feasible option was to continue with their plan. Yet again, the illusion of free choice shackled them to following the gods’ whims.
“Are you okay, Kolya?” Raine asked, concern lacing his voice. “It’s fine if you’re nervous.”
Nikolay was anything but nervous. The only silver lining of their situation was that Raine wouldn’t die in their reckless plan. After all, the gods still had future arrangements for him.
“I’m not nervous,” Nikolay slipped past Raine. “Follow me. I’ll take you to where I detected the signal.”
—
To be honest, Raine didn’t know what he was expecting the entrance to a secret lab to be like. Maybe beneath a manhole cover, or through a hidden passage in an empty street.
An unassuming wooden door fit the bill pretty well, though. It hid in plain sight, which worked especially well in an already shady place like Marque.
“It’s behind there, but don’t approach,” Nikolay told them. “There’s a keypad by the doorknob, so we won’t be able to get in. We should wait nearby and scout it out.”
The three of them crept over to a nearby alcove in the dark alleyway behind a few large dumpsters. They filed one-by-one into the space, which was just enough for everyone to fit.
Raine wrinkled his nose. “I didn’t know it was possible for Marque alleyways to smell even worse.”
“You haven’t even smelt the worst of it,” Lysandra replied, unbothered by the stench.
Nikolay peered through the cracks in between the dumpsters. “This gives us a decent view of the entrance. It’s fortunate that we’re hidden quite well.”
“Shh- The door’s opening!” Raine whispered.
Distant chatter grew louder as a group of people in white coats passed their hiding spot. They looked busy, huddling around with their clipboards and pens in constant motion. A few words stood out amongst the commotion: the scientists were getting ready to transport ‘the new test subjects’, whatever that meant. If their suspicions were right, these new subjects were going to be unsuspecting participants in the Christmas parade. They had to quickly destroy the lab if they wanted the kidnapped citizens to make it out unharmed.
Just as the cluster of scientists had left earshot, another group exited the lab. These people were much quieter than the previous members, choosing to let their powerful magic auras speak for themselves. They were all dressed in inconspicuous black clothing that blended with the darkening streets of Marque. Each walked alone, unlike the scientists who huddled together. It didn’t take long for this group to disperse into their own separate paths.
Although it seemed like everyone was gone, they didn’t dare to leave the hidden space. It was easy to tell that the scientists had left, but this second group — presumably the ones doing the kidnapping — could still be lingering in the area. Nikolay and Lysandra weren’t by any means weak sorcerers, but their chances of surviving a direct encounter with multiple trained mercenaries were fatally low.
A few minutes passed without any more movement from outside.
“Do you think it’s safe now?” Raine murmured as quietly as possible.
Lysandra slowly stood up to look over the dumpsters, then ducked back down in a flash.
As Raine was about to ask what she saw, Nikolay slapped a hand over his mouth. He looked over to see Nikolay shaking his head.
The sound of boots shortly thereafter explained their behaviour. One of the black-clad sorcerers had returned, though his demeanour was vastly different from the calm confidence exuding from his peers. He fumbled with the doorknob in a frantic rush.
“Quick, quick, quick… Everyone’s gonna start without me and I’m not gonna get paid…” he muttered to himself. “Oh, what was the password again? Drat, was it 4573 or 4583?”
Raine, Nikolay, and Lysandra all blinked at each other in disbelief.
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A soft beep emanated from the door, and a loud sigh of relief escaped the sorcerer. “Good thing I tried 4583 first, phew.”
Barely a minute passed before the door opened again. The clumsy sorcerer from before shut the door behind him and briskly walked past their hiding spot.
“I can’t believe I left my phone in there,” he said, shaking his head. “Must be the nerves.”
The three of them watched him leap onto a nearby roof and dart away. Now that nobody was coming back, they could finally leave the foul-smelling alcove. Raine was the first to leave, eager to recover his sense of smell. Lysandra and Nikolay followed after, approaching the wooden door.
“I wasn’t expecting the password to jump out in front of us like that,” Raine admitted in wonder. “I was ready to brute force our way in.”
Nikolay didn’t share his relief. It was just another convenience for the gods’ plan to keep in motion.
Following the steps of the previous sorcerer, Raine entered the numbers 4583 into the keypad. The door opened with the same soft beep, and they walked into the laboratory without any further obstacles.
As expected, there was not a person in sight. Off-white walls and tiled floors extended as far as the eye could see, branching off into a multitude of hallways.
Things were going smoothly, and that was exactly why everyone was tense.
“For some reason, this place feels a lot worse when it’s empty,” Raine whispered.
Lysandra crossed her arms. “If it’s empty, that means we don’t have to sneak around. Saves us the effort, plus I’m not really a fan of stealth, anyway.”
“We’d better find the important stuff soon, otherwise Lysandra might not be able to control herself,” he joked.
While they exchanged grins, Nikolay continued to forge on ahead.
“W- Wait up for us!” Raine called out, jogging to catch up. “Where are we headed, by the way?”
Nikolay curtly replied, “I don’t know.”
Raine stopped for a moment, then quickly realised he was being left behind.
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” he asked incredulously.
Judging from his purposeful strides, it initially seemed like Nikolay was set on quickly reaching some kind of destination.
“I’m not trying to deceive you. I really don’t know,” Nikolay said flatly. “Open all the doors we walk past. Eventually, whatever we’re looking for will show up.”
“Hey, isn’t this kinda… random?” Lysandra spoke up. “Shouldn’t we be putting our heads together for a more efficient way to search?”
Raine nodded in agreement. “It isn’t like you to rely on pure chance. The parade will be over before we find anything!”
Despite their protests, Nikolay remained as unchanging as ever.
It was true that he didn’t like to simply take things as they happened — he’d gladly spend several sleepless nights if it meant that he could make a foolproof plan. The only problem was that his time spent planning would all go to waste.
After all, what was the point of making a plan when fate had its own plan? Things would end up horribly off-track if the gods wanted it to, no matter how much he fought against it.
This time, Nikolay faced reality. He acknowledged the futility of his actions.
So for today, there was no plan, no preparation, and no predictions.
“Just keep walking,” was all he said.
Raine ruffled his hair in agitation. “I seriously don’t get you sometimes.”
This was hardly the first time that they hadn’t seen eye to eye. So, even though he didn’t agree, Raine still trailed after Nikolay with a frown. He was willing to go against his instincts, in favour of his trust in Nikolay.
Soon enough, fate showed its hand.
A little girl peeked out from behind a corner, her long blonde hair standing out against the pure white surroundings. She wore a light blue dress, which looked more like a cut-up bedsheet than an article of clothing.
Raine was the first one to notice her.
“You guys see that girl? Don’t look, otherwise we might scare her.”
“Really? Let me have a look,” Lysandra immediately said, pushing Raine out of the way.
As soon as her eyes saw the little girl, she froze.
Raine facepalmed. “Oh my god, didn’t I just tell you to- Lysandra? Are you alright?”
His voice seemed to pull her out of the trance, and she hastily grinned.
“I’m good. Just a bit shocked that a kid’s here, that’s all. I shouldn’t be, considering what I went through with these guys.”
Nikolay stepped out to investigate the situation, now that Lysandra had already blown their cover. He appraised their little observer with an unimpressed look.
“I didn’t expect fate to have this in store,” he muttered to himself.
Raine cocked his head. “What did you say?”
“Nothing. One of us should approach her and ask about the lab. If all of us go, it might be too confronting.”
“Well, I don’t wanna go. I’ve had enough to dealing with lab-related trauma for myself,” Lysandra waved her hands in front of her.
“I’m guessing Nikolay doesn’t want to do it,” Raine sighed. “So that just leaves me.”
“You’re quite good at dealing with kids. I see no problem,” Nikolay said.
“Last time I ‘dealt with a kid’, we accidentally killed her dad and sent her to a boarding school in Veritas to make up for it.”
“It was the best solution we had. We have no business staying in Eireia’s life for any longer than we need to. Now, go before our only lead runs away.”
Raine shot Nikolay a half-hearted glare, though his expression softened as he slowly made his way towards the hiding girl.
Although it was clear that he was approaching her, she still stayed peeking out at him with an innocently blank look. Raine crossed the distance between them with a few strides, then bent down onto his knees.
“Hi there, we saw that you were watching us. I thought I would come and say hello.”
She timidly brought her collar up to cover her face. “Sorry… They always tell us it’s rude to stare.”
“That’s okay, actually we were looking for someone to help us! I’m Raine. What’s your name?”
“Cryzari. But Lys over there calls me Zari, so you can too if you want.”
“Lys…?” Raine glanced behind him. “Oh, Lysandra? You know her?”
She nodded enthusiastically, the shyness suddenly gone. “Yeah! We’re best friends. The bestest friends in the entire world!”
Ignoring the many questions that popped up in his mind, if she already knew Lysandra, then it shouldn’t be too hard to ask her things.
“Do you wanna help us and Lys, then? We’re trying to find something in this big lab, and I think you can help us.”
“Ooh, is it an adventure?” Cryzari’s eyes gleamed. “I love adventures! Me and Lys always talk about going on one.”
“Great!” Raine held out his hand. “Do you wanna come with me? You can meet my other friend, and we’ll get going on our adventure.”
A small hand gripped onto his, and Raine slowly led Cryzari over to where his two companions were waiting.
“Hi Raine’s friend! I’m Cryzari!”
The dark-haired sorcerer dipped his head. “I’m Nikolay.”
“Hi Miko-wai! Your name is hard to say properly.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Ice to meat you, too! Why do you like food so much?”
Raine quietly said, “Cryzari, I think it’s supposed to be ‘nice’ to ‘meet’ you.”
“Oh,” the little girl said, then quickly spun around to face the red-head. “Hi again, Lys! You look tall. Like a grown-up. And your hair is long, like mine!”
Lysandra managed a half-smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Hey… Zari. Yeah, I’ve changed a bit since we last met.”
Raine and Nikolay shared a mutual look. There was something going on, but it wasn’t the right time to be asking questions.
Raine put on a cheerful voice and asked, “So, Cryzari, do you mind showing us around? We’re looking for the important stuff in this lab. Maybe where they keep the big machines, or the test subjects?”
“Oh, I can do that! It’s suuuper boring though, are you sure? Adventures are supposed to be fun, right?”
“That’s fine, Zari. Show us the way,” Lysandra said.