Nico stared down at the unconscious form of the curator.

Fuck.

He had racked his brain, trying to imagine what the curator had whispered to the glass dragon. Possibly the same codeword that had triggered the platform’s descent might also raise it back up. He should have been listening, or at least watching his lips. Lip reading whispers was challenging, but still… He had no earthly clue what Delios had said.

Their only hope was if Leo and Dani could —

“Hello Nico,” said a familiar voice.

— rescue them. Nico had never been so gratified to see his longtime partner. He looked up at him, breaking into a rare smile.

“This,” Leo continued, “marks the second time we've saved your arse in as many days. I do think you owe me a drink.”

“Me too,” said Gianna.

“I’ll liquor you both to your heart's delight and liver’s dismay,” Nico said. “Just tell me you have rope… Or something to help us get up. We don't know how to raise the platform.”

“Rope! On it!” Gianna said. “I’ll find something.” She ran off.

Leo peered down at Nico curiously. “Is that… you killed the curator?”

“Max knocked him out. He felt it was necessary,” Nico said. “It wasn’t.”

“Well, look Nico. The Black Cabal is here. I think they're onto us. They're trying to cut through the steel barricades that dropped when the Musea went under lockdown. We need to get the hell out of here. You find the painting?”

“No, Max is —”

“Rigghhtt herrreee,” Max said in a wailing, sing-song voice. It was the first time Nico had heard the bard sing, and he was horribly off-key. He was holding the painting in both arms. It was a medium-sized piece, but heavy enough with its frame that Max’s frail arms sagged under its weight. “Here I am with the painting intact — Among the Sierras. Feast your eyes upon it.”

“Is it the original, Nico?” Leo called down. Gianna had already reappeared with a coil of rope.

Nico got down on a knee, bending close to the canvas, his eyes crawling over every detail of it. “Yes.”

“Do you see the alteration?” Leo said.

“Yes.” It was so obvious, how did I miss it?

“What is it?” Max said. “Tell us.”

“No time. I'll explain later. We have to get out of here. Toss the rope, Gianna.”

“First we have to destroy the painting,” Max said. “You heard Cosimo’s orders.”

“His orders were to destroy it or to steal it. I intend to steal it. Go up the rope, I’ll be right behind you.”

Max shrugged, and took the rope and somewhat clumsily began climbing up it. He wasn’t setting his feet right, which made his progress slow going.

Nico turned back to the Sierras. Delicately, ever so delicately, he unclipped the frame from the painting. Telemachus used Parthian canvas which had the advantage of being durable and resistant to tears, but the corners were prone to fray. As he worked he spoke to Leo.

“Our disguise and our egress are both compromised,” he said. “We can't just walk out the front door if the Black Cabal is searching for us. Any headway on finding that secret exit?”

“Dani is presently applying her talents to that very task.”

“We need a contingency, Leo, in case we can’t find that secret exit. The Black Cabal will recognize us.”

“Disguises,” he said. “Shed that one, and trade it for… umm…”

“The curator!” Gianna exclaimed.

Nico looked at the unconscious curator. It was not a terrible idea. He shared a height and build with the curator. Their skin complexion differed slightly but not enough to be noticeable to the untrained eye. Nico could change just his face — doing a rough job of it would only take about five minutes. But these were not normal circumstances. He had already invoked the Disguise spell twice in one day; he felt spent, his mana drained. But it was worth a shot…

"Five minutes," he said. "Give me five minutes."

***

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Nico took the curator’s face and he took his clothes, and then he rolled up the painting into a tight cylinder and slid it down the curator’s white vest. It felt profane to handle Telemachus’ beloved work this way, but it was preferable to destroying it.

Then he gripped the nylon rope and deftly climbed back up to the Musea’s exhibit. Max and Leo gave him a hand, hoisting him over the ledge. At that same moment Gianna ran into the room.

“Dani’s got a lead on the exit,” she said. “She said she senses a ‘hollowness’ right below the statue in the Grand Foyer.”

The Bernini statue of Paladisian General Francesco Illari.

“I may have an idea,” Nico said. “Come on, let’s go.”

They dashed off, bounding down the corridor. Gianna, who was the fastest among them, sprinted ahead, leading the way. They could hear the sounds of the Black Cabal sawing through the metal barricades, and before they reached Grand Foyer they heard a loud crashing noise. Metal clattered on the marble floor. The Black Cabal had entered the Musea from one of its side entrances. Nico could hear their voices now, coordinating.

“Wait! Stop!” Nico said, gripping his companions arms. “You have to go somewhere. Hide.”

“Hide where?” Leo said. “The Black Cabal will turn over every stone. Pity I didn’t bring Whisper…”

“Let me handle them,” Nico said. “I’ll delay and distract. Find some place and lay low for a while.”

“The Human exhibit,” Max said, crossing his arms.

“Huh?” Leo had no idea what he was referring to.

Nico could not deny Max’s genius in this moment. “There’s an exhibit filled with simulacra humans. It’s back the way we came. Go there, and blend in. I’ll handle the Black Cabal.”

***

There were two Black Cabal agents. One was tall and skinny, the other short and portly. Both wore identical lacquered black masks. Both were moving swiftly, animated by a fanatical purpose. They nearly bowled right over Nico, their eyes scanning the empty Grand Foyer.

“Gentlemen!” Nico said, racing to keep up with them. “Oh seven blessings, thank you for coming. There has been a break-in! I was duped! Deceived! By a man pretending to be the Duke! He forced me to open the Musea's vault.”

“Where is he now?” the short one said.

“He's still down there. I'll show you. Come — hurry! This madman could be vandalizing the Musea's precious assets. Think of the damage! Think of the beauty that might be irretrievably lost!”

“There is just one particular painting he seeks,” the agent said in his gravelly voice. “Show us the way.”

“Of course, of course. Right this way…” As Nico led them down the marble corridor, he stole a glance at the eerie Human exhibit. The simulacra were at the edge of their exhibit, which they were magically forbidden from crossing. They were peering around curiously, whispering amongst themselves. Nico saw Leo and Gianna amongst them. The Black Cabal took no notice of them.

“Who is this man, and why is he disguised as the Duke?” Nico asked.

“A con man in pursuit of a Quest, the nature of which is strictly confidential. Where is the vault?”

“It’s right up here.”

They came to the very lip of the platform which had descended down into the vault. Curiously, the curator’s body was no longer there.

“This is it?” The portly Black Cabal agent sounded suspicious.

“Yes, look.”

And when they peered down, Nico kicked one and pushed the other. They screamed as they fell. Bones snapped, and they wailed in anger and agony. Nico turned to his companions.

“Run!” he shouted.

They joined him, sprinting down the checkered passageway, all the way to the Grand Foyer. Dani was circling the statue, chanting, and occasionally waving her arms at it. Cords of phosphorescent white mana shot from each of her fingers, crawling over the statue’s form, attempting to divine its secrets in vain. Nico noticed another pair of Black Cabal agents were still working on demolishing the thick steel bars that had fallen shut over the Grand Foyer’s entrance.

“Hang on, let me try something.” Nico climbed onto the statue, reaching up and ever so gently turned the statues head, pointing it at the tapestry depicting his legendary battle against the dark wizard Vinus. The head turned easily, giving Nico a thrill of hope. Nothing happened at first, but then the statue slid to the right, revealing a large hole with a ladder leading deep below the earth.

They went down one by one. First Gianna, then Dani, and then Max, who slipped from the ladder’s rungs and fell, injuring his arm. He wailed in pain from below.

“You incorrigible moron,” Leo muttered. “We ought to —”

He was interrupted by the twang of a crossbow bolt firing. The Black Cabal agents had managed to destroy a portion of the gate wide enough that they could slip through. They were now advancing on Leo and Nico.

“You go,” Leo said. “I’ll fend them off.”

“There’s no time to be a hero,” Nico said, practically shoving Leo into the hole. “You go, I’ll seal the statue behind me.”

Leo wavered only momentarily before he began his descent.

Nico went last. First he turned the statue’s head back the way it was originally facing, and then he gripped the sides of the ladder and slid down. Just as he reached the bottom the statue had slid back into place, extinguishing the light. Faintly he could hear the sounds of the Black Cabal agents shouting above.

Gianna lit an Illumination cantrip, revealing a massive tunnel. There was a daylight at the far end of it.

“My arm, my arm!” Max said dramatically, holding it up to Nico as if he were a physiker. “Oh, the pain is incalculable! Do something!”

“Do what?” Nico said.

“You’re supposed to be a — a savant, right? An autistic fucking genius. You’ve probably got a few dozen medicine books crammed in your skull, right? Help me.”

Nico ignored the jibe. “No, not now. Later.” He turned to Leo. “You smell that?”

“Salt,” Leo said.

The salty tang of the sea was thick in the air.

The docks, Nico thought. When the Musea received shipments of precious artwork by sea, they brought it through this tunnel. And there were good odds that the tunnel connected to the marina where the most precious vessels and the most precious cargo were moored. Mercado’s Marina.

They ran the length of the tunnel. The Mint was waiting for them.