The envelopes looked to be in good condition. But I noticed it, a bit of smudged colour near where you would normally hold the parchment. Someone has found me, and they’ve been reading what I’ve been up to.

-From Professor Shokolov’s Journal, 45th Entry

Night time for Heravina was a bit different than other cities. The sound of the water would splash down at the bottom lake, leaving the area around it barely audible. In the middle of the night, when the stars were covered by clouds and most people had fallen asleep, it was this sound that hid the steps of AxEl and his enforcers.

The rounded edge of the waterfall made enough noise that was – if not deafening – distracting at the point they were at. They were far enough from it that it could fit into the palm of a person’s hand, leaving room for all the buildings, warehouses and ports that made up the lower districts of Heravina.

They were in the excensia district specifically, and AxEl and his enforcers did their best to conceal their presence within it. AxEl wore black clothing and a mask that covered the lower half of his face. He ran along the rooves of the establishments with little care for their structure. The wooden fixtures some of the places had felt unsteady under his footsteps so AxEl made sure he didn’t stay too long in one spot. He tried to step lightly and quickly, annoyed with the slanted roof and looked forward at his next mark. The next building over was coloured light red and was thankfully flat, so AxEl lunged off the one he was one and took to it instead. The layer of snow cushioned his jump, releasing a satisfying crunch.

From his sides, Lex and OkIx approached, settling in their formation behind him. AxEl looked over the parapet of the building he was on and saw no one down on the streets. Not even a single car we can spot? He thought to himself. The only things that were coming out were the trucks filled with fish that came from the docks…. The docks?

An idea suddenly struck AxEl. He moved from the left side of the building to the right, looking out over the large lake at the bottom of the escarpment. There was ice beginning to form at the edges of the pool, though it was hard to make out under the dim light.

And there were boats out on the lake too. He couldn’t see them well enough to make out what they were doing, but they were there.

“There’s an awful lot of boats out there,” he said, voice muffled through the mask. Lex walked up to him and put a foot on the parapet.

“Fishing later into the night?” he guessed.

“But in this weather? They’d be better off waiting in the day, when the weather’s warmer and the fish come out,” AxEl replied. Snow was falling gently onto the roof, which made it harder for them to jump from rooftop to rooftop.

“Maybe their prospects are low, so they have to,” OkIx offered as an answer.

“Or, they’re not out there for that kind of fishing,” AxEl said. Lex seemed to grasp the meaning instantly, his eyes shooting up. He put on his binoculars again and aimed them right at the docks where another boat was parking.

on the roof of that charming little establishment, they spied on the dock workers for a long time. AxEl was flanked by Lex and OkIx on each side as they hid behind the ledge. The both of them engaged in a not completely silent conversation of import.

“Take out one of the fishermen and use him as a distraction while we search out the place. We’d only need to kidnap him for a bit, if you want,” OkIx argued, pointing towards one of them in particular. The main had on a dull yellow raincoat and large greying beard. He tied a rope to the end.

“You can’t just kidnap random people off of the street. Even if they do close down the docks, anything we could use would already be gone,” Lex replied, snatching the binoculars off of OkIx. OkIx glared at the man but before he could move, AxEl held up a hand.

“Kill him some other time. We’ve got work to do.”

The man they’d been spying on put down a ramp to the boat and took a loading trolley up to it. AxEl gestured for Lex to hand the binoculars, then got a clearer picture at what the fisherman was bringing down. On the platform he loaded a large wooden crate. Nets stuck out of its ends, but AxEl felt suspicious of the contents.

The fisherman gingerly took the crate off of the boat and hauled it all the way inside one of the warehouses. A few moments later, he came out and locked the door with some keys and walked out of the port while spinning the keys in his hands.

There was a small structure near the entrance to the port, and a man came out of it to close the metal fence behind him and lock it up with even more chains.

“We’re going down there,” AxEl said.

“Why?” Lex asked.

“Because something tells me that crate isn’t going to be there in the morning,” AxEl replied. He took some Firewire out of his pocket and jumped off of the roof of the building. The Firewire kicked in long before he hit the ground, cushioning his legs against the force. AxEl rose up from between the buildings and stalked towards the chain link fence.

“Do you see any cameras?” AxEl asked both Lex and OkIx as he crept towards the docks and away from the sight of the guard stationed there. The guard looked to be pretty adamant about his job, not even flinching from the spot he had. Or maybe he has something more to protect than a bunch of fish, AxEl thought as he picked up a smashed bottle.

“Only one that would get us caught,” OkIx replied, pointing towards a camera on top of the guard’s tower. The camera was pointed inwards, so AxEl was glad for that little gift.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

AxEl spotted a mailbox near the street that led up to the docks, so he began to formulate an idea. AxEl took Prophecy and Airwaves both, letting the Phantoms invade his mind as he felt the world slow down around him. It was a weird mixture using both of the Bullets, as even his Phantoms were now displayed in sped up time.

And in his vision, when he saw the guard turn for just a moment, he rushed towards the mailbox and hid behind it. He tried concealing his presence behind the small thing as best as he could. He had to extend his legs to fit the whole of his frame behind it though.

Then, he waited again for another Phantom. Every moment he would decide to pop out until he saw a Phantom where doing so wouldn’t have him spotted. When he did, he flung the bottle near the fence with all his enhanced might and ducked behind the mailbox again.

“Huh, what?” the security said when the sound of glass breaking came to him. AxEl didn’t see it, but he did hear the click of a door and see the faint shine of a flashlight.

“Who was that?!” the guard said. AxEl peeked and saw the man looking over in the wrong direction. Satisfied, he gestured for both Lex and OkIx to run. They used Airwaves too, moving with unnatural speed and grace. Lex seemed the less adjusted between the both of them, jumping with every step.

AxEl followed behind them and they stuck their backs to the wall of the guard’s office, opposite to the side he was on. OkIx snuck into the empty office and disconnected a wire.

“It’s clear,” he whispered to AxEl and Lex. They took turns climbing the structure, being quick so as to not catch the attention of the clueless guard. AxEl was the last, hauling himself up just in time before a Phantom of getting caught came to fruition. The guard walked underneath them and scratched his head, unnerved by the sight of it.

“Oh, for Faceless’ sake, that came loose too?” the guard said, walking into his office. AxEl gave the rest of them only a momentary glance before jumping off of the roof and rolling on the ground.

He heard two thuds behind him and continued forward towards the first of the warehouses. He lunged between the first and second one of the identical buildings, and Lex and OkIx came after and the three of them waited for a breath. AxEl felt the Phantoms fade and peeked out of the corner towards the guards stand. The camera was moving again, scanning the open area inside of the docks from right to left. But the guard stayed inside, and he didn’t particularly seem to act as if he’d noticed them.

“We’re good,” AxEl said before standing up and dusting off his knees. He wasn’t sure if the adrenaline rushing through his veins was because of him or the Airwaves, but it didn’t matter now that they had access to the warehouses. They walked towards the nearest door they could find, a small placement near some garbage cans. AxEl tried the lock to no avail. Cursing himself.

“Damnit. Lex?” he asked the man, who smiled in response.

“On it, boss,” he said as he brought out some small tools out of his sleeves. The lockpicking tools did their job, putting all of the tumblers into place and opening the door with an audible click.

AxEl stepped inside and OkIx shined a light within the warehouse. They closed the door behind them, leaving them in near darkness without the flashlight. There were smaller metal containers at the back of the warehouse that were closed. AxEl walked towards those containers, picking at one of the handles with his gloved hand and pulling it wide open.

Even in the snowy weather, AxEl noticed how cold it really was in those walls. It wasn’t like the snow piling up outside. The container, more than anything, was trying to infiltrate his clothes with biting cold. A low mist was crawling across the floor of the warehouse, leaking from the box.

He eyed the various shelves that were hung with all manner of fish. The meat was packed into trays with ice and placed on shelves. There were crates of something at the back of the container, so AxEl got near those. The wooden boxes looked to be frozen over. Trying to pick at them with his bare hands wasn’t working out for AxEl.

“There a crowbar inside the warehouse?” AxEl asked Lex and OkIx. They both walked out and came back in, carrying the metal instrument. AxEl put the end on the crate and levered the other end. A snap of wood later, the top broke in one place. AxEl repeated the process, breaking the wood and finally getting the top off after many tries. He dropped the bar onto the ground, where it clanged against the floor.

He then pushed aside the top and saw what he had wanted to. Inside of the crate were several pink bulbs. The bulbs had a sheen of ice over them, and the vines that extended from their bottom were frozen from their position. AxEl picked one of the bulbs, snapping off the vines and held it up against the flashlight.

“That’s the Plant that makes Airwaves, alright,” AxEl said. He turned it around in the light.

“Then that means the whole fishing industry is just a front for their Airwaves harvesting?” OkIx asked.

AxEl nodded. Just then, the three of them heard something heavy fall far away. It sounded like a solid piece of metal impacting the ground. A moment later, they heard the sound of the main door sliding open.

Lex acted quickly, closing the door to their container and hugging the wall with one ear next to it. AxEl and OkIx stood as quietly as they could, hearing the footsteps outside.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The guard opened the container to the far left, shining his own torch inside it. The fish looked to be in order, the crates hadn’t moved. The guard closed it and moved to the second one, repeating the process. Again there was nothing out of the ordinary.

He didn’t know why he even bothered to check the third one. It must have just been some random noise in the middle of the night. But he did, clutching the handle bar of the container as he pulled on it.

His hand caught when he realized just how heavy the door was. It barely budged and he had jerked himself forward accidently.

“Tsk, what’s wrong with this thing?” he said to himself. People had to find a way to entertain themselves when they were all alone in the night, after all.

He pulled again, then when that didn’t work, he put his foot up against the door and yanked. The door opened and a mist of cold came with it. Beyond the mist he saw… nothing, again. The boxes were in order, the shelves were fine and the fish were all there.

He walked away from the containers, adjusting his hat. He yawned into his sleeve before finally locking up the warehouse from the outside and returning to his post. Had he looked above the containers however, he might have seen the three men laying atop it.

They were flattened against its top, and they held their breath together until the man had left the warehouse. Once he had, they let it out into the air, visible through the light that shined in through the window.

AxEl and his crew climbed off of the containers, landing softly on the concrete and sneaking their way out of the back door.

“Lock it again,” AxEl ordered Lex, who pulled out his tools once again.

“They’re going to know we’ve been here by the next shipment. We should’ve just knocked him out, it would have been faster,” OkIx said.

“Keep that bloodlust in check. The last thing we need is more bodies,” AxEl lectured. He was leaning against the wall and watched Lex do his work. The man was done in only a few moments, testing the handle once again and pulling away satisfied.

Leaving the warehouse turned out to be much easier than entering it. They just had to contend with the coldest water any of them had ever swum in. The lake went downwards, so they didn’t much do any swimming either, just floated with their breaths held until they made it across to the other end. They each took a stick of Firewire before it, and AxEl thanked the warmth for keeping him sane throughout.

When they reached the dock they wanted, AxEl was glad to be dragged out of the water and back into civilization.