Norbert felt a hand on his clammy forehead. "What happened to you" he faintly heard Elizabeth say to him. Norbert just focused on breathing, forcing himself to forget the feeling his body experienced. Slowly he felt himself relax and unwind and relax, his breathing becoming steady. Uncurling from his fetal position, Norbert just stared up at the ceiling.
Seeing a head pop over him, Norbert saw Elizabeth looking down at him. "You good now?" she asked.
Groaning and getting onto all fours, Norbert stood up, feeling himself again. "Yeah, I'm all good now." He said.
"What happened?" Elizabeth asked him.
Norbert thinking about it made him shiver involuntarily. "Just something in the darkness," Norbert said. Elizabeth just nodded as she sat at her desk, ruffling the papers around. "Have anything you want to say?" Norbert asked Elizabeth.
"Not really, only to keep the secret. Don't let the general public know, or else others like us will come after you." She said, filling the papers away.
"Any rules to go with?" Norbert asked.
"Free rain over here to do whatever you want to whoever you want. Don't harm others or go after families associated with people jumping over on Earth or face punishment from others." Norbert just nodded.
"Well, guess I'll see you when I see you. Oh, Commander Sally said she would get back at you for your identity uncovering. Just a heads up." Norbert said as he opened the door walking out. Ducking his head back in, Norbert asked, "By the way, what time is it now?" He asked.
"Near mid-day, you better run before your friends get any more worried," Elizabeth said. Not hearing anything after midday, Norbert sprinted out of the room, heading back over, hoping Dousan wouldn't tear him a new one.
Elizabeth closed the door, opened the drawer and saw the wanted poster and the empty cask of elixirs. She shook her head and said, "Kids" while shaking her head, sitting back in her chair and reviewing the necessary documents of how the money flowed through her casinos.
***
Norbert was back on the other side of the bridge, the coins jingling with every step. Quickly rushing back to their inn, remembering Elizabeth's wanted posters, each second walking around the street with his mask, a potential for him to get taken down.
Quietly slipping through, Norbert nodded to Krrrasna as he made his way up the stairs and to their floor, heading to the door and banging on it. Several tense seconds later of silence, Norbert saw his door open Rachel standing there in the doorway, gasping at the sight of Norbert puffing, having not used any energy and not wanting to draw any more attention, the stress of getting caught causing him to get out of breath, trying to blend in and still be speedy.
Walking to the window, she stuck out a shirt, Norbert wondering what the reason was as he sat down on the ground, finally thankful to be away from everyone. Taking his mask off, Norbert placed the sack of coins next to him, allowing himself to calm down as he looked at the coins he ran with.
Minutes passed in silence as Norbert began counting the coins that he gathered before. Surprised when the number went past fifty gold, the amount he expected. His counting ending at seventy, Elizabeth must have put some extra in, Norbert thought. "What a nice lady", he whispered to himself.
Suddenly the door banged open; Norbert looked up from the pile of coins on the ground, seeing everyone enter. Dousan first stalked through, his eyes stopping on the coins as he groaned in annoyance at seeing the large pile. Azalea next shook her head at Norbert as she looked out the window with Rachel, taking the shirt out. Last was Mackey, closing the door behind himself, his eyes falling to the coins on the ground, chuckling at the grand amount before them.
"Guess you don't know how to hold back", Mackey said, pointing to the coins as he sat beside Norbert. "How many did you win?"
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"Fifty gold, the Owner added an extra twenty, so that's seventy all up. Oh, and here are the two silver coins as well," Norbert finished, taking out the two silver coins and adding them to the pile. Looking around as the two coins clicked, Norbert still had the original coin from Earth in his pouch, thankful that it was still there.
Dousan stared at the coins. "Anyone chase after you?" he asked. Norbert just shook his head, picked one up, and started flicking it into the air.
"So, with the extra coin, what's the plan?" Norbert asked, not wanting to explain why he was talking with the Owner, only seeing it brought him more trouble.
"Oh, I also can't make my way around outside, so it must be you four. They've got wanted posters circulating of me with and without the mask." Norbert said.
Azalea stared at him. "What else did the owner say," she asked.
Norbert just stared at her, knowing that there was no escaping. "The Owner was the same one I met last time. Name's Elizabeth, and they gave me ten elixirs. Said someone wanted me to have it but have no clue who it could be." Norbert finished.
Dousan looked around at him. "And where are these elixirs?" He asked, fear growing in his stomach, thinking he might know where they resided.
"Well, I had them, of course," Norbert said, patting his stomach and belching loudly, allowing it to echo throughout the room. Adding "Received night vision, magic sight as well as a general mix of everything, focusing on strength, magic strength in both regards and resistance." Norbert finished off.
Mackey whistled at the outburst. "Guess that changes that plan", he finished.
Azalea shook her head. "No, it just means a different distribution, but first, some testing."
Mackey just stared slack-jawed. "Your saying he can have more than twelve and be completely fine? That's unheard of, like ever, and so quickly."
"Trust me, he can take it. You need to know where to invest. And he needs everything he can get if we want this to work," Azalea said.
Norbert just stared at everyone in the room. "So, what is the plan? I do not like the sound of it already." Norbert finished gulping.
Dousan spoke up, "Basically, your part of the plan is to run distraction, making as much noise as possible in the prison while everyone else goes in and finds who we need, our equipment and hijacks a train and gets it running the wrong direction, crash it then continue on foot using any coin you received from tonight as supplies needed" Dousan finished.
Norbert just stared at them. "That's the best you came up with. Me acting as bait while hoping that you can find everyone?" Norbert asked. Receiving a nod from Rachel, Norbert blew air out of his nose. "So when will we run through this?" he asked.
"Was going to be in a week or so after properly scoping the place out, but if people are already looking for you, it will need to be sometime this week; it still gives us enough time to get in and get out with everything", Dousan said.
Norbert nodded, happy that he wouldn't need to risk his life tonight or some time ridiculously close. Looking around them, Norbert asked, "So, what now?" He asked the room.
Azalea stepped forward, bending down as she took a book and penned out. "Now, we do some testing for your elixirs", She finished.
Dousan is called behind, "Then get your sword work into shape in case you face Arzlan again" Norbert gulped at the thought of facing the giant once more.
***
That night Norbert rested on the floor, thinking about what happened that day, the weight of the two days catching up with him as he yawned. Dousan and Mackey have a mattress underneath them, Norbert not wanting to use one, already used to sleeping on the ground. The three extra light blue elixirs having swirled together earlier, still flexing his and surprised about how easier it was to control.
Thinking back to the day after his mad dash, Norbert felt like he pushed more than ever, becoming light in the room than anything else, and the subsequent hours of swinging his sword drained him of everything else, resulting in him being bone tired, nearly everything used up. Thankfully they hadn't scratched anything, not wanting to explain it to the Owner.
As Norbert stared at the ceiling, eyelids growing heavy, Norbert allowed sleep to overtake him as he curled on the side and breathed in deeply.
***
Opening his eyes, Norbert looked around; everyone else was still sleeping. Sighing that he still had this habit of not sleeping through the night, Norbert thought he had broken the habit with the peaceful nights he slept with Luck; he had been sleeping through the entire night then.
Getting up, seeing that everyone else was still sleeping soundly, with nothing else to do but wait, something that Norbert knew he would need to get used to over the several days ahead of him until they were called to action.
Heading to the window, Norbert looked outside; only a few people were walking around, most of them, the guards standing at their posts. Watching as they moved about, Norbert was surprised at the lack of nightlife; compared to the cities he was used to, this was practically dead, wondering what the cause was.
As he sat there thinking, a thought occurred to him; he hoped there wouldn't be an announcement tomorrow forcing them to take action sooner than they wanted, but something like that would only happen in a story.