Wearing his new guard uniform, Norbert takes Obsius and stuffs the bird down the coat of the brightly coloured uniform. A mirror in the locker door as Norbert looks at himself, giving a half grin, trying to impose some confidence on himself.
The image of a man giving a sly look in the reflection, wearing a uniform that wasn’t fitting correctly, a child wearing their parent's clothes in an act to seem more grown up than they were. Stretching his toes in the confines of the black shoes they currently resided in, the sound of popping stitches followed suit as the seams gave way, relief spreading over Norbert.
His toes caught his eye as he took a few steps on the spot, the shoes' soles still flapping about but enabling him to walk still if he was careful. Hearing the locker slamming next to him as Vivienne finished, Norbert brought the sack around. “Do we still need this?”
“Of course, it's fundamental to busting in,” Vivienne told him.
Norbert nodded as he closed the door to his locker, leaving the clothes he had previously picked up inside. Obsius crawled out from inside and flapped to Norbert’s head. The scout turned to the witch, groaning in annoyance as the embroidered coat seemed to fit her just right, tailor-made even, with not even the sleeves being too long or short.
Vivienne looked down, fiddling with one of the cufflinks. A smile came up on her face as she looked up at Norbert, dropping both hands to her side.
“Something caught your attention?” Vivienne questioned, walking towards Norbert, the clack of her shoes on the stone floor.
Norbert gulped as he forced himself to look at the woman’s forehead, not wanting to make eye contact with the witch or else he would lose his soul forever.
“That yours is fitting properly, but mine is …” Norbert lifted his hands up and dropped them back down again, his sleeves getting caught on his forearms and staying up. He stared at Vivienne’s, whose own were able to not move at all, sitting perfectly on her body.
“Just a little, special something,” She Flickered her fingers in front of Norbert. “Now, enough whining; we have a blood orb to steal.”
Before Norbert could even express his opinion, Vivienne headed towards the door, her hand on the handle, looking back at Norbert, who was still stuck in place. “Would it be best if you followed after me unless you want to exercise?” she asked him.
Norbert quickly came forward, standing right behind the woman as she opened the door. The guards standing on either side jumped as the door swung inwards, and two people walked out.
“I didn’t know a check was ongoing.” The one on the left spoke to the new guests. Norbert eyed up the small sword strapped to the man's waist, meant for the tight confines of the walkways Norbert was currently in.
Vivienne smiled as she turned to the guard who spoke, “Some disturbances called to investigate, worse than told.” Vivienne headed to the right as Norbert nodded his head, giving a painful smile to the guard before following after her. Conscious of the bird rusting in his hair, he hoped the guards wouldn’t pay attention to it.
“It’s always like that. It’ll only be a few rotations, and next thing you know, a cycle has gone by, and now you’re in trouble for taking too long.” The guard on the right spoke to their pair, and Norbert raised his hand in return, knowing how these things would always go out of control.
“How do they not see Obsius?” Norbert asked her.
Vivienne scowled at Norbert, continuing to walk and not giving Norbert an answer. Wondering why, as he looked, the guards he passed when he asked the question gave the trio a quick look, stopping for a moment until a shake of their head and they continued with their jobs.
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Knowing the witch would not answer any more questions, Norbert zipped his lips and followed after her, continuing down the windy corridors. He did not even try to remember which way they needed to go.
Pulling down a corridor, Norbert stopped as he looked at the doorway on the other end. The dark metal gleamed back to Norbert, testing him to go on and take it while the two guards on either side tightened their grip on the spears they currently held.
The white metal flashed light against the dark behind them.
“What business do you have?” One of them asked.
Vivienne continued to walk forward, crossing the distance between the two groups without a word.
Stopping in front of the guards, the two spears lowering, one pointed at each of them. Norbert see the spear tip pointed at his chest waver slightly.
“If you could catch that one.” The witch pointed to the one in front of Norbert. The three other people wondering what she could be after, one of the guards about to shout out, stopped by their eyes rolling to the backs of their heads as they fell to the floor.
Norbert rushed forward, Obsius descending from the head as Norbert grabbed the spear in one hand and slung his arm around the other, gently lowering the unconscious guard to the ground.
Still holding the man, the sack he was carrying now dropped to the floor where Norbert was previously standing as he looked behind over at Vivienne. The woman smiled as she gently placed the guards back against the wall, Norbert following suit with the spear on their laps.
Reaching back, picking up the sack, Norbert looked at the door. Stepping forward, he tapped his hand against it. The dull thud resounded back to Norbert; he nodded as he looked towards Vivienne, wondering how she could get in without making too much noise.
The witch reached for the bag, Norbert passing it over to her as she looked inside. Pulling out the items until a stethoscope came out, she placed it into her ears, the metal place holding against the door, holding her other hand out to it.
Norbert watched as the snakes came down her arm once more, coiling around the fingers on her hand before melding into the door. Norbert lost track of the reptile as it went inside. The only indication that it was still moving as the scales continued going further down was Norbert wondering how long that thing was.
Tilting one side to the other, the witch slowly moved her hand about. Norbert looked towards the two guards, one snoring in their sleep, drool coming down their mouth as Norbert smiled at their predicament.
Moving over to the other side, Norbert nodded his head as he looked down the hallway, arms crossed in front of himself, hoping that to any passer-by giving a brief glance, all would seem as it should.
“And there … we … go”
CREAAAAK
Norbert raised his eyebrows, turning still as a statue, eyes dancing about, trying to see any movements or alarms ringing off announcing the robber’s presence to the staff inside the colosseum.
Turning about, his eyes grew wide as he looked inside. The metal door was fully opened and showing its contents to Norbert.
Vivienne turned around, beckoning Norbert forward with a wave of her hand. The snake's tendrils slither back under her clothes. Norbert shivered at the sight, not wanting to be hit by them at all.
Stepping forward, Norbert looked at the lines of glass boxes, some holding complete sets of armour, others mostly empty as something floated about. I am trying to check the contents and the colour of magic it would show Norbert.
Two motes of golden light appeared in front of Norbert, smiling at the sign as he walked away, knowing when not to push his luck—continuing down, Norbert stopped at a trinket, a wooden beaded necklace, salt seemingly still sticking to the wood, reaching out with his hand as he bent down, wiping the plaque clean as he looked at the words, unable to read what it was trying to say.
Dismissing it out of his mind, Norbert turned to Vivienne, the woman quickly walking deeper and deeper into the vault, passing over most of the relics that Norbert could see. On the side, Norbert saw a single copper coin in the glass case, reminding him of a museum, as Norbert had seen other coins in the same display case.
Walking to it, Norbert’s eyes went to the sparkly nature of the coins, tiny sparks seemingly resonating from within them, dancing from one to the other. He looked towards the plaque, thankful that he could read this one.
“Magic copper”, Norbert read aloud.
The sound caused Vivienne’s head to stare at Norbert, looking back at the display Norbert was currently looking at. “A single coin that can buy a city. The amount that you have acquired is a pittance in comparison to a single one of those. Now stop distracting me while I crack open this case.” Vivienne hissed at Norbert, heading towards a case that Norbert could see the blood orb currently residing in.
Nodding his head, Norbert left it there as he walked to the back of the vault, coming to the other side as he rested his head, wondering how long it would take for Vivienne to be done and retrieve her prize.
Turning his head to the side, hidden between armour, Norbert’s eyes were drawn to an object, something inside of him, a desire more potent than any Norbert had ever felt, for the item standing within that case.