Maria carefully peeked out the window.

Below came the sound of horse hooves clacking against the cobblestone street. Berlington guards marched past the building, spears, and swords in hand as they searched the streets and questioned the pedestrians.

The dim, dusty attic they were hiding out in was quite cramped. Shafts of sunlight were filtering through the small, cobweb-laden windows angled with the slant of the roof. Cardboard boxes with soft corners were stacked haphazardly around like a fort, with stacks of forgotten photo albums, cracked leather-bound books, and moth-eaten tapestries left balanced on top of them. A vintage rocking horse was tucked away in the corner beside Chariot where she sat against the wall.

Maria moved from the window and sighed tiredly. Her heart was still racing after all of that. It had all happened so fast that she barely had time to process what was happening at the moment. Tanalia walked past her, and sat in a weathered armchair, draped with a threadbare quilt. It was beside the wooden hatch leading downstairs to the inn below them. They were lucky to sneak in here. One of the windows in the back alley of the attack was high enough to be climbed into from the roof and was thankfully left a crack open. All they could do now was wait for the Berlington guards to hopefully pass, and try to come up with a new plan. Maria growled at how stupid of a plan it was. Simply walking into the lion's den didn't seem to work, and now that the Oracle knew they were in the city, chances were he was taking action to stay protected.

“We didn’t even do anything!” Chariot groaned. “They’re supposed to keep us safe.”

“They’re under his control too,” Maria said. “I saw it in their eyes. It feels like he’s gotten into everyone's mind.”

“Even if they weren’t, we tried to attack a priest,” Tanalia said. “I’m sure they would have come after us anyway.”

“That man is no priest, he is a disgrace to the church!”

“They don’t care. He showed them their future, and in exchange, they gave up their souls to him.”

“That’s what happened?” Maria glanced back at Tanalia.

“I don’t know,” Tanalia shrugged. “I’m just guessing.”

“We were gone for a month,” Maria said. “That’s plenty of time to brainwash people if that’s what he did.”

“It has to be that staff he’s using,” Chariot said. “We need to take it from him.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard to break every bone in his frail body,” Tanalia said.

“We’re not killing him.”

“I’m feeling like it.

“We’re not! We’ll destroy his staff, and incapacitate him. He can be turned in to the authorities for his crimes.”

“The authorities that are currently under his control?”

“Not if we find a way to snap them out of it!”

“You won't,” said a voice.

The trio froze and spun around to face the circular window from which they had climbed in through. Sitting on the cill, and kicking their feet in the air, was a young boy, scrawny, with messy hair, and dirty clothes.

Rynec.

“Oh great, you again,” Tanalia groaned.

Chariot jumped to her feet, and drew her Crimson Petal, aiming it at the boy.

“Woah, hold on!” the boy held his hands up, though Chariot’s act didn’t wipe the smug off his face. “I’m unarmed, see,” he waved his hands.

“What are you doing here?” Chariot growled. “You should be rotting in a cell.”

“You’re right, I should be, but I’m not. Escaping jail is really easy when the guards ‘accidentally’ forget to lock your cell,” he snickered.

“I told you turning him in was going to do nothing,” Tanalia said.

“What else was I supposed to do? Leave him to roam free and steal from more people?”

“It was inevitable,” Rynec chuckled.

“Shut it!” Chariot snapped. “You’re the last person I need to see right now.”

“Actually, I’m the right person you need to see right now.”

Maria pursed her lips and crossed her arms. “What do you mean by that?”

“I was listening to… well, actually, first, I saw you three crash, and thought it was funny. When I noticed the Berlington guards chasing after you though, I got a bit more curious. So, I followed you and listened in to your little conversation just now. You’re trying to take down the Oracle? After you stole back the eyes I stole from him?”

“It’s none of your business,” Chariot said.

“It is, actually,” Rynec said, hopping down from the windowsill. “He’s put a spell over the minds of people in this city. He’s a powerful man, why do you think I stole his eyes in the first place?”

“Because you're a bratty little pervert who works for the most prestigious group of lowlifes our society has ever seen,” Chariot said.

“That’s not the main reason,” Rynec chuckled.

“Why do you care so much about how the people feel all of a sudden,” Chariot asked, her face wrinkled into an ugly frown.

“Because it’s not so easy to steal from them anymore. They’re more alert and more willing to fight back. I’m down on my quota. Even some of the other kids I have helped me run my operations have gone to him.”

“Look at you, talking like an adult,” Tanalia teased.

“Yes, I’m talking like an adult, I’m thinking like one too, because I’m smarter than an adult.”

“That’s debatable.”

“At least I look like an adult. I’ve got hair growing on my chest, and you don’t even have any boobs.”

“Let’s not get into this,” Maria said, cutting the both of them off. She crossed her arms and stared down the young boy. “Why are you here.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“To offer you a proposition.”

“You’re not here to get back at us for defeating you?”

“No. I’ll let what happened go, but only if you give me my jacket back. That wasn’t easy to earn, you know.”

Maria tilted her head before she remembered. “Oh, right, I forgot I had that.” She pulled Rynec’s Thieves Brotherhood jacket from her inventory and tossed it to him. “Take it, we don't need it anymore.”

The boy caught the jacket and slipped it back on. “You even washed it for me, thank you,” he said sarcastically.

“Yeah, I wasn’t too keen on smelling like sewer water when I put it on.”

“You get used to it.”

“By used to it, you mean your senses are destroyed.”

“That’s one way to put it. It’s easy for me to navigate the sewers now without the smell bothering me.”

“Lucky you,” Maria grimaced.

The trio suddenly flinched at the sounds of Berlington guards yelling outside. Maria moved to the window and carefully peered out. They were barking at each other, trying to discern where they had gone to. Traveling on the streets was going to be tricky. At this point, she was sure word was spreading to everyone to keep an eye out for them.

“Anyways,” Rynec continued. “I’ve been watching the church where he operates. During the day he’ll hold services, but at night he offers people the opportunity to see into their future. He’ll only do it one at a time, so a line forms up outside the church for miles.”

“Are that many people really interested in seeing their future?” Tanalia asked.

Rynec shrugged. “I’m not, but people are. Word spreads that doing it helps invigorate you, and makes for feel stronger, more determined, and undeterred. There’s no hesitation, so people feel more free, so long as they do what the Oracle says.”

“That might be why so many people were acting recklessly,” Maria said, stepping away from the window. “Many of them were riding on the roof of their carriages as they chased us down.”

“Mhm, nothing stopping them from simply acting,” Rynec said. “That’s why it’s harder to mug people. They’re not afraid to fight back— And I’m not sure if you noticed, but I don’t have any muscles.”

“You seemed skilled enough with a knife,” Tanalia said.

“Not against crowds of people, and not without my jacket to help me blend in,” Rynec crossed his arms. “So, I need to stop the Oracle too.”

“You need our help?” Maria tilted her head.

“Precisely. I’m good, but not good enough. You three would have a better chance of taking him down than I would. I’ve seen him wave around that stupid moon staff, it’s pretty powerful.”

“We’re not helping you,” Chariot growled. “I will not sacrifice my morals just to help a thief steal from more people.”

“What other choice do you have?” Rynec said. “Lucky for you three, I know a way to sneak into the church undetected. I can help you, and you can help me.”

“And we have to give you something in return for that information?” Tanalia said. “Let me remind you that the last time we paid you to take us someplace, you stuffed us into a sewer pipe and dumped us into a damp, room smelling of shit with a Subterranean Blob in it.”

“You cannot seriously be considering accepting his help,” Chariot said to Tanalia.

“I still brought you to where you wanted to go. There just a shortcut I had you take.”

“There was a perfectly good door you could have let us use,” Chariot snapped.

“Where would the fun in that be? Besides, if the Subterranean Blob killed you, I could just take all your loot. You got to where you wanted to go, and I got your loot, it was a win-win scenario.”

“You’re a disgusting child.”

“I’m a genius child, that’s why the thieves' guild took me in. It helps too that I can fit into small places. Which is exactly what I can do for you.”

“What are you talking about?” Maria said.

“I can’t tell you unless you pay me first.”

“Little brat,” Tanalia said.

“People’s lives are at stake,” Chariot said. “Are you so selfish that you will do nothing if you aren’t paid in gold?”

“Oh, I don’t want gold from you this time. If you want my help sneaking up on the Oracle, then I want your panties.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Maria said.

“Your panties, you know, those things you wear to cover your—”

“We know what they are!” Charito said, blushing brightly. “We’re not giving you our panties!”

“That’s my price. If you want to try sneaking past all those people to fight the Oracle, then be my guest.”

Chariot squeezed her fist, taking a single step forward as she brandished her clenched fist. “You insufferable little pervert!”

“Chariot, can we talk for a minute,” Maria said, pulling her away from Rynec, and over to the other side of the attic. The boy simply stayed by the window, grinning as he looked the trio over.

“What?” Chariot growled.

Both Maria and Tanalia shared a concerned glance before Maria said; “Maybe we should.”

“Do not let that little pervert inside you come out right now!”

“I’m not, I’m not, but it might be worth a shot.”

“After what he did to us last time?”

“I’m not too eager to follow him again,” Tanalia said. “But I’m more eager to kick the Oracle's ass. He’s a part of the thieves guild, he probably knows the ins and outs of this city better than most people.”

“And so that’s the reason we’re giving him our underwear?”

“No,” Maria said. “Well… yes, but we’re going to need help sneaking into the church. We nearly killed some people earlier trying to escape, if they overpower us then there’s nothing we can do but fight back. Then we’re just hiring innocent people.”

“So, we’ll find our way in.”

“Do you have any ideas?” Tanalia asked.

“No, but that’s why we make a plan!”

“This is the plan. We pay him, he gets us in there, we kick an old man in the ass.”

“I can’t believe the two of you are so trusting of a member of the thieves guild. They’re rats, all of them, filthy, disgusting, perverted, thieves! I will not work with him.”

“You gave him gold before,” Maria said.

“That was before we knew who he was!”

“You tried to give him gold twice,” Tanalia added.

“I just said—!”

“We know, we know. Chariot, just tough it out this one time. If he betrays us… yeah, we’ll kick his ass too.”

“I already want to,” Tanalia said.

“He’s just a kid—”

“Who’s decent at moving around untraced,” Maria cut Chariot off. “Look, this might be our chance to get the Oracle before he brainwashes more people.”

Chariot glared back at Rynec. The boy waved mockingly. She scoffed and looked back at her party. “I don’t want to.”

“Just do it!”

“I would be going against my moral principles!”

“To hell with them!” Tanalia said.

“There’s a saying where I come from,” Maria raised her voice a little. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Chariot raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Rynec stole the Oracle's eyes once before. He’s his enemy. The Oracle is our enemy too. We have a common enemy, so why don’t we work together to stop him.”

Chariot frowned and looked between her two party members rapidly. She spun around and growled, pacing across the length of the attic as she pulled at her hair. Chariot took a long, deep breath, and tried to compose herself. “Fine…” she whispered.

Maria nodded and marched back over to Rynec. “You have a deal. But seriously, don’t show your faces to us again after this.”

“I wouldn’t want to unless you're willing to join me.”

“Never happening,” Maria said. She opened her inventory and retrieved a clean pair of her panties. It appeared in her hand, and she blushed slightly as she handed it over to Rynec.

“No, I want the panties you’re all wearing right now,” he said with a cheeky grin.

Maria narrowed her eyes at the boy. “We’re not taking them off in front of you, you little pervert.”

“Just change behind some boxes,” Rynec said.

Maria grumbled and backed into the corner of the attic where the boxes stacked high enough to cover her. Wearing a dress, it was easy to slip off her panties. Chariot and Tanalia each took their time, undressing until they were bottomless behind the boxes before handing their panties to Maria. She walked back over to Rynec and handed them over.

“There,” she growled.

The boy snatched them with a perverted grin, stretching them as he tugged on them through the leg holes. “How lucky am I?” he teased.

“Shut up, you better not mention this to anyone,” Maria said.

“I’ll be sure to tell people, don’t you worry. Now, follow me, I’ll sneak you into the church undetected.”