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āA second return, but what for? And for whom was I brought back?ā
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#0C94CC ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #CC0C2Eć
|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#0C94CC ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #CC0C2Eć
|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||
There were many who called Elise something of a prodigy. There were others who thought she was near omniscient. Those were usually the ones she trapped in corners and threatened until there was nothing left for them to bleed. What was she really? The black eagle did not know. She left Zed's palace behind, still finding it eerie how empty and barren it was. Once, it was full of life. Now, even the gardens were trampled on, the flowers wilted and dead. Nothing was as it was supposed to be. It almost made her laugh. Who would have thought after so many Heirs lost to Arke and her power, that in the end, one Servant would be what took her down? The theaters would make jokes about Arke for the generations to come, mocking her for losing to a Servant of all things.
She was like a shadow, clinging to the hook-shaped rod, making sure she was undetectable. There was something she had to do above else, but it depended on her gamble. The truth was, the black eagle was neither smart nor a genius. She was just very good at gambling. She used context clues and hints to make guesses, and she so far was simply lucky each time things went according to plan. If her gamble about Arke was correct, then she would come out on top. But if things did not work out, she would be yet another victim to fall at her hands. She smiled grimly, slipping past the guards, flattening herself through the doors as they opened them to let what appeared to be a search party out. She waited for this moment, glad that a very specific sound drew their attention. "Hurry up, or Arke's going to kill us." The satyr muttered, leading the armed guards. "We have to find that Winter Heir fast." They were already galloping, unaware they had allowed someone to slip right past the front doors.
Step one complete. Infiltration was a success. Her heart was pounding, more and more. If things went well, if only this worked out as planned. Were the others safe? Did Kore protect them in the Underworld? She shook her head as she crept through the golden halls in secret. There was no time to worry about that. Focus. Focus on the mission at hand. With hope, this would be the last time she would have to take a gamble like this. With hope, things would become peaceful by the end. Taking a wild guess, Elise headed downwards, down the spiral stairs in the center of what was once Zeus's palace, descending into the depths. Her head was aching but she reached the bottom, the dungeons. Here all of Zeus's loyalists and allies would be locked up. She needed to find Zeus - he was the most important of all to reach. She spotted a few familiar faces, Ame whimpering into Neptune's shoulder, Chikyu and Zoku playing with cards...
She found Hades and slipped next to him, as close to the bars as possible. "Where is Zeus." She wrote into his arm with her finger, startling him. "What are you looking at, Hades, get back in your cell." Angus growled, poking him with a pitchfork. Hades snarled, his horns bright with anger. "Once Zeus breaks out of the cemetary, you'll regret siding with Arke." Angus laughed, rubbing his nose. "Zeus has probably gone insane already. Poor guy has to watch his wife'd corpse rot, unburied. Give it up, Hades, you and your kind have failed. It's a new age now." What an idiot, Elise thought. How much of a fool do you need to be to fall for that? Well, that was all she needed. She gently lifted the key from Angus's waist and slipped it through the bars as he bragged about his victory.
"Wait for the signal." Elise drew the words onto Hades's arm. He nodded and turned away to make it less obvious he had been communicating with someone. One job done, Elise snuck her way back up the spiral staircase. She needed to find one last thing now before reaching for Zeus. Something very important that she could not leave without. Winter was safe and out of the palace for now. No doubt Arke's people were in pursuit. This would make this very easy. She studied this of course, when Hades warned her about Arke. She had a feeling she knew exaclty where to find the golden treasure. So outside of Arke's personal quarters Elise found two guards and threw a rock at one. "Hey, what the heck, why did you hit me?" The two Servants began fighting, allowing Elise to slip right in.
Arke was not here. Was she out on the field? There was a golden box by the bedside. Elise opened it gently, finding two rainbow rings. She slipped one on, feeling sight beyond her own. Sight outside of the palace, an unknown ally holding her by the hand, high in the sky. "How dirty, Arke..." The black eagle whispered, removing the ring of Winter's sight from her finger. Should she break the sight ring? Or would it be dangerous? Would it make it impossible to return? No, she would not take that gamble. She would wait for now. Next she put the other ring on. "Zed." She whispered, Winter's voice coming out of her mouth. A smile rose. This was exactly what she needed. She created mist replicas of the rings and placed them back in the golden box, pocketing the real ones.
Voices outside the door. She would not be able to escape through that way. She needed to go get Zeus and Zed now. But if she returned to Zed's palace would she be able to sneak back into Zeus's palace a second time? It would be very difficult, and she did not feel safe leaving a mist ball behind. That would be a signal to Arke that she had been here, it would be too dangerous. A window. She could jump down to the gardens. It was a long fall, but it was her only hope. With a leap of faith, Elise left Arke's room, clinging to the hook-shaped rod.