Novel Full Chapter 1980 A Slightly Busy Night
Chapter 1980: Chapter 1980 A Slightly Busy Night
— Kat —
Sorting everything out ended up involving a lot of running and honestly, quite the mess. Kat went to see Steel, got conscripted into temporarily watching over the infirmary, and then soon needed to run back after Steel had finished messing with the enchantments. Lily was luckily with Hedera so they weren’t caught talking to Weaver and everything went smoothly from that end.
The issue was that, once Kat was in position with her effective but somewhat gross and risky strategy to remain unseen… the streets were simply busier. Despite it being night time, there was a near constant trickle of people moving around. Not always on the ’main’ streets surrounding the recharge station but certainly a constant stream of people.
It was hard to know who to keep an eye on. Kat’s eyesight was good sure, and if she really needed to focus on everything at once she could slow down her perception or review her memories to make sure she got everything… but reviewing memories took time or demonic energy, same as the perception trick and Kat wasn’t going to waste that. If the whole night as like this Kat would be out of energy before midnight.
Which meant they all just had to try their best to spot people. Is that guy leaning against the wall a worry? What about the person making goo-goo eyes at the guards? The one that’s climbing the tree in someone’s backyard a street away? That last one was definitely a thief sneaking in but NOT the one they were looking for so sadly, jut make a note of that one and move on.
Things came to a head just after midnight. The trickle had slowed down further. There was usually a couple of people in sight but that was more from her vantage point then the number. Occasionally you had moments of nobody… and someone was ready to take that chance. Up on one of the other roofs, someone took a running jump and leapt for the recharge station. Clearing aiming to go over the fence… but there was an enchanted barrier.
Kat was actually expecting them to go through. Surely someone with that much gumption would know what they were doing? Instead, splat. They smacked into the barrier with barely a sound. They did recover quickly. Shifting themselves from their position squished against the barrier into a slide, and once they hit the ground they darted in between some houses upon seeing none of the guards had spotted them.
Kat’s first instinct, even just upon seeing them slam into the wall was to dash off. It was on her side of the watch, and even if Hedera had seen it, there was no way for the archer to properly respond for the moment. Except… it felt wrong. Allegedly, the thief or thieves that had been doing this had been doing this for an exceptionally long time. The idea they wouldn’t have some way to tell if the barrier was passable was ridiculous.
Slamming into that same barrier? Making some noise and just barely managing to avoid the guards noticing? When every single other time this had happened they’d managed to go without detection even when defeating scores of guards? This was NOT that competence. Just to be sure, Kat even checked with Lily who was, luckily, awake. She could see the thief from her spot in the tree perfectly well. Something was wrong.
Kat slowed her mind down as much as she could and looked around. She covered a huge amount of distance with a glance. She took in the scenery all before the thief made it between the houses. Kat was almost willing to chase them regardless… but, just barely, she managed to spot the slightest glint of something. They were many rooftops back, and focusing on it with even more demonic fire pouring into her eyes?
It was someone laying down on a high roof, telescope in hand. Kat knew using her eyes like that would have flashed them purple for a moment. She’d needed to put in that much power to see this guy. They were quite a distance away, across huge amounts of the city. Only the fact they were atop a building that could see over it all allowed for them to spot what was going on. The thief from before? They were bait.
Kat let her head explode into water. She made no effort to control the water directly after that happened. She was hoping that the flash of light would draw the eyes, and that the falling water would simply be taken as something unrelated. It was the best shot she had after giving away her position with that flash of purple. They hadn’t been focusing on her, it was hopefully fine.
Still, it gave Kat a bit of time to think as the ’water’ ran down the building and out of sight where she could reform. *How do I alert Hedera? She’s obviously seen the guy at this point, AND seen that I’m not going after them. I’m not sure if she was watching when my eyes flashed or I ’exploded’ into water. Which… hmm… now that I think about it might be another problem. Hopefully she doesn’t think I’m dead?*
[Surely she’d know I’d be freaking out if that was the case. Even if I was asleep I’m sure I’d notice something so extreme as your head exploding even if it didn’t kill you.]
*Do you think it would?*
[I’m really not sure. I want to say no, but that’s more for my piece of mind. We know it’s at least somewhat possible because Marigold is CRAZY]
*Fair enough. Back on topic though. Do I try to get over to that person we saw? How fast should I go over? If I fly up and head right for them it won’t take too long… but at the same time they’re way more likely to see me. Yet, they’ve watched one failed thief try to get inside. How many more are they planning to watch?*
[I don’t know. From what I can see in your memories they seem a bit too far for you to get to them. Are you sure you even want to try? There isn’t really a good way to get above them outside of their line of sight.]
*I was thinking about staying transformed and slowly rise up as just water droplets. The issue is, I’m not sure how good the telescope they’re using is. If it’s too good they could definitely still notice something. I’ve got no idea what sort of enchanting could be on such a thing. Seeing magic is probably pretty easy, but what about demonic energy? If Thyme hired someone to make the thing, I could see them going for the better version just because.*
[Urgh. I wasn’t thinking about that part. You’re right though… it seems nearly impossible. Did you get a look at their face?]
*Not really? Basically no. They had a full face mask on, a baggy cloak all around them to break up their silhouette on the roof. The only thing they had visible was the one eye not attached to the telescope and even then it was closed so I don’t even have eye colour. *
[What colour was their eyebrows?] Lily thought somewhat cheekily.
*No idea because that’s covered as well!* Insisted Kat she shoved the image towards Lily. The thief’s eyelashes were barely visible in the darkness and at that distance, and the eyebrows were covered, either by the mask or by the telescope. It really was impossible to get any detail out of them, even if you were closer.
[Dammit. They planned this well. Apparently we need some communicators or something. I’d offer to watch them for you to see where they go… but I’ve got no good angle on them from this tree and I don’t dare move either. If they see me moving around looking for ’something’ that’s a pretty big red flag.]
Yeah. I’m thinking more and more that either there’s a mole, or someone has a good idea that the spot is watched more carefully than normal. I’m not sure if that watcher is a normal part of the team or not… but they have to be connected right? There’s no way they were just happening to watch someone sneak inside this particular recharge station from half the city away.
[Yeah I don’t see that being a coincidence either. I think… the real question is, do we talk to Steel about it now? You give up on the chase, sneak over to Hedera and let her know what’s happening and we watch as best we can while you go report? It’s a bit early but we know he’s awake.]
I can still follow the other guy though. Not sure they’d be able to sell the watcher out… but we could make the attempt?
[Ask Hedera I suppose, but I personally don’t think it’s worth tipping our hand…] Kat wanted to nod… but of course she was still slowly dripping water at that moment. No sense risking being spotted by making any of it act weirdly just yet.