"It's strange that Mr Bell's coin signal disappeared."
"They were on a simple mission, weren't they?"
*Gasped.*
"They just had to retrieve an object from an unprotected shrine."
In a large, brightly lit mansion, two men were talking quietly. The first was a man with black hair who looked very ordinary, the kind of man you would see anywhere, someone you would easily forget.
He was holding a coin identical to the one William had destroyed in Drake's cave. He was right, it was a tracker.
The second one didn't stand out either. He was an older man with wrinkles on his face, but despite his age, he stood tall like an old tree that wouldn't fall easily. Several scars covered his hands. He had ash-grey hair and blue eyes, and he was quite well dressed.
He rested his old but strong bones on a brown leather sofa.
*Gasped*
"Did he ask me if they got it and decided to leave us out?"
"I don't think so. Despite his age, Mr Bell loves the thrill of a good fight, and Ashley likes relics as much as we do."
"Bam" "Bam" "Bam"
Shots rang out on the second floor, followed by a loud crash and complete silence. A man dressed in a black suit with a rather attractive face slowly descended the stairs, his black shoes leaving bloody footprints on the white steps.
The originally white, clean and elegant place was now a complete bloodbath, with bodies scattered across the floor and even some blood on the ceiling.
Security guards, housekeepers, family members—anyone who was in the mansion that night closed their eyes forever.
"Noah, Liam, did the master of the mansion say anything to you? I took a quick look upstairs and didn't find anything, so it must be down here."
"We're on it, Boss."
The ordinary man named Noah ripped the tape from the mouth of a well-groomed man who looked like the type of person who loved to take care of his skin and appearance, buying everything money could buy to maintain his looks.
"All right, where do you keep your favourite things?" (Noah)
Noah put the tip of his gun against the man's head. Ethan Nort, an acclaimed millionaire art and antique collector, made his fortune selling electrical appliances in his chain of shopping centres, which were very popular with housewives because of their efficiency.
"I'll never tell you..." (Ethan)
"Bam"
"Arggg!!!"
Noah shot Ethan in the knee, the pain made him scream in agony, he would never walk again on his own.
"I'll tell you!!!" (Ethan)
"Bam"
"Arghhhh"
Noah fired again, this time hitting Ethan's left elbow. Now he looked like a wounded crow lying on the marble floor, trying to hold his wounds with his remaining hands.
"Oops, that was accidental. Where?" (Noah)
"In the fireplace. Put out the fire and push the third emblem on the right." (Ethan)
"Bam."
"You should have waited to confirm his words before shooting."
The man in the suit complained, leaning against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth.
"Sorry, Boss, my mistake." (Noah)
Noah, being the youngest of the group, extinguished the flames in the fireplace and pushed the emblem with his shoe. There was a crunching sound of rocks rubbing against each other, and seconds later, the entire section of the wall slid aside.
Underground stairs led from the endian to a concrete room lit by large crystal chandeliers. Huge display cases contained art and collectibles, from paintings to sculptures, a little bit of everything.
Noah and the boss descended as a duo, paying no attention to the valuable objects around them, except for Noah, who took a couple of objects he liked.
"So this is the 'Cup of Life' and the 'Original Gladius'.
The boss picked up a delicate pair of gold cups encrusted with gems and diamonds. The Cup of Life is an object that allows you to steal the 'Life' of whoever takes the other cup at the same time, a game of Russian roulette where no one knows who will steal and who will be stolen from, but one of the two will be ashes when it's over.
And the Original Gladius, a delicate golden sword in its sheath with an incredible edge capable of cutting through steel without losing its sharpness.
"Well, we've got what we came for, let's go."
"All right." (Noah)
"Noah, Elijah, it's about time. More will be here shortly."
Liam wiped his hands with a handkerchief. Two new corpses lay next to the rest. They were two young police officers, both with their throats slashed. Only one had managed to fire his weapon, although Liam was still safe and sound.
Liam was older than Elijah and they had known each other for a long time. He didn't have to call him Chief, just like Noah.
"Noah, you go to Mr. Bell and Miss Ashley's last known location and try to find out what happened, whether it was natural or if someone was involved." (Elijah)
"If it was anyone's fault, it would be better for someone to accompany the boy. Bell and Ashley were quite strong as a team." (Liam)
"They never forget their coins, and if anything happened to them, they would call us." (Liam)
"You're right, you can take one item from the vault. Choose wisely." (Elijah)
"All right, Boss."
Noah smiled. The team of three eliminated at least 35 armed guards, entered, looted, and withdrew without a hitch. They were an almost perfect group.
Nevermore Academy William's study.
"Boom."
A small explosion knocked William out of his chair and he landed on his back on the floor.
"Sigh."
"I knew it wouldn't be that easy. Extracting a complete runic sequence from Mr. Bell's staff would be nearly impossible."
William recovered Mr. Bell's staff, a powerful object capable of applying fire-based abilities, using a Scarlet Gem as its core.
He tried to replicate the object and understand how it was made.
"Of course, an object like this is protected against theft of its creation technology."
He held the Scarlet Gem up to the light and was able to remove it without destroying it in the process.
"It will take me time to identify each rune used in the sequence, replace it, and rearrange it again."
"Without a little help, it will take me quite a while... but let's get to work."
William sighed one last time, threw away the rough remains, took off his protective glasses, and picked up his notebook. He had to get started before he could check his mobile phone, which vibrated with a call from one of the few people who had his number.
"Yes, this is William." (William)
"Where are you? Are you busy?" (Xavier)
"I'm a bit busy in my study." (William)
"We're going to start modifying our canoes for the Poe Cup. Do you want to come?" (Xavier)
"Maybe later..." (William)
"Professor Vlad ordered pizza for the team." (Xavier)
"Save me some." (William)
"There's also freshly baked cheesecake from that new bakery in Jericho." (Xavier)
"Give me ten minutes, and I'll be there." (William)
William tidied up his things and stored the Scarlet Gems in his small safe under his desk, along with the rest of his diamonds and other materials that were too valuable to be left in a drawer.
(Ha, I knew it would work), Xavier thought with some pride after hanging up the phone.
"Will, come over here, guys, let's start bringing in the paint." (Xavier)
Ten minutes later, Nevermore's front yard.
A large area covered with green grass just in front of the large double staircase, with a few trees around it.
Xavier, Ajax, and a couple of unknown students gathered around a brown canoe, opening several cans of paint. It was a cheerful and youthful atmosphere.
William arrived and left his white backpack on the grass, took off his blue blazer and tie, and from behind he felt a slight push and a soft body hugged him, small hands barely reaching to cover his eyes.
"Who am I?"
"Hmm, I'll take a guess and say you're Miss Sinclair."
William suddenly turned, took Enid in his arms and lifted her up, before spinning her around a couple of times.
Enid laughed happily.
"I thought you had dance practice?" (William)
"I took the afternoon off on the pretext that I would help with the preparations for the Poe Cup." (Enid)
"Oh, and you're here with the Caliban Hall team." (William)
"I never said which team I would help." (Enid)
Enid said with a mischievous smile before winking, her colourful hair shining in the sun.
(She's adorable.) (William)
"You can stop, it's embarrassing." (Xavier)
"Oh, you want me to tell everyone how you and Bianca were studying the other day?" (William)
"Go to hell."
Xavier threw a paintbrush at him.
"We've got a couple of hours before the sun goes down, so hurry up and let's get this done before the pizza gets cold."
William put on an apron and Enid tied up William's somewhat long hair with one of her hair clips.