In a dark place, stained-glass windows of different colors cast faint hues across towering shelves. Row after row stretched endlessly, a vast library housing the Church's sacred texts. Miranda and Pheobe moved stealthily between the shelves, alert and vigilant, as Miranda leaned in and whispered.
"You okay?"
Pheobe nodded as she followed closely behind her. Two guards walked past, lanterns in hand, patrolling lazily.
"Jeez, I swear nothing ever really goes on here," one of them muttered.
"It's a library," the other scoffed. "What do you expect, spies breaking in to steal a bunch of books?"
They continued on their rounds and eventually exited the room, their footsteps fading. Miranda and Pheobe resumed searching.
"What kind of information are we looking for, Miranda…?" Pheobe asked quietly.
"Anything that explains the reasoning behind the Church's experiments.... we still don't understand their motives clearly."
Miranda pulled a book from a shelf, skimmed through it, then shut it with a sigh. 'Nothing of importance here either…'
They continued searching, but Pheobe soon seemed overwhelmed by the sheer number of books. She slowed, shoulders slumping slightly. Miranda noticed and gave her a gentle smile.
"Is this too much for you, Pheobe?"
She hesitated before answering. "Well… I just… I don't want to disappoint Lord Night Fallen, after everything he's done for me…" She fidgeted with her fingers.
Miranda chuckled. "Aww, you're so cute. If you're worried about Lord Night Fallen, he's a very understanding man." Her expression softened as she gushed, "Truly, he's magnificent."
Pheobe visibly relaxed, a small smile forming. "Tell me… Miranda, do you have romantic feelings for Lord Night Fallen?"
Miranda froze, her cheeks instantly flushing red. "O-oh my, Pheobe, that's a bold question coming from you." She waved a hand nervously near her face. "I mean… Lord Night Fallen is rather dashing, but he's surrounded by so many women — Luna, Black Rose, Ariel… I don't know…" Her words trailed off into a mumble.
Pheobe smiled and gently patted her head. "Well, Miranda… you do have a bigger chest than all of them, so I'd say you're at a great advantage."
Miranda stared at her as if she'd just been struck by divine revelation, straightening with newfound resolve.
"Yeah...You're right! I should have more confidence in myself."
The guards on the other side heard Miranda's voice and barged in, scanning the area.
"Tell me you heard that too?" one of them asked.
"Yeah… you think it's a ghost?"
Both drew their swords, moving cautiously as they searched the room. Miranda and Pheobe were already perched atop a shelf, hiding above them.
'It would be much easier to just kill these guards, but I don't want Pheobe to think brute force is the solution to everything. Lord Night Fallen left her in my care,' Miranda thought.
Her eyes scanned the shelves until they landed on an unfamiliar book, slimmer and rougher than the rest, which were adorned with gold plating.
The guards stopped right beside the shelf they were on.
"Look, maybe we just heard a book fall. Let's get out of here. Our shift's almost over. I can't wait to get wasted."
"Yeah, you probably right."
Miranda signaled Pheobe to grab the thin book.
Pheobe nodded and focused. A slimy black tentacle slowly extended from her back, inching toward the book then the guard suddenly sneezed.
Startled, Pheobe flinched. The shelf beneath them wobbled, tipped, then crashed into the next one. A chain reaction followed as shelves toppled, books scattering across the floor, dust exploding into the air.
The guards stared at the girls in sleek black bodysuits, coughing through the dust.
"Well I'll be damned. Spies actually trying to steal books."
"No, you idiot. They're probably the ones raiding the facilities. Can't you see? They're demi-humans!"
He slammed a button on the wall. An alarm blared.
Miranda sighed. "Well… so much for not using brute force."
A long shard of energy formed in her hand.
The guards charged. Miranda parried one strike, then drove the shard into the other's groin. She elbowed the first across the nose, blood spraying as she grabbed both and hurled them into a standing shelf.
More guards burst in, around fifteen of them but Pheobe's black tendrils slammed the door shut. The men shoved from the other side, but it wouldn't budge.
"Good girl," Miranda said with a smile. Pheobe's cheeks flushed at the compliment.
Miranda quickly located the thin book among the scattered volumes and picked it up. "Let's go, Pheobe. We're done here."
Pheobe's tendrils punched a hole through the wall. Miranda grabbed her, and they leapt through just as the reinforcements broke in.
Outside, Pheobe's six tendrils pressed against the wall like springs, launching them into the distance. Both wore satisfied smiles as they disappeared into the night.
Back inside, the two injured guards groaned on the floor.
"Dammit… that blonde elf was hot. Did you see that rack on her?"
"This is not the time. We are so screwed."
******
In the underground lab, Doctor Varz was concocting drugs when he heard my footsteps slowly approaching from the shadows.
Without turning, he spoke. "Ahh, Knight Gabriel… back already? So, how were the results?"
I continued forward, my bat resting casually against my shoulder. When he finally turned to face me, I smashed his skull. Blood spattered across the walls as his body crumpled to the ground.
Even I couldn't tolerate scum.
I walked to the only door in the room and opened it. Inside were three young girls, gagged, tied up, their bodies bruised and battered. They flinched at the sight of me, probably because I was holding a bat dripping with blood.
The bat dissipated in my hand, fading into dark-blue smoke. I stepped forward, freeing them one by one.
'I forgot to ask the little monster girl her name,' I thought. 'At least then I could have told them who their friend was… and who they should thank.'
*****
In the Royal Palace of Bermith, Prince Leoreo sat in his dark chambers, his face twisted with anger.
"Why couldn't Riaz have died in that incident…" His fist clenched tightly. "After all the trouble of delaying reinforcements… and that masked man…" His eyes narrowed, cold and calculating. "If he continues to thwart my plans, I will make sure he disappears. Permanently."