"A one-way illusion, that's pretty impressive."
As they moved around the room, Oriana couldn't help but comment on what Bethany had done.
"Thanks. Took quite a while to perfect it. Really helps when trying to hide, being able to see everyone walk past, while you just blend in."
She created a one-way illusion in her hand to show it again. Turning it around, Oriana saw either a solid wall or saw through to Bethany.
"Although I have to say, illusory sound. That is quite something. Never been able to manage that. Not that I've had the need to actually use such a thing, but still."
Oriana just smiled at Bethany. The fact that she was trying to compliment her while also ensuring she still seemed the better illusionist was just silly.
"Yeah, took some work. Takes a lot of focus to recall a sound and implement it properly, especially over a distance."
They continued through the warehouse, trading illusion tips while searching for the artefact and window-shopping for something for her collection.
Many of the items here were either too big to be taken out or too gaudy for her to want.
She passed by a lot of jewellery. It was all either over the top or rather bland.
Bethany picked up a few of them, going for the more gaudy ones.
"Nobles love this sort of thing. Should be quite easy to find buyers."
Hearing that, Oriana figured, why not, and picked up a few herself.
She decided not to go for anything too unique. Trying to sell things like that would be problematic.
That is, however, until she found an egg.
"Err, what's this?" she asked Bethany, who was a short distance from her.
Bethany made her way over and had a look at what Oriana was pointing at.
"Oh, I've heard about these. Some painters like to paint monster eggs. Does so with actual gold and silver, making it very expensive. The artwork is quite beautiful as well."
Oriana definitely agreed with her on that. It was a work of art, with all the curves of the gold mingling with the lines of silver. It was also done on a rather bumpy surface, likely the monster egg's natural surface.
Wait.
"Monster egg?"
"Yeah…oh. Don't worry, no monsters are going to jump out of it. They have a way to…stop that."
Pretty horrible to think about it, but it was a monster known for hunting and killing people that would have been born.
Looking at the egg, she couldn't help but want it. It wasn't too big. It would go nicely in her collection, and it being quite a pretty piece made it even better.
So…she pinched it and placed it in her obsidian ring storage.
---
"Found it."
Bethany suddenly appeared, having been on the other side of the room searching for the artefact, and brought Oriana over.
The statuette was quite a nice piece as well, but she didn't feel it was good enough for the ridiculous amount of money that Bethany said it would sell for.
"Okay, let's get out of here."
Bethany took hold of it, and then they headed out of the building.
Sneaking past the guards went just as well as before, and they soon found themselves climbing up the vine and out of the fenced area.
"That went very well," Bethany said as they headed back into the Lower City. "Most of the time, something goes wrong. Get spotted, or cause a noise that gets investigated."
"Maybe it's because you had a partner this time."
Bethany just looked over at her.
"Maybe…even if you are not as skilled as me."
"Really."
"What?"
It almost felt like an inside joke, knowing that Bethany always had to try and say she was better at illusions. Oriana had to keep herself from laughing. They were not that far away from the warehouse to be safe yet.
"Now we just have to sell it."
"Yes, and like I said. I already have a buyer. Still got some time before I need my beauty sleep, so we could probably get it done now."
"Sounds good, and you definitely need that beauty sleep." Oriana ended on.
The sound of laughter was all that could be heard by the Guards in the warehouse yard, amongst the silence of the night. They looked around, but thought nothing of it.
---
As they walked away, Oriana looked at the statuette in Bethany's hands, and then back up to Bethany.
It's not that she didn't trust Bethany…well, that was still sort of the case. Having someone's back for a mission was one thing, but being left alone with a load of coin was another. The temptation alone would easily take hold of someone. And for someone like Bethany, who seemed obsessed with making coin…well.
"Okay, let's go wrap it up."
From there, they headed into the slums, which Oriana guessed made sense. If there were going to be any criminal network left, it would be operating from one of the few places Peacekeepers preferred not to go.
Heading through, they soon came across a building which looked pretty abandoned.
Boarded-up windows, cracks in the stonework, busted-up door.
It did not look lived in at all, and for the few people still wandering the streets at this time, they gave the place a wide berth.
Bethany quickly made her way in, and Oriana followed.
Heading through cobweb-infested, damaged beyond repair and rotten rooms, they made their way into a store room of some kind, filled with shelving, covered in dust and damaged goods.
"Ugh, I hate this place. Now, I suggest you use another look, as much as I trust this guy to pay for the artefact, I also trust he would be happy to kill me if he were paid to."
Bethany quickly changed herself, becoming someone who just looked fairly normal, but distinctly opposite to what she had been for the heist. A plain woman who would blend in with the crowd and easily go unnoticed. No discernible features, as far as she could tell.
Oriana followed suit, creating someone similar. A woman of small stature who could hide in plain sight. She would not be noticed in a crowd.
At the back of the room, Bethany reached behind one of the small boxes that was on a shelf and touched something. As soon as she did, one of the nearby shelves moved to the side, revealing a hatch in the floor.
"A secret door, I didn't realise things like that actually existed."
"It's a bit melodramatic, but I guess with Peacekeepers all around, even if they hardly come into the slums, you need to keep hidden."
Shrugging, they got down, pulled open the hatch, and headed in.
A dark corridor awaited, where the only illumination was the odd lighting crystal trying to shine in the darkness.
A short distance in, they came across a door, which Bethany knocked on.
"Enter."
Opening the door, they found themselves in a brightly lit room, blinding them both for a moment. Struggling to see, it took a while before they could focus on anything. What they hadn't expected was the magic staff pointed at them.
"James…what are you doing. It's me."
The man, James, on the other side of the room, squinted at Bethany, trying to make out who she was. Blinking a few times, he finally realised. But in place of putting down his staff, he turned and aimed it at Oriana.
"Clarissa, good to see you again. Who is this?"
"Put it down, James. She's a friend of mine…Fanny. Helped me with the job."
"…" Oriana just looked over at Bethany, or 'Clarissa' for her current persona, and just gave a face that said "Really".
'Clarissa' deigned not to look back at her.
"Huh. Fine." That seemed to be enough for him, as he lowered the staff.
"What's with the bright light?" Oriana couldn't help but ask, still seeing spots in her vision.
"Extra security measure. Figured it blinds people as they come in, gives me a few to take 'em out."
Oriana could see its effectiveness. She struggled to see anything, which made it even harder for her to do anything with her magic. She probably would have been a gonner if she were here to attack the man.
Bethany talked to James about how such a measure wasn't here since she last was. They then spoke about trivial stuff, how life was, and if he had any new jobs, to which he said he would tell her after she finished her latest.
The odd chuckle happened between the two, but Oriana could tell there was something off about it. It was strained. And everything they spoke about was the standard topics of conversation you have with people you work with, but don't really get along with. Aside from asking about new jobs, that is.
Before long, they finally got onto the topic of the statuette.
"So, you ave it."
"Of course," Bethany said as she pulled it out of her bag, it shining in all its glory under the bright lights. Oriana had to look away for a moment as a ray hit her eye from one of the rubies.
"My, that is a beauty. My client is going to be very happy."
James pulled out a very large bag, filled with coin and handed it to Bethany.
And with that…the deal was done.
It almost felt anticlimactic.
But she did realise that, with the lack of a criminal underworld, it's not like the criminals could go ahead and eliminate the other criminals they worked with. James needed Bethany, and Bethany needed him, even if he probably would have preferred to keep the coin and the statuette.
It did feel like he would happily kill both of them should there be a reason to. But for now, he had no reason.
"So, about that job."
"Well. As I hear it, some very rich noble has purchased some bracelets. Apparently, he has seven wives, and he wanted to get each of them something special for their anniversary."
"Seven wives!" Oriana blurted out. "That's ridiculous."
"Ha, I know. I can't even manage to get one wife, let alone seven." James chuckled to himself as he said that, but it quickly died down once he realised the joke only made him look…well, bad.
"Anyway, apparently, he had purchased seven golden cuff bracelets, all inlaid with gemstones. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds, even yarbrites."
"Wow, that is quite the expensive gift."
Oriana had heard about yarbrite. She didn't know much about it, so Bethany explained. Apparently, it was a stone that only comes from the land of the celestials, high in the sky. Very rare, very expensive, and normally only found in very small quantities. So, to have seven pieces of jewellery, each with a piece of yarbrite… these were stupidly expensive.
"A small caravan is heading to our city of Khalbren, and should be arriving in a day, maybe two. Once it's in the city, there is no way to get them. It's going straight to his mansion here, and there is way too much security there. But outside the walls, you just need to deal with the caravan.
They spoke further on the situation. What the caravan would be like, the number of carriages, wagons, people, and guards. They also looked at where it would be coming from, what entrance it was heading to, all to formulate a plan, trying to find the best place to relieve it of its treasure.
"What do you think, Fanny?"
Bethany had looked over to her, wanting to get her opinion on the job. But more specifically, she was looking for confirmation on whether she would be taking the job as well.
As far as she could see, it should be easy enough. Through the use of illusion magic, they should be able to get the guards distracted enough that they can sneak in and steal the small box containing all seven of the bracelets.
There was a lot of coin to be gained here, and it would also cause a lot of chaos.
Such a high-profile theft would have the Peacekeepers all over the place trying to find out who had done it. They would be travelling between towns and cities, trying to locate the perpetrators.
The noble would also lose out on his anniversary gifts. Annoyingly, if you had that amount of coin to spend on such items, losing them probably wouldn't affect him as much as Oriana would hope. But it might get him in trouble with his wives, which would be quite fun to see.
This job would solve any coin problem she would have, but she was finding it harder to picture the chaos and problems it would cause, being more just grand theft over anything that aligned with what she was aiming for. She would have to rethink whether this was the way to go.
But for now, she could see that Bethany hoped she would join her on the theft, and with their newly budding friendship, she figured it was only right to join her.
After agreeing terms with James, they headed out of his…shop, and back into the abandoned house above. From there, they split the coin between the two of them, a fair fifty-fifty split, which was nice.
Once done, that was it for the day. The sun was well and truly down, and both of them were looking to get some shut-eye. So, with some final goodbyes and plans to meet tomorrow, they headed back to their respective homes.