"Is that...Gregminster??" Byhaps asked. Pearl nodded, tears in her eyes.
"Yes...ohhh, it's been so long since I've seen it!" she cried, breaking into a fantastic run that Fitcher wished he could've been able to watch her perform more than once. Byhaps grinned and shot off after her, laughing as he tried to run faster than she. Aybabtu walked along at his own pace, and Fitcher walked with him.
"Have you ever been to Gregminster, Aybabtu?" he asked. The old ninja looked as if he was reliving a fond memory.
"Once...it was a long time ago, in my youth. Back in Geil Rugner's day..." he reminisced wistfully. Fitcher looked at him.
"Geil Rugner's day? Wow, you're old." he said. The old ninja seemed to smile under the fabric covering most of his face.
"Yes, lad, that I am. Half a century old, in fact. But that's not to say that my ninja skills are outdated. Far from it." Aybabtu insisted. Fitcher nodded.
"Of course not." he said. Aybabtu raised an eyebrow.
"You sound a bit skeptical there, lad. Well, I suppose you don't think you can beat me in a little race, do you?" the old ninja challenged, scarcely giving Fitcher time to hear the end of his statement before he charged off. Fitcher broke into a run after him.
They caught up with Pearl and Byhaps, and to Fitcher's chagrin, the ninja had beat him, but he wasn't sure if the old guy could live through the excitement---he looked about ready to go into cardiac arrest. Fitcher decided to just let the old guy win instead of telling him that he was running super-super-carefully, because when he had woken up in Sarady, he stood up and found out that the Furfur had chewed a hole in his pocket--which meant that his gun slid into the lining of his pants. He hadn't found a suitable time to retrieve it yet--after all, he would pretty much have to take off his pants to get it. Aybabtu bent over, wheezing and coughing.
"Are you okay?" Byhaps asked him uncertainly.
"I.......I........win!" Aybabtu gasped.
"Yes, but you're about to collapse." Fitcher pointed out. Pearl let out an excited squeal.
"Oh, we're almost there! ...I think I see someone I know!! Ohhh!" she cried, dashing as fast as possible for the gates of the huge city. Fitcher shrugged, and waited a minute for Aybabtu to catch his breath. Then he, the old ninja, and the young knight-in-training set off at a leisurely pace.
"She's sure...energetic, isn't she, Fitcher?" Byhaps mused. Fitcher smiled.
"Yeah, she is." he replied. They were coming to the city gates. Two Imperial guards stood watch on either side of it, but they didn't seem concerned--lots of people were nonchalantly passing through those gates. Pearl bounced around in place, barely containing her excitement, next to those guards. Fitcher and the others caught up.
"Oh, Fitchums, come on, I have to show you the city--it's so beautiful, and I haven't seen it in so long~!" Pearl squealed, grabbing his hand and dragging him into Gregminster.
They didn't call it a magnificent capital for nothing. The buildings were beautifully constructed, and everything was just so...grand, it seemed. Muse probably seemed the same way to outsiders, but Fitcher was used to the sight of his own capital. He walked along, Pearl pointing at various landmarks and buildings and shops that she had seen before. Aybabtu and Byhaps walked behind them a ways.
"Ohhh! Oh, Fitchums! You must come see the golden statue fountain in the center of the city! It's so romantically gorgeous!!" Pearl cried, running off in the direction that the statue evidently was. Fitcher made to go after her, but Aybabtu came up beside him and held his arm.
"Just a moment, lad. I need to speak with you." he said. Fitcher gave him a quizzical look. Byhaps looked vaguely worried.
"What is it??" he asked.
"...I need to know something, lad...Did you tell Pearl that you would 'rather take your chances with the Howling Voice Guild than risk your neck with Clinker's terrible teleportation again'??" the old ninja asked gravely.
"WHAT?!!" Fitcher exploded. "What would possess me to say that?!" Aybabtu looked him, his eyes filled with a look of suspicion Fitcher had never seen before.
"Listen carefully...the night we slept in Sarady, I pretended to sleep while Pearl was up, with that friend of yours, Clinker. She told him that you said that." he said.
"What...?!" Fitcher said. "Why would Pearl...? Okay, I'm getting to the bottom of this right now!" He ran off after Pearl, with Byhaps and Aybabtu in hot pursuit.
They caught up with her at the golden statue, a fountain that poured sparkling water into a pool. It was said to resemble the late Empress, Claudia. She looked excited.
"See, Fitchums? Isn't it gorgeous??" she said.
"Pearl, what are you playing at? Telling Clinker that I said bad things about his teleporting?!" Fitcher demanded. Aybabtu nodded. Pearl looked shocked.
"What...?" she cried. She turned towards the fountain, and then whirled back around. Fitcher's eyes widened in surprise...there was something in Pearl's eyes he had never seen before--malice. A malevolent evil, that twisted her face into a cruel smirk. When she spoke, her voice was completely different. There was no high pitch, no cutesy, musical tone. She spoke with a clarity that chilled Fitcher to the bone.
"So..." she said. "I should've known not to underestimate a ninja. Not even an old, crusty one like you." She suddenly turned and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"GUARDS! GUARDS!! THESE MEN ARE JOWSTON SPIES!! ARREST THEM AT ONCE!"
"P-p-pearl!!" Fitcher said, short of breath. He felt like someone had used a large brick wall to knock the wind out of him.
"What are you doing?!" Byhaps cried.
"You idiots haven't figured it out yet?" Pearl laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh, either, it was cruel. A group of armed imperial guards burst from the shadows.
"These men, Commander Lione?" one man asked. Pearl turned to him.
"Yes, yes. The ninja, the boy, and that man whose mouth is hanging open." she said impatiently.
"C-COMMANDER?!" Fitcher gasped. Pearl smiled.
"You don't know how happy it makes me to see you this way, Fitcher." she said. "I've been waiting to do this for so long. And after they execute you, I'll be something a bit higher than a commander, I'm sure." Fitcher found himself being tied up by a bunch of guards, but he was too stunned---too stunned to resist. How could this be? Pearl, an Imperial Commander??
"This isn't funny, Pearl!" he yelled. She laughed.
"Oh, but it is. Because it was so, so easy. All I had to do was show a little of this--" She indicated her chest, "And you'd melt in my hands. You and all the other men."
"But...but..." Fitcher said. "WHY? Why go to all this trouble--"
"Convenience." Pearl said. "You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I went with it. After all, what's a poor, helpless girl like me to do without a strong, manly hero like you??" She was taking great enjoyment in telling her reasoning. "If you must know, this wasn't my plan at all...this was." She produced the blueprints, the secret blueprints, the ones she had been carrying for the whole journey.
"W-what are they? You said Badnooz stole them from you!" Fitcher asked. She unrolled them. The words "RUNE RAY MACHINE" were clearly printed across the top.
"I said a lot of things." Pearl said with that smug satisfaction. "I could say anything, and you'd believe it. You were so gullible, Fitcher. You'd believe anyone who came to you with some sob story..." She glanced at the blueprints.
"I'll tell you everything, because tomorrow, you're going to die." she proclaimed. "Kasim Hazil dispatched me to Jowston...to spy in Muse and gather information. To see if the City-State was even a threat to us. I heard a rumor of a runemaster who had made some experimental plans--Badnooz, of course. I created the helpless damsel guise and perfected it. I adhered to it at all times. I went in, and Badnooz was no match. I seduced the plans out from under him, and I was out. Of course, I hadn't counted on him being smitten. He sent his Thugs after me, and under my guise I couldn't fight back. Well, my salvation came along, and I landed right in his lap...isn't that right, Fitcher?" She smiled cruelly. Fitcher was reeling from this horrible revelation. He could barely keep track of all the details...his head was spinning.
"I decided, once I discovered you were a Muse spy, to prolong the expedition. I had a golden opportunity to get in on all your spy-ring-secrets. And along the way, I picked up so much more---information about spies, Badnooz's secrets, details about the ninjas of Rokkaku, the Howling Voice Guild, Leknaat the Seer...oh, Fitcher...in your blind faith, you helped me more than I ever could've dreamed you could." Pearl said happily.
"How...how...how could you keep up such a guise...for so long?? Surely you must've slipped once..." Fitcher said desperately. The knowledge that Pearl had duped everyone along the way was almost too much to bear.
"Men were no problem...they saw what they wanted to see--an easily accessible, beautiful body with no brains to object their advances. Women--saw a slut, and a ditz. The only one I was afraid of was Phanny. Too many times, I nearly slipped enough for her to figure something was amiss--but, luckily, her mind was on other things, and she didn't. The only time I stepped out of the guise was when we met Badnooz the second time. He overstepped his boundaries, and I didn't need him anymore." Pearl explained smugly. "I also took steps to make sure that once we reached this stage, none of your little MSSA friends would be willing to help you. That fool Nok-Nok, once the gun business was over, would be busy with other things, of course. And that left the teleporter, who I took care of in Sarady, and your girlfriend, that stupid scientist. I knew all I to do was bed you and she'd hate you. And was I right?"
"You unscrupulous eel! How could anyone be so poisonous?!" Aybabtu spat.
"Quiet, you. I've seen all I care to of you now." Pearl snapped. She gestured to her guards. "Take the ninja and the boy to..." She licked her lips at the thought, "...the torture chamber. Then put them in a cell. And as for the spy, put him in solitary confinement--heavy security. Oh, and disarm him, he has a gun, you know." Fitcher suddenly panicked--if they took Bill, he would be without a soul, and would waste away--then again, if he was to die tomorrow, it hardly mattered. But then he remembered that his gun was in the lining of his pants...and for once, it was something Pearl did not know. The guards patted him down, but not all the way to the bottom of his pant leg, because they came up empty-handed. Pearl shot him a suspicious glance.
"Where did you put it??" she demanded. "...Oh, it doesn't matter. He can't shoot his way out of confinement anyway. Take them away!" Fitcher watched helplessly as the guards dragged Aybabtu and Byhaps away, and then took him in another direction.
Pearl, now in full imperial uniform, took a long look at herself in the mirror, adjusted her hair, and then sheathed her trusty broadsword, Rylaine. She marched out of her chamber and out of her house, and marched proudly through the streets. She knew people were watching her, whispering--they had all heard different rumors about what she had brought back. She didn't care--lowly people like that, their opinions hardly mattered. If she needed to seduce one of them to get ahead, so be it. But that was all. She walked through the gardens to the palace, and straight inside--she had taken an hour to write up her report, and she planned to present it to Emperor Barbarosa himself. She passed the office where another sinister imperial agent worked. Commander Kraze, the slimiest, most sinister-looking ugly excuse for a man in the Imperial Guard. He stepped out of his office just as she passed. Damn.
"Why, can it be Pearl Lione?" he said mockingly. "Back so soon? And just where do you think you're going?" Kraze had a look about him that made one feel like he should be underfoot instead of face-to-face with them. Pearl didn't care, she was on her way up the ladder of rank, and she planned to step on Kraze on the way up, too.
"I'm going to see the Emperor, Kraze. I have a report to file." Pearl said tightly.
"Ah, but the Emperor is busy right now. You could file it here, though." Kraze said smugly, his eyes flickering hungrily to her chest.
"I don't think so...you and that fat, ugly assistant of yours would take most of the credit. I've seen altered reports that you've filed, Kraze. They should've discharged you long ago." Pearl said nastily.
"Well then, at least tell me of your exploits, my dear. I burn with curiosity as to what you've done in Jowston." Kraze said, his eyes wandering over her figure again.
"I don't have the time. I have to see the Emperor." Pearl insisted, trying to shove past him.
"He's currently dealing with the loss of General Shulen, Pearl. He can't see you." Kraze said, obviously very pleased with himself.
"Sonya Shulen's dead??" Pearl said, surprised.
"Yes, it was a terrible loss, a fine woma--" Kraze started.
"Never mind that. The position's open, then?" Pearl said, the wheels in her head already starting to turn. Kraze caught on.
"No matter how magnificent your report, Pearl, you won't replace General Shulen."
"I know that, you idiot. But it's something to aim for. I will outrank you in short order, however. Now, out of my way. If I can't file my report with the Emperor, I'll file it with ...with the court magician! Anyone but you." Pearl snapped, this time shoving past Kraze and storming down the hallway.
"Wait, Pearl!" Kraze said. She stopped and turned, impatient.
"How about you let me be in charge of the spy's execution tomorrow??" he said with a devilish twist of his mustache.
"Absolutely not, you'll just manage to weasel your way into crediting yourself for my hard work." Pearl said immediately.
"Why, Pearl, what do you take me for? I'm hurt." Kraze said dramatically. "I wouldn't do that. I just want to oversee it. Kanaan won't even be involved, I promise." Pearl considered.
"...Fine. But, I'm going to be there beside you, make no mistake." she said, lightly tapping Rylaine's hilt as a warning. Kraze smiled.
"I could ask for nothing more, Pearl..." he said, stepping back into his office.
Fitcher was thrown roughly into a cell, and the door was quickly shut behind him. He felt sick to his stomach, and even after all this, it was hard to swallow. Pearl? Imperial Commander?? It defied her very nature...or what he thought was her nature. He sat and thought about everything, everything since that moment when she landed in his lap in the slums of Muse, and it all made sense. It made such awful, clear sense that he hated himself for not catching on at all. He knew what underestimation was--he often played dumb so people wouldn't know his true abilities. And he had done it, the worst way possible. He had taken Pearl at face value, and look what it had cost him. Not to mention all the innocent people that were going to be hurt by this blunder--his friends at MSSA...his parents (oh gods, what would they think??)...everyone he had met along the way. What made him feel the worst, even worse than he felt about himself now, was that right now, Byhaps, an innocent kid who had only come along at Fitcher's urging, was being physically tortured. He had nothing to do with Pearl. Yet she still planned to stamp him out to get ahead. And it was all Fitcher's fault...he was supposed to be clever. He was supposed to be special, in a special organization. If he couldn't spot such deception, then what good was he? He had failed everyone. He was as good as dead, but why did he always drag everyone down with him??
"I'm such a loser. I think I'll throw up now. Yes, that sounds nice." he murmured. So he did. And he didn't feel any better afterwards.
Byhaps lay on his stomach on the floor of the cold, dark cell. His entire body was throbbing in pain. He was bruised, bloodied, and scared. He had only understood tiny bits of Pearl's explanation, having only been with Fitcher a few days, but he realized the severity of the situation. Now he and the old ninja, Aybabtu, who was no better off, were laying in jail, waiting for morning to come. They knew Fitcher was going to be executed tomorrow--hanged in a public square. And then Pearl would get whatever promotion she had coming. What of them? The guards hadn't expressly said that they were going to be killed, but Byhaps knew it. Deep down in his gut, he knew they would be. Why would Pearl care? She had already gone this far. Making an order to kill them off would just be another paper to sign for her. This was the time, in the storybooks, when the valiant knights burst in to rescue them. But there were no knights, and no one was going to save them now. Byhaps knew it. He made up his mind then--with no hope of living through the next few days, he might as well make the most of trying to escape. He was sure Aybabtu would be up to it. But how, how to do it? Byhaps felt the tiniest twinge on his forehead, and suddenly he knew. It would be painful, but it was the only way.
Aybabtu sat, shirtless (a shirt would only irritate the whip lashes at this point) on the bed in the cell. He had offered, nearly insisted, on giving the poor lad, Byhaps, the bed, but the boy had insisted that he wanted to lay on the floor. He felt sorry for the boy--torture was not a thing that anyone was properly equipped to handle, but the young folk...that was the worst. He was also furious--he, a ninja, had still not seen through Pearl's disguise. Although, he did give himself some credit...he had never, never, completely trusted Pearl, nor did her behavior seem at all normal. In fact, towards the end it had been downright suspicious. But, in the end, he was a man, and he too had been blinded by Pearl's body, and had been too interested in that to care what was going on in her mind. Now, frankly, he didn't want to know. Whatever thoughts could be flowing through the mind of a woman who had sent an old man and a young boy off to be tortured for no reason at all, he did not care to know. He shook his head sadly--he was still young yet, to die. But it would be worse to see Fitcher and Byhaps go. He was positive that's what Pearl had in store for them. It's not like they possessed any useful information--none that she hadn't already found out. No, Pearl had thought of everything. Stupid bitch. Well, Aybabtu would be damned if he was just going to sit there and brood--he knew a few tricks even that bitch hadn't thought of, and they were going to escape with them.
At that moment, Byhaps stirred. He sat up on the floor, flinching painfully.
"Lie still, lad!" Aybabtu hissed.
"No, I can't...I can't." Byhaps said. "We have to try and escape. We must." Aybabtu smirked a little...he and the boy had been thinking along the same lines!
"Very well, lad. I know a few tricks, if you'd care to participate. But still, don't overexert yourself." Aybabtu said. Byhaps nodded.
"I know a trick or two myself, if it's necessary." he said, with a hint of reluctance in his voice. What did he mean by that? Oh, well. Time to go to work...
Dawn came quickly, and Fitcher had scarcely fallen into a fitful sleep in his cell before the sunlight came through the barred window and a guard was there to take him to where he was going to be hanged. Hanged! The very thought made him shudder throughout his entire body. He had been so depressed the previous night that he hadn't even thought of retrieving his gun until now. Oh well...they probably would've found it and confiscated it. For what it was worth, Fitcher wanted to be satisfied that he fooled Pearl even a little bit--she wouldn't find his gun, despite all her plans. The ground was wet from last night's cold rainstorm. Fitcher shuffled along, hands tied, led by several armed soldiers.
Soon, they arrived in the open square where a gallows had been erected. He tried not to look at it, but the sun shining overhead outlined the awful silhouette of death. A crowd of onlookers had gathered around the gallows, not a friendly soul among them. Well, save one. There was an old woman that Fitcher had seen the previous day, having a heated argument with a soldier over the justification of the death penalty in this particular case. She had long, aged blue robes, an angry, wrinkled face that was twisted into an unpleasant scowl as she argued, and long, straggly gray hair.
"...outrageous! Who would condone such a thing, this can't be legal!" she raged.
"Listen, lady, if ya don't like it then don't watch it. But you're getting to be a real pest. I'm going to have to have you removed." a soldier said. Fitcher watched with half-interest; after all, this woman was arguing his case without even knowing him. He was moved past them, and then he saw her. Standing on a platform next to the gallows, in her best imperial uniform, with a sword at her side, was Pearl Lione. It was a completely different woman than the one Fitcher had known. Next to her was some devilish looking man, who kept smiling to himself and sneaking peeks at Pearl's cleavage. Probably her latest man she was bedding to get ahead, Fitcher thought dryly. He glanced back at the old woman, who seemed to be being forcefully removed as promised. Now he was alone. The devilish man put his head into a noose and tightened it. Well, this was it. What a way to go.
"This man," Pearl shouted to the crowd. "Is a horrible, murderous spy! He was sent here by the government in Jowston to...assassinate Emperor Barbarosa!" The crowd gasped in utter horror.
"Hey, now! Don't you make up more lies, you bi--" he shouted at Pearl, but she marched over and backhanded him.
"Silence, villain!" she proclaimed. Several people applauded. Fitcher felt like throwing up again, this time on her. "He has obviously been sentenced to be hanged here, in public, as a warning to those who challenge our beautiful country!"
"Pearl, how dare you!" Fitcher raged, but she hit him again, and her hand went to the hilt of her sword.
"Don't make me tell you again to be quiet." she said sternly for the crowd, but smiled cruelly at Fitcher when she turned to look at him.
"Don't I get a last request?" Fitcher asked sourly. Pearl smirked.
"You really think that I don't know that clich�? You ask for a last request, and it's just some chance for you to prolong your pitiful life while you think of a way to escape." she said cuttingly. Fitcher's eyes widened in absolute shock, but not because of Pearl's reply, it was because of who had just stepped into the back of the crowd. Forest-green cloak, boots, concealed rifle, curly red hair that draped around her shoulders like lava, and those piercing eyes...Ghira Blackwell had come, somehow, to the execution. And from the look on her face, she wasn't about to let him be hanged.
"What's the matter? Surprised that I know??" Pearl asked smugly. Fitcher decided that now that he was going to be either shot to death or hanged, maybe even both, he was going to have the satisfaction of surprising Pearl for a change.
"No, just that Ghira Blackwell is over there, with her rifle ready." Fitcher said evenly. Pearl laughed.
"I'm not so stupid that I'd--" She was cut off by several gunshots being shot in the air. She whirled and saw that indeed, Ghira was there, with her rifle.
"That bitch, she won't get away with this!" Pearl cried, drawing her sword.
"Fitcher, you're mine!" Ghira proclaimed, as the crowd panicked and moved the hell away from her. She was practically oblivious to everything but herself and Fitcher. "I have hunted you down for crimes against the Howling Voice Guild, and I will take your head!" She leveled Filibuster at his head, and prepared to blow him away.
All hell broke loose. There was a small explosion from the cellblocks not far away, and then Aybabtu and Byhaps dashed into the square, armed and ready. Byhaps whirled his pitchfork over his head and swung it at any guard who came close.
"Fitcher!!" Byhaps called. "We're here to--"
"You guys get out of here, go!" Fitcher shouted back. "Save yourselves!" The guards looked unsure of who to grab, so charged angrily after everyone. Byhaps and Aybabtu decided that their time would be better spent drawing the soldiers away from the gallows, and ran off towards the city gates. The soldiers quickly detained Ghira, who protested loudly by swearing in Harmonian. They couldn't wrestle Filibuster, her rifle, away from her, and could barely contain her at all, but at least there was enough time for Fitcher to die before she got loose. Well, how nice for him.
"Now, this execution will go on, as scheduled. There is nothing to fear." Pearl said, smoothing her uniform and brushing some hair out of her face. The crowd calmed itself down, but most of them left a large blank spot where Ghira was being held--no one wanted to get accidentally shot. Fitcher realized then how much these women really wanted him dead...Pearl had been planning for weeks and weeks, and Ghira must've been the one following them from Banner. But then again, the Voicer had just charged into a heavily crowded place where Fitcher's death was obviously one of the scheduled events, and she still had not stopped--no, that surely meant that she was NOT the one following them. But then, who...
Click-clack-click-clack. The sound of someone running on the wet pavement in heels. Click-clack-click-clack. The sound echoed, and the people craned their necks to try and see where it was coming from. Pearl looked over, suspicious. Then, suddenly, Ghira broke loose.
"Heathens! Justice will be served, and you will die!" she said, aiming exactly at his head.
"Drop him, Kraze, DROP HIM!!!" Pearl shouted.
"NO!!!" screamed a woman's voice. A slender female form shot out of an alleyway and dove headlong into Ghira Blackwell. Just as Kraze dropped the platform, the rifle went off and severed the rope. Fitcher fell through, not hanged and not shot. But he was stunned at what he had seen. Purple bathrobe. Red heels.
"...EMPATHY?!" he murmured to himself. Indeed, there was absolutely no mistake about it--the woman who had just saved his life was Empathy, Badnooz's caring assistant.
Fitcher had no time to dwell on it, however, because as soon as he dropped, hell, temporarily detained, sprung loose again. Pearl was shouting orders, Ghira was cursing and firing in random directions, and he could hear several voices calling his name. He rolled out from under the gallows and grabbed Empathy by the arm, running off in the direction of the city gates.
"After him!! After him!!!" Pearl screamed. Soldiers swarmed after them, but not as many as were trying to get Ghira detained again. Fitcher ran as fast as he could. Soon, he saw Byhaps and Aybabtu barely fending off imperial forces. They were backed against a wall. Fitcher knew it was no time to be prudent, so he was blunt. He turned to Empathy.
"Fitcher, I..." she started.
"Later!" he said. "Please, for now, see the seam on the bottom of my right pant leg?"
"Y-yes." she said, taken aback.
"Rip it open, quickly!" he ordered. She did, and soon he had his gun. He turned and shot several soldiers that were catching up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Byhaps knock someone out with the butt of his pitchfork. They were nearly surrounded now. Pearl came up, sword drawn.
"You fools! You will all pay with your lives for this!" she raged, storming into the middle of the circle. Fitcher pointed the gun at her head.
"Not a step closer, Pearl..." he warned. She smiled sweetly.
"Why, Fitchums~!" she said in the old cutesy voice. "You wouldn't kill me, would you?" A tear fell from her eye. He knew it was all fake, and he knew she was just mocking him, but...he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger.
"Now. Time for you all you die." Pearl said matter-of-factly. Byhaps flared up.
"You have no honor, you soulless ..creature! How can you call yourself a soldier, a knight??" he demanded. Pearl smirked.
"I don't have to take lip from you, you chilvalrous little brat. And what can you do about it? You can't hit a lady." she said haughtily.
"You're right," Byhaps said. He decked her in the face, and she stumbled back. "But you're no lady, you heartless bitch." He signaled Aybabtu, who nodded, and pulled out several small round objects.
"Hold your breath!!" Aybabtu cried, throwing them all on the ground. They burst open, and Fitcher could see they were smoke bombs--but what was coming out? It was a thick, green, noxious smoke--poison? Fitcher promptly held his breath and ran for the gates. Empathy followed, and so did Byhaps---but Aybabtu stayed back to fend off the soldiers.
"Don't worry about me, lad!" he called, choking on the smoke. Another person risking themselves so he could escape--Fitcher owed them all so much!
They ran outside the city of Gregminster, not even pausing as they looked back. Green smoke floated over part of the city, the city where he nearly died. As they ran vaguely eastward, someone jumped out at them--the old woman who had protested the execution.
"Wait, I mean you no harm!" she cried when Fitcher pointed Bill at her. "I know what happened today was wrong. I can hide you. Come with me." They followed the surprisingly quick and limber old woman through the woods and rocky terrain.
"Who...are you?" Byhaps puffed.
"My name is Magnolia. I can help, trust me." she said simply.
"Thanks, Magnolia..." Fitcher murmured. He turned to the one who truly deserved thanks, Empathy.
"You saved my life, Empathy...but why??" he asked. She smiled, a true, genuine, kind smile. Not fake, not cutesy. Not cruel. Not evil. Caring.
"Because I care." she said. "I'll tell you more when we're safely hidden." And so they ran, even on into the night, fearing they would be caught.
Kraze was puzzled. Pearl had handed in her report, but her 'big finish', so to speak, the execution of the spy, had been a failure. And yet she wasn't furious. She seemed smug, and that wasn't good.
"Pearl. I guess you won't be getting such a large promotion now." he said. She turned to him, and flashed that same cruel smile he had come to fear in the past day.
"Oh, I'll get it all right. It's you who won't." she said. "YOU were in charge of the execution, remember? It's YOUR fault he escaped...I did everything in my power to stop him." Kraze felt like she had slapped him. After his blunder with Juppo's sister, this could very well be his undoing.
Fitcher, free again, could care less whose promotion was lost and whose was gained. He had escaped intact, and he had beaten Pearl. With help from his friends, of course. But for now, he just ran.
