Red Roses

Chapter 9 (Fool's Gold Arc)

Control, power, authority, wealth. Despite being completely completely different words, these all share the same meaning. Ardit knew this well, whoever's standing on the political hill of those who sacrificed themselves is calling these shots because they desired all of what the world had to offer. This is what Ardit had assumed. The curious thief took a deep breath and observed his surroundings as he took a seat on the stairs leading into the theater. People were having conversations as they entered the theater about the grandmaster that will be performing. Some dressed in snappy clothings, others decided less is more and wore casual attire. Ardit looked up into the night sky, noticing that the furthest moon was close to reaching its highest point. He thought to himself, "I don't have a clock, but I'm pretty sure the show's about to start soon.. where the hell are they?" Once the clock struck midnight, he felt something pulling his arm. He seemed hesitant at first but decided to follow where he was being pulled under the assumption this was the work of his allies.

Once they reached an area where it would be difficult to be seen, Jade deactivated her magic. This made her and Zolio visible to Ardit. Zolio reassured, "Okay, we're both ready! We haven't done anything like this before so we're gonna trust that you know what you're doing..." Ardit gave a determined grin. After some stretches and joint cracks, he gave a nod to signal he was ready to Jade. Before Jade could do anything, Zolio stopped her by placing her hand over Jade's symbol. Zolio questioned in a worried tone, "Wait, how are we supposed to follow you if none of us will be able to see each other?" Ardit shrugged, holding his hand out to her. He responded, "Just grab my hand and trust me, I got this." Letting out a sigh of slight distrust, Zolio grabbed his left hand. Ardit held his other hand out to Jade for her to grab. She placed her left wrist onto the palm of his hand to grab.

Jade carefully placed her right hand over the symbol on her left. As she slid her hand to the end of her fingertips, her fingernails began to glow their red and yellow colors. Once the palms of her hands connected, she took a deep breath. The three of them were completely unnoticeable to the human or ganyma eye. Jade slid up her wrist so that her hand was locked with Ardit's. The three of them walked carefully so as to not draw suspicion to the sounds of their footsteps. Ardit walked in front as the two followed behind him. They walked up the steps to the theater, but instead of moving into the main entrance, they went around back. Walking through the side of the building, employees and guards conversed as they worked. Ardit felt the hand holding his left clench. With his thumb, he carefully rubbed the back of the hand he was holding. The grip he felt was not as tight anymore.

Once they reached the fire exit stairs, their path was blocked by two tall ganyma employees of the theater, presumably sitting behind the theater for a lunch break, despite it being midnight. Fortunately they were near the end of their break. The female ganyma mentioned, "When I was at the store these two strangers got in an argument about it, apparently calling a canine ganyma 'pup' is an offensive term?" The slightly shorter male ganyma finished his food, crumpling the wrapper of his sandwich in his hands. He responded, "My step-dad's a canine, I can ask him! If I had to guess though, it's probably the same thing as calling someone immature or childish." The two of them grabbed their stuff and moved away from the fire exit, giving the three a chance to climb the stairs once the coast was clear.

Making their way to the roof of the theater, Ardit let go of the two of them. Jade touched the symbol and deactivated her magic. As Jade took a seat on the ground of the roof, Ardit did the same to get a breather. Zolio on the other hand stepped closer to the edge of the roof, looking at the city from the top of the building. She mutters to herself, "Nasrinth still looks so big from up here.." Ardit stood up on his two feet and approached her. He pointed out, "Careful, you could fall. Might wanna step back." Nodding, Zolio took a step back from the edge. Ardit questioned, "Have you been outside of the city?" Taking a deep breath, she responded, "I don't leave the city much, there aren't many opportunities since only the rich get luxuries like cars. I imagine you don't leave the city much either?" Ardit gave the question some thought. He answered, "Well I wasn't born here that's for sure, but when I came here I never really left."

As the two enjoyed the view, the distant sounds of piano keys being struck became more audible. The beautiful melody occupied their minds as they turned to look back at Jade. She waved to them and pointed at a trapdoor she had found on the roof that led to the stage of the auditorium. Zolio's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "Oh! Nice!" She approached the large open trapdoor. Ardit following close behind. Zolio questioned, "So is this the way we're gonna go in through?" Ardit shrugged, sticking his head into the trapdoor to look around. In the auditorium seats, people were observing the pianist perform. Ardit noticed the pianist playing on the stage, he wore a suit and had a tall, slim build. Supporting two antennae on his head, he focused on his music. The part that caught Ardit's attention the most was the piano itself. Around the entire auditorium, wires were hanging from the ceiling, draping from the walls, and lying on the floor. Every single wire seemed to trace directly into the piano as its origin. The amount was uncountable.  Ardit whispered, "Woah.." listening to the music and seeing the wires completely surround the auditorium, he leaned a bit more into the trapdoor. When he gets a closer look, he sees catwalks above the stage that he could land on if he prepared a well thought out jump.

He slipped. Ardit yells, "Shit!" As his body falls through the trapdoor. In a quick reaction, Zolio tries to grab his hand. She worriedly exclaims, "Ardit!" Grabbing his hand, the force from falling pulled her down. Zolio falls through with him. As Jade attempts to grab the both of them, her reaction wasn't fast enough and she sees the two plummet into the theater below.