Dark Side Of The Moon

Chapter 13: Napoleon

Napoleon knew to tuck and roll left, then run right and flatten himself against the wall as soon as he entered.  After years of being subject to Ebony's pranks, he'd learned the pattern that her knives flew in.

You were slow on that roll, Elvira's voice scolded in his head.

"Good morning, Napoleon," Ebony greeted him, hanging upside down from the chandelier like an aerial artist. "What brings you here?"

"My mother," Napoleon muttered, and they both laughed at that. "So, do you wanna go for a drink like all the other cool young people here?"

Ebony rolled her eyes. "All the cool, young people are dead. Do try to keep up."

Napoleon sighed. Whenever he was around Ebony, he made himself look like a fool.

"So, how's spying going? Must be more interesting than being cooped up in the Duskan Empire like me," Napoleon tried, drawing in closer.

"Really great! Much more interesting than I thought. I even get to do espionage as a nightclub shadow dancer. I get free drinks at the bar, and kisses," Ebony teased.

Napoleon visibly reddened at that.

"Did you want a kiss too?" Ebony rolled onto her stomach, taking the cascade of crystals with her. The chandelier shuddered with the movements, yet Ebony barely noticed, instead cocking her head to examine Napoleon.

"Yes!" He burst out too eagerly, leaning up towards her-

Don't show your feelings to anyone. A true warrior's poker face is impenetrable, Elvira hissed.

With a delicate arm, Ebony reached out and took his chin in her hand. She drew nearer to him, and he reached up to grab the nape of her neck-

"Well, you'll have to earn it," Ebony said mischievously and pushed him onto the table below. "That means, focusing on what we have to do."

Napoleon nodded quickly, filling Ebony in on Nereza's visions of Sombra and Chrissy, the Dark Side of the Moon, along with the Dusk's plans.

"So, why did Elvira send you over here? Surely my spying is good enough," Ebony asked him, playing with one of the tinkling crystals.

"When you, Sombra and Chrissy go to the Dark Side of the Moon, I'm going to tail you guys in secret to see how everything plays out," Napoleon explained. "And for backup. Remember the last time we didn't have secret backup?"

Ebony laughed a nervous laugh at that. She and Napoleon had been on a spy mission for the Dusk family, and gotten ambushed. The result was hostage taking, multiple stab wounds, and an extremely pissed off empress.

"Elvira was terrifying. Going on for weeks!" Napoleon shuddered at the thought. "Napoleon, you're setting a bad example for Nereza and Specter. Napoleon, I didn't go through nine months of pregnancy for you to get us all killed."

"Do you agree with Elvira?" Ebony inquired, drawing a knife and dangling it lazily in front of his face.

Napoleon stopped at that. What he really wanted to do was impress his mother. Have her pat him on the back and say "Good job," without a backhanded compliment to go along with it.

"Of course I support my mother! It is my role to bring honor to our family," Napoleon answered out of habit, so well-trained and rehearsed the moves felt robotic.

Ebony raised an eyebrow. "You've got to do better than that. Do you think I'm stupid?"

A blush blossomed across Napoleon's cheeks at that. Never reveal secrets to your enemy, Elvira's voice chided.