Luna ran and ran and ran. She knew her father told her to find her mother, but with the chaos of the warzone the city had turned into and the fact that she knew her mother would be in the thick of it, just like her father, the young half-Mink had no idea where to go. Still, she ran as hard as she could, stopping only to hide from Marine soldiers as they ran past. During those times, she curled up as tightly as she could and covered her ears to block out the screams and cries for mercy as they were cut short by the advancing military. When she ran, she did her best to block it out, but there was only so much she could do.
Several times, she had thought about looking at the full moon, but each time, she forced herself to keep her eyes forward. Her father had trained her, of course, but not only did using it always exhaust her, she was also aware that she had trouble controlling herself. The chance of hurting someone who didn’t deserve it scared her too much. Besides, while she might have been able to take on the rank and file, even she knew she’d be helpless against anyone stronger.
Suddenly, her foot caught on a cracked piece of cobblestone and she fell forward with a yelp, but she didn’t get up right away. The pain of her scraped hands and knees, the sounds of people in far worse pain, the thought that she was losing her family and home…it was too much. The young princess couldn’t stop the wracking sobs that came over her. A couple of hours ago, she was sitting on her father’s lap, listening to stories in the tavern, something she would give absolutely anything to go back to.
Unfortunately, her cries drew the attention of a pair of nearby Marines. Luna’s ear twitched at the sound of their approaching footsteps and she quickly rolled onto her back, scrambling back against the wall of the house next to her. They looked down at her, their rifles in hand. One of them leaned closer to get a better look and muttered, “I’ll be damned. I think this is that Nox brat we’re supposed to be on the lookout for. What’s she doing out here without protection?”
“Who cares?” the other asked. “Let’s take care of her before someone catches up to us.”
The first chuckled and stepped closer, crouching in front of Luna. He took her chin in his hand and turned her head as he suggested, “Now, hang on a second. I’ve heard about this place in the Sabaody Archipelago. We could talk to the captain, take her over there, maybe make a pretty Berry or two. How about–”
The rest of his suggestion never came. Quieter than a whisper, a figure clad in black appeared between the two marines and drove their dagger into the back of the kneeling sailor, between his ribs and directly into his heart. Before the second marine could react, shocked at the sight of the stranger suddenly appearing in front of him, the figure pulled their dagger out of the first and into the throat of the second, their long black braid trailing behind them. Withdrawing it just as quickly, they slowly turned toward Luna, who started to feel her hopes rise.
The figure standing in front of her was a Sicarius, clad in a black bodysuit and silver mask. Under the direct command of Luna’s family, Sicarii were normally called in when the Empire needed a scalpel rather than the hammer of the Legion. As the shadow of the Empire, Sicarii were primarily trained in stealth, espionage, sabotage, and assassination, talents no one would openly admit to having, yet were truthfully indispensable for an empire the size of Nychthemeron.
The Sicarius turned toward Luna, returning their dagger to the sheathe fastened to their thigh, and approached the young princess. Luna was about to move toward the figure, but stopped, her father’s parting words ringing in her head: “Find your mother, don’t trust any soldier or Sicarius.” As the Sicarius knelt before her, Luna slowly rose to her feet, pressing her back against the wall. The Sicarius smiled behind their mask, their silver eyes glittering, and said in a voice very familiar to the young girl, “It’s okay, Luna. You’re safe, now.”
She pulled the mask down to reveal the face of Aurora Nox, her mother.
”Mama…” Luna mumbled in her sleep before her eyes fluttered open as the creaking and rocking of the ship greeted her. She rubbed her eyes, then winced as her aches and pains made themselves known. She slowly sat up and turned to look out of a nearby porthole as the late evening sun shone through. The ship had drifted away from the island, most likely to keep the golems from attempting to board again, but remained close enough to keep an eye on the shore.
Luna rose from her bunk and ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to shake off the memories that plagued her sleep. Images of her mother, her smiling face followed by her bloodied body, flashed through her mind and she quickly forced them out of her mind. Instead, she forced herself to focus on what she and her crew were going to do next as she made to go above deck.
While the rest of the crew hurried to and fro on the deck, repairing damage created by the golems and clearing any leftover clay, she found Rufus and the others, along with Josiah, standing around a table brought up from below deck, pouring over a map of the island. Seeing Luna approach, Galen smirked and teased, “Well, the princess decides to grace us with her presence, after all.”
“If that’s how it’s gonna be, I can go back down. Wouldn’t mind some more shuteye,” Luna replied with a chuckle as she joined her friends.
“What’s going on?”“I sent my men back into town to check things out,” Josiah replied, “and from the looks of it, it seems like Low called his men and golems back to the governor’s mansion. Seems like he’s expecting us to go after him, so he’s shoring up his defenses.”
“So, a frontal assault is out of the question,” Rufus added. “We can charge headfirst into the fight, but his men and golems will put us down before we can get within a stone’s throw. The governor’s mansion should have escape tunnels in case of attack, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Low already knows about them. We can assume they’re no good, either.”
“Could try sneaking in,” Galen suggested. “There’s gotta be a broken window or a hole some of us could sneak in through. It doesn’t look like they’ve taken very good care of the place.”
Josiah was already shaking his head. “No good. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like wherever Low has his clay, he knows what’s going on. My men say that he’s got his clay all over the place and I can only assume that the inside has even more, so he’d know we’re coming long before we get close.”
It was then that Luna got an idea.
“I could probably get in there,” she said. When everyone glanced at her, she continued,
“I don’t know if you guys forgot, but the Noxes ran the Sicarius Organization. I’ve got the training, I can get in there. I’d just need you guys to run a distraction. And I’d probably have to do it alone.”“I don’t know,” Rufus said, “that sounds too dangerous. Having a small team sneak in is bad enough, but making you go in by yourself ?”
Galen sighed and replied, “It
is our best shot, though. Most I know about the Sicarii are the stories. If any of them are true, then she’s the only one who can get in. And we all know she can handle herself if things go sideways.”
Rufus was quiet for a long while. He knew they were right, but he couldn’t ignore the bad feeling that was gnawing at his gut. With a sigh, however, he relented. “Alright. If it really is our only option, then there’s no other choice. We’re gonna have to work out one hell of a plan, though.”