D I A N T H E S A R R I S & N E R O S A X O N June 27th, 12:01 AM P a l a c e o f I v a l i c e
During her first year as a member of Kingsglaive, Dianthe can remember how anxious she had been. Heartbeat racing, palms sweating, and unable to handle the pressures that each mission held. Now a three year veteran, the princess no longer held such uncertainty, and unlike before, her heartbeat stayed calm and her breathing seemed to almost be absent. She had learned over a short amount of time to overcome such self-doubt, realizing her own confidence just like she had done in her years under the Royal Guard. It was only then that Dianthe flourished, now using her full potential from years of experience as she followed Nero and the others into the Palace of Ivalice. Mind quiet and eyes locked on Nero as he explained another familiar device before going on to the blueprint located within their bluetooth, Dianthe gave her full attention to their Leader as further instructions were laid out.
Splitting up into pairs, Dianthe stayed crouched as she followed behind Nero to the stairs. As huge as the Palace was outside, the interior seemed to be even bigger. Flora's own Palace seemed so little in comparison, but that only made Dianthe more curious to see just what hid behind the doors of Ivalice. So as they began up the staircase, the redhead clicked open the green tint lens and took in the Palace blueprints. "
I don't understand the need for so many levels, but the Library is located on the twentieth floor." She echoed to Nero, her finger holding down the bluetooth as she continued crouched up the staircase behind him.
Dianthe's voice came through loud and clear in Nero's head. He audibly, yet quietly, groaned as she delivered the sour news that the duo would have to head to the twentieth floor. Even in these modern times, architects still thought that the meaning of grandiose meant verticality. To that revelation, Nero stopped at the top of the landing to the second floor and stood fully. His gaze shifted from one side to the next as he spotted singular knights pacing across the marbled floors with considerable distance between them. Just as the main lobby, the upper floors were all built in a giant circle with doors and hallways branching off into unknown places. This particular floor held only two knights on either side of the area. They seemed to be slowly pacing in half circles around the entire floor in alternate directions, simultaneously. That meant two things; there was nothing of importance on the second floor of the Palace and it would be easy enough to sneak passed them. As luck would have it, Nero also spotted a familiar design on the blueprint. "
Screw twenty floors, we're gonna hit the elevator shaft," He echoed in Dianthe's mind.
Crouching low once more, he took a quick look around before spotting grey set of metal doors with a small pad next to them on the wall - it had to be the elevator, but they would need to time their movements correctly to pry open the doors and slip through unnoticed. Knowing that his partner would take his lead, Nero carefully made his way onto the floor and hugged the wall right as the knight on it turned to walk in the opposite direction. The elevator was located on the other wall with the other guard and that one was just turning to walk away from it.
The woman's calves could have thanked her commander for his decision to take the elevator. Rock climbing, free running, and sky diving had never been a problem, but stairs were her all around enemy -- and twenty stories sounded worse then hell. Without complaints, Dianthe gave Nero a small nod as they reached the second floor. Staying low on the stairs and watching the other rooms and hallways located on the closer stories, Dianthe's attention returned to Nero as soon as he moved. Hugging the wall beside him as the Guard on their wall turned away from them, the woman held her breath as she watched the other Guard on the opposite wall trudge lazily away from the elevator. They needed to act fast, and considering time wasn't on their side, the redhead took lead knowing exactly what needed to be done. Staying low and confident that Nero would follow her lead just like she had done, Dianthe hurried to opposite wall beside the elevator while watching the Guard continue to walk away from them. Placing both of her gloved hands at the center of the door, she released a calming breath through her nostrils as she readied herself to pry open the elevator with Nero's aid.
Following Dianthe after mere moments, Nero scurried across the darkened floor and arrived only a few seconds behind his waiting partner. Without even a confirming glance, Nero stuck his fingers in the small slit where the metal doors met and, with Dianthe's help, pulled the doors apart just enough for one person to fit through. They were going to have to climb the shaft by hand since they obviously couldn't call the elevator down. Nero followed in after Dianthe and as she began to ascend the cables using a specially built automatic rope ascension tool, he closed the doors once more and began his own ascension with a quiet whirring sound from his own gauntlet launched tool.
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The Library used to be referred to as the archive, but it was renamed after it was shuttered to the public and moved to the twentieth floor. The Palace opened its entire ground floor to the public during certain hours, but the library had become so expansive that the decision was made to move it and use it as a means to store sensitive information as well. It was a large room with red and gold carpeting on the ground and chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling overhead. Shelves of books rose toward the ceiling and each aisle of bookshelves hosted its own super-tall ladder for the probable means of a librarian to easily care for and search books. The rows of bookshelves were set up in two columns if one were to be looking from a bird's eye view while small tables with numerous documents stacked on top ran down the middle of the columns. The Library was actually a highly guarded room, but the Kingsglaive members had been able to work their way inside.
Once the heavy wooden doors were closed behind them, Nero put two fingers on his bluetooth. "
Well... Here we are. Guess we should spread out and start looking. I'm not exactly sure what we're looking for here, but we've got time to comb through a good chunk of this place," He echoed in Dianthe's head.
The smell of leather refined books and dust filled her senses as she crept in to the Library behind Nero. The massive space and elaborate decor had forced Dianthe's neck to crane back as she took in the expensive chandelier hanging at the center of the room, and had it not been for the mission, she would have felt bad stepping on the vibrant red and gold carpet. Nero's voice was quick to pull her attention back in to focus, and with little more than a nod Dianthe headed down the columns to inspect the stacked documents sitting out in the open. It was unlikely that she'd fine anything among the stacked documents, but one would never be sure without checking.
Rifling through the documents and laying them out just as they were arranged to avoid visible changes, Dianthe skimmed through the words on each page looking for anything that could be directed at or involving Algareth. Treaty documents, structural blueprints involving Ivalice government buildings, along with documents regarding the Kingdoms tax information was within the first stack of papers. Nothing really of interest, but Dianthe hadn't even moved to the second table yet. Picking up the first page on the top of the second stack of documents, a small smile graced the redheads lips as she read the pamphlet. "
Ivalice Summer Festival, hm?" Finger on the bluetooth, Dianthe's playful tone echoed out to Nero as she continued. "
As a native to Ivalice, are the festivals as fun as this flyer makes them out to be? Cause' I'm not sure if I can handle counterintelligence and false advertisement all in one day."
Nero had not thought of Ivalice as home in a long time. At Dianthe's question, a nervous half-chuckle leaked out before the man took a moment to think. "
Well... " Nero began, clearing this thought and temporary jitters, "
You know Ivalice. Everything they do is some kind of event. The summer festivals are actually some of my better memories. I would sneak out of my place and just walk the streets and look at all the damn decorations and booths. It seemed like they spent so much money to impress the foreigners visiting. I was always in awe-" Nero stopped and fell silent for a moment before he seemed to come to some kind of epiphany. He continued to comb shelves of books as he spoke. "
Speaking of awe... Aren't you from the 'Kingdom in the Sky'? Heh, I didn't even think it was real for awhile."
Knowing little of her Commanders past, it was almost amusing to hear the nostalgia in Nero's voice as he spoke of the festival in his home country. Of all the places and continents she had travelled, Ivalice had not been one of them. Interested in hearing more and getting a better visual from his perspective, a soft audible chuckle rumbled from Dianthe's chest as Nero turned the question around on her, "
Well, you wouldn't be the first to think that." Pondering on her years in Flora, Dianthe skimmed through a small folder within the stack of documents before laying it down once she was sure nothing of significance was within it. "
Flora's summer festival isn't too bad. Lots of singing, and dancing, and drinking."
Moving to the next table, Dianthe began to shuffle through another stack of papers as she continued to talk about her home, "
It usually lasts a week, but my father and grandfather would stay absolutely wasted for the entire duration of the festival. I was never old enough to join in on their fun, and as the princess I was supposed to stay reserved and lady-like." A scowl had pulled across her lips as she shook her head to rid herself of less than fond memories, "
But once my father was too drunk to walk straight I would always wonder off. Check out the vendors myself, join in on the dancing. All that jazz."
Nero stopped at one of the tables at the end of an aisle of shelves and began to leaf through the documents. There really was not much here. His face wrinkled and a small sigh echoed through the mask in disappointment. The definition of a successful operation varied when it came to the Kingsglaive and at this particular moment, Nero and Dianthe were having no success. Some of the documents were kind of interesting though - of course, not half as interesting as Dianthe's little revelation. "
A princess? My memory can be pretty bad, but just how long have I not known that we've had royalty on the team? And a princess who drinks? Man, this world truly is progressive." Particularly dangerous missions of the past replayed in Nero's memory as he thought about his partner being a princess. He visibly grimaced a bit as all manner of punishment that flashed at the thought of anything happening to her.
Cheeks growing red and movement coming to a halt, Dianthe silently cursed herself as she realized she had just blown her own cover. As the commander of Kingsglaive, the redhead had assumed he was aware of her title or real surname upon her joining the unit. The again Dianthe knew Nero wasn't the true head of Kingsglaive, either. "
Guess the cat's out of the bag... " With that final echo and a nervous laugh, the redhead shook her head in frustration and focused on the mission, ready for the conversation to change or end altogether.
Her luck on finding any clues within the mountain of documents was coming up short as well, and already frustrated, Dianthe couldn't help but make an audible groan. "
I'm not having any luck here. Just crap piled on top of more crap." Dropping another folder full of nothing, Dianthe clicked open the map of Ivalice as she checked out the other areas. "
Should we head to another floor, or go for another room?"
Nero checked a digital watch built into his gauntlet and shook his head. "
We've already been here for half an hour and not a damn thing," Nero clicked open his own map and gazed at it for a moment, "
I guess we'll have to move on then. We'll just check the adjacent rooms and hope for the best. We don't have time to be picky," He said, finally admitting defeat. The Library had been full of nothing useful, but that in itself was not a bad thing. The fact that it seemed like Ivalice truly intended to have peaceful negotiations with Algareth was the best outcome possible. In a way, the Kingsglaive failing this mission would have been for the best. With a nod to Dianthe, Nero headed towards the doors followed closely by the newly revealed princess. No sooner did he place a stack of documents on a random desk he passed did a loud click and grinding of gears break the silence of the darkened room. A massive shelf against the wall slowly slid to the left side, revealing a small doorway connected to a long, dark corridor. Nero grinned.
"
Looks like this wasn't a complete waste after all." He motioned to Dianthe and turned to head into the corridor.
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