Chapter 4
A sharp hand shook Willie awake, and he jerked out of bed. For a second, he had no clue where he was. Why wasn’t he in the barn with the other streetboys? Slowly, the past day’s events came back to him, and Willie groaned. He felt sore all over, and some of the cuts he had gained were hardened and crusted over. Rhode was standing next to him, and he opened the blinds to a window. Sunlight poured into the small area they were in, and Willie squinted at the sudden brightness.
“The sunlight comes from above ground using mirrors. In case you didn’t know.” An unknown voice came from his right. Willie got out of his bed and turned to find the source.
A dark haired girl that looked about his age, though she seemed a head shorter, looked at him expectantly. She was wearing rich clothes and looked well fed. She obviously had an easy life so far, and Willie immediately felt a tinge of distaste. He had met with people like her, rich and happy, and he never liked them.
“So this is the Retriever you recruited?” she said, addressing Rhode. Then she turned to Willie and introduced herself. “I’m Costa. I’ll be accompanying you on your job.” She stuck out her hand, and Willie reluctantly shook it.
He turned to Rhode and whispered into his ear, “How is she supposed to help me? She doesn’t have the look or build of a thief.”
Rhode made a move to speak, but Costa interrupted him. “You know I can hear you. If you want to talk about me, talk face-to-face.”
Willie already started to categorize this girl as snobby and obnoxious, but then stopped himself. If he pegged Rhode wrong, then maybe this girl might be different too. “Fine. How will you be useful at all to me?”
Costa smirked and exchanged a glance with Rhode. “Watch.”
She slowly raised her arm, and a sudden gust of wind blew past Wilile. It wasn’t natural considering they were in an underground bunker. Before Willie’s very own eyes, the gentle breeze quickly turned into a swirling vortex in the center of the room. Weapons of all sizes started edging closer to the miniature tornado until it created a vortex of weapons, flying about the room. One of swords that had been lying on the table came flying straight towards Willie and impaled itself an inch from his arm. Rhode started yelling and motioning over the noise, and though he couldn’t make out the words, he got the message.
It seemed that Costa did too, and she lowered her hands. The swirling vortex slowly subsided, and the weapons clanged to the floor. The whole room was disorganized, and Rhode pointed at Costa and glared. Fix it, now. Costa made a rolling motion with her hands, and a much more controlled, softer wind picked up the weapons. Under Rhode’s direction, Costa put everything back into order, and soon it looked as if nothing happened.
Costa smiled sheepishly at Willie. “I have to work out a few kinks. My main problem is control, but otherwise, I might as well be a Master Elite.”
“And surprising as it is,” Rhode said, dusting off dust from his trousers, “she’s not coming on the mission for her powers, although they are a good bonus.”
“She’s not?” Willie exclaimed at the same time Costa said, “I’m not?”
Rhodey shook his head. “She has a better use for us.” Motioning them to the couches, they all took a seat.
He drew the bag with the Origin Stones out of his coat. “I already briefed Costa about our mission. Our main problem is finding the last remaining stone.”
“I had wondered about that,” Costa said aloud.
“Right,” repeated Rhode. “This is top secret knowledge. No one but the King and a few of his associates know of this. And me of course.”
Costa and Willie leaned forward in anticipation.
“There is only one known way to track an Origin Stone.” Rhode held up one of the stones he had. The amulet. Addressing Costa, he asked, “Do you notice anything strange about it?”
Costa scrunched her eyebrows together and squinted. It took a few minutes until her face lit up. “I see some sort of thread attached to it. The other end of the thread just extends outwards.” She turned her head to follow the invisible thread. “I can’t see where it stops.”
Willie made a face. “I can’t see anything. What is she talking about?”
“Each Origin Stone is tied to it’s Elite. If you have a strong enough Elite on your side, you can follow the thread the stone creates to the other stones.” Rhode pointed at Costa.
“Yes, I see it now!” Costa exclaimed. “There’s a thread connecting the amulet and the pen together. Then both of them have another thread leading out.”
Will started to catch on. “The Origin stones lead you to the other Origin stones. So if we follow the threads from these two stones -”
“We can find the last stone!” Costa beamed.
“Good job,” remarked Rhode. “You understand the plan. Now you just have to get the job done.”
“I need to clarify some things first,” said Willie as he stood up. He began pacing the room while talking. “Who do these Origin stones belong to? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you avoiding it. The identity of our target could make or break our mission.”
Rhode immediately became rigid and his gaze hardened. “You don’t need to know that. Just carry out your mission as ordered.”
“But -”
“That’s enough.” Rhode’s knuckles had tightened on the edge of the table, and a dangerous glint had come into his eyes. He abruptly stood up and headed into the lab, making a racket on the way there and slamming the door.
Costa looked at him as he left, then turned towards Willie. “What’s his deal?”
Willie shrugged. “I have no idea. One moment he seems like a responsible adult, next a moody teenager.” He paused, then inquired, “So, how did you get mixed up into this madness?”
“Our parents were family friends,” Costa said with a small smile.
“Really? I didn’t think he was capable of having friends, much less his parents,” Willie joked.
Costa solemnly shook her head. “You shouldn’t joke about stuff like that. You’re not the only orphan here.”
Willie opened his mouth, then closed it. It had never occurred to him that Rhode himself had family problems. It had never occurred to him to even think about Rhode’s life, period. He had been wallowing too much in his own despair to think about those around him. He made a promise to himself to be a little easier on Rhode.
Just as he thought that, Rhode walked back in from the lab. He looked much more calm and collected, and in his hands were two backpacks. He passed one to Willie without meeting his eye, and then gave the other backpack to Costa.
Willie took a peek into the knapsack and caught his breath. Inside was a sack of gold coins, along with food and a couple of jugs of water. His hands shook as he beheld the amount of money in his hands. He could live off this stuff for a whole year, and still be happy!
Rhode must have seen his face, for he cracked a smile. “Those provisions should be enough to sustain you for a couple of days until your job ends.”
“A couple of days?” Willie exploded incredulously. “This- this could feed the whole barn for a week! I’ve never seen so much money in one spot in my life!”
Costa gave him a puzzled look. “It’s not that much money.”
“Willie’s had a . . . tough life,” Rhode said carefully, and Willie felt his cheeks turn red.
Costa crossed her arms and frowned. “How long are we going to stay here and talk? I thought you said we would leave first thing in the morning.”
Rhode smiled. “Right. Well then, I think you’ve been properly briefed, so you should probably get a move on.”
Willie looked back and forth between them. “Wait. We’re leaving now? I don’t have any training or anything.”
“Ha! This guy’s funny,” Rhode laughed. “Retrievers don’t have any training. You’re either born with the gift of theft, or not all. And you definitely have the gift.”
The last complement made Willie feel a little better. He started to go towards the ladder.
“You guys will have plenty of provisions and money for a few days,” Rhode said, gesturing to the two knapsacks. “I’ve also packed one Origin stone into each of the knapsacks to help guide you to the final stone. There are a few other useful products are in there as well. I’m sorry I can’t come, but I’m sure you both can handle yourselves.
Willie froze and gave him and incredulous glance, then looked at Costa, who was nodding as if this was all according to plan. They were supposed to go out and steal an Origin stone without an actual Retriever? How come he was seemed to always be the last to know this stuff?
Costa came up behind Willie and gave him a push towards the ladder. His legs were still tired from all the running from yesterday. With effort, he climbed up the rungs of the ladder and into the glaring sunlight.
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