Machinist of Mana

I didn't manage to get off free from my little ploy, basically everyone was furious at me, and my grandfather was promising to tell my parents, immediately after I'd lured our enemy out. Convincing him to keep quiet even that long had required a whole slew of concessions from basically everyone involved, and lots of extra guards for the whole endeavor.

There were even a few familiar faces joining us, the two Worldsingers who'd been supposed to deliver the gate that had been stolen were among the guards, and both looked like they wanted blood. That at least was easy to understand, they'd been betrayed, their leader and organization hurt, the man had also been severely injured, though with magic even that could be recovered in time.

“So we're all ready?” Mr. Ignus asked, looking around at the assembled people.

“The plan is sound, though I still dislike it,” my grandfather replied, here since we were meeting in one of his estates, just outside of Exion itself.

“Nobody likes it,” the investigator said.

“I do,” Lucas added in.

“You are only here because Percival insists upon it, and he needs someone to go with him. I still think we should have one of my men go with you instead though,” Ignus said, turning to me.

“No, Lucas is known friend of mine, your men aren't. Our enemy demanded I come alone, which is obviously stupid so we're not doing that, but if there's an unknown they might not show. This is a good compromise.”

“I can't believe your parents agreed,” grandfather grumbled.

“Me either,” the smiling young man answered.

“Pay attention people, we have two days, and we all want our pound of flesh. If any of you can't manage, we'll replace you, because we are not failing at this.” Ignus slammed his fist on the table as he spoke.

Ignus wasn't the highest ranked person here, not by a long shot, but he was the leader of this operation. The reason for that was simple, he knew the city better than anyone, he had more connections than anybody else involved, and if something was happening here, he'd be best set up to deal with the effects. He was also highly motivated, after all, people were causing trouble in his city, and this was his issue to solve.

“Understood? Good, now, once more from the top.”

Two days later Lucas and I walked side by side down the road to the meeting point. From the outside we looked like two young noblemen, fancily dressed, every button perfectly done. Both of us had canes, both of those were of course weapons. Below my jacket was my revolver, below Lucas' a small stubby blunderbuss, one shot only, but packing a heck of a punch. Though our outfits looked like formal-wear that too was a disguise, under both were layers of armor, enchanted to the best standards we could manage on the notice we had.

As we neared the location I'd been given a work crew ushered us to the side. Two days ago they'd begun repaving the street. Of course this was one of our teams, men acting as simple laborers when in fact each was a fully trained warrior, ready to leap upon whoever came to meet us. Surprisingly I couldn't even tell they weren't just normal workers, the street they'd been paving looked pristine to my eyes.

Across the street a young couple kissed lightly, the woman blushing and pushing her partner away a bit. They'd just moved in, freshly married by all appearances and welcome to the neighborhood. While I couldn't see it I'd been told that the Worldsingers had impeccable aura control, able to pass by even skilled detectors without setting them off.

Everywhere our teams laid in wait, ready to spring, each member subtly keeping an eye on the goings on. None of them acknowledged the others more than they would any other passing individual, and we'd been told in no uncertain terms that fully half of the men here would be unknown to one another. There was some concern with the number of people involved, but apparently they'd increased the vetting process exponentially.

The building we finally made our way to was four stories, and completely abandoned. There'd been some discussion about trying to get people into it to check it out, but the access to that was limited. Someone had done so, but having others inside wasn't viable for this mission. There were no houses, no businesses in here, only an old factory that was between owners. That was probably why 'Father' had chosen this particular place.

Shortly after arriving we made our way to the roof and lit a small lantern there. It was left out, not something large, or even that out of place, just a small candle-containing lamp. Then we turned to leave, knowing that tomorrow was the meeting day.

“Well, here I was expecting some excitement,” Lucas said as we headed towards the door.

“Could you not-”

Before I could even tell him off for raising flags all the sound around us died in the air. I recognized it as magic instantly, but didn't have time to yell before the floor gave way. I was impressed, very impressed, pissed too, that they'd managed to catch us so off guard. I tried to jump, tried to grab something, but with nothing solid I had nothing to push against as I fell.

The slide we fell into, for it could only be described as such was metal, shaped by magic into a perfectly smooth, oiled surface. Both of us tried to yell, tried to grab onto something for leverage, but there was none, no purchase or sound as we slipped beneath the stones of the city street.

Would our allies realize what had happened? Probably, but would it be soon enough to intervene? I doubted it.

Less than ten seconds after we fell we were spit out into a tunnel, one of the many that criss-crossed the city. Our undercity might not be as extensive as some other, older settlements, but that didn't mean it didn't exist. As the two of us flew from the tube we spun, drawing weapons and looking about for enemies.

Before us were a pair of figures, two female goblins, one I recognized and one I didn't. Both looked more human than the caged ones I'd seen, almost like smaller people, just with green skin and slightly pointed features. They looked at us as we landed, eyeing the weapons.

“Hi again,” Greta chirped, smiling. “I'm glad you decided to take Father's invitation.”

“I believe you were asked to come alone though,” the other added, looking unenthused.

“You're not alone, and I highly doubt you're this 'Father' I keep hearing about,” I retorted.

“That is fair enough. If it is only the one we can proceed then. Father wants you to come with us, and offers his word that should you do so you won't be harmed.”

“And I should trust him?” I asked, not having to mention that the instructions were not really accurate.

“Father had been known to use trickery, but his word is good. If he says he'll do something he will, if he tells you he won't, he won't. I believe that if you meet with him honestly he won't try to harm you at all.”

“Honestly greeny, we don't even know you,” Lucas said, seeming quite displeased.

“Fair enough, though there's no need to be rude human. I'm Sasha, the guardian of our people, and I give you my word that if you come to this meeting I will do what I can to see you are released safely afterwards.”

“And if we refuse?” I asked.

“Then I will take you there by force if needed. Will you though? You've already come this far.”

She did have a point there.