《Shadowlove (Lite)》Chapter 29: Home Trail
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She would give the sword a few swings around. The sound it made when it sliced the air was similar to that of someone whistling in a low pinch. Get more excited over it, she would start thrashing it around. Even the White Reaper had to step back to avoid being hit. Quickly, her arm would get tired and she lightly sits on the, now, closed chest to rest. The White Reaper was kind enough to get behind her and start to give her arm a massage as she sheathes the mystic blade.
"Well, I certainly got all I wanted with this. How about you, Ann!?" She calls out to Ann who was unintentionally hiding behind some piles of gold as she was quietly debating on which treasure she would stuff into her bag, as it had reached the point where the stitches beginning to stretch and create holes in. Not even her on-the-spot patches could save it if she tried. "oooh, should I get the crown? I'm sure some rich noble will want to buy it just to wear it privately and pretend to be king. But then again, that necklace over there would be the best mother's day gift or even for a wife or mistress."
"Hey Ann, hurry up! I am already ready to go up!" She would shout down as she starts to descend down the stairs. On cue, the White Reaper would begin to investigate more of the room in the off chance there was an exit for them to take instead of having to go all the way back where they came. Something acting like advice her father had on her whenever he spoke of the dungeons he had experienced. She shouting would only seem to stress her out, but ended up giving her an idea. Instead of putting them in her bag, she simply wore them. "Haha! Ann, you genius. Ignoring how ridiculous I look." She says, sounding proud of herself.
The White Reaper would come back to the two, gesturing them to come with him. He would lead them to one of the corners of the chamber, there was a small doorway that leads to a flight of stairs that spiraled upwards. "I hope this leads us right up to the surface. Specifically near my place. I don't want everyone to see me like this. Let alone that they can all get the treasure so easily." Ann would comment. The three would go up together, with the White Reaper in the front and Yasu at the back, acting as the rearguard with her sword out and ready to be used to protect Ann who was struggling with the loaded bag of metals and jewels. Like a cursed wish being granted, the stairs didn't lead them all the way to the surface, instead, it simply leads them to more bridges that were part of the Labyrinth. They pause for a bit to let their legs recover from the sore of climbing all the way up. Ann would groan and for a split second, thought about abandoning her loot until Yasuline remembered the scroll she picked up from the chest and unrolls it.
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"Whatcha got there Ann. Hopefully a map."
"Umm, I don't know. It has a bunch of lines going all over the place." Yasuline would respond, looking visibly confused as she tried to read it. Ann would step away from her loot and leans over her shoulder to see what it was. As well as the White Reaper himself. Indeed, the paper had lines going all over the place on it. Though there were some lines that were parallel with one another and some that had the word "Exit" written at some ends between the parallel lines. Finally, after pinning it to many things she guessed would be what the lines represent, Ann hammers her own hand. "I got it!" She would say. "It IS a map! To the labyrinth itself!"
"Great, then maybe we CAN find a way to get to your place and not let the other adventurers see us." Yasuline would add. Ann nodded gleefully as she goes over to her loot and with renewed energy, she sets the bag on her back. "Alright then, let's get going."
"So which one are we going to go? There are multiple exits." Yasu asks.
"Well, we pick the nearest one. We'll scout the surface and then I should be able to navigate us to the exit near my place."
"And after that, you can find one for us that is near the castle? I...err, live near it." Yasuline would suggest, unsure if she should still be covering her true identity or admit who she really was.
"Gotcha gotcha. The adventurers would find you two and chase the White Reaper around. And I bet they'll start interrogating you about your sword." Ann agrees.
The first exit they went to was one that was near "The Gate" to the capital. The Gate was the main entrance of the city at the south. There were other gates that travelers could take to go inside at the East and West. The north had a small mountain that was used to mine precious minerals and mostly reserved as a personal hiking location for the King and Queen to take on their anniversary days. Ann and Yasu would peek their heads at the crack in the wall to investigate their surroundings. Doing their best to ignore the people passing by and see if any adventurers were nearby. "No good. There are some of them right there. They look like they're still asking people about the Labyrinth. Good. It means that they haven't found any of the entrances in the city. At the very least, not all of them."
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They would go back to the main bridge that was leading them to all the entrances. Looking at the map again, Ann begins to mark the exit with the landmark of the Gate and forms the compass for the map. "Okay, Holding it this way. And remembering the streets, it should be this exit right here." Ann would proclaim and holds out the map for the other two to look at.
"Oh, then let's get going!" Yasuline would announce.
The three took about half of the hour of travel until they had arrived at the selected exit that Ann wanted them to head to. Going up another flight of stairs and through an average-looking door, they would find themselves in some rugged-looking back alley. It was littered with trash and broken barrels with small dirty puddles of water in it. The place didn't look to have much care in it, but it could very well be that the nighttime lighting from the moon doesn't do the place justice. Or that was what Yasuline was trying to consider until Ann seemingly felt content in the trashy look.
"Ah, home sweet home." Ann would say in a soothing tone as she seems quite content. Leaving the safety of the corridor and heads to a bleak door that had some openings on the door that didn't really seem to hide anything on the other side.
"You live here?" Yasuline would say, no hint in her shock.
"Duh. Look how cheap this place is. Barely paying anything to have it. Which means it's the perfect place to call home for any penny-pincher like myself."
"I suppose homes come in all kinds of ways." Yasuline would say, with the White Reaper nodding in agreement.
Ann would struggle to get her door open but succeeds and steps inside. A loud thud could be heard, even from outside. She would step out again, free from her heavy bag of treasure.
"Alright, if you guys don't mind the stink like I don't. I would be happy to let you two stay the night. Yes, even you Mr. Dark and Handsome." She would say as she drastically points at the White Reaper. He seemed to have been taken aback by the kind gesture as he would point to himself for reassurance. She would quietly nod and give a slight blush.
"I would really love to say yes, but I feel like I been gone long enough. Any more and I might get in trouble and never be able to leave again. So sorry." Yasuline explains as she gives a slight bow to her head at Ann.
"Oh really? That's too bad. But I understand. Oh well, next time though. I'll be sure to clean up next time too, so you don't have to sleep on the floor. Haha!"
Yasuline would laugh along with her. "Yes, please do that. I don't think I can handle that after sleeping in a comfy bed all my life."
"Heh, doesn't sound like a real adventurer would say. Anyways, you wanted the exit that would take you near the castle, right?" She recalls and then reaches for the map again. Looking up in the sky, she would try to line up key locations and where the exits were. She would mark two in particular and hands the map back to Yasuline.
"There you go, Yasu. I marked these two for you so you can figure it out if you forget." She would say. Looking at the map, Yasuline would see that one of the exits is marked with "Lumines Castle" and the other would say "Noble District"
"Oh wow, this is perfect. I can definitely go home easy with this."
"Hope so, wouldn't want to lose my friend down there." Ann would shyly smile at her.
"Yup, me neither." Yasuline would respond and smiles widely back at her. A small pause occurred between them and it was only Ann who seemed to be bothered by it.
"Alright, I'm definitely going to bed so I can get up early and start appraising my loot."
"Okay. Have a good night." Yasuline would say and waves her off as the door shuts and the light dimly turns on inside her home. With an affirmed nod, Yasu and the White Reaper would retreat back into the labyrinth.
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