Eyes of the Spider

As they leave the maintenance room, Ystur asks, "What was that you did back there? With the arms and stuff."

"Illusions, nothing more," Astur says.

"But illusions aren't supposed to be able to do that. Like, it doesn't make sense, I thought illusions couldn't be touched or interact with anything. But your guns actually killed him," Ystur says.

Astur shrugs, "The universe works in mysterious ways," refusing to elaborate further.

As Ystur continues to pester her mother, Kretea says, "It's best to give it up. She never goes into detail regarding her personal abilities. If you wish to learn about Lady Astur's abilities, you might have more success speaking with Elizabeth."

"But the smelly bat is annoying," Ystur complains.

"You… Liz would cry if you ever called her that to her face," Astur says.

"I have," Ystur says, "And she did tear up a little."

"In some aspects, you're worse than me," Astur says before raiser her hand and giving Ystur a thumbs up, "Good job."

"I don't believe this is something deserving of praise," Kretea says.

"But, y'know, Liz is just… she just has this face that makes me want to tease her," Astur says.

"Yeah, yeah, I completely understand. She gives off this feeling that tells me I need to mess with her," Ystur says.

Listening to their conversation, Kretea shakes her head and refrains from further comments on the topic, knowing it would be a losing battle.

"So have you learned where our targets are located?" Kretea asks.

"Yep. A hotel near the north gate is being used as their hideout," Astur says.

"The northside? But isn't that where the city's Police Headquarters is located?" Kretea asks.

"Most people would think that hiding so close to the Police HQ would get them caught, as such no one expects it, making it a lower search priority. But I gotta hand it to that Illsrvati, she probably does know almost every happening in this city," Astur says.

Seeing the puzzled look on Ystur's face, Astur says, "Illsrvati is what's known as a Zhimonea, a Spider Spirit. Zhimonea is a kind of hivemind, they're an organism made up of an uncountable amount of small spiders directed by a single overmind. They can split off these small spiders from their body and with these spiders, can see and hear what they do." Looking up to the ceiling and seeing eight small glistening dots, she continues, "I wouldn't be surprised if she was listening to us right now."

As Kretea and Ystur look upwards to follow Astur's gaze, they wonder what she was looking at as they're unable to see anything up there.

After a few more minutes of walking, Astur and company find an exit, but right beneath the ladder leading up the manhole is a few familiar faces. The detective and his entourage from before.

"You three, what are you doing here? The sewers are a restricted area right now," the policewoman says.

"Calm down, Captain. I apologise for my colleague behaviour. I'm Detective Wilhelm and this is Captain Martina, we're from the Criminal Investigations Department. However, she is right that civilians shouldn't be here currently. I'm sure you know about the recent bank robbery."

"Yeah, we're bounty hunters lookin' for a quick buck. So, of course, we'd know. That's precisely why we're here. I'm Ästür, this is Ýstür, and that's Kretéä. We've spent the last few hours searching and asking the vagrants, but we couldn't find anything useful and were on our way out."

"I see. Hmm…" the detective is taking his time, observing Astur's group for any minute movements or suspicious activity. "Alright then, carry on. The rest of you, lets get moving, we've wasted enough time as it is," Wilhelm commands as the other officers begin spreading out.

"Good luck in your search, Detective," Astur says as she lets Kretea and Ystur take the ladder up first before following behind them.

With Astur group out from the sewers, Captain Martina approaches Wilhelm.

"Are you sure this is alright? Those three were clearly suspicious."

"I'm not an idiot, I know they're suspicious and it was obvious they were lying. But it's more important to deal with these robbers first. My job is on the line here and the higher-ups are breathing down my neck. The Director keeps messaging me for updates and is clearly upset every time I tell him we haven't got a lead yet. We haven't found the robbers nor have we located that information dealer. If we can't find them on our own that woman is the next best choice, but she hasn't been at her usual spots today."

A voice echos out through the sewers, "So I hear you have been looking for me, Detective Wilhelm."

Wilhelm, Martina, and the other nearby officers look around to find the source of the voice. They quickly find a head dangling from the ceiling by a spider thread.

"HIYAIEE!" an easily spooked officer cries out in fright.

"You are a hard woman to find sometimes, Spider. Money isn't a problem, so what can you tell me about those bank robbers, the ones that made off with a billion?" Wilhelm asks.

"Detective, do you know why you haven't been able to find me until now? It's because I didn't want to be found by you. I know what you want, but I don't have the information you desire."

"Then if you're appearing now then that means you have acquired something to sell, is that right?" Wilhelm asks.

"Oh how I love dealing with smart people like you, it makes these talks so much easier. The reward for your correct assumption is my information free of charge," Illsrvati says.

"That's unusual for a money-grubber like you. What's the catch?"

"It's simple, the information isn't much in regards to the exact thing you're looking for. And I'm merely getting a bit of revenge since a certain someone took some information and didn't pay for it. First off, one of the five robbers you're looking for is dead, killed by the lady leading the group you encountered a moment ago. Next is about those three. I'm sure someone of your intelligence has figured it out, but those were fake names. That was Astur you just encountered, the leader of the Holy Oulvgar State in the Sea of Trees, the current target of the Human's crusade. The other two are Kretea, the adopted daughter of the Warden and the other one is the daughter of Astur, Ystur. And my final bit of information for you is that there will be another heist, these robbers are going big this time since the target is the County Treasury."

Reaching into his pocket, Wilhelm throws up a roll of cash, "10,000 VD. I know you said free of charge, but I ain't the one paying, it's my boss's money. Better you take it than that annoying old coot. Alright you lot, we're leaving, send word to HQ about those robbers next move and send people to the Capitol Building."

Watching the officers leave, Illsrvati smirks, "A pleasure doing business."