Chapter 14 – Mission success?

Eric was securing Blade in mana suppressing restraints as fast as he could when he was alerted to the sound of footsteps behind him. He whirled around to see Kate approaching him with the black leather bag the orange haired girl had, all of the documents still inside it. A wide smile was on her face as she clung tightly onto the bag. Eric didn't want to know what had happened to the bag's original owner. 

Kate opened her to mouth to speak but Eric quickly cut her off "Lucina needs our help" he explained. He started to sprint across the depot when someone suddenly emerged from the shadows. His feet dug into the gravel as he brought himself to an immediate stop. Darkness faded away from the figure revealing a familiar face. Arthur.

"Everything is fine" said Arthur "Lewis and Ike are with Lucina".

"Did everyone follow us?" Eric questioned with creased brows.

"Lucina followed you. We followed Lucina, for obvious reasons" Arthur explained. Eric rolled his eyes while turning towards Kate who was already heading towards Blade's warehouse. He didn't bother asking about what happened across the depot, he could easily guess the answer. Eric walked across the gravel and met up with Kate, Arthur closely trailing behind. With one swift movement he tore away the black sheeting, revealing eight crates that stood as tall as himself. The crates were made out of a dark brown wood that Eric didn't recognise and they almost seemed to pulsate. At a closer inspection Eric could sense mana running through the material.

"The woods enchanted" said Kate her fingers tracing its grain, "I'm assuming it's to hide whatever is inside".

"Any idea what is actually inside?" Eric asked.

"No" Kate admitted "there's nothing about it in these documents however, they do contain the information to destroy Blade for good" Kate told him grinning.

"Good" Eric said before grabbing the straps holding the crates together "Now let's see what all the fuss has been about". He unclipped the straps and along with Arthur lifted the top right crate and gently placed it on the floor. It only took a moment for Eric to remove the locks like he had with the Warehouse door. He then firmly gripped the crates lid, ripped it off and tossed it to the side. Eric leaned over to see into the crate when suddenly the warehouse lights were shattered.

Instantly a huge mana signature manifested behind them. One that he didn't recognise. Eric spun as fast as he could, but something grabbed onto him, clouding his vision. He was engulfed by something he couldn't explain. It was like a sea of living shadows a deep navy so dark it seemed black. He felt the shadows stretch around his back and then was hit by a sharp pain as something clawed into his body. Suddenly he was lifted off the ground and sent flying through the air. Once released his vision finally cleared, and he found himself outside the warehouse. Eric crashed hard into the gravel ground however quickly sprung to his feet. Turning he could see there was now a newcomer in front of the warehouse.

Darkness shrouded most of the man's body, but he wore a black trench coat and had short black hair and a pale, clean-shaven face. However, the most eery thing about him was his soulless white eyes. Eric quickly discovered where the sea of shadows originated when they erupted from around the man and charged towards Arthur and Kate.

"Wrai -?" Eric heard Kate state baffled before Arthur leapt towards her just in time to shield her from the shadows. Instantly they were sent crashing through the warehouse wall. Eric snapped out of his confusion and attempted to charge towards their attacker however, got caught in the chest by a stream of darkness that emerged from the shadows below. Before Eric was taken off his feet he transfigured the ground sending a wave of stone towards the man. Darkness instantly shattered the wave sending a cloud of dust into the air. Eric charged through the dust cloud, but he was too late. Their mystery attacker was gone and so were the crates.

'What the fuck'.

A few moments earlier

'It can't be' the moment Lewis sensed that presence he vanished from Ike and Lucina's side. He soared through the sky, covering the entire depot in an instant. Ahead of him, far above Eric and the others, was a familiar man in a black trench coat. Wraith. Before Wraith could do anything Lewis charged into him sending them both rocketing through the air.

"Been awhile Wraith" said Lewis "The fuck are you doing here?". Clearly startled, Wraith strained against Lewis managing to push him away.

"Athra" the man let out a dark growl. His wraiths began to gather as he prepared an attack however the wind suddenly grabbed onto him, suspending him in the air and tearing apart his navy shadows. Lewis dashed through the sky and kicked him in the side and then followed up with a left hook into his ribs. Or at least that's what he intended to do. Wraith twisted his body exposing the inside of his coat and Lewis's fist somehow sunk into its black abyss. A strange coldness embraced his arm like he just punched an ocean. Lewis was puzzled as his arm sank deeper into Wraith coat however, his confusion was wiped away as he felt something brush against him inside the abyss. For a moment panic flooded Lewis thinking it was a wraith however, after it didn't try rip his arm off or react to him he assumed it must inanimate. But he didn't have much time to process it as a familiar feeling flooded his senses. A presence he felt not long ago. Like he was being watched.

'I guess it wasn't the alcohol'. Lewis planted his foot into Wraith's gut and ripped free from the cold abyss just in time to avoid a sharp silver flash passing over where his head was. Not even a second later a black blur crashed into the Lewis's side, knocking him back. A figure shrouded in black cloth, suddenly appeared next to wraith. Its hooded gaze lay ominously on Lewis. They all began to fall through the sky, and instantly the air gathered around Lewis, before launching him towards them. Wraith quickly swung his arms wide and released a stream of wraiths, their ghoulish claws and faces mixed into the sea of darkness. Lewis quickly tore apart the attack and turned his focus back on Wraith and the stranger. He raised his arm and gathered mana in his palm. The cloaked figure, that camouflaged into the night, grew hostile, and it prepared to pounce however was stopped when Wraith grabbed its arm. Suddenly they were immersed in a blinding white flash. When the light faded they'd vanished. Stumped Lewis urgently attempted to search for their mana signatures. Nothing. They were gone nowhere to be found in Elysi. Lewis cursed to himself as his mind tried to figure out what just happened, but he soon snapped back to reality and quickly headed back to the depot.

Lucina and Ike had made their way across the depot and grouped up with Eric, Arthur and Kate who all seemed to be mostly unharmed after their encounter with Wraith, except maybe for some scratches, bruises, and ruined clothes. Lewis was relieved, they were all lucky Wraith was so desperate get away and didn't want to fight. He was no one to underestimate if the military knew he was here, a man hunt would be instantly called. But he was gone now. Somehow. Now Lewis just had to figure out why he was here and who his stalker was.

As Lewis lowered himself through the sky his hand curled around a strange object. He had ripped it from Wraith's subspace abyss when he felt it brush against his hand. It looked like something you'd find in a museum. It was a long glistening bar a little shorter than his forearm that was made of a metal that looked like platinum with wings sprouting from the top in a crescent. A white crystal made up the middle of the bar like a handle and a second unrefined crystal was embedded on its base. At a close inspection he could also see strange runes engraved down the entirety of the relic.

Lewis gently descended next to his friends.

"What happened?" Eric questioned.

"They got away" Lewis responded.

"They?" Eric's face creased.

"Wraith and someone I don't know. They disappeared in this … weird flash of white light. Completely vanished, I can't sense them anyway in the city" Lewis explained.

"Wraith? Isn't that the guy you and Kate had a close run in with a few years back?" Eric questioned.

Lewis nodded and then turned to Kate who was storming around an empty warehouse, an irritated expression stained her face.

"Bastard took it all" she growled.

"hmm" Lewis let out confused.

"Whatever Blade was transporting were in the crates right here" she pointed at the middle of the warehouse that had definitely seen better days "Wraith can't be the buyer can he? No it doesn't seem in character".

"Because it's not. Wraith won't be the buyer, he and whoever he was with were just here to pick up the crates" Lewis stated, "For who, I have no idea. But I'm pretty sure we've just landed ourselves in some deepshit. Which is the last thing I wanted and definitely the last thing we all needed".

"How fun" said Eric grimly "We're now dealing with someone who uses 'Blade' as personal transport and has got him scared shitless". Lewis glanced to his left at Arthur, Ike and Lucina who were all staring silently, clearly unaware on how to process the situation. He then turned to see Kate had rejoined them. A black leather bag was hung around her shoulder with papers slightly sticking out.

"What's that?" Lewis asked curiously.

"All of Blade's documents. Basically everything we need to shut his operation down for good, he must've assumed the safest place for them was with him" Kate smiled while glancing to the restrained unconscious man "So at least one good thing came from this".

"Maybe two" Lewis mused. They all looked at him confused and he handed them the device in his hand.

"Took it from Wraith" Lewis explained "From this … never mind" he quickly stopped himself not knowing how to describe the man's strange subspace.

"That's what was in the crates. I only got a glance but there was definitely a row of them" Eric said inspecting it before handing it to Kate, a small smile then grew on his face "So we know what they wanted, we just to need to figure out what it is and why they want it".

Kate's pupils emitted a golden glow as they analysed the relic scouring over aspect of the device. "I have absolutely no idea what this is" Kate finally admitted after around twenty seconds, "I have never seen this crystal before and don't get me started on these runes" her gaze then sat on Lewis "I'm assuming you want to keep this a secret".

"For now yes" Lewis confirmed "the last thing I need now is the military investigating me again".

Kate nodded "I'll hold on to it for now and see if can abuse my CI privileges and figure out what it is".

"Sounds good" Lewis agreed. The relic vanished into the necklace Kate hid beneath her shirt.

"I'm going to call Alex and get him and the military to come clean this up and put Blade away" Eric informed them while taking his phone out from his coat and walking away from them.

Lewis nodded "Alright I'll take these three back home and get out of your way" he glanced to Kate "Are you staying here?".

"Yeah, I've got to make sure they get these" she said gesturing to the documents "And General Zeit will have me doing all the paperwork for this anyway, speaking of paperwork are the people who attacked Lucina -".

"Dead".

"Delightful" Kate mumbled.

"Don't blame me" Lewis said "Blame the assholes that tried to kill us. For a second time".

"Alright Alex and others are on the way" Eric stated as rejoined them.

"That's our cue" said Lewis "You three let's go".

They quickly exited the depot, Lewis noting how damaged the depot had become from the battles that had happened tonight. Kate wasn't going to enjoy the paperwork for that.

Their journey through the city so far had been in complete silence with Lewis walking slightly ahead of the other three. The silence and tension must've finally got to his sister as she eventually spoke up.

"I guess it was a good thing I snuck out and you guys followed me, or Lewis would have never got that relic thing" she joked however, the no one's mood was lifted. Lewis glanced back at his sister deadpan and both Ike and Arthur looked at her the same way.

"Me and you are going train together tomorrow" Ike told her "Guess what we're training".

"swordsmanship" Lucina sulked.

A small smile crept up on the Lewis's face, "As fun as that would be to see, Lucina will be training with me for at least the rest of this week" he spoke up. Everyone looked at him surprised including Lucina however, seeing her brother gaze her face quickly paled.

"What will we be training?" Lucina asked him her voice carrying a hint of worry.

"Summoning" Lewis replied.

"Summoning … how come?" Lucina questioned now slightly excited.

"I was watching your fight then and even though there are so many things we need to talk about there was one glaring problem" he explained "Arthur what was it?".

"You didn't use summoning until it was too late" Arthur told her "if you used your full capabilities earlier you would have never been caught off guard and defeated the first two before the second pair ever showed up".

"… I wanted to see how I faired on my own -" Lucina tried to defend herself.

"And that's all good when in training. But that was real life. Lucina holding back like you did when against experienced mages is stupid and a good way to get yourself killed" Lewis interrupted her "Also your summoning … let's just say you were a lot better before training for the Atlas games. So guess what we're going to be training" Lewis asked with a mischievous smile.

"Oh no" Lucina grumbled all excitement gone.