Chapter Fifty-Nine

"Man I hate waiting," Romeo whined as he rolled back and forth on the bed. He had been whining nonstop since they had checked into the inn. That had been hours ago and it was starting to grate on Banksy's last nerve. "Why can't we just do it now?"

Banksy threw Romeo an irritated look before returning to his collection of rings. Tonight crack was going to be hard; he had to be ready for anything. "Because if we go right now, the lab is going to be filled with the workers and the guards. At night it will just be a few guards doing the rounds."

"Ah we could take 'em all," Romeo said, punching the air. "I've got magic now. I'm a mage!"

"Debatable." Banksy returned the rings to his necklace and tucked them back carefully under his shirt. "Just because you have magic doesn't qualify you to call yourself a mage. Also, consider that we are going to break into a lab that is: A. Run by the Son's of Ash, who likely will kill us if they catch us. B. If they don't kill us, might interrogate us, which could lead to them realizing we were part of the group that attacked their base in Ash. C. We are breaking into a lab that is making a biological agent that is specifically designed to kill magic users… that would be you. Barely."

"You worry too much," Romeo sighed as he sat up. He ran a hand over his bomb belt. "Besides, I've got these babies to take care of me if magic fails."

"Forgive me if that doesn't leave me brimming with confidence."

"Killjoy," Romeo muttered before looking wistfully out the window. "I wonder how Azalea is doing."

"I'm sure she is fine." Banksy said, though he shared a similar sentiment of concern.

"You know, after we finish this," a smile crossed Romeo's face. "I'll probably have to stay with her for a while."

Banksy narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Well, yeah." Romeo shrugged. "I mean, she's going to be in danger. The Son's will probably be looking for the leak, so it's not like she can stay here."

"What makes you think she'll go with you?"

Romeo lifted a finger to his chin. "Let's see here. We're in Dumas and I speak Dumi. I know the area. Need anything more? Oh, I'm also handsome, with chiseled good looks… and I'm taller than you."

"It would make more since for her to leave Dumas," Banksy challenged, choosing to ignore the quip about his height.

"Maybe. Even if we did, a lot of my work is acting as a bodyguard. I'm the obvious candidate."

"You're also a Dumas Noble. They'll find you in a day," Banksy said. "She'd be safer with me. I know the ins and outs of Voy better than anyone at the guild."

"Oh right, sorry." Romeo rolled his eyes. "Forgot how good you are at hiding stuff."

"That's rich coming from you, pretty boy!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means get your head out of your ass and don't even think about messing up this mission too," Banksy snarled as he stood up. "I'm not going to let you drag me down again just because you want to make me look bad. Don't forget that our actions will reflect on the guild. Maybe try thinking about someone other than yourself for once."

"Me? That was your fault and you know it," Romeo said, standing as well. "Why don't you just man up already and admit it."

"Me? You're the one who is always stealing things! You fucking klepto!" Banksy's fingers balled into fists.

"That means so much coming from a thief like you!" Romeo took a step towards Banksy.

"That's it. We're dealing with this. Right now!" Banksy roared as he dove towards Romeo.

"Bring it on!" Romeo yelled back as he threw himself into the oncoming Banksy.

xXx

There was tension in the guildhall. That itself was not all that uncommon. A guild, while often a place of merry, was also a place of work, and work, no matter the kind, will always lead to anxiety in one form or another.

This, however, was somewhat different than the usual workplace strife that the Sleeping Dragon occasionally experienced. A thick, heavy cloud emanated from a table at the center of the hall, so overwhelming that the other members of the guild wisely chose to give the area a wide berth.

Seated at the table were three young women staring down at a hastily scribbled note that had been left, along with a small pouch overflowing with silver coins. Each read over the words, then read over them again for good measure.

With each word, the aura of the table darkened.

Banksy and Romeo ran off With Azalea. Tried to stop them. Don't know when they are coming back. Took a request. Don't know when I'm coming back. Left money for Makina. Make sure she doesn't starve while I'm gone.

- Cross

"Those idiots." Servilia let out a long breath through her nose, but it failed to relieve her anger in the least. "They know better than to take a job without guild approval."

"Banksy does, at least," Lexi said, though the brunt of her anger was not focused on the pair at the moment. Her fingers gripped against the table under her knuckles turned white. "I'll kill him for this."

"I'll go prepare some funds. In the likely event that this endeavor turns sour, I can at least be prepared to bail them out. I'm sure we should have a few favors in Dumas I can call in as well. I'll leave what do about Cross to you," Servilia said at she stood up and left the table.

"I do not believe I have ever seen Miss Servilia mad before," Makina said as she watched Servilia walk away. She turned to Lexi. "Who is this Azalea?"

"She's a con artist." Lexi sighed. "Or, at least we believe she is. Azalea probably isn't even her real name. We had an incident with her in the past, though nothing was ever proven."

"What happened?"

"I'm sure you've noticed there is considerable tension between Romeo and Banksy?"

Makina thought about it for a moment. "Yes, I believe I can see that. This woman is the cause?"

"Mmmmm," Lexi said. "A while back, Romeo was tasked with ripping a rather valuable vase from a black-market dealer. It was a task that he completed, but not perfectly. He was unable to get the vase out of the chest the dealer had locked it in. In response, he stole the entire thing. Naturally, he asked Banksy to unlock the chest, which he did. Now, normally, Cross or another courier would have then delivered the vase, but the client wished to come collect it personally."

"Understandable," Makina said with a nod. "While a good servant can be trusted, there is always an extent to that trust. Who is to say that they would not simply make off with the item for themselves?"

"I suppose," Lexi shrugged. "However, a few days prior to completing the job, Romeo began courting a young woman who recently moved to town. She visited the guild quite often during this time and even seemed interested in joining."

"That was Azalea?"

"Yes. That was Azalea." Lexi drummed her fingers on the table. "She actually became quite friendly with some members, specifically Banksy."

"I'm beginning to see where a problem may have arisen," Makina said, leaning forward. "Continue."

"She broke things off with Romeo and began a relationship with Banksy. This, as you may have guessed, did not go over well with Romeo. However, it appears she never actually did break things off with Romeo and was actually in a relationship with both of them, at the same time."

"I do not understand." Makina shook her head back and forth, her pale hair falling across her face. "Then why are they mad at each other. Should they not be angry at Azalea?"

"One would think," Lexi sighed. "Yet neither believes that Azalea was ever with anyone but them."

"That's quite foolish. They are simply being tricked, then."

"Yes," Lexi said. There was a deep weariness to her reply. She had been over this with both of the boys a multitude of times, as had others, but to no avail. If Lexi did not know better, she would have sworn Azalea had put the two boys under a spell. Unfortunately, she did know better, which meant she had to accept the infuriating reality that they were simply, for lack of a better word, idiots. "Unfortunately, it gets worse."

Makina gestured for her to continue.

"Two days before the client was scheduled to arrive, the vase went missing. The day after that, Azalea suddenly departed town to go visit an ailing family member and never returned." Lexi shook her head. "We still don't know what happened to the vase, but there are some theories. The most logical would be that Azalea stole it. While the majority of the guild believes this to be the case… there are some holdouts. Banksy believes Romeo hid the vase in order to try and frame him, and Romeo is of the opinion that Banksy hid the vase in order to blemish Romeo's record."

"That… is so incredibly stupid," Makina said shaking her head. "To begin with, neither of those plans are even remotely well thought out."

"Yes. We were hoping the matter would resolve itself with time, but now… this may be a problem." Lexi slumped over in her chair.

Makina was silent for a moment. "What happens if a guild member fails to complete an assignment?"

"That depends on the mission type. In the case of a ripping, there are almost no regulations save what we chose to do ourselves. The client really has no recourse, as the request won't ever be formally recorded. They can't exactly go to the authorities unless they wish to report themselves as well.

"Bounty Hunting has no monetary repercussion because you don't receive payment until after the job is completed, but any failure hurts the reputation of the hunter. With legal couriering requests like what Cross does, the client usually insures the item with the guild and if we fail to deliver, we are forced to pay for the item and we lose credibility. Much of our business is word of mouth and our reputation is the most important aspect of our business."

"How often do members fail?"

"Not often. Servilia is very skilled at assigning the correct person or team to the job. She knows every members strengths, and their weaknesses."

"I see." Makina tilted her head. "Have you ever failed an assignment?"

Lexi sat up a little straighter. "Never."

"That is not overly surprising," Makina said with a thoughtful nod. "Has Cross?"

"Once…" Lexi's expression softened somewhat and she shook her head. "His first solo request."

"Please, tell me about that," Makina said with a cheerful smile.

"I believe I will leave that one to Cross." Lexi said after a moment of contemplation. The response drew a pout from Makina, though it quickly faded as Lexi picked up the pouch of silver. "We may as well make use of this. Are you hungry?"