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Makai Gaiden: The Unbroken Seal
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12-01-2019, 08:22 PM
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scikaiju
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 485
After a little discussion Jules finally got Nadia to go back to her training session. The job she was called in for was going to be hard enough as it was. She didn't need somebody else following her around, especially since she had to check out the actually crime scene, and for that she had to see the vault. And it was going to be tricky enough with Shae having to be at her side. A second teenager, even one Jules had to silently admit seemed familiar, maybe a little too familiar in some cases. But Nadia did agree to go on, but only if she was kept informed on getting Shae fully in the clear. Jules agreed seeing how she was going to let her know any way seeing how close the two of them where, And that's if Shae didn't tell her friend first.
But it was just the two of them as they walked into Olivia's office. The older woman immediately got out of her chair and went straight toward Shae, taking her hand, “I'm so sorry I had to put you down there, I should have found a way to let you know my reasoning before now.”
“It's okay,” Shae told, Studying her a bit Jules had a feeling that it wasn't exactly 'okay' but she didn't want to make a fuss in front of the head of the training ground. Olivia apparently saw it as well, then shot a look toward her. Jules had seen it before, the “Why can't you act more like that?' sort of look she'd seen from various instructors and mentors while training here. Obviously in response to the earful she was giving her not that long ago. And much like when she was younger Jules paid it no attention, besides she wasn't a student here any more. Going on Shae said, “Jules told me why you did it.”
“It still doesn't make it right,” Olivia told her.
“She has time to make it up to you later,” Jules said. “But we have more pressing matters to attend to.” Olivia looked at her for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“You're right of course, it is the main reason why I asked you to come.” She turned to the young woman in front of her, “Shae, I need you to stay in here for a bit. Jules and I need to discuss some things that's not meant for your ears.”
Shae surprised both of them by going, “Is it about whatever vault I was supposed to have broken into? Can I see it?” Jules and Olivia looked at each other while she waited for a response. Apparently getting impatiant she went on, “Walter said I stole from this vault, I'd like to see exactly what I was accused of stealing from.”
Jules quickly stepped up to her, “Walter told you about the vault?”
“Ask Nadia,” she quickly told her. “She was there when he first accused me.” Jules thought this over, Nadia did see where Walter's “proof” was so she had to have been there.
She glanced over at Olivia, “Walter knew about the vault?”
“I didn't tell him exactly what it was,” she said as she tried to defend her actions. “He knew somethings were taken from it but that was about it. I was worried when there were more rumors about a vault floating around than usual. I was really hoping he wasn't the source.”
“Well,” Jules said after a bit. “I was going to ask who else knew about it, I think a better question is who hasn't Walter told about it yet?” That just made things that much harder. Before she would have just paid some extra attention to the people around her and see if somebody slipped up and mentioned the vault when they weren't supposed to know about it. Now with the word apparently out that flimsy plan was just shot out the window. Well it was a lousy initial plan any way.
Then she looked at Shae who was still waiting for an answer. “I was about her age when I found out about it,” Jules said, “but it's your call Olivia.”
The older woman sighed briefly as she thought it over. “Normally I's say no but the damage is already done I suppose, and it would be easier than explaining why we left her alone in here when she's supposed to stay by your side.” Shae looked like she wanted to celebrate but was mature enough not to, at least in front of Olivia.
Still Jules felt the need to pull her to the side for a moment to have a slightly private conversation. “Shae this may seem exciting and all, but I need you to understand one thing. You can not tell any one about what we're going to show you. I mean it, you can't tell your family, Nadia, anybody. Promise me you won't tell anyone.”
She didn't respond right away, which Jules took as a good thing since it meant she was thinking about it and would probably be more likely to keep her word if she gave it. But she finally said, “I won't tell anybody,”
Olivia sighed again, “Well now that's that apparently settled let's get going. I suppose you remember the way,” she said to Jules.
“You're more familiar with it location than I am,” she said. Which was true, Jules only found out about it because her curoisty got the better of her. And while she could probably lead the way if given enough time she never found out how to open the way to get there.Olivia just nodded again and lead them out of her office. Shae started for the main entrance before Jules made her go the other way. The walked the halls until they reached an apparent dead end. Olivia walked up to the wall then looked back at them. Getting the message Jules indicated to Shae that they should turn away for a moment. They only turned back around when they heard a click and part of the wall was gone revealing a hidden passage way. “Later,” Jules said reading the question in Shae's face.
“They're with me,” Olivia said to apparently no one. Then a couple of guards, which was one more than Jules remembered being there originally, the second one must have been put in placed after she followed Vincent and Olivia, these carrying spear like weapons, came forwards from some hidden alcoves in the dirt walls which caused Shae to jump slightly they appeared so suddenly. Still the guards stared at them as they passed, almost like they were looking for a reason to do anything. And considering things were stolen from the vault under their watch Jules couldn't exactly blame them for acting this way.
After a few yards Jules finally spoke up, but still soft enough that her voice wouldn't carry back to their ears, “I'm assuming that you questioned all the guards after you discovered it happened.”
Olivia nodded and kept her voice just as soft, “It was the first thing that I did. Nobody is sure how who ever did it got in here, I don't even know how they discovered it to begin with.” The frustration was evident in her voice. The location of the forbidden vaults were some of the most closely guarded secrets in the entire Makai Order. Which made this one hell of an inside job.
“Okay you can ask that question now,” Jules said to Shae. She was practically bursting at the seams at this point.
“”What is down here?” Shae asked, trying to keep her voice down as well and barely succeeding. Olivia looked back at her and again the meaning of that look she was currently giving her meant it was all on her.
“A Forbidden Vault,” she told her, figuring it was better to just get it pout of the way than just sugar coat it or beat around the bush. Shae's eyes widen slightly, okay she at least heard of them so she didn't need to explain any further. “Now do you see why I said you couldn't tell anybody?”
“You can't be serious,” she ended up saying. Then they got to the main vault chamber and her eyes went bigger as she got her first look at the Vault, a big wooden and steel door with various protective seals adorning it. It was just like she remembered the room as she walked up to it while still keeping her distance, even how musty the air was. “You are serious,” Shae who stropped in her tracks almost as she saw it said with some reverence.
“Trust me kiddo I wish I was joking,” Jules told her as she scanned the door, she knew Olivia would have done it already but part of her still wanted to see if she could how figure out how it was done. So far she wasn't having any luck. Olivia's, who seemed to be doing the same thing, shoulders just sank a little as she surveyed the scene for only she knew how many times at this point. “Normally I'd asked when it happened but I think I better ask when did you notice items were missing?”
“A few days ago,” she eventually admitted, “When I was doing some routine checking on some of the seals on the objects inside. I should have said something then but since I was this vault's guardian I was stubborn enough to try and handle the situation by myself.”
Giving her a smile as she started examining the vault Jules said, “Happens to the best of us.” Then she returned her attention the room itself as she walked around. “Assuming none of the guards was part of this how did you get in?”, Jules asked nobody in particular. Looking back at Shae, and figuring if she was supposed to try and undo some of the damage Walter did to her, she asked, “What do you think Shae? You got any ideas on how somebody got in here without being seen entering or leaving?”
“I got no idea,” she admitted.
“Come on,” Jules said, “You're young and bright, at least one idea had to have crossed your mind.”
“Outside of they might have dug a tunnel I got no idea.”
“We checked for that,” Olivia told them. “we couldn't find any sort of magical talisman any where, in here or in the Vault.”
Jules held out a hand as she slowly walked along the rocky walls of the room. “As a Madou Pin I'm particularly fond of once told me, if you want to hide something from magic users you wouldn't use...,” she stopped at a particular spot,” magic.” She kept her hand over a certain section just making sure she wasn't imagining anything. There it was again, a slight breeze coming from the wall. Taking out her Madou Brush she tapped the non bristle end around the area a few times. It might have been her imagination but some spots sounded a little more hollow than others. One look at Olivia confirmed she heard it too. Running her fingers around the rocky wall she found what she was looking for. “Shae, give me a hand.” She came over and helped Jules move a section of wall out of the way once it was out of the way she pointed at one of the torches along the wall. Shae quickly grabbed one and handed it to her. Putting it in the opening all of them got a look at a tunnel. “I think we just found out how they got in and out.”
“I'd say that was a good guess,” Olivia told her as she got a good look at it. “I'll go get one of the guards and have them see where this leads. Maybe there's a clue at who the culprit is on the other end.” She quickly headed back to the hidden alcoves leaving the two of them and the tunnel.
Jules looked back at the vault, well more the area around the vault. “I wonder if that's how they got into the vault.”
“Wouldn't that make some sort of noise?”, Shae asked. When Jules looked at her she said, “Making this tunnel I mean. Even if whoever did this used magic there would be some sort of noise being made. Wouldn't there?”
“Depends on how it was done,” she tried to get a better look at the tunnel walls, “and how much work was actually done. If this tunnel was already here then an opening woud have to be made, and I can think of a couple of ways to do that off the top of my head that wouldn't draw too much attention just based on that stone we just moved. Granted I'm just speculating here,” she added as she stood up, walked over and replaced the torch. “It's all I can do with the information at hand at the moment. It's kind of like hunting a Horror in a way, trying to pick up any cue that would give away what it is with some limited information sometimes.”
Before Shae could respond. Olivia came back with one of the guards and quickly pointed out the opening they discovered. “See where that leads and let me know. Try not to be seen as you get to the other end,” she told the man.
“Yes ma'am,” he said as he took another torch and went into the tunnel.
“You might want to see if there's one leading to the Vault,” Jules offered as she stepped closer to Olivia. “We don't now how long it took to bypass those seals on the containers.” She looked back at the vault, and more importantly all the slips of paper adorning it. “And I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be a fast job.”
Olivia nodded again, “Of course. They wouldn't want to be caught in the act. “I'll get on that myself. Thank you Jules, I'm not sure if we would have discovered that tunnel this fast, if at all. I feel we're already a few steps closer than what we were. Although I fear the job isn't done just yet.” And Jules had to silently agree there. “I'll let you know what the guard finds. In the meantime why don't you and Shae get some practice in. I'm sure she missed some sessions due to what was going on.”
“We don't want her falling behind, do we?”, Jules said. Considering she hadn't tried to teach anybody anything before she was slightly afraid she was going to screw the girl up some how.
As always Olivia just seemed to read her as she said, “You'll do fine. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think you could do it.”
“If you say so,” Jules said. Then she turned toward Shae, “Come one kiddo, show me what you can do .” Her and Shae left the room and headed for the secret opening.
***
Once they got to the opening Shae couldn't believe how fast Jules' demeanor seemed to change. She was all business the entire time like she was when she was examining the vault room, but almost as soon as they crossed the threshold she was almost like how she was when she first met her earlier. Going so far as to even tease her about her crush a little. It was so much of a change she had to comment on it, “Why are you acting differently all of the sudden?”
“I am?”, she seemed genuinely confused about it, did she not notice what she was doing. After thinking about it for a few moments she said, “I guess Carter's rubbing off a little on me too.” Okay, now who was Carter? Jules looked at her then smiled softly, “Carter's my husband. And I only said that because he has two modes. When we're at the house he a bit more open then when we're on patrol, then he's all business. I guess I picked up a little of that, and he wasn't here to see it. I probably should be happy about that because Xypher would never let me hear the end of it.” Shae was confused again then remembered she mentioned a Madou Pin a bit ago. She knew some Knights had a Madou item of some sort, the pin was probably her husband's.
It went like that until she realized Jules had guided her to one of the practice ranges. Nobody was around that Shae could see. Probably because of the idea she was still the culprit in some of the other's mind. At least Nadia knew the truth, and Olivia and Jules believed her. That thought should have made her feel better but instead she started feeling more alone than ever. Standing her In front of a target she handed back her Madou Brush and said. “Okay Shae let's start with something simple,” and she left it at that as she stepped to the side. Shae knew what she wanted to see. Holding her brush out Shae made a quick circular motion with the bristle drawing a symbol in the ait then she brought her brush back and pointed it the mark she just made, “Ha!” The energy blast was supposed to go straight, but like it had been lately it shot off in a weird direction, in fact it hit a different target entirrly at the very end of the line. Why couldn't she do this stupid spell any more?
“Well,” Jules said as she stepped closer, “You hit something, I'll give you credit for that.” She said it in a lighthearted way but it just made her feel worse. Then she started feeling Jules rub both of her shoulders, “Okay kiddo relax, I think I might have an idea what's wrong, I just need you to trust me and listen to what I say. Alright close your eyes,” she did as instructed, “now take a couple of deep breaths and try to relax.” Again she did as she was told, but it wasn't exactly working, at least not very quickly. “Nope still too tense, but take your time. I think I told that to Carter after we got engaged.” Shae got an image in her head and snickered a little, for some reason now she started to feel at ease. “There you go, all it took was a semi dirty comment to get you to unwind. That's probably not going to be standard teaching procedure so don't get used to it.”
“Okay,” Shae said as she finally felt relaxed, more relaxed than she felt in a while.
“Now this next step is very important, so listen closely and do exactly as I tell you.” Shae nodded and listened. “Now I want you to forget everything Walter tried to teach you about doing this spell.” Opening her eyes Shae looked back at her in confusion. There was no way her current issues were that simple. It made sense but there was just no way. Jules stopped rubbing her shoulders and placed one hand on top of her head, making her face the target again. “Just do it. Do it like you would have before. Trust me.”
Taking a deep breath as she backed away again Shae did the spell again, almost exactly the same, except this time when she brought her brush forward she kicked her knee up a little, “Ha!” An energy blast shot straight and hit the target right near the bull-eye.
“There you go,” Jules said as she clapped her shoulders. “Now do it again.” Shae did and got the same results. Just to prove it to herself she did it a third time. Again it worked perfectly. “See you can do it.”
“But Walter said that wasn't proper form.” Jules tsked a bit then spun around on one foot for some reason until she faced her again.
“What I just did, it's part of a spell my mentor taught me, a pretty powerful one. But he never did the spin like I do. And not once did he say I wasn't using the proper form, do you know why?” Shae shook her head. Instead of answering right away Jules looked around until she spotted something and pointed it out, it was a group of young children as well as some older ones going over a certain form over and over in practice. “Now are all of them moving the exact same way?”, she asked. She was going to say yes but realized if she did Jules would make her look harder so she did so just to avoid being told that. Then she saw what she was talking about. Some of the older kids while going through similar motions had some a variation in their movements she never noticed before.
“No they're not,”
“That's because not everyone moves in the same way,” she said. “Now don't get me wrong there are certain types of magic and spells that you have to move in precisely the right way in order to do it properly. But certain spells like that magic blast can allow for little variations in the user's movements. Nothing major but enough that the user's personality can come through slightly. Walter wasn't born to this world,” Shae looked at her not understanding what she meant. Unfortunately this time she didn't elaborate on what she was talking about. “No his mindset was pretty much locked in place when he started training.”
Shae looked at her unsure if she should ask this or not, but she had to know, “Is that why he's always gloating about growing up in the real world?”
Letting out an exasperated sigh Jules looked around again. And again she found what she was looking for, “You see that instructur over there?” Looking at where she was pointing Shae saw an older male Makai Priest watching over a group of students practice. “Has he ever told you what he thinks of what the regular humans call the 'real world'?”
Shae nodded, “I think he said it was a fantasy or something like that.”
“A fantasy that we protect,” Jules said in approval. “I got to be honest with you, he not exactly wrong. There's what they call the real world, and then there's the reality we deal with. There would be a lot of panic if they knew the monster under their bed was real. Actually considering some of the Horror's I've come across they'd rather deal with the ones under the bed.”
“Why did you decide to hunt Horrors?', Shae asked, some what curious since Jules was the first Makai Priest she knew that actually hunted Horrors like a Makai Knight. She heard rumors yeah, overheard various family members talk about them when she wasn't at the training ground but this was the first time she met one in the flesh.
“Because I was more of a natural in the combat arts,” she answered freely enough. “Only made sense once you think about it. But not everybody is, or can they see it in others. I never really thought about it until Vincent, the Priest who mentored me picked up on it.”
“Did he hunt Horrors too?”
“Not exactly. He did with me or with a Makai Knight but that was about it,” Jules sighed again and looked off in the distance. Shae had seen that look on her father a few times when he was thinking of the grandfather she never had the chance to meet since he died before she was born. So Jules must have lost this person too. “No he was more of a researcher than anything else. Looking up and cataloging old and nearly forgotten spells and items. Not that he couldn't handle his own in a fight.” She stopped as Olivia and the guard she sent into the tunnel walked up to them. “Find anything?”
Olivia had the guard stop where he was as she took a few steps closer, “He found the other end of the tunnel and reported back to me. I was hoping that you would assist him in looking the area over for any clues that might be there.”
“Of course,” Jules said but then she glanced back at her, “But what about...?” Of course she meant Shae was supposed to be by her side at all times. But having her around when she was still under suspicions in some eyes was probably not a good thing, or something like that.
“I think,” Olivia said as she stepped closer to her, “that nobody should complain if I stayed with Shae for a little bit. What do you say dear, you want to hang around an old lady?”
Not sure what else to say because Shae was positive she wouldn't be placed any where good if she said no she said, “Sure.” Okay, she probably wouldn't be put in that room again but she didn't want to risk it. Olivia looked pleased though so there was that.
Jules looked unsure but said, “All right then, I guess it's settled.” She said something to Olivia didn't quite catch. Something like, “We didn't do much.”
Olivia didn't seemed worried, “I'm sure it's fine. Now go and look the area over. Maybe Shae could show me what you two did do, or she could ask for some advise on certain things. If she's so inclined that is.”
“I wouldn't know what to ask,” she said.
“Oh I'm sure something will occur to you without even thinking about it,” Olivia assured her. Still she was a bit more nervous now.
“Okay,” Jules said to the guard, “show me what you found.” He nodded and told her to follow him. Jules followed for a bit and pointed a finger in their direction. “You better behave yourself.” Shae looked down a bit, why did she say that to her? Then she said,” I was talking to Olivia.” Shae looked back up to see her grin before turning back around to follow the guard.
“I see some things haven't changed,” Olivia said shaking her head. Then she looked at her and smiled softly, “Maybe I should be worried that I asked her to help you train when she could. She might corrupt you without even trying.” Shae smiled a little which seemed to satisfy the older woman. “So why don't you show me what you worked on in this short of time. I wanted to give you a little longer but that tunnel wasn't as long as I thought it was.”
“Yes ma'am,” Shae said. Facing the target she fired off another magical blast. Hitting it much to her personal delight. She looked at Olivia who seemed happy with what she saw. “That's about it.,” Shae told her when it looked like she was waiting for more.
“Small steps dear,” Olivia told her. “I'm sure your next mentor will help you along even more.”
Shae looked at her in surprise, “I'm not going back with Walter?”
“No dear,” Olivia said. “That's not a mistake I'm going to make again.” Next mentor, Shae still couldn't believe it. If Jules was right he was the source of all her current problems. So it would be great to be with somebody who'd try to understand her like Jules did. In fact she hoped that's who her new mentor would be.
***
The guard lead her to an area near the outer edge of the woods hiding the training ground. Jules guess it was a little too much to ask that the other opening was near one of the buildings. At least then she'd have an immediate target to look at. But here it was nothing but trees, trees and more trees. As she looked around she commented, “I'm guessing Olivia doesn't have much of a guard presence in this section of the woods.” When she was here the students were told that there were all sorts of spells and guards to keep any unwanted visitors, human or Horror, out. Not once did she consider those spells might have been one way or that the area wasn't as heavily guarded as she was lead to believe when she was younger. Looking at it now if somebody want to leave the training ground unnoticed this would have been the perfect way, she could even see the road she walked to get here from this position.
“I get the feeling there's going to be a larger one in the immediate future,” the guard said, not really turning around to talk to her. “I mean who knows how many of the people here knew they could get out this way if they wanted too.”
“Not counting the staff itself,” Jules told him, “at least one. Let's make sure that number doesn't get much larger in the near future.”
“I'm already going over all the guards in my head,” he said as he continued on. “We may have to patrol the entire outside edge from this point on.”
“Hopefully just long enough that people get the idea the area is heavily guarded,” Jules offered. “I know just the idea kept a lot of us from exploring these woods when I was studying here.”
“Same here,” he said, this time he did look back and smile. Well at least they had some sort of common ground now. Jules knew she was stepping on more than a few toes when she agreed to Olivia's request to help. There was no need to get the local guards too riled at her after all. “Here it is,” he announced suddenly. He stopped and waited for her to get closer.
Like she thought after seeing where they were going it was a small open bit that didn't have much vegetation covering it. It also didn't have the one thing she expected to see, “Where's the opening?”, she asked the guard. He walked forward and jabbed the blunt end of his spear into the ground. Jules raised an eyebrow as it went through the ground. Not in the dug in sort of way. In the it wasn't even there way. “An illusion spell,” she said in understanding. And it made perfect sense, there wasn't a lot of options to cover a tunnel opening in the immediate area so just create one.
“Not only did it cover the opening it covered up any tracks he or she might have left behind. But I am worried about one of the kids falling through it by accident.” The training ground could hardly be seen from here, which was by design to guard it from prying eyes so to speak. But she could understand his concern. One of them gets brave and comes this way and falls in a hole they couldn't even see. Not to mention how long it would take to find them.
Retrieving her brush she stepped forward trying to remember the general location of the opening, “We can't have that now, can we?” The bristles starting to glow as she did a quick motion and started to slowly scan the area. She wasn't scanning for the seal that was doing this, not exactly she was trying to get a sense of how the illusion was flowing in a sense. Because then she could go opposite of the 'current' and find the general area of where it was coming from. After a bit with her brush hovering over a certain spot she asked the guard, “You any good a spear fishing?”
“Haven't done since I was a boy,” he answered. Then he twirled the spear around until he was holding it with the spear pointing at the ground. “But I'm sure it'll come back to me.” Making a slight tapping motion with her brush in the general area she backed away, again making sure to avoid the location of the hole. The guard walked up then jammed the point of the spear into the ground. It seemed to warble a bit as the illusion disappeared as they both looked at the actual ground and the slip of paper pierced by the spear. Pulling up the spear the guard removed the paper and studied it. “I'm not familiar with this particular spell,” he said and handed it to her.
Jules took it and studied it as well before shaking her head, “I don't recognize it either. It might be a new one.” Which is what Olivia thought might be the case with whoever did this got past the seals on the vault and containers. So maybe a small confirmation Olivia was on the right track at least if nothing else. “Now I won't assume to speak for Olivia but maybe we should get a guard out here sooner rather than later.” She said as she started studying the ground looking for any sort of tracks that weren't made by them.
“I agree,” he said as he started looking as well. “Do you see anything?”
“Maybe,” was all she said as she found several sets of foot prints going in a certain direction. She tried to follow it with her eyes, and much like she guessed they weren't heading toward the training ground but further into the woods. “Is there anything that way,” she said pointing in that direction,” that could be used as a hiding place?”
“Not that I'm aware of,” he said. Well that was helpful. “But I can consult the old records. I'm sure an accounting was made of any caves in the area when the place was built. I'm fairly sure a student getting lost in these woods isn't a new concern.”
Jules smirked, “I'm sure it's not.” Putting her brush back “While you're at it see if any mention of that tunnel is in those records. Because the more I think about it the more I'm convinced that tunnel was already here because we should have seen a mound of dirt somewhere. Unless it's been stashed with the stolen items.“
“I'll do that,”he said, “What are you going to be doing?”
“Heading this way for a bit,” she told him indicating the direction those foot prints seemed to go. “Just to see what I can see. Oh do me a small favor and see if you can get any information on who has access to those records or who looked at them recently at least. I like to think that you don't just stumble upon a tunnel leading to a forbidden vault, not without doing some research before hand.”
“I'll see what I can do.” Jules nodded as they both headed off in different directions, Jules in particular hoping she just didn't give the culprit the opportunity to cover his tracks by appearing to be helpful. This was like hunting a Horror with limited information. You didn't know who or what to trust.
Okay this was officially not good. The trail, as loose as it was, quickly disappeared as the ground quickly became more solid and rocky the further away she got from the opening. She tried to take a guess where the vault was in comparison to her current position. By her estimate she had to be close, that and the ground mildly reminded her of the walls on the chamber and the passage leading up to it. Stomping on the ground a bit she understood why this place was originally chosen as a place to hide one of the vaults. This place was hard enough that she imagined that it took a while to make the vault chamber to begin with. Looking around she tried to get into the thief's mindset and figure out where they might have hidden the items. Again it would make things a bit easier if there was a building to head too, even if it was too obvious. At least she'd have something to search, and worry if it was a waste of time later. It would be better than doing what she was doing now. She was going to have to remember to ask Olivia about that the next time she saw her.
“Enough of spinning this particular wheel,” she said mainly to herself. As hard as it was to do it was probably time to admit that this particular lead more than likely was a dead end. If the thief knew about the vault then they knew about this patch of rocky Earth and might have headed in this direction just so they could change direction and throw off anybody following their trial. So that's what she did as she turned to face the direction of the training ground and headed back. Besides it was more than likely time to check in on her temporary charge. Exiting the wooded area into the edge of the training ground and headed toward the last place she saw the two of them. Surprisingly both of them were still there. Jules couldn't help but notice at how much happier Shae seemed to be than when she left. Hopefully that wasn't a commentary on her trying to be a teacher. Olivia's guard saw her come close and greeted her with with a nod as she stepped aside to let her pass. Jules nodded in return as she passed. “Hey guys,” she said once she was close enough. “How's it going?”
“Jules!,” An extremely excited Shae said as she ran up to her, “Olivia taught me a spell. An advanced one I didn't think I could do.” She looked over at Olivia, “Can I show her?”
“Go ahead,” Olivia told her while smiling slightly. “You're not going to settle down until you do.”
“Let's see it,” Jules said. Shae went back to the targets and set herself. Holding her brush out she brought it to the side and swung it up in a half circle. Making several small circles as she brought it back forward. She then held it so the bristles were pointed straight up. Jules arched an eyebrow as she glanced over at Olivia who seemed proud at what she was seeing. Jules knew this spell, having seen the older woman perform it before as part of a demonstration years ago. Again She kicked up her knee as she brought the Brush back down with a shout. From each circle pattern a bolt of energy fired out and hit a target each. If it was possible Shae looked even more excited than she did earlier. So Jules smiled and gave her a small clap to show how impressed she was at the demonstration. “You never taught me that,” she said to Olivia.
“Vincent took you from us before I had the chance,” she said in response. To Shae she said, “I think that's enough for today. You showed me a lot Shae, enough to verify that my decision to reassign you a new mentor was the right one.”
Shae stopped looking excited, but looked at her brush as she clutched it a little closer to her. Jules heart went out to her. She walked up to Shae and tried not to look impatient. Without any prodding Shae slowly handed her the brush. Jules took it saying, “Remember what I told you,” she said as she placed the brush in one of the inner pockets of her coat. “Just as soon as we prove to the others that it wasn't you.” To Olivia she said, “How well do you have the woods around the training ground mapped out? That guard headed for the records to see if there's any caverns that are big enough around to stash things. But There's has to be more than that out there. Like some sort of shed, to keep any unwanted visitors or something.”
She looked thoughtful, “Not that I recall. One of my predecessors was pretty adamant about reusing materials on any structures that weren't of any use any more. Those targets over there were made out of one of those sheds you mentioned I believe.”
“It would still help to know where they were,” Jules insisted. “In case they had a basement or something. Those items have to be somewhere. They're just not going to walk through the training grounds carrying those things unnoticed.”
“True,” she conceded. “I have some old maps in my office. I'll look them over and see if I can see anything that might have fit that description.”
“Can I asked what was stolen?”, Shae spoke up suddenly.
“Not in this case kiddo,” Jules quickly said, much to Olivia's apparent relief and Shae's disappointment. “The fewer people who know what's in any particular vault the better. Besides, it's better if you don't know. I know I wished I didn't know sometimes.”
“Same here,” Olivia agreed. “And I'm the guardian of this particular vault so I had to know it's contents.”
Looking at her with a confused look Shae asked Jules, “Then how do you know about the contents?”
“Like I said my mentor was mainly a researcher when I first joined him,” she told her. “And sometimes he needed help researching various things. Unfortunately a couple of those items were the focus of that research. Olivia, why did you and Vincent go to the vault that day? He always said it wasn't really that interesting of a story and left it there.”
“I'm afraid he was right Jules,” Olivia told her. “I needed to replace of a couple of seals that were about to fade away. One object in particular needed a very powerful seal, one that needed two Makai Priests to fully enact it. Considering he had a bit of knowledge of the older items and spells he seemed like the perfect person to ask.” She snorted a bit, “Even if he did leave and take one of my more promising students under his wing at the time.”
“Didn't know Reks had that much potential,” Jules said, mainly as a joke. But saying it did make her a little bit sadder as she remembered him. “Come on Shae, I don't think those clothes Nadia was going through are going to put themselves back. Unless you created a spell that would do that?”, she trailed off at the look Shae was giving her, the typical teenage you must be joking look. “Right nobody's that neat. Olivia if you'll excuse us.”
“Of course. Take heart Shae,” she told her, “this will be over before you know it. Then everything will be back to normal.”
“Or better,” Jules added, considering Olivia said she was changing her mentor. That part had to be better, they would have to try for it to be any worse. “Let's go Shae.” Jules waited until Shae was next to her before heading off with a wave to Olivia. Besides who knew how long it was going to take Olivia and that guard to look that information up. This way she could get to know Shae a little better since the person behind all this mess wasn't going to announce it was them and laugh manically like some old time movie villain.
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