[scikaiju]

“I'm very impressed with how far you've come Shae,” Olivia had said. Not that Jules didn't notice the little side look she gave her after she found out exactly what she taught her and Nadia. But it was no worse than what Olivia showed her earlier, at least in Jules' opinion.”I do think I should mention what Jules said about practicing toward or in the house applies to what I showed you as well.”

“Of course ma'am,” Shae said with a nod. Shae wasn't her student, at least not officially, so Jules probably shouldn't be feeling as prood of her as she was. But she couldn't help it. Olivia was right, considering how she was when she first met her Shae had come a long way. She was going to have to remember to ask the other instructors around here to see if this was what she was like before Walter got his mits on her. A thought for later if there was time.

Right now there was a more pressing matter. “I don't want to do this to you kiddo,” she began.

She seemed to understand as she said, “Go in the other room while you talk with Olivia.”

“I'll try not to be long,” Jules told her. “But call me if anybody tries anything.”

“Oh Shae,” Olivia called out, “before I forget again. I found this scroll that I had forgotten about.” Going over to an old wooden bookcase she looked at a couple before finding the right one, “Here it is.” Walking over to the girl she handed it out to her. “It's about string magic,” and Shae perked up immediately at hearing that. Olivia just smiled as Shae took it,” I believe I heard you developed a interest in it. This might be helpful in your studies on that particular subject.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully as she exited the room.

Jules watched her take a seat and start reading that scroll before she made sure nobody else was in the room or coming in before she closed the door to give the two of them a little more privacy. Then she looked at Olivia with a slight smirk, “You just happened to have a scroll in here about that?”

“I did,” Olivia said sounding offended that she would think otherwise. “I originally had it brought to me when a former student you're very familiar with took an interest in it. I've always tried to encourage a student's curiosity when they discover something that's not that common any more. And I was reorganizing things in here a few weeks ago when I found it again.” She started shaking her head slightly, “Walter mentioned Shae was wasting her time after finding some notes. Obviously he never saw any value in it so I kept looking for the right time to give it to her when he wasn't around.” Once again Jules wondered why it took so long for her to see why that pairing was a bad idea. But she kept herself from saying that thought out loud. Olivia explained why she put them together originally, and held stead fast to that idea despite the apparent protest from the others. Well the important thing was she saw the error now while the damage could be undone.

Now onto the other unpleasant business they had to discuss. “Emily told you everything?”

Losing a bit of that smile she had Olivia went, “She did. Part of me was still hoping that it wasn't one of the vault guards.” She went back to her desk, “But like Emily said it's looking more and more like one of them did it.” Leaning on that desk she softly added, “At least I don't have to keep the rest of those under me at arms length now, so there's that. Just the ones I had to trust the most.”

“Small victories Olivia,” she said. “Hold on to them before looking for the big one.”

Smiling sadly again she said, “Once again Vincent told me something similar once.” And once again Jules figured she was right because that did sound like something he would have come out with. Unfortunately that made her wonder what he would have considered a small victory when he was trying to expose everything.

“I don't mean to bring up any unpleasant thoughts dear,” Olivia said reading her. It only annoyed her because on how on the mark she was at that moment.

“It's fine,” she ended up saying, trying to make herself believe it at same time. Forcing herself to get on the task at hand she said, “Stuff did look like it had been moved though. Even though I marked a few items there's no guarantee the thief will go back for more. We should check the general area around there more closely. My gut feeling is that these items were taken to be sold off.”

“Emily mentioned something about that,” Olivia told her. Shaking her head again she went, “Sometimes you forget we still have the base needs like those not in the Order, and the same weaknesses. You can really forget that when you's picked to help guide the future.All those fresh, hopeful faces, you can get lost in it if you're not careful. It's why I always looked to a Priest who dealt with the reality of the situation on a regular basis when choosing a new instructor. Not to frighten the students, but to give them a idea of what they'll be dealing with once they leave here.” Getting herself out of this particular funk she walked over to that map they used earlier, “So were do you think we should concentrate our search? I'm going to ask the border guards to handle this, hopefully, at least Emily will understand my decision in this matter.”

:I'm sure they all will,” Jules told her, “especially after we catch the thief.” Then she studied the map. She should have asked if her and Emily could have taken this with them earlier. They could have found that sixth spot a bit sooner. Pointing to a section near that spot Jules said, “I'd start around here. There's a smaller chance of being caught moving them since I doubt the thief's dumb enough to walk out the front gates with the items.”

“Or that bold,” Olivia added. “It's not widely known yet but I instructed the guards at the gate to search any one leaving the training grounds.” Jules nodded as she studied the map a bit more, trying to think like the thief. Would he expect them to look around there and avoid the area entirely?.

Then a thought hit her. “Olivia,” she began, “those surveys Marcus found, did they indicate any other tunnels under the training ground? I'm just trying to figure out all the bases before I can say they're covered.”

“I had that same thought after the two of you left the first time with Shae,” she answered. “I went over what I had here looking for any records.” She went back to that bookcase and started searching it's contents again. No, she was moving things before pressing various spots on the wall. She soon found it as a panel fell open and pulled out an old scroll, “This goes back to when the vault was first built, I sent word to the Senate record keepers since that is were it would be kept, it arrived a half hour ago.”

“Anything dealing with a forbidden vault gets top priority I guess,” Jules commented with a slight smirk while Olivia carefully unrolled the scroll.

“I'd be surprised if it wasn't,” she told her with a snort. “There's a report of some sort of large cavern under the vault itself. There was some concern at the time of how structurally sound it would be. It doesn't say how they found it though. But if they found a way to it once.”

“Somebody could find a way to it again,” Jules finished for her. “Would there be any word of this cavern be in the archives here?”

“I already checked them,” she said as she rolled them up just as carefully as she undid it before placing it back in it's hiding spot. “And there's none that I can find. I still have the archivist looking though since they have the time and privacy.”

“I hope you told them it had top priority,” Jules said as she tried to add this particular piece to this puzzle.How would an underground cavern fit in this situation? If it fit at all? This was why she hated putting puzzles together without know what the picture was first.

Then Olivia went, “Oh I'm fool.” Jules looked at her wondering were that came from. “I'm a old fool. There's series of tunnels under the training grounds. They were built around at the same time as the grounds were built.” She went to a different bookcase as she kept talking, “Before all the protective talismans and seals were put in place. They were supposed to be used to get the students out of here in case a Horror attacked or the woods around us caught on fire or any number of disasters. We rarely use them for anything so I rarely remember them.”

“Do they lead outside?”, Jules asked. Now this was the puzzle piece she was looking for.

Olivia found what she was looking for and unrolled another map and showed it to her. “Yes they do. At a couple of locations. And before you ask all the guards know about them as part of their training since they would be taking the lead in case we did have to evacuate. If only I remembered these sooner.”

“You had a lot on your mind Olivia,” Jules told her. Looking back and forth between this new document and the old map on the wall she tried to think. Okay there this huge section around this building that was void of these tunnels. It was probably when this particular vault was rediscovered, so don't concentrate there she told herself. Instead she looked at where the old buildings were on the map on the wall. “Okay if those buildings were here,” she said to herself, “and the closest opening is...,” It was in the other direction than her initial guess. “Have them start around here,” she told Olivia. “It's still far away enough from the training grounds that the thief shouldn't have worried about being spotted by anybody else.”

“I'll do it right away,” she said. Without warning one of the guards burst in the room. Jules looked past her to make sure Shae was all right. She was fine but looked as confused as the two of them about what was going on. Olivia went to her once the shock wore off, “What is it Samantha?”

“Walter forced his way to some of the younger kids,” she said between breaths, “He keeps talking about showing them how things are supposed to be. He knocked out Caleb and Antony before anybody could stop him. The other guards are with him to make sure nothing happens to the kids so I came here to report it.”

“My god,” Olivia said as she held on to the desk for support.

“He had to hadve been put up to it Olivia,” Jules quickly said. It had to be the thief, it just had to be, trying to distract them by getting Walter to go this route. For Olivia's sake Jules hoped he was put up to it. Otherwise than he went over the deep end on his own. “I'll handle this,” she told her. To the guard she said, “Show me where they are.” She ran out of the building, vaguely aware Shae was following them. There was no time to argue the point, the faster this was dealt with the sooner she could get back to the finding the thief.

***
“Damn it they moved,” the guard, Samantha, exclaimed when the spot came into view. Jules was almost irritated enough at the moment to almost snap at her that much was obvious. But she held her tongue, it wasn't her that was making her frustrated at that particular moment, it was this entire situation. At least Shae was smart enough to stand a few feet back to stay out of the way. Jules looked around trying to see where they went. If the guards had defused the situation word would have been sent word to Olivia by now and chances where they would have crossed path with the messenger by now. At least come across them bringing Walter to Olivia's office. Neither of those two happened. Since the latter didn't happen, there was a small possibility that a messenger took a different route to get to Olivia's but Walter being dragged away quietly, that wasn't going to happen.

The three of them looked around until all three of them spotted a crowd not that far off,” Over there,” Jules said as she ran toward that particular group, the rest following her. The closer they got the clearer it was that something was going on.

“Just let them go,” she heard somebody said.

Then they heard Walter, “I'm not going to hurt them. They just have to know how things really are before you fill their heads with that fantasy you tried to shove down my throat for years.” Jules, Samantha and Shae made their way through the crowd, Walter spotted her first and started frowning almost immediately. Then he spotted Shae before she could get behind her. “And there's the perfect example right there. I had her almost looking like a proper lady, now look at her,” he sneered. “Now look at her, dressed like a man. It's sickening.” Oh yeah it was possible he was close to snapping all right.

“I've been in what you call the real world,” Jules said stepping forward to draw his attention more. “Or did you forget about that? Or care at all? I'm not saying there are men out there who don't think like you, I've run across them plenty of times in my life.” She had to be careful here, he was close to the edge right now, more so than she originally thought, and he had his brush in his hand. But most of her attention was to the kids behind him. They looked unharmed but obviously scared. And Walter seemed to know when one was about to make a run for it as he kept turning to the group to keep them in place. She almost wished one would as it would grab Walter's attention long enough for them to grab and restrain him. But that wasn't happening. So her best play was to force him to pay attention to her. Now the tricky part, “But they were a very small minority of the regular humans I come across.”

“Don't listen to her lies!,” Walter yelled at the children.

“It's not a lie,” she shot back. “I hunt Horrors, I deal with people pretty much daily. I've seen their worst and their very best. And that attitude,” she pointed right at him,” is dying out. It had been for a long time. I feel sorry for you in a way, I really do. Your father was so behind the times and set in his ways that he passed those feelings onto you not realizing he was making you as screwed up as he was.”

“My father was a good man!” he exploded. Oh this was danger territory right here, depending on what he knew. “ He should have been sainted for dealing with my so called Mother. My Mother was weak that's why she died first. If she was stronger, like the two of us, than she would have survived.”

“Your father was a bully who unfortunately had power behind him, and was the only one who was killed in that situation,” she shot back. “And you probably joined in making her life miserable.” She made a hand motion behind her back to Shae, hoping she'd get the idea to keep back, because here it comes, “To the point a Horror possessed her.”

His face went slack, like he was in shock. Did he not know, after all this time? Glancing around Jules saw a few of the other look like they were trying to sneak around him. Keep his attention on you she told herself. “No,” he said shaking his head. “That's not what happened. Even if it was it just proves my point, if she a man she would been strong enough to resist...”

“That's now how it works,” she snapped at him just to shut him up for the moment. “Everyone here knows how it works,” she almost gave into the temptation to hold her arms out wide to gesture to everybody around them. But that would have made him notice those trying to sneak around him so she didn't. “It's been documented for centuries. I deal with it almost nightly. Horrors tempt those humans when they're at their lowest, it doesn't matter if they're a man or a woman. And they give in, because they want something better or the power to pay back those who wronged or tormented them.”

“Shut up!”, he yelled. Nope didn't look like he was aware of Olivia's findings on that particular matter. That was a miscalculation on her part. “My father showed me the right way. How to handle women like you who don't know their place.”

Stepping closer to keep his attention she said, “Then do it.” Walter and the rest of them seemed shocked at her challenge. The other were close enough to start grabbing the children at any moment. Keep him focused in this direction. “Try and put me in my place, if you think you're man enough.”

“I'll beat the truth about your role in your mentor's plan out of you too,” he growled. Jules was already set for his charge. It was wild and reckless, like she expected. It almost made him more dangerous, unpredictable, throwing hay maker after ha ymaker at her so fast she couldn't do anything but dodge his blows at the moment. Luckily he seemed to forget about the Brush in his hands he was so enraged. And she made him chase her a little since the others were starting to get the kids to safety as others joined in with the rescue while he was distracted. Seeing the last child was taken away to safety Jules ran in and slid on the ground around him after that last punch attempt. She got up spinning around and lashing out with a foot that caught him flush in the side of the head. She just happen to catch sight of Shae and it looked like she wanted to jump in. Jules shook her head one before returning her full attention to Walter, while a bit staggered didn't exactly go down from the blow.

Smacking the side of his head a couple of times he said, “Is that all you got bitch? Keep proving my point for me!”

“Just when I was starting to feel sorry for you,” she muttered, not caring if Walter heard her or not at that particular moment. Now she went at him throwing every combination that came to mind., from every angle possible. Walter took most of the initial assault, head rocking back several times, before he pushed her away.

“Fight me like a man!”, he bellowed. “Not any of that foo foo shit they teach the kids around here, making them soft like women.” Then his head rocked back again after a straight right from her. Okay that one felt better than it probably should have all things considered.

“That was like a man,” she taunted him. “Looks like you still can't handle it.” Then he tackled her to the ground out of the blue. Pinning her there as he raised a punch at her unprotected face. Jules stared at him the entire time, keeping eye contact. Letting him know she wasn't afraid of him in any way shape or form. He was smiling down at her up until he notice the look she was giving him. Enough to make him waver a bit. And enough that that she got her arms up and hit him in the throat. He started to choke a bit as he grasped at his neck. Jules pushed him off and came up swinging again. This time knocking him down with a hay maker of her own. This time he didn't try to get back up. Not even breathing all that hard she looked at Samantha and some of the other who converged on Walter in the next second. His arms held back by Samantha's staff they hauled him to his feet and tore the brush from his hand.

“Jules,” Shae said as she finally got closer, “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine kiddo,” she said as she stood up. “Are the kids all right?” She looked around and saw most of them were still around, they looked shaken but otherwise fine. That was her main concern, now she could breath a little either. “I'm absolutely fine.”

“You had to take a cheap shot!”, Walter coughed out. “You took a cheap shot because you knew you couldn't beat me in a fair fight.” This from the man head was being used as a punching bag a few moments ago. He was never going to learn was he?

“Oh would you shut up you big moron!” Jules blinked a few times as Walter's jaw dropped as they both realized that just came out of Shae. Sweet, shy, quiet Shae. She suddenly look unsure of herself once she realized the attention she was currently receiving.

“Did you all hear what she just said?”, Walter demanded as he struggled against them..

“I sure did,” Jules said with a stern hint in her voice. Shae cringed back a little, probably expecting to get a talking to. Instead of that Jules looked at her then gave her a small clap of approval. Walter started yelling again as they dragged him away. Yeah he was never going to be taken away quietly. Going up to Shae she told her, “You're finally showing a bit of backbone. But I am telling you right now if I ever find out that you lost it, even just a bit, I will be back to kick your butt from one end of this compound to the other and back again. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Jules,” she said, but couldn't help from smiling at the same time.

Putting a arm around her shoulders one more time she said, “Well I better get this tongue lashing from Olivia over with. I did a few things just now she's not going to be happy with. New lesson Shae, It's better to admit it when you mess up and face the consequences. Because it'll be worse for you in the long run if you don't. And I'm not joking about kicking your butt. I'll do it if I ever hear you reverted back a bit, I don't care how old you get.” Okay that was over with, now she could get back to locating the thief. He had to have put Walter up to that, he just had to.

***
While the actual act was slightly surprising, nobody would have guessed Walter would just up and try to take a group of kids, the thief knew it never crossed his mind once, the result went exactly as planned. Just about everybody was focused on that idiot and didn't notice a lone figure slip into the woods. That distraction was enough that a few more items was able to be grabbed and added to the payload for later. While an exact number of items was never agreed upon one or two more couldn't hurt. They looked exotic enough that they should fetch a high price from the buyer. It pretty much became a mantra at this point, it didn't matter what it did, the story made the sale.And there were plenty of stories to create in that pile that had been collected over these past few weeks.

“What are you doing out here?”

No, no no. The moment when it was all over and be in the clear was so close, this couldn't be happening now. Calm down, don't give anything away, “Lynda.”

She looked impatient as she readjusted the grip on her spear, “Don't make me ask you again. I saw you walk away while everyone was gawking at that idiot and the kids.

Okay, relax, there was a plan in mind even if this happened. “It occurred to me that the thief could use the commotion Walter was causing to get to where he was hiding the things he stole. I didn't think I had time to get you or one of the others. Time was of the essence, and it should be one of us who finds the thief and the items that were stolen.”

It was hard not to looked unnerved by the glare she was emitting in this direction. But eventually she lowered her spear slightly and said, “Damn right it should be one us.” Good old vault guard pride, so easily to manipulate. “So , did you find anything?”

“Not at the moment, I'm starting to think the thief headed to another part of the woods. I sort of went this way at random because it was closer to the commotion.”

“We need a better plan than at random”, she said as she walked past, eyes keen for any foreign movement in the woods around them. “Who knows how long the thief has been planning this. He has the advantage of being way more collected in his thinking and not just reacting like we have been.” Then she paused as she looked in a certain direction. No there was nothing out of place, you don't see anything. Getting the spear in position she suddenly said without looking this way, “One of the tunnel entrances is over here,” she said before dashing off. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Stop her before she ruins everything. It's almost over this shouldn't be happening.

It was too late by the time she finally stopped, she was at the entrance. Play it off, don't give anything away. “Lynda what is it?”

She turned, looking excited. “The tunnels under the training ground. The thief could be using them to hide the things he stole from the vault. He may be be hiding in there himself, this is our chance. We can catch him off guard if we're careful and lucky enough. Watch my back in case he's near the opening.”

“Of course.” Follow behind her, don't make any sudden movements that she'd notice and think something was wrong. She got to the entrance and went to open it, now. A small gasp of pain escaped her lips as the tip of the spear pierced her back. Pulling it out, only to swing at her again as she slowly turned around. She went down holding the gash in her neck. Stepping on her spear to make sure she couldn't use it and looked at her, a bit of regret forming, “I'm sorry Lynda, I truly liked you, but I can't have you ruining things more than you almost did.” One last plunge with the spear into her chest ended her life. No time to morn, There were other voices coming now, they'd see what happened and who done it. No time to hide the body now, just enough to opening this door to the tunnels and slip inside, time to move the items out of here. Earlier than planned but it couldn't be helped.

But one thing nagged at the back of his mind. Her arm was moving before the blow that killed her landed. At the time the thought was she was trying to get her weapon in an attempt to push him back, but what if she wasn't? Too late to worry about it now.

***
“I know I didn't handle the situation like you would have wanted,” Jules said as she sat across from Olivia. Surprisingly she wasn't as upset as Jules would have expected. She was obviously visibly irritated, that much was obvious. But considering how fast she had Walter escorted out of her office while she waited for them to be finish with their discussion, Jules was expecting to get the brunt of her remaining anger. Which was why Olivia just sitting there, quietly staring out into space, was unnerving her a little, not that Jules wanted to get yelled at but this could not be good for her. So she kept talking, hoping to get some sort of a reaction from her, “But I was concerned about the kids. I was doing everything I could to hold his attention for as long as possible so he wouldn't notice what was going on around him.”

She sighed, finally focusing on her. Looking as tired as Jules had seen her today Olivia said, “No, you did the right thing Jules even if it wasn't how I would have handled the situation. Unfortunately this had been a long time coming. I've been hearing grumblings from the others about wanting to knock some sense into him for a while now,” she graced her with a sad smile, “Although I doubt many would have held back as you did.”

“Well, I'm still sure the thief pushed him that point.” Jules said. Olivia just nodded absentmindedly, this was affecting her more than she was letting on. Maybe it was more than that. “Look I realize you irritated with me for bringing up that his mother could have been the Horror...”

“I am irritated,” she said suddenly. “But more at myself for keeping quiet about it for this long. Maybe if I confronted him with the idea sooner, gotten him to remember what happened that night, then maybe he finally would have moved forward instead of clinging to what his father taught him. Or maybe not,” she said looking defeated for lack of a better word. Jules did not like that particular look on the woman that she looked up to and admired for years.

Shae suddenly ran into the room. “I'm sorry but Emily just came by.” Olivia and Jules started to stand, both fearing that this wasn't going to be good. “She said they found a body, it was one of the vault guards. It looks like she'd been killed” Olivia paled a bit and looked like she was going to fall to the floor. Jules immediately reached out to steady her. Olivia staid standing but looked grateful for the assistance.

At the teenager Jules asked, “Where is she now Shae?”

“She went to get the other vault guards,” was the answer. It made sense, they were sure the thief was one of them any way. So confront them with this and see how they react. “She said both of you should come too, she told me where it is.”

Jules wasn't sure how she felt about that, she didn't want Shae anywhere near this mess but it was too late now. Leaning on her cane Olivia told the teenager, “Lead the way.”

After they got outside, even if Emily didn't tell Shae where the body was it would have been easy to take a guess, Everyone was talking, a few gesturing in the direction they were heading. It was safe to assume not many sudden deaths happened around here. Jules personally hated this spot that was so dear to her was sullied in such a manner. The spot was soon evident as the familiar, to Jules at least, sight of people hovering around pretty much pinpointed where the body was. “Out of the way,” Jules said as she made sure they gave away to Olivia. The two of them approached the body, Jules looked back and saw Shae was still following. “Stay back,” she ordered the girl who fortunately complied with it.

“Oh no,” Olivia muttered as they got closer, “Lynda.” Jules increased her pace to get to the body first. “Who found her?”, she asked the group.

Two stepped forward, “We did” one of the answered. “We thought we saw somebody sneaking around and with all the talk about things being stolen from some vault we checked it out. And we found her lying here. We lost track of the person we thought we saw though, Sorry Olivia.”

“How long ago was it?”, Jules asked as she examined the body. Granted this wasn't her area of expertise, the closest she could claim being an expert on dead bodies were the people who where possessed by Horrors she and Carter had to track down, and that was stretching things. But she had to do something and looking for any sort of clue was better than nothing at this moment.

The two conversed for a moment before the first one said, “About ten minutes or so by the time you got here. Maybe a little more, I'm not exactly sure.”

Jules took Lynda's hand, Now it might have been her imagination bur it still felt warm to her. “This just happened based on that that time frame,” she looked up and said to Olivia. Then she tried to look at the wounds themselves, they looked like they could have been done with a spear, but it could have been some sort of dagger just as easily. Jules looked out into the woods, the thief had to be close. There was no way he could have gotten that far.

“No,” a new voice said. Jules and Olivia looked over to see Emily and the other vault guards join the group. So far all of the just looked horrified, genuinely horrified, at what they were seeing. Jules went back to Lynda's body and then noticed some sort of marking in the earth under her hand, it looked like she was clawing at the dirt.

Turning her head a bit to get a better look, she soon realized she wasn't clawing at the ground, she was trying to tell them something. Without looking up she asked, “Who's missing?”

“Jasmine and Trevor are still at their post,” Emily said. Those were the two she hadn't had a chance to speak to yet and still at their post. Jules wanted to demand why they weren't here, but it was a forbidden vault that they were guarding. Vincent used to tell her that it would take something major to get a vault guard to abandon their post. The death of one of their own obviously didn't count as anything major.

“Are you sure about that?”, Jules asked, which made the guard leader looked confused. She waved Emily over and showed her what she just discovered. She gasp a little when she saw it, as did Olivia. In whatever time she had left Lynda scratched a letter into the ground. The letter J. Jules tried to recall all the guards names from earlier and Jasmine was a new one to her.

Emily immediately whipped around to her men, looked them over and demanded, “Where's Jonathon?” They all looked at each other but nobody was coming forth with an answer. “Where is he?”, she said a little more authority.

“I haven't seen him since we were told to talk with her,” Hector said as he pointed at Jules. That was a couple of hours ago. Jules reached out and closed Lynda's eyes as she lowered her head. “No, you don't mean,” Hector started to say as it dawned on the rest of them what they were implying. “You got to be wrong.”

“The sooner we find him the sooner we find out,” Jules said as she finally stood up. If this wasn't some sort of misdirection and Jonathon was the thief then things escalated faster than any of them expected. Obviously he was capable to doing this to someone he knew then anybody was a target right now. Catching Olivia's eye she glanced over at Shae. She looked back at the girl and then back to Lynda's prone form before nodding her head slightly. Jules gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder before heading over to Shae

“Jules,” she said as she got close enough. This was affecting her all right, it was affecting all of them. And Jules heart went out to all of them.

Reaching into her coat she retrieved Shae's brush and handed it back to her. “I need to know you can defend yourself in you need to. You're going to need this.” Shae looked stunned at this but took her brush back before hooking it to her belt “This isn't how I wanted it done Shae.”

“Alyssa no!”, Olivia cried out suddenly. Before Jules could turn around and see what was happening there was a huge explosion. Everybody ducked or dove for the ground in response. Jules' first reaction was to grab Shae and get between her and the explosion.

Small bits of debris still falling from the sky Jules located Olivia and cried out, “What happened?” Part of her was afraid she already knew. A couple of the others were running toward a spot, she thought she saw another body briefly in the smoke and haze.

“Alyssa,”, Olivia got out as Emily helped her to her feet. “She pointed out one of the tunnel entrances was near by. She opened it before I could stop her. Marcus is she?” Olivia didn't finish. She didn't have to, everybody knew the answer from ther look on his face. Two dead now. At that moment Jules wanted to beat the living hell out of the man. Emily looked like she wanted to do far worse to him, and Jules wasn't sure if she'd stop her if she did. “Everybody back away,” Olivia ordered. With a little coaxing from Jules and Emily they did just that.

“What's going to happen now?”, Shae asked. She was holding it together better than Jules would have at her age, she had to give her that.

Still she wasn't exactly sure what to tell her, outside of, “Now we start figuring out how to go on the offensive and catch the bastard.”

***
This day couldn't get any crazier, it just couldn't. Could it? Shae sat in a chair, trying to stay out of the way as everyone came in and out of the door to the building and Olivia's office. She was hoping that once everybody realized she wasn't the one who stole those things from the vault not only would she get her brush back, but maybe she wouldn't have to stay by Jules' side any more. While she was true to her word about handing back her brush she insisted that Shae stay with her for a little longer. After witnessing that explosion Shae wasn't exactly iin the mood to argue the point. Seeing how everyone outside, when the door was open long enough to get a look, was running around, and Olivia gave the order for all students to stay in their rooms until this was over, it was probably better for her to be right here.

Jules came out of Olivia's office and smiled at her. Then her attention went to the front door as Emily came in again. “What's the situation?”, Jules asked, Some how she become Olivia's right hand in this. Shae thought the guard might have taken offence to this, she would have if she was in her place. But on the outside at least Emily seemed fine with how the hierarchy ended up playing out.

Emily told her, “We already have all the tunnel exits covered, two people each like Olivia asked. I also have a couple of guards at all the known tunnel entrances in the woods surrounding the training ground in case he tries to get past us that way.”

Jules nodded, “Good idea, my only worry is that he knows how you guys think.”

“It's mine too,” Emily told her. “Me and a few of the other vault guards are trying to figure out how we would get around what we do.”

“Um,” Shae spoke up getting their attention, “What about the entrance that blew up? Couldn't he try and get out that way?”

“Hector and Marcus are guarding that one,” Emily told her. Of course they would think of that possibility. Why would they need her opinion on anything dealing with this? Emily continued, “They practically volunteered. I asked a couple of border guard to keep an eye on them for the time being, Just in case they decided to go in looking for a little revenge for Lynda. Marcus shouldn't be a problem but Hector had a bit of a thing for her, she didn't reciprocate but he was still a bit smitten with her.”

“Yeah, we don't need any hot heads in this situation, Jules said. “Let Olivia know what you just told me.” Emily glanced her way before nodding and heading into the office. Smiling at her again Jules sat next to her, “How are you holding up Shae?”

“I don't know,” was the only answer she could give her. Jules started rubbing her shoulder lightly. “Why did he kill her? Both of them?”

Jules didn't say anything right away, she just kept rubbing her shoulders. Then she sighed and said, “I honestly don't know. As cold as this might sound I don't think he planned on killing Alyssa. He booby trapped the door and she was just the unlucky one to open it. Lyndam I can't even phantom a guess. Outside of she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. At this point we have to assume he's capable of anything. But good suggestion though, about the destroyed door. It shows you can think a little straight in a mess like this.”

“How is that a good thing?”, Shae asked.

“Because of who we are Shae,” Jules said. “Not every Priest hunts Horrors but we still have to face some dangerous situation and chaos. Things like trying to bring in a Makai Priest who went rogue or breaking up those black market rings you asked about.” She started rubbing her hands together as she let out a tired sounding sigh, “Those are things you're supposed to learn after you leave a place like this, not while you're still here. This were you're supposed to learn the finer points of what we do after your parents teach you the basics. The lot of you got a hard lesson in reality today that's going to change you in one way or another. “ Then Jules surprised her by saying, “I'm sorry I let it happen to you. I had no control but I should have found out who was behind the thefts before this happened.”

“I held you back,” Shae said figuring that was were she was going.

“Now don't you start believing that for a second,” Jules told her sternly. “Even if you weren't by my side I'd still be in the same position of not knowing and not figuring out who was behind it all fast enough. Jonathon had a head start nobody could have caught up with. But I still tried because Olivia asked me to help out. I put this whole situation on my shoulders because I didn't want to disappoint her.” Leaning forward she sighed again “Right now we got a waiting game going on.”

“Do you think he put traps on the other entrances?” Shae asked her. “I mean if he set on the could have done with other.” She noticed the way Jules was looking at her, “And you already thought of that.”

With a small grin she said, “It's why nobody 's actually charged down there yet to try and rush him. The only one we know isn't trapped is the one that already went off.”

“And he could have set another further down that particular tunnel,” Shae said.

“See you changed already,” Jules said in an attempted light heartted way. But Shae could tell she wasn't exactly feeling it, not like it was when she first met her. “I'd bet you're worried about Nadia,” she said suddenly. “I already told Olivia I'd take you to see her just to get you out of here for a bit.”

She did want to see if Nadia was okay. The person who ended up being her one true friend here of course she was worried about her. “But they need you here,”she started to say.

“Right now they're waiting for the archivist findings about any other tunnels Jonathon could use to get out. Besides,” Jules reached into a coat pocket and pulled out some sort of disk that Shae didn't recognize. Waving her brush over it made some sort of magical indicators appear above It, “it looks like my hunch was wrong, he didn't go back for more.” She caught her staring at the readings, “I'll show you how this works later if you want, I'm sure your parents have used something similar.” Shae pointed at one of the blue dots , it was moving. Jules looked down and her eyes went a little wider. “Shae we're going to have to postpone seeing Nadia for a bit.” Then she went back into the office before Shae could say anything.

“Not a problem,” she said to nobody. But what hunch did she have? What were those dots supposed to be?

***
Jonathon tried to keep calm and keep going. His surprise went off so the knew for sure somebody had tried to get in here and follow him. But none of the others he'd set were triggered yet so that spooked them from the looks of things. He couldn't count on the staying spooked though. Kicking himself slightly Jonathon knew he should have been out of here by now, but he had to make sure nobody else was coming in after the explosion. Even taking the time to set that last seal further down that particular pathway felt like it took longer than usual. His only guarantee right now was that nobody knew which exit he was going to use. Chances were they put a watch on each one, so ideally he should only have to take care of one maybe two people before they could notify anyone else. He just had to be fast enough and catch them off guard. If he acted fast enough that is.

Maybe if he knew what some of the things in this last box he grabbed while they were concentrating on the idiot could help. No, not knowing what they could do meant he might damage some of them. And that would affect the price. No he would just have to move faster than they did and catch them off guard. He approached the door he originally planned to use that lead to the outside world, and here he paused. Carefully opening the door, grateful that it didn't make a creaking noise, he glanced around as best as he could. His eyes narrowed a bit as he didn't spot any one in sight. In any other case that would be a good thing. But seeing how fast the situation went south this could be extremely bad. Jonathon opened the door a little more so far there was nothing. Wait, did that shadow just move?

The end of a staff shot through the opening making him back up enough that the person on the other side ripped the door open wider. Damn it, Jonathon put the box down and grabbed the hand reaching for him and pulled. Ramming his head into the border guards face let him run past him and into the open. A risky move but he could get backed into a corner down there. Once out in the open he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eyr and ducked. Another staff just missed his head as he rolled forward. Getting his spear into position he easily blocked the return swing.

“Jonathon!”, he searched for who yelled his name out of some basic instinct. No, no no. Emily and that woman were running in this direction. How did they get her so fast? A quick glance back into the tunnel showed the one he headbutted was still stunned so there was no way he could have sent for them. Neither of these border guards could have called them considering how far away this particular open was from the training ground. Worry about it later. Emily pulled short but held the end of her spear at him, that woman just behind her. “Give up Jonathon, there's no way out of this,” Emily told him.

“There's supposed to be no way into the vault either,” he taunted her. “But I did that.” Pushing the guard back he quickly grabbed his brush and held the bristles close to the tip if the spear and made it glow. Then he swung it in a wide arc making a wide energy wave fly toward the two of them. Both Emily and the woman jumped over the wave. The woman already had her brush out as she kicked off Emily in the air changing her direction and fired magic blasts at him. He was distracted enough that Emily was able to land by him unmolested and went on the attack almost immediately.

The other guard tried to get involved as well. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that damnable woman land and run in to join. He had to get out of here. Jonathon started to swing wildly, at least that was how it was supposed to look. Emily would realize what he was doing soon enough since this was something that vault guards had come up with. With that woman and the guard backing up Jonathon pushed his brush in the guards face and fire a blast of energy point blank. He went down in a heap, what was left of his face smoking.

“No!,” the woman said a little too late as he was already swinging the staff back around, fully planning on having the metal of the blade slice through her neck. But Emily was already there trying to protect her. She body arched as the tip of his spear went through her back. “Emily!” the woman shouted as she caught her as she fell. Jonathon knew he wasn't going to get a better chance and ran for the opening, pausing just long enough to shove the first guard out right before he slammed it shut. He didn't have time to even pick that crate back up he just ran the tunnels as fast as he could. There had to be a way out they haven't thought to cover this network wasn't exactly huge, bit it was big enough that something had to be forgotten. He just had to find it before they decided to rush the tunnels and trap him like a rat. He was too close to being wealthy to let that happen without a fight. He went several meters, taking any turn that looked good at that particular moment. He came to a dead end.

“Damn,” he muttered. Jonathon wasn't sure how he got here, he was pretty much lost at this point. And who knew when they would come along that last corner and finally corner him, In complete frustration he jabbed at the wall in front of him with the spear in his hand. He looked confused as it went through easily enough, well past the head of the spear. He pulled it free and more of the wall came away. “What the hell?”. Confusion quickly gave away to hope as he started pushing and pulling at the wall in front of him, occasionally looking back just feeling them on him. Once the hole was big enough he crawled through, it was another tunnel from the looks of it. One not in the archives. Quickly spinning back to ward the opening he made he leaned his spear against the wall and placed a slip of paper in the opening. Running his brush over it he backed away as the illusion it cast made the wall look solid again. That should by him some time.

He looked down at the ground on this side, well at least until they notice the rubble on the ground. He was sure he left something in his haste to get away and they could notice if they were observant enough. Jonathon wasn't going to stay around and find out. Grabbing the spear he turned again and walked this way. It had to lead somewhere, maybe even to the outside and freedom.