AO 6 Ch 38

"Hey, Mary, where are you going?" Steve chased after the other Garrish soldier.

She didn’t even acknowledge him, instead moving urgently through the halls.

"Hey, Mary," he called, running up and grabbing her by the shoulder. The woman froze, sending a chill down his spine. "Are you pretending you didn't know me? The date didn't go that badly," he insisted. 

Mary slowly turned her head, a bright smile blossoming across her face. "Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you. Come in this room with me?" She winked and slipped inside. 

Steve checked his jacket, straightening his tassels with a quick comb of his fingers before smiling and walking through the door.

Suddenly, a pair of incredibly strong hands grabbed his chin and the back of his head, twisting violently. The soldier collapsed to the floor in front of Mary, who wasn't Mary anymore.

"Was that necessary, Maribelle?" Zuri stepped out of the shadows in the room in a different body.

"He recognized me. Apparently, this woman was his lover.” Maribelle gestured at herself before pulling out a strange little compass and showing it to Zuri. She tilted it 90 degrees. The two of them watched the needle point straight up.

Zuri squinted at the ceiling. "They don't let the rank and file up to the top levels, at least not without a damn good reason." 

Zuri bit her lip, but Maribelle was busy lifting the man off the ground and checking the stripes on his sleeves. "Will this do? If he and this body were together, then it would be easy for you to take his body and bring me up with you. Especially if people think they are dating." 

"Do you think you can give Ard control of you, so he can push me into a new one?" Zuri asked. 

Maribelle paused, swaying between the balls and the heels of her feet for a moment before nodding. Her expression shifted towards one that had a near-permanent smirk on it.

Zuri's newest body collapsed to the floor, only for the man on the floor to gasp as his neck snapped back into place. Zuri sat up, now in Steve's body. 

"You know, we'd be pretty terrifying if we weren't busy taking down our neighboring nation-state," Zuri said, rubbing her neck. It felt a little stiff. 

Maribelle blinked as she returned to control. "We are terrifying. Just imagine it for those people who aim to betray Sir. You should relay that to House Trevis, in case they get any ideas." Maribelle shivered with a giant smile on her face before she held a hand out and pulled Zuri to her feet. "I guess it's up we go.”

“At my command, soldier." Zuri managed to fall into the role easily, folding her arms behind her back.

Maribelle rolled her eyes, but stepped up to the nearby door and opened it, "After you." 

Zuri walked out, a brisk clip to her gait as her head scanned back and forth. Her posture had a little more confidence, something a more senior soldier might have. She led the two and rounded around the corner, heading for the stairs. 

"Halt." One of the soldiers lazily held out a hand.

Zuri pulled a blank piece of paper out of her pocket. "I have a message that I'm supposed to run to the Chancellor for sign off.”

“You can go. She has to stay," the other guard pointed at Maribelle. 

Zuri licked her lips and leaned against the wall, lowering her voice. "Look, I'm trying to show off a little. Would you do me a favor? I'm trying to get her some exposure to the upper brass." Zuri winked and leaned back.

The guard had a knowing smirk on his face. "All right.” The guard relented.

“Rick, rules are rules," the other guard spoke up. He was going to be a stickler. 

"Rules are made to be broken. Go on, both of you." The guard, apparently named Rick, stepped aside and Zuri grabbed Maribelle's hands, rushing through the gap before the other could use his body to impose the rules he felt much more strongly about. 

Zuri checked with Maribelle behind her.

Maribelle looked like she wanted to kill both of the guards, but she wasn't directing the expression at either of them. There wasn't a name for it, but humans were oddly perceptive to hostility. Zuri was only glad the guards had not noticed.

"Cut it out," Zuri said. "Your anger will get us noticed." 

Maribelle hissed under her breath as they both continued to move up the keep. "I could have snuck in here and just left a bloody trail all the way up." 

"This way's cleaner," Zuri said. "Besides, we have to get the compass out when we're done, so it's a two-man job."

She'd laid out the plan, and it was calculated to have the highest chance of succeeding. It needed two of them, and between the four available, Zuri knew that she and Maribelle were the best options. 

Maribelle snorted, but she kept up as they hurried up the stairs.

Zuri hit the top landing before she puffed slightly, pretending to be winded like she didn't have magic. As she came out the door, she waved at another guard. She asked for directions, even though she knew it was going to be to her left. 

"That way. Last door on the right. And be very polite. You wouldn't be the first soldier that's been cleaned up out of their room." The guard said. 

“He’s not really that scary.” Zuri answered.

Both guards' eyes became sharp, and before Zuri could react, Maribelle flashed forward, with knives ripping out both of their throats. There was only a wet gurgle before both guards went to the floor.

Maribelle stood up. "It must be a woman and they realized something was up. Let's hurry." She glanced down at her arms. "You go first, otherwise I'm going to set off alarms." They were covered in blood. 

Zuri moved as quickly as she could, without creating enough noise that someone might check outside their door.

Humans were perceptive, even if they weren't cognizantly aware of those senses. The sound of someone rushing through the hall would bring interest. And though the person may not be able to identify what alerted them, they could tell the difference between someone rushing towards a goal versus just being in a general hurry.

And so Zuri was careful how she moved, not daring to drag Maribelle by the arm. And thankfully, the maid kept up. Zuri got to the door, knocked on it, only for an aged voice to come from the other side. 

"Come in." The voice answered.

Zuri poked her head in. "Sorry, I've got a note for you. The Captain said it needs your signature before we can move forward." Zuri stepped into the room and Maribelle came behind her, her hands folded behind her back in a subservient way.

"Oh?” the Chancellor sounded confused as Zuri stepped up to the desk. Suddenly, a spike of stone shot out, stopping an inch from her face.

Zuri fell back onto her rear. "I'm sorry," she said hurriedly. "I don't know what I did to upset you, but please just take the letter." She held it out, sweat beading down the back of her head.

The spike had been a close call. Hopefully, the Chancellor hadn't noticed her split-second hesitation. After all, Zuri could move and think far faster than the average soldier.

However, the chancellor didn't come close enough for Zuri to strike. A small pebble rose from the stone floor, pinching the letter and lifting it from Zuri's shaking hand.

Zuri quickly worked through options, as the situation became more difficult than she had anticipated.

"Whoa!" Maribelle stepped closer, her eyes wide with astonishment. "I've never seen anything like this. I mean, I've seen magic used for big things, but you can use it to reach across the room?" She had moved closer to the Chancellor, her arms still behind her back.

The Chancellor turned, frowning at Maribelle. Suddenly, another spike of stone shot down from the ceiling, aimed straight at Maribelle's head.

But it never reached, as the anchor reacted. Maribelle flickered forward, driving two iron knives into the Chancellor's chest. She ripped into the chancellor just as the spike of earth came down on her back, severing her spine and crushing her to the floor. A hit like that would stop most, but not Maribelle.

She lunged forward, ripping the spike further along her body and planting one of her knives into the Chancellor's foot to slow her down.

Zuri seized the opportunity. Moving faster than Maribelle, she came around the side of the Chancellor. A short sword made of light appeared in Zuri's hand before she swiped it cleanly across the Chancellor's neck, grabbed her head, and shoved a medallion from her pocket into the base of the stump.

Maribelle's borrowed body sagged, life slowly leaving her eyes. "I'll see you back at camp, Zuri." Maribelle slipped away, and the body lost all strength, its face slapping against the floor.

Zuri pulled the now-bloodied medallion out, wiped it off, and put it in her pocket. She then bent down and rummaged through Maribelle's pockets to retrieve the compass. Zuri clicked her tongue at the unfortunate complication, but ultimately, she decided the best way out was likely to die, at least in the body.

That still left what to do with the medallion and compass that couldn’t be left behind, but she had a plan for that too. Zuri opened her palms, creating a bow of intertwined light and dark magic. Like a real bow it used stiff and soft materials in tandem to work. 

Working quickly, she then created an arrow and strapped the compass and pendant to it. Walking over to the nearest window, she aimed past the fortress's walls.

Thankfully, both the compass and the medallion were made by a goddess, so they wouldn't break even if they fell a long distance.

She eyed the shot and double-checked the landmarks so she could relocate them later. Then, she fired the magical arrow, sending it soaring through the broad daylight. She knew it could be noticed, but the object would be moving too fast to be easily tracked.

Dispersing her bow after the shot was fired, Zuri picked up a sword that hung on the mantle. A few swings proved it was just a show piece. Nevertheless, with a bit of the chancellor’s blood wiped on it  and her clothes she was ready to put on a play. 

"'She killed Mary!'" she screamed at the top of her lungs, rushing out of the room.

The first person emerged from the door and she ran them through, then Zuri grabbed the sword at their hip and turned to face the next person.

This one was actually balanced which was important since she wasn't using her anchor's strength or speed to try to continue to pull off the farce. She wanted to empower the Garrish soldiers and make them stop fearing the Chancellors and the leaders that had conscripted them to fight. 

More people rushed into the hallway. Zuri's blade slashed back and forth, wounding a few before she took several thrusts through her back that she knew would be fatal. In a last-ditch charge, screaming, she rushed the highest-ranking officer she could find amongst the crowd.

Her blade ran him clean through before four more swords pierced into her.

Zuri coughed up blood as the body died. "'He killed Mary!'" She wheezed before darkness crept in all around her. Her vision faded, only for her to gasp and sit up a moment later in the little camp they'd made a few miles from the fort.

"'Welcome back!'" Emlyn took a pot off the fire and poured a little tea. "'That one was a success?'" Emlyn asked. 

“Maribelle was too hasty.” Zuri turned to find the maid, only to see the other anchor happily pampering Ard.

Zuri frowned, understanding the maid’s rush to return. The crazy woman probably got herself killed so that she could come back to her master sooner.

Thankfully, despite her craziness, she was rather easy to understand. Maribelle was essentially a lodestone that would forever seek Ard. And of course, if anything got between her and Ard, she would just remove it as swiftly as possible. 

She also had a wild pain tolerance. Zuri cringed thinking about what Maribelle had just done, pushing the body she was in through the spike.

"What about the compass?" Ard asked. 

"Don't worry. I used an arrow to fire it outside the fort. I know roughly where it should have landed." Zuri reported.

Emlyn grunted. "Don't tell me we're going to have to pick through a forest for it." 

"No, just get me close enough," Ard said. "I should be able to locate the pendant if it's nearby. It's made of metal, and hopefully there aren't too many scraps of armor in these woods." 

"But another dead chancellor is a victory." Ard said, and Zuri reached into her satchel.

She had picked up carrying the bag for her accountant guise, but quickly found she liked having something to organize her thoughts at her fingertips. She pulled out a small notebook as she flipped it open and crossed off another fortress. 

"If we keep this up, we should be ready to go against Freya again soon," Zuri said. While Zuri believed they were getting closer, the idea of battling gods was not as palatable as she pretended.

Her eyes shifted up from the notebook to watch Ard's reaction. If anything, he seemed confident and eager. He had shared much of what he had learned with the goddesses, but she still did not understand what made him so confident.

"Good," Ard said, rubbing his hands together. "We don't have to get all of them. We just need to get a good chunk of them. That makes seven now, nearly a third of the total. Not to mention, we've severely crippled their leadership along the battlefront." 

"That's why I'd like to raise my next proposal," Zuri said. "I think we should lean away from the battlefront and head towards one of the cities where the compass shows us a chancellor resides.”

Ard processed what she’d said, his brows always dropped when he was thinking. The handsome mage would have been perfect for her even if he was a one sphere. She had not expected to be with a mage that would respect her opinions and tactical advice so readily, as well as be charming in his own way.

That said, even with tactical advice, Zuri knew that Ard would ultimately make his own plan with a mix of magic and chaos. It gave her a challenge and a leader to advice.

"The concern is that they are going to reinforce the Chancellors along the war front?" he asked. 

"Exactly. We have had three successful assassinations, but they will know that trend by now and prepare accordingly. I anticipate each of the chancellors will be far more heavily guarded. We got lucky that King Martin is so cocky in their strength that he didn't have them surrounded by an army of anchors.” Zuri answered.

Ard shrugged. "His loss, my gain. Alright, then we're going to pack up. Zuri's going to help us find the compass, and we're off to our next target." He grinned again as the ground where the campfire had been simply turned over, hiding that it was ever there as he got up and dusted off his pants.