"CAPCSIUM !!!!!"
The appartment's door has never been kicked quite that hard.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ?"
Baoba's face had never been quite that red, either.
"What ? Here ! Why ? What happened ?"
The red haired witch seemed to have been napping until a certain hurricane busted into her house. She woke up instantly, though, just from hearing the raging ball of nerves she usually called captain scream.
The other present residents also jumped up and got ready for anything. They had been asked to stay vigilant, after all.
But the hurricane did not see them. It only had one goal.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT' ? Did you think we were playing here ? No, better yet, did you ever think at all ? WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU GO AND USE YOUR BLESSING OUTSIDE???"
Hearing this, Capcsium immediately shrunk back and understood just how much trouble she was in. Feeling every eye turn to her, she started nervously playing with her fingers, and said meekly : "Ah, uhh, that. Umm..."
She looked up at him, then at everyone else, plied up in the corner, for support. She found none.
"Sorry ?"
The hurricane was breathing heavily. Its instincts screamed for blood, but its duties were heavy. Heavier than what rage could move.
Baoba calmed down a little. After three seconds, he had gained enough composure to ask in a slightly more overbearing tone than usual : "Please tell me it's not as bad as I heard."
"Umm, it's not ! I can guarantee that !"
The hurricane took five more seconds.
"What I meant was, tell me what happened, if you will."
"Right. I mean... I'm not sure which specific time you're referring to..." Baoba almost popped a vein, but she quickly cut him off." but, but ! I only ever used my blessing to see better. I take my walks through various dark alleys, where the lamps don't reach well, and there's sometimes graffiti on the wall. I like to look at it, so, after quickly verifying no one is around, sometimes, I conjure up a fireball to light it up."
Baoba's eyebrow twitched. "And you've been so careful that now, there's a rumor of a scarlet-haired elf witch maniacally laughing while playing with fire birds. Funny how that works, huh ?"
Everyone, including Capcsium, got shocked by the news. Even Pando had wide eyes.
"No way... I never did that ! I can't even make multiple fire birds !"
"Doesn't really matter now, does it ? You can't go up to them and be like 'hey, I'm the witch, and you've got it totally wrong !'. Or, well, you could, you're just gonna get executed. It's a rumor, it's bound to get blown up. Especially when it involves a demon through a religious circle. I'll bet in two weeks, you're eating children. But whatever !"
He sighed. "What you do doesn't matter. Anyone with sense will be able to tell it's blown up, and we don't care about the morons who can't. But one fact can't be hidden. You're an elf. Which means, there is an elf in this city, one who has gone unnoticed until now, which means it could be anyone ! I can guarantee some people are going to think that. And most entities will be weary of that eventuality.
"And now for the final question, who is currently an elf in disguise, inside a powerful force, who already looks suspicious and would hate to be scrutinized ? I'll give you five miliseconds. Ding ding ding ! It's ME !!"
He once again took five seconds to calm down.
"Why, oh why couldn't you just wear the damn hood ?"
Capcsium looked to her feet and mumbled : "Sorry..."
This time, she really did look like she was.
He sighed deeply, finally returning to normal. "It's fine. I mean, it's not, but I'll stop yelling now. You look like you won't do it again."
He wobbled to the living room, and let himself fall on the sofa. He didn't have time to complain. He couldn't afford to be unreasonable for so long.
But not because the circumstances were pressing. After all, the rumor has been going around for a while now. Although dire, the situation was far from urgent.
Usually, he would've continued being mad. But, well, he was supposed to be the captain. He did have a job.
Unfortunately.
'Ugh.. it's been a while since I last wished they'd just picked someone else... Whatever. I'm here already.'
"Alright, listen up. We can't do anything about this one, but it does change things. First of all, no leaving the house for anyone who doesn't have a public identity. If me or Urtica vanished now, it would obviously be suspicious. But the rest of you absolutely have to stay here now, apart of course from extreme cases.
"Secondly, Urtica, I know you already didn't talk too much, but you have to cut back even more on your socialising when you're out. You just wear a hood, it's pretty risky.
"And lastly, it's just something to take note of : we're doomed."
He stopped talking, leaving the room completely silent. Capcsium didn't dare to speak, and Pando was just nodding, so Venus took it upon herself to ask : "Uhh... What ?"
"It's just like I said, we're fucked. Some day, somehow, someone is going to find us out, no matter what we do. We already knew this, but now it's happening sooner rather than later. Our confortable stay in this town is coming to an end."
Baoba layed back and took in the apartment. It hadn't been long since they moved in here. The first few weeks in Toulu were spent in an inn, but that plan quickly proved to be unsustainable as the team realised they would have to stay for way longer than they thought. After that, they went on a search for a home -which went on for a bit too long for his taste-, specifically one who wouldn't outright refuse business to one person and four shady hooded figures.
They really had chosen the first one that was available. But looking back... Even though it was short, he already had his habits and memories in this place.
'Man... Leaving a home sucks.'
He sighed, closed his eyes shortly, and opened them again while leaning forwards. "It's a good thing it happened so close to the end of our plan. But it does mean we can't try again. This is it. After this, we either leave with Noti in our hands, or leave and find another way.
"I'm going to need you to really understand this one. This our only shot. We cannot. Mess it up. Understood ?"
"Yes, sir !" They all said in unison.
Every once in a while, this group actually sounded like a proper special squad.
He put his feet up on the coffee table, reclining as he acted relaxed.
"Alright. Dismissed, I guess. Just keep be as careful as possible, Pando will keep an eye on our surroundings as she always does, and if we don't leave clues, we should be fine."
'Of course, there is the possibility of us already being discovered by the Rings, who have somehow learnt of Pando's blessing, and we'll get ambushed in three days... But at this point, I'm just gonna give it to them. They earned it.'
He continued thinking about this eventuality as he went to sleep.
Or rather, as he tossed and turned, pretending he was capable of being calm.
***
The next day was a day off.
But it wasn't a resting day, this time. Before the disastrous news about the fire elf witch, he had set a trap. And now was the time to catch its victims.
Which, in this case, meant waiting nervously the whole day for Pando to tell him if it worked.
He could think of more fun ways to pass the time.
Baoba was currently in the living room chair, forcefully adopting a confortable pose in the hope it would distract him. He was trying to play chess in his head, but kept glancing over at the scout every three moves or so.
Pando, on the other hand, was completely relaxed. She had her eyes closed and her legs crossed, sitting on the floor in a clean, proper pose.
Her face had absolutely no flaws or emotions. Right now, she looked like a sculpture made by a very talented individual.
Baoba opened one eye and looked at her briefly, confirming she was still immobile.
Then he closed it, continuing his game.
Ten seconds later, he looked again.
... Then again ten more seconds later.
....
Then again.
....
Then again.
He got up and paced around, doing every chore he could see.
Unfortunately, he had already done everything.
So he returned to the chair.
....
...
"There is someone."
Baoba fumbled out of his reverie, and checked wether or not he was dreaming. He wasn't. So he quickly calmed down, and got in serious mode.
"Already ?" In the grand scheme of things, it hadn't actually been that long. The day had just started.
"Yes. A man is searching everywhere in the small room. He is pretty tall, with quite wide shoulders, and came to church wearing a hat. Below it, his hairline shows signs of balding."
"It's Marnon." 'Bob' could tell the man's identity based on the description. "I almost can't believe it. He never did anything suspicious."
"Well, I would imagine good spies don't typically act suspicious." Venus butted in from the side. All the girls were home today, just like they would be every day from now on because of the rumor. "I mean, you never did anything suspicious, right captain ?"
He forced a smile which he intended to be confident. "... Sure. Of course. I mean, who would do such a thing ? They would have to be pretty lousy at their job, right ?" An insincere chuckle later, and he had successfully convinced no one.
'Quick reminder that I only technically volunteered for this !'
"Regardless, this is very valuable info. Now we can plan around him, and be more wary when it matters. Nice one, Pando !"
Next step would be figuring out how he could ensure that Marnon would go on the assault team. He was one of the ones who had not volunteered yet, so there would be a need for a minor plot against him... Baoba already had a few ideas, such as-
"Another one."
His whole body froze. He slowly turned to Pando, only to find her face slightly troubled. But she did not rectify.
"Another one ? So quickly ?"
"Yes. It's a woman this time..."
She described the new Ring, and Baoba identified her, like last time. Only now, his mind was somewhere else entirely.
The first one being early was not weird. He had to pick a time, after all. They were all as likely as any.
But the second one had also happened before midday. Two similar events in a row... This seemed to indicate there was a reason to it.
For example...
'No. Not even going to say it. I'm wrong again. I have to be.'
However, not even two hours later...
"..There's another one."
'Shit.'
Three in a row could not be chalked up to coincidence anymore. There had to be a reason.
And he could only think of one.
'They have to come quick... Because there's too many Rings undercover.'