ADDENDUM // Phantasm AU Extras

Like the Two-Faced God of Doors

On most nights, Deirdre slept like a rock. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was gone, dead to the world until that internal clock that woke her with the sun sensed its rise. Even when they were little, Tarquin had always been the restless sleeper, getting up multiple times during the night to go and sneak down to the kitchens for those chocolate drinks he liked so much. Deirdre didn't understand it - sleep was much more important than some midnight snack.

So when Tarquin bothered to wake her from her bed, she immediately knew it was important. 

"Dee?" Tarquin whispered, laying a hand on her shoulder to gently roll her over in bed. 

Deirdre stirred somewhat, blinking her eyes open and focusing on her brother in the darkness of their shared quarters. "What?" 

Tarquin looked nervous - not in that way that he was when he had to speak to people he didn't know, but in the way that something was wrong, and he didn't quite know what to do to fix it. "I was going down to the kitchens, and I saw that the door down to the royal treasury was open. The night guards weren't at their posts outside it either. I didn't see if the lock had been broken, but it just doesn't feel right that anyone would be down there at this time of night anyway."

It definitely wasn't normal for someone to be down in the treasuries at this time of night. Deirdre propped herself up on her elbows, waking up fully. "Did you see anyone nearby?"

Tarquin shook his head, stepping back from the edge of her bed so that Deirdre could sit up fully, swinging her legs over the side. "They're either still inside or already gone or I'm just being an idiot-"

"No." Deirdre said, getting out of bed. "No, you're not being an idiot. Put on some pants while I find a shirt and then we'll go investigate."

---

Honestly, she felt a little stupid, standing in the hallway before the door to the royal treasury - usually kept heavily locked, but now open - in her pajamas holding a sword. Looking at Tarquin, he looked a little stupid, worrying his lip as he stared down the steps into the underground vault. If anyone were to come upon them now, they would see the king's prized set of twins hovering in the mouth of the stairs to the royal vaults, armed and ready to spring... wearing matching pajamas. 

It was a good thing it was the middle of the night.

"You're right." Deirdre said, her voice barely above a whisper, yet somehow still too loud in the still air of the hall. "This is definitely not normal."

Tarquin nodded in agreement. "As soon as I noticed the guards were gone I figured something was wrong."

Deirdre looked down into the dark stairway before her. If there was anyone down there, they hadn't lit the torches on the way down the stairs - meaning either they were carrying a torch with them, or they weren't human and didn't need one. Hopefully it was the former. She really didn't feel like fighting someone that could actually hold their own against them both tonight. 

A glance was traded - a silent argument about who was going down the stairs first - before Deirdre stepped forward, starting down the stairs as quietly as she could. Sure, it would have just been easier to teleport to the bottom or into the vault, but sometimes is was better to be able to spy on whoever they were tracking for a moment before jumping into the fight. Intel and all.

There hadn't been much light at the top of the stairs - just a few stray beams of moonlight streaming in from the windows - but it got even darker as they progressed down into the vault, following the spiral of the stairs until the air grew stale and cold. They were underground now, surrounded by tons of rock that protected the treasury from outside penetration. If whoever was down there was a thief, Deirdre had to admit their gumption was somewhat impressive - getting into the palace was hard enough, but getting into the treasury was just another layer on top of that. And if it hadn't been for Tarquin's midnight wanderings, no one would have noticed anything at all.