𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊 - a Leo Valdez slowburn

Chapter twelve

Chapter twelve. 

[And so the heist begins]

"I'm morally indifferent about this whole ordeal.

I'm the joker in this game of cards - 

a single wild card, if you will."

It didn't take that long to find the Academy, which surprised Leah quite a bit. 

She'd fallen asleep on the car ride, and a few hours they were there. It sure wasn't like the US, Romania. Much, much smaller, for one. And the roads much, much worse. She'd woken up from her nap several times because of the bumps and holes in the roads. 

But now they were here, at The Academy. Or, more specifically, a lake under which the Academy was supposed to be located. 

"Are you sure about this?" Leah asked, arms crossed. Lin peered at the lake, scanning their eyes over the calm water. "Absolutely," they responded, straightening their back and starting to walk towards the body of water. They then pointed at a patch of lake in the middle. Leah noticed the water looked slightly lighter, as if there was less of it there. Not that noticeable, but noticeable enough to be recognized from a difference. 

"That's where the chosen Solomonar emerges with Ismeju. We have two options: we either wait them out, which would result in death by monsters, by Solomonar himself or by the dragon, or we infiltrate the Academy, which would result in death by monsters, by usual solomonari or by any of the security traps." Lin grinned, two sharpened canines showing amongst their usual teeth. They raised the hand that had been in their pocket, holding a small remote. 

"Thankfully, I took a little souvenir when I escaped those years ago." "Wouldn't they have replaced the security?" Aiden asked, trekking next to Lin and Leah. Lin shook their head. "Solomonar is keen on keeping tradition. Remotes were installed back in 1969, security hasn't been replace since." Leah whistled. "That's a long time," she commented. "Wouldn't be if you're basically immortal," Lin shot back. 

They arrived at the coast of the lake in tense silence. Leah was the first to speak up. "How do we get there now, then?" she asked, eyes narrowed at the small patch of lighter water. 

"By opening the gates we've made," Lin responded casually. They turned back to look at Aiden and Leah. "You have your weapons?" They both patted themselves down, then nodded. "Two guns, two daggers," Leah said. "Sword, throwing knives and my charm," Aiden responded. 

"Good. You'll be needing them, both to fight the solomonari off and to fit in. Now if I just-" They pressed one of the buttons on the remote in their hand, and for a minute, nothing happened. Lin blinked, then frowned. They pressed the button again. "It should work-" 

Just as they said that, a hole opened up from beneath them. Leah managed just in time to hold the three up in a tangle of vines. When she saw Lin's eyes light up, she asked, "Are we supposed to fall in?" "I'd assume so," Aiden quipped, looking down. "Although it seems like an inconvenient way to enter and exit." 

"That's because no one enters through here," Lin said somberly, also looking down. "It's a tunnel that was made centuries ago, back when the solomonari were still with twenty boys for each graduation and dragons were common in Romania. It was an escape route, Solomonar sealed it off in the fifties." 

"Leah, could you let the vines go?" Lin asked off-handedly. Then they continued, "he didn't do it well. It was still accessible from up top, and the seal wasn't strong. A hurried job, if you ask me. It's how I got out, together with a good fifty others. Caused a riot back then. I'm sure it's quieted down by now, although there should be people waiting for us."