The City of Two Halves

✽Chapter 1✽

Dorian and Grace were about to get the biggest paycheck of their entire lives. 

It was sure to cover their rent for a long while but it wasn't going to be an easy task. 

He gazes wistfully at the full moon, Dorian Worthington is a tall, dark-looking man with eyes to match, his hair, a deep navy, curls ever so slightly at the ends framing his sharp features. Dorian's build is somewhere between lean and athletic but appears more athletic due to the oversized fit of his clothes, "It'll be ok, all right? We'll be in and out just like that," Grace reassures him. 

Grace Carroway is, for the most part, the opposite of Dorian, with cornfield blonde hair, striking emerald eyes and softer features. She is only a little shorter than he is with long legs and an angular-shaped body with a curved chest emphasised by a skintight black long sleeve. "Your optimism is admirable Buttercup," he replies smirking at her slightly, "Alright let's get to work," Dorian kneels and inspects the grate, he utters a quick spell, disenchanting it, and Grace pours an off-white potion which melts the grate off revealing a vent big enough for them to crawl through. He looks up a Grace before he climbs in, the glint in her eyes is visible even at night, and she smiles at him reassuringly. 

They quietly crawl through the vent, slowing as they approach other grates, Grace counts them in her head, 1 grate, 2, 3, 4, 5, "This is it," she whispers to Dorian, he nods and disenchants the grate. "I need to cast invisibility and anti-gravity," he tells Grace while she pours more of the off-white liquid onto the grate, he reaches his hand out and beckons her to take hold. She does and pushes the butterflies deep into her stomach, they float down from the grate and Grace stumbles when they land, Dorian catches her.

The room they are standing in would have been pitch black if it were not for the glowing orange amulet under "Enchanted glass, great," Dorian says, "If I disenchant this, I might not have enough mana to float us back up to the grate, I think I could get myself up and float you halfway, but it's risky," 

Grace says, "I trust you" 

"Thank you, Buttercup, but if anything goes pear-shaped I'll be right down there with you, ok?" 

She nods and he begins disenchanting. "Are you ok?" Grace asks, he replies "Yeah, just a little lightheaded," Grace casts him a concerned glare and pours the off-white liquid over the enchantment-free glass. Dorian grabs the amulet and the guard's footsteps are heard outside the door, he floats up into the grate and manages to float Grace halfway before he grabs her and helps her into the grate. He pulls her on top of him in something resembling a hug to hide her from view just as the guards burst into the room, instead of immediately crawling back to the exit, they sit staring at each other until one of the guards yells, "Up in the vents." 

Grace pulls herself off Dorian and they start to crawl away, she stops and starts digging through her belt as one of the guards awkwardly shuffles into the vent, "Grace, we have to go," Dorian says but Grace pulls out a bottle with a light blue solution in it and throws in behind her. Ice blossoms from where the bottle broke, blocking the guard from following and Dorian enthusiastically says "Good job, Buttercup," and smiles at her, she smiles back and they continue crawling. After a while the yelling fades and soon enough Dorian is helping Grace out of the grate, quickly they make their way down to Grace's car and she backs out of the alley. Dorian inspects the amulet, it's heavy, must be real gold he thinks, the chain is large but he pays no mind, instead he is hypnotised by the swirling orange and gold light inside the stone framed in a sun pendant.

"So what do you think Cerena wants this for?" he asks, 

"I'm not sure, we've never got a commission from her," Grace replies turning down a side street and parking, 

"Yeah, but she is our boss," 

Grace doesn't answer and instead gets out of the car, followed by Dorian, she thinks on the matter, what could Cerena want the amulet for? Usually, they are only commissioned to collect small things, like lighters or maybe a lost antique confiscated by the Bureau, but somehow, Grace decides, this feels different. They enter an old butcher's building, The Bureau had closed it down after they discovered an under-the-table blood trading scheme run by some vampires, now 'Meat me here' served as one of the many entryways to the underworld. Grace and Dorian pass the smashed display windows and remnants of the homeless, heading straight for the locked walk-in freezer, a password is uttered and the door swings open revealing a ladder, they climb down. 

✽✽✽

Cerena opens her email and looks through her messages, an ad for a deep-scale clean, an email concerning her delivery of fresh seaweed bites, and many commission emails from people who want things they can't get. 

Being the head of the most extensive underworld smuggling business in Polfast certainly involved more desperate people than she would have hoped, but the money was really good, there was no shortage of non-humanoid creatures who needed things from the surface, things they couldn't get themselves. She finishes reading an email for a pixie who wants some cornflakes and closes her laptop, she sighs, running a webbed hand through her white hair. 

The doorbell rings and she exits her office.

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