Catch Me If You Can

4

I pop out of the water along the Outer-City wall, pulling the water from my clothes as I duck into the shade cast by the wall.
I whip off my hat and mask, twisting my hand and pulling water from my hair. I scrub my eyeshadow off my eyelids, thinking.
Manon is waiting in the city,  Delphine keeping an eye on the sewers. I've just got to make it to Manon, then I'm in the clear.
I shake my hair out, adjusting my bag and clothes, before shoving my mask and hat in my bag as well. It thumps heavily against my thigh, the gem almost burning against my skin as I make my way up the steps of the wall, heart skipping with each step.

I walk through the city, relieved that everyone's gazes pass over me with indifference. No hard stares or accusatory hey, she almost single-handedly took down our Court glares.

What I do see though, is everyone glancing at their alert watches in concern every couple minutes. Clearly, something must've been alerted while I was either underwater or leaping (how she teleports from body of water to body of water).

Finally, curiosity and anxiety gets the best of me, and I duck into a storefront, flashing a grin at the woman behind the counter.
"Hi, how can I help you?" She asks, smiling gently back.
"I'm so sorry, but my alert watch is dead. Everyone looks rather worried, what did I miss?" I force my voice into a tremble, looking every part the concerned innocent bystander.

"Oh my mademoiselle! It's no problem at all.." She hands me her watch, and I stare at the words scrolling across the screen.
Notorious thief commits another heinous crime, please be on the look-out for a girl matching this depiction. More details on the crime will be released later today.
Below it was a photo of me, dissapearing into the fountain outside the Opera. Suddenly I'm extremely glad I shed my cape.
"Oh my goodness." Is all I can say.
"Yeah,  I wonder what she did?" The cashier muses.
I shrug, my throat tightening.
"I have no clue."

I thank her and almost run out of the store. The sun is setting on the city now, setting the cobblestones aflame.
I hurry along the streets, sun shining in my eyes.
I turn a corner, brushing past a police mech with apprehension, and half jog to the alley where I'm supposed to meet Manon.

I duck into the alley and grin at her as the sirens blare.

I shove the gem into Manon's arms, and I see her mouth "GO!", before opening a sewer hatch I hadn't seen and disappearing into it.  I'm off in a flash, racing deeper into the alley, to the fountain I know lays somewhere near the street on the other side. I hear clanking footsteps and skid into the street, muscle memory guiding to where I'm certain the fountain lays. I throw a hand out behind me, drawing puddles of water up from the streets, slicking the cobblestones. I hear a satisfying crash and glance around, watching a mech fall on its face, smoke trickling from the gaps in the metal.

I spin around another corner, boots skidding, and promptly am knocked back by a hard metal wall. I look up  and stagger back, gazing up into twin slits in the metal of the mechs head. It swings a heavy hand, probably intending to grab my neck, and I drop to my knees, gashing them against the cobblestones as I roll out of the way. I hear and feel the slice of air above my head.
Another arm swings as I scramble up, blood running down my knees as I start off again.

Pain shoots through my knees with every pounding step, and I throw my hand behind me,  shooting a spray of water at my pursuers.

I see the fountain, and my pace quickens, my breath burning in my chest. My lungs wheeze as I take a long stride, almost at the fountain.

In the back of my brain, I hear a slight buzz and spin, throwing up a shield of water in front of me.

It's not enough.

I see the spiraling bullet of electro strike the shield, and then I collapse to the ground.
Agony spasms through my limbs as I weakly try to flick water from the streets at the boots clunking toward me. I fail to see the ribbon of ice snaking across the water on the streets.
Until its creeping up my arm.
And then it all goes black.

Wriothesley scoops the girl off the ground, melting his ice and holding her to his chest.
"Chlorinde, would you mind?" He gestures to the girls bag, lying strewn across the cobblestones.
I nod.