Red Roses

Chapter 8 (Fool's Gold Arc)

Ardit and Zolio looked over the paper that Jade had written into while she waited for them to finish while tapping the table out of boredom. Ardit mumbled to himself, "A performance at the theater.. what kind of grandmaster would that be..?" Zolio tapped his shoulder, mentioning, "You're thinking out loud, plus you're not focusing on what's important! A performance at that theater is expensive to get seats for, let alone close enough seats to talk to the performer!"

Ardit considered what she was saying, scratching his head while thinking of what to do, eventually the idea hit him and he gave a hellish grin. He pondered, "So we don't have the money for tickets.." Zolio tilted her head, asking, "What are you getting at?" Jade gazed at Ardit in confusion as he seemed to be very excited. Ardit continued, "Yet we have to see the performance.." Zolio realized where this was going and was not liking it. She cuts him off, "No no no, I know what you're thinking in that grubby head of yours! That is completely off the table!"

He folded his arms, quite upset. He raised his voice, "What other options do we have?! Who cares about committing a few crimes when our lives are at stake here! If you want to give up on this chance to survive and let them take you, be my guest! Maybe to you I'm just some homeless thief who only wants to break laws for the heck of it, but I'm actually trying to survive!" Zolio fell silent, feeling somewhat guilty. She rest her arms on the table, planting her face into them. She muffled, "Fine, I'm just not used to doing things like this." Jade decided to pat her back.

Ardit's muscles lost tension, his hand moved to rub the back of his neck. He explained to the two of them, "Listen, I know it's hard because this is something you two probably haven't done before, but this is what has to be done to see this grandmaster, because who knows if we'll see this person again once they're gone? So are we doing this or what?" Zolio nodded with her head still buried in her arms. Jade gave a thumbs up. With a smile, Ardit lets out a relieved sigh, resting his back on the chair.

Zolio raised her head and fixed her posture. She decided to question him, "So what's your plan then?" Ardit wondered, "Plan?" Jade rubbed her temple realizing this was the situation she got herself into. Zolio pinched the bridge of her nose. She responded, "You don't have a plan, do you?" Ardit tried to shrug it off, "Pssh, don't worry about that! It's simple, we just use Jade's magic to turn us invisible so no guards or civilians see us. Then we sneak around to the back of the building. If this building follows health code, which I assume it does because it's so well known, it'll have an emergency fire staircase that leads straight to the top! From there we just find a way inside."

Jade rubbed her arm, looking hesitant about this plan but realized she didn't have any better ideas herself. Zolio pointed out, "This plan goes on a lot of assumptions and you have no backup." Ardit made his own claim, "Assumptions with reason!" Zolio rolled her eyes, she stood up and held out her arm for Jade. Jade grabbed her arm and hopped out of the seat. Zolio's eyes met her friends' and decided, "Come on, let's go home." Jade nodded, but as they walked Zolio turned to Ardit. She let him know, "Meet us at the theater a few days from now, after midnight during the performance, then we make our move!" Ardit smiled as he appreciated the confirmation of his plan, with a thumbs up he decided to make his way for the night.

The two had thought about what they had gotten themselves into as they walked. Zolio turned her head to her close friend. She questioned, "Do you think we'll end up criminals like him if we keep affiliating? We're breaking and entering, it feels wrong.." Zolio could hardly stand the thought of it. Pressing her hand against her stomach as she walked, the headspace within her grew more and more filled with anxious thoughts. Jade grabbed the hand on her stomach and held it tight. Zolio noticed her eyes, she'd never seen such ambition within her before. Zolio took a deep breath and reassured her, "Fine, if you think it's a good idea then I trust you. Besides, what other choice do we have? If we don't do anything, I'll probably end up dead, and if that happens you won't have anyone to live with, so let's make sure we do this right!" Jade gave a thumbs up.

As the two approached the apartment area that they lived in, Zolio reached for the keys in her pockets as Jade patiently waited. Zolio mentions, "When we get inside I'm gonna do some warm up exercises, I wanna make sure my body is in top shape for the infiltration you know? Oh, and you have that book for studying apparitionism right? Why don't you read that till you're ready to sleep for the night?" As Zolio eventually gets the door open, Jade nods and walks into the apartment right after her friend. Zolio takes a deep breath of relief as she shuffles to the couch, throwing herself onto it and burrowing her face into a pillow. Jade approached her with caution. She dropped to her knees and began to poke her in a rhythmic fashion. Zolio muffles from the pillow, "I'm exhausted, exercise later tonight."

Although Jade could barely make out what she was saying, she decided not to persist and went to the bedroom the two of them slept in. Jade tried to turn the lights on, but the illuminators who manage the light magic haven't been able to come and reinstall lights. Instead, she turned on a gas lamp that she placed on the night stand of her bed. She grabbed a book titled "Magic Education: Apparitionist Edition" and sat on her bed, opening to the table of contents. Before she started reading, her mind began to wander. She fixated on what happened earlier, her friends had to struggle just to figure out what to call her, Ardit even grabbed a paper and pencil just so he wouldn't have to guess again. She decided that she wouldn't keep doing this to them. She looked through the contents and flipped to a page with the chapter title of "Communication through Hallucination" and held the book firmly. Shifting her body so she can rest her back against the backboard of the bed, she started reading through the chapter.