Spes Novis

The Abyssal City - 1

 Hot air tore through the young soldier's throat as cool joy coursed through her core. To think she was chasing a suspected mole from the Agents of the District of Columbia. She, who had graduated at the top of her class and was the daughter of one of the most influential necromancers of the century, was working in the job of her dreams.

The young soldier used her massive scythe to launch herself over a fallen lamppost. Sweat clung to her back under her flexible uniform, it felt good. She was hot on the tail of her top suspect, a man who was relaying information between the D.C.s on the Above and the D.C.s hiding out in the Below. The man on the lam wove between some shop stands in Bellum square, trying to avoid his ultimate fate of being captured by the National Protection Unit. Her unit. The soldier shouted, "Stop in the name of the law!"

The target did not stop in the name of the law. He cast a glance over his shoulder and picked up his pace, dodging around an herbal remedy stand and knocking down some stools in the process. The soldier skirted around the chairs and looked ahead of her prey's path.

Just ahead, hiding in plain sight, was a man with long dreads pulled back in a professional ponytail. He was standing next to a newspaper stand with big headlines that were not discernable from such a distance. A grin split across the soldier's face as she steered the target toward her partner. "I said stop!" She pushed through the final stretch of the plaza, and sure enough, the mole ran directly into her trap.

The dreaded man stepped into the mole's path as he attempted to dodge around the newspaper stand. The sudden movement threw the man off, he stumbled into the soldier's partner, then fell backwards into the newspaper stand. Papers threw everywhere when he knocked the rack over, an artificial wind picked up the headlines and threw them into the air. D.C.S IN ERIE, POTENTIAL MOLES IN THE UNITED MAGE REPUBLIC, and MISSING PERSONS TOTAL GROWS all fluttered past the soldier's vision as she reunited with her partner, who was handcuffing the suspect.

She called out, "Great work, Corey."

Corey looked up, prisoner in hand. "Couldn't have done it without you, Lavender. Let's bring him into the station."

Lavender nodded, putting her scythe away. She turned to walk with Corey back to the police station to check their suspect in, but she stopped to look back at the newspaper stand. "I'm terribly sorry. Here." She picked up the rack of papers and fixed the ones that were left. "Your next headline is going to read 'National Protection Unit Apprehends D.C. Mole.' If you need details, come to the Necromancy Building after work and ask for a private interview with Lavender Necros. That should compensate for the lost papers."

"Or you could just pay for them," the angry shopkeeper demanded.

Lavender sighed in frustration, "Fine. Don't take my offer." She took some copper coins out of her pocket to pay for the lost newspapers and then went on her way, following her partner to the station.

When Lavender caught back up to Corey, he was busy listing off the suspect's rights. Even though they technically were not police officers, as agents of the National Protection Unit, Lavender Necros, Corey Gesly, and their coworkers were required to list off the same rights as police officers.

By the time they arrived at the police station, Corey had finished listing off all of the suspect's rights and they had all fallen into an uneasy silence. Lavender was not prepared to discuss confidential information in front of a civilian, guilty or not. She had already made that mistake before... Although it had worked in her favor.

Lavender pushed the door open into the bustling police station, cops, criminals, and victims alike milled through station. Lavender wasn't surprised by how busy it was, after all, Bellum was one of the largest cities in the Below, yet it only had one police station. Granted, it was the largest police station in the nation, but it was still a lonely building with lonely principles.