Debt and Espionage: A Thief's Redemption

[Demetri Malius]

Demetri blinked, struggling to keep the grains sand out as the armored guards lifted him from under his arms. Pain shot through his body, the sand worsening his wounds as they stung, like daggers being twisted into his body. The thief stared out at the locals and his feet in front of him. His blood soaked leather boots parted the sand into elongated mounds, the blurred image of curious onlookers behind them.

A lone child squinted his eyes at the beaten man as he shielded his eyes from the dusty wind. After a tilt of his head, the small boy rushed to his father, the child's soft and short blonde hair flowing ever so slightly with the breeze, his tan skin shining in the bright sun like honey. His dry lips parted as he pointed to the guards and the thief, his voice joining the whispers and murmurs around him, become one unified tone to Demetri's ears. The father hushed the child, quickly ushering his son inside his home, giving hardly effort as he stared back with his own curiosity.

Demetri's grin never left his face. The thief was crippled and beaten, but not wholly defeated. Surely his defiance and distraction had given enough time for the furry little creature and his own secondary to escape the city. As long his client made it out, his mission was a success. On the other hand, he was now at the mercy of his recent enemies, and he still had his mission from Headmaster Nealaphh. Surprisingly, this did not phase the clever thief. Oh, how many times he had been dragged off just like this back home. The whole scene really helped him feel like he could fit in among all this chaos created by "the smiling one"; as if he would be able to make a name for himself.

The thief suddenly erupted in laughter. The guards raised their eyebrows, not at the act of laughing, no, they had dealt with plenty of crazy beggars before. This man was not giving a maniacal laugh, nor a menacing one. This was a pure laugh, one of comfort and innocence, like a child seeing an older sibling making a funny face, or like a giggle from someone who heard a clever joke. Was this man enjoying this? As if he was simply playing a game and chuckled at his own defeat? The guards shrugged it off before passing the gates where the thief had knocked two guards unconscious less than an hour before.

Demetri thought about his battle, remembering each moment and examining his strategy. Now that he was able to get real combat experience, he could improve his own tactics and pinpoint is own weaknesses. Although, he was fast with his swordbreaker and his chains, they weren't enough for him to win. His chains were weak against other attacks, just the arrow from the mage alone tore through them in their entirety. His swordbreaker was weak as well, easily used to deflect attacks but easy to break with stronger weapons. He needed more than that.

Ideas flowed through the rogue's mind as he was brought to a medical room, New Babylon's doctors quickly coming in and doing what they can to prevent the man on their table from bleeding to death. They started by stripping the man of his shredded leather armor, revealing his open and bleeding wounds. After tending to his legs and body, they began to try to asses his arms, but metal from his chain devices still clung to his flesh. One of the doctors reached for the steel, only to immediately find his patients hand on his own.

"No touching the metal."

The doctor hesitated for a moment before nodding his head, his breathing having increased slightly, fearing that the patient would turn on him, before the grip on his hand loosened, the patient returning his hand to his side. The doctors and nurses then strapped he patient down on the bed and left the room, having done that they could.

Demetri's arms began to glow, a sign that the thief was using Omnilium to heal is own wounds, willing them to close. He focused on his body, restricting his senses to only himself as he took a moment to completely assess his wounds and the care given to them.

His messy black hair was held down by a few strips of gauze, covering the migraine-inducing head wound he received while tumbling into the marketplace due to Sasuke's combo attack. His legs were wrapped in gauze, aiding the two wounds caused by Victor. A splint was attached to his right leg, apparently he suffered a fracture during his battle. Multiple bandages and stitches covered the rest of his body, but nothing seemed too serious.

After about half and hour, he had formed his base metal casings for his chain devices, having them serve as makeshift splints/casts.

Shortly after, some guards came in and released the thief from his shackled bed, only to place him in a separate set of shackles. The chained shackles somehow put Demetri at ease, as they led him into the hallway. As they walked down the halls, Demetri couldn't help but notice the abundance of framed pictures of a blonde haired man, in numerous poses and positions. Was this the so called King of New Babylon? Demetri felt that the man was a bit too self-absorbed.

After a long walk, Demetri was finally showed to his cell. He walked in and stared at the wall in front of him, as the door clattered shut behind him, the click of the lock following immediately after. Already, Demetri hated this cell. But it wasn't he damp, mossy floor beneath his feet, the horrid smell of decay and mold, or even the scattered decay of rodent feces on his bare bed. What bothered him was the giant framed portrait of the New Babylon King in front of him

With a bit of defiance still left in the thief, he took a few minutes to summon a small container of ink to deface the protective glass protecting the picture. His arm screamed with pin the entire time as he reached and scribbled against the squeaky glass, but Demetri was satisfied with the result.

He sat against the cold stone wall as he awaited whoever was to confront him on his actions. Most likely, it would be the champion of Dante's Abyss that had sent him flying into the marketplace. With a sigh, the thief closed his eyes as he rested from the fight.

[Demetri Malius]

Continued from Dataverse Posts Here.

Damn the stupid guard, he didn't even finish what he was saying.

"Your call time is up. No more talking to your friends." The guard returned to his desk, tossing the device onto the table as he laid back in his chair, kicking up his feet, elbows up and hands behind his head.

"Fine then, so be it." Demetri huffed before sitting down once more. It had taken him a while to summon that thing, especially with having to time the guard's walks just right to get his timing. he could sense the guard at his desk, as well as two others. One was at the end of the hall, while another was just arriving. The imprisoned thief focused on their presences as he plotted against them.

The relaxed guard glanced down the hall to see his partner at the other end, then returned his gaze back to the device he confiscated from the prisoner. He hadn't seen many dataverse devices before. He slowly lowered his feet, giving the hall another glance before snatching up the device. Maybe he could investigate the evidence a bit more.

The light from the holographic screen reflected in the guard's brown eyes as the darted left and right, his fingers tapping along. The dataverse was rather interesting. Currently, some type of war with files of the .gif type was of the hype as of the moment, but it didn't hold his interest for long. With another glance to check his surroundings, the guard opened up a new window and searched the internet to satisfy his curiosity. He had heard rumors of certain websites, but wasn't sure if they were true. To his surprise, many of the rumored websites showed up on his search, and the guard clicked away at different links.

All to consumed by his demeanor, but much to Demetri's amusement, the door to the hall slammed open, revealing a guard of higher status. The loud slam startled the one that held the device, as it fell to the floor while he quickly stood and saluted.

"Attention!"

"S-Sir, yessir!" The guard stuttered.

With a glare the supervisor looked down upon the device on the floor and the vulgar images. The man scowled and looked upon the trembling guard in disdain.

"What manner of absurdity is this? Why have you this device? AND WHAT IS THIS FILTHY WEBSITE?!"

A bead of sweat rolled down the guard's forehead as he struggled to explain.

"W-well you see...the prisoner.... he.... summoned... well he threw it.... and I well..."

"You're a blundering fool! This is why you barely managed to pass with your class and become a lowly cell guard. Bring it to my office immediately, and I will see you soon to discuss your punishment. "

"Y-Y-Yessir, right away." Stumbling with fear and embarrassment, the guard fumbled with the device, before rushing down the hall and disappearing into one of the many rooms.

The supervisor then walked down the cell hall, his baton swinging behind his back. There were not many prisoners besides the thief, as the local guards were well known for their ability and competence. Those that defied them were consider either stupid, dangerous, or both.

The supervisor soon came to Demetri's cell. His echoibg footsteps came to a halt at the chuckling thief.

"I take it that you are the one that has caused the recent disturbance."

The thief nodded. "And what of it."

So this must be one of the stupid ones.

"You have caused a great deal of damage and trouble to our city, I wouldn't be surprised if you are sentenced to execution...," the supervisor leaned in closer, "or banishment."

The thief's eyes narrowed. You say that like its something i would go along with.

The guard gave his own chuckle. "I know that's what you primes fear most. As secondaries, we have no fear of being stuck somewhere for an eternity, bound to this place by the one called omni. In some ways, I pity you. In others, I envy. But I must say, I have nothing to envy about you, especially right now." The guard ended his sentence with a smile.

The thief was silent. Unmoving.

"So it seems that you decide to shut your-"

The guard was interrupted as Demetri seemed to teleport directly behind the bars, his hand through them and grasping the supervisor by the throat. With a swift cack of his baton, the theif recoiled in pain, his mending bones not yet recovered.

"How dare you try to assault me from your cell with your puny tricks! Scum like you should be put down! I can't wait to hear your sentence, rogue."

The supervisor scoffed at the thief, who held on to his injured arm, before going back down the hall to another guard, more competent and professional than the fool he had confronted earlier.

"Double your posts. This one is trouble." With that he left the cell room, continuing to his office where the incompetent guard waited.