~Chapter 5- Riches ~

The next day, Brass was fetched by the guards and brought to the Warden's tower. As they made their way up the cascading steps, Brass's eyes lingered on that durable hatch along the wall. He was unsure of its purpose before. He hoped that he was wrong now.

The guards led him into the Warden's quarters at the top of the tower and left them to talk privately.

The Warden circled its desk, its stone arms folded behind it, "Any updates?"

Brass wanted to get it over with, "They know I'm working with you."

Opal furrowed its stony brows, "How?"

"Diva suspected me from the start. She was just playing along until now."

"Anything they might've given us until now must've been false leads then."

"Most likely," Brass took a breath, "There is one other thing. The women are convinced you're hoarding some sort of stash."

Opal's posture stiffened, "Did they?"

"Yes. They believed you had a hold on valuables you've kept from criminals. They were probing for information on where it might be."

"...What did you say?" Opal asked, drawing closer to Brass.

"I insisted there was no stash. But I absent-mindedly mentioned that if you had one, it might be in this tower," Brass said with a wince, "I'm sorry for that."

Opal frowned and began to pace back and forth.

"There... isn't a stash. Right?" Brass asked.

"Of course not," Opal snappily replied, "Is that all?"

"Two notes were left last night. One said Tower. They must be convinced that some stash exists here. The second was Focus. Whatever that means."

Opal's eyestones dilated, "Focus. Really?"

Brass took a step back, "Yes. Is that concerning?"

"Not neccessaril-"

A loud impact echoed from outside the tower, accompanied by a bright purple light that shone in from the Warden's window. Brass and Opal looked through the window and saw it originate from the women's wing of the prison.

A second burst of light erupted from that portion of the prison, this time a bright yellow color. Brass could see chunks of the prison's wall crumbling from this light. A third blue light exploded from inside the structure, tearing apart the walls around them as well.

More bursts of light suddenly emanated from the men's wing of the prison. This time with colors of Red, Blue, and Purple, each just as destructive as the others.

Opal's eye stones narrowed, "Cuff yourself. Now!"

Brass linked his wrist cuffs behind him, and followed Opal out of its quarters. As they left, the two guards in waiting looked unsettled.

"Something is happening!" A guard frantically said.

"Return this one back to his cell and prepare to quell the prisoners," Opal ordered.

"Yes, Warden!" The guards responded, grabbing Brass by the shoulder and hurried them down the stairs.

As they descended the tower, an announcement reverberated through the facility in the Warden's voice, "Prison break imminent! Guards follow your training and secure the facility. I want a quarter of the Elite guards to make their way to the Warden's tower to reinforce this position. All others focus on securing the key positions!"

Why was Opal requesting guards to reinforce the tower? There was no risk of escaping prisoners there.

Brass and the guards hurried down the tower as fast as they could. Before they made it to the bottom, the stairs ahead of them burst apart from below, a bright purple light rocketing through them. From the newly created hole in the stairs rose a brown-haired woman, levitating in the air before them. It was Diva. On her face was a smug look, at least until she saw Brass.

The guards shoved Brass back and readied themselves, "If you know what's best for you, cuff yourself now!" The guards commanded.

Diva cocked her head and looked at the cuffs around her wrists, "Whatever you say."

She linked the cuffs in front of her. She smiled at the two guards before her, extended her arms, and flexed. The restraints creaked before finally bursting apart into pieces of metal. Diva let them fall to the ground beneath her.

"T-That's impossible!" One of the guards muttered.

Diva became a blur, flying through the air and striking one of the guards with her knee, downing them immediately. The other didn't have a chance to react before she picked them up over his head and tossed him down the hole she created. With that, she touched down on the ground beside Brass.

"Hey, old timer," She smiled, "Are you cuffed?"

"Ye-Yes," Brass uttered.

"One sec," Diva circled around him, gripped his cuffs, and with one tight squeeze, she shattered them to pieces.

Brass looked down at the broken metal. The same metal that was the backbone of this prison and kept all of them contained for years. "Ho-How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Diva tilted her head. She didn't seem to recognize the question.

There was a shuffling sound further down the tower. They looked and saw several Densius wearing the Elite Guards uniforms.

Diva flourished her hand in their direction, and a purple light radiated down the stairs. Brass could feel wind reverberating from it. The guards were cast down the stairs, ricocheting down the tower.

Diva turned to Brass with her hands on her hips, "Let's hurry! I want to beat the others to the stash."

She raced up the tower. Not knowing what else to do, Brass reluctantly followed. He couldn't get a word in by the time they had reached that fortified hatch along the wall.

Waiting beside the hatch was Warden Opal. As it saw them, it narrowed its eye stones and stood.

Diva smirked, "What's up, Warden?"

Opal made eye contact with Brass, "Are you a part of this?"

Before Brass could say anything, Diva spoke, "He had nothing to do with it."

Opal scowled before cracking its stone knuckles, "You're making a mistake. I've faced two members of your group already. You don't stand a chance."

Diva chuckled, placed her hands on her hips, and leaned forward slightly, "You mean Razan and Lucar? They were just feeding your ego. They could tell after that little tussle that you were nothing special."

Opal rolled its eye-stones, "You're fooling yours-"

Diva suddenly rocketed through the air, striking Opal in the shoulder with her knee. Opal reeled back, and she delivered a second knee strike to its shoulder. Then a third. With that final strike, the stones composing Opal's shoulder shattered, and its rocky arm fell to the ground.

Diva wound her arm back and struck the Warden across the face. The impact's sound reverberated through the tower and sent Opal skidding along the walls before falling unconscious.

"Told you," Diva remarked before turning her attention to the metal hatch along the wall.

"You... tore the Warden's arm off!" Brass shuddered.

Diva shrugged, "It's not like Opal can't repair its body later. The Warden will be fine."

Diva floated into the air and looked at the hatch in the wall, eyeing the hinges. She ran a hand along it before winding back and striking the hinge, denting the metal.

She began to land several jabs on the hinges, damaging them further each time until it began to bend and crack. The same metal that many inmates had failed to bend or break. The same metal she was tearing asunder with each blow.

She thrusted her elbow into the hinge, completely shattering it. She dug her fingers into the cracks and pulled. The hatch was yanked open, falling to the ground with a thunderous tremor.

Brass' suspicions were confirmed. A room was hidden behind the hatch with all sorts of valuables skewed about it. Gold bars and coins. Precious paintings and jewelry. Boxes of ornate design with unknown contents.

Dive smiled, "Jackpot!"

Steps could be heard from further down the stairs. Diva levitated through the air to combat whatever came, but a muscular man with a mullet came up the stairs. One of the Sky Bandits.

Diva smirked, "Beat you to it, Vos!"

"I was close," the man, Vos, replied.

"Not really," Diva remarked, "Mind calling Lunah?"

"Sure," Vos replied. He punched the air towards the tower's wall. A burst of purple light erupted from his fist, tearing apart the stone and metal before him. Wintry winds breezed inside. Brass could see the snowy mountains outside the prison. Vos leaned out of the hole he made and whistled loudly.

Vos turned and saw Brass, "What's the librarian doing here?"

"I-I?"

"I think he was meeting with the Warden when we broke out. Leave him alone," Diva said.

Brass could only watch as the rest of the Sky Bandits climbed the tower to their position. All of them as aloof and at ease as Diva and Vos. They began to carry valuables out of the Warden's stash.

Brass noticed something approaching from outside the tower. Seven black masses drifted through the sky towards them. Only once they grew close enough could Brass see that they were crows, massive black-winged birds.

The crows flew just outside the hole that Vos created. Atop one of the crows was a ... well, Brass wasn't sure what it was. It was unlike any person he had ever seen. It was a man with orange luminescent eyes and pale-spotted skin, wearing thick winter clothes and a scarf around it's neck.

The orange-eyed man guided the crow he rode to the new hole in the tower. He calmly asked the Sky Bandits, "Who won?"

Michta answered the being, "Diva did."

The orange-eyed man threw several burlap sacks to the Sky Bandits, and they began filling them up with various valuables from the Warden's stash.

Brass finally stood and went to Diva, "What is all this?"

Diva stopped what she was doing and addressed him, "We were playing a game to see which of us could find the Warden's stash first. We could've smashed our way in from the start. But this was more interesting."

"I can't believe you've done this..." Brass said sullenly. When he looked at Diva, there was no sign of remorse. She still seemed amused by the whole affair.

Once each of the Sky Bandits had filled up their sacks, they jumped through the opening in the tower to the crows waiting outside for them.

But before Diva jumped on her own crow, she took Brass' hand, "Come with us. You don't have to be trapped in this place anymore. You can live your life to the fullest like us!" Diva smiled sweetly as she looked at him.

Brass looked at Diva, then at the Sky Bandits on their crows waiting just outside the tower. For a moment, he considered it. But there was only one right choice.

"No. I'll stay here," Brass pulled his hand from Diva.

Diva frowned, "Whatever you did before, you're a changed man now. You've served your time."

"I have more enemies waiting for me outside than I do inside. I wouldn't last long outside," Brass looked at Diva, "If you're not careful, you'll end up just like me. But you still have time to change, Diva. I know you can."

Diva's eyes turned downcast. For once, she seemed genuinely sad. She looked at Brass once more before levitating back, "Take care of yourself, old timer."

"You too, Diva."

Diva floated outside and mounted her crow. Each of them looked at the orange-eyed being before flourishing the reins of their crows and flying away on them. Brass could only watch as the Sky Bandits disappeared into the snowy landscape with their new riches.

"You still have time." Brass muttered.