“Hey, over here!” Thalia whistled, leaning through the bars as she tried to get the guard’s attention.
It was the same one who had shoved her in here, the attractive ginger guard.
For a second, a frown crossed her face, like she was debating whether to ignore her, but eventually she approached the bars, still hovering at a respectable distance.
Now, how should she go about this?
She could use her Charm…no, it sounded like a pain.
It always gave her a big headache after using it, and she wasn’t that good at it anyway.
Besides, she’s gotten herself out of situations like this without it, so there was no need to become reliant on something that would only work half the time.
“I don’t bite, unless you’re into that; no need to be so wary.
Here, I’ll introduce myself so you don’t feel as awkward.
My name is Thalia, yours is…?” She gives the guard a lazy smile, but she doesn’t seem impressed.
“I’m not supposed to talk with prisoners.
If you need something, tell me; otherwise I’m going to walk away.” The guard replied harshly.
“Aw, don’t be like that…” She continued to flirt, blinking her lashes at the guard, but that only makes her huff and start to walk away.
Thalia blinked in surprise and reached out, frantically trying to think of something to get the guard to stay.
“Wait!
Y’know, I heard that being a guard isn’t the best pay.
I mean, I couldn’t imagine being paid so little to stand in a dark hallway that smells of piss all the time.
Why don’t you run off and live a Pirate’s life instead?
Ooh!
Or maybe a thief?” Luckily, it seems to work, and the guard walks back over, a little closer this time.
Not close enough to grab the keys yet, but just a little closer and they’d be home free.
“I mean, think about it!
I’m guessing I’m not your type, but if you went off to become a Pirate, you could pull anyone you ever wanted.
I’m sure you see the appeal now?” She winked.
“I’m not interested in pulling anyone.” The guard said with some derision.
Oh, craaaap, backtrack, backtrack!
“Ahem, well, there’s also the gold and the fame.
Imagine how much money you’d get!
Much more than a measly guard-” She went quiet upon meeting the eyes of the guard.
The sheer hatred in them made her freeze.
“If you think I would ever become a Pirate after they murdered my family, then you must be sorely mistaken.
Now shut up before I make you.
And before you make another one of your stupid jokes, no, not in the sexual way.” The guard spits and turns around, starting to walk back to her post.
Well, that could’ve gone a lot better.
Man, she had been off her game lately.
It’s fine, she could try again with a different guard; they’d still have a chance to get out of here, not all was-!
“Agh!” A pained shout came from behind, and she whipped around to find Rubio clutching his leg, Astra looming over him with a bloodied talon.
Never mind; they were doomed; her two cellmates decided to gore each other before they even got out of the cell, perfect.
“Guard!
Someone got hurt!” Astra shouts and then moves to the corner of the cell.
Oh, oooooh.
That makes a lot more sense.
The guard turned back with an annoyed expression and then switched to one of concern when she saw the pained Rubio lying on the ground.
She rushed over, grabbing out her key ring and unlocking the cell to kneel before Rubio, checking on his wound.
“I’m going to need some help in here!” She shouts as Thalia stands in stunned silence.
She’s only able to focus again when Astra waves his hand in her face, shooing her away.
She almost took offence to it until she noticed the open cell door.
Astra had the key ring in his hands.
She had no idea when he’d gotten his hands on it, but their time for escape was now, before the backup came.
So Thalia tiptoed her way out of the cell and leaned against the bars, a smug grin smeared across her face.
“Hey, I think you left something open.” She called out to the guard, who turned around in surprise, taking her eyes off Rubio.
Astra took the chance to snatch him up, dashing out of the cell and heaving the Pirate Captain’s body toward Thalia, who took a panicked step back and barely managed to catch him.
The Harpy then shut the cell door just as the guard reached it, locking it as she banged against it, trying to get through.
“Hey!
Stop!
We’ve got escaped prisoners!
Level Seven, Row Two!” The guard shouts.
The pounding of footsteps reaches Thalia’s ears, and turning to the left reveals a set of three guards running toward them, batons in hand.
“Crap!
Let’s go!” She heaves Rubio over her shoulder, and he makes a panicked noise.
But she doesn’t have time to adjust him as she and Astra start booking it down the corridor.
“Why in the Ten Seas would you stab me!?” Rubio shouts.
Thalia glances down at his leg; it’s not a sizeable wound and would probably heal in about a week or two’s time.
“I had to do something.
The guard was going to walk away.” Astra explains.
“I could’ve tried again later with another guard.” Thalia pipes up.
“Exactly!
There was no need to stab me, you lunatic!
Oh Seas, what if it scars!?” Rubio groans, and Thalia rolls her eyes.
“It’ll be fine.
Even if it does scar, it’s just a scratch; don’t be so dramatic, it’s not going to ruin your looks or anything.
What’s more important is getting out of here, so save the arguments for later.” She says, and Rubio shifts but doesn’t reply.
They turn the corner at the end of the hall; the stairs are just ahead of them, but a piercing noise invades her ears, a short whine that pops in bursts.
It’s the sound of an alarm.
“Damn, that’s annoying,” Astra curses.
The stairs are just ahead of them, and they pelt halfway up, but are stopped by a golden glow.
It’s the Rune barrier; the complicated drawings and texts are visible on the edges of the walls, the golden glow from the barrier a sharp contrast to the drab stone walls sitting on both sides.
“Crap!
We need to find somewhere to hide!” Thalia panics.
“I saw a hallway with a few boxes back there; we can hide there until the Head Guard comes around.” Rubio points and Thalia’s eyes follow.
She nods, and they skirt around the hallway and behind the boxes just as a couple of guards rush past the hallway entrance, stopping just before the stairs.
“Do you see the prisoners anywhere?” One of the guards asks.
“No, but they couldn’t have gone far.
Nobody gets through the barrier unless they have a key.” The other guard huffs.
“Maybe they backtracked through the guard hallways?” The first one suggests.
“Or they’re hiding nearby.” The other guard adds.
“Let’s just go check the monitoring system.” The first one sighs.
Thalia hears footsteps and peeks out from their hiding place only to duck back down with a woosh.
The guards were at the hallway entrance and rapidly approaching their boxes.
When they passed without incident, Thalia let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.
“Sooo, what do we do now?” She turned, whispering to her cohorts.
“Didn’t you come up with the plan?
You’re supposed to be telling us that.
Damnit all, I knew this was going to go tits up from the beginning.” Astra seethes.
“We need to get the Rune key from the Head Guard,” Rubio speaks just as Thalia opened her mouth to rebuke Astra.
She closes it, though not without a glare at the Harpy.
“Right, I know I agreed to this plan, but does anyone actually know who the Head Guard is?” Astra questions, and is met with complete silence.
“Of course.” He groans.
“Look, whoever they are, they’ll probably have been drawn out by the escape attempt.
If we sneak back toward the cells where there’s sure to be a commotion, the Head Guard should be there, and we can steal their key.” Thalia states, growing more confident with every word.
“We barely got out of there, and you want to go back!?” Astra hisses incredulously.
“Well, do you have any other bright ideas?” She challenges.
“Guys…” Rubio attempts to get between them, but they both push him away.
“I should’ve known better than to listen to your fish-brained plans.
If I knew we’d be hiding behind boxes like cowards, I would’ve just stayed in my cell.” Astra says, gritting his teeth.
“Oh, yeah?
Well, if you didn’t like the plan, then why are you here?
You could’ve just stayed rotting in your cell.” She pokes a finger on his chest provocatively.
“Hah!
Like you would have left me alone!” He scoffs.
“Don’t flatter yourself!” She shouts, outraged.
Neither of them notices their voices increasing steadily in volume.
“Guys!” Rubio tries to interrupt again, but they both turn to him at the same time.
“Shut!
Up!” They shout, chests heaving in agitation.
“Hahaha!
Trouble in paradise, huh?” All three of them freeze in place at the loud booming voice that definitely didn’t come from any of them!
Glancing up, Thalia finds herself looking into the cheerful expression of a Dwarf; his long black hair was tied into thick braids that reached halfway down his body, with some of it tied in a bun on top of his head.
His beard was tied into one huge braid trailing down his chest.
On his body was the same uniform as all the rest of the guards, though it appeared to be torn in places from his bulging muscles.
His dark skin was highlighted by a rosy flush on his cheeks as he grinned down at them.
Her eyes then drifted to the key ring on his waist, and the flat rectangular card with a Rune formula straight in the center for anyone to see.
Oh crap!
“You kiddos wouldn’t happen to be sneakin’ out, right?
Cause if ya are, then old Clevus here is gonna need ta show you some tough love!” The man flexes, and his muscles strain against what part of his clothes aren’t ripped.
Beside her, Rubio pales.
“Oh my Seas, that guy…he’s Clevus Jones!
He used to be a Commodore!
But then he got transferred here.” Rubio whispers conspiratorially.
“Why did he get transferred?” Thalia whispers back, going quite pale herself.
“…It’s because…” Rubio pauses, watching as the man cracks his knuckles.
“He was a bit…violent…with the Pirates they’d catch.”
They all wince when the man cracks his neck.
“Alright, I heard ya’ll were lookin’ fer me, so who’s first!”