Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Three: Dark Sarcophagus: Verse One-Hundred and Fifty-Eight

“Don’t even think about it,” was all Stubbs said, his sharp gaze morphing into an irritated glare. However, Cypher was already preparing to leave at full speed. He ramped his battle pressure all the way up and took off into the crowd. Stubbs was following close behind him and Cypher realized it would be a lot harder to lose this guy than he first assumed.

No matter how quickly Cypher shot through the dense crowd, Stubbs was always right on his heels. The man was obviously trained for such situations, and it didn’t help that he had a Rank-Two body at the peak either. Cypher would have to use every trick in his book to escape from this guy.

Something inside him spurred him on. He felt eager and impatient when he thought about escaping. It wasn’t like his life was in danger. That he was sure about. But it was something else. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Cypher leaped up onto one of the nearby houses and began running along the rooftops at high speed. The roof tiles made noise as he clumsily clamored across them, but his movements weren’t enough to do any damage to their structure. It also helped that he was moving so quickly.

Stubbs however, didn’t seem to be amused or deterred. He followed along, always keeping a few meters distance between himself and Cypher. Of course, at this rate, Cypher would never lose him, and so he deployed his secondary plan.

Cypher always kept himself ready for any situation. One never knew when things could erupt into a battle for survival, and in his case, freedom. He always felt safe in Seven City, however, he wasn’t about to be caught with his pants down. That said, he pulled a few low-yield smoke bombs from within his dimensional pocket and threw them down.

The cloud soon filled the area and he could hear Stubbs coughing after inhaling the unexpected diversion. Cypher took that chance and ran past him in the opposite direction. Stubbs had even attempted to grab him as he flew by, but Cypher managed to slide under his flailing hands.

He then slid off the rooftops and ducked into an alley, before continuing his full-speed escape. It only took Stubbs a moment to regain his bearings and he took off after Cypher with renewed vigor. Cypher ran all across the City, but despite his efforts, Stubbs was always either waiting for him to pop out of an alley, or scanning the rooftops for him.

The man was relentless and Cypher wondered if he would even be able to get away at this point. He considered hiding inside his house, but the last thing he wanted was to advertise that location to someone he barely knew. Besides, it took a moment for the opening to appear and in that time Stubbs would simply follow him, or wait outside for him to emerge.

Cypher cursed and realized there was only one way he was going to get away from the bodyguard. His patience was running thin and he found that he was highly agitated for some reason. Again, it wasn’t like his life was in danger or anything. He brushed off the agitation and prepared to make his move.

He dashed out of an alley and Stubbs was waiting there for him with an angry scowl. “You really need to cut this shit out and give it up. I’m not letting you out of my sight anymore boy! You can either continue your little outing with the young miss or…” Cypher was prepared for such a declaration and he slid towards Stubbs and raised his hands chanting.

“Duet, Verse Three, Temporal Pause!” Stubbs’ eyes widened as he realized that Cypher was casting a spell, but it was too late. Cypher touched Stubbs’ abdomen with both hands and released his temporal spell. It was costly in Zight consumption, and would only last for a few moments, however, he had cast it three times in succession, and he knew that it would serve for his purposes.

Stubbs froze instantly, locked in a single second of looping time. Cypher didn’t waste this chance and sent 80% of his remaining Zight into his Zight Stanza. He took off like a cannonball and reached insane speeds in just a few seconds. He rounded the corner, took off down Mainstreet, dodging everyone in his path, and ended up at the hawthorn grove where his house was.

His speed was annoying to those he passed, but things like this happened all the time in the City. As long as he made sure not to destroy anything, he would be fine and nobody would really care all that much. As soon as he arrived at his destination, he got to work.

He instantly lowered his battle pressure to zero and did his best to reign in his mental waves. Like this, he would be almost undetectable. Additionally, in this grove, he would be protected by the illusion spell that hid the true area from the view of outsiders.

His efforts were completed not a moment too soon, as Stubbs arrived only seconds after Cypher had suppressed his presence. Stubbs looked towards the trees and glared. Cypher met his gaze, but he held his breath and waited, refusing to move even an inch.

Stubbs continued to stare at the cluster of trees and unknowingly broke eye contact with Cypher. He then looked around at a few of the other trees and houses nearby and let out a heavy sigh. He kicked the dirt and spat in frustration, before dashing off in another direction to search for his target.

Cypher exhaled heavily, and excitedly took a pose of victory before the strain of his movements caught up to him. His legs buckled and he fell into the dirt, but his smile never wavered. He had managed to evade and escape someone with a body a full rank higher than him. He was chuckling softly as a hand tapped his shoulder and he leaped up in shock.

He turned to see Melodi suppressing a laugh, and his own smile quickly returned. “Not bad for your first time! I was surprised that you managed to fool him like that. Although, using that spell was kind of cheating you know.” began Melodi. Cypher stood up slowly and dusted himself off, his cheeks once again flooding with heat.

“I managed to escape from him all on my own without Magick! In the future, you should maybe try a little harder. I was almost certain the game was over once you two locked eyes, but it seemed like this illusion spell is a lot stronger than I first thought. That’s also kind of cheating by the way,” finished Melodi with a giggle.

Cypher chuckled and tilted his head as he asked, “This is a regular thing you do? How often do you have to escape your own bodyguards?”

Melodi thought for a moment and sighed. However, she soon flashed Cypher a wide smile as she answered. “Pretty much every single time I go outside the estate. How else do you think I got so good? Evasion is extremely important for an archer like me. One would, of course, think proper aim would be at the top of the list, but when Conductors can move at ridiculous speeds, being able to evade and escape is even more important.

“For years I’ve struggled to learn how to properly escape from an opponent. Dodging my bodyguards? Haha, well that was the perfect kind of training for me. Especially when you realize that they all have superior bodies and senses to my own. Of course, it wasn’t easy getting this good.”

Cypher nodded in understanding. Melodi would have to be quite the cunning little rabbit to avoid foxes like that. “That’s pretty amazing Melodi, I doubt that I could have escaped him without my little tricks and you just do that on a daily basis like it’s no big deal,” replied Cypher.

“Oh don’t misunderstand, it’s a lot harder than I’m making it out to be. Believe me. I had to use tricks in the beginning too. What’s worse is, over time, these guys have gotten used to my normal methods of escape. I’m always having to come up with new ways to get away, but they always adjust. They’ve even caught me a few times in recent weeks so I still need more practice.”

The two shared a quiet laugh and after a moment, an awkward silence fell over them. Cypher was getting more nervous with each passing second and he was trying very hard to replace something to say that would break the tension. His mind worked quickly and soon a question popped into his head.

“Why make me go through the fuss of escaping that guy? Also, how did you even know this place existed? Didn’t the illusion work?” Cypher asked, grateful that he had found something to continue the conversation with.

Melodi giggled again and brought a finger to her chin, “Well, to be honest, we would have had to escape him eventually. I figured it was a good chance for me to see how far along you’ve come over the years. Consider it a little test of mine. As for how I found this place… Well, the illusion spell around this area is crazy powerful.

“Not only does it hide the entire grove from view but it also subtly dissuades people from wanting to approach. I can’t imagine how powerful the caster had to be to put up something like this. There is a problem with it though.”

“And that is?” he asked.

“Well, while the illusion is nearly perfect it has one fatal flaw. The image it projects never changes. Sure it probably adds snow in the winter or rain during appropriate times but the actual image is a static one. All I had to do was compare how it looks now to how it looked back when I first led you here and it was pretty obvious to see that it was completely unchanged.”

“You could tell all of that just from a glance?” he asked in disbelief.

“Well yeah. I know these Hawthorn trees quite well. I spend a lot of time around them hoping that perhaps I’ll stumble across one of the Fae. I replace them to be quite interesting creatures and I’d love to learn more about the origins of Dellorim one day. If I’m being honest, I’ve known this area was here for several years. I just figured that if you wanted to be alone I’d let you. Barging in and bothering you didn’t seem very nice even if ditching me back then was a bit rude.”

“Melodi…” Cypher was left without words and felt even worse about not keeping his promise back then.

“Don’t worry about it. The past is the past. Now, if I remember correctly you said you’d give me a tour around your house. I might have found this place but there are still more secrets about this grove I’m unaware of aren’t there? I don’t see a house, and I don’t imagine that you live in the trees. Do you?”

Cypher smiled and let out a chuckle as he reached into his pocket.