Zoe Maximilia is the last of her noble and a bit snobbish family. Because of that, she is very suspicious and has trust issues. Her determination brings her into dangerous situations but with Echo Aelian by her side, she can handle nearly everything.
Monday
Almost immediately after I had found my way to the Square, I was attacked by one of the gangs. I used one of my crude bombs to blow the hell out of their headquarters and threw myself onto the ground with my hands covering my ears just before the explosion echoed through the streets, making the raven crow and fly away. I slowly sat up, prepared for everything. Everything was still in front of the statue, which I had thrown myself behind. A large cloud of dust covered the street, limiting my visibility. To my surprise, someone coughed, which made me wait until I saw a dark shape emerging through the cloud. The shape stumbled towards me, and I took aim at it, prepared for its every move. Halfway across the city square, the figure collapsed. I waited uneasily, but when the man didn’t move, I slowly and vigilantly made my way towards him. The city square had changed even more now; it hadn’t been more than a couple of years or so since my last visit, but the mutated trees had slowly taken over, and gang tags were painted from top to bottom on every building. It was an improvement. The grand monument I had to thank for my protection was more tarnished than ever, the face of the statue nearly unrecognizable, but I could still see family traits such as the resolute jaw I had inherited. The man still lay on the ground, and when I approached him, I saw why. The man groaned and lifted his half-destroyed face, trying to focus on me. With nothing more than a wish to end his miserable life, I aimed and shot him through the chest. From behind, I heard shouts and turned on my guard away from the lifeless body just in time to see my two comrades storm the square. The idiots ran towards me without thinking about cover or safety. I sighed and shot a man in a window who aimed for one of my companions. The fools realized their mistake and dived behind trees, where they started firing at the gang, who saw their chance for easy loot. After a short but deadly shower of bullets from Brutus, we were the only ones alive.
Without even looking at them, rage rising inside me, I turned and started walking back towards our hideout. Those stupid men! Why couldn’t they just trust me to take care of myself? Elden and Brutus looked sheepishly at each other and then followed me. When we were safe inside our hideout, I allowed myself to express my frustration. I had been so close to my target, and they ruined everything with their recklessness. Now I had to think about a new plan. After a couple of minutes of me yelling at them, Brutus, for some reason, thought that he could slap me across the face. Me! I responded by giving him a heavy kick in the groin, which made him taste the dirty floor. This made me feel a lot better, so I told the men to get some sleep. I took the first guard shift myself as I needed to figure out a new plan. Brutus, the larger of the two men, would take the next shift after me. The day’s events disturbed my thoughts, and I couldn’t force myself to think of a new plan.
Tuesday
After a long night without much sleep, the plan still refused to take shape. The two men whispered to each other, and I struggled to hear what they were talking about. They stopped whispering as they noticed that I was awake. Annoyed by my own clumsiness, I sat up and started cleaning my gun while pondering over a plan. My weapon was rather bulky and a bit oversized for me, but I had to be content with it. Arms were rare these days unless they were crude or, as some said, ghetto-made. Elden, the skinny man, was becoming restless. Brutus was staring into the air and whistling a melancholy tune.
– How long do we need to wait? asked the tall man.
– As long as we have to, Elden, I snarled.
Elden rolled his eyes and turned to his friend.
– Don’t look at me, I don’t know. It was little Miss Princess’ idea that we should go here. I haven’t the faintest idea why or what we should do.
– It’s simple, I needed firepower and muscles, which you two provide, and it is your muscles that will help us get what I am looking for. In return, you’ll get water, enough to satisfy both you and your family’s thirst. Any questions?
– I still don’t know why you dragged us here. This place looks as thirsty as everywhere else.
– Just get me what I want, and I’ll make sure you get what you deserve, Brutus. The two men seemed to be satisfied with that. I smiled to myself, knowing that they hadn’t interpreted what I said as the threat it was.
Tuesday night
When I awoke, it was late at night. Brutus was whistling the sad tune again, and Elden was preparing some explosives. The plan was crystal clear in my mind. We were headed for the Parliament Building. One of my forefathers had been mayor of this town and he was the one who had hidden the family treasure. Now it was time for me to see to it that my inheritance was intact and to use it for my purpose.
To get to the Parliament Building, we had to cross the Square. It was late at night, and the guarding gang members were easily detected as they did nothing to camouflage themselves or their small fires, knowing that, if attacked, more gang members would come to their aid. Our way was blocked by a gang watch post. I gave Brutus and Elden their instructions, and to their horror, I got up from our hidden spot and walked towards the nearest guard, whose friends quickly pointed their more or less homemade weapons towards me.
– Now, boys, you wouldn’t hurt a helpless woman, would you? I purred and slowly walked closer to the small group of men. Behind my back, I used my hands to signal instructions to my companions that they should try to get to the other side of the guard post.
I smiled radiantly at the guard and watched his surprised look as Brutus walloped him with his weapon. The rest of the guards were lying unconscious on the ground, and Elden was rummaging through their stuff.
– Hey, look what I found, he said, almost whispering, waving a packet with bullets. Do they fit your gun? He threw them to me. I glanced at the package and then shook my head.
– Try to find something that might use these; they could be useful where we are headed.
– Shall I kill’em?
– No, Brutus, that’ll only draw unwanted attention. Just go through the stuff, and quickly, we need to get to the Parliament as fast as possible.
Brutus and Elden searched the men hastily, finding nothing more of use.
When we finally arrived, we discovered that the Parliament had been abandoned for several years. Not even the gangs claimed the former magnificent building as their territory. Looking more self-assured than I felt, I snuck through a door and entered the building. My family’s most treasured belonging was waiting for me in the office of the former mayor, my great-great-granddad Hans Maximilia. The book in which my ancestors had written down their secrets, inventions, and thoughts. It would grant my highest wishes by telling me how to operate the water treatment facilities that the family Maximilia had built throughout the land. We arrived a couple of hours before dawn, the building was too dark to be searched through, and I didn’t want to risk anything when I was finally here. After a short discussion, I reluctantly lit one of the torches Elden had made. Brutus opened one of the doors by hitting it with his shoulders. The sound he made must have been heard throughout the whole square, and I hushed irritably at him. He glanced angrily at me but held his breath. We waited uneasily together until the first morning light.
Wednesday
I ordered Elden to stand guard, not that I thought it would be necessary, but because he was making me nervous with his staring. Brutus followed me to break open the rooms. The Parliament was old and dusty. One of my oldest and dearest belongings was an old flashlight that I lit. I sensed that it made Brutus angry, but I felt no desire to explain myself to him. Its light was old ,and the color was changing into orange. The flashlight revealed that the spiders had roamed freely here for several years. Mutated ivy had found its way into the dark corridors, blocking several offices. When I had tried in vain to open some of the doors, Brutus shoved me out of his way and opened the door with his shoulder. Some of the doors’ rotten wood refused to give in for him as well. After a couple of doors leading nowhere interesting, I gave up and continued, knowing that the mayor’s office would not be easy to find. At the end of one corridor, we found stairs leading up. The steps croaked a warning when Brutus dared put his feet on them, but we both ignored them. Oddly enough, we managed to reach the top of the stairs without any accidents. I tried opening the first door I found, and when the door didn’t give in to me, I kicked it in my frustration. My reinforced boots with steel-covered toes made the wood shatter and I continued kicking until there was a gap big enough for me to crawl through. Brutus had to stay out; the door didn’t budge for his efforts to open it. It seemed as if he didn’t want to follow me. I knew that the door would be no trouble for him, but now I didn’t bother about that. I was so close to my purpose, and nothing else mattered.
– Stay here, I won’t need your help anymore. Guard the door and shoot everyone who tries to enter.
– Okay, he grunted. Even though I knew that he didn’t want to follow me, I heard in his intonation that he was not satisfied with my order, but I ignored it and continued.
The room had been a highly placed official’s office, filled with cabinets, bookshelves, and folders. A nametag on the desk revealed that the room belonged to Mrs. Johnson, the mayor’s secretary. At one end of the room, a door connected the mayor’s office with this one. I opened the door rather effortlessly by hitting it a few times with my boot. The door fell inwards and I stepped inside. The office had once been impressive, with large windows and a nearly five-meter-long table, bookcases of the walls. The windows had long ago lost their glass, most of the books had crumbled to dust, and the room was filled with the musty smell of guano from the pigeons who had built nests in the bookshelves. I knew directly where my ancestor must have hidden my legacy; behind a large painting portraying the mayor. The jaw was still recognizable, as were the eyes. I must have inherited the color of my eyes from this man. With no respect for my rather famous forefather, I took down the painting, revealing a safe. I remembered what my father once told me about my necklace; it was a key to a magnificent treasure. I let my fingers stroke the necklace, silently reciting the old string of words I was taught. Happiness filled me and made me blind and deaf for anything else than the safety and the treasure inside. I should have been warned by the creaking from the stairs, the occasional curse or the silencing “hush” which I heard but ignored. Surely Brutus would deal with every intruder, I thought. Slowly and respectfully, I entered the code and opened the safe. Just as I reached in to grab the book, I heard a crash and turned hastily round, without the book in my hand, trying to get my gun from its sheath. Brutus entered the office, with his gun pointing at me. I relaxed and snapped at him:
– What are you doing here? Didn’t I say that you should keep guard downstairs? Elden entered the room as well.
– You too? As soon as I get what I want from here, you two will get what I promised you.
– Little Princess, you didn’t think we’d discover your little secret, eh? We knew about your famous forefathers even before you hired us and whatever you were looking for, we knew it would be valuable. Get away from the safe, and you, he waved at Elden, go get whatever is in the safe. I moved slowly behind the table, Brutus was temporarily distracted by his curiosity and will to discover the content of the safe. While the men were distracted, I jumped out the window. I heard three shots strike the wall. I landed hard on the ground. The shot had alarmed the gangs and I was running out of bullets. There was no way for me to stay and ambush my former companions as they exit the building.
Cursing their names and my own gullibility, I made my way back to the hideout. I knew that they would return and when they arrived, I would be ready.
Thursday
They didn’t arrive until late in the morning. I was thrown awake by Elden’s voice. He was complaining about the gangs. Scared that he had found my hideout right above the old one, I gripped my weapon tightly and glanced down. To my disappointment, my former comrades had company. It was a man, surrounded by bodyguards, and he was certainly here to buy the book. I ground my teeth and swore under my breath. My treasure was so near, but all the same, so far away. A cold rage grew inside me, and it was with great pain that I mastered myself and stayed still. The transaction didn’t take long. Brutus and Elden traded my family’s secrets for just a fraction of its real value. I couldn’t do anything but watch while the man left the place; it would have been suicide for me to try to get the book back. I swore on my name that one day, the book would be mine again. Needless to say, I gave Elden and Brutus what they deserved as soon as the man and his bodyguards were vanquished from the place. Now I need to steal the book. The man will be punished…