Chapter 38: Chapter 37: Observatory Heist

“Are you sure about this?” Bella asked, staring at her Queen in disbelief.

Absolutely. Her Queen replied confidently. It’ll be quick, in and out.

“With just the two of us?” Bella replied feebly. “Doesn’t that seem…unnecessarily dangerous?”

Has to be done. Like I said, I’m going to be blocking its perception of me, and we’re banking on it remaining coiled up on that statue. Honestly, the only reason you’re even coming is in case something goes south, and we need to run. You’re not going to enter the main room or anything, just…be on hand in case of the worst.

“I…understood. When are we doing this?”

Right now. I’ve got the guards for the cocoon ready to go, so we just need to walk over.

Bella sighed. “Alright. Let’s get going, then.”

The walk over was a tense one, at least for Bella. She couldn’t help but think about what would happen if something went wrong, if her Queen got hurt, if…if…if she died. It was a scary thought, and she resolved to do everything in her power to prevent it from happening.

All too soon, they reached the observatory. The Queen stationed the guards outside, then directed Bella over to the building’s side, where she had Bella open a window, pick her up, and get inside. They emerged into what appeared to be a classroom, and the Queen began to walk purposefully away, leaving Bella scrambling to catch up.

She led Bella through a series of corridors before stopping at a door. These are the stairs up. The Queen said. Once we’re up there, I’m going to lead you towards the main gallery. Hopefully the snake’s hearing is bad, and it doesn’t hear the door to the main gallery opening, but if it does, we bolt.

“Understood.” Bella whispered, opening the door. “Lead the way.”

The stairs were short, as was the walk to the main gallery. In no time at all, the pair were standing in front of the door to the main gallery, and Bella’s nervousness had hit an all-time high.

Just open the door and stay out of sight and we’ll be golden. Her Queen said. Ready?

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Bella nodded, reaching up cautiously and opening the door, listening intently for any sounds of movement from within. There were none, so she waved her Queen on, and watched as she went into the room.

There was a tense silence, filled only by the Queen’s quiet footfalls and the seemingly thunderous beat of Bella’s heart. The moment stretched on and on, and Bella had to resist the mounting urge to peek into the room.

Finally, there was a whooshing, followed by the sound of something massive shifting, a thud, and then…nothing. Bella waited for a few more tense moments before, blessedly, the Queen spoke up.

We’re clear. She said. Come on in.

Bella came in to find an absolutely gargantuan cocoon lying in the center of an oval-shaped room. She walked forward and vaulted the railing of the balcony she was on, taking the ten foot drop in stride as she approached the Queen. “Were there any hang-ups?”

I had to get closer than expected due to the perception filter taking more Mana that I thought it would, and it started to uncoil once it got initially covered, but by and large it went smoothly. Do you want to grab the guards while I look at the conversion options?

“I will do so, but if there is even a hint of something going wrong, call me immediately.”

Of course. The Queen said. The exit is directly behind you, just keep going straight past the desk.

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Lia looked at the towering cocoon in front of her, still somewhat in disbelief that she had managed to fully cover the thing. When the snake had started uncoiling, she was sure that the attempt had failed, but it seemed to have been too little too late, and now she had another soon-to-be subordinate.

She laid a paw on the massive thing, and began to look through her options. There was…well, a lot of different kinds of snake. Snake, venomous snake, constrictor snake, extra-big snake…well, they were all going to be big, but that last one was going to be even bigger.

But those all looked kind of…lame. Down at the bottom, however, was one that seemed interesting.

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