Chapter 22: Chapter 22 – Heist

Grayson took some time to scope out the place before he acted. He managed to circle around the building a few times in an attempt to find any weaknesses he could exploit. It didn’t appear that he would be able to get in through the entrance, as several priests were standing nearby, waiting to invite any visitors inside. There was no way they were going to allow someone like him to enter the place, and even if they did, they were sure to keep a close eye on him the entire time.

The most promising form of entry looked to be a bell tower built into the back end of the temple. If he could get up there without being noticed, there looked to be a stairway heading downward into the building.

Unfortunately, the temple was fenced in, which made it difficult to reach the bell tower in the first place. Another problem would be getting in and out quickly, because while he felt a lot more comfortable using his powers now that he was fairly sure there wasn’t a wavelord in the city, it didn’t mean he wanted to stick around too long.

Finally, getting into the building without being noticed would be difficult. It would probably be better to wait until night to attempt the theft, but Grayson had already waited an entire day to enter the city, and he didn’t want to spend another day waiting around, especially with the guards looking for him already. He wanted to be gone by tonight, if possible. Grayson continued his inspection, looking for anything that might help him. He was pleased to see that several visitors deposited coins in a collection box, and that gave him hope that there was actually something for him to steal.

The more he continued to scope out the place, the more he resigned himself to wait until night. The temple was in its own plaza, and while there wasn’t a ton of traffic passing through, there was no way he would be able to-

Grayson turned when he heard footsteps coming up behind him, audibly groaning when he saw it was the same girl he had ditched earlier. She had somehow managed to track him down.

“I told you to wait at the docks. How did you even find me?” He asked, a hint of frustration growing into his voice.

She jutted out her chin, looking at him defiantly. “If you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn’t have been so obvious about where you were going.”

Grayson pinched the bridge of his nose while thinking over his situation. After a moment, he side eyed the girl who was putting on a show of confidence, but her nervous shifting from foot to foot gave away how she was really feeling.

It seemed like the girl was going to keep trying to follow him, and that could become troublesome. On top of that, she had the opportunity to try and call the guards on him twice now, and she hadn’t either time. She was adamant that she wanted to help him, so maybe she was the solution that would allow him to reach the top of the bell tower unnoticed.

“Alright,” he said with a sigh. “I have something you can do to help.”

Her expressive face lit up at the words.

“I need you to create a distraction in front of the temple, do you think you could manage that?”

Her face screwed up in thought before lighting up with a devious smile.

“I can do it!” she said, running off a short distance, before turning back and giving him a suspicious look. “This isn’t an excuse to try and ditch me again, is it?”

“No, it’s not.” Grayson said, but that would have been a good idea now that he thought about it.

The girl started to run off, but Grayson called after her before she could get too far. “Meet me at the docks after it's done.” He moved toward the back of the temple, wondering what she was going to do to create a distraction.

After some time, he started hearing yells from the other side of the temple, and Grayson raised his eyebrows in appreciation when he saw most of the people on this side of the plaza clear out of the area. Many seemed curious to see what was happening on the other side of the temple. His appreciation was short-lived, and he knew a mistake had been made when he heard someone shout something about flames.

You have got to be kidding me, he thought. I knew I was going to regret involving her.

Despite it all, he had to admit that the distraction was effective. At this point, this side of the plaza had cleared out completely. Grayson shook his head, but he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity now that it was given to him. Looking around one final time, he moved next to the fence and climbed it without using his powers. His goal was to only use them when absolutely necessary.

Once inside the grounds, he moved as close to the bell tower as he could, then after looking around once more without seeing anyone looking in his direction, he started jumping up using his platforms without further thought. He was afraid that if he took too long, word of the fire would spread, and more people would head to the plaza to help fight the growing flames. There was also the concern that smoke would start rising, drawing more eyes in this direction.

It took less than thirty seconds to reach the balcony of the bell tower, but it felt like an eternity for Grayson. He kept on expecting someone to shout and point him out, but nothing of the sort happened. All eyes were glued to the growing flames.

Grayson then descended the spiral staircase, stopping once he reached a door at the bottom. He listened at the door for a few moments, trying to hear if anyone was on the other side. After he didn’t hear anything, he reached for the handle of the door, and was pleased to find it wasn’t locked.

Grayson opened the door a crack and looked out the gap, only moving through when all he found was an empty hallway. Grayson slowly made his way deeper into the temple, straining his senses for any sign of anyone nearby. He was surprised to find that he could barely hear the shouts from outside. He figured that the walls must have been exceptionally thick to mute the outside world so much.

Surprisingly, he didn’t see any signs of anyone else as he crept through the temple. No priests were wandering the halls, and all was quiet. As he searched for something valuable to steal, Grayson found a hallway, doors lining both sides of the corridor. The first door he came across was closed, and it had a large keyhole underneath the handle. When Grayson listened with his ear to the door, he heard a scratching noise coming from inside. Frowning, Grayson passed by that door, walking up to put his ear to the next one in line.

He made his way through the majority of the doorways, listening at each before entering. Most opened into what appeared to be classrooms, though he did find a couple of rooms next to each other filled with bookshelves. The only place of real interest he found was a room that had a chandelier made of yellow glass with plants growing in pots all lined along the walls, and while this was interesting, he didn’t see anything worth stealing. In fact, even though much of what he found looked opulent and ostentatious, he didn’t see anything that looked like it would be worth the effort to steal. There were tapestries and paintings lining the walls and luxurious rugs covered the floor, but they were large, and Grayson had no idea if he would even be able to sell the things easily.

He started leaving the room with the plants, but stopped when he heard footsteps walking down the corridor. Instead, he simply listened to the footsteps grow louder as someone came walking in his direction, then passed by the room he occupied.

Grayson cracked open the door and looked out to see a priest moving down the corridor, walking up to the room where Grayson had heard the scratching noises, before knocking on the door.

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“Enter.” Said a voice from the other side.

The priest opened the door, and walked inside, and though it was a little difficult, Grayson managed to make out the conversation in the quiet halls of the temple.

“Bishop Charis, I came with an update on the fire, as you requested.”

“Very good, Brother Deem, go on with your report.”

“A brigade was assembled, and we’ve managed to contain the fire. It’s only a matter of time until it is extinguished.”

“Excellent, now that there is little danger, I would like to help with the effort.”

“Bishop, I’m not sure if that’s a-”

“Nonsense, I am happy to render service to the community. It will also be good for the people to see me helping.”

“Bishop please-”

“No, I’m not having any of that. I let you convince me to stay here until now, and I think that was a mistake. I’m useless as a bishop if I do not help where I am able.”

“Yes, Bishop Charis.”

Yes! Grayson thought, This is perfect.

However, a few moments later, through the small crack he had opened, he saw two priests leave the room, before the older of the two pulled out a key ring, using a large key to lock the door.

Grayson was conflicted at the sight. The fact that the man was locking the door probably meant there was something valuable in the room, but on the other hand, he had no idea how he was going to get inside. Even though he was sure he could simply use pressurized water to cut through the door, that also came with the downside of drenching everything inside the room. Sneaking into the temple wouldn’t mean much if he went ahead and left obvious clues behind.

As he thought about the problem, inspiration struck him, and when the older priest removed the key, Grayson studied it carefully. It was large, but not very complicated, having two simple teeth.

Grayson backed away from the door he was looking through, just to be sure they wouldn’t notice him as they passed by.

Soon after, two pairs of footsteps passed by, and Grayson was left alone. After a minute of waiting to make sure the pair weren’t coming back, Grayson left the plant room, and made his way to the door with the lock.

Calling on his power, he commanded it to make a key, visualizing the details he had memorized from the key he had seen the bishop use. Water flowed out of his fingers, and he was left with a perfect replica. Grayson stuck the newly formed key in the lock, and a wide grin grew on his face when it turned easily, clicking when the bolt slid out of place.

Opening the door, Grayson found a small but tidy room. A desk took up much of the space and from the half-finished letter on the desk, Grayson assumed the scratching he had heard came from the priest writing, which was supported by the quill and ink pot nearby.

Grayson examined the letter, but it simply seemed to be a general report of the church’s affairs in Southport. Grayson wouldn’t have cared much, except he saw a mention of the Proving Grounds, and that caught his eye. Reading the letter, it appeared that the priest knew that there was some kind of disruption on Endeavor Island, but he didn’t know what it was. Grayson nodded, pleased that his escape still wasn’t general knowledge.

After reading through the rest of the letter, nothing stood out to him, though the most recent lines mentioned the fire. Looking around, Grayson quickly started investigating the room. After a short search, he found what he was looking for in a nearby drawer. There were six pouches tied up with twine at the top, a tag attached to each pouch. Grabbing the closest bag, Grayson opened it up to find it was full of small silver coins.

Grayson was both overjoyed and relieved to have found the money. It would have been incredibly frustrating to go through all this trouble to come out with nothing in the end. He quickly grabbed the pouches and left, locking the door behind him, with the hope that it would confuse anyone trying to investigate the theft.

He made his way back to the bell tower, and climbed the spiral staircase up to the top, but frowned when he saw the plaza below was now full of onlookers, and while their attention was focused on the fire, with the number of people standing around, there was no way he would go unnoticed using his powers to leave.

Grimacing, Grayson retraced his steps, making his way through the temple until he reached the main meeting hall and found that it too was empty, and he was able to make his way to the exit. His final obstacle was a pair of priests standing outside. Fortunately, both had taken several steps away from their places in front of the doors in order to get a better view of the fire, so Grayson was able to edge around the wall of the temple, just behind the pair. Moving as quietly as he could, Grayson passed behind them, taking in the sight before him as he did. As much as he hated that the girl had started a fire, it had turned out to be the best distraction he could have asked for, both drawing attention away from the temple, and emptying the building at the same time. The priests had jumped at the opportunity to help keep the fire from spreading even now, many of them were participating in the bucket brigade, trying to douse the flames.

Grayson was fairly sure he wouldn’t be able to leave without being spotted, but he was fine with that at this point. The thing he cared most about was keeping his identity as a wavelord secret, and he was fairly sure he had managed that.

After edging around the wall, he looked for a place to climb over the gate. If he found a place with fewer people around, he was hoping to get lucky enough that no one would notice.

After a quick look, Grayson picked the spot he thought was best, and climbed over the gate as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to go unnoticed, but the one person who saw him seemed more confused than anything else. The woman called after him, but he ignored her, and moved past the crowd toward the nearest alleyway. He received a few strange looks from several onlookers that noticed him, but no one stopped him before he entered the alley, heading in the direction of the docks.

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