Elizabeth, The Deceitful
Elizabeth quietly crept through the garden of Januario's palace. With most of the town busy with the show, sneaking into the garden was a cakewalk. Now, it was only a matter of getting into the trade prince's palace and getting the job done. Elizabeth stayed low, taking care to check around carefully before she approached a nearby wall to the palace.
The wall itself was covered in vines of sort. Elizabeth had enough knowledge of plants, being one herself, to know that it was a poisonous ivy, one that most Pokemon would do best with avoiding contact entirely. Luckily for her however, the poisonous plants were not an issue. Grabbing hold of the ivy, she tugged on the plant to check its stability before she began to scale her way up the wall.
The view of the Trade Prince's palace from up the wall was gorgeous. The garden was full of trees that bore all kinds of fruits; some plants were trimmed in such ways that they represented Pokemon. A big tree was shaped like an Azumarill and two lesser ones her children, two Marill. They were next to a pool with a rich, white marble coating and crystal clear waters that were poured by a statue of a beautiful female Mienshao. The garden was empty but of two Bisharp guards by the entrance to the grand palace, but as the sky was quickly darkening, it would be hard for them to detect her while sneaking through. Most of the windows of the palace were shut, but one of them, up in a balcony was wide open.
"Looks like that's my way in..." Elizabeth mused as she eyed the balcony. The Roserade quickened her pace as she scaled her way up the wall towards the destination in question. A mischevious smirk graced her lips as she nimbly climbed. "Security seems pretty lax... Guess that's something that'll come to bite this guy later..."
With ease Elizabeth reached the balcony. While she had done well to not be spotted so far, this job was only just beginning. She still had quite a bit of work ahead of herself, and she quickly calmed down. After all, the inside of the trade prince's palace could be much more secured than his garden was. The Roserade slowly crept her way towards the window, eyeing around for any guards before she slipped inside.
"My... Someone sure lives comfortably..." Elizabeth mused as she took a look around. "I might have to help myself to some of this lovely selection while I work..."
The Roserade moved further inside, looking about at the well-furnished and decorated palace. It looked as if it was something ripped straight from a storybook. Ornate rugs, statues, and chandeliers decorated the various hallways of the palace. As the Roserade moved, one statue in particular caught her eye.
Although slightly grotesque in appearance, a golden Pinsir statue stood in one of the corners of a hallway. The sculpture was very detailed and life-like. In fact, there were times that Elizabeth could have sworn she saw the statue moving. She giggled lightly at the thought as she moved closer to the Pinsir statue. Her eyes resting on the true focus point of the sculpture. Sitting in between the two pincers on the creature's head, rested a shiny, blood red, rather nicely sized ruby. Elizabeth found herself drawn to the jewel, as if everything around her disappeared the moment she saw it.
"...I don't guess one little extra pickup would hurt anything," Elizabeth whispered as she reached up, pulling the jewel loose from the statue that held it. She smiled at the jewel, before slipping it into one of the pouches on her belt. "You look like you're worth a pretty penny, friend... I'll make sure to take extra good care of you."
The pouch on her belt started shaking violently, as if grasped by a phantom hand. It shot itself against the wall, drawn by a psychic power. "Look here, what a surprise," said a Pokemon, a massive shadow approaching, "stealing is wrong, little lady," his voice was heavily distorted with power, yet the sarcasm was still obvious. Before she could react, bars of dark green energy closed all around her, trapping her in an Imprison. The bars seemed to be made from solid tristanite... meaning they would not yield to no first attempt, nor second, nor third to break them.
Her assailant revealed himself from the corner. It was a bulky Reuniclus with thick dark green gel that faintly glowed; between his fat fingers, he was holding the pouch with the ruby she had picked up. There was something awry about his face, that blurred face into the thick green gel, as if he wasn't mentally alright; his eyes were glowing dark green with fire-like flares that rose outside of his gel. The glow on his eyes and gel made it obvious that this Pokemon was extremely powerful... no wonder why he was there. The Trade Prince was rich enough to hire the best of the best for his protection. It seemed like the security wasn't too tight at first, but perhaps that was because that Pokemon alone would suffice.
"I've found a hundred different ways to kill you," the Reuniclus informed her rather cheerfully, his voice overcharged with power, "and the number is constantly increasing as we speak. Most of them are messy, and honestly I would go messy, but my Client does not love clutter." The Reuniclus got closer to her, leaning forward menacingly and raising his arm. "In that case, I can't possibly bring myself to choose. So, you tell me. How do you want to die?"
"If I had my choice... It would be to not die," Elizabeth retorted. Her voice was soft, as she was not about to risk angering further one who seemed to be quite fine with killing her without so much as a second thought. "Perhaps we could talk up an arrangement where such violence would not be required?"
"Arrangement?" the Reuniclus boomed angrily, his eyes flaring. "Do you even know who I am? People like me can't get bought. Get that into your pretty little head."
"My apologies, good sir... However, I'm afraid I've yet to properly make your acquaintance..." Elizabeth replied. "I'm afraid I've met a fair share of Pokemon on my journey, sir... Keeping a name to each face would be quite taxing."
The Reuniclus stilled himself, pausing a bit. "Sigmund," he replied curtly.
"Elizabeth," the Roserade replied, giving a small smile. "Delighted, I'm sure. Now... How might my chances of living be increased when in the presence of one with power such as yours?"
He eyed her quietly. "What are you? A thief?"
"Thief is such a dirty way to put it," Elizabeth replied with a smile. "I prefer the term 'scavenger'.
"Fancy lady, aren't you?" Sigmund laughed heartily. The distortion of his psychic powers was still there, in his laugh, though. "And what were you hoping to find inside the Trade Prince's palace? Aside from unimaginable riches and a murderous bodyguard with no good intentions?"
"Very well... Given my option of living or dying, I suppose I should come out with my reason for being here," Elizabeth reasoned with a sigh. "I was more or less hired by someone to break into this fine palace. My goal was to steal the estate papers for the docks of Skyhaven, and replace them with this..."
Elizabeth paused, reaching into another pouch on her belt and pulling out an envelope of sorts. A fancy seal rested on the back of the envelope. The contents inside were unknown, even to to the Roserade.
The letter flew out of the psychic cage to float in front of the Reuniclus. He looked at it well, before the seal broke automatically and the paper spilled out. The blurred face inside the gel darkened as he read the letter. Then, he looked at Elizabeth, quietly, but intensely. "Do you know what this is?" he demanded to know, his voice turning raspy.
"Not particularly," Elizabeth replied. "After all, it's rude to read someone else's mail."
"And who graced you with such letter?"
"I'm afraid his name was not given to me," Elizabeth replied honestly. "I encoutered him in an alleyway after I had just finished... scaveging for a few things in a nearby house... He wore a cloak... A black one to be exact, with gold, rune-like markings along the cloak's lining. I'm afraid I couldn't much make out what or who was beneath it... save for his glowing, red eyes that is."
Sigmund laughed again. "You're afraid of this, you're afraid of that. Don't be afraid little girl." The prison bars around her disappeared, and the paper slipped inside the letter again, which entered her pouch. The seal was broken.
The Reuniclus eyed her intensely on last time. "Carry on, then." He turned around, as if he had never known she was there.
"...Huh...? That's it?" Elizabeth questioned. "Not that I mind, but..."
The Roserade looked around, realizing that she was the only one in the hallway once more. Reaching into her pouch, Elizabeth pulled out the letter once more, eyeing it carefully before putting it back in its pouch. She was not sure what had just happened or what was in this letter, but the contents inside must have just saved her life, and that was good enough for her.