Magic among Thieves (1x1 with Luxii)

[Seraph Darkfire]

Spoiler

Being a magician, Alexander had a flair for the dramatic. It was why he wore such flashing clothing despite the fact that a thief was supposed to go undetected. It was simply another challenge for him and he completed it fairly well. Even wearing all white, he could slip through someone's defenses before they had a chance to react.


It was like a sixth sense for him, able to find out when someone was going to commit a crime, especially a theft. Tonight, he was standing on top of the Hollendal Museum, one of the largest museums in Lavidea City.


The museum was surprisingly under guarded, despite being the resting place of one of the worlds prized necklaces. The necklace in question was beautiful, set with a large ruby, it was encrusted with diamonds and inlaid with gold. The piece of jewelry could be taken apart and sold separately and still be worth at least a million each.


He counted sixteen guards spread out throughout the museum, a bit low for someone of his skill, though he supposed a lesser thief would have problems with the number of guards.


Sighing, Alex moved towards the back. He didn't know why he felt compelled to be here, most thieves wouldn't attempt such a high profile target. Then he paused, catching movement out of the corner of his eye "Oh, what do we have here" he said as he stepped behind a small outcropping to watch as a figure moved along the roof.


He grinned "Time to have some fun" he spoke softly as he slipped his white mask over his face, making sure it fit securely. He moved around, making sure he wasn't seen and slipped into the building through a window he'd opened up before.


It was easy enough to slip through the building undetected. Distracting people was his forte and getting past a half asleep guard was no supernatural feat.


Soon, he found himself in the room where the necklace was hidden. If someone was willing to break into this museum, this would be what they were after, all he had to do was wait until it was stolen.

 

[Luxii]

Cassandra Lauer

​

She had waited until the cover of darkness to make her move. Cassandra had cased the museum for weeks now, and tonight it was now or never. An airial inflitration would be best for the layout of the building, allowing the thief to pass by most of the guards on the lower floors. As such, she traversed the rooftops of the neighboring buildings, coming to a pause when she crossed onto the roof of the museum itself.


There were several valuable necklaces on display, but the thief wanted the biggest of them all: it was a ruby and diamond necklacke, inlaid with gold, on loan to the museum from some other country that Cassandra didn't care about. It was an item that her buyer was willing to pay top dollar for. Honestly she would have completed the job for less, simply for the fact that it posed such a challenge, but she wasn't about to accept anything under the buyer's initial asking price.


Her feet made no noise as she traipsed across the rooftop, and she came to a stop where there was a skylight that dropped into the top floor. This was her entry point. The necklace was displayed not far from here. With delicate fingers, she lifted the skylight and slipped between the glass the and roof, landing like a cat onto the wooden floor beneath her. No cameras up here? Tsk, tsk, she thought with a smug smile.


It was almost too easy. The room with the necklace didn't have an alarm code, nor were there any pressure plates under the case. Once she had felt around the case and was confident there was nothing else to alert anyone to the theft, she plucked the glass case off and snatched the necklace. In one fluid motion she slid the piece into her pack and bolted back towards the skylight. She vaulted up onto one of the doorjams which allowed her to climb back out the way she'd come in.


Like candy from a baby...

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

Alex smirked as he watched the thief climb into the building from the roof. He suddenly had an idea. As she was moving towards the necklace, he moved to where she'd arrived and climbed back out onto the roof. Thieves were predictable, they set escape routes when they planned their heists. A good thief was always prepared, though a great thief could improvise.


He set up a small trap that he could trigger when she returned. Then he hid himself and, through the windows, watched her steal the necklace. She certainly was gifted and was pretty to boot, that was a good trait to have. People didn't realize it, but they subconsciously attributed beauty to kindness. It was a common thought as you were more likely to trust someone who was physically appealing to you.


Alexander was sure that she'd had her fair share of male marks, especially the rich ones. Higher class men tended to believe they were irresistible to women. It was an arrogance that matched a thief's.


He pulled his hat down a little over his mask and grinned as the female thief climbed from inside of the building and flicked a switch. Smoke erupted around the woman as he darted forward, silent as a bird of prey, and dipped his fingers into her pack and lifted the necklace out, slipping it into his jacket pocket. He left his calling card, a Jack of Diamonds.


Stealing from a thief was dangerous, they knew the tricks of the trade and if they did lose their target, they could be violent and all thieves possessed some form of fighting skill, whether for defense or escape. Before the smoke dissipated, he began to move away from her.

 

[Luxii]

Cassandra had always been taught to expect the unexpected, but she would have been lying if she said the smoke that enveloped her as she squeezed through the skylight wasn't a surprise. It was a thick black smoke, and when she gasped in shock it filled her lungs, choking her. As she sputtered and coughed, her pack suddenly became lighter. She swung her fists at the assailant she couldn't see, stumbling from the smoke as quickly as she could.


When she could finally see, her sharp vision spotted a flicker of white disappearing over the rooftop. Oh no you don't! Without a doubt that bit of white belonged to whoever had just stolen that necklace from her. Now she didn't care if her feet made any noise as she tore after the other fleeing thief, her boots clomping loudly with each step she took.


Anger coursed through her, mostly stemming from the embarrassment of letting some other thief get the better of her. That hadn't happened... in a really long time. Cassandra had become too complascent, had let her guard down too much. Well, it wouldn't happen again.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

The man chuckled as he ran away, his feet still silent as ever 'She's chasing me?' he thought to himself 'How cute' he reached into his jacket and pulled out a strong wire just as he reached the end of the roof. Without a single moment of hesitation, he dropped off the edge, turning to catch a small hook on the rock of the roof, sliding down quickly.


As he repelled down, he looked through the windows and grinned. With one hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out another smoke bomb. With a good throw, he tossed it through the window. The glass shattered and the smoke spilled out into the room he'd thrown the bomb into. The noise and activity was enough to alert the guards and after a few seconds, the alarms began to sound.


When he hit the ground, he flicked the wire and it popped off the edge of the building, falling down into his open hand just as the girl arrived at the buildings edge. With a single salute to her, he turned and took off vanishing into the shadows.


Alexander had a place where he stored the items he'd stolen from other thieves. It was an old clock tower, one who's upkeep was maintained by the city. He'd commandeered the clock room. After every successful theft, he traveled here and hid the item he'd stolen. He'd used this place for the longest time, even before he'd become a magician.

 

[Luxii]

"Dammit," she hissed between her teeth as her feet caught the very edge of the building. The white-clad figure below had shattered one of the windows beneath her, chucking a smoke bomb inside and setting off the ringing alarms. With a mocking sort of salute, the other thief vanished into the shadows. There was nothing she could do about it for now, and she had more pressing matters to attend to, like the swarm of guards that were pouring into the smoke filled room.


Smoothly and gracefully, she swung herself down onto one of the rainpipes that ended right at the street level, sliding down without much fuss. It began to rain as her feet hit the pavement, and she threw up the hood of her sweatshirt as both protection from the rain and to conceal her face from anyone that may have seen her.


There was a local bar nearby that she liked to frequent in her off-time. And it would be easy enough to disappear in there for a little while at least. The fact that it would also function as shelter from the rain was a huge plus. It took only a few minutes to reach, but Cassandra was already soaked by the time she crossed the bar's threshhold. She shook like a dog, her dark hair flinging out around her before coming back to rest in soft tendrils that framed her face.


Taking up residence on an unoccupied stool near the kitchen, she reached into her pack for her wallet to grab money for a drink. Huh? Her fingers closed over a foreign object. It was a playing card - the jack of diamonds. It only could have been left by her rival thief from earlier. Surely somone had to know of a thief that left a calling card like this.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

Alex tossed his hat onto the desk as he sat down and pulled off his mask, setting it aside. With a sigh, he pulled out the necklace and examined it "Truly beautiful" he said softly before chuckling "Certainly would be a shame to have this broken up and sold on the market" he laid it on a small rack where it could catch the light and show off it's beauty.


He looked thoughtful and set up a small wire trap. Nothing special, it would send him a simple signal should it ever moved from it's position. He sighed and stretched. A few people were aware of this place, it was how he kept it safe, by letting it's location be known, he always assumed people were going to come after him.


Of course, most people were discouraged into trying to attempt a theft on him. The thieves that had were all locked away in jail the next day, temporarily of course, Alex understood the life of a thief and there was a certain honor system in it. He would never send a thief to prison for life. All it took was the simple planting of evidence to put someone in jail for a couple of nights.


He checked his watch and stood up "Damn" he mumbled. He was late for a job. He hopped up and headed into a back room, changing his clothing, putting on a darker suit. It was a night and day thing for him. When he was stealing, he wore white to stand out, to test his skill. When he preformed, he wore black. He wasn't testing himself, he was making other people happy and they didn't need to see him.


Before he left, he shut and locked the door. There were other simple measures in place to tell him if someone had been there.


---


The bartender happened to spot the card she was holding and chuckled "Looks like you got hit by the Magic Thief" he said. This man had originally been a thief but because of a major injury, he'd gotten out of the game. Now, he offered information to both rookie and veteran thieves equally...as long as they had the money to pay him.


He shook his head "Rookies, masters, he leaves no one untouched does he?" he grabbed a glass "What can I get you?" he asked her.

 

[Luxii]

"A shot of whiskey, please." Cassandra slid a $20 bill across the bar. "You can keep the change if you can tell me about this Magic Thief."


The bartender pocketed the bill neatly, deft fingers that had been very practiced at picking locks once upon a time. He poured the she-thief her shot of whiskey and left the bottle on the table in case she wanted more.


"Let's see," he mused. "The way the stories go, he was one of the best thieves there ever was, but morally he couldn't cope with the stealing. And now he 'retrieves' stolen items from other thieves, in order to attone for past transgressions maybe? At least that's how the story goes. But he always leaves that jack of diamonds whenever he hits a mark."


"Hm..." Cassandra mused. She knocked back the shot, the warmth of the whiskey trailed pleasantly to her belly. "Does anyone know where this Magic Thief hides out?"


The bartender busied himself with cleaning some dirty glasses. "I've heard mentioned that you may have luck around the clock tower, but I'm not sure for certain."


Cassandra smiled and pushed back her stool, leaving another $20 for the bartender. She waved her hand in thanks before she exited the bar. Let's check out this clock tower, just for shits and giggles.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

"Ladies and Gentleman, my name is Alexander" the man said striding across the stage. He smiled at the audience and with a clap of his hand produced a simple wand "I am a magician, but you must have already known that since you are here" he waved the wand a little "I hate these things" he tossed it aside. As it turned through the air, it burst into flames and turned into a dove before flying away. It certainly amazed the audience.


It was a simple enough trick, one that he'd done plenty of times before. He enjoyed every step of it of course, his eyes lit up with excitement at the happiness of the crowd. The greatest thing about being a magician was the tricks and the result of those tricks. The happier he made people, the happier he became.


Calling on his assistant, he began his next trick, one that he was sure was going to make the people happy.


He continued his show, completely unaware of who was headed towards his hiding place. Even if he did, he was confident enough in his skills that he couldn't expect anyone would be able to break into it anyway. It was a thief's arrogance, something no thief was able to completely give away.

 

[Luxii]

Cassandra had walked passed this clock tower a hundred times before, but never thought about what might lay inside. She stood at the front of his, gazing up into the large clock face as the rain fell around her. There was a door off to the side - locked, of course, as she found. The weather and darkness hid her from most eyes, so she knelt and extracted her lockpicking tools from her pack. The lock was old and rusty, so it took her longer than normal. But with a satisfying 'click' it swung open.


Bingo!





There were several flights of stairs to climb, but at least it was dry inside. Her feet left wet footprints in the soft wood of the steps as she made her way higher and higher until she reached the clock room. This door was locked as well, but Cassandra's deft fingers made quick work of this one, and the door yielded to her touch in seconds and she stepped into the room beyond.


She marveled at all the different treasures. Some sort of trophy room? And her eyes rested on her prize: the necklace. Greedily she snatched it from the rack on which it was placed and placed it back in her pack, where it belonged. She left everything else as it was - she was a woman of high morals after all.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

At the time his watch beeped, a silent alarm he'd tied to the trap in the clock tower, he was suspended in the middle of six rings, each spinning incredibly fast. He flicked a flame into the rings and they burst into a spinning ball of fire. He sighed and spun himself, looking at his watch "Seems someone has been a little troublesome" he said softly.


He turned his feet so that they were facing downward "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so glad you've enjoyed my show tonight, but unfortunately, I have to end it" he chuckled "Please enjoy my final trick" with a sudden shout, the ball collapsed like a star imploding. With an explosion of color, light shot out over the crowd.


When the light dissipated Alex was gone and there was no sign of him.


Outside of the theater where he'd been doing his show, Alex came out of the door and frowned before heading towards the Clock Tower. He was a thief and didn't like being stolen from, but he was a thief and that also meant that he couldn't blame someone if they decided to steal from him.


There was nothing a thief wasn't allowed to steal...other than life, they weren't murderers, but every thief understood the risk that came with the life. You could get busted, you could lose the skills that made you a thief, you could also get hurt.


Being a thief was a dangerous life and being a thief who stole from other thieves was a life that could end your own.

 

[Luxii]

She didn't dare linger too long. No doubt the Magic Thief had set some sort of boobytrap that she hadn't seen yet. But in a last minute decision, Cassandra opted to leave a calling card of her own, of a sort. She reached into her pack, and extracted a cigarette from it. After placing it neatly where the necklace had been before, Cassandra smirked. It was a little known brand of cigarettes - Lucky Strikes. And as far as the thief knew, she was the only one in the whole city that smoked them. At least that's what the man at the gas station told her everytime she came in for a new pack.


After locking and shutting the clock room door behind her, Cassandra's feet made soft pitter-patters on the wooden stairs as she made her way to the ground floor. The rain had stopped, thank God, but she was still soaked through from the earlier downpour. Her little apartment wasn't far from here, she realized, only a couple blocks to the east.


It took her fifteen minutes to walk there, where more flights of stairs greeted her. Her apartment was on the fourth floor, and the elevator had been broken for a few weeks on. Up she went, her feet squishing inside her shoes with each step. Her legs burned once she got to the top, and even though she wouldn't admit it, she was also panting. "Gotta cut back on smoking," she muttered to herself.


Cassandra had to pick the lock to her own door; she had lost the key a little while back and didn't feel like paying for new one. Plus, it helped keep her lockpicking skills sharp. Once the lock clicked open and the thief stepped inside, she decided that a hot shower was top on the priorty list. She took her pack with her into the bathroom and locked the door behind her before she peeled off her soaking wet clothes and hopped into the steaming water.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

Alex ran a hand through his wet hair as he arrived at the clock tower. Unfortunately, he'd gotten the very end of the rain storm and while he wasn't incredibly soaked, he was damp from head to toe. Being cold and wet was not a pleasant feeling and the fact that he was pretty sure he was just robbed wasn't helping.


He gave a quick glance around and entered the building. He frowned when he saw the wet footsteps on the steps "Didn't even take off their shoes" he said softly as he leaned down to examine the footprints "Not enough detail to tell exactly the type of shoe, though they are smaller than a man's shoe"


The man sighed and stood back up before heading upstairs. He already had a pretty good idea of who it was that had broken into his hideout. When he walked into the room upstairs, his suspicions were confirmed. The necklace was missing and in it's place was a single cigarette. Only one person knew that the necklace had been recently stolen and it was the person he stole it from.


He lifted the cigarette and sniffed it a little "Not many thieves smoke" he said softly "It isn't a very good habit" he sniffed it again "I know this brand and there was only one other person who ever smoked it" his mother actually. Before she died, his mother was an avid smoker, something that wasn't an end to her life but certainly didn't make the end any easier.


"Lucky Strikes" he mumbled. He knew where they were sold, though he'd go out later after he'd taken a shower and got warm. It was no point in trying to find the girl now anyway, she was bound to have sold the necklace before he found her.

 

[Luxii]

The shower breathed new life into the female thief and she emerged from the steamy shower feeling reborn. She wrapped a fluffy white towel around herself and grabbed her pack with her free arm as she left the bathroom. She made sure the door was left propped open so the steam could evaporate properly.


Her bedroom was her fortress. It had no windows, being on the inside of the building, and she had a huge safe buried under the floorboards, and one in her closet. They were the latest and greatest that money could buy, so she felt better about leaving anything valuable in there. She stowed the necklace in the one under her bed before she even dressed. The buyer should be calling tomorrow to confirm the pickup.


Business done, she dropped her towel and pulled on a baggy pair of sweats and an oversized tshirt before hopping into bed. She wondered if the Magic Thief had discovered that he'd been robbed. It probably didn't happen often, if it ever had. A smirk played on her lips at the thought as she drifted off to sleep.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

After his shower, Alex sat down in his chair and sighed. He needed to upgrade his security system, luckily it seemed that the thief had only stolen what she wanted from him and not the rest of his items. It was unusual for him to lose to another thief.


He chuckled "Fascinating" he said softly. This girl was interesting, most thieves couldn't pick the lock on the second door in the building after his modifications. The lock would re-lock if you didn't follow a proper sequence and most thieves would either give up or attempt to kick the door in. Frustration was any person's bane. Generally once they reached the point of kicking the door in, he would have already come back.


Standing up, he walked over to the lock and checked it, making sure that it hadn't been forced open using a tool, he had a few of his own that would do such a thing. He mainly only used them in emergency situations.


With the assurance that the lock hadn't been broken he sighed and walked back over to his seat and picked up the cigarette. He rolled it across his fingers "Wonder why she likes this brand?" he said softly "I suppose I'll have to ask her when I find her"