Th' Same Ol' Scheme Ain' Th' Same Anymore.... [Blink]

[Marakai Trin]

This needed to be done. Once or twice a year, Itachi's get-rich-quick scheme would have the Craol rolling in gold for weeks. And now they desperately needed it, running low on supplies and with an extra mouth to feed.

Over the last week or so of non-stop travel, the mind games between Itachi and Jaela had continued, thus far with no give on either side. However, Itachi remained uncommonly silent and surly, his mind on the task ahead, constantly planning contingencies for whatever obstacles lay ahead.

What he hadn't  told Jaela when he outlined the scheme was that the heist got harder and harder every time, yet thus far he'd always managed to come out ahead, with a big bulging sack of gold for them to live off of for months. But he was having the odd feeling that things wouldn't go as planned forever.

Seriously, who falls for the same trick twelve times in a row? And here it was: unlucky number thirteen.

Before they left the Serha Plains, Itachi had his men change into more suitable clothing, giving them the appearance of free mercenaries rather than bandits. Everyone was clean and actually professional looking, and Itachi was proud for a moment. Jaela looked the part well enough, and so he left her alone.

In time, they rolled into Ketra proper, and Itachi bid them hold in front of a seemingly abandoned building. "Imma need th' lot o' ya ta stay 'ere. All of ya know th' routine. Jus' stay 'ere an' wait for me ta get back. Zamik, yer th' lucky one what gets ta take me in this time."

He levelled a look at Jaela. "Whatever 'appens, bird, ya gotta stay 'ere, got it? If'n I'm no' out in two days, ya take the lot of'm ta Serha. I'll fin' ya when I'm able."

[Blink]

Despite having other things she could be doing Jaela stayed with the Craol for the duration of their journey. She knew that when and if Kaida did find her she would surely have some explaining to do. She was supposed to be at the Citadel, watching and protecting the dust covered halls for any intruders. However, it was so high up in the mountains it was unlikely anyone would find it, let alone get to it.

So now she found herself here in Ketra, strolling along with Itachi and his men as they prepared for their big 'heist'. From what she understood they did this once, sometimes twice a year to get a little bit of extra coin. Itachi would have one of his men turn him in, collect the bounty, and then he would break himself out. Leaving so many things that could go wrong out of consideration.

Standing in front of the abandoned building Jaela nodded at his request to stay put... "Got it."

"Straight to Serha in two days." Again she spoke as if his instructions could not be any clearer. However, just like Itachi Jaela's gears were already turning. He may have had a plan, but so did she. Taking a step towards him she placed a hand on each shoulder as she looked him dead in the eye. "I'm going to go take a look around. I can't just sit here still while you have yourself turned it. Don't worry though, I will be back here waiting for you within an hour."

Her head then tilted a bit as she looked over her shoulder at his men. "An hour tops!" And then her attention was on him again. "But if you don't come back I am taking your tent."

[Marakai Trin]

Itachi smirked, and placed a hand on her chin, and faced her fully. He stared straight into those peridot eyes of hers, two shades of green very nearly meeting. To onlookers, it might have looked as though he was going to kiss her.

But: "Read. My. Lips. Leave me tent alone." He smirked again and pulled away, turning around and walking away from them. He threw a hand up as he walked off.

"Ya c'n 'ave the bedroll, though. Th' tent c'n be used fer supplies." And then he was gone, Zamik and Itachi disappearing around the corner of the building.

_________________________

They were coming up to the castle, Zamik now dragging Itachi by the hair. He was actually wincing, and decided that Zamik was getting a cut from his share of the gold. He was being just a bit too realistic.

When they came close, a platoon of no less than eight armored soldiers moved to meet them. Zamik played his role admirably.

"Got this one here. Itachi, the leader of the Craol. Caught him running slaves to Essyrn a couple weeks back. My men ran down his group - the Craol are no more."

"Good work, sir. Been looking forward to this the last time he escaped...unfortunately, due to his numerous escape attempts, we're going to hold off on the bounty until after the execution."

"Er....all right. That's fine. My men and I will be staying in Ketra for the week on business. When's the execution to be?"

Itachi was paying close attention, and his eyes widened at this part. No gold, until after an execution? What was he supposed to do with that...unless...

He didn't have time to finish that thought before two gauntlet clad hands seized his arms, a soldier on either side. They drug him inside.

__________

He remembered the hallways, the rooms, everything. He wondered if they'd put him in one of the cells he'd been in before. But instead, they drug him to the interrogation room, and put him in manacles, bolted to the wall.

"Been awhile, Itachi..."

The bandit looked up from the stone floor, and smirked at the voice. This one was familiar.

"Captain Grantham. Charmed, I'm sure. Yeah, it's been awhile. Just wanted to come in and see your pretty face one more time. How have you been, anyway?"

Sudden, blinding pain. Stars. A little bit of nausea. One of the soldiers beside him had clubbed him in head. He felt something warm and sticky ran down his temple, and his sight was hazy.

"Well, at least I'll still be pretty when the days out. You'll be lucky to even be alive for the headsmans block. Knock him out, and put him in the special cell. Use the new lock."

Suddenly, he felt a sharp prick in his neck, and just before he fell unconscious he just managed to spit in Grantham's face.

The last thing he felt was a gauntleted fist to his jaw. Then all was black.

______________

When he woke up, he was in much more pain than he figured he should have been. He still couldn't see straight, and his extremities were numb. He'd been drugged. And, by the amount of red he was seeing, beaten while unconscious. He was lucky to be alive.

They hadn't chained him up, but it appeared as if they didn't need to...his left arm appeared dislocated at the shoulder. It wouldn't rotate at all, and he had a feeling he'd be screaming in pain when the drugs wore off the rest of the way.

He also felt as though something in his foot had been sprained - his boots and clothing had been removed, replaced with only a roughspun tunic amd pants, and theyd hobbled him at the ankle somehow. Getting out was gonna be a chore.

Gingerly, he crawled forward on one hand and both knees, and inspected the lock through blurry eyes. Through the haze, he realized that he wasn't getting out.

The lock had no keyhole. It would have to be broken. And he had no tools.

"....fuck!"

[Blink]

The moment his hand touched her chin Jaela knew it was game on. Just as he stared into her eyes she locked onto his, searching for whatever it was behind that shine that made his thoughts move. For a moment she thought she was lost, her expression softening at the closeness. Except when Itachi told her to leave his tent alone the wonder in her eyes all but vanished.

She was flustered and now irritated. Itachi had gotten the best of her and she let it happen. Already she was planning her revenge on his little act, but first... Jaela had to make a stop.

Just after Itachi and Zamik disappeared Jaela herself waved goodbye to the men as she pretended to head to the marketplace. "Like I said, be back in an hour." Of course, not once did Jaela ever say it was a promise.

_______________________________________________________
As she closed in on the castle Jaela was almost skipping, even humming with her hands held behind her back. Already she had gotten their attention at how she so casually walked up to the armored soldier.

"Halt!" one demanded, but Jaela skipped on.

"I said halt!" Again Jaela ignored them and by now she was practically skipping past them, still humming her little tune.

Before she knew it one of them were on her, pulling an arm behind her back as they restrained her. One elaborately more dressed than the rest then stepped forwards, leaning down so that he could stand with her eye to eye.

"What's your game here little girl?"

Jaela merely smirked at the man, offering no words as she played a game of who would blink first. After a few short moments, the man had blinked and Jaela won. The man then straightened himself up so that he could stand taller than her, something Jaela normally would not tolerate. Refraining from using any sort of magic to reveal what she really was Jaela just continued staring on. Even the other soldiers were confused by her silence. What on earth was a girl doing just walking up like that? Could she even speak? Was she mentally unwell?

Finally, Jaela cleared her throat as she rolled her neck and then her shoulders, limbering up for what was about to happen. "I'm here for Itachi of course. That is the game isn't it? One of use turns him in while the others come to set him free?"

The soldiers immediately were confused and worried all at once. Some had begun looking over their shoulders for more members of Craol, but only Jaela could be seen. Suddenly it wasn't just one man holding her arms back, but now two as they started pushing her towards the gate.

"We don't have time for this! Take her to Itachi, in fact lock her up the same. Let her see how stupid and useless this little stunt was!" This all coming from the throat of the more highly decorated soldier.
_____________________________________________

Long hallways and downward spiraling stairs led Jaela to the dungeon where Itachi was being held. The entire walk she remained silent, only smirking at how truly stupid these men were. Yes, this was a game and they were playing right into her trap. The moment she was shoved into a cell and heard the lock click her smile only widened. "Checkmate"

Looking around she could see the stone floors and back wall, while the rest was iron gates and a lock with no hole. "Easy" she whispered as she continued to step around, taking in her environment for all it was. And then she saw him, laying there in a horrendous and dirty tunic with blood covering his head. It was obvious he was unconscious so Jaela let her true emotions show if only for a moment.

Jaela intertwined her fingers between the bars as she took the sight of him in and it made her sick to her stomach. Poor Itachi, letting them get the best of him like that. She had tried to warn him, she tried to say there were just too many things that could go wrong. Maybe now he would actually listen to her.

About an hour had passed before Itachi woke up and by now Jaela was laying on the floor in the cell next to him. Her legs were propped up on the wall while her back lay flat on the stone, one of her arms hung over her stomach while the other was held in front of her face making shapes to the shadow on the wall. But also she was lightly singing, her voice echoing off the walls of the prison.

"Fly away little pretty bird. Fly, fly awwwaayyy. Fllyyy away little pretty birrrdd, and pretty you will always stayy."

Even as he stirred and crawled over to the lock she did not move but did cease her song. The sound of his defeat causing her bored expression to turn into a smile once more.

"I imagine you feel the same way I did after that scorpion bite. By the way, no one ever showed me the way to the bathhouse..." Jaela giggled as she went on. "...how rude."

[Marakai Trin]

Suddenly Itachi jumped, and immediately regretted it. He knew that voice, could swear he knew it, but with the addling of the drugs and his possible concussion, everything just kept echoing.

After a minute, he cleared his throat and rasped out, "Jaela....?"

And then, suddenly, the fog lifted as if the cure for any ailment was rage. This time, the echoes were real.

"WHAT THE UNHOLY MOTHER OF FUCK-"

"Hey, not everyone here wants to-"

"YOU SHUT YOUR GODS DAMNED MOUTH OR ILL FEED YOUR TONGUE TO THE FUCKING VULTURES. JAELA, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?"

His voice echoed for a good long while. He felt as if his reaction was well deserved, considering that he'd specifically told everyone to remain where they were. This is exactly what he didn't want to happen.

He sighed a bit and slumped in his cell. "....what are you doing here, Jaela?"

[Blink]

Oh boy, he seemed mad. "Perfect"

Taking in a long and satisfying breath Jaela let the hand she was making shadows with fall to the floor, laying at her side while she lay there completely pleased with herself.

"If I had a crown for every time I ever heard that... Well, we wouldn't be in here right now."

Rolling onto her side Jaela propped her elbow on the floor while holding her head up. "Besides, I think the better question would be what are you doing in here?" Dramatically she then shifted her eyes. "It doesn't look like your doing a very good job at escaping to me."

[Marakai Trin]

Itachi groaned, a hand coming up to cover his eyes. "What am I doing here? I'm suffering from a sprained ankle, a dislocated shoulder, possibly a concussion, and not to mention they fucking drugged me. I can't feel anything. Oh, and not to mention the lock has no fucking keyhole. You can't pick a lock like that....it has to be broken. And I'm in no fucking condition for that."

He settled back on his ass, wounded leg tucked under his good one.

"And now I'm going to be executed, you probably, too. We...the boys won't even get paid unless I'm dead. This whole thing was pointless."

He laid his head on his arms, hiding his face and his eyes. He continued to speak, his words muffled with his position.

"Gods...I'm sorry, Jaela. I've killed us both."

[Blink]

He really was down on himself, wasn't he? Everything he spoke of may have been true, but there was one thing different... Jaela was there.

"Execution sounds fun. I have never tried that one before." Again she was joking. Jaela had no plans on getting executed and honestly, had no intention of being in this cell for more than another few hours. Her attitude reflected it too, as she was as calm as could be.

"Speaking of things you are sorry for... is there anything else you feel like you need to get off your chest? Any regrets?" And now Jaela was taking complete advantage of the situation. She knew Itachi had no idea that lovely lock he couldn't pick was no problem. So what better to do than waste time and get him to talk as if he were dying.

"If you're nervous I can go first... I mean since we are going to die and all."

By now Jaela had rolled back onto her back as she stared at the ceiling, still as lax as ever.

"Every day for a week I put a rock in one of Kaida's shoes... I regret not doing it longer." Again she audibly breathed a loud breath. "Wow! I feel better already! Your turn."

[Marakai Trin]

"Hmph. Regrets?" He chuckled, the sound mirthful.

"I regret nothing, honestly. Life's been good to me. I've been lucky - too lucky. I think it's about time that luck's run out...this honestly isn't how I'd imagined I'd be biting the dust, but...it is what it is, right?"

He sat up, his gaze remaining on the floor.

"No regrets. Just....unfinished business, I suppose you'd call it. I've still got my parents to avenge, after all. Guess I'll be doing it from beyond the grave."

After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "Hmmph. Glad you feel better. I don't."

[Blink]

His pessimism almost made her worried. This wasn't like Itachi, but then again he still did believe they were about to die. Jaela may have been many things, and in truth, cruel probably was one of them. But not to Itachi... she couldn't keep making him think he was going to die like this.

Standing up she brushed off her shorts before walking over to the edge of her own cell, slipping a hand through the bars before dropping something. It hit the floor with a loud clank and echoed off the walls. It was the lock to her cell, a lock identical to Itachi's.

"Well as fun as all of this was I think we should get going don't you?"

The lock itself was easy to open. She didn't even have to break it. Yes, it lacked a keyhole but that didn't mean all the small mechanisms inside of it were unbreakable. In fact, their size made it even easier to move open. The person creating it probably thought all the intricate and complicated springs would make it harder to open for someone. They probably never even thought of a ferromancer when they made it.

"My guess is they will be making rounds at sundown. If my calculations are correct that gives us about 4 hours give or take. 4 hours to get you out of here and as far away as possible."

Jaela didn't even think that Itachi was probably still wondering how she got her lock off to begin with.

[Marakai Trin]

Itachi stared long and hard as that brilliant mind of his came to a complete and utter stop. His eyes were locked on the glare of torchlight reflecting off of the piece of steel.

Slowly, he raised his gaze to lock eyes with Jaela.

"....metal, too...huh." He blinked again, still slightly dumbfounded. "You can...manipulate metal...and sand...rocks..."

His eyes cleared quite suddenly, then.

"Well, why the hell didn't you...you know what?  Forget it." Slowly, he made his way over to the bars of his cell, and those gears began to turn again. His mouth split into a devilish grin, his eyes sharp and gleaming again.

"Get me th' fuck outta this cell, bird. An' then we're gonna salvage this 'ere li'l operation." His good arm lifted, and one finger slowly extended to point straight upward.

"We're goin' up there, an' we're gonna empty their fuckin' treasury."

[Blink]

When he mentioned metal Jaela just shrugged before rhetorically answering. "Metal, sand, rocks... other things." She said it so nonchalantly as if it were not something impressive.

Of course, she was ready to get out of there, but there was one little problem. "That sounds fantastic, I mean really it does but how on earth are you going to get up to the treasury with all those injuries?" Jaela then pointed to her own head, insinuating that the concussion alone was enough to stand in his way.

After that she walked to the door of her cell and opened it, quietly pushing the large metal door outwards as she peeked down the hallway. When she determined the coast was clear she stepped out and over to Itachi's door, bending her knees so that she was eye-level with the lock.

Jaela stared at it for a few minutes, working the little springs inside of it with her mind. It would take less time this go around as she had done this just a bit ago on her own lock. After a few moments, the lock clicked open and Jaela grabbed it from the handle before tossing it over her shoulder. Afterward, she opened his door and stepped inside, crouching down in front of him as she took a closer look at his wounds.

"I may not be a doctor but I think you are broken in some places."

[Marakai Trin]

"Nonsense, I'm fine. I got one workin' arm, tha's all I need if'n we run inta trouble. Jus' need me coat, it's got all me knives an' stars an' darts in it....plus me clothes. I'm thinkin' someone died in these." He grunted and looked down at his attire.

"I've smelled corpses better smellin' than me, an' I've 'as a bath today. So le's get movin', bird! No time ta waste!"

He grinned a bit, and stepped out of his cell. He turned and winked.

"C'mon. Le's get rich, then we c'n worry 'bout me. I c'n still see straight, so don' slow me down now."

[Blink]

Jaela had noticed how his speech suddenly become improper again when she showed him the lock. By now she had figured that was a sign he was in the sort of mode she went into when she was acting crazy. It was all an act, a genius act.

"When they brought me down here I noticed a room off of the stairs. Was full of all sorts of things. I bet your clothes are in there!" Jaela took Itachi's order and began running for the stairs hoping that he could keep up. If anyone was going to be slowing them down it would be him.

In no time she was in the room and to her delight, it was exactly what she had hoped it would be. Itachi's clothes were still laying on the table, probably just thrown there to be gone through later. "Well come on then, get dressed!"

[Marakai Trin]

Itachi followed along as quickly as he could, keeping his good arm on the wall to maintain his balance. The adrenaline, along with the thrill of the job itself, kept him moving at a decent pace.

Awkward, but decent.

When he arrived at the landing and entered the room, he was pale in the face yet grinning vibrantly. This was the kind of thing he lived for.

"Good on ya, bird! Wond'rful!" He limped over to the table, hurriedly stripping the awful tunic as he went. The dirty wish-it-was-white tunic was thrown to the floor, and for the first time Jaela would see what he kept hidden under that coat.

A multitude of scars covered him, front and back. Sword wounds, multiple stab wounds from dagger and spear, and an untold multitude of lashes from a whip. His back and chest resembled a parched riverbed, cracked and broken.

In twenty-five years, he'd seen more combat than most war veterans. And he just kept going.

He pulled his black and rather expensive looking tunic over his bare chest, and looked at his pants.

"...." he looked between them and Jaela, and opted to leave them there for the moment. And then...the coat. His own personal armory went on over his shoulders. He struggled a bit with the dislocated shoulder, but eventually managed.

The pants he just slung over his shoulder.

"Ready, le's go."

[Blink]

She wasn't ready for what she saw. Honestly, the site of his scars knocked Jaela off her game completely. Her eyes narrowed as she studied them, curious to the story behind each and every one. If it were anyone else she would have made a joke about them, pointed them out in some sarcastic way but Jaela was at a loss for words. Even if she tried to open her mouth then nothing would come out.

Instead, she opted for turning her head to look out the door, the seriousness now very evident in her gaze. The entirety of their time together Itachi and Jaela had always been playing a game, always trying to mentally one up the other but now she didn't want to. No, right now she couldn't even manage to keep the stupid charade of crazy up.

"Right" she choked as Jaela followed after him.

The entire time she moved behind him all Jaela could do was look at the back of his tunic and picture the scars beneath it. She didn't even know why it was bothering her so much either. Jaela had seen many people with many scars. She had seen people tortured and kept like cattle. Never before did she even bat an eye but now, it was like suddenly the reality of the world had come into focus.

What was this? Morality maybe? She didn't like the feeling in the pit of her chest either, it was very foreign and unwelcome. "Get it together" she told herself as she walked. On the outside, she was shaking her head trying to rid herself of the feeling. As she tried to sort things out Jaela averted her eyes yet again, following Itachi's shadow now instead of looking at his back.

And then it clicked, the crazy that Jaela was so known for. It was her way of covering up many things like her plans, her mind, her ideals... her pain. It seemed the more crazy she acted the more she was trying to cover something up. Not only was it to make someone else forget who she really was but maybe even a way for herself to forget. She didn't want to have feelings right now, especially not these ones. They had a job to do and Jaela would be damned if she screwed it up with this stupid pain in her chest.

Skipping up in front of him she twirled as she passed him, winking before facing forwards to race on up the stairs. "When we are rich I am going to buy all the horseradish in Adela!" she yelled perhaps a little too loudly. Loud enough that it caught the attention of whatever guard was stationed on the next landing.

He came out with his hand on his hilt but the poor man wouldn't stand a chance against a Jaela that was determined not to feel anything. As she skipped Jaela merely flicked her wrist at the man before closing her palm into a fist. At the motion the stone walls came to life and very quickly pulled the guard within them, crushing his body as they closed once more. His screams only lasted for a second and were muffled by the stone anyways. No one would hear it, no one besides them.

Jaela acted as if nothing had happened at all and instead continued skipping up the stairs like a child while she clapped her hands. "Again again!"

[Marakai Trin]

From behind him, Itachi could hear her choked reply. He arched a brow as they walked, wondering for a moment just what had brought out such a response.

Obviously, he knew he had the scars. He'd earned them, had been earning them all his life. From all over the world, he'd collected them, adding to his tapestry of flesh until it all ran together into one big jumbled mess.

And yet he always seemed to find room for more. Scars, on top of scars, on top of scars. There was no bottom. He was scarred inside, too.

When she skipped in front of him with that wink, he knew something was up. As he reached the landing, he glanced at the guard post, having heard the slow grinding of stone and the shrieking of rending metal armor. All he saw was a slow trickle of blood from a gap in the stones. He had to stop and stare for a moment.

"Yer a vicious li'l thing, ain'tcha?" He turned to her with a grin, and hobbled past her with a wink. "Good on ya. No' jus' a pretty face. I like tha'."

Unbeknownst to them, another had heard the consequences of torn metal, and this one was able to remain much quieter. Turns out their guards weren't just dense skulls in armor.

Itachi knew where he was, knew what to expect, but hadn't planned on turning the corner to come face to face with a dark garbed mage, spell already in hand.

Even with only one working arm and a hobbled foot, Itachi was more than capable of dodging the magically created spear of ice bearing down on him, pushing with his good leg into a dive. As he traveled through the air, he reached his good arm into his coat, slipped fingers into one of his many cleverly hidden pockets, and pulled forth a single shuriken.

His arm shot out in an arc, the small black deadly disc shattering the frozen projectile in mid flight and continuing onward. The mages still outstretched hand ended up with a severed finger as the disc, sharpened to a ridiculous edge, traveled on its course to his unprotected face.

He ended up losing that finger, and an eye. And his life, as the throwing stars momentum caused it to bury itself into his skull and slam into his brain.

Itachi landed hard on the ground and one could hear a sickening pop as his shoulder was suddenly and violently relocated. The explosion of pain up and down his arm signaled the unpinching of nerves, and Itachi let out a gasp.

"Not...th' way I wanted ta do tha'...but I'll take it..." he gasped out, pushing himself off the floor with both arms. He crawled to his feet, and rotated his shoulder, stretching the muscle out and trying to kill the tingle of sleeping nerves.

"Eh...treasury is another flight up...le's go, bird." His face was a mask of concentration as he pushed away the pain, and now he was idly spinning two shuriken, one in each hand, ready for anything.

[Blink]

Jaela had thought she made it clear from the first day the two met that she was more than just a pretty face. Except, the day they met her face really wasn't all that pretty...

Another guard had appeared, but this time Itachi took care of it before Jaela could react. This was the first chance she had to see what it was he could actually do. Apparently, he was more than just a nice face and horrible accent too. Itachi had some skill and Jaela was impressed. He was smart, despite his injuries, and his moves were calculated.

She had heard the pop when he landed on the ground and even she knew what it was. His shoulder had moved back into place. Jaela moved to help him up but again he surprised her when he took it in such stride and stood up. Even better she could see the beauty in the death he had just brought on that guard.

"Magnificent!" she clapped before moving up the stairs again, a slight jump in each step.

Jaela was wound up, the excitement of all of this driving her forwards. In fact, she hadn't had this much fun in a long time... if ever. Working with Itachi brought something out in her, some deep need to outsmart him or one-up each of his moves. It was a constant push and pull of witts that came off as pure craziness.

[Marakai Trin]

Itachi turned towards her at her clap, palming both of his stars as he grinned at her.

"Magnificent, eh? Tha' was almos' nothin'." He moved to follow her up the stairs, grinning all the while. This was due, in part, to his excitement for what laid ahead. The rest? Well....

He was genuinely happy. This situation may have started miserably, horrendously even, but here they were. They were about to pull the heist of a lifetime, and it was all because of her. This wonderful, bubbly little puzzle with so many sides to her, it was impossible to know which facet to her gem to look at.

Just who was Jaela the elementalist? Wiley, bouncy little thing, sure, but what else? A skilled elementalist, and clearly vicious at times. She gave him pause with every new side of her that he saw.

Itachi realized, suddenly, that what he hadn't wanted to happen, had still happened. He was wrapped around her finger, if only by the challenge that actually knowing her presented. He paused for a second, quickly tilting his head as if listening. Excellent cover.

He stopped until she caught up to him, and leaned to whisper quietly in her ear.

"Now, then, bird. I've tried this before, and never could get past the door. The guards are always no problem...but that damned door is a deep-set combicombination lock with a fucking sequence of more than sixteen numbers. That....is where you come in."

She may noticed he'd dropped the accent, completely serious now. He turned to face her, his face a stony mask.

"What we're going to do is take out the guards, and get in and out. Fast. And we don't want them to ever know we were inside without having to count their coin. So don't break the lock. Can you do that, Jaela?"

[Blink]

Standing before the large door Jaela stared on in complete and total awe. It was a beautifully crafted door and upon placing her palm against it Jaela could feel the combination lock Itachi spoke of. Initially, she wanted to just destroy it, complete shatter it despite how wondrous it was. This though was not what Itachi wanted. He wanted it to seem as if they were never there.

It was a tricky task, she would give him that. It would be hard to get inside without breaking the lock in its entirety. Jaela could move the springs inside but honestly, she did not know the workings of actually 'solving' a lock. Her way was to usually just keep bending and breaking everything until it clicked open. Then there was also the second route, bulldozing the door completely.

With wonderous eyes still studying what lay behind the metal her palm pressed even more firmly against it. Jaela was all serious now as her eyes scanned the metal to see what Itachi couldn't. And then she took a step back, finally removing her hand as she placed it instead on her hip. Her eyes were now on the area surrounding the door, again something she couldn't destroy without making it obvious that they were there.

"No" she said plainly, her eyes still locked on the task ahead. "I can't open it without breaking it.." Just like Itachi her tone was serious, both masterminds putting whatever charade they carried on hold so that they could figure this out.  "I can't pick a lock, only break it." Her eyes then shifted to Itachi.

"But you can" that sinister smile of hers reappearing at the mention of him.

Jaela then shifted, pointing at the ruin tattooed on her left shoulder. It was an eye, one surrounded with tribal and fillagree. "Put your hand on my shoulder... on the mark. Just like how I touch the door alright?"

Jaela would then step towards the door again and rest her palm on it, hoping that Itachi would then rest his hand on her shoulder. Her concentration was then on the locking mechanisms inside again, her eyes almost illuminating a brighter green as she did so. She was looking beyond the front and into its workings and if Itachi were touching her... he would see exactly what she did. He would see the delicately crafted and placed springs and locks, he would see a lock with no cover, he would see the puzzle laid before them in all its glory.

"Tell me what to move. Tell me what I need to do to unlock this thing..."