As Pithy delved into the Government Hub, and scattered puddles leftover from the previous night’s storm continued to increase both in number and depth, she allowed herself some relief at her choice to leave the stranded vehicle she had come across. Whoever had engineered the plumbing system of the Justice Hub had done better than the one who designed this area of the city. She was not certain how the mechanism that moved it would have fared against some of those bodies of water. 

On foot, however, traversing a flooded district was simple for a spellcaster of her particular affinity. Rather than wade through knee-deep water or seeking different roads, crystalline platforms rose from the still water to meet her stride, holding her up and melting back into their puddle as she walked past them like footprints covered by a blizzard.

The area Oren had pointed her at had been closest to the Justice Hub, but his directions had been vague at best, referring only to a large sector of the Governance Hub. Had she known where exactly her enemy was heading, she might have even arrived before him and lain in ambush. Provided they traveled on foot, at least. 

As it stood, she walked with no clear aim amidst the abandoned streets, her rapier on her right hand and the six-shooter on her left. The mismatched weapons offering a degree of comfort as she glanced suspiciously at the myriad possible corners, windows and hiding places an enemy might be peeking from in this abandoned city. 

She had a mental image of crossbow sights peeking from one of the surrounding building’s shadows, a quarrel aimed at her back looking out from the Governance Hub’s stately architecture. Oren had said the enemy wielded ‘gans’, after all. If the aim was to kill the other, victory could simply go to the one who saw their foe first.

Pithy swallowed, giving her head a slight shake. Paranoia was fine as long as it reminded her to stay vigilant, but she needed to be careful not to let it eat away at her nerve.

Nonetheless, after some more searching, she allowed herself to duck into a nearby building. The door was unlocked, though she would have broken in through the large display window with the word [i]‘Theo’s’[/i] written over it in exaggeratedly round letters had it not been. She gave the place a cursory inspection, noting from the arrays of tables and the counter at the back that she must have walked into an eatery, before turning and spying out from the door she had come from.

There was no movement outside, and after a minute of staring at the unchanging form of the abandoned district, she withdrew into the building. She worried that something might have been following her, be it one of Oren’s drones, wildlife like the monster bats in the Justice Hub, or a foreigner to this city, like her or the other competitors, but if anything had been tailing her, it had not revealed itself in that moment. 

The elf sighed, pulling away from the door. She could not make herself feel at ease in her current circumstances, even if her precautions made her feel as though she was chasing ghosts.

There was food on display at the counter, including some fruits she recognized from her own realm and others she did not, but her appetite was not roused. Instead, she sat for a moment on one of the chairs, taking the chance to rest her legs. She pulled her phylactery out from under her tunic, turning the heart in her hand and considering an option she had not wished to give much thought. 

[i]I could always have Oren tell me where to go.[/i] 

There were two things stopping her. The first was the simple fact that speaking with the boy gave her migraines. The second was that if Oren was to be believed he would only offer assistance two more times. Whether that meant two more times until the next round began, or for the duration of the tournament, he had not specified.

At first, she was so deep in thought that she did not notice the low rumble growing louder outside, but the breached silence was difficult to ignore for long. Pithy rose from her chair, eye going towards the exit and hands towards her weapons, then had to stop herself from vaulting over the counter when a blur sped past, showering the window with a torrent of water.

Pithy ran outside just in time to catch the tail-end of the vehicle vanishing from view as it turned the corner. After a moment of stunned silence, she chased after it.

A few blocks later, a panting Pithy stared at the courtyard of a large building decorated by fountains and odd looking statues of a style she could not recognize. The building itself shared a similar architecture to many other structures in the Governance Hub, but it was larger, and held a more prominent place on the city block than others. [i]A church?[/i] she guessed. 

That was not important. What was, was the large vehicle parked at its entrance. She had lost sight of it more than once, but in an abandoned city such as the one she was in, the growling sound of the speeding machine had guided her footsteps for much of the way.

Steadying her breaths, Pithy righted herself, once again drawing her weapons. She took the chance to check her six-shooter, making sure that she had loaded new projectiles.

[i]There are two choices here,[/i] she thought as she performed the simple task. Whoever owned the vehicle would have to come back for it eventually, and she could ambush them when they did. However, if this was her enemy, Oren had sent them to this place with a task in mind. If they returned with an artifact capable of aiding them in battle, it could be used against her in ways she could not predict. 

The tip of her rapier touched the surface of a puddle, making the water ripple. When she rose her arm, a crystalline shape followed as though coaxed out of the water by the blade’s sharp point, settling into a long, oval sheet of ice which followed after her as she set towards the entrance.

The doors of the structure had been left open, and so Pithy walked up the steps as quietly as she could manage, her hand steadily gripping the handle of her shooter. If she was lucky, she could settle the fight in an instant, without a struggle. 

[@Hostile]