(Continuation of this)

Most of the time, things you are looking forward to tend to take time to happen. The more you wish for something to come quickly, the longer it seems to take. Roxy was no exception to that rule. And even if the trip to Derse’s moon was far from long, it seemed like an eternity for the blonde girl. The day before, she had spent five hours in the back of a cargo without complaining and now what? She couldn’t take a ten minutes-ride in a crowded shuttle? Fidgeting, Roxy glanced through the window and all she could see was the pitch black space. Between the planet and the moon, there was a gray zone where the artificial light could not reach. Having space-travelled a lot, she wasn’t really impressed by that sight. She was just looking for something to distract herself. She tried to eavesdrop on her neighbour but they were all whispering too low for her to hear. She sighed and sat on the floor, quietly waiting for the shuttle to stop.

After a moment, the shuttle finally came to a stop. Roxy stood up almost instantly but since she was in the back, she had to wait for all the other travellers to exist the shuttle before her. When it was her turn, she had to control herself not to rush out of the vehicle. She had to act as normally as possible if she wanted to avoid trouble.

The rest of the travellers were already heading to their own destination. Roxy spotted a few towers at different distances. But the palace was nowhere to be seen. She followed the purple brick road at random and ended up on a path with bushes and flowers on all sides. Roxy looked around with little to no awe. She was used to vegetation; her “house” was a forest after all. But she still noted the fact that there was next to no decorative flowers on Derse itself. That meant that the path led to a place where beauty was important for someone.

Roxy decided to follow the flowery path and eventually started to see statues of carapaces and humans. She was tempted to stop walking and contemplate them but something inside her told her it was way too dangerous to dwell on such futilities. She forced herself to keep walking and after about fifteen minutes of statues, flowers and fountains, she finally arrived to her destination.
In front of her was standing the large dome of Derse’s Palace. The polished amethyst shone in the morning light. The three towers spiking the dome stood majestically as if they were soldier ready to defend the royal domain.

Tears filled Roxy’s eyes. She had no idea why she was so moved by the Palace. For eighteen years, she had lived without knowing that this place was where she would have been supposed to grow up, assuming she was really the missing princess; and she had been happy without that knowledge, for the most part. How could a place she had never set foot in before wake so many feelings inside of her?

Absentmindedly, she tried to wipe the tears away but her hand hit her mask.

“Damn it!” She swore under her breath, ready to remove her mask.

From one of the tower's window, in the cover of the morning shadow, the Dignitary was contemplating all the little black dots that were starting to animate the purple streets. The morning light, progressively illuminating the neighborhood, was giving heat to the early birds of the moon. There were a shuttle that just docked, the people were exiting, walking peacefully to their destination. Behind the agent, some Dersite were mechanically delivering paperwork for him to fill in the morning, much like ants bring ressources around a nest. The palace was already awake much before sunrise, people were already at work. The Draconian Dignitary, him, was taking things casually. Nothing is more efficient than someone who thinks his actions before doing them, someone who can think for a minute and lose five soldiers instead of ten. He turned around and walked toward his filthy early chore that is paperwork. Then, with patience, he embarked in the adventure that is sorting all this jungle of paper, this mountain of purple thin sheets.

After some minutes, the dersite agent decided to wait some more time for more paperwork to arrive, so he can completely do his job instead of waiting for the weaklings to bring everything. He took his morning invigorating beverage from the top of the table and went downstairs. Taking his time while descending, he was thinking of all the things he done so far about the missing prince, the misterious prospitian contact and the condesce. Step by step, ideas and thoughts were flowing through the dersite's head, how the prince is yet to be found or what are they preparing (If they are) against the current government power. Taking the stairs were some of the best times for the agent, he could drink, walk and think at his own pace.

The blunt tip of the spear touched the very last step of the large purple stairs, the sound echoed in the large room, waking up those who were daydreaming. Passing near a table, the dersite agent left his cup, creating a second wave of fear amongs the black pawns. None were to look for trouble with him, except if you wish to have your hand or head disconnected. Every action made by him made those who knew his name quail before him.

Maybe a bit of guard duty wouldn't hurt. A little bit of walking always help to wake up and digest stuff. The dexterous guards quickly opened the palace's door when they saw where the Dignitary was going. Upon exiting the majestic building, the black carapacian distinguished someone in front of the palace. She had both hands on her face, unable to tell who it was. The righteous agent decided to wait for something to happen, this thing isn't quite right to just forget about it and go away.

Her hands were already under her hood, untying the ropes that held the mask steady in front of her face. As upset as she was, the danger of removing her mask in such a place didn’t occur to her until the last moment, when her face was almost revealed. The thought that someone could be watching her at that moment had finally made its way to her brain. Roxy gasped and held her mask tightly, bringing it back to its original position and securing it in front of her features. But the sudden movement caused her hood to fall down revealing her blond her.

“Fuck!” she cussed, quickly tying back her mask and pulling on the hood, hiding her hair. Shame struck her as she let out a few other bad words. She was rather disappointed of herself. Letting her guard down at such a dangerous time... and crying for such a stupid reason! She felt like crying some more, but of rage this time. She was so angry at herself. But she held back the tears and took a deep breath.

She brought her glance back on the castle. Everything was unmoved. Well, maybe except for that silhouette standing at the gate of the purple palace. Roxy squinted, eying the distant character. She had seen enough of them in her life to know that it was a carapace.

That one was different, though. He wasn’t wearing a purple tunic like most of the Dersites; his clothes were black and looked like some kind of uniform. He was also holding some kind of stick that Roxy was not able to identify at such a great distance.

Immobile as a statue, the blonde stared at the carapace; something about him felt terribly familiar... and then it struck her. Black uniform, holding a weapon: that guy was an agent. Her dad had told her many times to STAY AWAY FROM THE AGENTS because some of them were unstable and power-hungry. A shiver went down her spine.

“Don’t do anything stupid Roxy.” She thought. “If you start running, he’ll know you’re not supposed to be here and he’ll run straight after you.” But then she remembered the hood incident. Assuming he saw that (the odds that he didn’t were not that high), she was screwed.

All the muscles of her body tensed up as she readied to run or fight, whatever would be necessary first. Her frame was still but she was ready to react to the first move the agents would make. She would not make the first move. If he didn’t see what was under her hood, she still had a chance to just walk away. Oh, how she wished he would simply leave her alone... But something in the back of her mind was telling her that it was ridiculously hopeless.

The strange character had her hands under her hood now, the agent continued watching at her direction. People don't usually mess around in their hood for that long except if they are hiding something. Only the inhuman movement of the facial part piked the Dignitary's attention to it's maximum. This peculiar being wasn't normal, her sudden movement, unveiling some blonde hair, confirmed the agent's doubt. The suspicious character wasn't a carapacian, she was human! Things couldn't get more interesting, the dersite had to know why such behavior, someone doesn't have a reason to hide his identity except hiding from danger. Wait a minute...

The Draconian Dignitary tightened his grasp of the spear, slightly widen his eyes. A transient thought quickly went through his mind, making him realize something. The best thing to do would be to make sure that the agent's suppositions are true, it would clear a lot of things that is happening in the present. The answer to many questions could be right there, close from the agent. He can't let a such opening go away.

The dersite agent wasn't certain, but who risks nothing gets nothing, right?

When the Dignitary was about to move, the strange character saw him. He froze in place, getting back in a similar position from how he was, looking at another direction for a second then make believe that he just spotted her. Acting that fast wasn't smart, if the human had see him walking toward her, without noticing first, chances she could have fled instead of staying in place. The dersite kept on staring at the human, staring back, for few seconds. It probably was a surprise to see an agent in front of the purple palace. The mere presence of a high-ranked dersite is possibly one of the most stressful and perilous event to happen in someone's life.

Gazing at each other for a while now, both protagonists hasn't moved at all. The staring contest lasted long enough to make further actions safe to attempt... At least for the Dignitary. lifting his weapon from the ground, the agent undertook his descent from the palace's slightly elevated area in a calm, yet definite manner. Casually hitting the ground with the non-lethal part of his spear, he was steadily approaching the suspicious human.

"State your business, dersite. Is there a problem?", the Draconian Dignitary asked seemingly suspecting nothing, stopping at a reasonable distance from the fake carapacian.

A few minutes passed, heavy with tension. Both parties were gauging their opponent, trying to find the move they should do to gain the upper hand. They were apparently waiting for the other one to make the first move and then react accordingly. The tears had now dried on Roxy’s face; there was no more sign of weakness or emotional excess on her features.

The agent finally made his move, calmly walking down the small slope in the road. Still standing at the same spot, Roxy’s unconsciously took a few small steps backward. Her breath accelerated as she considered her options. The game had begun. It was either run now or try to outsmart the guy. As the enemy was getting closer, she analysed his physiognomy with attention. Tall and apparently well trained, the carapace seemed confident in his authority and power. That was definitely no regular agent; there was something about him that caught the eye, even though there was nothing particular about his appearance.

The agent finally stopped. There was no way she would outrun him now; he was way too close. Anyway, Roxy’s strength was not her fighting skills. She had decent endurance and speed and she could fight, but against a trained soldier, she was lost. Her strength was how easy it was for her to deceive people. Her best chance was to trick the agent. The problem was that she had no way to do so without him finding out she wore a mask.

Roxy was surprised when the agent spoke. She was waiting for some physical assault. She took a split second to decide what to do. She then nodded frantically, copying the behavior of a panicked ordinary citizen. She placed shaking hands on her mouth to hide the fact it wouldn’t move. The gesture could be interpreted as a nervous one.

“There’s a problem with the shuttle!” she finally answered, realizing her mouth was uncomfortably dry due to the stressful situation. “The agent there told me to get help!” That was all she could say without compromising herself more than she already did. She didn't wait for the agent’s response; as soon as she was done talking, she turned around and started running in the direction of the shuttle, following the road. She was still foolishly hoping he might not follow her. She knew her lie was weak but that was all she could come up with.

She ran with all her strength as she tried to ignore the disturbing mental images of the agent’s spear flying in her direction and of her body falling to the grown, the deadly weapon piercing her back.

As the agent put an end to his words, the fake carapacian almost instantly answered back. Any regular agent would have mistaken her for a real nervous and weak dersite, but with the undoubtable visions that he witnessed, the false identity was blown almost instantly. The only thing preventing him from playing an ultra-violent "game" was his think pan, he had no reason to open up anyone like a candy-filled papier-mâché container... Yet. For now, the best thing was to stay put until the other makes a mistake, then going on the his favorite part.

He can wait, chances are playing the waiting game will make him uncover something bigger. Nobody cowardly hide behind a mask without a reason nor goes directly to the palace without a really good one.

When the rogue dersite was hoping to catch the agent in her lie, it only made him less doubting about her intentions. The Dignitary saw the shuttle from one of the tower, this morning. It seemed like there was no problem. She turned her back to the purple landmark, and ran away toward the streets. The Dignitary, his murderous will awaken by the falsehood, started following the supposed criminal.

Who goes to the palace for such minor disturbance, instead of looking for a guard? Something was clearly wrong.

Trying to run at the same speed while keeping distance from the runaway, the agent navigated between the growing number of Dersite on the streets. Being slightly taller than the most of the others, he could see the purple hood nimbly avoiding the agitated mobs. When he passed by a guard, he grabbed his arm and quickly told him to run with him, there was something important that every guard had to know. The agent discreetly pointed the purple cloaked being frequently appearing between the civilians, and told to the underling:

"It's not a carapacian, it's a human hiding under a mask. I want you to tell any guard you meet to keep an eye on her. Do not intervene or follow, just monitor actions and movements when in sight."
Emphasizing on his spear, he ended his order with
"If one of you screw this thing, I will personally dismiss the culprit, my own way."

Letting the guard back to his duty, the agent kept on chasing his target. It wasn't in his intention to let her get away that easily. With this kind of "reward" on the line, it is never in his intentions to let someone get away easily.