Battle of Minds and Desires

[Kirra]

"That makes 4. Cops aren't getting any smarter are they." A shadowy gloved hand placed a bronze shield on a wooden table. It was accompanied by three other items. A sword, a cloak, and one item that are covered by a cloth. The thief walked over to a chair and sat down. A smug look rose to the thief's face. "I wonder if everyone will come to my party?"

The thief leaned back in the chair. "Let's see how many of them can find my clues. The cops never seemed to be able to. Of course they are different than normal detectives. These minds are the best in the world. At least on of them should be able to figure out what I am up to. But will they be able to catch me?"

The thief opened a news paper. Flipping through the pages until a picture of a traveling exhibit of Egyptian artifacts. "I can't wait to see what they think of this."

-----------------------------------

October 3 - Captain Schroder of the Munich police department.

"No one leaves until we find out what happened here" Police where questioning everyone in the museum. Two dozen security members standing around waiting to be questioned. "So what I'm hearing is that none of you know what happened. Is that right? I thought this room was on lock down until the thief was caught. So how the hell has no one seen him?" The captain was almost fuming with rage. The chancellor had wanted this thief captured, and damn it he would be.

The Deutsches Museum, one of the largest museums in all of Germany, had been on lock down for about half a week since an infamous thief announced that he was going to steal an item from the history wing. This would have been considered a minor issue if it had been any other thief, but this one had a reputation of getting it's target. Security was tripled and every guard showed up for all three days. They where even given guns and ordered to shoot the thief on sight.

But it was all in vain. The added guards, the three police on patrol, the advanced security, even the broadcast warning from chancellor Hitler did nothing. An accent Greek shield, one used in the time of the Gods, that was on display was now missing. The value of the shield was never set and selling the item would be more trouble than it was worth. Who could have done such a thing, and why?

"Sir." One of the investigative officers had come to report their findings. "I've questioned everyone. Everyone's story checks out. No one saw a thing. The shield was there and then it just wasn't there. They claim it was magic sir." Captain Schroder was furious. He was going to be in a lot of trouble. If the guards weren't lying, and if was trusting of his men who patrolled, than this thief was beyond any he had seen before.

One thing the police couldn't understand was an oblivious clue left behind. The thief had drew a sign on the floor. It was the Egyptian symbol for Horus. Around the symbol where the words, Hunt me, chase me, find me. But first you must learn how I SEE things. "So does anyone know what that is suppose to mean?" The head of security was kneeling down by the symbol.

[Yoruyonaka]

Esther Nightingale face turned from from surprised to amused. As she read the Munich newspaper with ease, as it became her second language from English, her mind raced at what she learned. Crap, this Thief guy is taking all my targets, she thought. Esther had been planning for months on nabbing the Greek shield. It's historical properties could be deciphered if not for the useless Nazis taking whatever ancient item they wanted. Looking throughout her study, Esther happily smiled at lost paintings she saved and statues she fixed. Her whole mission in life was to continue her father's dream of following great mysteries, and now one was smacking her right in the face. How the bloody hell did that guy get in there without being scene?

"He escaped without being scene by one Deutsches Museum security guards. Even now many policeman search for reasons, but nothing seems to show how," Esther read of the quote from the paper. Her eyes glowed with thought. Although most thieves such as herself would be angry at a loss of game, Esther was fascinated.

"The bastard has talent," she laughed dropping the paper on her desk and grabbing a glass which she drank from. "I, myself, love when I am caught after gaining my prize. The chase is always fun."

She then lifted a folder. Inside held a map of the Deutsches Museum, a security guard time schedule, pictures of the shield, and a list of items she needed. All for nothing, she thought shoving the folder into a file cabinet. Going back to her desk she placed a Greek text back onto one of her many book shelves and slumped back into her chair. Glancing to a picture frame of a jovial man with black hair to his shoulders, she sighed.

"Sorry Dad, another one escaped," she whispered to the picture, "because of that genius Thief.

A noise at her studies door had Esther wake up from her thought. She stepped toward her door and opened it. A blur of brown flashed inside and jumped into her chair.

"Hush, hush, now Anubis," Esther muttered to the Abyssinian cat that now sat in her chair. "What'cha got in your mouth there, cat?"

Stepped forward to see a white letter in Anubis's mouth. He dropped it for her to grab. She flipped it over and nearly had a heart attack. It was addressed to her, from the Thief himself. It was sealed in wax, which meant the guy must have been rich or had a family with a lot of history. What had Esther in shock was she got this the day after his steal, the day she planned on stealing, and in her bloody home and not a bloody mailman. She quickly walked throughout her entire home. The house was on the outskirts of Munich so as not to gain to much attention, as Esther liked it. It wasn't too big, but carried more the enough to show she had it good. A kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a bedroom, two guest rooms, and a study. Plus an attic she keeps hidden in case a damn Nazi tried to search her home.

Many of her friends in Britain had asked why she moved to Munich, Germany right when Hitler gained power and a war brewed, well it was simple. Be in a place where most wouldn't expect a thief to be, of course Esther told her friends she knew the language and just wanted harmless historical research. The only thing that she now worried about was how the bloody Thief got in her house and gave her a letter via cat. Without out an evidence of it, she collapsed in her living room chair, and opened the letter.

[Tytun]

Somewhere outside near the park, a young man by the name of Kent Rush sat on a park bench. The recent newspaper was in his hands, yet his eyes had moved from the words to his surroundings. Although the story on the mysterious thief was intriguing, the man had recently left the detective business and wanted to simply live his life carefree. Looking back to the newspaper, he flipped through the pages a bit before tossing it into the nearby garbage bin. Standing up while patting out some creases in his shirt, he began walking on towards downtown.
As he traveled along, he took a moment to look at his surroundings here. Buildings... Nazi flags... all the works. He couldn't approve of the Nazi's doings, but they didn't exactly try to make themselves unknown. Continuing his search, something caught his eye and he stopped. The alleyway he was looking into wasn't what interested him, but the strange letter left unchecked on the ground nearby. Looking around for a moment, he went over and picked it up, thinking about finding a post box so that the letter could be sent to its rightful owner. When he discovered his name on it, however, he stared it at in slight disbelief. Regardless, he opened it up...

After a few minutes of reading the letter, Kent sighed to himself. It seemed that his talents back in America had caught this mysterious thief's attention. And now, the ex-detective was a part of his game. Holding the card up to examine it, he then shook his head.
"Great..." he muttered. "And here I was looking to get some rest..."
Immediately, he entered into a nearby building and, after a few moment's of polite speech, he began ringing up a number on a phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Tim? It's Kent."
"Oh, hey! It's unlike you to call me, especially since you left home for your own devices. What do you need?"
"Remember that favor you owe me? I need your connections to give me access to the police stations. Looks like I've been dropped into something REALLY big..."
"Heh, you never could stay away from the action... Alright, I'll work on it right away."
"Thanks, Tim. Talk to you later."
With that, Kent made his way to the nearest police station. Chances were, by the time he arrived, the station would be aware of who he was and would grant him access to certain privileges. He wasn't going to hold his breath, though...

[John]

Heidi was having a typical day. For the most part her day consisted of large amounts of paperwork and helping to co-ordinate with the Gestapo. It was boring for the most part. But she was doing it in service of her country, so really she didn’t mind. As always she would work through a large portion of the paperwork before even opening her daily mail; which usually consisted of requests for more paperwork.

Finally finished with most of the days work, she decided to focus on the mail. The envelopes themselves were pretty much the usual assortment of official and government postmarks. But today Heidi fund something different with the mail. The envelope itself was normal enough but it was sealed with a wax. The signet which had pressed the wax was in the shape of a serpent eating it’s own tail. Heidi was intrigued by this and quickly opened it. She removed the card and started to read.

Heidi found herself intrigued by the contents. It seemed that a thief wanted her to play a game. Normally she would have immediately called her superiors , but something about this was different. It seemed the criminal wanted to be caught and was leaving clues for her, and others to follow. And in the letter there were two paragraphs which screamed out at her.

“Upon figuring out the first clue, you will be instructed to go the location printed on it. When you arrive there, a parcel shall be waiting. In side shall be the necessary funds and transportation to help you get here.

I'll give you a hint. Look over the card again. I'm sure there is something you didn't see. That may be my fault though. I did use special ink.”

To Heidi, it appeared that this Ghost wanted to toy with her. And she didn’t liked to be toyed with. But she knew that the first clue was easy enough to figure out. Working in the SS she had learned a few tricks about hiding messages. And she definitely knew how to find out the information.

Removing the shade from the lamp on her desk, Heidi held the letter to the bulb and waited. After a few moments, the heat of the bulb caused writing to appear. She took another moment to make sure she had all the writing visible and then read it. It detailed the events of a crime in the Deutches Museum which was happening today.

Heidi smiled and rose from her desk. Holstering her Luger, she put on her long black trench coat and put the letter in the inside pocket. She needed to get a car, which would be easy enough to do. A quick stop to see her commanding officer to let him know what she needed and that she was going to investigate something. There would be no questions asked. In fact, given the new policies which were slowly being implemented in the new regime, she would have no trouble coming up with a convincing lie. And not to mention that if she was able to catch the Ghost, she would most likely receive a promotion.


---

The car pulled up in front of the museum and Heidi wasted no time making her way up the steps to the doors. The police were stationed at the entrance and Heidi flashed her ID and entered. Inside were more police as well as the patrons and employees of the museum being questioned by them. Heidi approached one of the police and asked where his commanding officer was. He pointed her in the right direction and she made her way to the hall.

The fist thing she noticed was the intricate design on the floor along with the words surrounding it. Heidi stared at it a moment before she was approached by the officer.

“I’m sorry but this is a closed-” Heidi raised her hand and flashed her ID.

“Captain Heidi Rausch. SS.” Heidi had an official tone and her face was serious. “I want this room cleared and a few minutes alone. Allow the patrons and staff to leave and under no circumstances is anyone to enter this room without may say so. Is that understood?” Heidi stared at the officer who quickly said “yes ma’am” and left the room.

Once she was alone Heidi stared at the symbols and writing on the floor. She had never seen the symbol before but thought it looked Egyptian. And the message to see how he sees. It was a little confusing, but Heidi knew that if she thought about it for a few moments, a solution would come to her.

[Tytun]

Upon arriving at the police station, Kent's suspicion had been on par. Most of the police force knew about his arrival, and he was quickly escorted in. Normally, detectives would not work with the force, but without proper devices, he had to rely on them.
Once inside and settled, Kent turned his focus onto the card. If a message was hidden on it, then a number of things could reveal the secret. First, though, he would try the simple method. Taking the lighter an officer let him borrow, Kent used the flame to examine the card. Sure enough, a message formed upon it. After reading it and confirming the next location, he stood and prepared himself to move out. Before leaving, though, he picked up an extra newspaper and tucked it away. He doubted he had fully understood the theif's motive, and so wanted to give it another lookover later.

[The Gypsy Queen]

Aimee sat in her cramped dressing room, stocking-ed legs crossed and toes wiggling as she read the letter that had just arrive. The act of reading itself was nearly unbearable, and the letter wasn't even in French, which made things worse for her already pounding head.

It had been a long night at the lounge, and the damned Nazi boys were getting rowdier by the day. Once upon a time letting a bit of thigh show throw the skirt slit was a reward for a good audience that usually resulted in nice, heavy tips. Now, the more men in her lounge that were wearing red bands with Swastikas, the more showing some thigh and more was a requirement, one that was howled after and sometimes even physically demanded.

But the Nazi boys weren't the only ones getting swollen heads, it seemed. She'd read about the Thief in the papers before but had never much cared. And now this letter. Aimee folded the paper again and pushed it neatly back into the envelope, tapping the packet against her lips thoughtfully, studying the playing card in her hands. She moved towards the waste bin next to her vanity before freezing suddenly.

Reward. There was bound to be a reward for catching this person. And if he was worth his word, then the estate the letter mentioned was also of interest. Of course, Aimee had never known a thief who was worth his word. A moment of anxiety took her. It could be a trap of some kind... one never could be too sure in times like these. But she calmed herself, and reminded herself of the possible reward.

Aimee smiled to herself and settled back into the chair, studying the card with renewed interest. Her silk robe fell open a bit, revealing her black lingerie, still in place from the night before.

The King of Hearts was the first thing she noted. Ever the details, she reminded herself, pulling her little black notebook from a drawer in her vanity and scribbling that detail down, labeling the page GHOST. She knew what that card could mean if taken in that light, and she wondered of it's significance.

Next she skimmed the letter again, counting letters and watching for patterns. Nothing popped out at her, so she folded the letter again and pushed it back into its envelope, when she noticed the seal. She immediately set to sketching it in her notebook - wax seals were prone to melting.

" Ouroboros..." she whispered to herself as she wrote the label neatly beneath the sketch.

Finally, she stood and pulled the shade off her lamp, holding the card over the light bulb carefully. After a few moments, writing appeared. She wrote down exactly what was written, and then rooted through her dressing room, looking for her clothes.

She arrived at the Deutches Museum a few hours later, dressed in a casual skirt and blouse and a trim hat. Her hair was still loose from her nights work, but the gaudy stage makeup and jewelry was gone. She hovered near the entrance for several moments, watching for an opening, before spotting an attractive blonde woman with the red armband entering the Museum. She didn't know the woman but saw her chance nonetheless. She approached the guard at the entrance, offering her most charming smile.

" Hello, I am sorry to be a bother..." she began, letting her French accent show a bit more strongly than usual. " Oh, is that you, Klaus?" she asked, recognizing a patron. The boy went beet red. " I am so sorry to be a bother, but my friend just entered this building... I have a letter I must deliver to her. It is of the utmost urgency!" she feigned concern and let a few tears glisten in her eyes, reaching out to grasp young Klaus's arm as though for support. " It must pass from my hand to hers, you know the way of these things, no?"

" I am sorry, miss... I cannot let you pass..." Klaus appeared torn. Aimee bit her lip before pulling a handkerchief from her purse and dabbing at her eyes.

" Yes, of course. I understand. They are your orders, no?" She patted Klaus's arm and smiled courageously for him. " I only do not know how I shall explain the delay..." she murmured, biting her handkerchief a bit.

And that was all it took.

Once inside the museum she took out her notebook and hurried for the correct wing, eyes open and looking for possible clues.

[Yoruyonaka]

Esther's face broke into a smile. Well, well, all I have to do is find the guy and all the little trinkets he bloody stole are mine? She wasn't in any better of a mood now. She scanned the entire letter and then the wax seal. The Ouroboros, as they call it, symbolically, has several meanings. The first, is the symbolism of the serpent devouring and consuming its own tail, literally eating itself. This symbolizes the cyclical Nature of the Universe: creation out of destruction, Life out of Death. The Ouroboros eats its own tail to sustain its life, in an eternal cycle of renewal. This secondary symbolism is an echo of the concept of infinity, of cycles without end. A Universe without boundaries or limits. It was first used by the Egyptians, which has Esther even more intrigued.

"The only way to better understand what the Thief wants, I need to get to that crime scene," she whispered petting her cat. "Luckily for me, I am a researcher of fine architect and ancient history." Lifting a special pass from within a drawer to her desk she stowed it in her bag. She tucked away Greek, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian texts within the bag and left her study. Her car waited patiently outside her home. It was old but valuable to Esther, because he belonged to her deceased father.

"Next stop, the Deutsches Museum." Her face lit up with excitement.


***

Upon arriving, Esther could see a large commotion of reporters and policemen at the museum. Luckily for them, she wasn't here to steal, but to research. Parking her vehicle, she quickly walked toward the Museum. At the entrance a Policeman raised a hand to her.

"Sorry, Miss, but no visitors at this moment," He said.

"I am sorry sir, but I have a pass just for the occasion," she lifted her pass once owned by her father. It allowed entrance to any museum at any time. A small gift Esther's father earned by his many historical findings. It was also very useful for looking at crime scenes that involved such a mystery. It had the seal of the British Royal Stamp. The British always had ways with Museums throughout the world.

The Policeman see dumbfounded, but moved aside for Esther to pass. She smiled to herself and walked on to Museum heading straight for the Egyptian and Greek exhibit. As she walked in she noticed a woman in Nazi uniform observing a marked floor. Glancing to the floor she saw the Symbol of Horus and got goosebumps. It was like the Thief was teasing her alone. The Ouroboros and the Symbol of the Egyptian Sky God Horus?

"I would have to say," Esther raised her voice so the woman could hear it, "this is fascinating. This symbol is the eye of Horus, the Egyptian God of the Sky, and also the God of War and Hunting. The Wedjat or Eye of Horus is 'the central element' of seven 'gold, faience, carnelian and lapis lazuli' bracelets found on the mummy of Shoshenq II. The Wedjat 'was intended to protect the king in the afterlife' and to ward off evil. Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern sailors would frequently paint the symbol on the bow of their vessel to ensure safe sea travel.

Thus he became a symbol of majesty and power as well as the model of the pharaohs.The Pharaohs were said to be Horus in human form. When a Pharaoh died, the symbol was placed on a boat in their tomb to represent good travel and safe journey. A statue of Horus would also be made guarding the tomb to keep thieves and others away. Another name for Horus, is Ra. Ra was his name first, and was known as only the Sun God. They merged as one in the fifth dynasty of Egypt.

"I apologize for startling you like this, but history fascinates me. I must have been rambling. I just assume, that a Nazi as yourself isn't here because of some Greek shield being stolen, am I right?"

[Peacekeeper]

When they found out the shield had been stolen, Siegfried was actually at the museum. He had been since last night, and he had no intention to leave when he was told no one could go out of the museum. Sometimes ancient Babylonian translations could be painful.

Siegfried had arrived to Munich, his home town, the day before, after he had been asked to translate a specially hard text on a clay tablet. He left Berlin and reached Munich by train. He just spent an hour in his parents' old house, and didn't ever care to clean it. He had a lot to do in Berlin, and he wouldn't probably spent more than one day in Munich.

Siegfried wasn't sure how much he had slept that night, but he wouldn't be surprised if he had been awaken all night. In the morning, a very nice girl gave him a cup of coffee and some letters. One of them was a telegram from one of his fellow archaelogists in Berlin, who told them a common friend was at the hospital. The other letters had probably been at the museum for a long time. Siegfried had worked for a while at the Deutsches Museum and sometimes they would receive mail for him, but wouldn't send the letters to him in Berlin if they didn't look important. They were all probably out-dated, but there was a very nice-looking letter with an ouroboros on the wax seal.

And suddenly, everybody were talking about the Shadow Thief, who had stolen a shield in that same museum! While police started making questions, he studied the scene. They were taking their time and nobody was willing to question him. It wasn't that a man who had spent all night working in a small room could have seen something important, but Siegfried would have prefered to do anything the police was going to ask him as soon as possible. Then he had a strange feeling and got his mail back. The letter with the wax seal. He opened it. It was the thief's.


* * *

What would that Nazi officer think if she knew he was half Jew? Siegfried wasn't foolish enough to find it out, and he tried not to be noticeable. However, the young woman who was besides her was truly fascinating. There weren't that many people who dedicated their life to ancient history, and while some of the best were women, there were still just a few of them. Siegfried knew almost every historian in Berlin, Munich and Baghdad, and he just couldn't figure out who she was. Her accent seemed foreign, though.

Siegfried had noticed she knew a lot about the symbol the Thief had left. He had already decided he was going to accept to play the Thief's game, if only to recover everything that tomb raider had stolen. Maybe that woman, who knew so much of history, could be a valuable ally, even if she didn't know the Thief had contacted him yet. He prayed to a god he didn't believe in so the Nazi wouldn't focus on him, and he introduced himself.

"Excuse me. I'm Siegfried Eberhadt, and I've been studied ancient cultures for all my life. You truly just proved as an expert in Egyptian symbolism. May I ask how did you gain so much knowledge?"

[Tytun]

Upon arriving at the museum, Kent found that the entire area was swarming with cops. Makes sense, he assumed under his breath. After all, the mysterious thief had just stolen something from within. As he walked up to the main door, a guard stopped him in his tracks.

"Sorry sir, but you are not allowed in," the man said.

Looking to the side for a moment, Kent then returned his gaze to the guard and said, "The name's Kent Rush, an ex-detective from the western side. I've been given clearance to examine the crime scene under the police."

"A likely story, sir... Please step aside."

Before Kent could make a comment, a second guard moved over to the first and whispered something into his ear. From the way the guard's expression played out, it was obvious his clearance just got through.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Rush," he said apologetically as he stood aside. "You may go in."

Nodding to the guard, Kent stepped inside. Once in the correct exhibit hall, he was greeted by a cast of three people, one of which was a Nazi soldier. Drawing closer, he caught the last bits of the intelligence woman's conversation, as well as 'Siegfried's' statement. Moving to the side of them so he did not disturb, Kent looked upon the eye and its message. After reading it over carefully, he then sat down right beside the eye and looked straight up. For a few moments, he remained silent and still, but eventually he smirked to himself.

Getting up and moving out of sight for a few moments, he returned with a ladder he had received with permission from one of the guards. Placing it correctly and using the wall as the back support, Kent then climbed up to a high vantage point. Once there, his eyes once again went back to the ceiling. After a few seconds, he nodded to himself and climbed back down. Pulling out the newspaper he had, his hand also dug deeper into his pocket... and returned with nothing. Cursing to himself, he looked back over to the group and walked to them.

"Excuse me," he said as politely as possible. "Sorry for interrupting, but do any of you have a pen?"

[John]

To say that Heidi was less than happy at the moment would be a bit of an understatement. So far two people had entered the room. A room which she had told the police to keep everyone out of. But after listening to the two of them speak, Heidi thought they might be useful.

Heidi was a doctor and little to no knowledge of Egyptian mythology and symbology. But these two both seemed to have a knowledge of the subject. And even though Heidi wasn’t too keen on the idea of working with others, she knew that their knowledge would be useful.

“I don’t know who either of you are,” Heidi spoke softly and has a smile on her face. “Or for that matter how you got in here. But as I can assume that you also must have received a letter, perhaps our goals are similar. I am Captain Heidi Rausch and I feel that your knowledge and expertise would definitely come in handy. If we were to pool our resources I could definitely make it easier for you to access areas that you normally wouldn’t be able to get into.” Heidi found herself becoming distracted by a third person who had entered the room. She watched him as he proceeded to get a ladder and climb up. Heidi had already concluded that the eye on the floor must be looking at something, but due to the distractions in the room, had yet to look up. Something which she was doing now.

Heidi could see the note clearly and the word which was written on it was quite visible. “Augustusburg.” The note was on the ceiling which was about twenty-five feet up. But the letters were large and black making it easy to read for anyone who took the time to look up. Heidi continued to watch the man as he descended the ladder and approached the three of them asking for a pen. Heidi’s face changed to a more serious expression and she glared at the man.

“I’m sorry. But who the hell are you and what are you doing in my crime scene?!?”

[Tytun]

So much for politeness... With a sigh, Kent folded his hands up as he stared back at the Nazi woman.

"Isn't it common curiosity for someone to state their name first before asking for another?" he asked calmly first before adding, "But fine... Kent Rush, ex-detective, at your service. I've been called upon by the police to do some work into this mysterious thief business, so this is also MY crime scene as well. Besides, I believe we're in this together, anyway." Nonchalantly, he pulled the card out of his pocket and showed it to the group. "With that aside, I believe you said a moment ago about these two having expertise in a field. I'm curious if either of you two know anything about the name, 'Augustusburg'."

[Yoruyonaka]

Wow these blokes sure are interesting, Esther thought staring at the Nazi women and the man called Siegfried. What's more interesting was the man Kent. An American bloke, but also an ex-detective? She grinned at the situation. After taking a quick glance up and scanned the note from above, Esther knew then there would be travel. Kent then asked if anyone had a pen. The Nazi women made a rude remark, which Kent then replied with his last profession. The whole time Esther calculated the situation.

Of course, she thought, this is exactly what the Thief wants. He wants them to find allies for the mean time. Of course it would all end up in a final climactic showdown, Esther would bloody well try to gain a front. The Nazi woman didn't appeared to inclined towards the Kent person, but she did glance in Esther's direction every so often. No doubt the woman wanted Esther's help. This would be like chess.

"Quite an interesting show here," Esther said with a smile. "I could only guess there would be others." Glancing towards Siegfried. "To answer your question, I studied many ancient histories with my father throughout my life in England."

Sometimes it may be dangerous to state your knowledge, but that was only have of what she really knew. Esther knew some dead languages and symbolism for dead cultures. Peering towards Kent she thought, not only would the Nazi woman be a good ally, but the man as well. From her bag she pulled out a pen and walked forward to Kent.

"My name is Esther Nightingale, and I believe you asked for a pen," She presented it to Kent. "I have significant knowledge of Augustusburg, although not much. Augustusburg is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It's around, 150 miles from Munich. The important landmarks include the Palace of Augustusburg and the Palace of Falkenlust. It is well known for the Jagdschloss, or hunting castle."

Maybe she let out a little more knowledge then she needed, but Esther believed these were intelligent people clearly capable of a library search. She also had no doubt the Nazi was capable. Plus letting her intellect be shown gave her more of a chance for allies in this game. Esther gave a final smile to Kent and stepped back toward her bag that was on the floor. Oh, I will enjoy this fun.

[Tytun]

After his little spill with the Nazi, Kent partially hoped he could salvage some decency with the group. Thankfully, his prayer was answered when the intelligent woman Esther stepped forward and spoke to him. Seeing that she held a pen in her hand, he bowed graciously to her and gently wrapped his hand around it.

"Thank you, Miss Esther," he said with a soft smile on his face.

As Esther spoke of Augustusburg, Kent folded a crease in the newspaper he carried and wrote the name down with the pen. By the time he was finished and looked back up, he saw that Esther had moved towards her bag.

"I see," he replied when she had finished, moving towards her. "Seems like the best possible lead at the moment." After handing the pen back to Esther with a silent thank you, he turned to the other two and said, "So... What do you two think?"

[Campster J.]

Day after day it is the same routine over and over.....


Zheng awoke from a deep slumber of which he did not wish to be awoken from. He laid his head back down on his feathery pillow and awaited for slumber to overcome again, but it did not come for the day was slipping by and his body would not allow it. So, slowly he rose from his bed and stretched his cramped body. He scratched his ass as he noticed a pile of mail sitting at his doorsteps waiting to be opened and read.

As he approached the pile of mail he trips over a box of junk that always seemed to slip his mind to put away. As he landed on his face he groaned with as the cold tile floor pushed on his nose and face. After a few minutes he finally gets up and collected the mail from the floor. He browsed through the mail saying, "Junk, junk, bill, junk, water, junk, weird letter with wax, junk, bil-...." He just realized that one of the letters were designed differently then the others. He dropped the reminding mail and quickly dug for the envelope that was in the discarded pile. For a few moments he thought he had hallucinated the letter, but eventually found it under the rest of the pile of mail.

Zheng wondered what the letter was about so, he slowly opened the letter with caution and peered in. As he took the letter out he thought to himself, ' I really should read the newspaper and have some hot coffee before I have anything exciting in the morning...Otherwise it will kill the whole exciting mood for me....' He smiled at the thought and walked over to his small kitchen with the letter in hand. He started brewing coffee and picked up the newspaper that was also in the pile of mail. He read the paper as the coffee brewed. When the coffee was done he poured himself a cup of it and continued to read the paper. When he reached to the section where the thief stole another priceless artifact and this time with three times the guards guarding it; Zheng spat his coffee all over his paper. He read enough to realize the fact that the thief was good...too good...At last he came around to the letter. He took the letter out for a second time and started to read.

He finished the letter and laughed to himself saying, "Well I guess it's time to have some fun again in this dull life." He left the letter on the table and changed into his usual wardrobe. He picked up the letter and walked out the door with determination set to find the thief.

[Peacekeeper]

"An officer, a deliciously educated young woman, an American ex-detective and a poor historian like I am." Siegfried spoke to Kent and the others. "I've had stranger travel companions in the past. The four of us could figure out what the Eye of Horus meant, so we can assume we'll make a good team."

Of course, Siegfried wasn't eager to travel with a Nazi officer. There were all kinds of rumours of the Chancellor's plan on Jews. In some districts, even in large cities, Nazi followers had started to boycott Jewish people's shops. He had even heard the Nazis would make restrictive laws on Jews, but others say nothing was set in stone yet.

"And there's no reason to hide all of us received letters from the Thief. Who knows how many people would be now trying to find out what the letter meant."

The ex-detective was a smart man, and Esther, while he still didn't know her well, was the kind of person Siegfried would befriend.

"However, we should consider not going to Saxony. The Augustusburg and Falkenlust palaces are not in the town of Augustusburg, which is barely a village, but in the city of Brühl, North-Rhine Westphalia. The Augustusburg palace in Brühl is well-known for its staircase and its beautiful gardens. Brühl is a lot farther from Munich than the town of Augustusburg, but I think it's the right place to go."

He looked at his three new travel companions.

"So we must decided where we're going next: Augustusburg, Saxony, or Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia?"

[John]

Heidi smiled at Kent and promptly drew her Luger. Aiming the gun at his head, she pulled the trigger. The bullet entered his head and blood spurted from the wound as his body slumped to the floor and started to twitch. Heidi looked down and spit on him before turning to the other two.

The image of Kent’s death in Heidi’s mind brought her great pleasure and in all truth it was what she wanted to do, but she had no doubt that if she did, Esther would probably not want to work with her. Although Heidi was intelligent, her background lay in medical science, not Egyptology. Which meant Heidi needed her. But, it didn’t mean she couldn’t make life a little difficult for Kent. Heidi walked over to the officer in charge of the police on the scene and pulled him out of earshot of the others.

“Arrest the American.” Heidi spoke the words with tone of authority and the officer looked confused.

“But ma’am, he is-” The officer was cut off as Heidi started to speak again. She looked angry and was now glaring at him.

“I don’t care if he’s Franklin Roosevelt. Arrest him and detain him. Or perhaps you would like the Gestapo to find about your Jewish heritage.” Heidi was still speaking quietly when an evil smile crossed her lips.

“But ma’am,” the officer’s voice became a little shaky. “I don’t have any Jewish heritage.” Heidi’s eyes narrowed and she leered at him.

“And just who do you think the Gestapo is going to believe?” The officer looked a little scared and simply nodded his head and went off in the direction of Kent. Heidi walked with the officer and approached the others in the room.

“Kent, this officer would like to have a word with you.” Heidi was smiling and sounded happy. “As for you two,” Heidi turned to Siegfried and Esther. “If you would be so kind as to wait here for a moment, perhaps I can narrow down our list of choices. Excuse me” Heidi left the small group and made her way to an office which was just outside of the room.

Heidi picked up the phone and called SS headquarters. Once she had her commanding officer on the line, she immediately told him the truth of what was going on. After listening to her commander ream her for a few minutes, Heidi was given the go ahead and the full resources of the SS were at her disposal.

Heidi hung up the phone and then called the army command. After explaining who she was, she asked for information about trucks carrying Egyptian artefacts which would have recently entered Germany. Most importantly, where they were going. After a few more minutes of holding the line, the person came back on and she had her answer. Heidi knew where they had to go. Too bad Kent wouldn’t be joining them.

Heidi left the office and started to make her way back to the room with the others. She noticed a woman making her way towards the room. She was an attractive woman with dark hair and was carrying a notepad. Heidi instantly thought that she must be another pawn in this game which they had been invited to play. In Heidi’s mind, it was something which warranted further investigation. Heidi approached the woman with a smile on her face.

“Guten tag. I am Captain Heidi Rausch of the SS. By your presence here, may I assume that you also received a letter today?” Heidi pulled the envelope form her inner pocket and showed it to the woman.

[Tytun]

As Siegfried spoke, Kent noticed that Heidi had moved away from the group to a single soldier whom she began speaking with. From the way she had been looking at him, he began to assume what she was doing. Looking back to Esther since she seemed to be trustworthy enough, he moved to her side and whispered into her ear for a moment. After he had finished, he returned to his spot and waited for the Nazi's return.

The happy tone she gave when telling him about the guard mostly confirmed Kent's suspicions. Might as well play the part, he thought to himself as he turned to look at the guard with a somewhat surprised glance.

"Really?" he replied seemingly interested. "Must be about my friend sending a message. Thanks for the heads-up. If you two will excuse me..."

Leaving the group, he moved towards the designated policeman and struck up the conversation. Hearing what the guard wanted to say, Kent simply had to smirk. Looks like I was correct, he thought as he looked back to the group for a moment. Obviously, she wants to get rid of me. Unfortunately for her, I have aces up my sleeve in this fight. Lets see who'll win the war.

Turning back to the guard, he then said, "Alright, if that's what is to happen, lead the way."

With that, the guard took Kent out of the museum and toward the prison.

[The Gypsy Queen]

Aimee offered up her most charming smile to the woman, knowing that this was the same officer whose coattails she'd ridden into the building. Creating a relationship with the woman could prove beneficial in the long run, even if she was playing with fire.

" I'm Aimee de Gaul." she said, shaking Heidi's hand and squashing her French accent, adopting the thicker German one instead. " And I did receive a letter." Glancing over Heidi's shoulder, Aimee spotted some movement in another room. " And if you'd give me just one moment..."

Aimee scurried into the room, whipping out her notebook and pen, sketching the Wedjat on the floor in great detail, before leaning over it and twisting her head to look up at the ceiling, following the eye's direction.

" Au-gus-tus-burg." she muttered to herself, scribbling in her notebook before biting her pen. She was barely aware the SS officer and several other people in the room were watching her. " Egyptian." she muttered to herself, scribbling away in her notebook again. She looked back down at the Wedjat, blinking curiously. " See what?" And suddenly she darted out of the room.

She hurried to the nearest lamp and ripped the shade off it, hurrying to empty the envelope and hold it and the letter she had received up the light, muttering to herself about her idiocy. She snapped her fingers in victory and scribbled what appeared on the envelope quickly in her notebook before stuffing it in her pocket and grabbed the SS captain by the arm.

" Okay so, I have an idea. And I think we can be... mutually beneficial. Are we agreed?" she asked quietly, and then smiled when Heidi nodded and shook her hand. " Great. Let me make a few phone calls."

A few calls from a public phone to some people she knew in Bruhl, and Aimee was sure. Several large trucks had arrived, covered and guarded, at a certain castle in Bruhl. She found Heidi outside the museum, watching a man be shoved into a car.

" Well, my dear. We're going to Bruhl, the Falkenlust Castle. And I'd rather keep that between us." Aimee whispered to her, making sure the coast was clear. No one was within ear shot. " I trust you can supply some transportation?"

[Campster J.]

Zheng put his second to last cigarette into his mouth and lit with a dragon shelled zippo he always carried with him. He cursed at the Germans rations causing him to limit his smoking down to one per week, but he also had to thank them for making him slow down on his bad habit. As the cigarette flared up from the heat, Zheng noticed some writing on the letter he didn't notice before. He put out the small fire from the lighter and the words disappeared. He was dumbfounded for a moment, but realized that the words were heat triggered.

Zheng smiled and pulled out his lighter. He found a bench and quickly set to work on heating the letter up to read the hidden words. As the letter heated up the words started to appear; letter by letter and he started to smile with full of victory. The letter heated up enough for him to read the letter with ease and when he finished he whispered to himself, "Well looks like I am headed to the museum after all....

Zheng walked towards the museum when he noticed the large trucks and the armed guards guarding the museum. His body slumped and he sighed saying, "Damn it! Of course there just had to be guards...there just had to be stupid guards!" He grumbled as he approached the museum and quickly calculated his chance of tricking the guard, waited for the guard, or hide under the truck and see where it was going. He decided on the third choice because to trick the guard was out of the question. He wasn't blond or blue eyed so that already putted him at a disadvantage. To wait for the guard would be too risky and he thought up of a fourth choice, but realized that wouldn't work in broad daylight and he would be spotted the minute he tried to climb the roof...

He was left no choice, but to wait and see what happens.

[Peacekeeper]

So now Kent had been away for too long if he was just receiving a message, but they had a new travel companion, a young woman Aimee de Gaul. They were finally going to Brühl, which was a lot farther than Saxony, and unfortunately wasn't in the way to Berlin. The day before, Siegfried left his home for a short trip to Munich. Now, he didn't know what the Thief had planned for the letter receivers and how long he would be far from home... if they didn't catch him before.

Brühl was almost 300 miles away from Munich, so they'd better hurry up if they wanted to get there in time (whenever it would be). The police were still suspicous on letting people out of the museum, but Heidi would work that out, and Siegfried had already been questioned while Heidi made his findings and talked to Aimee. Siegfried knew they could consider himself a suspect because he claimed he had been for hours in the museum and he hadn't heard something unusual. However, maybe because he did look the kind of man who would spent the whole time working on a Babylonian tablet, not being aware of anything in his surroundings, or maybe because he had been spending some time with a Nazi captain, they told him they were finished. It was ironical the way he could take advantage of someone who would hurt, arrest or kill him if she knew the truth about him. Siegfried wasn't comfortable with Heidi being so close to him, but he knew she had a lot of resources and they had to use them to recover everything the Thief had stolen. Fortunately, his old house was far enough from the museum for people there not knowing his mother's identity, and while Siegfried wouldn't usually lie about his Jewish ancestors, he didn't carry it written on his forehead.

"I must do something before I'm ready to leave." Siegfried said, and he headed to his office. He opened the door and he noticed he hadn't locked it. In times like those, you couldn't trust anyone, and he blamed himself for his mistake. He cursed in Arabic (a habit from the time he spent in Middle East) and got into the room. Fortunately, no Nazi had entered the room, and everything was as he had left it. Then he picked up a sheet of tracing paper and he got a copy of the clay tablet. He wasn't done with the translation yet, and he didn't know when he would be able to come back to Munich. It wasn't just that he liked to get his work finished, but despite the text's complexity, he was really enjoying the story it told. He folded the paper and got it inside his pocket. Everything else he could eventually need, he was already carrying it with him. This time, Siegfried locked the door and came back to the room of the Eye of Horus.

[Yoruyonaka]

How interesting, Esther thought as Kent was taken away. What he has whispered to her would end up either allowing his continuation in this game, or end it. The man Siegfried, had spoke about the castles being actually in Brühl, more or less he was correct. But, they are close enough between the two towns. Esther smirked. They was something about this that she had to keep an eye on. The Nazi, Heidi was it, went off as Kent was taken away and started talking to a beautiful woman. Esther had been quietly observing this woman's movements as she went of scratching notes and coping down the Wedjat. Heidi had then went outside. Looks like its time to shove off then, Esther peered once more to the floor and ceiling.

"Was a pleasure to meet you, Siegfried, but I must show my leave," Esther picked up her bag, waved good bye to Siegfried, and stepped out of the exhibit.

Walking swiftly passed the other woman, Esther came outside to see Heidi at a phone booth. Oh how resourceful the Nazi woman is, Esther smiled and walked towards Heidi. Esther had to have this woman trust her. Like Kent, with one pretty smile, she had him around his finger needing her help. Her mind is what they needed. Although they didn't know her other skills.

"My dear," Esther spoke to Heidi, "I see you have the trucks here to take us to the train, but would you be so kind as to allow me to go home and get a few clothes for this journey? It would be dreadful to have to wear these again and again. I must also make sure make pet is fed and taken care of. I pray it wont be a bother that I meet you at the train station tomorrow?"

Yes, Esther was telling most of the truth to Heidi. For one thing, Esther had no desire to wear the same clothes again tomorrow. She needed to feed her cat Anubis, but, she needed some other 'supplies' as well.

"I do believe shoving off immediately would be difficult. Much easier to leave tomorrow."

[Peacekeeper]

Siegfried had studied enough Psychology lessons to know that, sooner or later, you must pick up allies, and you must know how to do it. He had started to feel most of the people he had just met (or everyone, inclusing himself) were kind of suspicious and had something to hide. He also knew Heidi was the obvious choice to befriend, since she had all the power of Nazi Germany to find the thief. Siegfried hadn't still figured out about how the other people could help him, so he decided he'd try to gain Heidi's trust.

He went out of the museum and he heard Esther asking Heidi to delay the departure. That would give him some time to spend in his home town and arrange his affairs, so he didn't complained about the idea.

"I won't be leaving alone if I can go to Brühl with some, or all, of you." He stated to Heidi. "Just tell me a time and place and I'll be there. Oh, do you know what happened to that young American gentleman? I think we should have known of him by now."

He didn't wait to an answer. He certainly wanted to hear what she had to say him, but there was an important subject he wanted to ask: a petition.

"As far as I know, we're going to Brühl because of some trucks which carry Egyptian artifacts. Do you know if these trucks are foreign? If they came from Egypt itself, maybe I could help to question them when we meet them, I'm fluent in Arabic. I could also try to send a telegram to my contacts in Egypt, I lived there six months. Maybe the thief has his contacts too, and he's using them to find his targets. Maybe he's working with someone who's not a shadow."

Siegfried thought it was a terrible plan. Siegfried knew the thief wouldn't leave such an obvious trace, but he needed to know if Heidi would agree to let him take part in her investigation. In the end, everything's a matter of trust.

[Incubus Folly]

Black shoes set onto the cobblestone of Germany for the first time in their american made lives. Gregory Nihil had never been to Germany, and it was quite the journey to arrive. He'd spent hundreds of dollars greasing the palms of ship captains, bribing border officers to let him pass, and paying of cab drivers for their outrageous fares. He didn't much like being taken advantage of, but there was hardly any other choice. Two weeks since he'd received a mysterious letter, which his hand now ventured to in his coat pocket. Toying with the playing card idly he began to walk down the sidewalk, taking in every bit of the foreign culture that he could. He didn't know any German, and the best he could do was a translation dictionary that he'd been lucky enough to borrow from the Russo Family treasury along with several other useful tidbits.

He made for the closest thing to resemble a convenience store and snagged a map and a newspaper for what he was sure was double their worth. He hated being foreign, he felt almost completely out of place. What was he going to do though? shout threats in another language? yeah. Real effective. He pulled the dictionary from his spare pocket and began perusing it for familiar markings on the map and newspaper. Several minutes later he found himself outside the building of what he assumed was the museum in the paper.

He thought to himself for several minutes, drawing different conclusions and ideas without even entering the building, which seemed to be accessible only to important individuals at the moment. Interestingly enough one man had been brought out with one of the local police. had the thief been caught already...? no... that couldn't be him, he wouldn't be getting pulled in by a single officer. He probably just caused a little trouble he shrugged and continued to eye the building and the people surrounding it, moments later another person left the building, a woman.

She has stopped to talk to a few of the soldiers and had asked them questions in the German tongue, her accent didn't seem completely native though and he decided to take a bit of a risk.
"Excuse me miss! do you have a moment?" If she new English she'd know he was talking to her.
"Do you know what happened? Was something stolen?" He didn't want to be too precise if she didn't know anything, but something told him she might.

[Anne Bonny]

She had never seen Chief Braun so agitated, Nina mused. His face was flushed and his hands fidgeted as he explained the latest heist in a hushed voice. Even their taxi driver, although he couldn't possibly hear their conversation from the front seat, had picked up on the chief's body language and had asked if he was alright.

Nina found it quite amusing, but managed to keep her smile in check. Instead, she watched Braun's eyes intently, soaking in every detail he volunteered. Her fingers, however, turned over a playing card in her pocket as he spoke.

It had already been an interesting morning. The day had begun normally enough, but when the post arrived at work there was a curious, sealed letter that came with it. A letter addressed to her, from the mysterious Shadow Thief. Nina had been intrigued, of course. But only a few minutes later her phone rang, and Chief Braun had asked for her assistance. Working with the chief always paid more than a normal day at the paper, so she had feigned sickness and slipped out of the office quickly.

Meeting in a taxi was one of the chief's common tactics, as it was easy to avoid prying eyes from inside the vehicle. However the scope of this assignment was anything but common. Nina listened, wide-eyed, as the man described the missing artifact, the fact that no one had heard or seen anything, and of course, the symbol drawn on the floor. Unfortunatly, Nina herself knew nothing about the history or mythology of past cultures, as the study of such wicked practices weren't exactly encouraged in Germany. But that didn't mean she couldn't find someone else who might be able to help.

"Here, here is fine," Chief Braun commanded the driver when they pulled close to the museum. As was their custom, Nina exited the cab first and put a few steps in between herself and Braun before he followed suit. But out of the corner of her eye she saw an officer approach the chief. With an update? Nina wondered. She paused within earshot, fumbled in her purse for a moment, and slowly lit a cigarette as she pretended to ignore their conversation.

"I don't know, sir. The whole group just showed up one by one," the officer said, gesturing to a small cluster of people gathered near the street. "They each had a different excuse for getting in. I don't think they know each other, but they kept talking about letters."

Thank you, officer, Nina thought to herself, dipping her head to hide her smile. Without any further hesitation, she made her way to the group.

"Much easier to leave tomorrow..." one was saying.

"Maybe he's working with someone who's not a shadow," suggested another.

Still another was saying something in English.

Undeterred, the blond girl cleared her throat and took her place next to a studious looking man. "I don't mean to interrupt," she said, donning a shy smile, "but I couldn't help but overhear a few things."

Nina withdrew a gloved hand from her coat pocket, revealing the king of hearts she had received earlier. "I was wondering if I might tag along?"

[John]

Heidi stared at Siegfried as well as the new woman who arrived, holding a king of hearts. Truly Heidi had her own goals in mind. What ever their prize was going to be, it would go to the glory of Germany. A gift to the chancellor. Of course from the sounds of things, it would be substantial. But Heidi had no intention of giving much away. Of course the two she had in mind to help her would get something, as long as they proved to be useful.

“I think I should go make travel arrangements.” Heidi looked at Siegfried and the new woman with the card. “Esther, a moment please?” Heidi moved away from the new people, taking Esther with her. Heidi stared at Esther. She had no intention of waiting for her to go home. Not to mention the fact that she was in no way going to wait until the next day. Esther had one chance and one chance only.

“Esther,” Heidi spoke quietly so that the others couldn‘t hear. “I am leaving now. It is your choice if you come or not. I think your knowledge would be useful to me, but I have no intention of wasting any time. Come or stay. The choice is yours.”

Heidi turned back towards Aimee to see a man speaking to her. She could tell just from his attire that he wasn’t German, but she could guess why he was here. Heidi moved quickly over to Aimee and stared at the man.

“Thank you for keeping my aide company. I’m sorry, but we must be going.” Heidi took Aimee by the hand and opened the door of the car for her. Moving around to the driver’s side, she got in next to Aimee and started the car.

“I don’t’ know, but the Egyptologist might be coming.” Heidi smiled as she spoke to Aimee. “I would like you to pose as my aide. It will make things easier. And might I ask, where are you from?” Heidi took one last look out the window to see if Esther was coming and prepared to drive away.

[Peacekeeper]

In the end, everything is about choosing sides, and Heidi had already chosen hers, and it didn't include Siegfried. She didn't trust him, ir didn't find him useful enough. For a moment, he thought she might have found his birth certificate, which would make obvious he was half Jewish, but probably she hadn't after all, since he hadn't been arrested yet.

"Miss Nightingale", he said in English. "If you're leaving with Captain Rausch, I guess I'll follow you, not in a literal sense, on the way to Brühl in my own car. But if you wish to stay a little longer and want to share transport with me, I could stay. Maybe I could even take you for a ride to whatever place in this city you desire. I was born in Munich, after all. The choice is yours." Heidi couldn't hear them, but he hoped she couldn't speak English.

"You could go too, as long as there's enough room in the car." He still said this in English, then repeated it in German, so the other people would understand.

Actually, Siegfried couldn't afford a car, and he didn't have any, not even in Berlin. However, the Deutsches Museum had one they'd lend to their workers, and he was sure he could borrow it, specially if he didn't tell the truth about his destination and how long he'd be using it.

So he was leaving, whether he would be following Heidi or he would wait for travel companions, it was up to the other people outside the museum.

[Yoruyonaka]

Tied between two possible groups, how ironic. Esther would need to buy new clothes and call for someone to feed her cat with Heidi, but if she went with Siegfried, she didn't lose so much money, but opportunity. Inevitably, Esther had no other choice.

"Oh dear, I am afraid I have no other choice in the matter," she sighed with a hint of amusement. "Siegfried my dear, it was a pleasure, but I must be off with Heidi here. She does present great travel and a sense of humor. I just hope they don't leave without me, excuse me."

With a slight curtsey, Esther stepped toward the car. Thoughts flooded her brain. The new woman held a key of hearts, the other woman was the aide of the Nazi? How unlikely. Someone of her standards to me, wouldn't be a Nazi aide. This was all an act, or a pact they made to both get something out of this. I better be on my toes. Esther stepped lightly into the car and glanced at Heidi to see a relieved smile.

Esther spotted at the other woman and asked, "From what I overheard earlier, you speak German well." With a smile Esther switched from German to French, "I speak French quite well too."

This was not really to make enemies with the aide, but to show that Esther knew the difference of her accent to German.

Back to English turned to Heidi. "Now may I ask, when will we be off?"

[Campster J.]

He smiled as he saw the two women go toward a car and Zheng quickly thought the chances of being able to sneak up on the car and buckle himself under. He knew it was going to hurt a lot, but to ride under the car with two women pricked his curiosity. He quickly ran out of the shadows and made his way toward the car. He hid around a corner and hoped with all his luck that the car was headed toward Augustusburg.

His plan was to wait a split second and then quickly roll under the car as it passed by. His chances were definitely one to ten on him surviving, but all his life he had been on the lucky side. He is going to risk his chances at this shot and if he died there he wouldn't regret it other then not being able to find that perfect woman for him. He smiled at that out of place thought and figured that what he had to lose.

Zheng crouched down at the corner and prepared himself to get under the car without killing himself.

[Incubus Folly]

Mr. Nihil, as he preferred it heaved a heavy sigh and observed the man who had made a vague offer and the woman he'd addressed had been rather rudely wrested from his questions. He'd taken offense to it, and in time he would make sure the woman who'd entered the car first would be made aware of it sometime in the future. He had a sneaking suspicion that he'd be meeting them again after all, and he was very much looking forward to it.

He turned away from the offer to ride with a complete stranger however, and instead proceeded to enter the building with very little resistance at his chosen point of entry. The one man who did get in his way found himself unconscious on the floor of a broom closet without his clothes. He wasn't going to learn anything outside and he wasn't going to depend on anyone else for information when it was going to be such an obvious inconvenience. He spent the next half hour or so observing the crime seen, drawing the same conclusions everyone else already had, and feeling a very distinct possibility of being a pawn in a very strange game of chess.

still behind... Everyone else had long since left the scene of the investigation and the investigative crews had all left the museum. It was in fact, beginning to reopen the rest of the exhibit in that room. He needed to catch up with everyone now, and they were all close to an hour ahead of him. He'd need to find another mode of transportation, an airplane.

[Kirra]

"I don't care where the fuck you have to be!" The words could be heard across the courtyard even to Augustus Palace. "No one leaves until I get some bloody answers! Now who the hell stole my eye?" The man stood before the main doors to Falkenlust Palace. A tall stout man, with fierce hard features and a angry look on his face. His sturdy travel attire was clean, but showed signs of years of use. He held a high powered rifle at the house aiming at anyone who tried to leave. Unsure really if he would shoot them or not, the man was torn between his anger and his humanity.

The night before he had set up the many artifacts, that he had spent his life gathering, in the room designated for the exhibit. Millions of dollars of artifacts being shown only for one night. Of course, that didn't cover the eye. A golden eye, the symbol of Horus, found in a tomb placed directly on top of a pharaoh's body. The eye was considered priceless, the tomb-raider never even tried to have it appraised. He wouldn't even allow it to be displayed until the morning when he would be able to watch it.

When he went to sleep, the eye was placed in a secret location that only he knew of. But when he went to retrieve it in the morning, it was gone. He frantically searched his room, and then started to tear apart the closest rooms. Finally he gave up and decided to check the exibit. He went frantic the man stormed through the building into the display room. A few things where out of place and a piece was missing, but the piece was one of five so he didn't even bother. He went strait to the display meant for the eye.

But of course, it wasn't there. The only thing that remained was a large box with a note saying, I will open only for the one who can tell me what is most important to a Romani. The man was pissed. He kicked the box and nearly broke his foot. The tomb-raider tried to rip the box apart. He grabbed a pry-bar and tried to separate the box, but to not avail. He examined the box for a moment. It was made of a hard metal with seven dials on it. Each dial spun through all twenty six Latin letters.

The man didn't even try to figure it out. Instead he went to his room and grabbed his rifle. He started screaming through the house. "I'll fucking kill 'em. Who the hell did it? I'll kill 'em!" People started to hear him and followed the sound of the shouting. He went out the front door and fired off a round into the air. "Get out here now!" As the crowd gathered he started threatening peoples lives. A woman cried saying she need to go home and see his kids. "I don' care where the fuck you have to be!"

[Peacekeeper]

The road to Augustusburg was too quiet for what Siegfried had expected. Not many cars, not even Nazi controls looking for Jews who were obviously confronting a certain blonde captain. He left Munich soon after Heidi, but he took less-known roads in an attempt to get to Augustburg faster, avoiding any distraction, and he didn't know if he was leading the race.

He asked five police offers if something unusual had happened in the town before he realized he had to bribe them to get information. The fifth guard, after he gave him some cash (nowadays these people didn't even know how much they should ask for a bribe!), told him about the Falkenlust theft. He didn't want to look suspicious so he told him he was just curious about something he had heard in a café, and left apparently in the opposite direction. As soon as he could, he lead himself to the palace.

There were several people outside the palace, but most of them didn't even know the exact object that had been stolen. All of them knew, however, that inside the palace there was a very angry man with a very loaded gun who didn't want anyone to leave. Well, obviously someone had left. Or he was just crying too loud.

"I don't have time for this", Siegfried thought. He just looked for a back door, so he wouldn't be noticed, but all of them were locked. He just broke a window and went into the palace before he could realize anyone had heard the noise of glass breaking.

He found the room where the theft have taken place easily: he just had to follow the screams. When he went into the room, the man with the gun was telling something about nobody getting out of the room, and he looked so shocked to see someone getting into the room that at first he didn't react. A couple seconds later, he pointed at him with the gun.

"Who the fuck are you?" he said. Siegfried had the feeling the man didn't really expect an answer, so he didn't introduce himself properly.

"Someone who can figure out what just happened here". Siegfried was staring at the gun and he didn't know if there were any other letter receivers in the room. But the man was apparently satisfied with his answers, and he pointed at a box with seven dials. Each dial had a letter, and the current combination of letters was non-sense. Siegfried had never thought a box like this would exist outside mystery novels.

"What is the most important to a Romani?" the man shouted. So this was the Thief's next clue? But he had to know something before.

"What was stolen?" Siegfried asked.

The man moved his hand in the air, making a well-known figure for Siegfried. "My eye!" The man shouted. He was even more nervous now.

"The Eye of Horus" Siegfried said. "Well, I never liked that name, you know? That's how Greeks called him. Egyptians knew him as Heru'ur. The falcon, the sun, the avenger." Maybe all of this was about revenge? He'd be able to think about that later. "That's interesting, you know. The stolen object was Egyptian, and the thief asks you about the Romani, or Gypsies, as most people know it. Did any of you know the word Gypsy derives from the word Egypt? Today many people say the Gypsies came from India, but in the Antiquity, everyone said they were from Egypt."

If Esther was in the room, she would have talked by now. Or maybe Heidi didn't want him to know he wasn't first to arrive, and they were hiding among the people in the room. But right now, he didn't care if there were other players with him. He was focusing in the thief's clue. And he thought he had an answer. Well, technically he had thought three possible solutions. He only hoped the box wouldn't self-destruct if the answer was wrong.

"The Romani are known for their nomad way of life." Siegfried said. "They don't accept other authorities, laws or rules. They stick to their traditions. If you ask me, the most important for them is a seven-letters rule: Freedom."

[The Gypsy Queen]

Aimee reviewed her notes as Heidi directed the car. Judging by what she had gathered from her notes and the phone call she'd made to her friend in Bruhls, she was almost positive something Egyptian was going to be stolen, and she had a guess as to what.

The car pulled into a military airport and Aimee did her best to divert her eyes. In this day and age not being born German was a punishable crime and she didn't want to give anyone ammunition against her. The car pulled up to a plane, and Aimee's eyes lit up.

" Are we going to fly?" she asked, her French accent slipping through.

“ Well I didn’t intend to walk,” Heidi smiled playfully. “Not only that, it will make sure that we arrive before the others do.”

Aimee nodded, following Heidi as the blonde climbed out of the car. Checking over her shoulder to be sure Esther followed, Aimee hurried after the Nazi's brisk pace to the plane, which was not as large as she expected it to be.

" This little thing can fly?" she asked incredulously.

“ Of course it can my dear,” Heidi responded. “ The finest in German aeronautics. Perfectly safe." Aimee still had her doubts, but she followed Heidi into the cramped little plane nonetheless, scooting over to allow room for Esther. Once all three women were on the plane, the little thing was sealed up and started.

Aimee had to cover her ears for the noise.

The flight to Augustusburg was about and hour or so long, but it was noisy. Aimee's only respite was being able to look out the window at the ground, so far away. It was almost magical. Noisy magical, but magical nonetheless.

" There's the castle!" Aimee had to practically scream at Heidi, noting they were beginning to descend.

Heidi directed the pilot to take them down and land on the front lawn of the castle. It was more than big enough to bring the plane in and Heidi didn’t want to waste any time. Looking back at Esther and Aimee, she shouted.

“ Everybody hang on!"

Landing, Aimee learned, as by far the worst part of flying. Not smooth like lifting off had been, it was bumpy, flung her about the plane, and left bruises on her rear. She grumbled the entire way out of the plane, following Heidi and leading Esther up to the gate of the castle.

Where they were confronted by a man with a gun.

" I assume you have a plan?" Aimee asked Heidi.

" Indeed" Heidi smiled back.

[John]

Once the plane had landed, Heidi led Esther and Aimee across the lawn, accompanied by the two soldiers they had taken from the base where they acquired the plane. As they approached the doors, they were greeted by a man with a gun.

“Capitan Heidi Rausch. I would like to go in with my aides,” Heidi motioned to Esther and Aimee. “And investigate the scene.”

“No one is getting in.” The man appeared adamant and raised the gun slightly. As he did, the soldiers moved closer but Heidi raised her hand to get them to stand down.

“Sir, I just want to catch this thief and recover your property,” Heidi was still smiling, though she had to resist the urge to arrest the man. “Will you please let us pass.” The man lowered his gun slightly and motioned them to go ahead.

“Thank you sir,” Heidi smiled. “I would like to ask though, what was stolen.”

“They took my eye!!” The man appeared quite angry. Apparently the eye meant a great deal to him.

“Was anything else taken?” Heidi asked, raising her eyebrows.

“They also took one of my scarabs. I have five of them in total, but he only took one.”

“Was there anything that would set this particular scarab apart form the others?” Heidi asked.

“Nothing at all,” the man responded. “The five were identical.”

“And what about the eye. Where did you get it from?” Heidi knew the eye must be somehow significant and needed more information about it.

“I don’t remember,” the man was growing agitated again and his eyes shifted downwards.

“Listen to me,” Heidi moved forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her voice was soothing. “We believe this thief is responsible for another theft. I need all the information I can get. And it would be a shame if we had to confiscate your entire collection as evidence. I just want to catch this man and I give you my word your eye will be returned to you once we have.”

"I took it from another person. An old traveling partner of mine. He found it." The man still seemed to be nervous, but at least he was forthcoming.

“And what was his name?” Heidi asked and smiled. She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe this was the thief they were looking for.

“I don't know his real name. But he always went by 'thief'. I guess he didn't realize I was a better thief than him." The man gave a wry smile

“And where is he now?” Heidi continued to smile, but was starting to grow impatient.

“I don't know. Last I heard, he was traveling around in Berlin.”

“Where was the eye when you took it?” Heidi’s smile was beginning to fade.

“With his wife. He gave it to her as a wedding gift.”

“And can you tell me where she lives?”

“She lives in Berlin." The man took out a pencil and a piece of paper and wrote an address on it. Handing it to Heidi, he looked at her almost pleadingly. "Don't know the name. In fact that is all I know. Just go find my eye."

“I will sir. Now if you will excuse me.” Heidi led Esther and Aimee passed the man and into the house.

Once they had arrived in the room where the crime took place, Heidi’s attention immediately fell on the box with the letters and the note on it. Frankly Heidi had no idea what a Romani valued above all else. To her they were nothing more than scum and not barely even worth a bullet. Bullets cost money after all. Better to bludgeon them all to death with a club. She had no clue here. But then, she had help.

“Aimee,” Heidi spoke softly. “What do you make of this?”

Aimee approached the box slowly, notebook already out as she began to sketch it. After she was satisfied she read the note and blinked. This was a dangerous situation. She couldn't look like a gypsy to Heidi.

"I remember hearing once..." she started carefully. " That Romani value freedom."

This seemed to make sense to Heidi. And as Aimee had thought of it, she should be the one to have the honour of opening the box.

“Give it a try,” Heidi smiled and had a look of anticipation on her face.

Aimee shrugged and knelt at the box, carefully entering the letters in. As she finished the box opened with a smart click. Aimee smiled up at Heidi and Esther triumphantly as she lifted the lid.

Heidi looked inside and saw a note with an object underneath it. Removing the note, she read it aloud.

"Someone with gypsy knowledge. How does that make you feel Heidi? I didn't think you guys liked gypsies." Heidi was resisting the urge to tear the letter into little pieces. She didn’t like being toyed with and the thief obviously knew she would get there first. She folded the note and placed it in her pocket before removing the other item from the box, showing it to Heidi and Esther.

“I think it would be wise for us to get moving,” Heidi closed the box. The others will be coming soon and we would be wise to stay ahead of them. I think we should go check out this address.”

"I agree."

"Wait." Aimee said quickly, pulling out her notebook and tearing a page out. She quickly scribbled a note that said: "Wishing you were here! Love from the lead!" and placed it in the box, closing the lid and resetting the lock. She smiled up at Heidi and Esther.

" Now I'm ready."

Heidi smiled at Aimee and Esther and led them back to the plane. Once there, she told the pilot where he was to go and they headed off towards their next destination.

(co-op post with The Gypsy Queen)

[Peacekeeper]

Of course freedom was the most important to a Romani, so the box opened. What was inside was barely a surprise: another riddle, and a note. Siegfried picked it up and read it:

""Hey Siegfried. How was your trip up? You know I would avoid the Nazi lady if I were you. A..." He stopped reading aloud. The note followed: "A Jew with knowledge about Gypsies. I think she may shoot you if she knew."

"She'd shoot me even if she didn't know" Siegfried thought. Heidi didn't trust him, maybe because she suspected Siegfried wasn't the kind of man who would join the Nazi party, or maybe because she had underestimated him. Apparently, Siegfried had reached the Falkenlust Palace before Heidi, which was too good to be true. Siegfried had the experience of a lifetime, but Heidi had all the resources she would ever need.

Inside the box, there was something else: a wooden figure. That was the riddle. He identified the figure as a Greek god, and then closed the box, changed the combination of the dials and stared at the man with the gun.

"That's fine, sir" Siegfried said to him. "I've got all the information I know to find the thief. Call this number for further information". Siegfried wrote up the telephone number and the address of the Deutsches Museum (he had to give back the car to them anyway) and left. When he went outside, he didn't see any other letter receiver.

When he went out of the palace, he read the note once again. He was confident he had already found the answer, so he considered leaving immediately, but he went to a café and took a brief meal. While he was drinking coffee, he smiled, because he thought he knew where the next strike would take place... In a place he had seen hundreds of times. Because now he was going home.

There was something he had to do before leaving: he sent a telegram to a friend. He asked him to go to the place he thought the thief would visit next, and wait for him to tell any strange activity in the surroundings. He was hoping to catch the thief, but after he sent it, he thought maybe he could find out if other players reached that place before him. He just hoped his friend would receive it and accept the strange petition.

He then led to his car, in order to leave Brühl.

[Yoruyonaka]

How exciting, the whole time Esther watched and listened as the two continued to chat on the way to the Falkenlust castle. What was more intriguing was the Nazi got them a plane. Oh how resourceful you will be. When they finally arrived and sped there way to the castle Esther asked Heidi to make a quick call to her housekeeper. She made sure her cat was taken care of and the house with its 'valuable' items as well. Again they were off. The castle itself wasn't as amazing as others Esther had seen, but it was still old with history. She smiled at its sight.

However, she then frowned at the man with the gun at the front of the castle. When they came up to him he said his eye was stolen after Heidi used her Nazi power to get him to lower his gun. One of the scarabs were stolen too. Hmm...the scarabs reference back to the Dynasty of Ra. Taking one would mean nothing unless it was a key to something, which scarabs usually were. The man allowed them to go inside to find a box at the scene of the crime. What do the Romani value most? The answer would open the box. Esther knew, as did Aimee, that the Romani valued freedom above all else. The box clicked open when Aimee put the answer in. Aimee smiled up at them and Esther acknowledged her with a nod. Smarter than any Nazi aide I've ever bloody seen. Funny though, because she's forgetting one more important detail. The Romani also valued family. It was a fundamental social well-being. Family was just as valuable as gold and silver.

Within the box was a note and a horse statue. Basing it off from what she learned so far, it had to be Greek or Egyptian. Heidi then said we must hurry to our next destination that was all to obvious to Esther. The note had said there was someone with Gypsy knowledge. Well Esther knew plenty on Gypsies, but she would keep that secret until it seemed necessary. When they got back on the plane, Esther decided she better say something.

"I don't know if you two have noticed," Esther smiled looking at Heidi and Aimee, "but the missing scarab signifies something. According to ancient Egyptian mythos, the sun god Ra rolls across the sky each day and transforms bodies and souls. Modeled upon the Scarabaeidae family dung beetle, which rolls dung into a ball for the purposes of laying eggs,which would be later transformed into larva, the scarab was seen as an earthly symbol of this heavenly cycle. This came to be iconographic, and ideological symbols were incorporated into Ancient Egyptian society." Satisfied, Esther waited for their input.