457 Down the rabbit hole

Saavi and Celaena sat on a shuttle heading towards the Amara clan. Saavi navigated the aircraft pushing it passed it's speed limits to get there in time.

"What are we going to do once we get there?" Celaena asked from the passenger seat.

"Help Lord Mano and Lady Lyra, and stall for time until Mikaela arrives." Saavi told her what Mika wanted them to do.

"What stall for time...you mean she wants me to-"

"Yes, stop time. If necessary."

"I've never stopped time in such a big scale before."

"Well there will be no better time to try than tomorrow."

Celaena stayed silent as she thought about what will happen if she can't do it.

Will she have to tell her friend that she let her family die?

As Celaena tried to keep herself from having an anxiety attack, Mika cracked the code on the door and was now touring the insides of many lab rooms underneath the imperial palace's floors.

Most of them were empty, just full of material and tools used for their experiments.

Grabbing one of the lab coat from one of the empty rooms, Mika tried it on hoping to blend in with the other people down here.

Yet, when she put the coat on it made her look like a child wearing their parents clothes. Giving up on that idea she settle with turning herself into air, well more like a ghost.

Allowing the elements to become one with her body, Mika is able to make her body become invisible like air.

This skill drains a lot in energy, if used incorrectly.

She has been practicing this skill since seeing it in Analise's "memories." Although she is only able to do with this water and air elements, so far, it's better than nothing.

With so many enemies down here, it will probably be better with an incorporeal body.

Moving faster through the secret labs as she passed through walls and heavy machinery, she searched to find clues to what experiment the King was about finish.

Reaching were she could hear dozens of voices coming from a room, Mika cautiously made her way over there.

Once she passed through the wall, she was greeted to a large group of people working at tables packing away containers into boxes.

"Come on guys! We have only have a few minutes before we have to leave! Speed it up!" A female officer said standing in front of the room.

Leave? Where are they going?

Mika inspected the materials they were loading and found that they were your average honey containers that one could find on any farm or orchard.

There was nothing inside nor were the boxes any different.

Completely confused, she sit around waiting to find out what would happen next after they have finished.

When the final box was pack with the average run of the mill containers, the female officer in the front filed everyone out of the room, with said boxes, towards another tunnel.

Just when Mika was wondering how much farther they needed to walk down the damp tunnel, the group stepped into an even roomier cavity than the previous one. Filled with more people, several extra chambers and bright lighting, which allowed her to see everything, Mika was floored by what is hidden underneath the palace's floors.

It's another city down here...

Through she wanted badly to take a look around the area, the group she followed in here didn't stop moving and continued walking into the next tunnel.

Regretful that she couldn't look around, but listening to her gut, she kept up with the initial group.

Just as the last member entered the connecting tunnel with Mika following closely from behind, a pair of cold eyes trained on the opening as Mikaela disappeared inside.

Seems we have an intruder…

Voron glared at the entrance to the tunnel before disappearing in a blink of an eye.

Mika didn't know she had been found out by someone, busy taking in all the information around her, she forgotten about the possibility of someone powerful enough to notice her presence.

The group she was following reached the end of the tunnel and exit out onto a loading dock. 

All of a sudden Mika had a weird feeling entering her gut.

"Load everything up! Don't waste anymore time!" The same mid-age female officer shouted out to everyone as a big carrier craft landed in front of them.

Mika had never seen anything like it, it was almost as big as her warships.

Where does the King get all these ships from?

Watching as the group loaded their cargo onto the carrier, she suddenly felt a cold presence coming from behind her at the tunnel's opening.

Peering at the dark exit, Mika knew that whatever it was, was coming for her.

Not caring where the ship was going, she raced towards the hatch ramp and boarded the carrier.

Voron strolled out of the tunnel and onto the loading dock. 

His eyes searched around to look for the intruder he felt before. When minutes passed and he still didn't find her, he eyes stared at the carrier being loaded.

Voron didn't waste any time and boarded. 

Mika cursed her luck as she had been watching the entrance of the tunnel and saw when Voron exited. When she saw him searching around the dock, she knew he was looking for her.

She hoped that when he could no longer find on the loading dock he would go back, but instead he choose to follow her onboard the ship.

Fu*k! I really don't have any luck with grandpas! Thinking about the old coons in the Amara clan, then her professors at the academy, the King and now this guy… Mika did not want to meet another grandpa.

"Hello, sir. Is there anything I can do for you?" The female officer in charged of this group, saw Voron walking onboard the carrier and thought something was wrong.

"No... Go about your work. I just need to find a mouse."