FSE

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There had always existed several different ways to steal something.

Khloe was all for the direct, classic approach – you sneak into someone’s house at night, grab whatever you’re planning to sell on the black market and then leave the town before anyone knows you were even there. However, there were certain situations that required a special level of finesse. Some houses were more heavily guarded than others, which meant climbing up a wall and breaking in through a window wasn’t always the optimal option.

It surely wasn’t an option when it came to the Basilisk’s Lair.

Many amateur thieves had tried to gain a reputation by stealing something from the mysterious rich individual. None of them had succeeded so far, which probably meant things weren’t as easy as most of them had suspected. Horrifying tales were told about their fates once the Basilisk had put their claws in them… and Khloe had no intention of becoming part of that sinister lore. The fox was determined to succeed where the others had failed.

It wasn’t like failing was an option anymore. Khloe owed Erakir a lot of money from the submersible’s funding and they were pretty sure the moogle was getting tired of waiting for a return. Khloe hadn’t been particularly worried about repaying their debts in the past, but this one had been a long time ago and they were starting to feel bad about it. Plus, they weren’t entirely sure Erakir was a moogle you could owe money to. They still didn’t know them that much.

But apart from the payment thing, Khloe also felt like stealing the coveted jewel guarded deep within the manor was a really attractive challenge on itself. According to legend, said jewel had helped the Basilisk amass their fortune in the beginning, when they were just a humble merchant. As a consequence, people had named the gem after him. It was known as the Eye of the Basilisk, and whoever owned it was said to inherit their fortune.

Khloe didn’t think that was necessarily true. However, some extra money was always welcome. And they would certainly enjoy the challenge.

Sneaking into the Basilisk’s Lair at night was an idea Khloe had discarded mostly from the beginning. The manor was known for the many fully-armored bangaa, who guarded the building and its surroundings, even at night. With the helmets’ visors covering their stern faces and their imposing physiques, those weren’t the kind of enemies Khloe wanted to make.

Going undercover, however, was a completely different approach that Khloe could see working. It hadn’t been hard to get a fake identification for the upcoming fancy party the Basilisk would be throwing. Khloe already had the maid outfit ready for the occasion and posing as one wouldn’t be difficult in the slightest.

The most excruciating part of the process had been waiting for the party to actually happen. The Basilisk wasn’t one to show themself in public very often – and in fact, no matter how many people Khloe asked about them, they got no reliable physical description. Most people seemed positive they were a bangaa as well, a merchant from distant lands who’d been lucky enough to find an expensive jewel. One raccoon Khloe had encountered described them as a ‘tall, handsome man with a ring in each finger, each ring with a bigger gem than the previous one’.

Needless to say, the fox highly doubted this description was accurate, but who could tell? The parties the Basilisk hosted happened once every two moons and only a handful of important people were invited. The kind of people you can’t just ask kindly.

When the night of the party finally arrived, Khloe was more impatient than nervous. They joined the group of maids standing near the entrance, bowing their head respectfully as each and every guest that had been invited walked in. So far, nobody seemed to have noticed the fox as someone who was out of place. When Khloe had talked with the head housekeeper to offer their services, they’d caused a great impression, so the fox assumed all the other maids had already been notified that they’d have someone else supporting them that night. Nobody had any real reason to be suspicious of the fox.

Moving through the manor with so many eyes around might have seemed impossible to other, less experienced thieves, but Khloe was familiar with an uncomfortable truth – no one really paid any attention to the service unless they wanted something from them. Besides, all those guests were sure to keep the bangaa guards entertained. Khloe was probably free to roam the house as they wished, as long as they didn’t attract the attention of any of those scalie thugs.

The only problem the fox had considered was being unable to find the Eye of the Basilisk before the party was over, but then a passing conversation caught their attention.

“I heard they’re going to wear it tonight,” a stout marten was telling their companion, a sparrow whose long, vaporous dress could only be described as dazzling. “That’ll be something to be seen. As far as I know, they’d never had the Eye on them.”

“So are we even sure the Eye exists to begin with?” the sparrow replied with a cocky grin. Alarmed, the marten turned to him and shushed with urgency.

“You can’t say that in here! Don’t even talk about it. The Basilisk will throw you out… or worse!”

Slightly frustrated, the sparrow rolled his eyes and complied, but Khloe could tell he wasn’t particularly convinced. On the other hand, the fox felt slightly nervous for a completely different reason – what if the Basilisk was, indeed, wearing the Eye that night? Stealing a jewel as someone wore it was quite beyond their skills. Khloe hoped what they’d overheard was simply a rumor. They wanted a challenge, not an impossible task.

As soon as all the guests had entered, Khloe and all the other maids received a sign to perform their tasks. They were supposed to bring the trays out and make sure every attendee had a source of snacks nearby. It wasn’t like the Basilisk cared for their guests well-being, of course, or that they needed so many maids to deliver all the food, but Khloe was beginning to think by then that this party was little less than an sumptuous display of wealth and power… as most parties tended to be.

They fluttered about the big hall as they approached every small group created in the room with perfect pose and impeccable manners. Balancing the tray in one paw as they kept the other behind their back, the fox used their privileged position to take a look around the manor without raising suspicions. Only the first floor was open for visitors – the second and third were off limits except for the head housekeeper and some privileged members of the staff team. Of course, that wasn’t going to stop Khloe from taking a look anyway. Where would the Eye be, if not hidden in a place where the Basilisk didn’t want anyone to look at?

The fox made sure to sneak away when they approached the corner of the hall, unseen by the bangaa guards, and quickly began walking through one of the long corridors that led to the secondary stairs. Conveniently, they’d been designed to be used by the household staff so that visitors wouldn’t have to see them, which was exactly what Khloe wanted at the moment.

They arrived on the second floor and took a look around. There were no bangaa to be seen, which only made things easier for them. Khloe made sure to be as stealthy as possible, their maid manners quickly switching into those of a professional intruder. They opened a few doors, looked into several rooms and snooped through a number of cabinets and drawers. Nothing.

After a few minutes of fruitless search, Khloe decided to go back downstairs. One of the easiest mistakes an undercover thief such as themself could make was disappearing for too long – being where you weren’t supposed to be raised suspicions, but not being where you are supposed to be had definitely been the downfall of many. They’d have time to take another look. The night was still young and the guests weren’t even properly drunk yet.

They grabbed another tray and moved through the hall, paying close attention to the conversations spoken in the hall. All of them were perfectly superfluous, and Khloe began to grow bored. Those posh gatherings could sometimes be so tiring.

The fox was about to head upstairs again when they were about to bump into one of the guests – the marten they’d seen by the entrance.

“Eep! Excuse me, sir,” Khloe muttered, scolding themself for being too distracted. All that monotonous conversation seemed to be affecting them more than they’d like.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. I’ll, er… pick one of these, I think.”

The marten took one of the snacks from the tray and put it in his mouth reluctantly. Khloe had been thinking that those didn’t look particularly delicious. A closer look at the marten made them realize that he was nervous, more nervous than he could possibly let all those other guests know.

“Is everything alright, sir?” they asked. “May I help you?”

The marten had been looking down and raised his gaze to look into the fox’s eyes.

“U-uh, I…” He stuttered. It was then when Khloe realized his companion was gone. “Yes, why not. I came here accompanied, as you can probably guess. My companion – a young sparrow, in his twenties, expensive, expensive dress – seems to have gone missing. If you find him, can you please let him know that I’m looking for him?”

There was a sense of urgency in the marten’s voice. If what they said about the Basilisk was true, then Khloe understood why.

“I’ll keep an eye out for him, sir,” they answered with a practiced bow.

“Oh, please, don’t mention eyes in front of me. I’ve had enough of that conversation for the rest of my life,” the marten complained. “But thank you. I appreciate the help.”

He turned his back and went back to the party, seemingly relieved. Khloe watched him leave. They really hoped the missing sparrow was just making out with some other random guest in the restroom. And the marten probably hoped so, as well.

With that out of the way, Khloe resumed their investigation on the second floor. They’d ignored the Basilisk’s bedroom so far, which was in that floor, because they’d caught wind of a very particular rumor. One of the previous thieves who’d broken into the Basilisk’s Lair had been found in the Basilisk’s chamber, or so they said. Based on that, one could discard the chamber from the many hiding places the Basilisk could have chosen, although Khloe was willing to take a look later, just in case.

Other than that, there wasn’t much to look at, really, and most of it was just the regular stuff you’d keep off limits in any party – bedrooms for guests who intended to stay overnight, storerooms where tons of blankets were kept in huge antiquated cabinets, a library with books that looked pricey enough to buy a chocobo… Khloe was tempted to take one of those, but then they remembered what they were really after. They’d only have a chance to steal something in that place, and it’d better be something worth the risk.

In the end, Khloe came to the unpleasant realization that, once the Basilisk’s private chambers had been discarded, there were only two places where the Eye could be – either kept somewhere on the third floor or around the Basilisk’s neck.

Speaking of which, where was the famed host supposed to be? Khloe would have noticed if they’d gone downstairs, but they seemed to be missing, just like the Eye… and the richly dressed sparrow. The logical conclusion is to think they’re all in the same room, Khloe thought. Perhaps the Basilisk was the one the sparrow was making out with. Wouldn’t that be fun?

They returned to the first floor for a final round of serving disappointing snacks from the tray. This time, Khloe didn’t even see the marten in the room, which they considered odd. Perhaps they were also making out with someone – or they’d decided to leave, now that they had no companion to display in front of everyone. Whatever was going on, the situation was becoming slightly more favorable for Khloe. If those two caused a commotion, they could easily take advantage of that. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like that was going to be the case.

This time they encountered nobody as they moved to the second floor. The bangaa were too distracted keeping an eye on a heated argument between two guests that seemed about to fight. Khloe couldn’t believe they were so lucky.

The fox hesitated for a second between the stairs and the corridor leading to the Basilisk’s chambers and then decided to go all the way up to the third floor, where they still hadn’t taken a look.

The first thing they noticed was that the floor seemed to have been conceived originally as an attic. There was a locked door which prevented proper access to it – a promising thing in the eyes of any thief. Fortunately for Khloe, they knew their picklocks like they knew maid etiquette. The pleasant sound of the lock giving into the delicate pressure applied by the fox’s picklocks was music for their ears. They made their way into the third and final floor, feeling optimistic. If the Eye wasn’t there, then they were definitely considering putting their hands in one of those ancient, expensive books.

However, they’d only taken one step inside when they stopped in their tracks.

The floor was an attic alright. The ample space hadn’t been split in several rooms like the rest of the house and so the floor seemed to be obscenely large. There was no furniture to be seen except for the pillars of the building and statues. A lot of statues. In fact, the number of statues in the room was just as obscene as its size, Khloe thought.

Their gaze wandered across the room, taking a look at all the uncannily realistic expressions in each and every sculpture… until one of them looked back and Khloe felt the blood in his veins freeze.

Those weren’t stone. Those were actual, real bangaa.

“Really? Another one?” said a voice in the shadows. They sounded slightly impatient and Khloe considered it a bad sign.

The fox had an impulse to turn around and leave the floor, but they knew it was already too late. They’d been spotted, and there’d be some explaining to do unless they wanted to meet a horrendous fate they probably deserved.

“Hmm…” they began by saying, quickly resorting to their well-practiced maid etiquette. “I’m sorry, sir… Is this the Basilisk I’m speaking with? The head housekeeper sent me to fetch you… Your guests are waiting downstairs, sir.”

“Is that so?” the voice answered. It didn’t seem to belong to any of the towering bangaa staring back at Khlow. “That’s very strange. Especially considering how I told her that I didn’t want to be bothered when I was upstairs and that I’d be going down whenever I wished. And I made sure she understood it, too. I can be pretty convincing, kupo.”

Khloe gulped. No, that voice definitely didn’t belong to a bangaa.

“What is even stranger is that the door behind you used to be locked a second ago. I did it myself, you know, with my personal key. And now it’s open, which makes me think you’re either a magic user or a professional locksmith, kupo. Both are pretty rare skills for a maid, wouldn’t you say?”

There was something about that voice… Khloe couldn’t say exactly what, but it sounded familiar.

“And to make things even more unusual, kupo, I’m pretty sure I know who you are and you’re not just a maid, aren’t you?”

The pieces finally came together in Khloe’s mind.

“E… Erakir?” they asked, eyes wide open.

“Oh, dear. I go by a different name here. Boys! Go get them and bring them close to me.”

I need to get out of here, was Khloe’s thought, but the bangaa were already heading in their direction and there was no way they could leave the manor without being caught. Before they could make up their mind, the two bangaa reached them and grabbed them by the shoulders. The fox had no choice but walk towards the source of the voice, which they already could picture in the mind.

The Basilisk had never been a bangaa, obviously, but rather someone who liked to keep in the shadows. When Khloe was standing in front of the amused-looking moogle, they had to gulp again.

“So it was you,” they muttered.

Erakir shrugged.

“What can I say, kupo? People never ask where I get my money. You included. Remember? I owed you a lot for that submersible of yours, kupo.”

“My plan was to still the Eye to repay you, believe it or not.”

Erakir laughed and shook their head, their blue pompom moving back and forth.

“Oh, my. That’s funny, kupo. Well, all things considered, you probably need to come up with a different plan.”

Khloe looked around, searching for an escape. There weren’t any easily breakable windows in the room except for the skylight a few meters above their head. With the bangaa holding Khloe down, that was completely out of reach. As they tried to find anything else, the fox spotted two familiar faces in the silent crowd of statues surrounding them. A gasp escaped their lips when they recognized the stout, nervous marten and the sparrow with the beautiful dress.

Except… they were not quite like the ones Khloe had met. Their faces had turned to stone, as had their clothes. The vaporous dress had turned into the thinnest layer of stone, as if sculpted by a professional artist.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Erakir asked. “I have to admit, I was a bit glad the feathery one came snooping around, kupo. I could only think of how beautiful he’d look when I’d finally… well, you know, kupo. Punished him for the intrusion. When the marten came looking for him, I was a bit less pleased. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I have anything against that type of body, but it’s a bit more common.”

“Is that what you do? You turn intruders into statues?” Khloe asked, shocked.

Erakir chuckled.

“Hey, it’s all in the name, kupo. It’s the Eye of the Basilisk. If it were called the Finger of Midas then it’d turn people into gold, right?”

Khloe began to feel slightly dizzy.

“You have to let me go,” they begged. “I know I’m an intruder as well, but I can be more useful to you if you let me go. I’m a really good thief! I’ll steal for you!”

“Well, you didn’t precisely showcase your skills tonight, kupo,” Erakir mentioned, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, I already knew you were a thief. That’s what I set this trap for you, kupo. Made it look like a challenge. I knew you’d be looking for ways to repay me, so the fact that you’d be aiming to steal the Eye of the Basilisk felt, uh, predictable.”

Khloe felt their shoulders sink.

“A… a trap?”

“Mhm. I’m a bit of a collector myself. I’ve got whole clans here in statue form, but I was missing a maid, ironically. And I didn’t want to punish someone who didn’t really deserve it, so…” The moogle shook their head. “Anyway, given how long it was taking you to come this far I was starting to consider maybe you’d try in a few moons, kupo. But here you are at last. Just when I need to head downstairs.”

“W-wait…”

Khloe turned to the bangaa, desperate. Their expressions were totally emotionless under the steel visor.

“What about these guys?” the fox tried. “Are they okay with turning people into stone?”

“You really don’t know much about bangaa, do you?” Erakir asked. They looked straight into Khloe’s eyes and smiled. “Sorry, kupo. You really should have paid me sooner.”

“B-but…!”

That was the last word Khloe managed to say before Erakir reached under their jacket and pulled out a beautiful, rounded gem. It shone brightly in the shadows, filling the room with a purple glow, and Khloe’s gaze was immediately drawn towards its smooth surface. The fox saw their own reflection staring in fascination, as the last remnants of fear and resistance faded from their face as if they’d never been there.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Erakir asked.

Khloe nodded.

Suddenly, the thought that they were about to be turned into a statue didn’t seem to matter that much. In fact, the whole room seemed to be far, far away. Even the strong grip of those bangaa in their shoulders seemed to have disappeared. The only thing that mattered was staring straight into the beautiful, shiny jewel.

Straight into the Eye of the Basilisk.

“Why don’t you fix that posture for me, dear? I want pretty statues only and I know you can look pretty for me, kupo.”

Erakir’s voice seemed to come from a very distant place. As if Khloe’s head had been submerged in warm water and they were listening to the moogle’s words from underneath the surface. Even then, Erakir’s command felt easy to follow. Reasonable. As the bangaa let go of their shoulders, Khloe straightened their back and crossed their paws on their apron, smiling at their reflection on the jewel.

“That’s much better.” Erakir sounded pleased. “Exactly what I wanted. Just like a good maid, there we go. Don’t mind your feet now, kupo, don’t try to move them. They won’t. Oh, and the same goes for your legs about… now, kupo.”

Khloe really didn’t know – couldn’t know. They cared only about keeping their posture right, as had been suggested. Just like a good maid.

“I’ll keep you in a good spot, I promise. I appreciate you trying to steal something so big to repay me. In the meantime, kupo, you’ll repay me by just standing there and looking pretty, won’t you?”

There was a distant impulse in Khloe to nod, but they couldn’t. Their neck was stiff. Their whole body felt motionless and rigid. Frozen in place. The room seemed to be so, so far away, but the thought that they’d be looking pretty for a long time comforted the fox in a perfect, almost intimate way.

Their glazing eyes caught a last glimpse of their reflection as light faded from their pupils. Everything was okay. They’d be an important part of the collection, after all.

The prettiest maid around.