Gods and Kings

Giza, Home of the Gods
Kabir looked around in wonder as they passed through the gate. The large pyramids, obelisks, it was much bigger than it was in Desouk. Meanwhile, Avery trudged along, drinking heavily from a bottle of water.

"I hate deserts!" Avery shouted. "What's the fastest way through this city? We gotta rendezvous with the Sol Arche."

"I don't know," said Kabir, "I've never been to Giza before."

“I can guide you through Giza, this was one of the first places I visited when I was studying the culture of the elite citizens.” Marie had checked the place out but found that many people here were wealthy and had good health, along with this they were usually well mannered and worshipped the queen highly. “Though you’ll need to blend in.”

"Well, how are we supposed to blend in? We didn't exactly bring any Cairo clothes. Shephard's wearing a god damn suit!" He wasn't actually angry. It was just the heat exhaustion.

Shephard rolled her eyes.

“I can get you clothes, you’ll just need to slip them on real quick so that you don’t stand out like a sore thumb.” It’s true this was the largest and most luxurious city in Cairo, which meant they had the best shops. Marie’s shadow rose up from the ground, turning into a few spiders. They hid in the shadows, moving to various shops and snagging outfits quickly before bringing them to Marie, with that, her shadow went back into the ground as normal. “Ta-Da! Get changed, the queen probably knows someone’s invaded but she may not know who.”

In a flash, Shephard was already changed. She tapped her foot impatiently as everyone else changed.

"Yeah, be like that," said Avery, "we can't all move at the speed of sound."

“Maybe you should learn, Avery.” Marie chuckled, putting up a shadowy blind to shield him.

In a flash, Yoichi also changed her clothes, making sure she hid from Avery's view, and on her waist, were several gourds and alcohol bottles strapped up. She shrugged her shoulders as she threw her regular clothes away. "The people here are too easy to pickpocket. It's almost sad..." With just a whistle, Yoichi could push things away from people, enabling her to also be a great thief, one of her many hidden talents.

"So what's up next, ya' fools?" She said while finishing a whole bottle in a single gulp.

"Tell me about it," said Shephard, tossing Yoichi a stack of berries. "Buy yourself some booze later."

"Ordinarily it would be dangerous for us to move as such a large group," said Avery, "we'd attract a lot of attention that way. However, we only have one guide, so I suppose we have to stick together. Lead the way Marie."

“If you insist.” Marie states walking through the main entrance of the city, making sure to keep her eyes forward and not to draw attention to herself or the group that was following her. “The people in this area of Cairo are high class, wealthy and often seen in a higher status than the type of people you’d see where Kabir lives.”

"So it's not a slummy capital," said Avery, good to know."

"Now," said Shephard, "does that mean this is the type of capital where the people don't expect criminals to walk through because they're so comfortable, or one where they're on high alert because of the important people that live here?"

"They should've gotten into the city today! Keep looking! They could be anywhere!" A group of guards ran through the streets of the city, right past the group of pirates.

"I guess that answers that question," said Avery.