Princess

Artifacts of the Arcane by Jake Kerr. Season two, The Coat of Invincibility, Episode eighteen. Princess Our Kitty picked up his chair and sat back down while I stared at Anna. I wonder she had people fighting alongside her. She was the last of the Sars in the Old Russia that the Soviets had pushed aside for their new communist utopia. Anna laughed, everyone is so quiet. Yes, I am, Princess Anastasia. My mentor was the great magician Rasputin. He bore the coat for decades in service to my family. He knew he would die in handing it to me, just as he knew it would save me. Anna lowered her head. He was a great man. I rubbed my eyes and on a turn to me, you feel it, don't you? The artifacts they need to be reunited. I didn't answer, but the pull toward Anna was enormous. I can't say that I felt compelled to hand her the staff so much as I felt that the staff wanted to be joined with the coat. However that happened, there was no reason for me to deny it. Yes, they belonged together. Hona breathed out. Oh, I'm so glad you understand. I was afraid you would demand the coat. As the heir to the Russian throne, it is obvious that I am the rightful heir of Jumpshit. I should wield the artifacts. At a certain level, I knew that bringing the artifacts together was the important thing. It didn't matter who had them. But another part of me knew that I should be the one to wield the artifacts. A very small part of me, perhaps the only part that was still me, screamed out that every option was full of unknown danger. In my mind, the battle for the artifacts had begun to that end, I knew I needed the coat. What had Auna done? She had fought and killed Russians. What had I done? I had saved the shadows, freed merits and a freedom. Perhaps I was simply providing reasons to support the urge I had to control the artifacts. But that didn't mean the reasons weren't real. I looked over at Naomi, and it was then that I realized she was only being quiet on my behalf. I had not expected that from her. It was a humbling surprise that she was letting me handle this important conversation without interrupting, But it was clearly tough on her. Her jaw was clenched, and I could see that her palms were ready to launch an attack on Anna at any moment. But for what purpose? We couldn't hurt her. It was then that I knew that I had to somehow do two things, get more information out of Hona and Stall while finding a way to get the coat. What about the third artifact? Anna stared at me for a bit and then took a sip of her tea. The cup of Jumpshit is in the hands of the Germans. That is going to be a real challenge for us. Anna continued to talk as if we were on the same side, which made me relax. I knew it was inevitable that we would fight over the artifacts at some point, but I wanted that fight to be on my terms. How so, Anna. Laughed, Well, beyond the fact that it is in Germany, the bearer of the cup can see all. All he has to do is look into the cup, and he would know when we were approaching. If it sees all. Why haven't the Germans found you yet? Naomi's question seemed to stun Anna. It looked as though she had never thought of that possibility before because before she could say anything else, she was interrupted by a shout and the sound of men running through gravel. With the front of the house blown open, it was easy to hear. Anna looked toward the front of the house, which was visible from her seat at the head of the table. A man ran through the hole. He was panting as he ran up to Anna and bowed. He stammered some more words in Russian. Anna rubbed her chin thoughtfully, not seeming concerned. The Germans are approaching. I immediately thought of the spy. Anna overheard Arcadie and frowned. You appear to have led the Germans to me, more like the Germans led us to you. Anna stood up, hand me the staff. I'll take care of this. I had never been closer to having no control over my actions than at that point. Nearly every part of my body compelled me to hand her the staff. My eyes rolled up in my head as I clung to the few things that meant so much to me, the pride of my grandfather, the confidence and trust of my great grandfather, in the faith that mister Ali had in me, a faith he betrayed but then made up for with his life. Tommy, are you okay? I opened my eyes to Naomi, shaking my shoulder. I took a deep breath and looked at Anna. You will not be able to master it so quickly. And at that moment I had an inspiration me the coat. I will be able to handle them easily with the coat protecting me. At that moment, I knew with certainty that the coat and staff didn't care who bore them. They just wanted to be together. As I looked at Anna, I saw her stumble back a bit as her hands reached for the front of the coat. Her eyes fluttered and her hands shook. I thought I heard the lightly whispered word no come from her mouth. There was an explosion, followed by the sound of machine guns ringing out. Everything sounded much closer than I had expected. I stood up quickly, and Naomi did the same, drawing a detonation into her hand. By then, Anna had recovered and was yelling out in Russian in a scene that reminded me of the assault on the Persian Garden restaurant two years earlier. Men that I hadn't seen emerged from the rear of the house carrying rifles. One of them ran up and handed Onna a wicked looking machine gun. She looked at Naomi and me. One of the things you will learn, Tommy, is that with technology eradicating magic, the difference will be those magical artifacts that technology can not replicate. Nothing else matters in the face of cannons and bullets. She marched toward the front of the house, paused and looked back at us. It was a grin on her face that reminded me of my grandfather, as if the violence she was about to embrace was the only thing she enjoyed in life. Without saying a word, she turned and strode out of the house. I looked at Naomi, but she had already started after Anna, bouncing on the balls of her feet, like some kind of predator approaching its prey. I followed her upside to a scene that boggled the mind. Far in the distance, along the same road we used to approach the farm, numerous trucks approached. There must have been about a dozen of them. The first few had already pulled to the side of the road, and small groups of men approached, none of whom were in uniform. They bore machine guns, and the first view had already started shooting in our direction. Men in gray emerged from the second truck, and I knew instinctively that they were magicians. The Germans definitely considered magic a valuable tool, but a quick glance at the first truck and the ratitata the machine guns made it clear that it wasn't their only tool. We don't have much time, Tommy. My shields cannot withstand a constant barrage of bullets for long. Naomi was standing on the porch watching the Angel's men firing on the Germans from entrenched positions. The Germans were clearly protected by magical shields, while the Russians were protected by things I hadn't noticed before, trenches and tractors that were there as cover and not for plowing fields. I don't think we'll need to worry about bullets being aimed at us. I pointed toward Anna. She simply strode toward the Germans, firing her large machine gun at them. It was an absurd and frightening scene. Her brown hair blew up behind her in the face of a slight breeze, while the entire mlight of the German weaponry focused on her. The power of the artifact was clear. Bullets simply stopped as they approached and fell to the ground. I walked forward and Naomi grabbed my arm. What are you doing? We should just wait and let her take care of things. We don't know what the Germans have in mind. We may have a chance to grab the coat. We should stay close. I couldn't bear to tell Naomi how weak I truly was. The truth was that the staff was telling me to stay close to Anna. It had nothing to do with me at all. Naomi nodded, dangerous but opportunistic. I like it. She let go of my arm and we started toward Anna. I'll let you know if the shield starts to give out at that point, it will be a good idea to get away from the force of the attack. I nodded, but I wasn't really paying attention to Naomi. All of my energy was focused on the coat. We were about twenty yards behind Anna, who walked toward the Germans as if she was having her morning stroll. She was spraying the trucks with gunfire, and she looked like she wanted to do nothing more than kill every single German, but she did it with a slow and steady determination. There was a whizzing sound, and then a huge explosion blew Ana, Naomi and me backward. Naomi's shields saved us, but while it absorbed the bulk of the impact, a whistle of shrapnel passed. My ear told me that it was shredded by the percussion of what I assumed was a mortar. I pulled myself to my feet and ran over to Naomi, who was lying on her side. She was dazed but unhurt as I gently pulled her up. As I lifted her to a sitting position, she opened her eyes wide and pushed me away. She looked back toward the Germans. Anna had been tossed off to the side, but she appeared annoyed and not harmed. There was a crater where she was standing. It did nothing. No, Tommy, can't you see It may not have hurt her, but it knocked her off her feet. Perhaps if someone were close enough, they could take the coat from her when she is off balance. Naomi stood up and grabbed my arm again. We need to get to safety. My shields are a one shot deal against something as powerful as mortars, and I can't just keep casting them and have energy for anything else. Anna tossed away her weapon, which appeared to have been damaged by the explosion. She was much closer to the Germans, but had turned around and was marching toward us, calling out something in Russian. There was another whizzing sound, and Naomi threw her arm out while spreading her fingers. The whizzing sound snuffed out, and somewhere between us and the Germans there was an explosion. Wow, she had somehow redirected a mortar. Let's go. She started running back toward the farmhouse. I couldn't move. The staff refused to let me leave the coat. What are you doing? Come on? She ran back to me and grabbed my arm. I can't the staff. Naomi spoke the words as a statement of fact, not a question. She seemed to know exactly what was happening. She grabbed my arm and pulled hard. I held my ground. I'll be okay. I'll stay near Anna. The coat will protect me. Naomi turned me around to face her and put her hands on the upper part of my arms, holding me as she stared me in the eyes. No, Tommy, the staff will kill you and then Anna will take it. She pulled me hard and I stumbled toward her. She continued to pull, and her willpower must have affected me. I became more like myself and started to walk and then run with her. There was another explosion behind us. I felt the impact, but it was far enough away that Naomi and I had remained unharmed. I glanced over my shoulder and Princess Anastasia, the Angel of Saint Petersburg, was armed with a machine gun in each hand, walking towards the Germans, once again laughing as impotent destruction rained down upon her. A Podcast Alchemy production