Cipher

In the fallen city of bandits, Dolos, the 300 Rogues run wild and free, the entire city at their mercy.
Race onward, fleet-Footed Thief Star Cifera, Chrysos Heir of the "Trickery" Coreflame, and may your web of lies spread with the breeze throughout all lands.
—"Tryna trick me? Fetch better scripts!"

"At the end of the Month of Weaving, the temple lost bread, a bag of dried fruits, and numerous candles.
Though trifles, sacrilege and disorder merit severe punishment.
Suspect: gray-haired, cat-eared, slight build. Agile and cunning. Exercise caution.
5,000 for clues. 10,000 for capture alive."

—Wanted poster in Dolos

"Catch her, catch her!"
The prison-filled square, reeking of filth and echoing with the sounds of whipping and wailing.
A ragged girl darts through crowds, golden blood trailing.

She ran past the platform, where a corpulent priest was delivering a sermon to the city's gathered faithful.
"In Kephale's name, let us praise and give thanks for this beautiful world..."

"Justice, sincerity, and forgiveness..."
"— Let us water our souls with virtues, and conquer calamities with love..."
Just as the girl glanced back — snarling hounds lunge, leaving another three fresh wounds on her face.

"Treasure means naught to Titans, yet proves your piety..."
Amid cheers, silks, feasts, and jewels rain onto the altar.

"Shun the Chrysos Heirs' lies. Have faith in Kephale, pray sincerely, and god shall deliver salvation..."
She pushed through the crowd, the bread in her hand lost somewhere along the way.
She looked around in desperation, only to see faces gazing down at her, surging toward her like a restless tide.

Her legs falter. Mocking glances and threatening smiles blur before her eyes.
But the voices from afar had already bitten into her ears, and so she couldn't stop.
"Thief!"
"Criminal!"
"Wretch!"

She closes her eyes and plunges from that hundred-yard wall.
"So... hungry..."
Icy waters drown her consciousness.
With her life as a wager, another Pyrrhic victory in this lethal chase.

Wandering to the holy city of dawn, she found the legends of the Chrysos Heirs echoing in the town — yet when she saw its squalid alleys and corners, she felt this place was not that much different from Dolos.

"Hmph! Flame-Chase? Heroes? Cifera, with her experience, smells unspeakable schemes afoot!"
Deeming the Chrysos Heirs glory-hungry frauds, she targets a golden weaving workshop.
"Honey brew? Chessboard... and a weird lute? These have got to be looted goods..."
She guzzles the honey brew, devours grape-leaf rice, and toys with crystal chess pieces.
"Heh, even the floor spins..."

When she woke from her drunk stupor, she found a perfumed letter in her hand.
Goosebumps erupting, she tossed off the blanket, retreating to her shadowed den.

"Little Glutton:
Are you having fun? You turned the weaving hall into a playground for your reckless antics.
You tasted the honey brew, but couldn't handle it. The chessboard is in disarray, and even the old lute wasn't spared.

There's something you must remember: The honey brew must be finished, and there's always room for change in the world.
I know your skills are quite impressive, so go fix the lute you damaged. Fortunately, that knight commander wasn't here, or she would've surely pinned your tail with her sword."

Holding the confidential letter, the girl felt a vague, indescribable emotion rising within her for the first time.
"People from the big city... they sure have a lot of tricks up their sleeves."

The stray cat waited day after day, yet no harsh scolding ever came.
So, she whistled, tossed a coin in the air, and time and time again "accidentally" stopped in front of the weaving shop.
"Ciphy, if you want something to eat, just tell us directly!" The red-haired girls always had a heap of food prepared.
While following the weaver at work, she often heard stories of those heroes.

"For those with golden blood, Flame-Chase is a journey of endless loss... even life itself holds little worth."
The weavers spoke of the violin's final wail, the chess pieces that fell in a doomed game, the shattered pathways splitting into a thousand fragments...
"...And what does that have to do with me? I just want a proper meal."
She muttered, curling her fingers. A tiny golden blood drop welled up from her pricked fingertip.

That night, she silently slipped out of the weaving shop once again.
"It's okay. Run, Cifera.
Only you know where your destination shall end up..."
Under the moonlight, her figure vanished from sight, leaving behind only the weaver's murmurs in the room.

"Zagreus, the old god of trickery:

Stealing treasures, provoking the gods, stirring up conflict...
We've grown tired of your old tricks.
On the upcoming Spirit Day, the 300 Rogues will stage their most spectacular performance yet in Amphoreus.

The world will be ours to claim, cowardly god!
Watch as we turn it upside down!"
A proclamation adorned with cat paw prints, scattered across the city-states of Amphoreus.

"From Okhema, head north, cross the snow-covered mountains, and you'll reach Aenionus.
There, I secretly changed two characters on the Granite Code, winning a rogue's contract in a trial that decided life and death.
In the southern bay, I snuck aboard an anchored ship and dueled a rogue in the middle of a storm. Ugh, I hate water the most of all!
Then guess what? In a stroke of genius, I whipped out my Pulleroo and took his sword away!
And there's more — under the blazing desert sun, I competed with outlaws to see who could last the longest without water, and in the dense jungle, I raced against hunters... until all 300 Rogues found their place once more..."

The girl in golden boots spoke animatedly about her journey.
"And then, it's time for every usurper, parasite, and slaver in all of Amphoreus to witness the power of the so-called scoundrels they despise!"

She recalled how the moment the Coin of Whimsy fell, three hundred Thief Stars streaked across the sky, descending upon the lands of Amphoreus.
The lofty tyrants tumbled from their thrones, whip-wielding slavers fled in disgrace, torrents of gold vanished into thin air, only to rain down from the heavens upon the starving and the cold...

During that grand spectacle, Zagreus could not resist the temptation and revealed themselves, falling right into the Chrysos Heirs' ambush.
The blazing Coreflame, at last, fell silent within the vortex's core.
In the city of Okhema, whispers began to spread of a demigod swift as a shadow, a guardian of the vagrants, a scourge to the wicked —

"What I am capable of is just to run."

"To all chaplains, high priests, and acolytes of the city-states, to the faithful under the radiance of the Throne of Worlds, and to all sentient beings:

Since the passing of the high chaplain, the Gem of All Worlds has gone missing.
Upon investigation, no signs of forced entry or damage were found at the scene. After its theft, multiple reports claim to have seen the gem enter the black market, where it was exchanged for a vast sum of Balance Coins.
Anyone providing valuable information will receive 5,000 Balance Coins. The one who captures the culprit will be rewarded with 100,000 Balance Coins."

— A faded proclamation from the Council of Elders
"Been a while since I came back, and they still haven't taken this down?"

She remembered the day the notice was posted, the moment she had no choice but to say goodbye.
She couldn't meet the weaver's eyes and could only turn away, fleeing Okhema in haste.

Centuries later, new heroes emerged from across Amphoreus. Wearing her hood, she looked at the old marketplace from afar, but few familiar faces remained.
"Pickled candy has a new flavor?"
She crumpled the wrapper and casually flicked it toward the flowerbed.
"Glass marbles? Haven't played with these in ages!"
She weighed one in her hand, aiming as she tossed it into the water.
...
Moments later, from the flowerbed, the water, the trees — figures dressed as assassins tumbled down one after another.
And in the distance ahead, bathed in light, stood the young hero, returning in triumph.

She watched from the shadows until the golden thread beside her trembled.
"Seamstress, after all this time, your golden thread is still as sharp as ever. If I don't want to get caught by you, I'd better get going!"

She stretched lazily, crouching slightly as the wind swept past, carrying the scent of the wild.

A golden streak of lightning once again shot from Okhema toward the eternal night.
In the howling wind, she felt as if she had returned to her childhood, to those countless races where life itself was the wager.
"Run, Cifera...
Only you know where your destination shall end up...
And one day, you'll run toward that brilliant future..."

In the instant the lightning split the night, it was as if she had already illuminated the entire world.