“What’s it doin’ inside a place like this, anyway?” Blu initially asked his negotiator. Rouge handed him a map of the museum and the location of the sword. She didn’t answer and he knew what it meant. “It’s one of those hush hush things, huh? Alright then.”

Blu tucked away the map and notes for the sword and readied to leave. Before he opened the door, Rouge called his attention. “That sword. Don’t let it get unwrapped.”

“Sure.” Blu stepped out.

The last three days were spent visiting the museum and learning about it; in and out. He knew where to get the sword but what he didn’t know was what he’d have to go through to get it. There had to be some catch to this. After all, the Balmung wasn’t supposed to exist. Blu did some research on the name and it turned out to be a mythical sword.

“Why hide something like this?” Blu couldn’t help but think about the sword and what it was like. He pictured all kinds of swords; from an elegant saber to a massive zweihander. But after finally locating his target, Blu couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It looked like a plain sword. The cloth strip wrapped around the sword didn’t have much to hide.

Its shape didn’t seem intricate and the hilt appeared to be old and dirty. “So this is the mythical sword of Siegfried. The sword that slayed Fafnir; the epitomy of greed.”

“…crafted by Weyland and wielded by Siegfried. Lost by history.”

A figure from the darkness behind him stepped closer. Blu readied his weapon for an escape.

A hazy moon glowed over the city. Thick fog made visibility a difficult thing to achieve. On the streets, only the headlights made sure cars didn’t drive into each other.

Despite the recent independence from fossil fuels, the effects from the ‘Age of Fossils’ had already taken its toll on the globe. A catastrophic flood several years back set the world economy into a recession unlike any other.

However, that did not stop the wealthy from living lives of decadance. It actually started a revolution in the arts. The world had entered a second Industrial Revolution. Magnetic propulsion and a newly developed energy ore became the new steam and coal of the world. Gadgets and gizmos of fantasmic mechanics sprouted like mushrooms.

Although they were initially laughed at, they became fads and soon the neighborhood wives were comparing who had the most recent thingamabob and whatchamacallits.

Blu recalls his landlady asking that morning if she could borrow a Therma Radicorder MAX. He returned a blank stare as if trying to find the answer in a far off island in his mind. “No… I don’t think so.” Blu closed his door.

The building in front of him was colossal. An architectural marvel made of steel. It looked like a giant factory of sorts but it served a very different purpose. That intimidating structure was a museum. It was constructed originally to house the various outdated machinery from the Age of Fossils but its collection expanded to include numerous other artifacts.

It was closed. Of course any museum would be closed at 2 o’clock in the morning. Blu had come to the museum on this foggy night for one reason alone. His goal for the night was to rob it of one artifact.

A sword called Balmung.