Private Tales Come Recover

[Livia Quinnick]

This was not her first time in Elbion.

She had been eleven, and her father and mother decided to take the family to the city and see the sights for a few days while her father had business with the pearl market. That business had been started by his father, and now Livia had a collection of near three hundred pearls inherited. She remembered fondly that the city had been great and new to her, but at that age did not appreciate the grandeur and history as she did now.

Livia was glad to take an extended stay after the gala, for she had a mission to follow. She had already asked for Henk's help, where they got a step closer to uncovering details needed to her cold case. Of course, she could have done the job alone, but seeing her old friend and mentor after many months without a word — her doing, as per usual — Livia felt the gentle nostalgia to enlist his company.

Sat in the quiet bistro located directly opposite from the fine rooms she had booked her stay in, Livia was sat at a window table and slowly piercing fruits with her fork. She ate as she peered out the window, watching the life of the Elbionese play before her eyes. How odd and yet similar that it almost reminded her of Vel Anir, yet their use of magic had more of an array being displayed. Liv saw carts rolling on their own, all by the use of a spell and not the mind of an individual with the talent of telekinesis. She had been obsessed with her own magic and the origins in which her father had sourced and stolen it from before forcing it on his magically strong daughter. The power of corruption did not feel like the magic born to the Quinnicks.

"Was anyone else joining you, my lady?" Asked the server, who placed down the brewed coffee, strong and honey sweetened, on the table.

Liv turned her head, eyes finding the steaming cup before lifting to the server. "No, no that will be all."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The sound of concrete cracking made Alistair wince as his eyes were quickly alight as he took a long look at the broken slab that now littered the roadway. A gang of workers looked sheepishly at him, as it was clear they had been careless in loading this particular slab into the magical wagons.

"Once again, I remind you to please be careful. The instantaneous arcane fortifications may be cheaper to make, but that does not mean they do not require skilled labor...Expensive, skilled labor."

The workers simply nodded before quickly shuffling to remove the debris and continue the loading process.

Just before he was set to leave Elbion he had received a business proposition for some of his newest creations. The offer had been too good to refuse. The young man would have continued to watch the workers like a hawk all the way until the delivery when his magical senses caught the trail of a rather familiar trail.

His head whipped around as he followed the trail before turning to his second in command, Rudolph. "See that the delivery is completed and payment received." Before waiting to hear the confirmation, Alistair's legs were already carrying him down the road.

Those legs eventually stopped him right outside the window of a small bistro, and sitting near that window with Livia Quinnick.

"Ah, Livia, I knew I sensed the presence of someone unusually competent." He said with a casual smile.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Her brows furrowed first, eyes finding Alistair Krixus easily, then her brows shot up with mild surprise. Despite all the hard work she was putting into whatever she could now she was no longer an Initiate, hearing praise from anyone still fed the girl she used to be. The one that tried so hard, she ignored all the fractures she gave herself. In all her four years at the Academy, Livia strived to be seen as capable.

Even now, she still turned towards the praise.

"Krixus." She rose from her seat, holding out the spare one opposite from her own to invite him to sit. "Please, take a seat."

Of course, it should be the man pulling out the chair for the woman, but Livia did not mind when it was just them, between friends. At least... she counted him as one. Same as Henk, as Thraah, Houri, and a great many and few. There was a line now, for Livia went against Henk's advice and began to retreat from those relationships and friendships. It was better this way, Cenric had advised her.

"I find it quite amusing so many of us Anirians have extended our stay here in Elbion." As she returned to her own seat, she allowed a glimpse of a small smile. Her voice held the inflection of such a musing. "Do you have time for a tea? Coffee? Perhaps something stronger?"

Last they met before meeting at the gala, Livia had met with Alistair in some non-descript town. She had been on a mission on behalf of the Republic of Vel Anir, but they had little to say in that choice. Of course, they had wanted someone better, someone more capable and experienced. Alistair himself had given Liv that chance to bail out of the mission, and yet she stayed. She had grown since then, a year having passed.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair graciously accepted the seat as he sat down next to her, looking out the window down the road where, in the distance, he knew his caravan would be.

"A coffee will do nicely, thank you." At this point, the man practically ran on the stuff.

He had not been aware that so many Anirians were taking extended stays in the city of magic, but it certainly made sense. It was a nice change of pace for those Anirians that were becoming more accustomed to the wider world beyond Vel Anir, Alistair included.

"Yes, I will be here for as long as it takes for the last of my trade deals to be finalized, which hopefully will be no longer than two more days."

While the Elbions were incredible when it came to magical innovation, that often meant their eyes were cast too far in the distance. Some of Alistair's more simplistic and practical inventions had become rather popular in the city.

Not to mention that the Krixus Trading Company was now one of the premier shipping and procurement services for magical materials. This all combined to mean that business was booming for Alistair in this city.

"And what is keeping you here? Besides the strong coffee?"

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Livia held her hand to call over her attendant, ordering Alistair's coffee before tuning in to here his reason for extending his stay. Of course, it was always business. She could not recall a time she ever traveled somewhere for pleasure.

"Yes, the coffee is strong and enjoyable." A small laugh rumble into her words. "Yet I am afraid I too have coordinated some work while here in Elbion. Chasing down some leads to a cold case. Nothing too serious that I need a team of Vigilite behind me, it is better to go alone and not attract such attention."

A quiet lull happened naturally, in which the space was only interrupted once Alistair's coffee had been delivered.

She turned her olivine eyes onto him from across the table, knowing he would notice her attention was on him. "You were not around when I returned from my mission for the Republic." A gentle way to approach the subject. Last she had seen him, she wasted time asking him if he had spoken to her then burning flame, Silas. It did not matter, for two months after that, Silas had found her and Livia had no other choice but to push him to the point where he ended things.

It had been some numbing weeks after that. The way her luck suffered after that... "You were not there when Cenric and I called to meet to give an update before I was to return. Were you reassigned?"

Alistair Krixus