Private Tales The Start of Something Odd

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Ellory Ashford

Ellory Ashford

The Investigator
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Vel Anir
The Dreaded Drink

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Ellory frequented The Dreaded Drink because it was quiet, the drinks were cold, and the food was good. She was simple like that especially after dealing with criminals all day. She needed peace and drinking alone at home was just depressing. Today was different, though, today Ellory was drinking at midday.

The Anirian Guard slid onto her usual stool at the bar and smiled at Jillian. Jillian was one of the few people outside of work that she considered a friend and today she needed a friend more than usual. She had just found out that her baby sister, Ryan Ashford, had never returned from a mission and she was assumed dead. The news had reached her before it had reached their parents so Ellory had spent the morning with them and now she just needed a drink. She also needed company because it would not end well if she was at home alone.

She ordered her drink and just slowly nursed it as she tried to push aside her sadness. She did not have time for mourning. She was a Guard and she had work to do. Today was the only day she was allowed to grieve openly.
 
Elias was granted "leave" more often than most, thanks to his conditional enrollment within the Academy. A move made by his family over a decade ago saw that the House would also have a part in his development. After all, Elias was the first in generations to be born with Ennoa Sirl's treasured magic.

However, ever since the revolution and his family's fall from grace, it'd given Elias much more freedom than he had before. One way he capitalized on this? Midday barhopping.

Having just left an establishment that catered to... simpler tastes, Elias found himself at The Dreaded Drink after hearing of its high-quality stock. Not a regular patron, he'd taken the stool at the far end of the bar and left himself to his thoughts and a glass of milky-white liquor (supposedly an import for the far-eastern Empire).

Shortly after he'd been served, his curiosity piqued at the woman who sat down smack-dab in the middle of the bar, and he watched her for a while. He was no stranger to that gaze. The kind of tortured, distant look. The way she gripped her glass and how she found comfort in her drink.

When she found her glass empty, Jillian did not miss it and instantly filled the glass.

"Courtesy of the young lad down there," the barkeep said with a cant of her head, and when Ellory looked his way, Elias cooly raised his glass to her.
 
Ellory couldn't tell you how long she had been nursing the same drink but Jillian - being Jillian - already had a new glass slid in front of her. The Guard looked up at the barkeep with a questioning look. Was she that readable? Yes...yes...she was.

"Courtesy of the young lad down there."

She glanced in the direction that Jillian had indicated and smiled at the young lad who had bought her a drink. Jillian winked conspiratorially at Ellory which caused Ellory to narrow her eyes.

Glass in hand, she stood from her stool and headed towards the end of the bar to meet her mystery man.

"Thank you," she said with a very small smile. She did not take the seat next to him though. She did not want to presume that he wanted her company.
 
"Sure thing," Elias returned her smile and tilted his head at the stool next to him, "Why don't you join me? Drinks are best shared, and you look like you can use the company."

There was a moment of pause between them, and after it passed, Elias turned in his seat to completely face Ellory.

"I'm Elias."
 
Ellory nodded and took the stool next to the man. Elias.

"Yes, I supposed I could use the company. It has been a day already and it is barely afternoon. It seems like I am not the only one who has decided to start drinking early though."

She realized then that she had not introduced herself to him.

"Sorry, I am Ellory Ashford. It is a pleasure to meet you and drink with you today," she smiled a little larger this time.
 
Ashford, eh? He didn't let the familiarity with the name show across his features.

"The pleasure's mine," he flashed a winsome smile back.

Elias sipped his drink, eyeing her over the rim of his glass.

"Well," he said as he lowered the cup from his lips, "we've all had 'em—tough days. I'm, uh, on leave. Trying new drinks at places I haven't been."

Clunk. He gently set the drink on the polished countertop.

"Couldn't help but try for your attention."
 
Ellory could not help but think this man was quite the charmer and he seemed to know it. The space between her eyebrows furrowed slightly. She had pegged the man as a noble son but he could be doing his year of service like they were required to. Nobles had ways of getting their kids out of it though.

"You are in the Guard?" She asked as she took a sip from her own glass. Her eyes did not leave his face as she drank.

One of her skills was telling when people were lying. There was no magic to it with her. She had just practiced for many years and it came in handy when interrogating people. She was not trying to make him uncomfortable yet. She was just making conversation.

"Usually Guards on leave drink with their friends..." She let the sentence hang in the air.
 
"I work with them," he cryptically answered, shrugged, and sipped his drink, "And I don't keep many friends."

He could ask the same of her. Usually, Guards don't drink alone in the middle of the day. Considering how grimly she'd been nursing her cup, Elias refrained from prodding back.

"Maybe one day I'll make some friends," the young man longingly sighed, then glanced sideways at Ellory, smiling.
 
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Ellory could relate. She had a whole of maybe two friends and one was in this room right now. Ryan had been her friend. Ryan. Her little sister. Gone.

She looked down at her glass to try and contain the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She took another drink and composed herself in time to hear Elias speak again and the sidelong look that now focused on her.

A choked laugh escaped her lips, "I am a terrible friend. I have less friends than you, I am sure!"
 
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This prompted some deep thoughts from the younger man. Friends, eh? There were those select few who had earned his respect at the Academy. Edric and Ralene were the first names forward. But just a year ago their rivalry had been a bloody one. Distrustful, despite their shared sufferings.

Olvir, perhaps, was his only friend. But the Game played by the Great Houses knew no pause. Perhaps Olvir was a mere piece playing its part in a larger plot.

"Maybe you do," he said with a rueful smile, "But maybe not."

Then impishly, the corners of his mouth rose, "There's a laugh. You're startin' to look less gloomy."
 
A hmph came from Ellory. It would take a lot for her to be less gloomy. A lot of siblings of Dreadlord Initiates lost touch but Ellory's career choice kept them in close contact over the years. Perhaps the siblings who lost contact were the lucky ones.

"I am afraid that this gloom is not so easily dispelled," she said as she took another drink before setting the glass down again.

"I got news that my sister is missing and presumed dead..." The worlds trailed off into the dark silence of the tavern around them.

Ellory was not sure why she was telling this man about her woes. She did not even know him.
 
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Elias stared straight ahead, letting the confession sink in. He was no stranger to death. Funnily enough, most Anirians weren't. Theirs was a history of war and conquest, after all.

But then, the truth clicked. Word of Ryan's fate must have finally reached the family. Those at the Academy have known for some time.

The Initiate swirled his drink, pondering over his next words as an uncomfortable silence fell between them.

"My sister is missing, too," he quietly responded. Ralene and Edric had been sent to find her, but Ellory didn't need to know that.
 
"Well aren't we a pair," Ellory barked out with pain laced through her voice.

"Fuck it," she said as she lifted her glass and downed the contents in a single drink.

Ellory set it down and held up one finger for her refill and then pointed to Elias' drink as well to get him another.

"She was too young. Eighteen." It took everything in her not to curse the Dreadlords and the Academy. It was supposed to be safer now. Better. Why was it her sister that was dead?! Ellory knew in her heart that Ryan was dead. She would have made her way back by now.

Jillian looked at the pair sadly and set the glasses down before walking off.

"It's bullshit..."
 
Elias listened, a somber smile playing about his lips. He let Ellory air her grievances and finished what little remained of his drink before Jillian set down the second.

"We're like kindred spirits," he mused, "Bound by loss."

Except, well, Elspeth's fate was still up in the air at this point. And even if Edric and Ralene were to return empty-handed, Elias wouldn't count it up as much of a loss. He had no memories of his sister to speak of. He had been raised apart from his siblings until he was shipped off to the Academy. The Initiate eyed the woman next to him. The less she knew, the better.

Elias unevenly and messily rolled his shirt sleeves up, and pushed them midway up his forearm, "Yeah," he responded, "Life is all about dealing with bullshit."
 
Ellory just stared at her glass as he spoke. A long sigh agreed with him. Life was all about dealing with bullshit. She dealt with it everyday. Criminals were the worst.

"So what do you do in the Guard?" She asked Elias.

She wanted to try and change the subject to something that was not depressing. They could both relate to being in the Guard. It was an easy, safe topic.
 
It was a good question. Despite how closely he's worked with the Guard in recent times, a consequence of the Revolution and new policies of the Republic's meddling with the Academy, he couldn't exactly say much about it. They operated in a much different manner compared to the Dreadlords.

"Well, uh, I'm not exactly cleared by my superiors to discuss the nature of my job," and with a smirk, he leaned to whisper, "But it can be our secret. My tasks are mostly infiltration, sabotage, and recon. Sometimes I'll coordinate with an organized force to carry out larger operations—but I seriously can't go into detail about that. My, uh, job has me all over the place."
 
There was something off but Ellory could not put her finger on it. He was being evasive of the question and there was more that he was not sharing with her. If it work was truly of the classified nature, she understood but there was just something. If she was more concerned about it, she could ask her parents to use their lifelong connections to get her an answer.

"Sounds both intriguing and exhausting," Ellory commented in response.

She picked up her glass and took a long drink. She was exhausted. She needed a vacation even if it was just a few days holed up in her townhouse. She could not deal with murderers and their ilk right now. Yes, she would put in for some leave tomorrow...or this afternoon if she didn't drink herself into oblivion.

"How long are you on leave for?" She asked after another long drink.
 
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"For the Republic," he halfheartedly answered into his cup and drank deeply from it.

When he set it down, the glass quietly thunked on the countertop.

"'Til the coming week," which meant he had another few days to spend. If there was anything his family had done for him, it was this one thing. He'd yet to see Olvir, and there was business at the family estate needing tended to. But that could be handled at any time.

"And then back to my assignments. Beyond the city's walls, to fight the good fight. Or something," he dryly said, and flashed a wry smile.
 
Ellory chuckled and took a long drink but did not set her drink back onto the countertop.

"I think I need to put in for some leave. I would hide in my townhouse for a week straight and only come out when my alcohol supplies ran low," she took another long drink then set down the glass.

"Unfortunately, I am usually stuck in my office or interrogating suspects. It is exciting at times but there is a lot of paperwork too," Ellory laughed and looked at her glass.

She was wondering how much she could put down before she blacked out and Jillian had to tuck her in upstairs. She had zero intention of stopping until she was made to.

Elias
 
Elias groaned into his glass as he went for a sip, "Paperwork, eh? I don't envy you."

He held his glass up, swirled it a bit.

"Why not... get out of the house? See something new. Alliria, Dornoch, Elbion—they're just a portal stone away. The world's massive, y'know. And, wouldn't you get lonely? Lockin' yourself up like that?"
 
Ellory looked at him with a sad smile and just shook her head.

"My sister just died. I would not deal with people," she paused for a moment before continuing. "You can stay though because this is a public drinking establishment."

She was sure that traveling would be fun but doing it right now seemed like poor taste. There was a mourning period and it did not involve galivanting off around the world.
 
"Oh, that's generous of you," he said with an easy smile, "Thanks. And for what it's worth, by the way, sorry. For your loss."

Elias knew a little about loss, or so he'd like to think. There had been comrades, perhaps not friends, but those he'd grown fond of at the Academy. People that weren't around anymore. When you bleed and suffer next to people, a connection is formed there, and labels like friendship don't do those relationships justice.

There weren't memories of her, at least not many, of his mother. He'd lost her, too.

"What was her name?"
 
Ellory gave Elias her own easy smile and then nodded in thanks for his condolences. She knew that once word got out, she would hear I am sorry for your loss more times than she cared to.

She finished her drink and ordered another. There was a side eye from Jillian but she still fetched the drink.

"Ryan...Ryan Ashford. She would have graduated from the Academy this year," Ellory took the new drink and brought it to her lips.
 
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A name he was all too familiar with. Perhaps it was telling that Elias was far from cut out for detective work that he hadn't connected the dots sooner, but he'd never been particularly close with the girl in question.

"The Academy? A soon-to-be Dreadlord, then."

Elias' lips drew into a thin line, and he scratched the back of his neck.

"Don't you think... you should take it easy on those?" He nodded at her glass. How many did that make, now? "I mean, it's not my place to say. I'm not trying to impose on you. But, will you be able to make it home alright?"
 
"Yes, soon-to-be but not anymore!" Ellory announced to the empty tavern.

Ellory looked down at her glass with a sigh and nodded slowly. He was right, she needed to stop drinking. She had already drank enough and if she kept drinking she was liable to get emotional.

Nope...too late...

The Vestigare just started to cry. She couldn't help it. It was like the reality of her baby sister being dead hit her finally and she just cried.
 
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