Private Tales The Task At Hand

[Livia Quinnick]

There was a reason many Dreadlords on the task force to hunt down rogue Archons were here in Elbion. Although the number of those left to find were now merely a few, Livia had been put to work not just in the Vigilite, but with the task force. Now that her magic was no longer an issue, would not cause the wielder harm, Liv had poured hours into tracking over long distances. Consulting maps, artefacts from various cities to create zones of where to aim her searches.

Finally, Elbion called to her like a beacon she could not ignore.

She needed to make an appearance at the gala, where chance would have it, Alistair Krixus and Henk were present. Even Salak, one of her previous Proctors at the Academy, had been there.

The mission had been for her alone. No one knew where Alistair had disappeared to, or even Salak. Even Livia had lost touch with Henk after she set off for half a year to gather artefacts with Erodin, Amelie, and Cenric. Seeing her friend and mentor had struck her with a nostalgia for the days she were still an Initiate. A year had passed now, and yet it still felt as if years had passed since graduation day.

Finding Henk in this city was easy. No one could truly hide from her, especially those she knew well.

Livia Quinnick hid her surprise that her magic lead her to fine lodgings, but she should not judge someone on their surprising tastes when after all, Henk was able to afford a ticket to the gala and transport himself to Elbion. Dreadlords could live well off their wages, could spend it how they pleased.

He better be alone. Came her next thought as she made up the stairs that took her to a long hall where closed doors gave guests privacy. She stopped at the door near the end, raised a hand and rapped against the wooden door with four knocks done by double beats.

"It is Quinnick." She voiced, leaning closer to his door so that her name could be heard on the other side. "We must talk."

 

[Henk]

How different things could have been...

It wasn't the silken sheets, bubbling bath, or expensive wine that had drawn him to this room for his temporary stay in Elbion. It was the view of the city from the wide floor to ceiling window beside the bed, so perfectly facing the line where the sun met the towering buildings at dusk. The orange glow of the sunset soaked into his skin, filling him with a pleasant warmth from head to toe.

This place... it was a distorted reflection of Anir. It was an example of what could have been, had fear, hatred and greed not shaped his home into the militaristic force it was. Would things have been different for him here? If his youthful piety had been served and not stamped out? Would he bear these scars? The ache in his eye? The void in his heart?

Henk smiled, reminding himself once more that such hypotheticals meant nothing. What was, was. With the hand he'd been dealt, he had done all he could to better the world, rather than sink it further into depravity. That, Henk had come to accept, would have to be enough.

But now, the knock on the door he'd been expecting for some time. The voice he'd anticipated would follow. Closing his eyes, he spoke back.

"Enter."

As the latch clicked, and the door opened, Henk turned from the window to face his visitor. He looked a far cry from his appearance at the Gala; With his armor removed and arranged neatly on the table by the door, it was clear that the apparatus he wore, in combination with his cloak, only served to hide how Henk had bulked up.

A hand rose to his chest, his arm marred with old burns and singed flesh all the way up to his elbow, exposed by the lounge shirt the hotel had provided him. "Lady Quinnick," Henk spoke with a bow. "Your company is welcome, this evening."

Sliding his hands behind his back, as though he hadn't an inkling why Livia would be visiting him, he made his way over to the tea-set on the countertop by the furnace. "May I interest you in a cup of tea?" He did not wait for an answer before pouring two cups, having prepared it in advance.

"Or... are you here on assignment? I can't fathom what the Vigilite would want with a grunt such as I."

There was... something behind that last sentence. Not venomous, but lacking the layer of warmth that Henk usually spoke with.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Livia paused a moment, unused to opening doors herself. She had turned the doorknob and pushed forward, and as she entered the room step by step, her eyes found Henk.

"Now this... is an odd scene." She remarked. Proper greetings were lost on them both. Henk looked his usual self save for the changes in nearly a year since they last saw one another. Livia had remained in Vel Anir proper for her work with the Vigilite, and also to give private lessons on self defense for a myriad of nobles and officials. Had she the means and time to seek him out, to find her old friend? Yes, but Livia kept to herself in Vel Anir for her own protection.

She had been successful in her mission, and as she felt validated of her magic and usefulness, it came at a cost.

"No, no tea for me." Livia stated as she closed the door behind her. "Although I guess I shall have to endure it." Olivine eyes saw him pour a second cup.

She crossed the room, peering out the window as he had done so before her interruption. "The Vigilite has no need for you." She stated. His tone did not go missed, but Liv did not feel as if she should address it. "I am on an assignment, something to keep me occupied from things back home." The Dreadlord turned to face Henk, a frown's furrow at her brow. "I have a case that has been unsolved for nearly a decade, and yet my magic has pulled me here to Elbion."

There was more she wanted to say, but Livia peered out at the street again. Her eyes flicked and settled on each face she could see, but even with her magic so much stronger and able to tell her if anyone had been following her, Livia drew the curtains closed. "You look well."

 

[Henk]

"You look well."

A smile crossed his face, something equal parts amused and grateful. The only improvement to his appearance had been a new eye to replace the milky white orb that had sat in his right socket for some time now, but then he hadn't been trying to impress anybody anyways.

"Stubborn girl." Henk shook his head as he sat at the table, holding his teacup with both hands as he brought the rim to his lips for a long sip. Tea-making had been a hobby he'd picked up more recently, having tired of the plain water and foul grog that was typically on offer during his own assignments. "Still doing everything you can to veer from your own doorstep, hm?"

It was not what he'd wanted for her, but it was never his choice. He'd been only one stop on her journey, a guiding hand that had led her back onto the road when she'd found herself veering off course. He couldn't fault her for wanderlust. He understood.

"You've grown, but you still have a knack for chasing trouble." Henk peered over to whare she stood aside the window, her tense posture, a face knit with suspicion and uncertainty, not lost on him. She did make a fine agent for the Vigilite, he figured, with such prevalent traits. "So you must have gathered I didn't just come to stare at the pretty pictures."

Another long sip.

"And you haven't come here to reminisce with me. So what really brings you to me tonight?"

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Her dark brow arched before her lips curled to an amused smirk. "I am not one to reminisce, truly." The words had already left her mouth before she realised Henk was making a light jest. He knew her, knew that part about her. She stared at him a moment before continuing to speak. "I was at the gala for the art, representing my family of course... but my reasoning for being in Elbion is not to attend fancy parties in a new city. Seeing you... well, you reminded me of how things were."

Well that sounded an awful lot like reminiscing.

Livia sighed and wandered into the room, looking about his lodgings. "I have caught attention from... undesirables. Those that are loyal to Gilram. Now, I am not asking for your help to fight against them, nor to hide, but I merely need another person around while I am not in the safety of numbers and allies in Vel Anir."

He had tried to teach her how to ask for help, how to accept it... but Livia still was as stubborn as she had been as an Initiate.

"I need... your help in that matter. I would have asked Krixus but..." her mind changed the moment she saw him again. Perhaps even curious of him, of what had happened since the past year since they saw each other last.

Henk

 

[Henk]

Henk's eyes lazily followed Livia as she paced his room, a smirk growing on his face as she spoke. "Lately, the undesirables are far more threatening than the man they swear allegiance to. Have you noticed that?" He crossed his arms, a distinct smugness to his voice. It was true; actual sightings of Gilram and his inner circle had waned greatly over the last year, and most of their issues now stemmed from fringe radicals.

Henk liked to think his efforts on the front had played some part in that.

"Of course, if these were the usual 'undesirables', you wouldn't be asking me for help." He swirled the tea remaining in his cup before setting it town on the table. "More often than not, I seem to be the last choice when it comes this sort of thing."

Burned bridges and hurt feelings. Not much to be done about it anymore, and he wasn't certain he'd bother if there was.

"If I'm being honest, I didn't plan on sticking around here very long. I'm supposed to be in Alliria in three weeks time, and intended to depart tomorrow." Normally it wouldn't take him that long to make the trip, but he'd been entrusted with a few 'errands' to run along the way. Crossing his arms over his chest, Henk turns his head to match Livia's gaze.

"Which is why you're rather lucky I don't fancy the idea of leaving you in a time of need. So tell me, what exactly is it you've gotten yourself into this time?"

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

She had not realised that she was waiting on him to accept, for her resolve began to fade as he spoke of not being needed and going to Alliria.

The moment he spoke about not wanting to leave her alone, she felt her body sag with relief.

Livia pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a breath and calming herself. "These Rogues are acting on his orders. I was foolish to think that they would stop pursuing me after I found the relic and brought it back to Vel Anir, as was my mission on behalf of the Republic. I thought they wanted me to find and steal the other relics, to force me to turn coat but..."

Cenric kept her alive. Brought her back home in one piece but the vow Erodin had taken was to keep her from fatal harm. If Livia lost her life, he would lose his.

Traveling and not being able tell anyone where it was she was visiting... it only made it easier to neglect her friends. After all, not every thing ended right before graduation. She had her own anger, had her own need to do well and succeed. It felt like a good idea to run from it all, but it did not work out right for her.

Her heart broke. Livia had cracked it enough with her own self doubt and partial loathing, but Silas made her heart shatter like glass. When her own anger faded, she had nothing else to lament over. Numb, tired, and irritable. That was how the disgruntled ex-guard found her. Spoke down on her magic wielding, trapped her within streets filled with people that did not wish to intervene. Livia was left for dead, a mercy she knew she only had due to acting quickly to find a medic.

Finding the relic was not easy, and getting it home had tested her will to survive many times.

It reminded her of the girl she had been with magic she could not control.

"Erodin told me I would be hunted. My name is in his sights now, that anyone that had means to steal a person... After all, Henk. How valuable is it to anyone to have someone that could find anything in the world?" He knew her. He had trained her and seen her struggle before. She had confided in him, treated him like a brother... Henk would see it in her olivine eyes.

She was scared. Anxious. Leaving Vel Anir scared the hell out of her.

"I cannot sleep for every noise I hear, I fear it is someone coming for me. I cannot bear to be in the dark. I flood my lodgings with light because I fear what the shadows will do if she is here. Vivianna, my tormentor." The Rogue was beautiful and every bit powerful. She had been Livia's first taste of Dreadlord might fighting against the people she used to stand with. She had not been gentle with Livia, had tested her every bit of strength and wit, all to throw her off her game. "I just... I do not wish to feel alone and unsafe."

She needed her friend. She needed his help and guidance again before she could break anymore of herself.

Henk