Avo "The Empyrean" Montblanc
Avo hadn't slept at all. In his empty, but for a bed and a desk, room he stood by the window, watching the night go by, barely blanking. On his old wooden desk, dozens of files were laying around, some given to him by the Council, others he made himself based on his notes about the people who were supposed to be part of his Circle. He had spent a good part of his evening, after meeting with the Council, finding out more about his new companions through those who lived in the Tower and he was pleased to have acquired enough info on each of them to know what to expect.
He lit another cigarette, oblivious to the fact that one was already burning out by the window sill, carefully balanced by the edge. His mind was racing, from the Circle he was supposed to lead starting tomorrow, to his company and memories of his father.
A soft knock was suddenly heard, his wooden door eager to fall apart. He didn't have to answer for the door to open, he knew who it was.
"I knew you'd be here, Avo." Nim said, his protege and the woman who would controlling the company from the shadows for as long as he was gone and the one to inherit it after he passes. He had found her in one his first few solo ventures outside the city walls, back in the days when he mercilessly hunted the damned, thinking that we would find his answers through violence. She was but a teen, back then, a sad sack of bones, barely capable of drawing breath. Her caravan had been attacked and she had been left for dead, trapped under one of the carriages for who knows how long, surviving simply through water and a definite amount of luck. She vividly remembers how he saved her, how he freed her and carried her on his back for two days and two nights, not stopping for a moment.
"Did you now." he whispered, not really paying any attention.
"You are good to go, I have arranged everything." she added, trying to draw some conversation out of him.
"Thank you Nim."
She took a few steps towards his desk and shuffled through the papers. "Tell me about them." she whispered.
"Where should I start..ah yes, of cour-"
"Nikolas Tulley, 22, someone who might just turn out to be a kindred soul both in thought and reality. His raw talent in the control of light itself will prove quite the asset once he gains mastery over it yet his flawed logic could prove to be a great disadvantage in situations where good and bad, black and white, just aren't enough."
She knew him. She knew him like the back of her hand. She knew that the mess on his desk was actually controlled, that the file on top was the file he had studied the most and that the cigar on the window sill wasn't forgotten but more like abandoned.
"Why him?"
"He could become my number two, a valuable and trusted ally."
"And your first contingency plan in case you are split in half by a Dark One." she retorted.
"Quite right too."
"Talk to me about the rest." she continued, as she sat on the weathered chair by his desk.
"Well, other than Tulley, there's Luciel, the young illusionist, he will be our diplomat and voice of our Circle for every interaction except the Tower. We won't be leaving anything to luck, from kings to peasants, he will be using his subtle abilities on them for our cause. Fighting wise, he's slightly of more use than a militia but I am not expecting him to take down dozens of Pyrrhics with his mind. Yet."
"A mind reader?! You'd do well not to let that be known, people don't react nice when they learn they are being influenced."
"Noted. Then there's Isaac Redgrove, our strategist. His.. unique ability demands him to be prepared for every situation so I will be betting on his expertise, when we need to plan our every move."
"I see. Sounds like you are ready for this. What about the girl, Grimm?"
Avo didn't reply immediatelly. Nim could always read him, somehow, part of why he had placed some trust in her.
"She will be leading her own Circle, Cygnus. We both have the same mission currently so I shall be seeing quite a bit of her."
Nim didn't reply, just kept looking at him, her face a riddle.
She spent the last few hours before daybreak with him, the last time she would see her savior for quite a bit. If she ever did again. There were a million things she wanted to say but nothing he would want to hear. And so the night went on, by daybreak she was asleep and he carefully wrapped her with the fur he used to keep himself warm in the winter before packing his files and quietly leaving the room where he grew up, maybe for the last time.
Tower of Helia
His step was quick but confident as he entered the Library, many new faces around him, faces he would share life and death with. He didn't introduce himself or speak to anyone, he simply lit a cigar and stayed by a window, awaiting his nemesis, Alessa Grimm, to finally decide to show up and get this mission going. He would be a liar if he told himself that he wasn't nervous, of course he was. But beginnings are supposed to be scary, aren't they?
Especially so close to the end.
