2019-08-16: Called Back
- Cutscene: Called Back
- Cast:Pearl
- Where: Bevelle
- Date: 16 August 2017
- Summary: A novice sneaks in to the library of Bevelle, only to confront an intruder.
It was a late night in Bevelle. By rights, all the novices should have been asleep, or trying to be. Despite that, Ena had snuck from the room she shared with others, careful not to wake the others. She left her staff behind, not needing it for tonight.
She moved through the shadows as though she was part of them. She avoided the light, keeping silent and still as senior monks and guards prowled the monastery. She made for the libraries. She had been seemingly voracious in her pursuit of knowledge, and had often snuck out like this after nightfall.
Tonight was different, however.
Tonight someone had followed her. Expertly so. In truth she’d only noticed their pursuit as she’d started down the hallway to the library. She had not encountered anyone so skilled in all her time in Spira.
She moved reflexively as a dart flew towards her, shifting to the right and catching it with her hand before it could strike her or the wall next to her. Inwardly, the green haired woman swore. She had just passed up any deniability. Even if the dart had been poisoned- and it had, she noted as she looked at it- she could have taken it somewhere non-lethal and screamed for help. That might have been enough to mask who she was. She could even have held her assailant long enough that she’d still be alive when the guards came.
Instead she had just revealed exactly who she was to the Shadow Dragon Assassin behind her. Ena turned to face her assailant, and did not let surprise betray her face. Her assailant was small- a child- no older than eleven. The girl was skilled, certainly, but young. Her only advantage was surprise. She didn’t have a hope of winning a stand up fight, even with Ena poisoned and holding back. Why?
Recognition dawned on her. The girl who had attacked her when the Master dealt out his punishment for failing. The girl she had so cruelly let live.
Ena’s cold grey eyes met those of the girl, who did not try to attack again.
“You know the punishment for deserters.” The girl said, the edge in her voice evident. “Tell me why he should spare you?”
Ena’s grip tightened on the poisoned dart. Was this an insult? Had he thought her so craven she could be killed by a child?
No. That wasn’t it.
The master had sent the girl because one way or another, he would confirm that his target was there. If the girl returned, she could report. If she didn’t, that was proof that she had encountered the target.
It was all a ruse.
Ena relaxed herself, and her whole countenance changed. Her voice dropped lower than those in Bevelle had heard her speak. An air of lethality surrounded her.
And in that moment, Ena was gone, and Pearl of the Shadow Dragon cult stood there. Pearl looked down at the girl.
“If you want an excuse, I will offer none. Someone I sought to kill still lives. This was how I chose to correct that failure.”
The girl looked at her quizzically. “You’re saying he should spare you because you failed to kill someone? That’s just stupid.”
“I think I have earned a vendetta or two by now.” Pearl said, dismissively. Of course she knew there would be punishment for disappearing, for claiming to be dead when she still lived. And yet still she put on this bravado, that would have disappeared in an instant had the Master been there.
“That’s not good eno-” The girl started.
Pearl closed the distance instantly, the shadow where she stood fading away. The girl yelped, and jumped back, into a defensive stance. Pearl smirked. “It seems he had no intention of killing me tonight either. Otherwise he would have sent someone who was ready.”
Pearl could see the anger rising in the girls eyes. But to her credit, she swallowed her anger, and shook her head.
“He wants you in Luca. Do that, and he might not kill you.” The girl said, before leaving the library. Pearl watched, as she made her escape, the guards none the wiser.
“Duly noted.” It seemed revenge would have to wait a night. That’s fine. She could explain away being out of the dorms at night. Pearl took the dart, and capped it. If the Master let her have her indulgence, Ena would be back ere long. She looked up at the window, and shadows surrounded her.
Another moment, and the library was empty.