Albert walked up to the front gate of the estate and walked past the guards asking for identification. He walked through the front door and shook off the rain, the final storm of the season was raging its way through, and mother nature wanted everyone to know it. He was met by the usual cadre, swarming around him to make sure he was alright. A mixture of local staff and his own people, all mindless except for himself. When he said he was, they all returned to their assigned duties without another word.

At the end of the hall were two men, the first was a young man just a bit older than himself. Elias Boreus. The other was the now old Aixen Vannse. They came back together a few days before, Elias apparently traveled with Andromeda from when she left to clear up to the boat over. Aixen on the other hand was the mainline-side agent in charge of the assassination. Though Elias was older than him, he had the undeniable look of a man who was wet behind the ears.

Both arrived back at the same time, and while Aixen was at least capable of talking, Elias didn’t seem to. Nothing was wrong with him medically, he just wouldn’t speak. However, neither man spoke about what happened, but judging from the crew of the ship they were on, it wasn’t pleasant.

That was another thing, the ship they came over on was a bait. Though how that was executed was beyond Albert. Regardless of what happened, Andromeda did something to them. Many of the men on the ship lost their ability to speak, while others were too shaken to speak a word, even with her capabilities, their minds were fried regarding the events on the ship, and that was before there was the random aging was considered. The most they could get anyone to speak about the matter was one man who now laid in a coma, and the only word he said was “Silver”, then he passed out before he could finish.

Aixen was affected by whatever caused the aging in the crew and was accelerated to a biological age similar to fifty years old, losing twenty years of his life in the process. Ironically, he now appeared exactly as he did when he used her gift. An older version of his normal self.

Due to this, as well as her interest in him, Elias was being groomed to take Aixen’s place in the group. He seemed to do whatever they asked of him, and she detected no ill intent in his motives, so he wasn’t suspected of anything. More than that, there was a strange quality that Aixen witnessed in Elias, something that made him move and react in a way that should have been impossible. The details weren’t clear, but he predicted, anticipated, and reacted to a knife flying at a significant fraction of the speed of sound, and grabbed it like it was nothing.

Nobody seemed to care about Albert’s opinion on the matter, that being that even keeping Elias around was a massive liability. It’s not that he cared one way or another, either things work out or they don’t. If their own plans got shot because they didn’t listen to him, that was no skin off his bones.

“Blue.” Aixen said.

“Vannse.” Albert said.

They shared a tense exchange of eye contact, and Albert moved on. He knew Albert’s real name, secrets weren’t very easy to keep here, but there were extraneous reasons for him using that name.

Albert continued down the hall and toward the stairs at its end. One of the annoying features of this building was that it was built more as a school than any home he knew. The halls were wide, free of shelves or serious decorations, the windows didn’t open from the inside and were tall as the walls, and many of the rooms were sparsely decorated, if at all. It was all newly built in the last few years as well, so why it was designed this way wasn’t clear.

Now up the stairs, he reached the second floor of the estate, more cluttered than before, and with a few individuals without glass eyes wandering around.

These were a mix of agents, the staff of the manor, and a few others he wasn’t familiar with. All working at the behest of her. He walked past most of them, and avoided the rest as best he could. All he wanted to do was report in and get to sleep. It was the only time of day that he had to himself for the most part.

One more flight of stairs, and he reaches the final floor. It contained a singular room, a singular office. Something about it felt slightly nostalgic.

He entered, and was met by two people.

An old man, ancient rather, gray hair clinging to life at the sides of his otherwise bare head, a thin mustache on his lips and a goatee which likely possessed the longest vitality of any hair on his body. He was short shrunken from age, his eyes nearly slits at the best of times and squints at worst. Despite that, he had an air of life around him, looking at him gave the same feeling as when one looked toward the end of a long bridge on a warm day. A feeling of Vitality despite finality. A glowing contrast to the one he stood opposite to.

Her… Her. The nameless bane of everyone’s life.

Black hair, yellow eyes, gray skin, and a presence that turned the stomach. Absolutely refuses any and all names that may be applied to her.

Objectively speaking, she had the qualities of an attractive woman. Roughly late thirties, maybe early forties, Immaculate skin despite its shade, and clothes one would expect from a person conducts herself as this woman does. But that was on the objective look, and looks can be deceiving.

“Greetings, Young Man. I trust your mission was successful?” The old man said.

“It was, unfortunately, thank you for asking, Mr. Algoer.” Albert said. Entai Algoer, the legal owner of the estate and technical host for the operation. Though he had none of the visceral glee for it as the woman had.

“Good, good. I dread this situation becoming more tense than it has.” Entai said. The woman clicked her tongue and turned to Albert.

“That’s all well and good, but tell me how it went.” The woman said.

“You already know, so why ask?” Entai asked.

“Honesty in word and mind is important. One who thinks in one way and speaks another is a difficult being to control.” The woman asked. The reaction made Albert feel a mixture of anger and disgust. It was a strange feeling, and not a natural one regardless. Something about her existence had a way of raising emotions in his chest, and none were pleasant.

“I spoke with my man and his people, I left him alone like you asked, but the Gallery is yours. The timeline is as we expected.” Albert said. She smiled, and he felt his stomach nearly turn.

“I know I’ve made my opinion on this matter known, but I must say that I am displeased by this course of events.” Entai said.

“This is the trouble of business. We must do what we must to accomplish our goals.” The woman said.

“We may agree to disagree on that this, but some of your actions are exceedingly cruel no matter your justification.” Entai said. “Especially regarding the matter of the young lady.”

Lightning struck, bathing the office in white light that blinded all.

“What?” Albert said.

The woman turned to him in surprise.

“Oh, did you not know?” The woman said. “That friend of the girls, who came with the lord. She was collected from Fable Pass. Not originally a part of the plan, but any extra bargaining chips we have in the matter, the better.”

“You don’t mean-” Albert started, but he was interrupted.

“Lady Magrisal, yes.” She looked him in the eyes, and her smile grew wider and less refined. Almost mocking.

“Oh? Did it become too complicated now that more than one of your friends are on the line?” She said, definitely mocking him.

“Shut up, I’ll do what I need, but leave her out of this.” Albert said.

“I’ll have you mind that I’ll do whatever I please with whatever I please. You have no authority to tell me otherwise. I need not remind you that you’re already on a short leash as is.” The woman said. Entai gave Alberta a look to suggest it wasn’t worth it, and Albert sighed.

“Don’t hurt her, that’s all I ask.” Albert said, defeated.

“I might consider it, if that aligns with my plans.” Albert bit his tongue and turned away, unsure if he could control his actions had he not.

“I’m leaving now.” Albert said, and he stepped toward the door, only to be called back once he did.

“Young man.” Entai said.

“Yes sir?” Albert asked.

“Will you meet with me in a short while? I wish to ask something of you.” Entai asked.

“Asking something so tantalizing in front of me like that, it’s like you want me to listen in.” The woman said. Then something strange happened. Albert watched her expression drop instantly, not as though she frowned suddenly. Her face changed instantly.

She shook her head and turned away.

“As I said, we’ll speak in around an hour. Is that agreeable?” Entai said.

“Of course, sir. Good night.” Albert said.

He left soon after, leaving Entai and the woman alone. There was a tense silence between them, and the woman tried to leave. Strangeness pervaded the room and she remained still. She took a step, but she didn’t, she stood still. There she remained until she looked at him again.

“Do you intend to bring harm upon that girl?” Entai asked. The woman remained silent, and tried to step forward again, but nothing happened. As soon as she tried to step forward, she was standing still once more

“Do not make me repeat myself.” He said.

“No, it wasn’t my intention.” She said, when tried to move again, nothing came to pass.

“Elaborate.”

“I neither have the desire to harm her, nor plans to harm her in the future. I said what I did as a means of psychological manipulation.”

“Good, now, I have a question for you.” Entai said. The strangeness of the room left, and the woman found she could move again. He motioned for her to sit opposite him at his desk. Not wanting to experience what she had a moment ago, she did not argue.

“What did you want?” She asked, there was a moment where he didn’t speak, just stared at her. There was not a mortal alive that could hope to unnerve her, but what she felt at that moment came the closest to her questioning that idea.

“Do you fear me?” He asked. The question caught her off guard.

“To ask such a question to one such as myself, would you ask if the starved of their opinion on fine cuisine? I am not well attuned enough to such ideas to answer the question.” She said.

“I see. Are you aware of the nature of fear? What it’s purpose is in life?” Entai asked.

“No. What you ascribe as purpose is as alien to me as I am to you, but go on. I sense that you have some faux philosophical statement that is meant to change my understanding of mortal life. Spoken in hope that I might change my stance and perhaps my ways, no doubt.” The woman said.

“Then you misunderstand. I wish to say that fear is not a feeling, nor an emotion. Fear is true understanding, of yourself and the world you live in. It exists in all things, like mana or the flow. Any being that can truly say they understand themselves and the world around them will know it, and understand it.” Entai said. The woman laughed dryly and looked back at him, almost amused.

“By your definition, I suppose you could say that fear is something I might possess. I wish to know your secrets, but find myself short no matter how far I pry. Is this what you wanted to hear?” She said.

“No.” Entai said. This caught her off guard, and in that moment, she actually smiled.

“Really? Then what did you want to hear?” She said.

“I wanted to hear you act with the confidence that one requires to exist in the situation you have put yourself in. Not because I have any desire to see you succeed, but because the weak part of my mind prevents me from wishing to see another fall on their own knife from ignorance.” Entai said.

“Speak plainly, I have no interest in playing word games with you. If you simply want to waste my time, then you should have just said so.” She said.

“Begrudge an old man a conversation once in a while, but fine.” He said, then he leaned close. The woman did the same, playing along with his antics. “Someone will die within the next few days, and I can assure you it won’t be who you want.” Entai said.