• Closed • [Oakleigh] The Call

[Whisper]

3rd Day of Saun
717th Arc

Sintih’s brief, but valuable, visit to Viden had had many uses… both for the yludih himself, and for the peoples of the Ice Fortress of the North. Yvithia, too, had shared in her own reward, and none were more obvious to her than the small bridge between her and her quarry. “Sintih…” She used the name he had chosen not to use in Viden, but it was a name she knew nonetheless. It was… somewhat willingly given to her when the yludih, during her interview with him, had shared enough of his life to prove himself trustworthy.

His name carried like a whisper on the wind, the call of a woman so far removed that he would have to strain to hear her. The disguised yludih was not alone when the Immortal of Intelligence and Communication called to him. Now working for the new Duke of Oakleigh, Tristan Venora, Sintih had spent the morning learning more about his new colleagues, the land, and the tasks he was expected to carry out. He was with a few of those colleagues now.

“Sintih…” The voice whispered again, directly into his conscious mind. If he had tried to ignore the first call, it was harder now to continue doing that. While in Viden, the temporary researcher had learnt much of the eídisi, and had even felt the presence of Xypha in his mind. How much of that he remembered was up for debate, and maybe Yvithia’s efforts would cause certain memories to seep back in through newly formed cracks in the forcibly closed gates in his mind. It was impossible to have a one-way door, and Yvithia was willing to take the risk. “Sintih…”

[Sintih]

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hings were slowly settling in around him. He and his men had only been working for the Duke for a couple of trials now but everyone seemed to be getting used to things. The hot season had started in the form of a trip to Andaris for the duke and company and they has left only a few trials ago. Sin had assigned Iemes to accompany the duke, together with his regular staff of guards, as they were all still getting used to things back at the estate. Over time, Sin expected to take a more active role in the duke's protection but for now he left it to the more skilled former knight to keep the duke safe from assassins and boredom.

Before him lay several rolled out scrolls and parchments depicting the building as it had been designed by the original architect as well as a map of the grounds which he had drawn himself. While there were no secret doors or alleys depicted on the pages, Sin kept trying to calculate empty spaces between the walls that would indicate such hidden passages. So far he hadn't had much luck. His attention was drawn from his work when he heard someone calling his name. "Yes? What's the problem." He spoke as he looked up from his work. Gallien was sitting across from him on one of the few chairs in the room and Argun sat, with his feet dangling, on a stack of equipment crates. Both men looked up from their maintenance to stare at him.

"We didn't say anything." Argun gave Sin a look, worry mixed with confusion, as he responded to Sin's sudden words. It seemed nobody had drawn his attention. "Sorry, I thought someone called my name..." Sin shook his head and looked back down to the papers in front of him. Before he could even get back into it, he heard it again. Someone was calling out to him and it wasn't either of the two men in the room. Sin looked from one to the other. Both had gone back to their maintenance, obviously not in need of Sin's attention. Atolini! Sin pushed himself up from his chair and stepped towards the door, quickly opening it to see if the spoiled Venoran girl was trying to pull yet another stunt.

The hall was empty as Sin looked left and right. His office, for lack of a better word, was located behind the servant quarters in some forgotten corner of the building. While he hoped it was temporary, he couldn't be sure. The duke had planned on offering them something more appropriate but Atolini had intervened quickly and viciously until the duke had given in to her demands. And so they were stuck in this half basement of an office. Looking from empty dark hall to empty dark hall, Sin couldn't deny the fact that he kept hearing his name as it rang a third time in his head. It sounded a little off, as if someone was calling him from far away.

Not wanting to look like an even crazier person than he already did, Sin closed the door behind him and stood quietly in the hallway. With the third calling of his name, Sin suddenly remembered a pair of clear, piercing eyes staring right into his, a strand of dark hair to the side of them. There was a depth and intelligence behind them he would never be able to reach in his entire life, even if he tried. "Who goes there?" Sin called out to the dim hallway around him. Who was that person, with eyes like that? Sin walked down the hall, the few meters he needed to reach the next corner. Perhaps Atolini was hiding there...

[Pegasus]

He turned the corner, and there she was. Flawless skin and fascinating eyes, the woman in front of him seemed to be there and, at the same time, not quite real. He was alone with her, in the corridor. Come to that, the corridor was long. Really long. Longer than it had any right to be and Sintih was probably aware that it was longer, or it appeared to be longer than it actually was. Should he take the time to look behind him, the corridor stretched back, empty and a lot further back than the few feet he'd walked.

"Hello again, Sintih," she said. Her voice was calm and friendly, and almost amused. "I was hoping that the two of us might talk."

The corridor stretched out either side of them, in front them and behind them. Yet there, off to the side, there was a single door. "I have a task I would like to ask of you." She looked at him and smiled, seeming to see all of him in a glance. "I would like to discuss it with you. But, as is always the way in such things," She didn't sound entirely happy about it being this way, but then she was abiding by the rules. For now.

"As is always the way in such things," she continued and gestured to the door. "The choice is yours. I have an offer to make you, a request of you if you will. But if you do not wish to hear it, then that is up to you." She watched him, her eyes seeming to bore into his thoughts, as though she read every word maybe even before he thought it. In a way, she did.

"So. What would you like to do?" She gestured to the door off to his left, her right. His other option, she gestured, was to walk away. It was very much up to him.