The Letter - [Nines]

Toril forced a grin that wasn’t entirely faked as she looked back up at her superior. He certainly had Fiore’s well-being in mind over his own, and that included saving her so that she could still do good. She respected that. He was brave. Maybe too brave. She liked that. She liked that a lot. She would be brave too, regardless of what that meant. “Two questions sir,” She told him. This elevator seemed to be quite slow. Or maybe it was that deep…

“First off, What’s with the gauntlet? It’s got all kinds of arcane markings on it, which is obviously personalized." She was almost as observant as Nines, only without the experience to know what to use that observant power on. Fortunately, on the elevator, there wasn’t much else to look at, so there wasn’t much to miss.

“Second, when this is over, I don’t know what their plans were, but I don’t think there’s anyone else I could have as my mentor after hearing you talk the last hour. Would you do what you can to be the mentor I’m assigned to?” Yeah, he was unorthodox. He certainly had more of a mouth than she could afford to have at her age and rank. But she knew she could trust him to help guide her to be the paladin she wanted to be one day. It hadn’t been a tough decision, once she had a few moments to think it over.

The gauntlet, oh that was a good question.

“I’ll answer the first question first, cause the second one is hilarious in my opinion.” Nines said with a grin. “The gauntlet itself is a seal, it keeps my body from...Well for a lack of an easier way to explaining this, becoming the man I hunted down for nine years. I believe its been mentioned i'm a bit of a Remnant of the old council via my ‘title’” Nines completed the word title with air quotes, and then crossed his arms again. “I missed the war, completely. I went to the west for Nine years chasing my brother. He had joined the Dark Guild that i'm currently investigating, ‘Shadow Heart’. Thats what really piqued my interest when I refound it I guess. I was always under the belief that Shadow Heart died with him, he was the local leader back in Magnolia at the time, and I didn't think it would have separate sects.” Nines nodded, the elevator hitting floor three. He had never gone this deeply into the dungeons before.

“I didn't even find out what the guild was named until I returned to Fiore. It was before I returned to the Magic Council with my findings of Shadow Heart. They ignored everything I told them, about how its still around, and still has active members. They told me that the mages were just stragglers of my brothers old band, that it no longer exists as an active dark guild, that would be ridiculous. I have my doubts, it was all too suspicious. The official statement on my paperwork was ‘sealed by Mordekai Von Argon’” Nines uncrossed his arms and looked at his gauntlet and flexed the hand multiple times. “Which means he’s either part of them and trying to cover up what I’ve found, or he’s hunting them as well but wants it to stay on the downlow. Hence why I said we needed to hurry when I saw him.” Nines smiled at Tori, crossing his arms again.

“My brother was a powerful mage, alot stronger than I was. He could use every element, however he also had a secondary type of magic, it was part of his own physical body. It was unmissable, hence why I could track him down almost anywhere for so long. It left a physical impression on his skin, of black tattoos running all over his body. A type of seal that made his magic much stronger. However it started to corrupt his mind, in a way it had a personality of its own. I never figured out why until after I killed him.” Nines lowered his left arm, and unclipped part of the gauntlet. “Turns out the thing was a demon sealed into the form of a tattoo, a deal the two made so he could be immortal, or at least come back from the dead for a price.” He continued, moving the gold chain out of the way. “The deal was he could place the tattoo and a fragment of his being inside things he touched, it was a choice of his. Eventually the tattoo and his mind would take over the entire body of the one who had it, and in a way, allowing him to live forever. The cost? He had to take the demon with. Soon I was pretty sure that my brother was never really the one running around murdering people, I was certain it was the demon” Nines chuckled.

“Which is saying something, cause my brother had a penchant for violence.” He pulled out a few straps of black cloth, showing her his arm. “Sadly the last thing he touched before he died was me.” On his arm were black markings similar to a Tattoo, however they visibly moved, creeping slowly along his arm. “I managed to seal the darn thing using a few tricks shown to be my old mentor in reference to demons and seals. However it needs to be over my arm as long as there's light around, hence the Gauntlet.” pHe finished replacing the cloth, the golden chain mail, and replacing the metal around his forearm on the gauntlet and clipping it back shut. “I dont want to have a demon running around using my magic and my body. Not with my knowledge of seals.” He continued slowly. “It would be bad for Fiore.”

He re-crossed his arms. “Good question by the way, thats kind of a need to know thing if I’m going to be your mentor.” He said as he handed her the folder in his hand. “I Already am your mentor by the way, I took care of that when The Commander gave me this stuff, thought I mentioned that by the way I said we will get to know each other” He chuckled.

"My turn, why did you join the council?"

Toril listented to Nines’ explanation about the gauntlet. It was magical seals of some sort. That made sense. Her eyes lingered on the seals for a long moment while he finished talking, only looking up when he told her he’d taken care of it already. “Really?” she asked, sounding a bit excited. She gave him a slight bow of gratitude. “Thank you, sir,” She told him sincerely.

Now it was her turn to answer why she joined the council. She was new, so it was a fair question. She blinked a couple of times though as she considered how to best answer. “Ever since I was a little girl,” she started, looking away for a second in thought before looking him straight in the eyes. “I wanted to be a member of the Council. Even before the war and everything. I wanted to use magic and keep people safe from bad magic. I wanted to do it because it would be a fun adventure at first, but as I got older, I wanted to do it because then that meant at least one other person wouldn’t have to put their lives on the line. Not as long as I was willing to do it in her place.”

Toril adjusted her rings, each lacrima sparking to life in turn at her touch. She didn’t have to touch them to activate them, but it was a nice way of relieving stress. “So as soon as I could,” she left out the part about her own brother joining Shadow Heart for now. It was a secret their family had long held, and habits weren’t so easily broken. “I joined the academy a year ago. I graduated and was told I would have a mentor assigned to me soon. And not a week later… here I am, sir.” Toril sighed and looked at the still closed doors. “If you need a girl who will keep her country safe and prove we’re here to keep the people safe and happy, look no further. You’ve found her.”

“Sounds like a good thing I picked you then.” Nines said as he lightly tapped the five button again after they stopped at their floor. Suddenly things dropped, fast. Alot faster than it was before. He grabbed the security bar behind him as the speed on it hit a point he was no longer just happy standing. The fall was intense however he remained calm throughout it. The reason why was because this had to be someones trip to work everyday, so it had to be safe, he just hoped the magic propelling this thing forward actually stopped soon.

It wasn't long before the elevator stopped completely. Nines looked at Tori, and then the door open button on the elevator’s control panel. They would be greeted at the door that was what they were told. Nines reached up towards the Knife on his shoulder, and drew it. He flipped it into his left hand and threw his overcoat down over it. The coat went to his shins, allowing it to cover his upper body in warmth. The collar was lined with white wolf fur, which managed to stay off both winter cold, and the material was light enough to breathe and keep him chill in the summer. It was also adept at keeping his gauntlet to himself, and cover weapons he wanted to hide.

He looked at Tori and nodded, as he hit the open door button.

When the elevator opened, the only thing that greeted them was a long dark hallway. But almost immediately the limping echo of a cane being used could be heard echoing down the hall. Then a light in the back went on. The figure of Dr. Gerold was illuminated as he walked forward. And every so often another light would click on.

The hallway was remarkably white. For someplace that was an entry way into the R&D facility so deep underground, it was immaculately clean. Not only that, but the reflections of everyone were clearly visible not only in the floor, but on the walls. The ceiling looked like it was made of panels, but only some of them lit up.

“I see you finally made it,” Gero said coming to a stop. The lights above the two in front of the elevator clicked on. He offered them a warm smile and held out his hand. “Since you're here it's safe to assume you both accepted the position. Good... very good.”

“If you would like, I'll give you a tour of the areas you have access to, and answer any questions you have,” He said not faltering in his smile. “I must warn you to refrain from touching things though. We are very deep underground in case an accident happens. It would take some time for help to arrive if some of our more... volatile items went off.”

“Sounds like a good thing I picked you then.” The words echoed in Toril’s mind as the doors slid open. She’d seen the knife, and knew he was as on edge as she was. The entire thing just reeked of someone planning something she didn’t like. She was glad she’d passed whatever test he had mentally been giving her. She was silent again, a slight frown on her face while the steps of a familiar man echoed down the practically glowing hallway. He greeted them, telling them he assumed they’d accepted the position if they were here.

It was funny. Accepted wasn’t exactly what Toril would have said about either of them. More it was forced on them and they were being good little soldiers and obeying their superiors. She might have chuckled at the irony of the man’s statement if she hadn’t been trained to be quiet when a superior was talking to her unless given permission to talk. She wasn’t a perfect soldier by any means, but she could certainly behave like one.

As they walked, Toril shot a look at Nines. Being this deep was a cause for concern in itself. “What’s so dangerous it needs to be this deep?” she asked him in a hushed tone so that they wouldn’t be overheard. This place reeked of one of those places you always read about in stories, where governments had evil projects going on. Maybe a few monsters, a world-ending super weapon or two. “I don’t like this,” she repeated, assuming a neutral expression again the moment someone started to look back in their direction.

“Hey Doctor Gero” Nines said shaking the man's hand with his right hand. Nines actually debated ending this entire thing right here, the knife was already in his hand, he didn't have to draw it. However that man's smile made Nines actually think about this. Reaction time was dictated by intelligence and perception, the old man was hilariously intelligent, smarter than Nines was by far. Nines didn't know what kind of magic he had, nor did he want Tori to get hurt. Not to mention he wasn't even sure they could leave now that they were here.

“What’s so dangerous it needs to be this deep?” Came a whispered question from Tori.
“You know whispering in a quiet place is only like, ten times more noticeable than normally talking right?” Nines asked raising an eyebrow. “Also I don't know but lets find out”

“A tour would be a wonderful thing, but first” Nines let go of Gero’s hand with his right hand and plopped his knife into it from his left. “You can hold onto that for a bit. That way I don’t accidently cause a fire to happen in surprise.” Nines smiled back. “And before you ask, yes I did calculate the risks of stabbing you in the neck. That way we’re all taught to be honest and upfront about our partnership. Because I hate secrets” He continued his smile, totally and completely honest.

“I dont like this” Tori muttered under her breath.
Exactly what I was thinking.

Dr. Gero took the knife with a rather hard look. He turned with it and started walking leaving the two in silence for a moment. Once they got halfway through the hall, the elevator behind them closed and left, leaving the three of them alone. “I'd appreciate it if we had at least a small semblance of trust. I've stretched out my hand pretty far getting you access down here. You wouldn't need to know what's going on down here to do your part.”

“As for why we're so far underground...” He trailed off and led them to the door. Pushing it open, he stepped in. They were greeted with the bustle of scientists and scholars running back and fourth trying to analyze things or move information. Many objects were in cases, with magic clearly being used to some degree on them. The objects themselves looked and smelled old. They came in odd shapes, but none seemed to be reacting to the magic or other stimulus that could be seen being used on them.

“Around fifty years ago, we were tasked by the king of Fiore to study the ancient ruins dotted around the land,” Gero had to speak up to be heard. Everyone gave passing glances at the duo following the Dr. but no one stopped to actually talk to them. “At first, we were setting up camps outside the ruins. We did all our testing out there.”

“However, one day we were attacked as brigands heard the artifacts we were studying,” He led them into a smaller office where folders, binders, and other such objects littered the place. He set the knife down on the desk and began digging on one of the shelves. “We found out that the ancient weapons and tools we'd found were rather... destructive. I'd rather not study items that can liquify a human being up where innocent people could accidentally trigger something bad. So we had this lab built.”

At first Toril thought Nines had gone crazy - revealing he'd had the knife to the doctor seemed like a move that would get him arrested or worse. But that didn't seem to be the case this time. While he seemed annoyed at first, he actually got over the entire thing pretty quickly. She was giving them both a perplexed look at this point. Did this mean Nines trusted him, or was it a show that he could kill him at any time regardless of the consequences? Toril herself wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go to jail or get in trouble in this top secret facility, but she supposed she had promised to do the right thing no matter what. She just hadn't wanted to do her last right thing at fifteen.

They started walking again, actually coming across some ancient looking shapes that were probably artifacts of some kind, as far as young Toril could ascertain. She was actually getting more and more lost. As perceptive and smart for her age as she was, she was starting to get overwhelmed. Not that she showed it. Much. She did take a step back from the artifacts though, when the good doctor told them the place was so deep because they didn't want to seriously hurt anyone. Toril gulped at that, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of her face from a combination of the strange amount of heat in the room and her poor nerves being so close to a super weapon of some kind.

“Oh neat….Good thing I gave you the Knife then...Its not attuned so I can’t de summon it. Don't want anything magical to go anywhere near that stuff. ‘Splosions and stuff.” Nines commented. “So besides all that, exactly what are we done here for. Mathius said something about the development of a thing that would keep Fiore from being attacked. I'm hoping its something that doesn't involve the painful ‘Sploding or liquefaction of a sentient individual.” Nines voiced his concerns and asked his question, hoping to get an actual answer to this almost two hour old question of why they were here. He had another that was just as important though, and he decided to ask that one as well. The answer kind of decided how he felt about this whole thing. The doctor himself seemed to be a decent person.

“On top of that, why me? I can understand getting an apprentice, I’ve been here for a long time, its overdue really. But why choose myself for this mission? You think they would want to hide me in the deepest darkest dept-Oh…..Huh….” That seemed like an answer in and of itself really to Nines. This was most likely the deepest and darkest depths of the Magic Council, up till a few hours ago he didn't even know the R&D Department existed. Now he was a “Ghost” Seeker, his rank didn't exist, he took his orders from the highest ups. He existed in two worlds, this one where he was part of a secret project, and the normal one where he hunted Dark Guilds, and dealt with the Corruption of the Magic Council.

“Those are excellent questions,” Dr Gero nodded and found the binder he was looking for. He pulled some papers out and put them into a folder before returning tho them. He motioned to them, trying to get them to follow him again. “In truth, not to many of council members outside Von Argon himself really place any value in this department, or it's research.”

“The war with Valland happened,” He continued, leading them back out into the busy room, but this time lead them to a hallway. This one had a platform over a pit, though it was held on by two solid metal bars. Stepping on it he motioned to them to follow. “And that made gathering data in the field difficult. Compounding that is that the council isn't what it once was. Von Argon has done a phenomenal job piecing it back together.”

“Nikolas was it?” Gero turned to him. “I got to pick two people. The entire council is stretched thin as is, what with the guildless hunt a few months ago. And Valland potentially planning to invade if we look weak. I needed someone who knew this land. As for Toril.... Sometimes the brightest minds are the inexperienced ones. A lot of the work you'll be doing for us is tracking down ancient artifacts. Some of them are guarded by complex locks or traps. An open mind would have an easier time solving those problems then a closed one.”

Toril’s mind might have been a bit more open than what Dr. Gero was asking for. She still didn’t trust the man, and it probably showed. She wasn’t very good at lying, after all. She hated lying. She listened to Nines and the Doctor exchange words, still remaining naturally quiet as she’d been taught to do in the academy. It wasn’t because she wasn’t willing to talk though. It was because she wasn’t especially talkative in the first place when she didn’t feel the need to. She also found it was easier to gather information when the focus wasn’t on her.

“With respect, sir,” she finally spoke up as she glanced at Doctor Gero, her expression unsure, “I don’t see how a secret lab like this is so important. We should be open with the people we’re supposed to be protecting, shouldn’t we?” Well, her loyalties were obvious to anyone who was paying attention. “Something like this isn’t going to help them see how we are trying to do good for them. They’ll only see it as another secret we shouldn’t be keeping, and another move we don’t need to be making.” Toril believed in the Council’s potential, not what it currently was. She knew what it was when her father served, and she wanted to be strong enough and influential enough to bring it back around.

“The reason the lab is important is because of the research going on down here, its to help Fiore, protect the public. However the reason its secret is obviously because the nation would freak out if they found out we were doing science on weapons of mass destruction, not to mention the subconscious paranoia of other nations that would no doubt find out about such a thing. They would do there best to get spies in here, or set one of them off in a residential zone, or just outright declare war on Fiore. It’s honestly better this way, even if it’s wrong.” Nines stated to Tori with his smile. “As long as you do the wrong things for the right reasons, it’s not going to make you a monster”

Nines knew a lot about this subject actually. His brother did the wrong things for the wrong reasons, he watched someone who was kind and peaceful turn into a monster. A monster he had to put down like an old rabid dog. It was a tragic thing really, Nines did the wrong thing though, he killed a man. But he did it for the right reason. His brother consorted with Demons, killed people to enhance his powers, gain immortality, and other heartless soulless monsterous things.

Nines felt he wasn’t a monster for that. He felt he was just human.

“It’s not just because they’d panic,” Gero shook his head slowly. He pushed a button and bars came up and the platform started moving. “There’s a very strong resentment against Valland right now. Families were torn apart by the war. Loved ones and precious items of great value to the heart were destroyed. And while we won the war, quite a few out there feel that justice hasn’t been served.”

“There’s a good chance they would riot if they knew we were developing a weapon we hope to have to never use,” Gero stated quietly as the lift continued to move. “Personally, I don’t want vengeance or justice. I want to keep the people who survived the war alive. I owe that much to the younger generation.”

“Here we are,” They stopped outside a metal door. Gero waved his hand forward and screens of light came up in front of him. Tapping on the air in front of him he input some kind of code and the door opened. Inside was a large, square stone platform. On each corner was a gray, cloudy lacrima. In the middle was a larger lacrima. It was gray and cloudy like the others, but it was cracked open like someone had taken a giant sword and tried to slash it. Sevaral mossy metal rings were strewn about around this lacrima There was four larger rods making a point that didn’t quite touch. This was situated on a broken rail, and it was clear that it was moved around. “This is why you’re here. The ancients called it Etherion.”

Nines looked around at the contraption. Immediately recognizing certain elements he’d seen in his experiences with his teacher of Rune based magic. Not to mention other things that he’d seen as a seeker. This rune on the ground is huge, the amount of Mana required to power this thing must be intense. Not to mention it has three Lacrima. Nines thought to himself kneeling and examining the stone platform with its many intricate engravings.

He frowned a bit, the engravings were flecked with gold, a highly magical natural mineral. If they needed to line this thing with gold whatever it did was something ridiculous, not to mention it had three separate lacrima, and a bunch of other additions. Whatever had used this had some crazy ideas, and an even crazier source of magic. Nines felt the rune’s design was familiar but he couldn't tell due to the slight modifications, he would need to research this outside of here. The last thing he needed to do was find a way to activate a device that destroyed an entire continent because ‘curiosity’.

Nines stood back up “The Etherian huh? Interesting.” The seeker said scratching the back of his head with his left hand.

Etherion. The very name sent chills up Toril's spine. She frowned at it for a long moment, but knew that she would help with whatever she needed to if Nines thought it was worth their time. He was going to be her mentor, after all, and she would have to trust him if she was going to learn from him. What she didn’t like was the way Fiore was trying to collect weapons like this that could possibly hurt good people in Valland too. “Revenge isn’t the same as Justice,” Toril felt the need to speak up this time. “It would be wrong of us to think otherwise, and a lot of good people could get hurt… on either side.”

Toril was eyeing the engravings as well. She’d recently learned of gold’s strangely high magical capacity, and she brought up an arm to her chest, playing with a ring with the other hand as she thought. She couldn’t read the runes, but she did know this thing took a lot of magic to fire if it used that much lacrima. She cast a glance at Nines, trying to discern his thoughts with a glance. She wasn’t especially good at being a psychic, but the hand on the back of his head… that was a nervous tick. Not a good sign, she thought as she frowned at Etherion.