User:Arrow Quivershaft/Explanations
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3P story universe |
Explanations
It was a few days later. After arriving in Corinth and making sure Dawn and Alex were situated, we’d split up and I’d boarded a ship back to Lecce. It’d been an uneventful ride in general and I’d just spent the time socializing, and doing a few odd jobs around the ship for extra cash, since I was on my own now.
Once I got back into Lecce, I made a few stops. One to return a bunch of Alex’s gear, one to check in at Adminops to ensure I was on the level with what I was doing, and they knew I wasn’t AWOL or dead. Robjeet was out in the realms, so I had the flat to myself.
After a generous shower, I situated myself in front of my terminal, turning it on and getting it booted up to a few things I might need. I wanted to check the news, but more importantly, I needed to make sure I had info available for Nick Snider when I called him, as I’d been tasked to do. After I got that all set, I took out my cell phone, took a deep breath, and dialed up the number Alex had given me. It’d be about 4PM there, towards the end of the workday. Good time to catch him, I hoped.
After a few moments and rings, the phone was picked up. I heard what sounded like an American on the other end of the line. “Hello. This is the Tel Aviv ambassador station in the United Kingdom. Nick speaking.”
I paused. Sounded right, but I wanted to make absolutely sure. "Hello. Am I addressing Mr. Nick Snider, Bast representative to the United Kingdom?"
"Yes, you do." came the confirmation.
"Ok, good. My name is Nathan Renfrew; I'm calling on behalf of Alex Iosif and Blossom. I'm a Realmwalker stationed in Lecce." There was no need to be rude or anything, so I gave all my info up front.
"Oh awesome, I looked you up and gave your info to Blossom before she started her journey. Glad to be able to talk with you." Nick said.
"I as well. Do you have anything of dire urgency you are currently doing? If so, you may want to finish that first, because I may take some time."
"I'm fine here." he assured.
Well, I guess he must have some privacy for his work. "Excellent. Do you have any questions for me, otherwise, I've got some for you."
"I do but you can go ahead first, to be fair."
Oh lord. We were trying to out-polite each other. "I would greatly prefer if we got any initial questions you had out of the way first."
"All I'd like to know is how things progressed, because if you're calling me that means you've been there done that. How're Blossom and Alex?" Nick asked.
Great. The question I didn’t entirely want to answer. "Blossom has stayed behind in Selene's realm in order to learn to become a warden and to hear news; Alex is currently in Corinth in the care of a good friend."
"You came back alone?" he sounded disapproving. "Don't tell me Blossom plans on staying there..."
"I can't honestly say at this point. Current plans after I am done in Lecce are to proceed to Athens, then return to Corinth and Blossom."
"Ouch, what's Alex doing in Corinth?"
I took a breath, and went with the full truth. "Alex was forcemarked on the trip back, my friend is helping him adjust."
"Marked by who?" came the reply.
"Forcibly marked by Typhon. I do not wish to sound condescending, but you are aware of the ramifications of a forcible Marking?" I knew he probably wasn’t fully with the program here either, being supposedly another pocket realmie.
"No, not fully." came the uncertain reply.
"As a general rule, if they have to drag you in, they're going to alter your form as well as just Mark you. As a way of keeping you in the Realms."
"What is he?" Nick asked, getting to the point.
"He's a Stormwing."
"Stormwing?"
"You know what a harpy looks like? Take that to human size, of either gender, with metal feathers as sharp as razor blades."
"Ah...so he needs to be rescued?"
I shook my head instinctively. "No, he does not require rescue."
"Oh?"
"He was freely allowed to go." I explained. "As said, I left him with a good friend in Corinth to help him adjust."
"As a storm wing though...geez..."
"You have my utmost apologies." I said sincerely.
"It's not your fault, I shouldn't have to send friends to find solutions to my problems." I heard a sigh from the other end of the line.
"This news was, actually, what I called about."
"Ah not just to chat with lil' ol me, eh?" came a slightly sarcastic, if good spirited, response.
"Unfortunately not, no. The next stop on our list is a petitioning of Athene, and I wanted to know the exact specifics of the situation before I went ahead. So, if you will allow me, I'll give you a brief rundown of what I know."
"Alright go ahead."
"You arrived from a pocket realm, and in some way got mixed up with Bast. You chose to be Marked, which somehow gave rise to some sort of evil twin by the name of Nkosi."
"That's the extremely simple way of putting it." came an affirmation.
"Unfortunately, that's all I've been given." I said. "I can't force you to do anything, but...any information would improve the chances of a successful petitioning."
"Oh yeah no prob, I'll tell you everything. Especially since it sounds like we'll need to ask Athene..." Nick responded.
"Oh, why?”
"Because I want to help, and things for me have been terrible lately. Anyway I'm trusting you fully here so you know...especially with what I'm about to say. It's a semi long story but here goes..." He said, answering a different question.
“Alright.” I listened, prepping to take notes like I was back in school.
