“I see you’ve finally turned to the dark side.” Adrian spoke.

He was sat in his unusual place; in the centre of this identity-less building that had been a church and an office before becoming the siege of affairs for their little group. He was busy filling notebooks with words, as he always did. His sharp cheekbones and sunk-in eyes which made him look much older than his 25 or so winters were testament to how much he cared about his work. The marine-blue locks of hair that fell over his face and his unkempt beard were testament to how little he cared about everything else.

“We both knew this would happen one day.” Theodgar calmly answered, as he stood a good few meters away from the desk the other man was slouched over, leaning onto his blood-stained cane.

“No, we don’t.” Adrian dryly replied.

He didn’t bother looking up at his visitor, and Theodgar was well aware that he didn’t have to in order to see him.

“Really?” The old man asked. His tone was just as dry, and perhaps a tad impatient, but he was in fact surprised at hearing those words. “You knew I wasn’t a true believer like them. I was and have always been very vocal about that.”

“Yes, perhaps you were.” The younger man agreed. “But you were also desperate, lonely, in need of a purpose. You could have gone anywhere, done anything, and yet you stayed here. You never thought anyone would try, or the five lords forbid, succeed in stopping you. We are a family. A very large, and sometimes dysfunctional family, but we are. We cared for you, you cared for us. So, tell me, what changed?”

Theodgar shook his head. Yes, Adrian was right, as always, but that didn’t mean that he was about to babble on and help the other man adjust his predictions of the future.

“I am curious, about your powers.” The old man spoke instead.

“So you’ll grant me the favour of answering your questions before you kill me? I’ll pass. No offence.” Adrian cut him off. “And if I were you, I’d get to it sooner rather than later. Backup is on the way.”

Theodgar raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Who? The clones? Well, let’s just hope that David had equipped them with proper skills this time.”

Adrian raised his eyes to meet those of the older man. Theodgar had never seen that look of apprehension, it wasn’t fear quite yet, on that man’s face. That look was quickly replaced with that of pain, as the younger man began rubbing his neck.

“You can’t really see the future, can you.” Theodgar stated with a soft smile. “You must have some other way of knowing, I’m not doubting that, but you can’t see it, not in the same way you spy on everyone here.”

“No matter how I answer, you will call me a liar.” Adrian replied as he lowered his head back to his writings

“Hmm.” Theodgar agreed.

He’d suddenly realised that he was choosing not to get any answers out of the kid. He could make him feel pain like he’d never had before, but it would take time, and effort. Perhaps his age was finally catching up to him, but truth of it was that he simply could not be bothered.

Theodgar picked up his cane, holding it as a club and crossed the short distance between him and the other man. Adrian didn’t flinch, instead, he spoke:

“Stop. Go back to your house, maybe not this one if you hate it so much- go back to your stolen paintings. You can still play pretend that your world hasn’t ended. We can put this behind us.”

Theodgar’s expression darkened, but he did not strike, leaving the other man an opportunity to carry on.

“You are valuable to us, beyond your skills. You are a one of a kind historian, there’s only a handful of languages that you can’t speak, and despite whatever this little temper tantrum is, your heart is in the right place.”

“You don’t value their lives; do you even value yours?” Theodgar asked. Perhaps he would not be able to know the truth about the powers of this man, but maybe he’d gain some insight into his motivations.

“I value our work, Theodgar. I value our cause. I know deep inside you do to, because you know that what we do, what we strive for, is the only way to achieve the kind of peace you yearn for.”

“No.” Theodgar nodded, as if a theory of his had just been confirmed. “You’re just scared of those stronger than you.”

“I’m not scared of you Theodgar.” Adrian raised his eyes up once more. This time, he’d stopped writing, perhaps for the first time in days, and closed his notebook. “You are many things, Theodgar. I don’t know what happened or went through your head in Geneva to upset you so, nor why your little hobby has now extended to stealing from civilians, but I know you, perhaps even better than you know yourself. I have watched and I have seen you go through joys and hardships. You are not a violent murderer. You’ve never killed anyone you saw as your equal.”

Theodgar nodded.

“Thank you.” He said.

Adrian smiled.

“You see,-” The younger man began, but he was cut short by a cane smashing into his skull.

Under the strength of the blow, his body leaned sideways, and fell off the chair, splattering all the notebooks scattered on the desk with blood.

Luck + 1

“He really couldn’t see the future.” Theodgar spoke loudly, his voice echoing through the empty building.

“He could, to an extent.” A male voice answered from the doorway. “I believe he was just unable to see his own death. But that’s irrelevant now.”

“How do you want to do this, David?” Theodgar asked, turning around to face a tall man with olive skin and dark, almost black, hair. “You look horrible without a beard by the way.” He added.

“Yes,” David rubbed his chin. “I was a in a bit of a rush to get here. Thought that skills were more important than appearances, you know?”

“So we’re doing this?”

“I guess.” David shrugged.

A circle of swords, some growing form the ground, and others floating in the air, appeared around Theodgar, as the other man crossed the distance between them in an instant, enclosing both of them in this makeshift arena. Swords flew towards the other man, but were suddenly stopped by a crystal barrier, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

David gave his opponent a curious look, as if asking where the barrier had come from, before materialising a sword in his hand.

“David, you don’t plan on going all out on an old, crippled, man?” Theodgar said with a tone that struggled to mask his amusement.

“If you have an alternative, I’m all ears.”

“No.” Theodgar simply replied with a coy tone.

Throne of peace

MP - 50

Three thin circles of red energy formed around David, before suddenly growing thorns and collapsing onto him. The man let out a cry of pain, before collapsing to the ground. The circle of swords promptly vanished.

Luck +1

With a ‘I told you so’ sigh, Theodgar walked around the remains of the man, and headed outside. There, the streets were still empty, as everyone who was still alive was hiding withing the illusionary safety of their houses.

This killing spree wasn’t essential to Theodgar’s course of action. Adrian had been right, as he could have just left in search of the heir of Namura. But, now that there was hope to restore the world to a proper order, he couldn’t leave any loose ends. Especially not when they were sitting right under his nose.

He’d go after the rest of the branches after finding the identity of the heir, and perhaps even after meeting with her again. There was also a slim, very slim, chance that the Eye of Calchas, the other magic item that had been in Nathalie’s possession at the moment of her death, would resurface as well.

But those were all theories and plans for later. First, Theodgar had to do what he had come here to do all those years ago, before the death of his dear friend had led him to change his allegiances.

Anshar’s call

Radius – 550 meters

MP - 550

Theodgar expanded most of his remaining MP into that skill. Cries began to emanate from the sad concrete houses, as it took effect, and Luck points began to roll in. The man dismissed it for now, as he returned inside the community centre, and headed towards the kitchen. If he remembered correctly. that’s where they kept their matches, alcohol, and oil.

He fund what he needed easily enough, and headed back towards Adrian’s desk. He didn’t bother flipping any of the notebooks open, as he knew that that man used a code only he could decipher. Those notebooks were said to hold record of everything that will be, and many things that were, thanks to Adrian’s habit of spying on those around him.

Theodgar knew that burning the books wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but he couldn’t afford to take the risk of them falling into the hands of any of the other branches of this organisation. So, he poured cooking oil all over the floor, and soaked the notebooks in alcohol, before throwing a lit match atop. It was such a primitive way to get rid of something, and yet, it was just as effective as a fire-skill would have been.

Theodgar slowly walked away, as the luck points he had gained from his most recent attack had began rising in the triple-digits. This very same morning he was aimlessly strolling around. But now, he finally had a purpose once more.