Ephalon - Triumvirate
Chapter 1 - Desperation
Ephalon - Trial of the Cursed
Chapter 1 - Post Arcturos world
Regret, guilt, some would argue that these feelings are taught, that they aren't inherent to sentients. However, such a claim flies hard in the face when the attribution of death hangs off one's shoulders. For the soon to be considered circumstance, there isn't even the notion of accidental causation; the consequences, the full extent of which were unknown at the time, were overt, and perhaps worse-so, acknowledged as a necessary evil.
"This is the Channel Seven News coming to you live from the skies above Maya. Below me, you can see the devastation wrought by the massive two-hundred-meter high wave that struck our fair city yesterday. The initial estimates as to the loss of life are in the millions. Experts have dubbed the mysterious string of natural disasters that started late last night as the Great Cataclysm; going so far as claiming it is even worse than the losses incurred during the entirety of the War of Dominance; and it's all thanks to YOU, Rhea Arramore." The sudden disclosure of her name caused Rhea to shoot upright from her couch seated position.
The room she occupied, beyond the light of the television, was otherwise pitch black, which made it impossible to discern anything else around. The reporter's direct mention of her name put her on edge; it made her feel as though she was no longer alone, a sensation that perhaps wasn't unfounded.
"The people of Ephalon demand penance for your actions Rhea. You have no right to decide the fate of so many because you were too afraid of dying," the reporter asserted.
"No, you're wrong, I had no choice; the fate of the world depended on our ability to prepare for the impending threat." The reporter's expression was clear as day; he had no interest in hearing excuses; he craved retribution.
"Nothing gives you the right to cause the deaths of millions, NOTHING!" Rhea swore that the final word ushered by the man on screen sounded as though it came from behind, which prompted her to leap to her feet and turn around; but there was no one there, only pitch blackness. The sense of no longer being alone intensified with every passing second and the ensuing paranoia coaxed Rhea to look in every which way. It was then she noticed the television box had disappeared, leaving her in a void of nothingness.
A legion of whispering voices echoed from within the emptiness, each one becoming louder as time progressed until finally, she heard one rise above the rest. It prompted her to peer in its assumed direction, and sure enough, standing before her, visible only due to its natural bodily luminescence, stood the alien she'd encountered during the Arcturos expedition. A momentary silence ensued before it ushered a string of words already once spoken.
"You must return to where it all began; there you will find salvation." Rhea was awestruck or perhaps more accurately baffled; why would this figure appear before her again, and why now? She hadn't seen it for over three years. Her deliberations, however, came to an abrupt end as the sudden sensation of a hand touching her shoulder roused Rhea from her imperceived slumber. Not unlike her dream, she shot upright to attention, as the blood in her body circulated at high speed.
Rhea examined her surroundings to determine where she was and how she got there. She sat in a cafe, on a rainy night, with no one else but the barista standing behind a counter and an unfamiliar, long-coat clad individual sitting opposite. The black-haired, apparent human male, ordered a dark-coffee with lots of sugar, after which his attention shifted unto her.
"Long blond hair, brown human eyes, and a penchant for dark blue suits. You're agent RA, Rhea Loveheart, right?" The man described her as though he'd read it in a file somewhere, which led Rhea, who still wasn't one-hundred percent awake, to question who he was.
"Oh, of course, how rude of me. I'm agent BD, Bishop Duskfang. The ESS sent me to meet with you; I'm your new partner." The cogs in her mind, at long last, began to move as she recalled why she was here.
"Ah yes, that's right. Sorry about this. I guess I must have fallen asleep. It's a pleasure to meet you." Bishop concurred and extended his arm to shake hands. Rhea reciprocated the gesture before rubbing her eyes in the hopes of regaining her focus.
"No need to apologise, agent RA, if anything I should be the one doing so since I'm late. The cab driver I hired claimed this place didn't exist. He thought my directions were too vague. So, I made a bet with him; if he couldn't find the place, I'd pay double, and if he did, the ride was free. Didn't have to pay a single Entar. Oh, was he mad." Rhea stared at her new partner whilst still exhibiting bewilderment; however, the reason for which, was because of his story and not her unwoken state.
"Agent RA, if I may speak freely." She affirmed the request with a simple, quick nod, and right at the moment, the barista came by to serve Bishop's coffee. The agent offered thanks and paid the server a little extra. Once the two were alone again, Bishop sniffed the beverage, allowing its delicious vapours to overwhelm his senses.
"Oh, that's good. Right then, there are a few things I'd like to say; first off, your record is impressive; especially, that drug bust you were involved in last year. I read through the entire file, and I still can't understand how you managed to find the location. Your partner, as well as the fellow agents involved, were adamant that you were wrong, yet you showed them otherwise. Could you explain to me how you did it?" Rhea appreciated the praise and chuckled at the question.
"My intuition guided me to my goal. I examined all the evidence we had up until that point, gave it a twirl in the old mind mixer, and out came the answer." Bishop smirked; the reply was a little too vague for his tastes, but he sensed she'd never tell it to him straight.
"Alright, fair enough. Maybe one day, you'll share the full story; however, I'm not quite done yet. There's a more pressing question on my mind, one I've had ever since the boss assigned me to you." Rhea noticed a very joking tone to his preface, which prompted her to tilt her head as she readied herself for what was to come.
"You're called agent RA, yet your name is Rhea Loveheart. So, why RA and not RL?" Rhea reflected upon the question for a fair while before answering.
"Nothing special about that. The simple truth is, RL was already taken, so they picked the nearest one that was free." The reply, by any standards, could be considered rational and believable, yet Bishop discerned considerable hesitation preceding it; thus, he made a mental note deeming the answer insufficient.
"Shall we go then?" Rhea asked as she saw her partner had since finished his coffee.
"Sure, but don't you want a drink?" Bishop's question received no acknowledgement at first, which left him staring in silence as agent RA got up and walked away; however, a few steps into doing so, she halted.
"No need, I have a water-can in the car with hot tea. Got it filled before I fell asleep." The two agents proceeded out the building and stepped towards Rhea's car; it was one of three that were in the nearby parking lot. After they climbed inside and buckled up, agent RA instructed her partner to keep an eye on the other two vehicles; she explained that one of them probably belonged to the barista working the cafe, but the second one she wasn't sure of its reason for being. Bishop understood the implication and kept a close eye on it.
Rhea turned the ignition key of her black sedan, and before long sped off in a southern direction, ever deeper into the night. After a few minutes checking over their shoulders, there was no evidence that the other car was in pursuit, so the time came to discuss their assignment.
"In the glove box, you'll find a hard copy of the case file; I always like to have one on hand in the event my laptop runs out of power." Bishop opened it up, and as Rhea had mentioned, there it was. The man removed the folder and noticed the emboldened words 'Confidential For the eyes of authorised personnel only'. This phrasing was standard fare for every case file he'd dealt with, and therefore, an easy way of recognising it belonged to the ESS. The more intriguing part came directly thereafter; the document's title, which read, 'Subject D'.
"Before I was sent to meet you, the chief himself briefed me on this case. I've never had that happen before; so, I'm guessing this is very serious. Granted the boss told me very little, but he mentioned that you'd fill me in on all the details. Heck, I don't even know where we're going, or even how long this is supposed to take," Bishop said. Rhea instructed her partner to open the file and turn to page three, where she'd clipped on a photo of their target.
"That's subject D, otherwise known as Daniel. He's a Cenebrian male who used to reside in Caldrigo. He was born and raised there during the First Era. We don't know his exact age, but our current best estimate places him at over four centuries old." Bishop turned his head towards Rhea, astonished that growing so old was even a possibility. He'd never heard of anyone besides dragons that were capable of living that long.
"There are reports, backed up by evidence from multiple sources, of sentients who have lived well beyond two-hundred years, just never humans. So, what's another two-hundred on top of that, right?" Agent BD remained sceptical, but if there was evidence, there was no reason for him to doubt her.
"Alright, so why are we chasing some old dude? What did he do? Kidnapping, extortion, money laundering?" Rhea shook her head at the examples.
"Murder?" To that, she nodded; however, her expression made clear there was more to it.
"What, mass murder? But where, who? I never heard of anything."
"Oh you have, you've just been lied to. Think back three years." Bishop pondered her allusion, and it wasn't until he turned to the next page of the case file, that he realised the answer.
"What?! You mean the Great Cataclysm? The event that killed millions; he caused that? But I thought that was attributed to Linaed Indaris, the man who died doing it." Rhea replied that he wasn't wrong, but there was more to it.
"Daniel and Linaed are one and the same; he never died. That was a cover story used to placate the populace at large. Our leaders considered it a safer bet to have everyone be angry at a dead individual than let people know he was still alive. The riots would be unimaginable." The truth bombshell overwhelmed Bishop; he'd lost a lot of friends during that tragedy; thus, the revelation infuriated him.
"Let's go get this arsehole then, where do we start?" Rather than continuing her explanation, Rhea waited. The silence endured for so long that Bishop asked if everything was alright.
"Agent BD, before I continue the briefing, I want you to calm down. I need a partner who uses rational thought, not emotions for making their decisions. I realise what I said is a major revelation to hear, and I understand your hatred towards this man. Even considering all that, I need you to put your feelings aside and do this investigation with a clear open mind." Bishop lowered his head and closed his eyes. He loathed her critique, but he admired her professionalism and allowed her comment to sink in before giving an honest reply.
"Alright, I get what you're saying. I'll keep my cool and stay professional. After all, as your partner, that's expected." Rhea, contented with his answer, continued the briefing.
"In the months following the Great Cataclysm, the Enterra Secret Service approached me and asked if I'd like to join them in hunting down Daniel. I accepted, and have been investigating ever since. Whenever the trail ran cold, I kept myself busy furthering other cases, which helped me acquire more experience and broaden my skill set. It's worked out quite well; I'd have to say." There was a particular detail that irked Bishop about her story, and the expression on his face made it apparent.
"What's the matter?" Rhea asked.
"I understood every word you just said. The only thing I don't get is why did the ESS approach 'you' in the first place?"
"I'm afraid I can't answer that. That's classified information." Bishop was all too familiar with that response, and he knew it wouldn't be the last time he'd receive it during this investigation; thus, he dropped the topic.
"At any rate, let's get back to business. Right now, we're heading to Fuebel, a city just north of New Enterra, where the Ephalon Space Pillar is located. Actually, if you open the case file to page forty-five, the exact address should be there." Bishop flipped to the suggested page and skimmed through until he found what she'd mentioned.
"Rivington Antiques, Dredgeon Drive twenty. It's described as a small warehouse near the city airport. It functions as a storage hold over for local auctions that are held in Fuebel throughout the year. What's so special about this place?" Rhea wanted to answer but got distracted by the brief appearance of static on her car's navigation system. She pressed the screen to check if it was broken, but observed nothing out of the ordinary, deeming it a fluke.
"An anonymous but very trusted source, one who's been correct on multiple occasions in the past, tipped us off that Daniel was seen entering the building yesterday evening. We're only now following up because the intel was passed to me late this afternoon. At present, this is the only real lead we have." Given the time-sensitive nature of the operation, Bishop questioned why they weren't driving there faster or travelling by plane.
"Our organisation has Secret Service in its title for a reason Bishop. We need to keep a low profile. If Daniel or anyone associated with him were alerted to our coming, that would be it; he'd disappear again. At least this way we can know he's not wise to our approach." The explanation sounded fair, but even so, he remarked they could at least drive a little bit faster. Rhea snickered and agreed, accelerating to a little above the speed limit.
"Any idea why he was there? Or how your source knew of his presence?" Agent RA couldn't provide a substantiated answer for either question; all she knew was that they'd find out soon enough. Since she'd been driving for quite a while, her mouth felt very parched, prompting her to reach behind for her water-can. To her dismay, she was unable to locate it.
"Hey, you mind grabbing my water-can? I can't exactly look for it whilst I'm driving." Agent BD nodded and peered around the backseat. The darkness within the car made it difficult to see, but every so many meters, a highway street light illuminated the interior enough for him to spot his target. He reached over and grabbed it, filling out a cup with tea, placing it in a holder built into the car's dashboard.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. Say, Rhea, I have another question I'd like to ask. It's not related to the case, though." She told him to shoot.
"I asked the chief earlier about why I was teamed up with you, but he never gave me a response; he just told me to get my butt in gear and move out. Do you know why?"
"Well I can't speak to the motivations of our boss, but I can tell you this; my previous partner, Mathew Garwing, had to retire due to a severe leg injury. That was about a month ago. The chief's been looking for a suitable replacement ever since. I guess you must have made him angry if you got stuck with me." The sarcasm wasn't lost on agent BD as he enjoyed a good laugh.
"What about you Bishop? Tell me a little about yourself." The man scratched the back of his head at the question, unsure of where he should begin. Rhea suggested he talk about his species first because she noticed earlier that he wasn't entirely human.
"Very observant of you agent RA. Alright then, I was born and raised in Orythorn, in a little town called Maquile. My parents still live there to this day. I'm a quarter Ancient, and the rest of me is human. You notice it best when you look at my teeth and toes. My incisors are longer than those of the average human. Plus, down below I've got little claws." He opened his mouth and let her look at his teeth through the rear-view mirror. Agent RA confirmed his claim, though wasn't impressed, stating she'd seen bigger.
"Since when was this a contest? I'm proud of my heritage, just a shame most of my ancestors died out." His remark garnered solemn agreement, as Rhea was all too familiar with the unfortunate fate that befell the Ancients.
"What else can you tell me?" Bishop scratched his chin and decided to talk about his experience at the ESS.
"I've been an agent at the ESS for over two years now. My tasks were mostly relegated to investigative research. Not much fieldwork I'm afraid, beyond any after the fact searching. To be honest, this is my first real assignment."
"You don't say. That's interesting. Now I'm starting to wonder why the chief chose you as well; maybe he saw some kind of potential in you that the other agents lacked. We might never know, but I'm sure you'll do fine. You're good at following orders, right?" Agent BD nodded; however, it quickly dawned on him that if they were to be 'partners', a genuine sense of equality was required between them.
"Hey, I thought we were equals in this."
"Not quite yet Agent; once you're up to speed on every little detail about this case, then, and only then, I might consider you an equal." The remark wasn't pleasing to the ears, but Bishop accepted it for now; after all, he was in the presence of someone whose track-record proved her worth.
Thanks to agent BD's advice, they arrived at Fuebel a bit earlier than expected. It was around three a.m. now, so they still had the cover of night on their side. The highway exit they needed was coming up; their destination was near the airport in the north-western corner of the city. After a brief drive around the area, Rhea finally found the sign for Rivington Antiques. Rather than stepping out close by, she drove to a different street and parked the car there.
"Are you ready for this?" she asked. Bishop nodded and pulled out his pistol, cocking it. The weapon was loaded and ready for action. Rhea checked her's as well, and both slipped their guns into their holsters, hiding them beneath the confines of their coats. The duo got out and walked to the warehouse. Apart from a few street cameras, there were no other people around to observe their presence.
"Take note of the camera numbers Bishop; once we're done, we'll have to report them so the tech team can expunge their recordings." The company he worked for was purging public footage, a little truth bomb, he'd never realised, which explained how sometimes certain information went missing. Agent RA approached the warehouse door and held her hand open, gesturing for her partner to give her something. He had no idea what her motion implied until she turned around and glared at him.
"Your lock-picking tool; give it to me." Bishop made a mental note of what her movements were and slipped her the device. On first glance, the building appeared to lack any fancy security deterrents; it had a typical shutter blocking the front door; the type one would expect on a warehouse of this size, and the remainder of the exterior was either covered in solid brick or barred windows. It took Rhea a few minutes to pick the lock and lift the shutter, leaving only the front door to contend with.
"Crap, there's a digital lock on it; it's probably alarmed," she mumbled. Bishop told her not to worry as he pulled out a small tablet-like device with some loose hanging cables; whilst he booted it up, he asked her to unscrew the numeric pad's faceplate. Rhea made short work of her task and exposed the insides of the input device.
"I'm not completely useless, you know, let me show you a little trick," Bishop boasted. The man hooked up a few cables to the numeric pad's circuit board, and before long gained access to the correct code sequence. He read the numbers out loud so that Rhea could punch them in. After entering the six-digit number combination, the door unlocked, and the alarm disabled. They were in.
"Impressive work agent BD, I'm starting to get an idea why the chief teamed you up with me." The man smiled and wanted to reply; however, he was too slow as his partner had already stepped inside with her gun drawn. The duo explored the front desk area, taking less than a minute to locate the door which led into the warehouse proper. To their surprise, a raised office area near the back corner of the building still had its lights turned on; not only that, but there was also music coming from it, no doubt from a radio.
The building itself evoked an appearance associated with a typical storage facility, having rows upon rows of pallets placed on vertical racks that reached up to four levels high. Each spot contained boxes with all manner of antiques. The value of what was stored here no doubt was immense, and for that reason, Rhea implored her partner not to touch anything.
With their weapons drawn, the duo snuck their way towards the back office. To reach inside, they had to ascend a set of stairs, which meant walking directly into the light, exposing their presence. Both were hesitant to do so but had no choice; they needed to advance the investigation.
With agent RA at the front, they proceeded up. The instant she reached the top, she pushed open the door and flung her weapon about as though expecting someone to be there, but it was devoid of life. No one was home; thus, both agents holstered their pistols, clicking on the safeties.
"Damn it; I guess we missed him; we should search for clues as to why Daniel would come here. Leave no stone unturned," Rhea instructed. They scoured the office, which spanned a five-by-four meter in size area, and on the side facing the warehouse's interior, it had a desk that covered the entire wall; save the doorway through which they'd entered.
There were numerous filing cabinets as well as an active computer still running inventory management software. Amid their rummage neither bothered turning off the radio, which suddenly turned to a news feed reporting nighttime happenings.
"Breaking news for you late-night listeners. There's been a robbery at the Enterra National History Museum. The legendary Orb of Numen-Nier was stolen under mysterious circumstances. Wait, are you for real? That's what the cops said? Wow, must have been something spectacular to use a description like that," the radio host remarked. The mention of the Orb made Rhea halt her search and listen more attentively.
Meanwhile, Bishop had discovered nothing of relevance to the case; however, he'd discerned an odd stack of fliers, which mentioned something called the Truth Seekers. The graphics and text made it look like this group was recruiting.
"Rhea, check this out. I found something interesting." Agent RA ignored his request and shushed the man as she wanted to hear the robbery's details coming over the radio. As soon as the news portion ended, and the music turned back on, she peered at her partner.
"Did you hear that? The Orb of Numen-Nier was stolen." Bishop nodded, but he wasn't sure why that was important to them; a reply he soon regretted.
"Are you kidding me? Daniel used that Orb to gain the knowledge which led to the Great Cataclysm. This is way too important to pass up. I'm calling headquarters to ask for permission for us to investigate. Actually, no screw it. I'm calling Arthur directly." The urgency Rhea exhibited caught Bishop by surprise; it was obvious, he still had a lot of catching up to do before he could acquire that official partner recognition status from his fellow agent. Rhea asked if he'd found anything relevant, to which he pointed out the flier.
"What's this? 'Seeking enlightenment, join the Truth Seekers now.' Is this some kind of a weird hippy cult thing? Why is this even here? Why do I care? Let's go, right now." Rhea's demeanour had shifted hard since news of the Orb's illicit acquisition; however, before exiting the building, Bishop made sure to snag one of the fliers as he was personally intrigued by it.
The duo returned outside, and closed the door, leaving the alarm turned off; they did, however, lock the shutter in place as not to alert everyone right away that someone had been snooping around. Rhea hurried towards the car, leaving Bishop trailing behind, trying his best to keep up with her fervent pace.
"Agent RA, you seem awfully enthusiastic about this Orb. You said he used it to destroy the alien ship. Then, why should we worry now? What else could he really do with it? The alien technology is gone, right?" Rhea refrained from answering him until they were back in the car.
"I don't expect you to understand everything yet, Bishop; I know that would be naive of me. So, please read page twenty-seven of the file, it will explain a bit more about why this is so important." Whilst Bishop got up the speed, Rhea grabbed her phone and rang Arthur Sweis, the head of the Enterra Secret Service. She was well aware he was likely asleep, but she was permitted to wake him in case of an emergency. It rang around five times before he picked up.
"Agent RA, what's this about?" a disgruntled male voice replied.
"Apologies for waking you, sir. But something just happened, and I need your permission to investigate," Rhea said, awaiting acknowledgement.
"Come on, woman, what are you waiting for, spit it out already. Tell me what happened?"
"Yes, of course, sorry, sir. The Orb of Numen-Nier was reported stolen not long ago; I'm requesting permission to investigate." Arthur groaned as he recognised the seriousness of the situation, whilst at the same time, knowing it would turn into a jurisdiction nightmare.
"You have my blessing, but I want you to report back any findings immediately. I take it this means your little adventure in Fuebel was a bust?" Rhea confirmed his assertion and reported what they'd discovered, which was nothing.
"Your informant has some explaining to do the next time you catch him. Alright, get to the airport. I'll make sure a private plane is ready to pick you up. Sweis out." With that said, he hung up, and Rhea started the car. She drove to the nighttime entrance of the Fuebel city airport and was let through onto the tarmac. The flight crew needed about thirty minutes to prep the private jet and relayed it would take around seven hours to reach Falloir airport in the city of Maya.
The two agents made their way aboard whilst the crew readied the plane. The real start of their adventure was about to begin.