The sputtering crack-hiss of a match being struck filled the empty night for a moment. Standing beneath the glow of a single torch, Leidan Halbert lit up a smoke before taking a long drag of it. With a billowing plume of smoke wafting from his face, he turned and surveyed the Esquilinium District. Seeming satisfied, the laicar nodded, then turned and drifted into the darkness.
. . .
Early risers and leftover night owls of the city had come to expect the routine presence of the Conexus at all hours. Even as the great sun, Caesar, had yet to rise, there were the phantom presences of the guard to ensure security. A lazy fog hung loosely over the city in its wintry season, a scant few days prior to the next Nocte Nils celebration.
It was in the Esquilinium District - known better to its citizens as the Ruby Jewel - that a slight bubble of activity had been constructed. The district's resident Conexus office had been taped up, guards blocking the perimeter. From the exterior alone, it was plain to see the hit had been targeted. Its glass windows were shattered and blown apart, leaving only jagged shards to sit menacingly in the sills.
What could be glimpsed inside told a story just as gruesome: tables and chairs had been mangled and twisted. Steel and wood dented and splintered, a select few figures were scattered about its premises to pour over every last detail. Among them, the leader of the Conexus herself, Auspex Zephyrus.
Rumors had caught fire through Terminus days before. A simple phrase meaning so much and so little, whispered in back alleys and pubs amongst those who knew the brewing storm for what it was. It came with times, it came with places, and it came with meaning.
For most, it was to some other alley, to some neutral ground. To a select few, it had named The Ruby Jewel itself, to the very office which now sat destroyed. Regardless, all received and sent these messages on the utterance of two words:
Inimicus Inimici.
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So, that was disheartening. And there it was, such a festive time of year again marred by tragedy. Cicely hardly believed it had already been over a year since she arrived. She was so busy that time seemed to melt away with individual days turning into a pool of events. The last time she got a message home was months ago. There was just always something happening in the city that distracted her, and not all of it was good.
Cicely was among the small gathering of onlookers that surrounded the ruined Conexus office. Who would do something as bold as directly challenging the peacekeepers of Terminus? She had an idea after what happened last year. Those guys really knew how to ruin a holiday.
Cicely brought her mitts up to her mouth. It was for warmth but from the small flask of powerful spirits attached to the puffy balls dangling from the wrists.
The vermin still walk free. The priest thought solemnly. A year, had it truly gone so quickly? A year since his gun had been fired to defend a prophet from a wash of stupidity and malice. The velen looked haggard, as he strode among the crowd.
Beside Phorcys a silent basilisk stood being lead by a leash. Unlike most of the kin in captivity, this beast held a secret beneath its blinders. The velen had yet to blind the beast and the only thing that separated the crowd from untold panic was the small cord wrapped around the creature's eyes, and the priest’s own discretion.
One webbed hand gently ran down the basilisk’s red muscular neck, “Never ceases to amaze the lengths fools will go to.” Phorcys spat answering a remark he caught in the crowd.
Perseus exhaled a cloud of foggy breath into the air and burrowed his face into his scarf. Tucked into one of the pockets of his fur-lined coat was a business card embossed with the name Leidan Halbert, Perseus’s gloved hand curled around it.
This wasn’t exactly what he’d expected, and yet here it was. Perseus stood, slightly apart from the bulk of the gathered crowd, and took in the scene. His mismatched eyes, one dark and one blue – clearly a robotic lens – darted from one detail to another: the debris scattered around the premises; the tape blocking off access to the interior; the sharp fangs of glass left in the window frames; the twisted remains of all of the interior furnishings. If there were casualties from whatever force had torn the Conexus office apart, the bodies were either out of view or had already been removed.
The expression on the young man’s face was, as per usual, unnervingly void of any tangible emotion. His gaze was unblinking and intense beneath the black curls of his hair and the brim of his eight-paneled cap.
He wished, in an absent sort of way, that he hadn’t left View back at his shop. The little drone had several features that would have liked to make use of, but he’d powered it down to work on its uplink capabilities, and then…he’d gotten distracted.
Perseus turned a long, searching look on each of the people guarding the building and stepping gingerly around the carcass of the Conexus office. None of them seemed remotely familiar, though. And none of them were Leidan Halbert.
The early hour was dark and cold, and the throng of curious-concerned-alarmed bystanders had begun to talk amongst themselves, creating a hum of distracting noise. Perseus shifted his weight, somewhat at a loss and increasingly uncomfortable with the situation.
Amongst the teeming wreckage that had been the Conexus office, Auspex Diana Zephyrus milled about. Her mixed parentage might've brought her more attention, but her distinct velen-enlil appearance had become a routine appearance in the year since Astra Non Obligant's debut into Terminus' affairs. Her sharp, amber eyes roamed over broken glass and shredded papers.
Whomever had done this was not careful... or perhaps too careful. Her gaze darted briefly to the lone untouched door of the building. It was simple steel with a frosted pane of glass allowing a muddied silhouette of its interior. Emblazoned on the glass in bright black font, was a name:
LEIDAN HALBERT Domestic Affairs
Turning her eyes away, she vainly tried to find anything new of the mess outside of the Lieutenant's office. Sighing, she turned her eyes to the growing crowd outside. The guards wouldn't be able to keep this from spreading, and there was no cover up to be given. There wasn't even the certainty of the Astra Non Obligant's involvement.
Frankly speaking, the entire attack seemed random, if not for the conspicuous lack of damage to a single office. Every pane of glass, every file and piece of furniture had been systematically destroyed. Paper was shredded, sills left cleanly emptied as windows were shattered. Furniture that wasn't mangled beyond repair had been dented or marred in such a way as to render it useless. The attack appeared random, and wild, but there was a precision in destruction this absolute.
Blinking rapidly as her eyes began to blur, she felt the cold crunch of glass and other ruined particles under her talons. The pitch-dark keratin limbs were typical of the enlil, but abruptly transitioned to sinewy musculature. No plumage dotted much of her body, leaving her with the sleek visage of a velen. Only around her necks and cheeks did snow-white tufts of feathers jut out like a scarf or mink.
Stepping quickly towards the office, she opened the door to see Halbert's office exactly as she had the first time she'd checked it. The pair of filing cabinets were askew, but she'd been through them already. Pursing her thin lips, she stepped back to the desk she'd inspected once before.
Three drawers, all empty save for a blank notepad, an ashtray, a pack of cigarettes, and a multitude of half-used pencils. Pulling out the contents, Zephyrus left them on top of the desk and shut all three drawers forcefully, only to pause as she shut the center one. The notepad had been in it, and when she'd closed it the first time she'd felt its weight shift, but now the drawer had shifted again. Opening it once more, she tapped the bottom of the drawer to discover a hollow sound repeating back at her.
"A false bottom..?" She mumbled aloud, brow furrowing. She quickly removed the installation, finding a second notepad tucked away underneath.
On the top, in large blocky letters, was:
BGRJATWU
VTWUV QPNA
KPKOKEWU
Sitting down at the desk, she quickly scribbled below the message. A clear code, but what kind? A moment of trial-and-error later, she'd quickly decoded the 'Rot2' cipher and read the resulting message. Sitting back, her mind tried to catch up with what her Lieutenant had done.
Inimicus Inimici only had three people listed as candidates. It was written in a single book, handed to her from Leidan Halbert himself, and one of them wasn't even in Terminus. Had he planned this..? Had he gone behind her back..?
"There are more," Zephyrus realized aloud, standing quickly. Leaving the office, she quickly made her way to the entrance and scanned the crowd. Three people, surely Leidan would've sent at least... there!
Amber eyes locking onto the odd-looking laicar amongst the crowd, Zephyrus didn't bother with subtlety as she marched up to him. His mismatched eyes met hers with a well-concealed curiosity, and as she reached him she risked asking her first question, "Perseus Artifex?"
Hushed conversations were beginning to break out in the crowd. The Auspex did her best to ignore them.
He matched the woman’s severe gaze for a moment, studying the details of her face, then faltered. His eyes fixed on a point near her ear instead. People had turned, were watching him and the spurii woman both with open interest. It...bothered him.
“…I don’t know you,” he added, voice soft and thoughtful – just above a murmur. “Should I?…Know you?”
A short silence passed over Zephyrus for a time, a stiff breeze ruffling the thick gray coat she wore over herself. Taking a deep breath, she replied simply, "No, not yet. I need your help.
"You were approached by him. Leidan Halbert, yes?" The Auspex's eyes roamed the crowds as she spoke in a hush to the young laicar, seemingly unable to find what she was looking for. She turned back to Perseus and continued, "There is a phrase going around. Inimicus Inimici, I don't care if you've heard it before. It was used to bring someone here. Halbert trusted your insight, I need..."
Biting the words back before she could finish them, Zephyrus screwed her eyes shut and took a step away from Perseus. She took another long breath, and started again, "Can you please help me find them? Halbert said you were observant, could parse the useful from the extraneous. I need you to do that, please."
The request was odd, unusual. She hoped it passed for whatever the Lieutenant used to garner the interest of the individuals he approached.
Whew. Cicely was glad not to be the target of investigation by the officials again. She was certain they were lovely people outside of the job, but on the job, they were as intense as straight bourbon. She let out a sigh and backed away. Just slow and calm, like someone that accidentally walked into a room where two people were going at it.
The cold wind was blowing her long tail of blue hair. She grabbed onto it before it accidentally whipped someone. It was brought around to the front and stuffed down her thick, form-concealing jacket. Her full cheeks were bright red and stinging from the cold.
Something wet and hot was blowing against her leg. "Okay," she exclaimed when she saw that it was a basilisk. It had been a year and she still was not used to seeing those things up close. Then her eyes followed the leash to a velen. Out of her thousands of customers, she could not recall their individual faces after one encounter, but she remembered him alright.
"Hey, you're the guy that shot me in the leg. I don't think I ever got your name. I'm Cicely Akvavit. How're you doing?"
Perseus blinked, and his head tilted to one side, considering. “Inimicus Inimici,” he repeated.
“Inimicus…” he muttered, turning his eyes on the crowd, “…Inimici…”
The laicar wasn’t especially sure what he was searching for – wasn’t particularly certain he could find it. But something compelled him to try, regardless. Something that pressed against his thoughts, not unlike the inspiration or motivations that often spurred him into working in his shop for days on end. Perhaps he would recognize what he was looking for when he saw it.
Perseus studied the amassed individuals, hunting for details that stood apart from the rest as unusual. Different. Unique. Significant. He watched the shapes of the words leaving mouths, the curl of shoulders against the cold, where people focused theirattention.
His eyes, eventually, landed on a young laicar woman and the tall velen she was currently speaking to.
Pers’ gaze focused on the woman’s mouth, the movement of her lips.
“There?” Perseus suggested, gaze still fixed on the duo. “Blue hair, laicar woman. Tall velen with a basilisk. The laicar introduced herself as…as ‘Sis-e-li.’ Not...sure on the surname. She says the velen shot her? Perhaps?” He paused, and with another odd tilt of the head, glanced up at the spurii woman. “I’m not,” he started, before looking away, “entirely adept at speechreading.”
A long moment passed for Zephyrus, as she listened. Her eyes darted to where Perseus had been looking, finding the two individuals quickly. They seemed half-familiar, but she brushed it off. She had little energy and less time to spare.
Nodding confidently, her gaze swivelled back to Perseus, "You can go inside. I'll bring the other two in... Halbert may be in trouble, and I suspect foul play."
That settled, the Auspex clutched her coat tighter around her chest - by the Vis was this winter cold - and made her way through the crowd to the other two. As she drew near, she took in the velen and his 'pet'. A basilisk was no small beast to tame, and the odd robes he wore were even more of a tip-off, now that she could make them out.
The laicar was rather plain looking, but now Zephyrus could pick out the relaxed posture and unfazed demeanour. Whoever she was, destruction held little sway over her. Talons clacking loudly against the paved-brick street, the spurii made her way to them in but a moment.
Stopping in front of them, she wondered belatedly if they would know what 'Inimicus Inimici' meant, or if they would understand its purpose. Another risk to take (was this the dangerous game Leidan played?) and another cost for allowing the remainder of the crowd to bear witness. Were the Astra Non Obligant among them? Disguised as everyday observers? Tension knotted into Zephyru's stomach and shot up to her shoulders, and she finally forced herself to speak over the not-so-quiet conversations of the crowd.
"I need you two to come with me for a moment," She started, then hesitated for a moment. A brief silence, and then, "Inimicus."
She said nothing more, but turned on her heel and moved back out of the crowd.
“Always happy to help officer,” the velen remarked dryly. It had been a year since he had stood in defense against the savages, and perhaps he should have left Terminus long before now. However, something had kept him near enough to the city, darting into its labyrinthine streets regularly. Perhaps it was the blind idealism he had seen when he had fought the terrorists a year ago, but more likely it was he still did not have a good answer for the events that transpired.
What had he heard that those back alley degenerates say? There was to be some sort of operation, that information was why the velen was stalking around the crime site to begin with. The old tongue shot a moment of alertness into him before he managed to mutter a response.
“Inimici,” he hoped that this was one of the people he was supposed to get in contact with. Otherwise, the velen would find himself once again in an interrogation room.
Cicely meeped at the sight of Zephyrus ordering her around. She was no Vexus, that was for certain. Cicely had no idea which one made her more anxious, yet. What she did know was that they were always involved in things far too high above her capacity. Oh well. It was such a trouble again. And just after her bar had opened, too. She hoped she wouldn't be away for too long. Even with the disturbance, there was still an opening to do.
That was just great. Why did they want to speak with her again? Cicely was about to take another drink but thought it would be rude to do so in front of Zephyrus. Her hand caught the wrist with the flask and then pushed it back down.
"Good morning!" Cicely said with the cheeriness of greeting a customer.
Though she hadn't realized it, Zephyrus' shoulders visibly relaxed with the velen's countersign. She couldn't place Perseus in the crowd, but the movement back in the destroyed office quickly solved that mystery. She nodded back with a terse smile at Cicely, and then beckoned them after her.
Leading the two newcomers into the scene, she stopped at one of the pair of guards and offered a brief, "Go ahead," to the pair of them.
Leaving the trio to get acquainted with the scene - and each other - she spoke with the guard in a hush.
"I want the scene vacated immediately and a one-block perimeter established," She said.
The guard looked perplexed. "Ma'am? For property damage?"
"It'll only be for a short time, Corporal. One hour."
Nodding in assent, the guard quickly moved to comply, speaking loudly to the gathered crowd. The tension in Zephyrus' face relaxed slightly, the crease in her brow lessened. The pair that Perseus has picked out seemed vaguely familiar, had she seen that velen before..? The Auspex was heavily out of her element, and with the Lieutenant responsible for all of this missing, her only real hope was to trust that the trio of strangers could help her find him.
Turning about-face, her feet clacked noisily as they manoeuvred around the broken glass. Four large toes - three splayed in the front and a single behind not unlike a birds - dug slightly into the floorboards as she faced off against the people she'd pulled from the crowd.
It was not in her to be nervous, but she couldn't help but fidget slightly as she tried to think of how to explain what she needed from them. That, and she couldn't shake the feeling she knew them - not just the velen, but the laicar as well - from somewhere.
Shaking the thoughts for a moment, she tried to start explaining, "So, you three are here because you... received a message? No, I guess not even that." Zephyrus lapsed into brief silence, before trying again. "You're here because you heard a phrase, I'm guessing. Inimicus Inimici, 'enemy of my enemy'. Well, that phrase means a lot more than it seems.
"There is reason to believe Astra Non Obligant is in the city, and is planning to do something again. I don't know what, but the person who arranged for you to be here today might. Leidan Halbert was my Lieutenant of Domestic Affairs, and he's gone missing." Biting the inside of her cheek lightly, she nodded once to herself and made her plea, "I need your help finding him, please. I think they're probably looking for him as well, and that's what happened here."
Cicely had her hands on her hips as she looked around the inside of the office. It was dark thanks to all the lights being down, yet bright thanks to the holes everywhere. The powerful rays shined upon the dust drifting through the air.
Her first time there and it was ruined beyond function. The entire place was wrecked. If the Conexus weren't safe, who was? And how was she supposed to help? At least because of the cold weather, she was wearing heavy boots and gloves. That would cut down on a lot of the pain of glass and splinters cutting into her soft flesh.
"The Astra Non Obligant really seems to have a thing for the Nocte Nils. Have you considered moving the Nocte Nils one week earlier without telling anyone? It will be like, you want to do something then? Surprise, it's already over." Cicely smiled at herself, not seeing anything wrong with that plan.
But on to the topic at hand, she nodded, "Yeah, I have heard of that phrase. Being a bartender on this street, I hear a lot of stuff." She was trying to recall exactly when she heard it, though. It was not from eavesdropping in on a conversation, that was for certain. Maybe someone directly told it to her? With all of the customers, it was tough to keep everything straight at times.
Still, as ill-equipped as she was, Cicely was willing to try and help the Conexus.
Having been given leave to do so, Perseus picked his way through the ravaged remains of the Conexus building, stepping gingerly around the worst of the debris. He spared little attention for the conversation currently stirring to life between the sharp-eyed spurii women and the two characters Perseus had pointed out, although mention of Leidan Halbert’s name drew his gaze for a moment.
His wide-eyed gaze crept over splintered wood and dented metal; lingered on the shredded upholstery of what was likely a very nice couch, once. Torn bits of ruined paper dusted the floor. Perseus tilted his head, nudged at a dismembered chair with the toe of one boot.
This was certainly outside the scope of what Leidan Halbert had suggested he would be doing, and quite possibly outside the scope of his abilities. Perseus was a craftsman. Observant, yes – but a craftsman. Not an investigator. Whatever Leidan Halbert wanted of him, or of these other people – Perseus threw them a quick look over his shoulder – Perseus did not know. In his pocket, his fingers dug into the card he’d been given.
“Rather than move the date would be better just to exterminate the vermin where they stood,” the velen spat. The crimson basilisk next to Phorcys rumbled a hiss at its master’s agitation though showed now other signs of annoyance. “Pity they’re so good at hiding.”
The preacher gave a moment’s pause, another year another encounter with these ANO operatives. He could easily turn down this request, it was after all someone else’s problem. Yet the thought was never truly entertained. Astra non Obligant had shown themselves to have a complete disregard for collateral damage last year. At this point Phorcys was sure they would only have been bolder and more unpredictable.
“My talents are modest,” the velen said, “however any assistance I may be I’ll gladly offer. I’d like to avoid another bloobath.”
Nodding appreciatively, Zephyrus offered a smile to the trio, mouth lined with a row of razor-hooked teeth. She quickly scratched at the back of her head, launching into what she'd found so far, "The office is completely destroyed outside of a single room: Halbert's office. It's too thorough to have been a conventional attack, whoever did this went out of there way to damage everything. There's no scorch marks, and no discernible point of origin for the destruction, so it couldn't have been a bomb... maybe a team trying to destroy evidence? Or sending a message?"
The Auspex didn't dwell long, running her hardened ebony talons over the ridges of her head. She was bald, as most velen were, but a pair of small bony ridges raced down the top and back of her head before trailing around to her shoulder blades.
"I found a false bottom on one of Halbert's desk drawers with a notepad and some other things. I couldn't make much out of it, personally. There may be something of note to you though, Mister Artifex," She offered to the curious boy. She sized him up with a hint of trepidation. Had he even blinked since she's seen him?
Turning back to the other pair, Zephyrus was struck again by a vague familiarity. She definitely should've known who these two were, but why..? "I don't believe I got either of your names, or gave my own. Auspex Diana Zephyrus, just Zephyrus is fine if you don't mind.
"Have you two had dealings with Obligant in the past..?" She added cautiously, not willing to sabotage what good will she'd gotten from her impromptu allies.
"My name is Cicely Akvavit," the woman said while looking among the ruins of the office. Someone went through a lot of trouble doing all sorts of bad stuff to that place. "And yeah, I've had dealings with the Astra Non Obligant before. Last year, actually, right when they did their crazy stuff. Apparently. They had been using my bar stand as a meeting point." Cicely shook her head and frowned. "I told the officials everything I knew, of course. I don't need the business of those troublemakers.
"So, I can take a look around, Zephyrus?" Cicely wagged her fingers at the room. It was sort of exciting, like a great mystery book.
She decided to stay in the main area. It was the most interesting part of the place, having been destroyed and all. There were some papers scattered about. What else was there? A bunch of cabinets were thrown everywhere. A shattered frame with a photo in it laid on the ground.
A mirthless laugh escaped the velen, “You can say I’m acquainted with how Obligant carries out their business. Last year I found myself at both Sapientia when the beast was released and in the stadium assisting Vexus when the attackers decided he would make a fine target.”
For a moment the preacher began to walk away before he stopped, and realized something he had missed, “ Ah forgive my rudeness, I am Phorcys Nerites.”
The red beast next to Phorcys rumbled indignantly, the preacher placed a reassuring hand on the basilisk to calm it. As he looked around the building a gleam caught his eye. On the ground the preacher noticed a noticed what appeared to be a trail of shattered glass.
“I am going to see if I notice anything suspicious, just give me a yell if you find anything.” Without another word Phorcys took off seeing where his trail lead.
While the others went about...whatever it was they were doing, Perseus retreated into Leidan’s office, fixing Phorcys’ basilisk with a wide-eyed stare as he passed by.
Leidan Halbert’s office stood out in sharp contrast against the rest of the destroyed building, and Perseus eased into the room one step at a time. The office was dim, lit only in the soft greys of early morning aside from a lantern burning itself out on one corner of Leidan’s desk. The faint scent of cigarette smoke lingered in the air.
There may be something of note to you, Auspex Zephyrus had said. She’d made mention of the desk drawers, a notepad she had found.
The lantern’s dying light threw odd patterns of light and shadow across the desk’s surface as Perseus approached. The desk’s middle drawer hung open, Auspex Zephyrus’s false bottom tossed aside and the drawer’s hidden compartment laid bare. A stack of cards, identical to the one still curled in Perseus’s fingers, sat neatly in the drawer's bottom, alongside two pieces of paper.
There was writing on both slips of paper, hard to see in the drawer. Pers fished them out and placed them on the desktop, beside the notepad already there. After a moment, Pers took a fresh business card from the drawer’s stack and arranged it on the desktop, too.
Then Perseus leaned over the desk, hands returned to their pockets and head at an angle as he looked over first the collection of seemingly-random letters written across the top of the pad’s first page, then the scribbling below, where someone else had clearly been working to make sense of it.
Perseus took a moment to study the message, the Auspex’s work, and, finally, the decoded message. Understanding slotted into place, and he turned his attention to the slips of paper. The first was cluttered with unfamiliar names. He’d leave those to someone else. On the second, however, the letters WZIPVHG had been written.
It gave Pers pause. Auspex Zephyrus’s solution didn’t work on this message. So, still leaning over the desk, one hand in pocket, Perseus took up a pencil, flipped to the next page in Leidan Halbert’s notepad, and began to do some work himself.
But as rotating two places had not worked, neither did rotating the letters three places. Eventually, Perseus ended up with twenty-five different collections of meaningless letters. He tilted his head, his pencil beating a rapid beat against the pad of paper.
Perseus stared at the tiny, scrawled alphabet he’d jotted down for reference purposes.
Let his mind work. Eventually he wrote out seven letters, beneath the other seven-letter collections he’d amassed.
This one, unlike the others, was an actual word. But it was either a coincidence or just meaningless, unless this was part of something bigger.
Pers stared down at the notepad, chin tucked into his scarf, eyes unblinking and wide.
He picked up the notepad, pressed his thumb to the pages, and began to flip through them. He caught a single flash of ink on paper before hitting the front of the pad again, and he flipped back to the page he’d seen, the world around him forgotten in the wake of this newest puzzle.
Some of the page was covered in wild, illegible writings – Perseus’s eyes immediately skipped over it and down to something that had instantly caught his attention. There, separate from the rest of the nonsense, were two lines of numbers.
