Meeting with the Ascendancy so soon would likely be questioned. That's three in a few weeks.
So. I know I just met with the Ascendancy but I need to request another. I've been in contact with the New Atharim. The Praeceptor of the Reliquiae, the self proclaimed New Regus of the New Atharim wants to meet with you. A new er, with me as his face puppet.
It wasn't long before Nox got a reply. And not just from anyone, but the Ascendancy himself.
Why in the world would I want to meet with the Regus?
He is not the Regus. His name is Eliot Languex, an obsolete son of an Atharim benefactor who like us can channel. He wants to do things differently here in Moscow and wants your sign off. I wasn't planning on telling you this now. But I figured the truth sooner rather than later might gain him that meeting. He's willing to risk his life for the meeting. He's at least serious
And what is this Praeceptor of the Reliquiae?
The presumed leader of a new faction of Atharim I assume. One moving into this new age of gods and men. Working together? I guess.
What do you think he wants?
Well considering he wants me to be the face of this new Atharim, I think he's looking for a more transparent Atharim. Not killing human's outright because he's one of us. He's not like the last Reguses. He's a godling. If he wants me, that means he beleives like I do. He knows of the cases I've taken, and those I've refused. I don't know the full plan, but I think he wants to move the Atharim in a new direction. With your help.
The final message received was not anything of text, but two passes for himself and Eliot Languex to the Garden, with date, time and coordinates. Lucky them.
Nox dug a little deeper into Eliot Languex once he got home. He knew way more than Eliot would think he knew now. Sage had been a wonderful help as had Sky. It was nice having an information junkie as a best friend. He owed Sage his life in more ways than one.
It was still a surprise to him that he wasn't angry with him. Not even a little and Sage didn't quite understand it. Nox didn't really understand it himself. It was easier to be angry with Hayden. Maybe because he could take it out physically on Hayden and Sage was a different story.
His life had surely changed. The people he thought meant the most to him meant less than he thought and others who should me less meant more. He was finding it hard to live with out Hayden or Oriena. And neither of them wanted more. That's mostly what he was mad at Hayden about. Hayden wanted him to feel, to be present, but Hayden didn't want to be present with him. At least not in the same way. And it pissed him off.
It shouldn't because the very thing Hayden accepted was the very thing that Raffe hated about him. And that was a whole can of worms he didn't want to think about. So it was just easier to be pissed off with Hayden. Not that he was talking much to Hayden. He seemed to understand that he didn't want to talk to him right now. Which was also pissing him off.
Feelings sucked!!
But it didn't matter anyway he had a meeting to get to. He knew Eliot would expect him to dress right for the job. Except he also told him to be himself. So Nox wore what he always wore, though there were no holes in his jeans or shirt, and he wore a perfectly fine hoodie, though he truly missed his. But it was with Raffe where the fuck he was. Totally didn't want to think about it, so Nox pushed it out of his head too.
He didn't wanna think. Didn't wanna feel, but here he was full powered up and feeling everything. But he was still grateful to feel the love from the kids who depended on him. They were the only thing that made feeling again worth anything.
Nox could have walked. Could have taken the subway and walked the rest of the way but instead he called a car and paid for it and they dropped him off outside the Garden, where he waited in the cold for Eliot to show up. There was no way in hell Eliot was getting inside without him at his side. He would be surprised if he even got in, but the Ascendancy had set the meeting so there it was. He was going to be sitting between two very opposite teams, both for whom he worked for.
The Dominions had already been briefed. The reason for this rare convocation carried weight enough to silence questions, not that anyone would dare question the Ascendancy's orders. To meet with a member of the Atharim was unusual. To meet with one of their self-proclaimed leaders was unprecedented.
The Garden was a secret base of operations, but today the business of the site was silenced. Civilians were rarely permitted, and only then by exceptional mandate. Eliot was a channeler, but how strong and skilled, Nikolai had no idea. He barely trusted Nox, and that trust had been forged through trial and time, ground out like steel on a whetstone. That it existed at all bordered on miraculous. To expect another miracle now would be foolish.
The meeting would take place beneath the open sky, exposed to the elements, on a stretch of open yard that felt as ceremonial as it was strategic. Staff and soldiers had been ordered from view. Even the equipment was relocated. Only wind moved, and even that seemed hesitant. In the distance, a storm was building like a mountain deciding whether to walk.
Nikolai was waiting, flanked by the three Dominions, their line stiff and silent, like specters conjured from a forgotten age. All four wore matching woolen coats of deep charcoal, collars rimmed with thick black fur. Nikolai’s coat bore the double crescent pin of his station, its gold and orange glinting dully in the grey light. Fur-lined gloves hid his hands, and atop his head rested an Ushanka, its flaps folded up atop his head. He cut a stark figure with his expression alone, but his eyes ere like frozen coals beneath the fur brim. He stood not like a man awaiting parley, but like one prepared to withstand a siege.
But he was willing to meet it nonetheless.
Eliot had not expected Nox to actually get back to him so quickly. It hadn't even been a day, and more so than that, the meeting was sooner than expected. What kind of clout did this boy have with the man in the Kremlin? Or was it mere curiousity? Eliot wondered what the Ascendancy had been told, what Nox would reveal, how much truth he'd drop. There was a drop of sweat on his brow. It was fear. This man could wipe him off the face of the planet with a thought. And in truth so could Nox Durante. Though he trusted the boy far more than he would ever trust the Ascendancy. He'd lived a long life being hunted. That was a trust that could not be built over time.
Eliot approached his wife to be and gave her a small peak on the cheek. They'd managed to make arrangements for an engagement. But the wedding was still in planning stages. Maybe a New Year's Wedding. Something for pomp and circumstance. But that was a later detail. "I met with Durante. Asked him for a favor, and oddly enough he's come through with far more resilience than I had expected of him. He arranged a meeting for me with the Ascendancy to talk about our plans. It is a few days hence at the Illustrious Gardens we rarely hear anything about."
Helena weathered the kiss as she always did, which was to say she barely noticed it, and did not react. Personally she did not require their performance to continue behind closed doors, but neither did she reject the small affections the world would expect to find between marrying couples. Better that it look natural for when it mattered. And he did not seem to mind that she never did it back.
For the most part Eliot did a more than adequate job of their arrangement, and she had begun to trust him to continue to do so without her oversight. He always kept her apprised, and she listened and responded as necessary. But now her eyes sharpened, her slender brows narrowing in displeasure. "Surely," she said, "you mean us."
Eliot pursed his lips. [color=antiquewhite]"I mean us, now. It was a slip, my love. Durante is abrupt and to the point. There was little banter and small talk with him and I didn't think you'd want to join in a boring meeting talking about the logistics of how to hunt a god." Though to be fair he should have thought of it. She had her own connections. Eliot bowed his head and grabbed her hand to press a kiss to the knuckles. "I sincerely apologize."
Helena didn't care about the romance. It was just easier to keep his side going so their pretend act was real. It wasn't love. It was connivence after all. "Forgive me. I'm sure one more won't matter."
The impatience showed in her expression while he spoke and she waited for her turn. Helena no longer bothered to conceal herself with the mask of societal nicety she used to smooth other situations, not with him, and by now Eliot understood that she was simply efficient with her emotions. "I do not mean your meeting with Durante, dear. If I'd wanted to speak to him myself, I would have summoned him at the club." She watched him lift her fingers indifferently. The apology was superfluous. She wasn't injured by his mistake, just waiting to see it rectified. "However of course it will be necessary for me to meet with the Ascendancy. That is a different thing entirely."
Eliot nodded. "That is the meeting that I meant. I would rather just bring you along than attempt to recitify it through intermediary channels. I'm lucky to have gotten this meeting. Ask forgivenss and not permission." But there might not be foregivness to be given with the Ascendancy but he wasn't about to tell Helena no in any form or fashion. They could handle the dilemia when they got to the Garden. "My betrothed will certainly accompany me."
She thought it was foolish. It made them look incompetent. But then so would renegotiating. She was unhappy that he had gotten such an important thing wrong in the first place, but it was done now, so she only nodded.
It was the day off the meeting and the donuts were creeping in. He stood in front of the mirror wondering if the double breasted suit was too much. But he had to make an impression. But he also wanted walk away with his life and the life of his future wife.
Maybe walk away was more than he needed. Eliot looked over in the corner to the wheel chair he often needed at the end of the day or on particularly though days. It wasn't one but maybe it could be. Men always underestimated others with disabilities.
Eliot and Helena's car rolled up and a man helped Elliot from the car into his chair. It was a bit cold and Durante waited in clothes unfit for a Moscovian winter, a weave of fire shimmered around him though he didn't feel the meanacing threat of their shared power. And his dress. Eliot was highly disappointed.
As he rolled up under his own power with Helena at his side. "You didn't think to dress better when meeting the most powerful man on the planet?" Eliot barely managed to keep his ire under wraps.
[With Helena]
Eliot showed up the meeting with the Ascendancy in a wheelchair. It was a dawning recognition then. Like a memory come back. He'd seen the man before in the Atharim HQ. It wasn't surprising. But it was surprising he hadn't remembered.
A memory buried after Aria died. Or rather he killed. A nightmare he was once again reliving. Nox growled. But he said nothing. Even as the man criticized his attire. "You told me to be myself.". Nox looked over at the second member of Eliot's party. It was supposed to be the two of them. "Your finance was not invited. She won't get in. This is a top secret facility. Only the passes get us in."
"We will see how it goes."
Nox shrugged. "On your head.". Whatever he thought.
They approached the gate. This was going to to be a big problem. They only had two passes. And now they had three.
Nox sighed as he handed the passes over. "It appears we have three." He was a lot annoyed and it was grating on him.
This is Ninacska.
They were met at the gates of the Garden by a flank of guards; some in civilian dress and others in uniform. It’s unclear what branch of the military is represented by the Garden.
From them, a woman in tactical clothing but not quite uniform approached. She scanned the passes and studied the faces to match. If she was ruffled by their guest, she did not show it.
“I can count, but apparently you can’t. Two passes: three people. I’m sure she’ll be comfortable in your car.”
She signaled the gate to be opened.
"Is this going to be a problem?"
Helena didn’t talk in the car. It was not her way to indulge in small talk anyway, and she certainly didn’t want to get bridled with soothing Eliot’s nerves. She said nothing about the chair either; his physical frailty had never concerned her beyond the one inquiry she had made prior to their arrangement. When the door opened she swept out, paying no attention to the help who assisted Eliot. Nor did she more than glance at Nox Durante. He had already agreed to this so there was no need to be more than civil on her part. Recruiting him had been her suggestion in the first place. But he wasn’t the important one here.
Though Helena’s sense of fashion could be considered unusual, she was always immaculately turned out. Her auburn hair was smoothed from her brow and fixed in a neat chignon, her doll-like face porcelain pale despite the cold and utterly emotionless as she assessed the situation. Lace spilled up her neck, secured there with an heirloom brooch, and peeked a ruffled halo around her hands where it spilled from her frock coat.
“Of course it’s a problem,” she said sharply. Not to Nox, who had spoken, but to the woman who had come to meet them at the gate. Her voice was unequivocally blue-blood British and naturally imperious. Though Helena didn’t sound annoyed, just certain. This was not some low-level official dotting the I’s, that was clear from her mannerisms, and thus she was accorded some respect. “Since I am integral to the proposal we have to make, and equally and freely share the burden of risk we are taking in opening dialogue with the Custody. I am the Lady Helena Asquith, and we will wait while you complete the additional security checks.”
A flat stare was the Lady Asquith's answer, but Nina eventually nodded and disappeared for a few minutes to radio in the update. It took several minutes, probably several painful minutes for a response, but when Ninacksa returned, it was straight to the point. There was nothing outwardly rude, but Nina was rather amused by the turn of events.
"It seems that the Lady Asquith's request is denied. May I bring you a drink while you wait?"
Eliot was about to roll up and get angry, but the boy stepped forward with a bright smile. "I realize the dispatch is for two. I'd happily give up my spot and let the Ascendancy flay them both alive and leave me free of that but I I think what they have to say is important enough that he needs to hear it. I will take full responsibility for whatever that is worth. I would be in his debt moreso than I already am."
Eliot hadn't expected that. He decided that he'd see how it planned out before trying to be diplomatic.
Heh.
Nina crossed her arms. "You seem to think I have some kind of pull with the Ascendancy? Like I can talk him into changing his mind?" She barked a little laugh at the absurdity.
"You're leaving him waiting. Better decide what you want to do and do it." There might be an implied message there. Or maybe not.
Nox laughed. "I'll risk his wrath." Nox nodded for their escort to lead the way.
She muttered something under her breathe he thought it was 'your funeral' but otherwise she lead the way. The other guards tried to stop them but she held up her hand and they stayed their position. It was good to know that she was going to let them in to witness their own funerals. He knew this was a mistake. But he also knew Helena wasn't going to stay out. The owner of Almaz was used to getting her way. And he was pretty sure the Ascendancy would let him long enough to regret his mistake.
But it is what it is.
Nox followed. His hands held out palms forward at his side. He wasn't surrendering but he wasn't s threat. The power was absent but the shimmering weave of warmth fluttered around him. The tired off weave would last a while longer, but probably not as long as it would since it seemed they'd be meeting under the open sky. Great for smiting.