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HumanPermalink Reply by ✓ Everson Echo on October 3, 2020 at 19:26

An instinct. A word many people used in regards to a feeling, a gut wrenching feeling that tossed and turned a stomach like a washing machine. The feeling of being on the brink of sickness, a feeling that humans had more often than most of the residents in Evermore City, a feeling Everson Echo was used to giving others...Never feeling himself, not in this town.

But there it was, the uneasy alert of eyes, boring into his soul. The male tried to convince himself it was merely a feeling, misplaced and void, but he couldn't shake the feeling of danger that invaded his core like a wave on a beach.
His skin crawled constantly, a thousand tiny ants screaming danger, danger into his ears and a deep pit growing in his stomach. The presence of the feeling was unusual, he was content in this time and the sudden tightening of his chest, everytime he left his home wasn't a feeling he appreciated...It took him right back to being a child, alone and forgotten, something he'd spent many years pushing to the back of his mind. Maybe it was the lack of sleep? He thought, trying to rationalise now. A New file had crossed his desk recently, a new resident to this forbidden city, a woman with a past more terrifying than even his own.

The woman, a hacker much like himself, was 247 and a returning being of this frightful city. Her past was scattered with loss, both before her awakening as a Phoenix, after and rising towards her resting as a Niveis. She had a big family, Pompeii was her birthplace, though with the amount of regenerations Everson couldn't be sure the Italian still littered her voice. She was much like him in many ways, a self taught hacker, the thought of which made the arrogant human scoff. Hacker, He thought, Yeah right.

On this particular morning, Everson had felt this gut instinct once more. It pushed him to present smartly, a fresh shower, his hair tousled with product and his body adorned with a sleek black on black suit. It had been weeks since he'd worn a suit to work, but that silly pit had pushed him to it today.

The morning itself was normal, the afternoon just the same. He made his way to work in the latter part of the afternoon. Wandering in, he did his best to avoid those beneath him in the business pecking order. He had no new information for them and so wanted to stay to himself. Pulling open the door to his dark office, a voice made him jump.

The feeling was back...

His fingers reached out for the light switch, flicking it on to find a woman he knew there...The woman he'd spent the past few days reading about. He straightened his jacket some, peeling fear away and stood taller. "Evening." He said sternly, talking a few steps into the office. "I believe that's my seat." He added, cocking his head to the side with an arrogant smirk across his lips. "And I know exactly who you are." With that, Everson threw the file labelled d'Fierro into the desk before her. "I don't want the raise the alarms, Not that you'd have a choice putting me out...We have systems in place to...repress those more gifted than ourselves." It was an entire bluff, but he was trying his luck.

Shifting into the seat at the other side of the desk, he leant towards her a little, a more curious grin upon his features. "The question I have is how did you find me? I do very well at keeping hidden...But it appears not well enough?"

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NiveisPermalink Reply by ✓ Leona Vivaldi d'Fierro on October 4, 2020 at 4:16

Almond eyes flickered down towards the file that landed before her, the familiar letters of her name in a large, block print, commanding their reader's attention. It brought a twitch of amusement to the corners of her lips, and she looked at the man through her lashes. "Good," she purred. "That will save up quite a bit of time." A snicker sounded from her at his obvious bluff, the woman shaking her head at him. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to fool me, cara mia--this should tell you that much," she slurred snarkily as her pointer finger jabbed down at the file.

Her eyes followed his movement as he moved to sit before her. She caught the glint of amusement in his eyes and in the twitch of his lips,  and for moment she was reminded of someone who'd approached her with a similar sense of cocky confident. The memory brought warmth to her angular features for just a moment, but just as soon as it came, it was gone. His words brought forth a soft chuckle from her as Leo let the bottle of gin leave the comforts of her arms and sit on the table, in-between her and the man. It was chilled from her icy grasp--probably one of the few benefits of her recent change.

She leaned forward to match his position, placing one arm on the table while the other, holding the glass, was never too far from her lips. "You have a rather impressive reputation," she admitted. "And I need your assistance with a matter." Her eyeline flickered towards the file once more, then returned to meet his gaze. "That should have also told you that I have a history of getting what I want."

Leo took a sip of the clear spirit, savouring the clean, refreshing taste before returning her attention to Everson. "How updated is that file?" she questioned genuinely, raising a groomed eyebrow at him. "Does it tell you of my recent...ordeal?" It took her a while to find the right word. A part of her wanted to say 'death,' but Leo wanted to know what this man knew. By saying death, he'd be able to deduce that she was no longer a Phoenix. Waiting for his response, she found her fingers flipping open the cover. Staring back at her was old face, the sight tightening her expression. Her new face was there too, next to a question mark--that amused her a little as it summed up her current emotions.

As her fingers toyed with the pages, she looked back up at the human. "I hear you're rather good at tracking down people," she said, deciding to reveal her purpose for breaking into his office. Hesitating for a moment, she reached down under her table, where a black sleek backpack rested by her feet. In a swift, graceful motion, she pulled out a file of her own, a rather thick one, and placed it in front of the man. Upon opening the file, he'd be greeted with the faces of five men, their features etched into permanent scowls. Leona then proceeded to down the remaining bit of liquor in her glass and reached for the bottle once more, allowing Everson to get a good look and skim through. "Those men are the reason I've been gone for so long," she slurred, twisting open the bottle cap and pouring herself another glass. "I want them found." 

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HumanPermalink Reply by ✓ Everson Echo on October 7, 2020 at 19:58

His bluff was caught, and she slurred a snarky remark which made the human stiffen in his seat. Everson had always been good at bluffing, but it appeared the woman before him knew his ways more that she’d initially let on. He tried not to grumble as a response as he twitched the button of his jacket undone to sit more comfortable in the seat.

Reclining back in faux comfort, his steely grey eyes stayed glued to hers. The smirks and twitches  of her mouth were infatuating, but that was the lure of the supernatural and Everson was used to the allure more of the species gave off to the humans. As she placed the gin bottle between them, he took another glass and poured the clear liquid out...The bottle was ice cold to the touch and that gave her away further. The fiery Phoenix before him was not as fiery as the file made out, no...Niveis were recent additions to the town, but Everson had done his homework.

As she spoke of his reputation, the human merely rolled his hand in the air and shrugged. “I get a job done when commissioned.” He purred darkly, his eyes narrowing slightly. She wanted something, of course…

“That file has more on you than you can ever imagine...Like i say, I’m good at my job.” The human shifted slightly, bringing the chilled glass to his lips and taking a sip of the liquid it contained. It was authentic and crisp, the burn warmed his core even though the liquid chilled his teeth as it passed. 

“Leona d’Fierro, sister to Luna, Sebastian, Leonardo and Raphael, all tragically lost...Phoenix to the latter and Niveis to the current. A woman with great skill, but someone who was lost to kidnappers...the details of how, hazy, but the captors were the ones that drowned you I believe -” He paused and with a dark flash, the Human leaned forwards and pushed the gin bottle back towards her. “- I am sorry for the loss of your husband by the way.” Silly human, he thought straight after, the woman before him had a reputation, much like his own, of making people disappear and to her knowledge her husband wasn’t dead, just that, lost. Everson had no actual knowledge on Alexander's whereabouts, whether deceased or not, but he was also known for poking bears where he shouldn’t.

“-Then you came to Evermore and -” He gestured around the room. “- Came here.” 

Watching her slim fingers toying with the pages of her file, her words next detailed exactly what she wanted from him. Not him in particular, his mind and his skills and more importantly...His resources. Taking the file from her, his blue orbs grazed over the images, taking in as many words as the silence allowed him too before she broke it again. “I see.” Was his reply, his mind racing with the file in his hands. Five faces stared back at him, all with alias’ or names, but not much more. Each man had a past and present to her knowledge, but no dates or timings, not locations or clues...A stab in the dark it seemed. 

“My work is dangerous...As you know, I find people that dont want to be found...I discover their hideaways and terminate the targets where needed, or I bring them to their execution...But i require payment for these sort of tasks, And i require protection.” His eyes finally left the page and rose to her with a light smile on his face. “I have all the…’Help’ I need from my buddies.” With that, he gestures to a row of small spheres, each adhered to rotary blades to help them become airborne. “But human bodies are feeble things, and those have to be controlled by me. So if I'm protected, those things can drop anything from a mouse to a being the size of a skyscraper…”

He placed the thick file onto the desk and finished the clear liquid in his glass. “So, are you sure you’re ready to find these men...Because you’ll be around every step of the way and i don’t take any sort of emotional weakness.”

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NiveisPermalink Reply by ✓ Leona Vivaldi d'Fierro on October 8, 2020 at 2:08

A smirk was plastered to her features as the man read off her history to her. The names of her siblings caused an ache to grow in her chest, but she would never let her pain show. Instead, she'd lean back, nodding now and then as he checked off facts as if reading off a list. She fought the urge to stiffen slightly at the talk of her drowning, examining long, manicured fingernails as she kept her lips curled into her usual smirk. At his "condolences," Leona met his gaze, an eyebrow arched slightly. "Thank you," she responded dryly once he'd finished, and with that, she leant down. Her face was emotionless, but danger flickered her eyes and maliciousness laced her words. "However, my husband is not dead." She toyed with the glass grasped between her fingers, though her eyes were trained on him. "I have reason to believe that they're keeping him alive. Why, you may ask?" She let a low, leering chuckle push through her lips. "That's how I would deal with an immortal: murder their loved ones, and have them live the rest of their days with the knowledge that they could do nothing to help." She paused. "Judging from what they said my husband did to them, they'd never want his suffering to end."

Leaning back in her seat, she took a long draught of her drink, allowing the man to speak. She stayed eerily still, her head tilted slightly to a side as she took in his words. When she finished, all she offered was a roll of her eyes. "Dearest, if you've actually read my file, you'd know that emotional weakness is nowhere in my vocabulary. As much as I love my husband, it's nothing compared to my thirst for revenge. So don't you worry your pretty little head: I intend on being nowhere else " Shaking her head, she leaned once more towards him, her brow creased in question. "So when you say you need protection," she started, gesturing towards the array of sphere, "do you mean just those...things?" She looked unsure, doubtful at the fact that those toys could do any sort of damage against the supernatural. "Why don't you just, let me know when you're headed somewhere dangerous. I'm sure I could find someone else who would be of...better aid."

"As for payment..." she stood up, taking hold of a duffle-bag by her side and let it rest on the table. Unzipping it, she revealed stacks of $100 bound together. "That's three-quarters of a million American Dollars in here," Leona stated, rested a hand on her hip as she looked down pointedly at the man. "If it isn't enough, give me a figure. If money isn't your preferred form of payment, I can give you your amount's worth in jewels, property, private islands---I may be alone in this god-forsaken town, but I'm still filthy rich." She raised an eyebrow then, folding her arms across her bust. "So, do we have a deal?" She paused for a moment, then let her hands drop to the table, resting her weight on her palms as she leaned forward. "I just have one...request: when you find these men," she slurred, looking down momentarily at the file she'd given Everson before meeting his gaze once more, "leave them to me. They will suffer at my hand, and my hand alone."

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HumanPermalink Reply by ✓ Everson Echo on October 18, 2020 at 13:23

She was good. Everson had tried to pull at every heartstring that file had offered him, a personal barrage of ammo against a singular entity...And not one mention of her family, nor her husband, caused any flicker of change upon the Niveis' features. They remained perfectly collected, with not even a hint of pain or anguish. Everson was going to have to try harder...As she spat the word dead at him however, Leona had revealed that he had in fact hit a nerve in regards to her lost lover, and that caused him to smile a little, a mere twitch of the left hand corner of his lips that he covered with a twitch of his features. As she mentioned that she believed they were keeping her husband under lock and key, Everson blinked a few times...Was he biting off more than he could chew here?  "So not only is this a revenge mission, it's also a recovery operation for a man that's been a captive for god knows how long? And may or may not have been tortured?" Nodding sarcastically, Everson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Great."

As she spoke of emotional weakness not being a part of her world, he couldn't help but chuckle. "That fact that you think one can go through life without ever showing any sort of emotional weakness, proves you're not as strong as you act." Everson could almost hear the cracking of the thin ice he was walking on, but he ignored that and went on. "You got married, that in itself is emotional weakness." As she looked over to the small spheres against the wall, Everson stood and wandered over, taking one off the wall and placing it on the table in front of her. "These things have saved my life more times than you could count." He grinned, his steely blue eyes gleaming. "They can emit electric shocks so powerful that even you would have a hard time coming round from it." He tapped the cool metal with a tinny clang before placing the sphere back on the board.

When she mentioned payment, The human turned slowly and watched the duffel bag thud onto the table. Three-quarters of a million dollars now sat staring at him, wrapped up in 100$ stacks. This was like something out of The Godfather, a bag full of money on the table. Eversons father was a business mogul, so this amount of money wasn't a great deal to him, but his father had never thrown it at people in a duffel bag before. Trying to remain professional, Everson reached into the bag and took out one of the wrapped wads of notes and flicked it through his fingers before tossing it back into the bag. "I'm sure that will suffice for the finding of your husband."

Everson had been choosing his words carefully. His hands fell to his sides as she spoke and the human smiled. He raised his hands, turning them palm facing, back facing and back, twisting at the wrists. "Don't worry, I like to keep my hands pristinely clean in these events." With that, he held his hand out to her and nodded. "It appears we have a deal." He chimed, wiggling his fingers a little.

“I'll get started right away.”

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NiveisPermalink Reply by ✓ Leona Vivaldi d'Fierro on October 19, 2020 at 1:42

A bloodcurdling chuckle sounded from the Niveis at the human's remarks in response to her own suspicions over her husband's current conditions. She didn't miss the quirk of his lips--he knew that he'd triggered some sort of response in her. It was a slight contrast to the cool demeanour she'd held, and so she simply raised an eyebrow, daring him to point it out. "Well, it's mostly revenge," she admitted, a coy smirk toying at her lips as she took a sip of her gin. "If my husband happens to be alive, that's only a plus. All you need to do is find the men who did this to me," she purred, manicured fingers gesturing to her form--the body she was growing to despise. She paused for a moment, eyeing the man maliciously as she refilled the glass in her hand. "Or is that too much of a challenge for you, cara mia?"

Leo couldn't help but roll her eyes at what the man said concerning emotional weaknesses. She let him continue, nursing the crystal in her hand. Her features relayed her boredom, full lips pressing into a thin lip before moulding into her usual smirk. "That folder should have told you that nothing means more to me than my family," she responded, olive-green hues looking pointedly at the item in question before meeting the human's gaze once more. "But what my reputation should have already told you is that nothing has ever stood in between me and revenge. So no, I don't consider my marriage emotional weakness--my feelings for my husband will not get in the way of this. In fact, what was that quote? 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?" She smirked, swirling the glass gently in her grasp. "If anything, it ensures that things will go well."

Attentive eyes watched as the man walked over to the shelf. His posture gave away his self-assurance, his long, brisk strides a clear indicator of his confident nature. It was in that moment when Leo was sure she'd gotten the right person for this particular job. However, even with the man's assurance, Leo couldn't help but doubt the ability of the metal spheres he now stood by. She simply pursed her lips, and decided to herself that she'd keep tabs on the man on her own, just in case his little shock-devices failed him. "I don't know about that," she mused as he returned to his seat, raising an eyebrow. The fingers of her free hand made a swirling motion, the Niveis plucking water from the water and manipulated it to her will. "Water is an excellent conductor...and not very friendly towards electricity." Her lips twitched, and with that she returned the water back to the air, letting her hand rest of her lap. "I'll take your word for its effectiveness."

Upon presenting the payment, Leo noted a change in the human's features. It was so slight, anyone else could have missed it. She'd done her research on him, of course---he'd been raised with money, so it definitely wasn't the amount that could have triggered it. Perhaps it was her flamboyant manner of giving it to him---the thought cause her smirk to twitch some. His response, however, brought upon a click of her tongue. "No no no---do not misunderstand my priorities here." Long fingers gestured towards the duffel bag as she stood above him, her gaze as cold as the ice she controlled. "This here is for tracking down the men who killed me. Finding my husband dead or alive is a bonus, a bonus that you too will be rewarded with. But I want your focus on those men."

Her demeanour morphed into one of malevolence at his words, her smirks turning cruel at the thought of her enemies facing her wrath. She eyed his extended hand for a moment before enveloping his palm with her own cool grasp. "Brilliant," she slurred, giving his hand a firm shake before pulling her hand away. "I won't keep you any longer," she would say as she reached for the backpack at the side of her seat, slipping one of the straps over a leather-clad shoulder. "I'll show myself out--the gin is yours, take it as a gesture of camaraderie." She slinked around the table, sauntering past the human soundlessly. "I'll show myself out," the woman would call from her shoulder, only sparing one last cool glance at the man before slipping through the door. 

Like a thief in the night, she'd move without raising alarm through the underground office. A card she'd pick-pocketed from another person from the Organisation had been her way in, and now it would be her exit. With ease, she slipped past security, and the Venetian creature disappeared into the night.

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HumanPermalink Reply by ✓ Everson Echo on October 22, 2020 at 16:11

The dark eyed, broody Niveis had left and an eerie cold silence extended across the office like a blanket of ice. A shudder, crept its way down Everson's spine like a spider down a wall, each foot ever so slightly brushing along his flesh, sparking the hairs to stand on end like spines. His bright blue orbs glared at the duffel bag as he replayed the entire conversation over in his head. How she didn't seem bothered by her Husbands whereabouts, revenge seeping into every memory of him, bleeding them red with anger and the only thing she seemed to want was the men. Not her husband, not the happy reunion, Just murderous intentions...

Everson walked around the desk, taking back his own seat with a huff 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' dark words, like a web of black blanketing the entire evening. Was that a warning? But then, her scepticism towards his drones made him question the woman...Was she truly past caring? Was this woman that dumped all that money on his desk the representation of revenge? He shook his head and wiped his hands down his face with a heavy sigh. He'd come to this town to leave the toils of big families and their revenge plots.

She spoke of her priorities, only being the revenge of the men that killed. His hand reached for the bottle of gin she'd left and he poured himself a fresh glass. The old Venetian had walked out of his office with such a swagger, confidence exuded from her every pore...His hands slid over to the files of the men he had been commissioned to find. He opened them and began his initial search. His bright eyes crossed every word twice, washing over each page over and over, cataloguing the facts of each man and their last known whereabouts.

That's where things get tricky.

His fingers moved over to the keyboard to the left. Sheeting over the keys quickly as he typed in the first name of the first man. A flash of red and the words WANTED flashed up. This man did not keep a low profile, up until his supposed death and then a reel of dead ends. Second name, deceased, third name, deceased, fourth name, deceased, fifth name, deceased.

Tricky.

He grumbled for a moment before he shifted his search to the database Evermore kept of every supernatural being.

Jackpot.

These five men came through the town, years after their deaths...Now, they were getting somewhere.

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NiveisPermalink Reply by ✓ Leona Vivaldi d'Fierro on November 2, 2020 at 14:03

ONE WEEK LATER.

Investing in Everson's services had proven to be a wise decision, Leona would come to think, for the human had reached out to her about a week after their initial meeting. She had tried for two months to track them down, but this man had gotten farther than she did in a fraction of the time. Within the few days of his employment, he'd sent her after who he believed to be a pawn of one of men who killed her. That man was dead now, and she'd retrieved the items discussed, As stubborn as she was, the Niveis knew when she was out of her depth, and when she'd need to enlist the aid of others. She supposed that was what kept her alive for so long--well, save for the time she actually died, but that was her husband's fault.

This time, when her presence was expected by the man, it was far easier to slip into the Organisation's Headquarters unnoticed. Clad in a pair of high-waist black trousers and a black long-sleeved turtleneck, the darkness was her ally as she moved from place to place. She supposed maybe he told everyone to clear-off for the night, because the hallways were far too empty, and security seemed more laced than before. However, she still kept her footsteps silent and moved with the shadows, slipping into the familiar office and shutting the door behind her.

He was already in his seat when she entered, and this brought a smirk to pull on the corners of her full red lips. It'd probably be harder for her to sneak up on him anymore--he seemed to have spent every possible moment he could in this office of his and only went to his home when necessary. The Venetian creature could not fathom why he enjoyed spending his time here---it was underground so there was no view and, to her, the walls seemed suffocating. A part of her then wondered if the latter had any relation to her drowning, but she shook it off with a flick of her head---nothing would be more inconvenient than any subconscious phobias or traumas.

"Good to see you again, Echo," she'd slur to the man as she took a seat from across him, her smirk still upon her face. She let her messenger bag rest on a lap as she sat up straight in her seat, eyeing him with a cautious, slightly-doubtful look as she pulled out a mobile phone and a blood-stained slip of paper sealed in a ziplock bag. "You were right," she'd say. "He admitted to working with them, but that's all he would say." She shrugged. "But you said everything we would need would be on these," she added slowly before pushing the items towards the man, then letting her bag rest on the floor. "I took a look at the paper," Leo would admit, "but it looks like some sort of...cipher." She tilted her head to a side as she narrowed her eyes at the man. "How did you know that this chap would be the idiot who carried a copy of it?"

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HumanPermalink Reply by ✓ Everson Echo on November 8, 2020 at 17:35

The next week had been a whirlwind of false answers, misleading alleys and dead ends for Everson Echo. He'd tried all his old contacts and had begun sifting through the new ones as he fell down the rabbit hole that was the life of Leona's kidnappers.

Over the week, Everson had kept in touch with Leona on all possible fronts. To begin with, a youthful looking diviner that had treated the men to a place to stay while they frequented the city, his name and the address for Leona - Or her paid hitmen - to follow up on. The Diviner had left behind breadcrumbs, knowing that one day those very men he helped would be his end and he'd need a backup plan, something to lead the smartest of detectives straight to the ring of thugs...

The breadcrumbs lead Everson to a new set of identities and a new set of names, all for which were tied in directly to the kidnapping gang.

A gang. The word had made Everson scoff humorlessly, the word had brought such a flood of memories to him that working was the only thing that stopped him thinking of his life back in London, his throne at the top of his father's business empire...All that he'd lost...

Everson felt like he'd sat for so long in his office chair that he had petrified in it. Over the week he hadn't been home much, unless to shower and change his clothes. The day that Leona came back to his office was a shower day, that morning he'd been out to his home, showered and changed into a more casual attire, black jeans and a white tee, and returned in less than 30 minutes to the office that had become his cell while he figured out this job.

When she walked in, he barely had to glance up to know that the soft, almost silent steps were hers. "Good evening" He muttered, his steely blue orbs still glued to the screen before him. When she pulled out the little bag however, his full attention turned to her and a grin wormed its way across his lips.

Taking the note from her, he took the blood-stained note from the bag and let his eyes drag across every line, dot and number upon the page. "This is the most complicated of all ciphers." Everson finally said after drinking in the note. "It appears the people that kidnapped you are some sort of gang, for better use of the word, and every gang has tiers. The men you encountered got their hands dirty, so they're not the top, but they also had to get someone else to put them up while they were in the city, which means they are not at the bottom either." He turned the computer screen to her to show a picture of the man she'd hunted down for him.

"This man is at the bottom, and the good thing about finding the bottom man is they know they are the lowest tier SO they create messages for when they inevitably either get arrested or killed. This -" Holding up the note and the phone with another grin -" Is the message." Everson placed them down and began plugging the phone into his PC "They leave trails, that don't exactly show they're corrupt to the normies eye, but to the more intelligent calibre of person, can unknit an entire cartel in mere hours."

Eversons fingers grazed the keyboard again as he quickly hacked into the stolen mobile phone and began downloading its contents. "I knew he'd have it because he's a man at the bottom...I knew a lot of those back in london, they always carry the dirt."

"Now all we need to do is break the code."

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NiveisPermalink Reply by ✓ Leona Vivaldi d'Fierro on November 25, 2020 at 7:42

Leo couldn't help but scoff at Everson's remark of the man she'd recently disposed off. "The way that he fought definitely proved he wasn't one of the higher up, that's for sure," she muttered with a roll of her eyes, then focusing on the piece of paper the male clothed gently between his fingers. As he explained, Leo couldn't hide the amazement from shimmering in her olive green hues, nor the astonishment that etched upon her face. It really did prove that Everson was the best at what he did, and she knew that he was the right man for this particular job.

"And you're sure you can crack the cipher?" Leo wondered aloud, standing up from her seat and taking long strides around the table to behind Everson's chair. Curiosity had gotten the best of her, and she wondered what on his screen seemed to make so much of sense to her. "What makes you think this cipher will tell us--well, mostly you--what we need to know? Anything about the...cartel?" It wasn't that Leo wasn't willing to shed anymore blood---on the contrary, she was looking forward to it. But Everson had gotten closer to finding her killers in one week than she had in three months. If his way was proving to be more efficient, she had no qualms going about it his way. "So, what now?" she asked as she looked at the brightly lit screen, Everson's fingers clacking fiercely against the keyboard. She barely understood what he was doing, but he seemed like he was making progress. A smirk tugged at the corners of her full lips: they were getting closer.

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HumanPermalink Reply by ✓ Everson Echo on January 3, 2021 at 21:04

Everson glanced up as he spoke and almost paused at the look upon the steely womans features. Show and amazement were expressions he hadn’t seen on her before, they were almost endearing. The way her Olive orbs grew wide as she stared at his, the little o her lips made, just for a second. He was gaining her respect...And he needed to keep it that way. 

His eyes snapped back to the computer screen as a jumble of words appeared on his screen. A grin spread from the left corner of his lip, stretching right the way over to the right. “You doubt me?” He said and then shook his head. “Im hurt.” Teasing, a defence mechanism as he scrolled down. The list was long...Much longer than he had anticipated. “This Cipher is old...Its a mix of two different types, this bottom dog knows how to keep a secret…” He muttered before his fingers began on the keyboard. 

He shifted a couple times in his seat before kicking his shoes off and pulling his leg up to his chest to get comfy. He swirled in his chair, pulling out a notepad and pen and beginning to jot words...no...names down on the paper. Each name was a jumble, but then he began connected first names to surnames, full names to code names...This was a list of all the members of this ‘gang’ and their up to date locations...The Locations were trickier to find in the jumbles of letters, coordinates, not names. 

“Leona...This Cartel is huge…” He muttered “I haven’t seen a group of this size since I drained my Fathers down in London.” His fingers paused on the keys for a second and he slipped back into his own world, muttering on and on to himself. “Red names...black names...Blue names? Why? ...What does it mean?” Chewing on his lip, a huff left his lips. 

“There's more than one group here…” He whispered, glancing up at Leona and blinking. 

“I think I know where your husband is.”

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NiveisPermalink Reply by ✓ Leona Vivaldi d'Fierro on January 4, 2021 at 5:43

His teasing brought a smirk to the ice wielder's red lips, the woman letting her gaze rest on him for a moment before she rolled her eyes. "Don't take it personally---I doubt everyone," she purred, a low chuckle sounding from her then. "It's far more pleasant dealing with people exceeding exceptions than disappointments." Her hues then returned to the screen, the creases in her brow deepening. Leo knew the cartel she was dealing with was the real deal---no one had been able to disappear from her radar, so when Everson commented on the difficulty of the cipher, she wasn't surprised. If anything, she felt surprise at herself, realise that had full faith in the human. That was something she rarely felt towards someone else, but in the one week she'd got to know him and work with him, the human man had definitely earned it.

She repressed a smirk as Everson made himself comfortable, instead simply shaking her head in amusement as she reached into her leather bag, pulling out a silver flask. She straightened, taking a swig of the whiskey it held, watching Everson as he worked. She had to admire not just his skill, but his determination and focus, and she gave him his space as she watched his pen scribble away at his notepad. A glance of over his shoulder as she passed him caught at the Venetian's attention, the woman freezing in her steps as her irises darted from left to right, examining what he'd written. "Coordinates..." she murmured, resuming her previous position and leaned over her shoulder, one hand propping her weight as it rested on the table. "Good, good---this is good." A scoff then sounded from her at Everson's comment, the woman tilting her head to a side for just a moment. "Aye, they'd have to be," she told him. "They knew exactly who Alex and I were and how to find us. The only thing they missed out is what happens in you drown a Phoenix---I'm rather surprised they didn't know to shove a gold blade through my heart." He commented then on the colours of the names, Leona's brow furrowing even further as he spoke. "So you're telling me, the different colours indicate what group these people are in?" she questioned. "Looks like I have my work cut out for me here." There were so many names, and although Leo yearned to end all their lives, she had to put her focus on the most important targets.

He met her gaze then, and told her the words that made her heart skip a beat. Her hues fluttered to a close then, a pained expression washed over her angular features. Of course, she wanted nothing more than to grab the coordinates to the supposed location, kill everyone there, and leave with her husband, but Leona was nothing if not a good strategist. That quality alone kept her alive for so long. "Where is he?" she asked first, not meeting Everson's gaze, letting him tell her as she pushed herself off his desk, moving to pace behind him, nodding her head solemnly. "As much as that information pleases me, Everson, I'll have to put off saving my husband for later, unless by some blessing the five of them are still with him." She swallowed a forming lump in her throat, regaining her hard exterior, focussing herself on the path shed set herself on. "If I rescue him first, I'll lose the only advantage I have. My killers don't know that I'm not really dead, but if I save my husband, they'll put two and two together, and I'll risk them disappearing, and perhaps them really making sure I'm dead the next time around." Another sigh left her lips, the woman pausing in her steps as she took another swig of her flask. "We have the find my killers first, give them no time to communicate, and put an end to them before I can be my husband's knight-in-shining armour." She then paused, a thought occurring to her as she looked back at Everson, walking back to stand by his side. "Unless..." she trailed off, her gaze finally meeting his, "there's a way to ensure that all five of them are with Alexander. Not one of them can be absent, cause we may never find them again." She raised an eyebrow, pursing her lips. "Is that something you can make possible?"

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