Simone woke up early, the morning light shining through her sheer curtains making her sleepy eyes water. Her morning routine was just like every other morning, braiding her long hair over her shoulder, grooming her wings, then getting dressed for the day. She stood on her balcony and took a deep breath, the cool, early spring air burning down to her lungs, before leaving her rooms to head to the morning council meeting. She wished she felt as important as her title claimed her to be; Advisor to the Council of the Light. It was an important job, the Light consisted of the lands of Overwatch and was north of the Black Forest, which effectively split the continent of Gibraltar in half. Anything south of the Black Forest was considered Dark lands, Talon. The Council of the Light was a group of leaders that made sure all of the species coexisted peacefully, which they had done for the last 150 years. Simone knew that she was only the advisor given her habit of having visions of the future. It certainly came in handy for the Council, being able to decipher her visions and react accordingly. This morning she would be telling the Council of her latest vision, one that had her on edge. She could remember it easily; her visions were usually not so vague or dark.
She was walking alone, the ground coming to a point over crashing waves; a cliff overlooking the coast. To her left was a pair of blue eyes and to her right a pair of red eyes. The blue eyes gave her a sense of familiarity, but the red eyes compelled her towards them. The ground began to shake and the sky started to grow dark. Fear greater than she had ever felt before nearly crippled her. She reached towards the familiar blue eyes, but the ground below her feet began to crumble. Turning back to the red eyes, a hand reached out to her. It was covered in a black glove, its fingers tipped with sharp silver talons. She reached out. Her hand fit perfectly in its clawed grip, and everything stopped. The shaking ground and darkening sky, the fear she had felt were all gone. Black smoke started to creep and swirl around her, starting at her feet. Her chest felt warm, her heart feeling too large as the smoke swallowed her completely.
She had come to, her hand fisted in her dress right over her heart. Visions usually came with emotions but had never been so strong before. The fear she understood, but the other emotion which made her chest feel tight and warm was a mystery to her. She sighed heavily and continued down the hall as if she wasn't bothered by emotions she couldn't place.
She rounded the corner, meeting Ana and they continued down the sunlit hallway together.
"Good morning Simone." Ana looked at her with a skeptical eye.
"You look unwell, is something the matter?" Simone smiled at the old witch and nodded.
"Just bothered by a vision."She pulled her braid over her shoulder, playing with it.
"Will you be bringing it up at this morning's council meeting?"
"Of course." Ana nodded approvingly and they walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way to the large open council room. Half of the circular room was open walls, leading into a lush garden that scented the air beautifully. Comfortable chairs surrounded the low stone table, some of them already occupied by council members. Reinhart seemed to take up most of the west side of the table, the large shifter waving over Ana as they entered the room.
"Good morning Jack." Simone gave him a kiss on the cheek and ruffled his white hair as she passed him to find her own seat.
"Simone." He greeted in return, before turning towards the others that entered the room after Ana and Simone. Soon everyone was sitting and Jack began the meeting. Simone tuned it out as she looked at the others gathered around the table. Humans, Shifters, Centaurs, Dryads, and Nephilims all lived within Overwatch and followed the Council's rules. Jack and Ana were the only humans on the council, although Ana was also a witch. The other members of the council were Winston and Reinhart, a gorilla and a lion shifter, and Angela, a Nephilim like Simone. None of the centaurs were old enough or mature enough to have a seat on the council yet, though Lena or Lucio were being considered. The Dryads didn't care about such things like politics, so they declined the offer of a seat on the Council.
"Simone?" She looked up, everyone at the table was watching her.
"Yes?" She folded her hands on the table.
"Ana said that you had a new vision. Care to share?" Winston asked.
"Oh, of course. Though I do warn you that it is extremely vague. I don't really understand it myself, just the feelings I get from it."
"You usually have no problem understanding your visions." Angela's brow furrowed.
"You may understand more what I mean after I explain." Simone proceeded to tell the rest of them about her vision. All except the feeling that she couldn't quite place, that she kept to herself.
There was silence around the table, although the many expressions on the members of the council meant that the vision must mean something.
"What do you think it means?" Jack asked, careful to make his face emotionless.
"The only thing I understand about my vision is that something is coming. The fear I felt was… it was terrible. I believe that there is a threat coming."
"The eyes, were they a representation of the threat?" Winston asked.
"No, the blue eyes; they were Jack's. I think they represented the people I know. I think the red eyes represent a possible allie, one that can help us with what's coming."
"But nothing else on what that threat might be?" Ana prompted her to continue.
"None at all. I'm sorry, I told you it was vague."
"Nonsense, you did wonderfully. We will figure it out." Reinhart smiled.
"You should go meditate. It helps with your future sight sometimes." Jack dismissed her. Simone was shocked and very confused. She had never been thrown out of a Council meeting before and it certainly did feel like that was happening. She stood up uncertainly, but no one went against what Jack had said.
"Why don't you head down to my workshop and make some tea. I will join you shortly." Ana promised. Simone nodded politely and left, heading through the maze like halls of the Council building. Everything was made with pretty white stone, with big windows to let in the sunlight. Jack and her had rooms in the building, living there with a few others who were not on the Council. Most everyone else had homes of their own to go to when the day was done. Simone was a little jealous. She took the stairs down two at a time, quickly coming to Ana's workroom. She loved visiting Ana in her workshop. There was always so many scents filling the air, steam making the dark room warm. Ana made all sorts of magical potions and elixirs in her workshop, colorful bottles filling the shelves along the walls. She found Ana's kettle and started making herself some tea; she thought hard as she worked. Jack was obviously upset about something, was it that she couldn't be more help on her vision, or was it because he was hurt by it. Her vision had basically said that he wasn't good enough; that they needed to seek outside help to stop the incoming threat. And there was the reaction of the other Council members that was off; that also had her wondering. She stared into her teacup, the color of the steeping tea swirling was hypnotic. It brought memories of black smoke surrounding her. And those red eyes, the ones that drew her in, she wanted to know more about them, she wanted to know who they belonged to. She could almost see them clearly, the way they seemed to almost glow, black seeping into the whites until the blood red irises stood out clearly.
"Your tea is getting cold." The voice startled her, pulling her from her thought. The fingers around her cup and the fact that steam didn't rise from the beverage proved that her tea really was cold. She wondered how long she had been lost in thought. Pushing the cup across the wooden table she looked towards the speaker.
"Did the rest of the meeting go well?" Ana made a noncommittal gesture of her hand, effectively brushing off the question.
"I just spent the last 15 minutes listening to what they thought of your vision. I want to know how you feel. What do you think we should do." Simone didn't answer right away, wondering the same thing herself.
"If there is a chance that the stranger from my visions can help, I believe that we should find him. An alliance should be formed before the threat arrives."
"You would make an alliance with a stranger? And if this stranger of yours turns out to not be the savior you think?" Ana handed her a new cup of tea, this one nice and hot.
"The trouble with explaining my visions to others is that they don't feel the emotions that I feel when I have them." Simone blew at the rising steam and took a small sip.
"When I took his hand, all the fear I felt disappeared. I felt safe, even as I was consumed by the black smoke. Whoever this stranger is, he's not going to pose harm to any of us."
Ana watched her carefully, an unreadable expression on her face as she drank her own tea.
There was a slight breeze pulling at her as Simone set on one of the high towers. Below her played a few of the centaurs. One of the dryads, Hana, was laughing as she was chased by some of the younger centaur colts. It seemed peaceful enough, yet the more relaxed it seemed to be, the more Simone worried. It had been a month since she had told the Council about her vision. Surely they should be doing something about it, but instead, they tried hard not to mention it when she was around. They had even canceled the council meeting that was supposed to be this morning.
"I thought you were not aloud to fly alone." Fareeha landed lightly next to her, her gold wings folding behind her.
"I needed to think. I didn't want to inconvenience you or Angela."
"What is bothering you?" The other woman asked, setting down next to Simone.
"Did your mother tell you about the last council meeting?"
"About your vision of doom?" Simone gave a small laugh, sounding strained.
"It's more about everyone's reaction to it." She explained.
"It's almost like they know something that they are unwilling to tell me."
"That is odd, seeing as you are their advisor. You should tell them your concerns at the meeting. Aren't you late for that?" Simone's brows furrowed.
"Am I late?"
"Mother left for it just before I headed out, but if you leave now you shouldn't miss too much."
Simone stood quickly waving goodbye as she jumped from the tower, Fareeha gave her a small salute as her wings caught the wind and she glided down. If the others were getting together then they lied to her about the meeting being canceled. Why would they lie to her? She headed towards the gardens and steered herself towards the ground. She landed a little clumsily, catching herself before she tripped. Pulling her wings back into her body, she flexed her shoulders. She kept quiet, listening for voices in the adjoining rooms as she inched closer. She could see through one of the open archways if she hid behind one of the blooming lilac bushes.
"We need to meet with him. Explain the situation." Angela tried to be the voice of reason.
"You knew him, and yet you still think we should?" Jack asked.
"Almost all of us knew him before. You're just being biased, Jack."Ana scoffed. Jack sucked in air, his face turning an off shade of purple.
"Ana is right. You took his leaving more personally." Winston agreed.
"Damn." Jack cursed, hitting the table with a fist, before turning away in a huff of anger. This prompted more arguing, and Simone shrank down.
"Enough Comrades!" Reinhart's voice boomed over the others.
"If we are unsure how to continue, let us turn to the one who had the vision. Why are we even keeping this from Simone?"
"She didn't know Gabriel like we did, she wouldn't understand." Jack explained.
"You give the girl too little credit, my friend." Reinhart argued.
"He's right." Simone came into the room, looking directly at Jack, who at least had the decency to look surprised.
"Eavesdropping?" Ana asked, a sly smile on her face. Simone squared her shoulders.
"Something I shouldn't have to do, seeing as I am as much a member of this Council as all of you. Jack, told me it was canceled."
"Jack?" Angela turned to him, as did most of the other council members.
"I didn't want to get you involved." Simone folded her arms across her chest.
"I already am, Jack! And you know who the stranger from my vision was, but you kept it from me." She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice, but it must have crossed her face instead. Jack came to her, hands on her shoulders.
"You don't understand. I didn't want you getting your hopes up." She shook off his hands.
"I know what my vision told me. It's about the future of our people and you are letting the past cloud your judgment. Have Ana read the ruins if you are so uncertain. Maybe you will trust her more than you trust me."
"Don't be mad at him Simone, he has good reason to be wary." Winston intervened. Simone sighed, embarrassed at her anger.
"Who is the stranger from my vision?" She asked, not caring which one of them answered.
"His name is Reaper."
"Reaper?" Simone had only heard his name a few times. Reaper was the ruler of the Dark lands of Talon, people of Overwatch tended to keep their distance from those who inhabited Talon. They were not enemies, but they were not allies either.
"We knew him before he became Reaper, when he was Gabriel Reyes." Ana told her.
"Before he sold his soul for power and became a Wraith." Jack growled.
"I don't understand." Simone admitted.
"When we all first joined the Council, before you came along, there was a question of who would be council leader." Winston started to explain.
"Jack and Gabriel were both candidates, but when the old council appointed Jack instead, Gabriel became jealous. He started to take trips into the Black Forest, and on one trip he met a wraith. When he came back, he was different. He left for good a few days later without explanation. It was only a few years later that we found out what happened to him."
"He sold his soul?" Simone whispered, remembering what Jack had said.
"He became a wraith and was appointed the leader of Talon. He goes by the moniker Reaper, seemingly to distance himself from his old human life."
"You can see why Jack has a hard time believing that he is the one to help us." Reinhart said.
"But Overwatch and Talon have never been enemies. And they are at just as much risk as we are from whatever is coming. We will need an alliance to survive this war." Simone tried.
"You know where I stand Jack." Ana said simply.
"Jack, he was your friend before, but he needs to be our allie now. He is the leader of Talon, and you head the Council. Can you put the past behind you for the sake of the future?" Angela asked. Jack looked to Simone as if confirming it was the only option before taking a deep breath.
"The Council will set a meeting with Reaper and his advisors to discuss a possible alliance. I will inform the rest of you when the time has been set." Jack's voice was strained, but commanding all the same.
Simone came to his side, reaching out a hand to one of his.
"I'm sorry." She said, slipping her fingers through his.
"This really hurts you and I'm sorry that I'm the one who brought it up." Jack shook his head sadly.
"It was a long time ago, but it still cuts deeply. It's not something you can easily forgive."
"Will you be okay?"
"It is an alliance to stop a war, they will have to understand. The worst they could do is say no, right."