"Yes. Yes, have the shipment in soon. No, three days I not soon enough! I had hoped you'd understand the meaning of "soon", but…yes, I will wait, but no longer than three days! Alright, good day, then."
Gabriel clicked the phone off and gave a deep, long sigh. "Honestly." He stepped away from the silver table and gazed up at his wife's eternal expression of contentment, hanging in her gorgeous golden realm upon the wall.
"…Adrien, you're going to be late."
He heard his son make a small 'eep' sound from behind the doors before peeking in. "Yes, father, I'm on my way."
As the front door opened and closed he watched his son run out into the limo. Turning back to the painting he pulled it to the side to reveal his safe. Typing in the code he opened the door and stared deep into his wife's lovely gaze, the photo tucked away behind the Tibet guide she had given him not too long ago. At least, he seemed to recall it wasn't too long ago.
I believe time is beginning to meld around me, he thought as he repositioned the small Peacock feather brooch beside her, and so it will continue to until I-?!
He found an empty space on the other side of the top shelf where he had once kept an old book. A book with vital information that he could have never feared of losing – until that moment, when his eyes laid upon where it had been.
"The book! Where is it?!" He rummaged through the other shelves but to his dismay found no clues regarding its whereabouts. "I'm the only one who knows the code! How did it go missing?!"
He took five deep breaths before straightening his tie. "Think rationally, Gabriel. It's simply been misplaced. I most likely left it in my office upstairs. Yes, it's fine." He made sure nothing was sticking out from underneath his tie before closing the safe and placing the painting back before returning to gaze out the window.
"…?"
At the bottom of the main gates sat a small white envelope he hadn't noticed before. Slowly he made his way to the front doors and opened them. He wasn't one to pick up his own mail, and alarm bells were ringing like mad in his mind, but something about the envelope seemed to will him towards it. Down the steps he climbed until he has crossed the front yard and was standing directly above it.
He gingerly picked the envelope up and, checking for a sender or return address to find it completely blank, opened it and unfolded the letter inside. As he read through the contents his spine went rigid with chills and his fingers shook.
To Tibet had I gone in hopes of finding my master, and instead I found myself betrayed by a fellow traveller. We had both come with our reasons, you to mourn and I to train, and yet as we split I found myself shaking with anger at the crime you had committed; for no one steals from the likes of me.
What you seek is clear, but let me warn you of the dire consequences – inevitable destruction will befall you and me and all of us if you dare try to complete your foolish plans. I know who you are, but you know next to nothing of me; I am a shadow of your past, but very soon shall I become an unimaginable force of nature. Rest assured, you have never dealt with the powers I have; eyes that have seen and a mind that has felt more than you will ever know.
When life ends, it ends. The power you took from me will not give aid. This is your first and final warning, Agreste, and I will stop at nothing to take back what is rightfully mine. I have nothing to lose – you have everything.
I will find her, and Povas will return.
Gabriel read over the threat three times before he could get a grip on his nerves. The envelope had dropped from his hands onto his shoes. The letter was beginning to scrunch up. "Who does he think he is…?" He looked up through the gates almost instantly, the road void of cars and pedestrians, and his heart stopped.
He stared right into the most terrifyingly vibrant icy eyes he'd ever seen.
"…You."
Across the street stood a young man, dark hair, short and modern under the hood of his thick black sweater. Gabriel couldn't look away; there was a subconscious pull towards them, and he wasn't about to let a mere boy show him up. They kept their stare as one for the longest moment of his life.
"…It's too late," Gabriel called out to him, his anger rising, "I own the brooch! And I will own the others soon enough!"
The stranger didn't reply.
"Back then, you were too weak! Do you honestly think you can take this from me?!"
Silence.
"…Answer me!" Gabriel gritted his teeth at the loss of composure he was facing against the likes of the young man.
The hue of his eyes fell just short of ocean blue, but gleamed all the same. Gabriel had seen that gaze before.
The plane was just leaving the Tibetan airport…and there you were, my rival, glaring at me from the ground as I took what I must keep.
"I will not let you win," he announced to the stranger, "you were foolish enough to show such weakness, and you will always be the fool."
The sound of an incoming vehicle lit the silence, but not before the stranger mouthed out something he couldn't quite make out. And then a large moving truck passed between them, hiding them from each other's view –
And then he was gone, without a trace, pedestrians once again coming and going as cars drove past. Eyes turned to Gabriel as he straightened his jacket collar and headed inside, still clinging to the letter. He shut the front doors behind him and scowled.
"He knows I'm going to succeed. I can't allow one pathetic excuse of a wannabe hero stop me." He glanced down to read over the letter again, only to find that he had ripped it in two in his anger. He shredded and tossed it into the nearest garbage bin, inside the envelope, and returned to the room with his wife's golden painting.
"He must have found a way to get the book," He slammed his hands down on the table, eyeing the painting, "using his apparent knowledge he claims is so superior to mine…but there's nothing to worry about…!"
His eyes widened. He came to realize just what the young man had mouthed to him, and it turned his insides upside down.
All's fair in love and war.
"…Alright, Povas," Gabriel gave his wife the best smile he could muster under the stress of the situation, "you want a war?"
"You've got one."