CHAPTER FOUR: JOB INTERVIEW
The phone beeped, and he smiled as he heard the familiar message.
"I assume you know what number this is. Leave a message. If I'm interested, I'll get back to you."
Short and to-the-point. She'd never been particularly talkative.
"Hello, Elspeth? It's Ace here. I just wanted to say, all the best for the job interview…"
Behind him, there were muffled crashes and yells, and he quickly finished the message.
"I know you'll be fine."
There was another crash from behind him, and a yell, "Ace! Get over here!"
"I love you. Gotta go. Lightning out."
He hung up, and joined the battle against Claude Dubreuil's vampire clan.
- -
Meanwhile, the woman he'd been talking to walked through the side gate of a large castle, in the Second Dimension.
In her professional career she was known as Lady Illusion, an elven mercenary, and she had an appointment with Lord Reinhard, who was seeking to hire fighters for his quest to dominate the Atmos of the First Dimension.
She found her way to the study easily enough—she'd used the advantage of shapeshifting powers to explore the area previously, as a mercenary she'd learned to dislike surprises—and was shown in by a servant, a young maid swimming in an oversized uniform.
Lord Reinhard was sitting behind an ornate oak desk, wearing a large silver cross over an expensive-looking dark velvet robe. His long silver hair was an indication of his age, and he held himself stiffly as though the least relaxation of control would send him toppling onto his desk.
Behind him hung a portrait of a young red-headed girl, with an expression closer to a scowl than anything else across her face, and Lady Illusion spent a few seconds looking at it in surprise.
Next to Lord Reinhard stood a young woman with large pale eyes, her clothing revealing long legs in fishnet stockings and a large portion of not-particuarly-expansive cleavage. Her name was Veronique. Lady Illusion didn't bother to watch the woman; she could see from her stance and movement that this one would not be dangerous in a battle.
"Ah. Lady Illusion. A DarkElf?"
"Yes." She didn't bother to elaborate, or tell the truth about her half-blood heritage; it would only complicate matters.
"I've heard of your people. Are you as skilled in sorcery as your people are rumoured to be?"
"I'm no sorceress. My talents lie in more martial areas."
"And a shapeshifter. Skilled in deceit?"
"It is said to come with the territory."
"I heard about the…events in your home dimension. The squabble over the amulet. Assuming I hire you, what guarantee do I have that you will not betray me?"
"I acted to protect my dimension, and myself, from an insane sorcerer," she said crisply. "My only regret is that I did not act sooner. I have offered several references to your scribes. Since the events of which you speak, I've carried out all the commissions I've accepted."
He chose to ignore the latter part of her speech. "You have no links with the Lightning Knights?"
"We had common goals for a time." She shrugged. "For obvious reasons, I haven't remained in contact." The statement was a lie, but she doubted he'd ever come to know about it. She was officially still a wanted criminal, after all, even if the Knights weren't in active pursuit of her.
"I see. Understand, then, that I consider death adequate payment for betrayal."
"I understand. Believe me, I have no wish to lose chance of future employment."
He reached across his desk to press a button.
"Consider this the…practical part of the interview," he said, and from behind a large panel in the wall an empty suit of armour, carrying a nasty-looking axe, walked out.
Lady Illusion noted the ornate details on the armour.
"A fine creation. Berglioni?" she asked, dodging a blow from the axe.
"His apprentice. One of the finer sorcerers-craftsmen. Do you agree?"
"Even among my own people, his works are admired." She narrowly dodged another swing of the axe, and aimed a kick at the homunculus' knee-joint.
"I assume…you don't want it damaged?" She tried to wrestle the axe from it, but the thing was stronger than her, and jammed the handle into her thigh.
"You didn't need to ask that question. In any case, it is simple to reanimate." Lord Reinhard was now leaning forward, watching the fight with interest.
Lady Illusion jumped behind the moving armour, and quickly struck at its neckjoint. The helmet flew off revealing nothing beneath the metal, but the figure continued to move.
She materialised a dagger in her right hand from a crystal ball, and used that to attempt to block the axeblows.
The fight had moved towards a stand carrying an expensive-looking vase, and Lady Illusion saw where the axes next blow would shatter. Quickly, she inserted the dagger in the wristjoint, and the axe flew out of the homunculus' hands.
Lady Ilusion teleported across the room to catch it just before it bisected the girl's portrait, and turned back to the battle to separate the remaining pieces of armour with one well-placed kick.
Lord Reinhard nodded. "Not bad. I'm grateful my possessions remained unscathed. Consider yourself hired. You'll find my Commander Lukas at some point tomorrow, and discuss terms with him."
She bowed, and left the room as Lord Reinhard turned to his assistant.
"Thoughts, Veronique?"
"She doesn't intend to betray you," the woman said thoughtfully, staring into space. "Though she's not telling the whole truth. But you know mercenaries."
Veronique attempted a dismissive shrug, and succeeded in dislodging her outfit, exposing more pale flesh. Lord Reinhard didn't think he minded.
- -
As Lady Illusion walked from the castle, she saw the little maid again, and gestured to her.
"Would you happen to know the history of the portrait behind Lord Reinhard's desk?" she asked, producing a coin from a crystal ball.
"Before my time, miss," the maid said, "but Mam told me it's by the Meniar…Menire…Something the Younger, anyway, all the way from the Fourth Dimension."
"Merrehino the Younger?"
"Yes, that sounds right. Are you a…con-o-sewer?"
"Merely a visitor who has travelled widely and feels some curiosity. Can you tell me about the subject?"
"It's of the Princess Amandine, she ran away years ago, when she was only fourteen. She was betrothed to Lord Reinhard."
The girl's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Some say he's the reason why she left. But Mam says there are worse masters around, and he's not a bad man. I think it's terribly romantic, he still has her portrait in his study and he's been searching for her all these years."
"What happened to the Princess?"
"Nobody knows. There's a huge reward for finding her, from her father the King who's dying and Lord Reinhard. A story said she was working in a bar as a tavern maid in another dimension. But I don't know."
Lady Illusion nodded. "You've been very helpful. Thank you," she said, and gave the girl an extra coin.
- -
Later, a phone conversation…"Evening."
"It's morning here. You forgot the time difference between the dimensions. How was the interview?"
"I have a rather nasty bruise on my leg, but I got the job. How was the fight?"
"We're all fine. The vampires of Londres have been really active lately, you know how it is…"
"I've had that experience. So, still stuck in the Sixth Dimension?"
"Londres is a large and thriving city."
"With the largest pollution problem this side of the Netherworld. I'm in the Second Dimension…as you can guess, the weather's lovely here, though my lodgings aren't anything to boast about. My old one-room flat in Londres was better than the pub at which I'm presently staying."
"You should come back to Londres to visit while I'm still posted here. It's been a while since our last meeting…"
"If the job finishes early I'll teleport down there, but this is something I need to stick at."
"I understand. Until we meet again?"
"Until we meet again. I love you."
"Love you too. Bye."
A/N: Feedback of all sorts is still much appreciated.