Chapter Ten - Close and Closer

She stared at her new orders. They had been sitting on her desk when she arrived at the office, which was odd, since she turned up at four in the morning. There was nary a soul in the building but her, yet there they were, as if they had turned up out of thin air. It was galling to read them though, that's what held her interest. She had been pulled from the case; no specific reason was given but she had her suspicions. Either way, how dare they try and foist this off on her! What had she done to deserve such an arduous duty? This was totally unbecoming of her talents yet still she had to do it. She knew what she had done - sided with the enemy, even though the enemy sought her own destruction.

Callo Merlose leant back in her chair in frustration. Three hours had passed since she had first read the orders but she still couldn't rationalise it within herself, so she had become a statue, affixed to that chair as if leaving it would strike her dead instantly. People were slowly filling the offices, even at seven in the morning. This job wasn't a nine-to-five affair, it was your life, but most managed to at least hold off this reality for their own until now. Not Callo, oh no. She had been here for three hours already when some hadn't even turned up yet. One of the 'latecomers' sat themselves at her desk, ripping her attention from the piece of paper in her hand.

"We need to talk Inquisitor Merlose."

Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, all moisture running away screaming from it in fear of what she might say in response.

"Okay..." Not so bad, not so bad... non-committal, just don't say anything stupid Callo!

"Could we use my office? It's a bit more private in there and this is rather...uhm... delicate shall we say?"

"If you say so, Inquisitor Kalijan." She winced as soon as those words came from her mouth. So impersonal, so detached... so afraid. She rose from her seat and followed Dejamir through the snaking path, winding its way between all of the desks and offices.

With the closing of the door behind her, Callo instantaneously felt trapped, like some panicked animal desperately seeking some escape from the fearsome predator it knew was almost upon it. She felt like she'd developed a mass of veins throbbing over her temple, each one of them desperately trying to burst its way through her skin to spray across the less than pristine room.

"I... don't know how to say this really. I wish I'd never pushed you into telling me about... y'know what. I just... wanted a friend, someone I could relate to, to talk to... and now I've made you push me away..."

His words drifted away in her happiness. It was wonderful, he wasn't trying to use her, he just needed a shoulder to cry on. A friend in need is a friend indeed. He wasn't a Pretender, he couldn't be... doubt crept in again, a touch of ice freezing the hope in her mind. God only knew that she needed a friend as well, one that she could trust and no-one fell into that category, not even Sondra, her lover. Hell, the only person who she knew would be honest with her was Ashley and that held its own inherent risks, like him wanting her dead; one of those small inconveniences that life threw at you every now and then.

"...can you ever put that behind us and start from the beginning again? I just want a fresh chance at a friendship..."

Dejamir looked up from staring at his hands, trying to read the expression on Callo's face. What he saw surprised him; tears abounded from her puffy red eyes, as sobs wracked her body. What the hell have I done to her no--his thoughts were cut off by a fierce embrace around his waist as Callo clung to him desperately. Not really knowing what to do, he rested his hand on her back, rubbing it in what he hoped was a sympathetic manner. Truth to be told, no woman had ever really been this close to Dejamir, he kept them at distance for fear of being seen as he truly was... or at least, what he thought he truly was. A bitter lonely man who destroyed everything he came near, a compulsive liar who couldn't even admit to himself the core truth that he held in his heart. He was a traitor to everything he believed in... maybe if he had someone he could talk to it would all work itself out. Stylised or not, Inquisitor Kalijan saw a truly loving relationship as something where the couple could share anything without recrimination. Of course, he could never have that but it didn't stop him wanting it...

Finally managing to find some respite, Callo pushed away, drawing herself erect. "I... I've got some things I need to get off my chest as well but I don't know where to begin. I don't even know if I can trust you..."

"You know you can Callo, I swear not a word of this will leave this office."

"No, it's not that... I don't know who you really are Dejamir. You could be the very thing I'm afraid of and talking to you now could end up with me in worse trouble than I already am."

"Well, I don't know what help I can be if you won't talk to me. I can't do anything to prove to you that I mean what I say..."

With a sigh, Callo decided to jump straight in. She had one weapon to her advantage but she didn't want to use it too much. Each time she did, she felt herself slipping away from reality just that tiny bit further...

"Leá Monde wasn't just a place of fantasy, nor a place of nightmare though it indeed felt like both at times. It was a place of magick, of grimoires and the trapped souls of those who had died in the great earthquake. Those souls had been gathered for a reason, the passing of the legacy. Sydney Losstarot was never the enemy; in fact, he was our saviour! He already had the power of Leá Monde but wished to be rid of it so he could finally die. He chose Ashley Riot to be his successor, to keep guard of the power so that it may never be used in evil. While many may think of Sydney as having been evil, he only did what he felt necessary to keep the power safe from those who would misuse it; even if it meant the death of some innocents, Sydney knew that it would save so many more.

"Now Ashley has that power but already he falters. Maybe Sydney's choice wasn't such a good one... or maybe it was perfect. Regardless of that, I was drawn into it. The council assigned me to hunt down Riskbreaker Riot and bring him in to their custody. They never said it but I know they seek to abuse his power for their own good. I wish they had never involved me in this but I guess I was in it from when they assigned me to the Sydney Losstarot case in the first place. Leá Monde is... was a wellspring. It drew forth the natural talents that lay within us all; it brought our taints to the surface. And now Ashley wants rid of his power, he must get rid of all that have been touched by Leá Monde. That's why he killed the Duke and he's after me next...

"Then there's the whole matter about Sondra." With those words, Dejamir's heart plunged another few floors downwards; he could already tell where this was going. He wasn't that far off either. "She was the one I told you about... I knew her back then and four days ago, she waltzed back into my life, telling me I was being watched and that you were a Pretender. But I do--"

"Pretenders! HAH! You actually believed that fairy tale? They don't exist anymore, everyone knows that."

"Shows how much you know Inquisitor Kalijan," came a third voice; one unknown to Dejamir, but by Callo's reaction, he could guess who it was.

"The infamous Ashley Riot I presume? Come here to murder another innocent?"

"Murder? You could call it that I guess, but it's not why I'm here today. It's possible I'm not the only one who's out for your blood Callo and it's in my interests to keep you alive for the moment, so I intend to help you."

"What did you mean by 'shows how much you know'? What do you know about the Pretenders?" asked Callo, ignoring what was just said.

"The Pretenders never went away. They were persecuted, yes, but they were never banished. You keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. No, Pretenders are still around today, albeit under a different name."

"And that would be?"

"They're called Observers these days."