Once Lucian had briefly exchanged greetings with Dean, Eliot then brought them to meet the two other Ethereals patiently waiting at the entrance to Novus. John Heismen was a man in his early forties with black slicked back hair. He wore a silk fedora, a pristine white buttoned-down shirt, and black trousers. Becka Kingsly was a delicate woman in her late twenties with eyes like sapphire and wavey hair the color of golden brown tied effortlessly into a nice bun. Her makeup was simple, being light red lipstick and a small amount of eyeliner, sharpening her gaze. She wore a fine charcoal blouse and skirt that neatly kept her look professional but also plain, perfect for blending in with crowds.
Proceeding the small meet up, all five made their way onto a public coach where they then sat at the empty back where no one would hear them. Twenty minutes later, Dean spoke, "You know I can't keep doing this forever Eliot. I've had a daughter for six whole years now and I've not been able to spend very much quality time with her. I've given up on trying to inform the government about you guys long ago so at least give me an estimate on when I'm relieved of my duty."
Eliot took in a breath of annoyance, "You'll be relieved once Mr. Crowe officially becomes an Ethereal in a couple years' time, I assure you."
Isn't it most probable that the government will attempt to mass produce Ethereals out of their own warfare gain? Why would one of our own even attempt to do something like that? Lucian straightened up, "Eliot, what did you mean earlier by Dean being an unwilling Ethereal?"
Before Eliot could let out a full word, Dean interjected, "I think that it would be best to hear it from my perspective."
"Fine, but you better explain everything in detail as to what happened and why.", Eliot said, his countenance strict.
"No problem, sir." Dean turned his attention over to Lucian, What Eliot means by me being an unwilling Ethereal is that I am an Ethereal is because I was forced to become one. It was about seven years ago that it happened when I used to be just a BSI agent tasked with finding the source behind possible supernatural events."
"Sigh, it was during one of my investigations that I happened upon two of this organization's members going through a duplex.", Dean eyed John for a moment, his gaze dull. "This place was located in a small town outside of Primstad called Dunberg where multiple crimes had been committed with a couple involving extraordinary events. I was able to immobilize one with my revolver, but since I hadn't known that these individuals contained more than just guns and blades, I was swiftly taken down. Within the following events I was forced to swear multiple of the goddess's oaths and become one of them."
"If my assistant hadn't been shot then you wouldn't have had to do any of that.", John shot, trying to provoke Dean.
Dean fiddled with his petrol lighter, "You're assistant apparently thought it was a good idea to pull out his gun in front of a trained imperial BSI agent. In my case, I had no choice but to take the first shot out of self-defense."
"I think that's enough talking for now. Only a few of us have the oath bound to us, you wouldn't want anyone like the HM to hear, would you now?" After that, John shut his mouth whilst dean turned his dull glare over to Eliot, making the ride feel a bit slower.
Lucian sat on the far right and looked out the window to view the passing buildings. If all of this is true, then would Ozzus have forced me to sign the oath if I didn't agree to it? At the time I didn't witness him, or Priscilla do any extraordinary things so they would have had no reason to force me to. Even so they still wanted me to swear this oath right after I woke up when they could have acted as normal fishermen. What reason would make them automatically introduce me to the supernatural world of Ethereals? As of this moment, questions were like an invasive species inside Lucian's mind.
The night after my failed mission at the Kartour's house, my mother seemed to have been conversing with Ozzus and Eliot. Charles is also currently active within the Ethereal community so this could very well be a family related conundrum. But even if it wasn't, there is something that I have that they need, and I doubt I'll ever be able to interrogate them about this issue before I become an Ethereal myself. The only valuable things I can safely rely on now are research and possible knowledge from individuals such as Johan since he hasn't made any contact with Eliot that I know of.
Lucian remained quiet for the time being, sure to not ask any questions that may provoke an unwanted argument. There were still certain questions he could ask though, like why Dean was forced to become one of us instead of swearing those oaths and getting back to his family. Was it even necessary for John to use his Ethereal powers against the man or could he have just escaped? Lucian may have gained sufficient knowledge about his new life, but it never meant that puzzlements would stop bugging his mind.
Sometime later, after about an hour of on and off traffic, the five finally arrived at Eliot's home. Once Lucian had entered the house, he found a few familiar faces sitting down at the long wooden table. Sitting at the far end was Ozzus who seemed to be studying a copy of the newspaper he handed Lucian and on the longer side of the table were Theo and Jade. Theo was quietly gesturing for Lucian to sit next to him like a schoolboy whilst Jade was minding her own business letting out a petite yawn.
Dean and the others sat on the other side, patiently waiting for Eliot to take a seat at his end. "As you all know, these three Ethereals here today were sent to us as replacements for Teressa Noctil and Evan Vanders. Though their deaths were tragic, the cause of death was never found and could only be speculated. Evan's death was determined to be possible friendly fire by his comrade due to no charr or burn marks anywhere around what looked to have been an explosion." Eliot interlocked his fingers.
"Most of you are aware of Teressa having advanced to her third stratum and that the shackles she has acquired don't cause friendly fire when used in battle so Evans death may have been her own decision or accident. None of this guarantees that it was Teressa though; the church has been known to have obtained many extraordinary items that break the natural laws.
"Since Teressa seemed to have been brutally murdered then it also means that she could have been eliminated by the church. If you have any new information pertaining to this horrible event, then please speak now.", Eliot said as he looked around.
Lucian raised his hand slightly, "In the paper today, it said that Benjamin Kartour was found dead at Phelt Harbor. I believe the cause of death was confirmed to be drowning."
Eliot wiped away the blood, "Thank you for your insight, Lucian. If I remember correctly, the boy that gave you and Ozzus a hassle this morning was Mr. Kartours son, yes?" Jade was suddenly more interested in the conversation now.
"Yes, but there was a very strange occurrence that happened with this boy that may involve Mr. Kartour.", stated Ozzus, dead seriousness voiding the reflection from his eyes. "The shackle that me, as well as Eliot carry involves bodily harm whenever we attempt to read a person's active thoughts. Most of the time, it's nothing serious even if we read a larger amount of someone's ponders, but when only reading this boy's name, I fear that the harm that came to me was much steeper than any that has come before. Injuries such as headaches, heavy nosebleeds, and even pulled muscles are currently affecting my current wellbeing. We were able to confirm that he wasn't an Ethereal by using the oath method so the basic conclusion that I came to was that he had abnormal mental fortitude. This conclusion, however, was only a temporary one."
"After the boy had been taken care of, I thought back to how he mentioned something about having a needle injected into him which was described to have put him to sleep. It's fair to say that putting the boy to sleep was the only purpose of that drug, but he described it in a way that made me think otherwise. We don't know what happened at the Kartour residence, but we do know that Mr. Kartour was somehow involved with the magical aspect of the world and that the church is deeply knowledgeable about it.", Ozzus stood up and took in a breath. "This leads me to develop a hypothesis that the boy has artificially obtained something of the metaphysical."
"That's absurd and everyone here knows that. I don't know where your head is at, but the holy mandate has zero understanding of rituals, elixir formulas, or even the arcana's ancient runes. Are you saying that they fabricated this with what little knowledge they hold?", John retorted with bafflement.
Becka tapped her finger, "Last I recall you're not in a position to speak to the vice president like that." Her voice was unshakable and warm at the same time.
Ozzus chuckled, "I can see why it may seem farfetched but it's not impossible. The holy mandate has always attempted to employ various new ways to wipe us out so why couldn't this be one? Eliot?"
Eliot crossed his arms, "I can see where you got the assumption that this may be the case, but since this is only a hypothesis then we'd need to continuously watch him."
Theo raised his hand and asked, "Who do you suppose we send?"
Eliot pointed three fingers at Lucian, Theo, and Jade, "You three should do just fine. Theo, you and Lucian are to rotate Monday through Saturday and Jade will just do Sunday so she can manage the rest of her duties as an Ethereal. When you leave work, I want one of you to head straight to the orphanage, understood?"
"Understood", said the three with Lucian saying it just a bit later.
Eliot folded his arms back, "Perfect, you three are dismissed. If you wish to pay respects to Teressa and Evan, they rest at the Bentford Cemetery in Norwund.
***
Standing at the small graves belonging to their co-workers and comrades, the three stood next to each other not knowing what to do. The situation was a bit awkward until finally, Lucian spoke, "I knew that things like this might happen but, I didn't think that their corpses would be so defiled."
"Nobody does, but this is the kind of danger that Ethereal's must live with if the HM is around. If it makes you feel any better, I was able to restore the original state of their bodies for them to rest in peace.", said Jade.
Theo brushed some leaves off Evan's grave, "I don't know what you guys saw but you have my deepest condolences, especially you Lucian since your memory is lost and you've only just joined us. To be honest I thought you'd be halfway to Primstad the moment you witnessed what missions would be like."
"I did consider running away quite a few times, but I always convinced myself otherwise."
"Oh really?", Asked Theo as a smirk curved up his face.
"Stop pestering him, I bet you thought the same thing a couple times on your first missions.", said Jade mockingly.
"Fine, but I was getting somewhere with that question....Oh, now I got it!", Theo then put a hand on Lucian's shoulder. "Just know that not every mission needs to be fulfilled to the absolute. Throughout the missions that I've been assigned, I've been able to come to one narrowed answer."
Theo took his hand away to show a crumbled, torn leaf, "Completion is better than perfection and that completion doesn't need specification.", Theo then flattened out the leaf carefully before holding it up to reveal only the rips and cracks, "The fulfillment is what you choose."
"Won't it be a problem if the mission's goals aren't met?" When I chose to rescue Orion, I still left many questions unanswered in that place.
Theo dropped the emerald leaf, "Not necessarily. As long as certain parts of the mission are done then it's technically a success. A plus side to this is that it allows these missions to be shortened and reduce the risk of falling victim to unforeseen variables such as the Novus Police."
Lucian remembered back to the Kartours house and replied, "Does finding clues to the holy mandates involvement and rescuing the kid count?"
"Certainly! Just don't continuously bring kids to any of our front doors, patterns are unwanted and suspicious .", Theo warned with a hushed voice.