The Sapphire Pass: All-Father

The Playgrounds

Ophelia yawned and let her head fall to the table. She expected to be notified for the meeting almost a month ago. Iago told her he'd be ready then, yet, another month had passed and her hope had faded along with it. Could it be that there had been a message and she'd missed it?

She looked up at James who was frowning, looking at something she couldn't see on the overlay he frequently used. She never understood why she couldn't have one of those. Surely it would help her do things more efficiently. The one time she asked, James had dismissed it saying they needed a hard copy just in case, and that it would just mean she had to do everything twice. She still wasn't sure what a 'hard copy' was because paper wasn't hard at all. Still she listened because he knew what he was talking about, probably.

She slammed her hands on the table causing James to look up, his expression unchanging. She smiled a little through her frustration and mouthed the word, "Sorry," before she left the office.

She couldn't take it anymore, the waiting, anxiety. She had to get away and clear her head. She didn't feel like being in the city again, especially after what happened before, so she turned toward the mountains in the distance and started to run.

Falling back against the ground at the bottom of the over-grown hiking trail she looked up at the sky and checked the time. She was only running for twenty minutes but after a few months of neglect she winded more quickly than she expected. She squinted at the old worn sign and tried to pick out where the trail had once been, but it had been far too long, and the grasses and trees had since reclaimed their territory.

When her breathing slowed, she got her feet and looked up toward the top of the mountain. She wasn't sure that she'd be able to do most of the trail even if she wanted to, but she needed the exercise so she began her ascent.

Staying to the flatter areas that might have been a trail at one point in time, she was again huffing, by the time she reached a fenced off area that looked out over the entire valley.

The sloping walls of the valley were more apparent from this new vantage point. The office stood out among the immense greenery and the old city stood faded, dusty and decaying in the background. The barracks where most now lived were neatly arranged in rows back-to-back with the forest stretching off into the distance behind them.

Ophelia pressed one of the buttons embedded behind her ear so she could better see the forest landscape. There was a single raised area that seemed void of many trees. It was likely where the rebels had their city. It must have been seen before. Surely she couldn't have been the only person who'd come here since the world fell to ruin. Though, who else could there be to visit anymore?

She crouched down low as she noticed a figure moving through the tall grasses toward her. It couldn't be James because he was working, and this person didn't move like him. This person moved low and slow, like they were trained for it. They were following her.

A sudden jolt of fear ran through her. She had no reason to be scared but she was, and she ran ahead on the path until she was out of the person's line of sight and climbed up to a safe and hidden vantage point to wait.

Ophelia watched as the figure silently made their way into the shadow of the mountain. Holding her breath and waiting for the moment she would strike. When it was just below her the figure stopped and inspected the small pebbles her climb dislodged.

"Ophelia," Orion called with his unmistakable accent. "You should know better than to try hiding from me. I'm not an idiot, know?"

"Did you come all this way to capture me or kill me? Does Iago know you're out here stalking his friend?" she asked, bold even though he obviously knew where she was.