"So when did you arrive in Nixta?" Finnikin asked, removing his gloves before taking a long sip of hot chocolate.
Lavender glanced out the frosted window and stirred her own drink with a metal spoon, "A few days ago, today was my first day at the vaults, though." She sighed, "I'm a little miffed to say the least. Your quiet little town is nice and all, but I imagined I would be doing something more important with my time after the academy."
"Oh, I understand. But your job here is important. The vaults contain the lifeblood of this town, and that carries over into the whole republic. We ship fabric out around the entire Below, I promise your time isn't going to waste," Finnikin assured.
"But it is. With the Destructive Citizens gaining traction I should be out in the field making sure that they don't destroy our way of life." Lavender gripped her drink tightly and spent a moment to focus on her breathing. There was no use in getting upset about it right now. The better she did her job, the sooner she could leave Nix Terra and serve her true purpose.
"Who are the Destructive Citizens?" Finnikin implored.
Lavender frowned, had the general population not been informed of the threat the Above presented. She shrugged and decided to tell him, even if it was against protocol. "Well, they're a radical group of humans from the Above who are dead set on eradicating our kind from the earth."
Finnikin's snowy white complexion somehow grew even paler as he asked, "Like in Salem?"
"Exactly like in Salem. These people call themselves the Agents of D.C., referring to the District of Columbia on the surface." Lavender paused, unsure of how much more Finnikin really needed to know.
"So you want to be out there stopping them instead of protecting my family's business?" Finnikin asked slowly.
Lavender nodded, "Please, take no offense, but if the D.C.s are left to multiply then there might not be a Below for you to run your business in. I want to be out there defending our good people."
"Why don't you do it?" Finnikin asked, a tone of determination overcoming his voice. He hardly seemed offended by Lavender's lack of care for his livelihood, now that he knew the circumstances.
"Protocol." Lavender sighed. She nudged her spoon to the other end of the cup and continued, "I'm required to guard the vaults. Until I get a new assignment, at least."
"But no one said you only had to do one thing, right? As long as you guard the vaults during your normal hours you can do whatever you want the rest of the day," Finnikin explained.
"But," Lavender's face scrunched up a bit in thought. "I guess they didn't say what I had to do in my free time."
"Exactly, why don't you start digging up information on these D.C. characters?"
Lavender shook her head, "I don't know where to start."
"The library?" Finnikin suggested.
"This sorry town has a library?" Lavender asked with a bit of a laugh.
FInnikin nodded, "Yes, and this 'sorry town' also a hall of records, you could find information on every human who's ever lived in the Below, as well as any important visitors from the Above."
Lavender smiled, taking a sip from her latte. "I think things are finally looking up for me here in good old Nixta. Can you show me the hall of records after my shift tomorrow?"
Finnikin stood up and pushed in his chair, then offered Lavender a hand, beaming. "It would be my pleasure."
YOU ARE READING
Nix Terra
FantasíaLavender Necros, the most powerful necromancer her age, graduated top of her class at the military academy. She expected immediate enrollment into the special forces to defend her people. Instead, she was assigned to guard the textile vaults in the...
