The Sapphire Pass: All-Father

Inspiration

"Ophelia, I have some rather tough news to tell you." he said, deciding she needed to know that Orion wouldn't be there when she returned. "Orion won't be joining you as part of the Alpha Omega Team."

"What? Why not? He's my partner, how can I work without a partner? I don't understand was he sent to a center? Was there an accident?" she said trying to work through all the various scenarios she could think of.

"Whoa, hold on. Let me explain. It was nothing like that Ophelia," he said, giving her a second to calm down, "Orion left this morning before you woke. It looks like he snuck out with the food server. He obviously didn't trust me, or my mission, or you and I'm sorry for that because I trust you."

"But, sir, he was my partner, how could he just leave? Why would he?" she said, looking at the ground in confusion that she couldn't process. "Does this mean there will be no team?"

"No it doesn't, Ophelia. It just means that you'll be on your own. No teammates, you will be a team in and of yourself. Which will be fine. Better even." he said pausing to let the notion sink in. "I already know your skills are top notch, but it's easier to train a person one-on-one in other skills you may need."

"What other skills would I need, sir?" she asked.

To the best of her knowledge, all anyone needed was fighting and sneaking skills to get anything they needed.

"Well firstly, you'll need a skill that suggests you work for me in a close, personal and trust worthy position, like my housekeeper. Perhaps, a cook or a record keeper that sits in on conversations and transcribes or records them for me?" he said, pushing his plates of food aside. "Then you'll need a skill like gardening that comes in handy for them, as well as the information you can offer, and of course you'll need a cover for the time you spend with them that is believable, such as being able to trade places with one of them, who can go in your stead to pick up something having to do with whatever job you do here."

"I didn't realize a plan would be that complex." she said. "I guess I never really thought of the details."

"Well, you only learned about all this yesterday. You would have realized how complex it would be once you had the time to think about it. We on the other hand have been thinking and planning this for months." he said patting her hand lightly. "Now, let's move on to something lighter. Like this cheesecake."

Ophelia picked up the small plate, scrunching her nose slightly. It looked pale, thick and dense. Knowing it was made with cheese, made her stomach nervous. She didn't even want to try it, she knew she would hate it, but the All-Father wanted her to at least try it so she couldn't say no.

"Hey, I have an idea!" he said, sensing her discomfort. "Why don't we turn this into a game?"

"A game? What's a game?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Hmm, the name doesn't matter. Here's what we'll do," he decided to just explain, "I will have my chef chop some fruits and somethings I like, and then we'll cover your eyes and you can try them one by one without knowing what any of them are and you can decide which ones you like or dislike from there. Also, I promise beforehand that nothing will be dangerous or difficult to eat like what you made today."

She felt herself involuntarily smile and nod.

"That sounds scary and wonderful, All-Father, sir, but are you sure that I won't be taking up too much of your time?" she said.

"I see your point," he said. "Let me send you home for now. Your stuff should be arriving, you can unpack and arrange it as you like, and I'll have some one come by to remove all Orion's furniture and we can turn that into a 'study area' for you. I'll come by later tonight, or tomorrow and we'll work out details alright?"