It was as simple as letting go.
Standing in a hallway lined with conference room doors, just a little to one side so as to not block the entirety, a fair haired young woman stood, looking quite nervous. Or perhaps the better term was troubled? Yes, troubled would be a much better word. From the small sounds of her Mary-Jane style shoes as she shifted from one foot to the other, to the way she was furrowing and un-furrowing her brow, one could surmise that she was in deep contemplation over something. Further observation would be further information, the darker grey-blues that colored her eyes directed upon something right in front of her - in her hands in fact. Yes, held there was indeed the object of her attention, though it was not a simple collection a papers or a tablet. It was not some strange item she had just come across on her way to wherever, nor was it a container of candy that she had just then realized was empty. Instead what was held in her hands was another pair of hands - notably quite a bit larger than her own, and connected to a notably larger person than herself.
It had been somewhere near twenty-four hours since Sibylla had arrived at the Texas branch. Alongside Dragovich, the two of them had spent much of their remaining hours of the first day acquainting themselves with their new surroundings, as well as the new departments they were to be a part of. Sibylla had thought that their situation would warrant some form of slower easing into things. Sibylla was soon after proven that completely otherwise was in the cards. The next morning she received a message to report in for a mission. After conferring with Dragovich, it came to be shown that not only were they both being sent on missions, but they were to be on separate teams entirely. While not an entirely uncommon scenario, the suddenness of it was somewhat shocking. Was the facility in such needs of active agents in the field, or was this something orchestrated elsewise? Either avenue would have been quite a feast of possibility conjuration, but there was not much time for that at all. Instead Sibylla readied herself and left for the designated room alongside Dragovich.
But where she had planned on giving encouraging and comforting comments before parting was where Sibylla found herself stuck.
Eyes remaining locked on the hands that she held, gently squeezing them every few seconds, Sibylla attempted to pull herself out of the stall by simply speaking more.
"S-So, yes! I am sure that this is some form of local way for new individuals to become better acquainted with other members!" She lifted her gaze from his hands in hers to instead meet his own, a smile spreading across her lips.
"I think it will be a nice experience to say the least. Once our missions are over, perhaps we can compare observations of the other members of our teams?" A simple enough proposal in and of itself. This would certainly be a good gateway into bidding one another leave for their respective conferences. But it hadn't been. Sibylla's mind was not yet appeased, it would seem, and when her mind was not at rest, it instead preferred to kick itself into hyper drive. The gateway to leave instead turned into an open flood gate.
"Such a tactic of dividing the forces in order to collect more information about unknowns has been proven on multiple occasions to be quite an effective intelligence gathering device. One such an occurrence was what roughly 85% of historians believe was the key to the success of the Tibetan people winning the Battle of Haibei in 2042, where the long missing Gedhun Choekyi Nyima lead a group of rebels to dislodge the political presence of the People's Republic of China. While vastly out-manned and beat on military firepower, the successor of the Dalai Lama supplemented their lack of such with a surplus of information on the enemy, which he then used against them in one fell and calculated spearhead assault on a major supply depot. This sparked the following events of the Reclamation of Tibet, and then the eventual release of Tibet from China's occupation, thus allowing them to form into a truly independent and mostly stable country by 2050. Interestingly enough, I was able to find a few volumes within the Manchester resources library that detailed how Gedhun Choekyi Nyima had, in fact, been taken into protective custody as a child by China's INVICTUS branch for showing signs of high supernatural potential. This would account for his sudden disappearance in 1995 at the age of six. I also theorize that this phenomena may have also been some form of influence as to the reasoning that lead to his being chosen as the next successor by-"
Sibylla quickly pulled his hands up to her face, pressing his knuckles against her mouth to interrupt her deluge. After years and years of this habit, she had come to find that physically blocking herself from speaking more was the most effective method to controlling these outbursts. Only after taking a breath to calm herself did she speak up once more.
"S-Sorry. Here I am, attempting to calm any nerves without a clear grasp on my own." She smiled sheepishly against his fingers, cheeks alight with rosy embarrassment, before giving them a quick kiss.
"I have eaten up enough time with my silly nonsense. We shall be done with these missions soon enough!" Another kiss - this time to the opposite hand.
"I shall even make dessert. Does that sound good?" Sibylla barely waited for an answer before kissing both his hands at once, then parting them to either side so as to allow her closer. Once there, she pushed herself up onto the tips of her feet for yet another, more intimate kiss, where she lingered for a few seconds before flowing into a hug.
"I love you, Dragovich. Be safe."
=============================================
Opening the door and slipping in as quietly as she could, Sibylla couldn't help but cringe slightly and bite her bottom lip. Already so many other agents were there, sitting in their seats at their tables or standing about the edges of the room. Not exactly late, but cutting it much too close for comfort. Not the best way to start one's first mission at a new branch. Pulling into herself, as if trying to make herself small while still striding long and quick, she made her way over to an open seat at one end. Lo and behold, as she sat she took note that the person beside her held a familiar face. The sight of Crowley brought a small smile back to her face, giving a small wave of greeting towards the older mage. He looked a bit more chipper than he had in recent times. Perhaps he had garnered more luck than Dragovich and herself? Another quick scan of the room brought about just the form she was looking for, and to it she could feel a gentle warmth rise in her chest. As the briefing started up, Sibylla then pointed past Crowley and down the way towards Venn and gave a firm pair of thumbs up in congratulations. She was more than happy for her friend.
As Mission Handler Saku began to explain the various tasks and deal them out to groups within the room, Sibylla made sure to pay attention to as much of it as possible. Though she wasn't on more than one for certain, she was not one to pass up the possible acquisition of new information. Little details like names of places and targets were quickly repeated under her breath to further solidify its place in her memory. She would have to find herself time after the mission to research some of these places in depth. And what in the world was a Mngwa? Its picture rang a bell, but not one loud enough to beckon further connections. That would have to be researched as well. Ah, but what was placed before her, the final mission given, was one that both gave Sibylla a sense of childish excitement and cool nervousness:
A mission at a museum - a four star affair.
Sibylla slowly clasped her hands together under the table, trying her best to keep from showing the small tremors that stirred them. This was easily the highest rated mission she had been on in her INVICTUS career. There had been instances during her time in Manchester that missions had evolved into something greater than anticipated, but such a rating from the get-go? The scholar took in a shaky breath, struggling to keep her mind from whirling to life with thoughts and possibilities. She was going to be their representative of the Magic & Occult sub-department. It was a duty that she would have to learn to bare along with her new rank of Junior Agent. It was imperative that she keep herself collected, and prove both to her new comrades and herself that she was not given the rank so frivolously. Besides, they had mentioned that Venn, another known face, would be there as well. That should work out well enough. No need to be such a bundle of nerves!
'But what if you just end up in the way?'
Before Sibylla's mind could continue to down spiral, her head lowering little by little as the thoughts began to mount, the sound of a voice pulled at the edges of her attention. Perhaps it was the familiarity with the cut of a German accent, giving her light sensations of affection. Sibylla perked up nigh instantly, her eyes locking onto the speaker across the room. Memory matched with the image of one Otto Kraus from the line-up for her mission. While it was very obviously not Dragovich, the transfer was made from the accent to the question that the man was asking.
"What can we use to...?" She didn't have time to finish her parroting before she acted. As if suddenly possessed, Sibylla inhaled in realization, and before she knew it she was quickly rising from her seat to face Saku.
"I-I could answer this, Ms. Saku!" Sibylla then turned to face Otto, accompanied by a certain warm-but-exuberant smile.
"Mr. Kraus, was it? There are quite a number of things that we could employ in place of conventional firearms. Depending on the nature of the possible artifact that is causing this case of reanimation, it may be as simple as enchanting what weapons we do wield against the creature in question." As the Londoner spoke her hand moved, flowing one way across in front of her before flowing to the other.
"Beyond the focus of optical eyes, beyond the horizon, exploring infinite vistas of light, into the vision beyond."
As words flowed her lips so did script from her fingertips, swirling together like frost on the wind before forming the visual of a bow.
"For instance, I enchanted the short bow Canace with the intent of being able to pierce through harder armors. Perhaps to use such a weapon on the mummy, one could bypass its damage reduction and take out one of its knees, thus limiting its mobility and giving others a better advantage over it." Another flourish of her hand and the illusion was scattered to fade, Sibylla continuing on.
"Though for the sake of the piece, perhaps using tactics to immobilize it by less destructive means would be more favorable for the curators of the museum. In that case, trapping methods would be most effective, though once more we may be brought to more magical options in light of the creature's strength."
The more that Sibylla spoke the more she felt the ebbing of the knot that had begun tightening in her stomach. In fact, she was feeling quite at home with herself. The buzz in her mind was a gentle one, urging her forward to finish what it was that she had started.
"Though - if I would be allowed to give my recommendation for this mission - I would highly suggest methods to minimize or avoid confrontation with the creature all together!" Looking briefly to the table she stood at, she picked up the tablet that lay there, and after a few taps called up a holographic display of their mission's files.
"What changes were there made to the museum's other displays around the time that the mummy stirred? Did the museum receive a new exhibit then? Is the pattern the mummy wanders in random, or does it have a method within the mindlessness? Does this give us clues as to the whereabouts of what it is that it seeks?" Now displaying more of a confident smirk, Sibylla raised a finger behind the matrix of information.
"The more focused our aim the truer it shall be, and thus the quicker we reach our objective!"
The strike of her closing comment brought about a nigh euphoric relief - characteristic of the aftermath of an informational outpouring. Quick to follow it up, cutting through the veils just as speedily as they had been raised, was realization. She had not only possibly cut in on the Mission Handler answering, but she had also just thoroughly given a possibly completely unwelcome response. The stages of her realization, from cue to shock to horror, were written on her face for all to see. Sibylla screamed on the inside, while on the outside she covered her face and proceeded to shrink back into her seat, fair hair cascading as if attempting to help her hide her embarrassment.
"I-I-I do not know if that was any help at all. I a-apologize if I st-stepped out of line."
@Dao Ma @FrostedCaramel @The Wanderer @Dante @U.N. 0W3N @Mars Walker @Eryian @Candi Cosmo @SoulwroughtOfTerra @Shayla @Friend Maou 
[fieldbox="LEO DE LUCA, #242424, solid, 10"]
[fieldbox="Dangerous Goblins?, #ee7600, solid, 10"]
[fieldbox="WHITE FOSTER - MEDIC SUPERVISOR, #242424, solid, 10"]
[fieldbox="Bishop, #bfbfbf, solid, 4, Courier New"]Jasper casually glanced over the file set before him while the mission handler gave her briefing, reviewing what he knew about the supposed target. Basilico Chilote, a subterranean avian-serpentine creature that hatched from a chicken's egg and afflicted those living above its lair. The location in question - a livestock and poultry farm - certainly fit the profile, as did the symptoms of the victims. The agent made a mental note to acquire some incendiary rounds from the armory before setting out, then leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers in thought. The possibility of disease was an obvious concern; although Jasper himself probably wouldn't die from any sort of pestilence, a supernatural infection could well prove to be highly unpleasant even for him, not to mention mortal personnel. He nodded slightly in approval when the magician Crowley brought up the topic, before shifting his attention back to the information on screen.
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