Spiral Fracture

A day like any other.

At least, that was what Johann had thought initially.

After the usual breakfast in the Guild's Mess Hall, the man had, as it was so often the case, prepared himself for a day of paperwork here and official business there. The daily duties and responsibilities of a guild master were dull and, more often than not, repetitive, that much had become an obvious thing to the argent-haired man over the while he had spent at the head of this Legal Guild, especially given the fact that, as a subdivision of the Magic Council's armed forces, they required a certain degree of bureaucracy in order to adhere to their standardized processes and whatnot. Well, that was what he assumed, at least. Johann had dealt with more than enough of this over his time as a guild mage, not only in Dies Irae, but as a figure of authority in the not exactly small operations of the West Fiore Trading Company, but he could never quite get used to this kind of work ... which was all the more reason to be grateful to those that assisted him in the sizeable task of keeping the guild running smoothly every day, his fellow Ambassador and the Commander especially. Sivvy had a certain work ethic that surprised even the ever-diligent Johann, prompting the man to ask himself if she actually ever rested at all.

How long had it been since he had met the girl? He didn't know exactly, but it felt like it had been years, back when he had still worked as a Vice President for the West Fiore Trading Company. The silver-haired man quietly pondered as he walked, calm steps echoing back from the polished granite walls in rhythmic intervals as he walked from the Mess Hall towards his office. Actually, now that he thought about it, Sivvy had stuck with him ever since then, hadn't she? She was one of the two people from that time that had followed him to Dies Irae, and not in the least coincidentally, she was also one of the two people he trusted most, he felt that he could rely upon, and that understood his ideals and the direction of this endeavor they had undertaken together, creating one of the most renown institutions in all of Fiore, and perhaps in all of Ishgar.

Still, he had felt that there had always been something about her that he couldn't quite ascertain. Sivvy always seemed shrouded in an air of intense stoicism, and Johann, who was quite bad at interpreting the intricacies of human behavior, never understood what it was that seemed to keep the frigid sense of distance between them standing, despite the fact that he would call her one of her closest friends. In fact, he had even given her that nickname, no? "Siv" had just been decidedly too impersonal, even though Johann hated giving and being called by nicknames in general. In that sense the girl was unique. Well, that wasn't the entire truth, of course, not just in that sense. The other Ambassador of Dies Irae was a woman of many quirks, Johann being somewhat unsure where exactly she had learned all of her behavior and mannerisms, but it certainly made her unique. Not seldomly did he try to recall the conversation they had had when they first met, but it was hard to manifest any concrete details in his memory of that day. Too confusing and surreal had her explanations seemed at the time, so his focus had not been entirely given, but he remembered the strange vocabulary she had used. Something about being a hired hand for a Doctor in Era, was it? Well, she'd certainly always been quite the capable mage, so it was no surprise, not to mention the fact that she'd only gotten better at what she did.

His thoughts, however, could not be stopped from trailing off, back to that day in Hosenka. They'd had fun sharing Sushi, didn't they? "I think the battle that followed was a lot more intriguing, don't you think? The little girl certainly packs a punch, tsehe ...". "How could I forget-", the man murmured under his breath in reply to the Nephelim that had so unceremoniously commented on his thoughts, "-the day you took over my body against my will and nearly blew up all of Hosenka. Seems to be a trend these days, hm?". The deep voice echoed through his mind anew, a cackled sneer following the words Mars spoke. "You're such a killjoy". Johann sighed. There was hardly a point in discussing a matter such as this one with the Second Seal. His views tended to be somewhat twisted, when interpreted from Johann's position, at least, so more often than not he would simply leave the Nephilim to his senseless babble and ignore the creature, a behavior the Lord of War simply belittled as "boring". The Ambassador, of course, couldn't care any less.

It didn't take long for the man to reach the office he shared with Sivvy, the prospect of a day worth of clerical work getting closer and closer with each step he took to the familiar door. Unusual, however, was the presence of a certain secretary by the door, the infamously strict Helga. Of course, everyone in Dies Irae knew of her and her attitude, but it was precisely this type of industrious employee some matters required, and though the Ambassador, on a more personal level, had little appreciation for the "all-work, no-play" lifestyle these people tended to live, he would be forced to respect the raw efficiency these types of people could operate with. "Ambassador-", she greeted coldly, pushing the glasses on her nose up a little further with a motion so precise that it appeared as if it had been practiced a thousand times, "-there has been a delivery for you. I had it placed near your desk, if you don't mind. Now, you'll have to excuse me, but I have to get back to my work". The silver-haired man had little chance to interact with her before she had already turned her back and begun the walk back to her own desk, a simple gesture of greeting and an "Understood, I'll-" the only thing he could get out in time. The man sighed. Even the mighty cliffs of Minstrel would one day fall under the ocean's relentless assault, but he was certain that Helga would remain the same type of frosty-mannered workaholic forever.

Still, it wasn't often that he got deliveries. Usually, any kind of delivery made to the guild was made up of more miscellaneous things, like resources for construction work or the raw materials for the production of various consumer goods the guild required, and these deliveries were usually addressed to the guild itself and handled by the treasury staff. These things often came in large batches, as well. A single individual package, addressed to the Ambassador directly no less, was quite the oddity. It did leave him wondering ...

Well, it would be no use pondering over the circumstances. There was only one way to find out what it was that had been sent to him. In the same fashion as ever, he would enter his office, his fellow Ambassador being absent today, as well. Was she still away on a mission? It couldn't exactly be helped if she was pursuing a matter that required her full attention independently, but ... well, something was off. Usually, Sivvy was quite ruthless in her modus operandi, and the man would've expected that by now, she would have returned. As his eyes would scan the office and these thoughts passed through his mind, inevitably, his eyes would fall upon the large wooden crate that had been set upon a table, barely fitting on the surface. What could possibly be so large that it had to be sent in a container of this size? The man raised an eyebrow, suspicious of the unmarked shipping crate. It looked quite out of place in the usually so pristine, albeit pragmatic office space, though that wasn't the only thing that grabbed the man's attention. Something was ... off. His senses were ringing his alarm bells, his heightened sense of smell the first thing that delivered unwelcome feedback to him. A certain scent, subtle, but distinct, filled the space around him, drowning out the smell of paper, ink, and leather. A scent so unique that Johann could easily tell it apart from among a thousand others.

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Word Count: 1,431
Personal Word Count Total: 1,431
Thread Word Count Total: 2,282

WC: 429 New Thread Total: 2,711
Tag: @Sivvy ,  @Johann