Chapter Fourteen - Part One: Terms & Conditions

The Scribe and Judge programs were cool when looked at by themselves.

Together, when they were negotiating with you regarding the terms and conditions of your life-long servitude to a cause you hadn't known existed 24 hours ago, it was awful.

As a team, they were better than any corporate solicitor or attorney she'd ever met.

All the while Atreus watched the conversation with a keen eye, his face firm as a stone without giving a single tell.

Occasionally, he would speak up and add additional information or terms, but mostly he was content to observe and watch her fidget in her seat.

She noticed his eye watching her slightly limp fingers every so often, still numb and senseless from the internal reconstruction. If he had any hypothesis of why she didn't drink the tea that was offered, he didn't voice it.

For hours, they had talked in the Penthouse common room, Eriene in a well worn chair in the living area, Huda and Simon in a loveseat across from her.

Hayato had left, vanishing into the shadows to 'check the perimeter', as Allister had said.

As they had gotten comfortable, she had apparently caught the eye of Afra, who confirmed that she was the twin sister of Huda.

Where Huda was ethereal and elegant, Afra, was sharp edges and spunk.

Her wavy dark hair was unbound, tumbling to the small of her back in a mass of dark brown coils. Her olive skin was on display in a gray rock band tank top under a green bomber jacket, ripped jeans, and converse sneakers. Her dark eyes were lined in kohl and held a twinkle of mischief in them, as if she had pulled a prank and was waiting for her trap to be sprung.

Afra took one look at Leta and smirked, "We're going to get along great."

Leta had yet to determine if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

It was amazing how two people with the same face could be so different.

Afra had been conversing with her during the short periods between negotiations when Huda and Simon talked in hushed tones huddled next to each other. The dark haired woman had informed Leta that she and Kaviah had been at the site where the Loupgaru had attacked her and Koa, scrubbing the area of any signs of the Arisen and making it look like local children had been up to some bad but not too dangerous antics.

When Leta even remotely looked curious about how they scrubbed that crime scene down, Afra lifted a finger and a flicker of flame balanced on her finger tip.

Point taken.

The negotiations had been a spectacle for the sect for several hours, with the entire sect, save for Ismene who was passed out again, and Allister's wolf Bonnie who was asleep at Ismene's feet.

They had been in conversations for so long, Leta had gotten a notification that her forearm modifications had been completed.

[INTERNAL RECONSTRUCTION MODIFICATIONS COMPLETE. ORGANIC BONE STRUCTURES IN THE HOST'S FOREARMS HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH ATLANITE STRUCTURES. REMOVING NERVE BLOCKS.

UNPROGRAMED NANITE CAPCITY IS NOW 7,338,763

CURRENT UNPROGRAMED NANITES AVAILABLE: 5,430.]

Leta flexed her hands as soreness began to seep back into once numb fingers, thankful that it felt more like her arm had fallen asleep at an odd angle.

Now that she had sensation back, she finally took a slip of cold tea, her throat dry from hours of talking. She'd been hesitant to pick anything up, so weak was her grip while Gada had been giving her the upgrade and spent most of the time just covering her yawns.

As she sipped, she watched Huda's power at work in facination. A piece of parchment floated in the air before the Scribe, ink appearing and disappearing as terms were added and amended.

Delicate fingers glided through the air, reminding her of a woman at a loom as they gracefully twisted and caressed the unseen.

Surprisingly, the contract was more of a Nondisclosure Agreement than a contract of employment - something she was more than happy about.

The sect, on behalf of the Chosen, would continue to allow her to study the histories - Eriene hinting that the Chosen had scrolls and artifacts that she'd want to have a look at.

Even after she went back to Seattle, her studies would still be a priority unless it was a 'level 5 threat', or basically all-hands-on-deck, no-way-we're-hiding-this-from-the-humans kind of threat, as Allister pointed out. At least, until she graduated from the apprenticeship.

Unfortunately, she did agree to assist the sect with basic reconnaissance of Blessed locations until she'd gone through some physical training, Atreus having said "an untrained idiot is a liability in a fight, not an asset."

All told, she was feeling better about her and her family's safety with this deal.

Through negotiations she had guaranteed her future as an archeologist with her academic studies being her main priority and her 'cover', which would allow her to get a hold of old and sometimes dangerous objects and explore obscure areas. She would still have to go out and work for the Chosen, with the organization having to provide allabies for her if she needed to disappear for a little bit to do her duties.

She had also been adamant that her family were never to be involved, something that Simon and Huda had anticipated. Even though the Chosen lived considerably longer than normal humans, most still have kin that they wanted protected. This led to a literal registry that they maintained of individuals that the Chosen as a whole took the time to look out for and keep under surveillance.

The contact stated that the Chosen wouldn't keep her in Greece and help her get back to Seattle when she was done with her archeological work at the end of the summer, transferring her internship to the Greater Seattle Sect when it was time.

However, in the time between her work this summer, she had to go to physical training with the sect. Simon had said that they would have an alibi for her to be away from her team, but they had not gone into terrible detail on what that would be.

She hoped it was convincing enough and they weren't going to make her try and convince her team that she suddenly had an urge to go running.

She wasn't happy about the stipulation that she would have to consent to a guard following her around while she was in Greece, but thought it a small price to pay. After the attack with the Loupgaru, Leta acknowledged that just having superpowers didn't make her an a** kicker. Best to leave that to the professionals for now.

Most importantly, they had agreed that if they came across any Blessed, living or dead, she would be allowed to feed off their vitality.

That had been a whole other conversation with Atreus, who was still not pleased with the idea that she could drain living beings of vitality like so many of the Blessed. His concern had come from the fact that she could do it to anyone, Blessed and Chosen alike. Would she accidentally hurt other Chosen?

Leta eased his skepticism by explaining that her draining ability was a cognizant ability - she couldn't accidentally drain someone, so the Chosen were safe.

Simon hadn't been there for her demonstration with the poor basil plant, so he had questioned her about the dynamics of this talent. Leta had done her best to bob and weave with an answer, trying to keep her words in line with what she'd discussed with the team earlier that evening while avoiding telling an outright lie. She ended up saying that, while she could get some vitality from the food she ate, humanoids would give her the most.

She could tell that Simon could taste that she wasn't completely honest, but apparently her response was close enough to the truth that he didn't call her out on it.

The contract ended with the expectations that the Chosen had for her, which was what she had expected after the previous discussions.Training with the Athens sec as an apprentice which would continue when she returned to Seattle. When she was deemed fit for combat, she would be working with the other sect members to investigate Blessed sightings and, if necessary, destroy them.

Leta thought it was interesting that they used the term destroy.

Not apprehend.

Not kill.

Not eliminate.

Destroy.

From Atreus's expression, he meant that in the most literal term possible.

The very last line of the contract stated that this agreement would be renegotiated once she graduated college they would negotiate the terms and conditions. But, for now, she would at least get some instruction in defending herself and learn a little more about this crazy world she'd stumbled a** over kettle into.

After reading everything aloud, Leta took a deep breath and, setting the contract down on the coffee table, she met their gaze.

No turning back now. It could not be drawn out any longer.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded and said, "I accept these terms."

Huda gave her a gentle, almost sympathetic smile, handing her a pen she either produced from somewhere in the folds of her clothes or out of thin air. Who knows.

A few scribbles from Leta, Huda, Simon, and Atreus, and it was done.

Huda waved her hand and the contract blinked out of existence in a sparkle of gold.

Atreus held her gaze for a long moment before giving her a single nod before turning his attention to Allister.

"Her training starts tomorrow. See to all the loose ends." He commanded, then strode from the room.