Much Ado About Damnation [ADELE]

When one of her Guardians notified her of shady individual with a rather dubious background, Adele hadn’t given it much of a thought. Meeting strangers wasn’t really part of her job description. For reasons she could barely comprehend herself, she found herself meandering towards the designated meeting place as the sun began to set across the familiar skyline. It wasn’t the man that had gotten the meeting, it had been the request. Knowledge of the Sins wasn’t something Adele was known for. Out of the loop was one way to put it, but not by choice; her appointment to the Obelisk of Diligence recent and her interactions with the Sins had been nonexistent. Their status, whereabouts, abilities, or basically anything other than their existence was beyond the scope of what she could help with.

The monotone beep of her generic cellphone ringtone jolted Adele from her wandering thoughts. She briefly fumbled around in her pocket for the blaring contraption, managing to draw the stares of various passersby before her fingers finally managed to locate its glossy surface. She quickly drew the device to eye level, holding it delicately between her thumb and index fingers as if she was afraid it would shatter under the slightest pressure. The bright LED display pulsated with a flickering, lime green symbol of a phone, the words “Unknown Caller” clearly visible beneath. She didn’t know anyone named Unknown Caller, nor did she make it a habit of answering calls from complete strangers; fortunately for the mysterious individual on the other end, today was an exception.

An unfamiliar voice crackled from the cellphone’s low-quality speakers, the distorted tones sounding disturbingly mechanical. “Hunger overwhelmed you?” That had to be the worst excuse of all time. “Because waiting at the meeting point for five minutes would’ve fucking killed you. I’m sure I would’ve arrived to your shriveled corpse being picked clean by pigeons.” Adele rolled her eyes as she pressed down on the shimmering red phone icon, ending the terse conversation. It didn’t bother her that he changed locations – a nice café was far preferable to the previous rendezvous point – but his choice of words was beyond comprehension. She could almost image the mysterious figure wiping his brow with the back of his hand as he groaned out the words ‘hunger overwhelmed me!’ And where in fucking hell was ‘the café’?

Adele had lived in Rome long enough to accustomed to its weather patterns, though her wardrobe rarely changed to accommodate. On this particular day, her usual orange pinstripe suit had been replaced with a not dissimilar black one. The color, or lack thereof, suited her fine for this particular outing. The elegant snow the drifted around her was an exquisite rarity, something that would only be marred by harsh colors. It took her exactly five minutes to reach her destination. Five minutes. Luckily for the exasperated Obelisk, there was only one café in the immediate vicinity of their original meeting point.

She was greeted by the pleasantly warm interior, the comfortable air bringing along with it the mouthwatering aroma of sweets, sugar, and caffeine. Rows of glistening candied apples lined the ornate cases, the back wall lined with a plethora of vibrantly colored syrups and liquids. A few complex machines, which Adele assumed to be for concocting drinks, were lined up below, trails of stream trickling from their nozzles. The rest of the café was sparsely decorated, but the extravagant windows gave an incredible view of the mystical winter weather outside. A pair of giggling teenagers and an old woman were the only patrons aside from a solitary, well-dressed man. It was obvious enough who she was meeting.

Scutum Pristis slid of Adele’s back with relative ease, the woman carefully lowering the monolithic weapon to the floor. The shield stood upright on its own, the convex curvature of its mass keeping it from toppling over. Adele took a seat next to her Sigil, the hulking mass of steel to her right, the gorgeous view through the window to her left. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair as she inspected the man before her.

“So. What do you want?”