Chapter Text
"Kieran," Eris Morn turned from the Lectern of Enchantment to face the approaching Hunter, staring at a point to the left of his face. Kieran had not announced his presence nor told Eris who he was. They were surrounded by other guardians on their way to request bounties from Eris. Yet she moved directly to him without looking at him, as though she sensed who he was with otherworldly awareness.
"Thank you for coming so quickly," she intoned. "I have need of your particular skills."
She turned back to stare above the heads of the other guardians waiting for her attention.
"Please. Go." She waved her hand in a cryptic motion above her Ahamkara bone. "Return another time."
Several of them turned away without a word. One Titan's shoulders slumped. They looked as though they were about to say something and then they transmatted away.
Eris stepped close and clasped Kieran Nor's arm. The grip of her fingers through her glove felt almost like claws.
"This is a matter requiring considerable discretion, and has the potential to involve significant risk. I trust this is still acceptable to you?"
"For you, Eris?" Kieran answered, warmly. "Of course."
Eris sighed deeply in relief. "Come then. Let us begin."
She muttered for a few moments and then a Hive portal appeared in the air before them both. She held out her hand. Kieran took it and they both stepped through.
Kieran was not a nervous, twitchy type, but stepping through a Hive portal with no idea what was on the other side was always a bit of a nerve-wracking experience. It was therefore quite a relief when the other side of the portal turned out to be nothing more ominous than the front of Spider's bar in the last city. Not Kieran's favourite place, but better than a lot of the alternatives.
Eris paused at the threshold, placing her hand in a pocket at her side. She seemed to be considering something and then she nodded, as though agreeing with someone Kieran could not see.
"First, we will need information," she informed Kieran. "An activity which may prove..." Eris sighed and squared her shoulders as though steeling herself for something difficult. "...vexing."
"Nevertheless," she continued, "it must be done. And quickly. I prefer your assistance here more for... emotional support than anything. It would be... problematic... if the Spider were to not survive my inquiries, no matter how pleasurable that outcome might be for so many of us."
"...and if that doesn't convince him," they heard the Spider's voice as they approached. "I have methods of... sweetening the deal, as you might say." He was speaking to someone not physically present via a comms device. "No! No! Nothing so barbaric as that, my friend. Let's just say... it can be beneficial to be cooperative, for the future of ones hatchlings. So much better to be contributing to their education rather than... the alternative." The Eliksni crime boss chortled menacingly.
Eris made a low growling sound in the back of her throat as she walked closer. Kieran let her take the lead.
The Spider's laughter cut off abruptly and he began coughing as Eris approached.
"Eris Morn," he addressed her between coughing. "To what do I owe the... uh... pleasure of your visit?"
Eris stared at a point to the left of the Spider's head. "One of our... mutual associates recently ceased responding to communications with me while in the middle of a mission involving... the acquisition of... an item. An item they previously consulted with you regarding locating. I need to know where he went."
"Ah, I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean." Spider leaned back, clearly amused.
Beneath his helmet, Kieran ground his teeth.
"All of my business dealings are registered with the Vanguard authorities." Spider said with a tone that could only be described as... slimy. "Anything anyone might be doing for me will be recorded in their shipping logs."
Eris stepped closer.
"Interactions with this particular individual would not be recorded in the shipping logs for your... businesses," Eris spoke calmly. "He is a very private person. A... law abiding citizen." She paused briefly so the implication of her words could sink in. "He... pays his taxes."
"Oh! That one! Yes... yes of course... but I am sure you understand... as this is a private citizen, I can't go around discussing his uh... personal business. Especially with a member of the Vanguard special forces, you see. That would be... very uncouth of me, no?" He chortled to himself at his own joke.
Eris stepped closer. Spider's two personal guards stepped closer as well. Eris glared at each one in turn. They both took a step back.
"I am not coming to you as a member of the Vanguard," she continued. "I am coming to you as his friend. He is in need of assistance. The nature of his transactions with you need not be disclosed. Simply his whereabouts."
The Spider coughed again. No. He was laughing. "That one can take care of himself, my dear. And if he somehow doesn't? Ha! We're all a lot better off."
Eris stepped closer.
Spider stopped laughing.
"Look," Spider said quietly, leaning down toward Eris, his voice condescending. He held out an empty three-fingered hand toward her. "Information isn't free, my overly fleshy three-eyed friend. Surely there is... something you can... offer me... for my trouble." The Spider's four eyes looked Eris up and down, his fingertips following his eyes in the air as he chortled to himself.
The temperature of the room dropped by several degrees. Kieran felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Eris leaned even closer to the Spider and placed her free hand in his.
Kieran could not hear the exchange but the Spider tensed and he moved to lean back, away from Eris. Her eyes flashed and the ball of Soulfire in her hand began to rotate.
She gripped the Spider's hand tightly as he tried to pull away, drawing her hand down and forcing him to remain near enough to hear her whispers.
The Spider's four eyes went wide as she continued muttering in his ear. The ghost shell he was holding in another hand fell to the floor with a loud clatter.
Eris' lips continued moving, whispering something only the Spider could hear, her hand beginning to twist his beyond the normal range of motion for an Eliksni wrist.
"He's on the Tangled Shore!" the Spider blurted out, his voice tinged with panic. "I'll send you the coordinates I gave him! Please! Please just leave me alone!"
The Ahamkara bone ceased its rotation. Eris released the Spider's trapped hand and stepped back. "Thank you," she said tersely, finally speaking at a volume everyone else could hear, then she turned to Kieran. "We can leave now."
Kieran looked from Eris to the Spider, breathing heavily and shaking in his chair, visibly cringing away from the three-eyed woman as Eris muttered something in the guttural language of the Hive. Another portal appeared. The guards flinched and backed away from it.
Spider said something in Eliksni as they walked through. Kieran wasn't certain if it was a curse or an appeal to some higher power for protection. It may have been both.