"We are the precipice of another Covert War. Take it from someone who lived through the first one, it's not as cool as it sounds," Camille said to the two agents in front of her. "I know what you two are thinking, who are the belligerents in this potential war? Well, there are three sides. The first are the Archaeons.
"Karl Archaeon, who was the mentor of Olivia Ra, the director of the Bureau, has been planting a seed of distrust in the heart of his protégé. That seed germinated and Olivia became distrustful of anyone around her. Because of that, Olivia, with aid from her mentor, Karl, began planting double agents in agencies all over the realm. Turns out, those double agents were triple agents after all!"
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "They were working for the agency they were put to spy on?"
"No! They were working for Karl. Triple agents pretend to be double agents?"
"It's what the term means, yes," Max chipped.
"Why?" Camille stressed. "Doesn't that mean they're just normal agents pretending to be double agents? Why not call them inverted double agents ... or contrarian double agents? Triple agents is supposed to imply they work for a third party!"
"Er ... You're getting carried away," said Hunter.
The red-eyed woman sighed and shook her head. "Where was I? ... Right, turns out the double agents Karl helped Olivia pick were actually loyal to him and that meant he had insider info on secrets in the Bureau. Those are the belligerents," Camille concluded.
Max frowned. "You said there were three sides but you only mentioned two!"
"Oh, yeah! The third side is a group called the Ibrahim Group headed by a non-mystic known in the mystic world by the name Ibrahim. See, the moment Karl started telling Olivia not to trust other agencies, he already had an endgame in mind: get as many spies into as many agencies as possible. So he needed trained men and women for that. Karl could not train so many people without raising eyebrows and drawing attention so he opened several camps around the realms and got some of his trusted friends to lead the training camp."
"I'm guessing Ibrahim was one of his friends?"
"No," Camille shook her head. "At this time, Ibrahim wanted to kill Karl for an incident that cost Ibrahim his parents, his wife, and his daughter's ability to walk."
"The Glinerian apartment explosions." Camille nods.
'I knew I should have paid more attention in that history of mysticism classes.'
"Somehow, Karl convinced Ibrahim not only not to kill him but also to join him. He then asked Ibrahim to lead one of the training camps and Ibrahim agrees. However, Ibrahim went on to recruit several others who, just like him, wanted to see the Archaeons dead into his training camp, all of whom were loyal to him. So when Karl started planting double agents in several agencies, Ibrahim loyalists were among them."
"So now Ibrahim has double agents in several agencies too."
"Exactly," the black-haired woman affirmed.
"So what now?" Max asked.
"Our plan in the Parliament was always to show that several agencies have been compromised and push the top brass of said industries into a background investigation of their agents. However, we too have our role to play. This crisis cannot be ignored, we must put it out before it turns into a war. None of those three should be allowed power, control, or influence over agencies. That's why first, we are putting together a team. A group of individuals that I trust with my life."
"So Skylar, Diana, me, and this guy," the brown-skinned woman pointed at the sprite. "Who else?"
"There are a couple more from the agency but there's one person we need before we can move forward with this plan."
"Who?" Max asks.
"An undefeated queen of the battlefield. For luck if not anything," said Camille.
Hunter and Maxine raise their eyebrows expectantly at the black-haired woman.
"Sypha!" Camille said with disbelief. "How do you two not know her?!"
"Who the hell is Sypha?"
"Hungarian badass? Daughter of legendary warrior Maximus, and last among a line of godlike warriors?"
"Do you mean Fabian Iren?" The curly-haired woman asked.
"Yes! How it took you this long I'll never know!"
"I learned a bit about her while studying Mysticism in the Grand Principality of Hungary in History of Mysticism class while I was at school."
'Oh shit.'
[You might be a fraud.]
'Might be. Might be.'
"Sypha is an old friend of mine who I believe would be an excellent addition to the team and the two of you are going to recruit her."
"Do you know where she is?"
"The gladiator realm of Razaar."
"And how are we supposed to get there?"
"Good question," Camille scratches the back of her head. "We might need a mage."
"You want us to go back to the five?"
"No ... I want you to suggest any mage you know that is not on the five."
"I'm starting to believe this isn't a team you can trust with your life as you lead us to believe," Hunter narrowed his eyes at the former director.
Camille turned away. "Yeah, this is more of a team I hope would not turn on me when it matters," the red-eyed woman confessed.
"I might know a battlemage," said Hunter.
"She said mage, monkey. M-a-g-e," Maxine stated.
"I know that," Hunter replied. "Maybe if you'd given me more time to speak instead of interrupting like some savage, you would have known I intended to follow up that sentence with: she may be a battlemage but has the abilities of a mage."
"Oh?"
"Clown!"
"And this battlemage can be trusted?" Camille chipped.
'I don't think what I'm about to say is smart but Camille has trusted me with many secrets so I think it's only fair to return the favour.'
[I disagree but you do you.]
"She once took me to Hel," Hunter revealed.
"Wait, what?" Camille queried. "Does everybody know how to bypass Lilith's travel ban or what?"
"I think Lilith's ban didn't include people with IQ lower than 7."
"Want to see the spell?" Hunter asked the nature spirit, ignoring the shifter.
"I -- ask me again when we aren't dealing with a crisis. How'd you figure out how to bypass the ban?"
"Luck?"
"Where is the battlemage right now?"
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