Oliver sat in a comfortable chair next to a dancing fire. The decor was as warm and inviting as the fire and the cocoa he had been given, but as he sipped the beverage, he couldn't help but shiver. It was not the same kind of chill that had assaulted him in the alleyway mere hours ago, nor the biting breeze that pierced through him atop the bell tower. This was the chill of knowing he was prey, and the butler his predator.
Every word, every motion, and every bit of hospitality that he had experienced since approaching the building was meant to affect him in some way. A hunters trap and he had gone and deliberately shoved his foot into it.
The Butler sat across him in his own chair, kind brown eyes assessing his every move, but no matter how polite he was or well-tailored his suit, Oliver knew that this was no mere butler, But rather the Recruiter he had come to see, and his only job was to get Oliver to agree to his own enslavement.
After several minutes of sitting and sipping their respective drinks, the Butler finally spoke. "I must apologize that I did not have anything else prepared, I'm afraid I was interrupted earlier while I was cooking and I burned the scones I had baking," the Butler says, as though not having refreshments were a cardinal sin. "apparently the guards were looking for a thief and wanted to search the premises"
Oliver nods his head but gave nothing else away. He knew that the Butler was letting him know he suspected Olivers' involvement, but Oliver was hesitant with sharing information even if he was desperate.
Given his apparent reluctance to speak the Butler once again spoke up, seeming wholly unaffected by Olivers' silence. "this may all go so much faster if you spoke with me, Perhaps we could start with our names, You may call me Harold, and you?"
"My name is Oliver" The Young Tomebearer speaks, finally, and then after several more seconds he speaks again, with resolve in his eyes. "I've Come to Be Indentured to the Colosseum, But much of what we will discuss is sensitive and I need to be sure that you cannot and will not speak of it to anybody else."
Harold sat for a moment and watched him, he seemed to be a lot like Oliver in that he watched and listened as much as he spoke if not more. Oliver had skipped the formalities and made it clear that he wasn't interested in the warm and kind approach, So the older man allowed his smile to fall and the warmth in his eyes to fade slightly, now more polite business than a doting caretaker.
"I see, well, for the sake of efficiency I will offer a contract before we begin," he says calmly and clearly, while an earthy brown stone Tome was summoned before Olivers' very eyes. The Tome was passed from Harolds' hands where it had been summoned, to Olivers' hands so that he could read it.
"This contract outlines terms that will encompass the next several hours in a strict confidentiality clause, Long enough for this conversation and more. If I were to attempt to share this information, the contract would kill me before I could even try, as well as alert you the moment I did so"
Oliver took several minutes to look the contract over, he was no lawyer, but it truly seemed to very clearly state the outlined terms in simple straightforward language that did exactly what the Butler claimed, which meant that he was safe to speak about anything and everything.
"Yes, that's good thank you," He says while a small amount of worry lifted from his shoulders, this would help a lot if he intended to get all he needed out of this.
Bound by the newly signed contract, Harold smiled a toothy, almost predatory smile. It was so rare for him to need to sign a non-disclosure agreement with these realm rats. the His innate Page ability was such that it gave him a sense of the potential another Tome Bearer had, so when he felt such a surge of energy coming off of the boy, strange and untapped like the boy was pitiful now but would be something great in the future, the Recruiter knew he had to close this deal by any means, not that he could allow the Rat to know that.
"Now that we have that squared away, Perhaps you could tell me what this is all about," he says carefully "What's so important that you need a nondisclosure agreement? surely you are aware of our organizations' discretion to the sensitivity of matters relating to those to whom we lend aid"
Oliver struggled not to roll his eyes at the Recruiters' behavior, behaving so righteous and well-intentioned. "I am aware of your reputation, but when it comes to this I cannot be too careful I'm still hesitant to say," he says before sighing and reluctantly continuing to speak
"here is the story... I was involved in the robbery, I turned 16 today and aged out of the orphanage, so when a score was presented I jumped at the opportunity. I was careful and made sure I was only expected to be a lookout, it was a great plan but it went horribly wrong. The leader of the crew was a gangster named Rawdawg, when the TomeBeast guarding the store we were hitting woke up, Raw killed our lockpick and stabbed me to try and distract the beast and tie up loose ends. But I had my cut of the job with me, a Catalyst that got into my system and stimulated an awakening, healing me and leaving me to run from the Guards and the gangs for fear of being killed by either one."
Oliver spoke in nearly one breath, pausing near the end to take a deep ragged breath and continue. Even though this man was here to enslave him, it felt so good to actually tell somebody and the best way to tell something difficult is to say it like you are pulling off a sticky bandage.
The Butler sipped his cocoa and nodded thoughtfully "Yes I can see why you would have come, the Gangs would kill you to avoid the crime being traced back to their member and to avoid your future revenge, and the guards would kill you, imprison you beat you or perhaps something worse than all of that simply because they can and they have the license to do so, but this doesn't explain the NDA I signed, we deal with these situations constantly without revealing anything, you know this" he says
Oliver gives a small smirk "That's not all" he says with a touch of amusement, the Butler was trying to pump him for information that Oliver was planning on giving anyway "I have a unique Tome with a Psychic affinity and high mind stat with a slightly above average soul stat... I also have an innate ability page that requires me to kill Tomebearers to get more powerful and has a rank I've never heard of before...its rank is Ascendant"
The Butler was flabbergasted, his composure, which he had been rigorously trained to never relax or let slip, was shaken, just as his tea shook and slightly spilled as his hand trembled. Oliver wasn't dumb, despite the past days' events that might make him seem stupid to an observer, he knew that the more high value he was the further this Recruited would go to recruit him, and the more benefits he could ask for as a result. A recruiter was given a percentage of all the profit the coliseum gained from any Tomebearer they recruit, so the more successful Oliver was the more Harold the Butler would get, perhaps if he was very successful, Harold would get a promotion and be able to stop acting the part of a lowly butler
"I...see.." he practically chokes out, happy that he hadn't been taking a sip at that exact moment, or else he would have spewed or suffocated from inhaling liquid. "so what do you need us for if you are so powerful," he asks, trying his best to regain control and the advantage but he knew it was no use now that he had faltered
"I need to be hidden from the Guards and the Gangs, and unfortunately even though my innate talent requires me to kill TomeBearers, it doesn't provide me any Combat capable Pages with which to do the killing so I need a sufficient Combat Page for my rank" Oliver listed his demands one after the other, none of them too exceptional. After he had listed these demands Oliver paused for a moment and watched as the Butler processed his demands and almost looked relieved at how simple they were, but just as the butler was about to speak, and mostly for the reaction Oliver knew he would get from it, he Added the final and most absurd Term of Enslavement yet.
"Oh, and I'll need you to provide me a Spare TomeBearer....so I can kill them"