ZacksQuest
Indiscriminate Quest Taker
In most magical circles, the number seven is considered the most mystically significant number imaginable. Most rituals involve seven steps, magic circles involve either seven or thirteen members depending on the severity of the spell, potions involve seven ingredients for the senses, mind and soul, and children who are seventh sons of seventh sons are said to have as much natural magical talent in infancy as a non-seventh son who's studied magic for fifty years.
Even with all of that good fortune and magical power associated with the number seven, the Director of Infernal Operations couldn't help but feel worried about the Infernal Intervention Bureau's seventh team- Team Ezec. Although the team had grown from one team to six in the space of ten years since its initial founding, the thirty that came after it saw no seventh team. There just didn't seem to be a need for it, as six teams seemed to be more than enough to tackle any incident that required the Bureau's action. The decision was finally made eight months ago by the Bureau's acting Chief, an ancient figure of few words who presided over the entire organization. One day, he raised his widened, ever-staring eyes at the convening members of the pantheons and governments that supported his organization, held his hands palm-upward to either side as if in supplication, and said simply, "The time for a seventh team has come." And that was that.
His words held a sort of prophecy. The number of incidents involving Earth didn't grow, per se, but the scale and severity of the incidents did. One and two star incidents seemed nonexistent in the days to come, and what really worried all teams were the internal divisions in not just one pantheon, but in several of the largest ones that held the majority of power. Internal collapses seemed inevitable, so the construction of a seventh team was justified.
The dormitory was built, similar to the others. A large number of magical wards, five rooms of two beds, a small, sparsely furnished sitting room, a training room and gymnasium, a barracks, a briefing room, and a stocked kitchen and small dining hall. It was an investment to plan and build another facility, especially one so secure in such a short period of time, but it was accomplished and after months of searching, the Chief chose the dossiers of those who he believed were meant for the task. The Director of Operations questioned the Chief's motives for some time following his choosing the team members. They all fit the standard criteria well enough- magical and non-magical abilities and a history dealing with supernatural forces, but as far as they as a group went the Director had his doubts. Many of them came from backgrounds that would put them at odds with each other. Several of them were recruited into the team after already defecting from another organization. One of them would have been classified as a low-level threat for detainment if the Olympians and their new management pleaded with the Bureau for an application for her.
Nonetheless, the majority of them were supposed to arrive via the rifts. The entire compound is accessible through entry points in Toronto, Canada; Limerick, Ireland; the Vatican City; Taipei, Taiwan; Bamako, Mali; Villa Nueva, Guatemala; and Acre, Israel. Within none of these cities is the compound actually located. The true location of the compound is unknown and it's widely thought to be in a pocket of space outside of the normal universe- though perhaps that might just be propaganda to dissuade anyone with a grudge against the Intervention Team from even planning to infiltrate it.
Only some of the ten-person team were going to arrive at the moment, the rest were sent to join the team at a rendezvous point.
The Director sat, arms folded and dockets in hand, mulling over the last cryptic words the Chief said to the Director before he departed back to his homeland.
"Why did you choose these seven candidates, when there were several more who would more easily be able to-" the Director began.
"Ease is the reason. Bonds are forged in fire to not bend or break. When all the other bonds in the world have crumbled, those formed in the harshest conditions will stay together." His blank eyes signified no added wisdom, always looking out into their own horizon far away from wherever the director was. While certain parts of his final parting words made sense, he still couldn't grasp the significance of it. But the words, of course, had to be significant: the Chief of the Intervention Bureau was the immortal Zarathustra, the magical prophet of the Zoroastrian gods and one of the first mortals to aid the gods in fighting the Infernal Empire in its infancy stages when it was led by the vicious Angra Mainu and his Deva Spenta. He was a prophet and a philosopher who had a history of weaving the most powerful of conjurations.
Underneath the introductory dockets was the first manila folder. Its difficulty was listed as a three-star, higher than he remembered any newly minted Intervention Team ever getting. Times really were changing, he mused.
Then he leaned back in the chair facing the doors that led into the main room, looking straight ahead. Maybe the people he was about to see walk in through those doors were the people Zarathustra saw on his horizon.
Even with all of that good fortune and magical power associated with the number seven, the Director of Infernal Operations couldn't help but feel worried about the Infernal Intervention Bureau's seventh team- Team Ezec. Although the team had grown from one team to six in the space of ten years since its initial founding, the thirty that came after it saw no seventh team. There just didn't seem to be a need for it, as six teams seemed to be more than enough to tackle any incident that required the Bureau's action. The decision was finally made eight months ago by the Bureau's acting Chief, an ancient figure of few words who presided over the entire organization. One day, he raised his widened, ever-staring eyes at the convening members of the pantheons and governments that supported his organization, held his hands palm-upward to either side as if in supplication, and said simply, "The time for a seventh team has come." And that was that.
His words held a sort of prophecy. The number of incidents involving Earth didn't grow, per se, but the scale and severity of the incidents did. One and two star incidents seemed nonexistent in the days to come, and what really worried all teams were the internal divisions in not just one pantheon, but in several of the largest ones that held the majority of power. Internal collapses seemed inevitable, so the construction of a seventh team was justified.
The dormitory was built, similar to the others. A large number of magical wards, five rooms of two beds, a small, sparsely furnished sitting room, a training room and gymnasium, a barracks, a briefing room, and a stocked kitchen and small dining hall. It was an investment to plan and build another facility, especially one so secure in such a short period of time, but it was accomplished and after months of searching, the Chief chose the dossiers of those who he believed were meant for the task. The Director of Operations questioned the Chief's motives for some time following his choosing the team members. They all fit the standard criteria well enough- magical and non-magical abilities and a history dealing with supernatural forces, but as far as they as a group went the Director had his doubts. Many of them came from backgrounds that would put them at odds with each other. Several of them were recruited into the team after already defecting from another organization. One of them would have been classified as a low-level threat for detainment if the Olympians and their new management pleaded with the Bureau for an application for her.
Nonetheless, the majority of them were supposed to arrive via the rifts. The entire compound is accessible through entry points in Toronto, Canada; Limerick, Ireland; the Vatican City; Taipei, Taiwan; Bamako, Mali; Villa Nueva, Guatemala; and Acre, Israel. Within none of these cities is the compound actually located. The true location of the compound is unknown and it's widely thought to be in a pocket of space outside of the normal universe- though perhaps that might just be propaganda to dissuade anyone with a grudge against the Intervention Team from even planning to infiltrate it.
Only some of the ten-person team were going to arrive at the moment, the rest were sent to join the team at a rendezvous point.
The Director sat, arms folded and dockets in hand, mulling over the last cryptic words the Chief said to the Director before he departed back to his homeland.
"Why did you choose these seven candidates, when there were several more who would more easily be able to-" the Director began.
"Ease is the reason. Bonds are forged in fire to not bend or break. When all the other bonds in the world have crumbled, those formed in the harshest conditions will stay together." His blank eyes signified no added wisdom, always looking out into their own horizon far away from wherever the director was. While certain parts of his final parting words made sense, he still couldn't grasp the significance of it. But the words, of course, had to be significant: the Chief of the Intervention Bureau was the immortal Zarathustra, the magical prophet of the Zoroastrian gods and one of the first mortals to aid the gods in fighting the Infernal Empire in its infancy stages when it was led by the vicious Angra Mainu and his Deva Spenta. He was a prophet and a philosopher who had a history of weaving the most powerful of conjurations.
Underneath the introductory dockets was the first manila folder. Its difficulty was listed as a three-star, higher than he remembered any newly minted Intervention Team ever getting. Times really were changing, he mused.
Then he leaned back in the chair facing the doors that led into the main room, looking straight ahead. Maybe the people he was about to see walk in through those doors were the people Zarathustra saw on his horizon.
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