Odyssey│Aviliin Mercer

[Sirak Kolar]

Aviliin’s mind raced with anxiety, her very core shaken with fear of what was to come. The door infront of her slid open with a hard slide, inside stood two fully armor clad soldiers with empty black visors for eyes. Her body resisted her as she forced herself to walk in, entering the belly of a massive tower the likes she had only seen a few times in her life. Coruscant was a magnificent place, but this… this was outright fear of everything involved. Quietly, she tried to choke up some sort of greeting to the two infront of her, but nothing came out, her hand clenched and frozen at her side.

“...”

If the guard’s brow could raise, it would have. Either one of them stepped aside regardless, and a second set of glass doors opened at her presence, inside a desk manned by a soft looking twi'lek. She offered a courtesy smile, and spoke as softly as she looked;

“Welcome to one of Coruscant’s many agencies. How can I help you?”

 

[Sirak Kolar]

Still, Aviliin’s shyness was winning, but was slightly beaten back by the invitingness the twi'lek had about her. She responded quietly, almost hiding her tone;

“I’ve… come to see a Mr… Ebon?”, she responded.

The twi’lek smiled back, moving her hovering chair to tap rapidly on a keyboard not far from her. With large final tap, she motioned to an opening elevator behind her, speaking once more;

“He’ll be on the top floor. Just jump on that elevator, and you’ll be in his office in a few minutes.”

As quickly as she began, she went back to whatever secretary style work she was doing, and left Aviliin with nothing else to do but proceed with her meeting. Each step she took seemed to click in a cresendo’ing manner, each more annoying than the last. By the time she reached the elevator, she was sure everyone in the lobby of the grand building must have been looking at her with distaste.

 

[Sirak Kolar]

She squealed as she rushed into the elevator, it’s door quickly closing behind her. The cliche elevator music above her sounded awfully soothing, a type of flute music likely originating from a more relaxing part of the galaxy. As the elevator ascended the many floors of the building, her own hand brushed her face with the softness only a young and aspiring women could have, the tips of her fingers grazing her black hair with only a small sigh.

Why was she so scared? This was everything she had ever wanted. To be interviewed as the galactic manager of a soon to be corporation, to achieve everything she’s ever wanted so long. It’s what she had worked for, for years. Years of tutelage, internships under other CEO’s, and the things she had to learn to get away from many of them. She had pushed, using her own blood, sweat, and tears as fuel for the ever pressing engine that she had become.

 

[Sirak Kolar]

Work was her life, work was her all, and she forged a small confidence just before the doors opened to Ebon’s office. As she stepped out, a smile adorning her flawless face, all the confidence she had fell as she saw Ebon hunched over his desk. The room was dark, cold, and brooding, and Ebon gave off the presence of a man ready to kill at any moment. For a moment, she even thought she smelled blood in the room.

Aviliin swallowed harshly, raising a brow and offering a small word in the deathly quietness of the office;

“Uh, Ebon, Sir? I’m… Aviliin, I’ve come for the position you offered.”

She watched as Ebon’s eyes looked up to her, their amber gilded corruption seeming to glow in the lowly light of the penthouse office. The gaze pierced right through her, and ever urge in her body told her to run, yet she was frozen in place.

Ebon’s gravely voice called back to her, his hand motioning across the desk to an empty chair;

“Ah. Come, sit.”

 

[Sirak Kolar]

She did as commanded, with little will of her own. She sat down even closer to this beast in front of her, and placed what documents she had in her hands on the desk, offering nothing more than a broken and fearful smile, the corner of her lips shaking in protest.

Still, Ebon didn’t seem to care. His hand wandered to the documents she laid down, and looked them over with a curious zeal, each page he seemed to cover for a few minutes at a time, the whole time speaking not a word, leaving a vacuum between the two.

As he reached the end, he nodded with a soft ‘hmph’, his eye’s moving to meet hers once more. He spoke gravely, as he had before, a short and concise sentence;

“So you have experience in managing a business?”, he said with his own brow raising.

 

[Sirak Kolar]

Aviliin knew she couldn’t form words, and she offered little more than an introverted nod, her eye’s moving to meet her feet.

“And what of an empire?”, he said once more.

She couldn’t understand what he meant by that, her gaze moving up only to see him staring back at her. She quickly averted her eye’s and gave a hushed response.

“I’m… not sure.”

 

[Sirak Kolar]

Ebon went quiet for a few minutes before speaking once more;

“You’re hired. Come back to my office at dawn tomorrow, we have much to discuss.”

Aviliin’s eyes almost instantly watered, overcome with joy all before holding it in due to her emotional seclusion. She smiled wholeheartedly and stood, following it with a quick bow. She wanted to thank him, but didn’t know what words to say, so she simply collected her documents and turned for the elevator.

 

[Sirak Kolar]

Right before she was to get on it and depart, she heard Ebon call behind her;

“Don’t fail me, Aviliin.”, he said with a scowl to his tone.

She swallowed, the same fear she had entering his office returning as she exited. The door of the elevator couldn’t shut fast enough, and she collapsed in it’s corner, mind racing. What was she to do if she couldn’t hold up to his demands? If she failed him?

Her eye’s began to water again, the doors to the elevator opening to the lobby she was just at. She quietly stood and exited, the twi’lek secretary offering a farewell as Aviliin exited the building, the entire time her eye’s focused solely on her feet.