Olivia was quiet for a long moment as she seemed to be assessing the man in front of her.
"...You want honesty from me. And understanding. Fine. I will oblige. But in exchange I demand the same in kind." she said at last "I have questions as well, answer them. And I will answer yours."
"...Alright. If that's what it's going to take to make this easier, then so be it." said Anton as he nodded slowly "Ask your questions. And if I can answer them, then you have my word that I will."
Olivia was quiet for another moment before she spoke again.
"In our last encounter, my daughters were using their magic. They have never been able to use magic before. And yet now all of a sudden they can..." said Olivia as she tightened her eyes in question "Tell me, did you have anything to do with that?"
"Yes, I did." said Anton with another nod "They can use their magic now, because of my help."
Olivia stared at him for a moment before shifting her eyes to the side and going still.
"...They have a ways to go still. But already they show plenty of promise." said Anton as the silence began to drag "It won't be long before they both become powerful sorceresses... You, yourself, have seen the signs of this first hand..."
"...And why exactly did you help them?" asked the dark elf.
"Because I wanted to." said Anton nonchalantly "And I'm not being facetious with that answer. That is legitimately why I did it."
Seemingly mulling over this information, Olivia continued to stare off to the side for a bit before bringing her eyes back to Anton.
"...If you're wondering whether or not the same methods that I used to teach them with, would work with you. Then the answer is more than likely yes." said Anton "And depending on how the rest of this night goes... This may be a conversation that I would be willing to continue with you, at some point..."
"...Absolutely not. You can keep your methods to yourself." said Olivia "I will not live in your debt. And so I will not ask you how this was done."
"...Very well." nodded Anton "I can understand that."
Olivia kept her eyes on him for a moment longer before finally looking away again.
"On second thought, I think I'd rather not know anything more about you... Let's just get the rest of this over with..." she mumbled before swallowing the last of her wine.
Anton said nothing as he watched her refill her glass.
"There's a lot of background information that goes into your questions... So I suppose the easiest place to start would be at the beginning..." said Olivia as she placed the wine bottle back onto the table "I don't appreciate having to repeat myself, so pay close attention..."
Bringing his eyes to the dark elf's face, Anton went still as he waited for her to continue.
After taking a quick sip of wine, and settling into her seat, Olivia began to speak.
"I have never known my Father, I don't even know if he is even still alive. And if he is, I don't know whether or not he is even aware that I exist... I do intend to seek him out at some point. But I will do so in my own time." started Olivia as she stared at her glass and started lightly tilting it back and forth "As for my Mother, she was, or is, not a dark elf... I can only remember her faintly, and so I can not tell exactly what she is, but she seems to be humanoid in nature. So either a human, or perhaps a dwarf... She cared for me, but she also feared me... Even when so young, I could still see the fear in her eyes... That is actually my clearest memory of her... Her fear..."
Anton remained silent as he let the dark elf speak.
"When I was just under 2 years old, she left me at an orphanage... I won't bore you by giving you a full retelling of my time there, suffice to say it was pleasant enough, if a bit lonely and dull. I was well cared for, but I was never adopted... I supposed there is probably someone out there who would be willing to bring a young dark elf into their home. But I never met them..." said Olivia as she continued to stare at her glass "When I came of age, I set out to find my own way in the world. And at that time, I considered seeking out my own kind, but decided against it as I felt that I would not be accepted by them. For you see, I couldn't use my magic. I was, and still am, a completely magic-less dark elf... And while this has made things difficult for me at times, it was honestly a sort of comfort to me as well. As it explained why I was abandoned by my parents. They knew I would be magic-less. That I was a broken child, and unfit to be kept... And this was something my young mind could understand. To me, this was even reasonable... Those around me did their best to assure me, many times over, that this wasn't the case. They forever claimed that they could find nothing that was actually wrong with me. But even still, my abilities never developed. And it didn't matter what I did, or how many courses or classes I was put into, nothing ever worked. I was born a magic-less child, and I would stay that way."
Clenching his jaw, Anton worked to keep the frustration he felt from showing on his face.
If the dark elves weren't so keen on keeping themselves as mysterious as possible, then those caring for Olivia would have had a better understanding of her, and this poor child wouldn't have been left to suffer in confusion and doubt.
It was an unfortunate and aggravating circumstance. And one that he could potentially help to change with the book he had been thinking about writing.
"I was powerless when I took my first step out into the world. But I would not stay that way. I had long ago vowed that I would prove my worth to those who had abandoned me. And while I had no magic available to me, I knew that money could be just as if not even more powerful than any magic could be. And so with my goal in mind, I set out to build myself a fortune." continued Olivia "I knew that there were companies out there that were capable of generating vast amounts of money seemingly overnight. But I had little knowledge on how the internal workings of such companies functioned. And so while working on getting myself a degree in business, I searched for a job at the most successful companies that I could find in my area... And after a bit of a difficult road, I finally found an investment firm that was willing to hire me..."
Going still for a moment of reminiscence, Olivia took a small sip of her wine before continuing.
"If I had known what I would find in that cesspool... I never would have walked through those doors... But sadly that's exactly what I did..." she said through her clenched teeth "As a student still in the process of acquiring my degree, I came on as little more than an intern. This was fine with me though. As even though my position wasn't glamorous, I could still use the real world experience from this job as credits towards my degree. Over all, my initial position was rather dull, as I was essentially a gopher for those directly above me. Luckily though, my superiors refrained from giving me any tasks that were too demeaning. I assume they were afraid of inciting my ire, making this an instance in which being seen as a monster actually worked to my benefit. Be that as it may though, it wasn't long before all of the upper management, as well as all four of the company's owners, were well aware of my existence... And one owner in particular, quickly took notice of me..."
Tilting her glass back and forth, Olivia seemed to contemplate taking another sip before apparently thinking better of it and continuing.
"He was the eldest of the owners, and in the beginning I thought he was an elder relative of the other three, as all four of them were human men. But that turned out to not to be the case, as none of them were actually related. This man was a bit of an eccentric, and he took a vested interest in me right away. And while I at first thought him to be something of an idiot, I did find the fact that he wasn't afraid of me somewhat refreshing... Unlike the others in the company who were worried that I would scare away clients, simply because of what I was, he instead saw potential in me..." said Olivia as she continued to stare at her glass "He wanted to start including me in his meetings immediately. And when others would argue against this, he would say... 'People are only afraid of monsters when they're not on their side. When they are though, they love them. What's more comforting than to know that a monster has your back? Nothing! And she's a dark elf! Which is second only to a demon in most peoples minds. No. No, no, she's not going to frighten anyone away. Mark my words! She will give our clients confidence in us. People are going to love her!'...That's what he claimed."
With a small smile on her face, Olivia took a quick sip before going on.
"And he was right. It was just as he said. People would be nervous when first meeting me, of course, but they would quickly warm to the idea of having me on their side. They couldn't wait to shake my hand. They'd even get excited about that idea... And it wasn't long before these successes were noticed, and the others were trying to include me in as many of their meetings as they could as well... Raises and bonuses in the form of gifts, such as jewelry and accessories, were soon to follow. And in order to uphold the ' professionalism of our company', I was encouraged to shop at certain places and dress in certain ways... In those early days, in my youthful naivete, I saw all this as them training me. Setting me up for success. When in reality, none of them were actually taking me seriously in any way. It was only my presence that they were interested in. Which was why I needed to look my best, for them, and for the company... That's all I was though. Something nice to look at. I might as well have been a part of the furniture for all I really mattered... I was little more than a mascot. A pet on display... But all that would change once I finished with my schooling, and I had my degree."
