ha ha, got your girlfriend [luka]

It was the moment of truth. Reid had settled about a week ago, and Kole had gotten his hands on the Solas overloridian, Amerie. Kole had even let him meet her real quick before setting out to Solas. Cute girl. Scared and upset, but still cute. Anyways, that all meant that it was time to put the next part of the plan into motion. This was where Reid came in. His chance to prove himself to Kole.

The only downside was that he'd had to give up his lifelong dream of settling Deilig. The plan required that he pick Solas, instead. Deilig's polar opposite. It would all be worth it in the end, though. It had to be.

He walked up the steps to the Solas mansion. If all went well, this would be his new home. Pretty fancy. He knocked at the front entrance using the big, ornate door knocker.

Amerie never came home last night. Amerie never came home last night. Where is Amerie? What's happened to her? Why isn't she home?

That was all Luka could think about from the time he realized she wasn't coming home last night, till now. He hadn't slept for almost twelve hours, but his fear kept him wired. He wanted to leave the estate, look for her himself, but the other employees advised him against it. What if she came back? What if you're needed?

It was all the same, all politics were the same. They didn't care about clio, their Overloridian was fucking missing and they wanted Luka to handle business as usual. He was fed up.

"I'm through with this," he said to noone in particular, while grabbing his coat from a nearby chair. "I'm looking for her myself."

In his fearful and determined state, he didn't realize there was someone at the door, until he actually opened it. He stopped in his tracks. He had no idea who this guy was, but he had a strange feeling that him being here wasn't a good sign.

"Can I...can I help you?"

A youngish guy, not much older than Reid himself, answered the door after a minute. "Are you the overloridian's adviser?" he asked the guy. Kole had given him some info on the employees of the Solas mansion, and who he should talk to. When the guy presumably answered yes, Reid stepped inside.

"I'm Reid Lessing. The new overloridian. Just settled," he smiled brightly. "Can you show me to the star piece? That's how I prove who I am, right?"

Apparently, the star piece would glow only when it was near the overloridian of its particular eilemaiden. Obviously that wouldn't really happen with Reid, but he had a followup plan for gaining control of Solas.

Luka opened his mouth to reply but then shut it again. Did this guy just say new Overloridian? He couldn't have, that can't be true. If this guy was the new Overloridian, then that meant that Amerie was...

"What did you just say to me?" Panic rose up like vomit, Luka didn't know what to do.

"I'm the new ov-er-lor-idian," Reid repeated, loudly and slowly, as if the adviser was an idiot. "Look, I'll show you if you just take me to the star piece."

Overloridian or not, the Solas clio would follow whoever held the star piece, according to Kole. After all, destroying the star piece would mean the loss of their abilities, and no one would be willing to risk that. Not to mention, holding the star piece would increase Reid's abilities to the point where he'd be the strongest clio in Solas. And if this adviser guy didn't wanna play along, well, that's why Amerie was still alive. Leverage.

Luka hadn't heard him incorrectly. This guy was claiming to be the new Overloridian of Solas, so that meant that Amerie was...dead. Luka felt suddenly numb and cut off from the world around him. How could have this had happened? Why had it happened? His beautiful, sweet Amerie was gone forever, and now this kid before him was suppose to replace her? The lack of empathy the new Overloridian had scared him. How could this guy come barging into their lives, demanding to see the star piece after such a wonderful clio lost her life. It made him angry, so angry that he wanted to throttle the young man in front of him.

I know you're hurting, Luka, Iris said sadly, But you need to calm down.

Luka knew his daemon was right, but it didn't make anything better. He didn't know what to do, he wanted to take this guy to the star piece, break down and cry, wrap his hands around the Overloridians neck, and sleep for the rest of his life all at once.

"Fine," Luka spat. "Come with me."

Reid was completely unfazed by the adviser's animosity towards him. What did it matter? Soon this guy would be doing everything Reid said, whether he hated him or not. The entire country would be doing everything he said. All that power, over so many clio...Reid suddenly found himself itching with anticipation.

"Are we almost there?" he asked impatiently. "Oh, I didn't get your name by the way."

Luka either didn't hear Reid's question, or ignored it completely. Something didn't feel right about this guy. He was so eager to just jump right in, without any remorse over Amerie. Luka didn't expect him to be weepy and upset over her, he obviously didn't know her, but normal clio at least pretended to be sympathetic, even if they weren't.

Finally, after leading Reid down a series of different turns throughout the estate, they came across a room that was being guarded by two burly looking clio.

"Stay here for a sec," Luka told Reid. He approached the two men and spoke quietly amongst them. The three of them nodded, then Luka turned to Reid. "In here."

The guards opened the doors for Reid and Luka, and the two clio walked in. Inside was a white marble podium, with the star piece resting safely on a red satin pillow. Luka stood, watching Reid expectantly, and yet the suspicion was still apparent on his face.

Ah, the moment of truth. Reid's heart fluttered a little bit as he saw the yellow stone sitting atop the podium. It looked so...mundane. Just a yellow rock. Yet it had all the power of Solas behind it. If this worked, and Reid was sure it would (it had to), not only would he have all the power, but he'd have Kole's gratitude as well.

Without another second's hesitation, he reached out and took the star piece in his hands. As expected, nothing happened. It didn't glow like it would've if he really had been the overloridian. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that the doors were closed, and then smirked at Luka.

"I'm going to keep this," he told him plainly.

Luka held his breath as he watched Reid reach out for the star piece, and he was still holding it when the stone...did nothing. Wait, what? No wonder this guy seemed so suspicious.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Luka asked, his anger flaring. He started going toward Reid, his fist raised, the veins on his muscled biceps straining.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Reid exclaimed, taking a few steps back and holding the star piece up high above his head as if the tall adviser wouldn't be able to reach it. "This is good news for you, right? It means your overloridian is still alive. You do want her to keep being alive, don't you?"

He raised his eyebrows, letting the implied threat hang in the air. Hopefully this adviser would be smart enough to understand what he was getting at. He didn't want to get in a fight right now.

It definitely made Luka stop. "Wait," he slowly dropped his fist. "Amerie is still alive...?" Oh Gods, please be true.

Ugh, this guy was slow. So much for being smart. Reid was gonna hafta spell it out for him. "Uhhh, yeah," he replied, lowering the star piece and cradling it in both hands. So much power. "We need her alive for now, mostly to make sure you do what you're supposed to. You're gonna let me keep the star piece. And you're gonna tell all of Solas how it glowed when I held it, and how I'm the new overloridian. And Amerie will stay alive in the meantime."

"Who are you working for?" Luka asked darkly. Although he already had a hunch of which nasty clio it might be. But what was most important is that Amerie was still alive. He would just have to do this guys bidding until he could figure out a way to save Amerie.

Reid shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he replied. Soon enough the world would know about Kole's plans, but for now things had to stay quiet. Solas was a start, but Deilig needed more "allies" before it could openly attack the others. Reid remembered Kole saying that he had plans for Adhbhar next, and maybe Earalas, but that the details weren't his concern. He needed to stay focused on Solas.

"So it's a deal then?" he asked, as if he were giving the adviser a choice in the matter. "I want the whole thing official...officiated?...by tomorrow." He raised his eyebrows and gave the adviser an innocent look, as if they were discussing normal business.

Luka sneered at Reid, his anger fuming. He wanted to punch his face in, he wanted to beat him to a pulp until he told him where Amerie was, but he knew violence wouldn't help him get anywhere closer to rescuing his girlfriend. Yes, he'd play Reid's game, and whoever Reid was working for. "It's a deal," he said, with nothing but the sound of hatred in his voice. He hated how helpless he was, there was nothing he could do for now, and he felt so useless.

Reid smiled brightly, unperturbed by Luka's obvious hatred. "Good!" he chirped, like a little kid who had just gotten his way. The plan so far was a success! Tomorrow he'd announce his overloridianship to the world, and with a trusted adviser backing him up no one would doubt him. Kole would be proud of him and it would be great.

Life was good.