The room was pitch black. Sinix snapped his ring laden fingers and bright lines shone across the wall. Lord Hector had already walked over to one of two chairs set across a long table of black glass. As the lines continued to shine, illuminating the once dark room into a very light blue, Sinix walked to a panel that sat at the opposite end of the room from the door.
He firmly touched the panel with his palm muttering chants, and a scanner immediately ran across it.
“Access granted. Lord Sinix Kaven Greywolf.” The AI in the room echoed.
“Acknowledged,” Sinix serenely replied as he walked over to his seat; A meeting was about to begin.
“External presence detected; archive search complete. Lord Hector Devaunt. Access granted.”
Lord Hector replied, “Acknowledged.” He calmy crossed his arms and leaned back on the chair.
Suddenly from the panel, the plates of holographic screens projected into the air as the AI read:
“Council meeting is now in progress. Entering in, Lord Alphonse.”
A full-bearded man wearing a monocle appeared on one of the hologram screens.
“Acknowledged,” the man, Lord Alphonse spoke with a loud tone.
“Entering in, Lord Yurdril.”
Another man appeared, bald with a wavy moustache and beard stump beneath his chin. His slanted eyes were closed and he wore a half-smile.
“Acknowledged.” His voice was light, as his appearance was. He opened his eyes to look around. Sinix smiled at him, Lord Yurdril scoffed in response.
“Entering in, Lady Querre.”
A lady appeared wearing a black carved out masquerade mask, revealing no features. She had short hair; her bangs leaked out in bits below the mask.
“Acknowledged.” Her voice was automated, a mix of hoarse vocals and steamy AI completed her voice calibration.
“Entries complete.” The voice of the AI faded away as the three holograms above Sinix settled into different positions.
“Where are the rest?” Sinix asked, his eyes turning about. “Only five out of eight council members are here. Lord Frillick for one who called for this meeting is notably absent.”
“Lord Frillick has been called to the nation’s capital as they discuss the matters of state. We however have been charged to take over in his absence.” Lady Querre replied him sternly.
“I do not like to have my time wasted.” Sinix scowled.
“Neither do we, which makes it easier for us to get down to business.” Lady Querre replied. “Tell us Lord Sinix, why you decided to accept the child of Vassar into your academy without consulting the rest of the Mage council?”
Lord Alphonse added, “We were established as a separate powerful cluster responsible for giving out decisions regarding all things magic in this nation. You, Lord Sinix have gone on to make a huge one behind our backs.” He glared at Sinix through his monocle.
“You are aware of this, Lord Hector,” Lord Yurdril spoke, staring at him through the corner of his slanted eyes.
“Indeed I am,” Lord Hector replied nonchalantly.
“The boy has always been under my jurisdiction; in a way, you could say he is my property.” Sinix crossed his arms in defence.
“Wrong, he is a property of the nation. There is no ‘Jurisdiction’ on what belongs to the nation,” Lady Querre replied.
“The same nation that killed his entire tribe?” asked Lord Hector. “The child has been brought up under the eyes of the designated Lord, who in this case happens to be Lord Sinix.”
“What are you saying, Lord Hector?” Lady Querre’s anger was obvious in her robotic tone, her masquerade mask doing little to hide her glare from Lord Hector.
“There is a reason why the boy has been kept alive,” Lord Hector said raising a brow. “He is the last of his tribe, the only Morpher we have.”
“Wrong. He is the last of a disease that infected this country,” Lord Yurdril said, his croaking voice echoing in the room. “And like all dangerous diseases, he’s meant to be quarantined, not exposed.”
Sinix leaned on the table and took a deep breath, “Well, that’s not going to happen, Lord Yurdril.”
“What?”
“The boy will remain in the academy and grow along with all the other students, as I’m aware, he’s been accepted by Renbao, my minion.”
“WE ARE THE VOICES OF THE NATION’S SHADOWS!” Lady Querre boomed. “On who’s authority do you dare to-”
“Do not raise your voice at me,” Sinix cut her off with a glare, immediately quieting her. He dipped his hands in his pockets and brought out a wrapped seal. He rolled it to the middle of the table and the seal slowly unfolded itself.
The gasps of the three hologram figures were almost instantaneous. Within the seal was a blue rose placed atop the Vassar tribe insignia.
“What is the meaning of this?” Lord Yurdril asked widening one of his eyes to look closer.
“As you can see, it is the royal seal of our Great Lord. It’s been in my possession for the past ten years,” Sinix replied wearing the still sharp glare on his face. He stared intently at Lady Querre.
“You claim to be the supreme authority, yet you could not figure out the usefulness of keeping the boy alive all this while.”
“Tell us in clear words what you are talking about,” Lady Querre demanded.
Sinix placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “He is the last of what was once the most powerful tribe in centuries. With the deaths of over ten thousand, and the fact that the women have started slowly but surely dying off, what do you think those in the palace of the Great Lord are doing?”
“Wait-” Lord Alphonse cut in. He looked in surprise, stroking his beard. “Is this?”
“Yes, Lord Alphonse. I was waiting for when you would understand.”
Lord Alphonse broke into a burst of loud laughter that shook the frame of his hologram. His voice was the singular thing to be heard over the next few seconds to the anger of the council but much to Sinix’s liking.
“By the spirits, they’ve gone mad!” Lord Alphonse roared.
“Indeed. The most powerful tribe of Vassar eliminated. But out of that annihilation is born something unthinkable.” Sinix grinned.
“An abomination that has not been seen in centuries,” Lord Hector added. “The boy is not meant to be quarantined, Lord Yurdril. The boy is meant to be exposed.”
Lord Yurdril shook his head into a smile. “You’ve outdone yourself this time, Lord Sinix.”
“Yes, I believe so,” Sinix replied.
“Well, how are you going to handle this? You bear the royal seal Lord Sinix, do you know how to handle the child?” Lady Querre cut in.
Sinix smiled. “You belittle me Lady Querre, my ongoing plan has been in motion for ten years.”
“Then our business here is done.”
“Agreed,” said Lord Yurdril.
“Agreed,” said a smiling Lord Alphonse.
“Then I declare our short meeting adjourned. Until next time my friends.”
“Council meeting now adjourned.” The AI sounded as the holograms vanished, leaving Lord Hector and Sinix alone in the room.
“What are you thinking Lord Sinix? Showing them the seal. It’s been a hidden mission for years.”
“Not anymore Lord Hector. They were bound to know sooner or later. It was a matter of time. And now they have no reason to doubt me or stop it.” Sinix replied sternly.
The duo stood up and walked towards the door which opened of its own accord. The guards at the door bowed as Sinix and Lord Hector walked out the room.
“What bothers me, Lord Hector is the fact that those above us are aware of something we aren’t.”
“Which is?”
“A coming dispute. A war. That’s the only reason they would allow one boy to survive. That’s why they let his son survive. If he can absorb the mana from the tribe’s lost runes…”
“He’ll be a monster.” Lord Hector completed with his eyes widened as they walked down the lobby to the exit. “But we are ten years in the era of peace.”
“Wrong, Lord Hector,” Sinix frowned. “We are ten years from the war.”
“…By the spirits.”
Sinix grit his teeth in an awkward smile. “Something is coming, Lord Hector, something big. And for the first time in decades, I don’t like it.”
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