Peaceful times? Gathering of the Strongest!
In the gathering hall of the Lady's castle known as the Dragon's Den, she's holding a dinner meeting with her Fangs and their right hands. It's been a few days since the incident with Freak and everyone has recovered. They're sitting at a large dining table with mostly empty seats. Jcoss and Suki sit in front, on her left and right side respectively with Drago and Loopy next to them. On the left, there's a black haired, red-eyed dragon with gold scales and an eye-patch with Spinal next to him. Past Suki is a silver-haired (long) dragon with black scales and green eyes, though closed at the moment. Yami is next to him. Maka and Dark are sitting across from each other as their Fangs were on a mission. A blonde haired dragon with white scales is standing next to the Lady. She opens her blue eyes and smiles to the ones at the table.
"I believe everyone is here, Madam Bahamut." she points out to the dragon in charge.
"It would seem so, Luxtra. Thank you." she replies. "Let us begin."
Jcoss bonks Drago over the head and Suki grabs Loopy's cheek as they were making funny faces at each other and the twins until that point.
"How are repairs going so far?" the Lady asks the gold dragon.
"Repairs are already completed, madam." he replied.
"Excellent. And the energy that controlled our would be attacker?"
"We just received word back from Camelot's R&D Department, so we'll know by the end of the day just what type of magic it was, then who's it was."
"Impressive." Suki praises out loud. She's hugging Loopy, who's rubbing her sore cheek.
"It's nothing for me. They don't call me the professor for nothing." he replies, rubbing his nose.
"Pfft, more like nerd." Spinal states, chuckling.
"And you're a nerd's assistant, so..." he replies with a smirk.
"That's enough." Jcoss interrupts. "The leader of each division picked a subordinate to be their right hand man and disciple. We spend more time with this youngling than any other dragon, training and teaching them to take over our position one day. Because of these reasons making them so important to us, they are referred to as our 'Treasures.' You'll be spending a lot of time with him, so do try to get along."
"At least I picked mine because of his merits in my field. I'm the head of R&D, so I picked an Alchemy nut to be my assistant. Sukichu is our Ambassador, so she picked someone who gets along with people easily as hers. You're the head of the Stealth Division, yet picked a loud-mouthed fighter instead of someone with abilities in that field, like Yami. Luckily, rather than let her skills go to waste, General Masamune picked her as his lieutenant, though Drago would be better suited for direct combat." the professor argued.
"You should trust me more, Kisuke. Drago, his ID if you don't mind."
The emerald dragon pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over to his leader.
"When did he?" he asked, checking his wallet to find his ID missing.
"So, you do have two working eyes." Jcoss says out loud before Kisuke takes his card back.
"So, he does have SOME skill in stealth."
"Drago was a pickpocket for years and he's usually active at night. He has a great sense of smell and even better hearing than I do. I know how to do my job. His lineage is pretty impressive as well..."
"Are you boys done now?" the Lady asks, irritated.
"Yes, madam." Kisuke replies, bowing.
"My apologies." Jcoss replies, doing the same.
"I don't understand why you two can't get along, but figure it out. Even your Second in Commands get along great, so you have no excuse."
"Yes, madam." they say in unison.
"Anything to report, Sukichi?" she asks the sapphire dragon, who's still cuddled up with her assistant.
She lets go and pulls out some papers from her bag. She hands them to Luxtra, who reads over them briefly before handing them up to the Lady.
"We just received Lord Cool and Sir Aaron as guests, though they didn't stay for very long." Suki reports. "They handled the incident with Sir Freak, then went back to Camelot."
"How did your discussion with King Saber go?"
"Saber said she'd be sending someone to investigate, but it appears the traitor in question was being controlled by magic through both incidents."
"He seemed to be in control of himself when he was with Negative." Jcoss interjects.
"But Negative hasn't done anything to indicate that he wishes to attack Camelot. There's no reason for Freak or Saber to not trust him."
"That would still only be one incident then. Which was the other?" Masamune asks, speaking up.
"The attack on Eruner." Luxtra answers.
"Wasn't that done by hired mercs?" Spinal asks.
"Doubtful." Yami answers.
"What makes you say that?"
"The wound, itself." Maka states. She's the Treasure of Lio, who is in charge of the medical division. "The poison in Eruner's system is made for paralyzing, not killing."
"Why would an assassin bother with that?" Drago asks.
"Exactly. They wouldn't. This means that whoever attacked Eruner didn't want him dead, just out of the way for a while." Maka answers.
"But why?" Loopy asks.
"It might have been to keep him from joining a coming conflict." Drago suggests.
"That doesn't make any sense." Yami argues.
"It might not from your point of view or even my own, but it could make sense from whoever did it."
"But I don't see why someone would do that and claim they're helping someone. I'm not saying there wasn't foul play. Just that it might not have had good intentions behind it."
"Learn to see things from someone else's point of view and it might help you understand what they're trying to say." Masamune interrupts.
"I'm just saying..." she argued, crossing her arms.
"They're not saying their idea is absolutely what happened. Just that it's a possibility to consider."
Yami lays her chin on her arms, pouting while Masamune rubs the top of her head, smiling.
"Masamune, how're things going in your department?" the Lady asks.
"Exceedingly well, Madam. Sir Krill came by a few days ago and helped me forge my blade, the Katana I now call the One Winged Angel. He helped me teach our newest recruits close range combat techniques with their new weapons. It was a great help." he reported.
"Knowing Sir Krill, that's no surprise." she replies.
She looks over her schedule for the meeting before her head perks up.
"We haven't eaten yet, have we?" she asks, prompting everyone to either grab their stomachs or shake their heads. "Well, that answers what we're doing next."
Some chefs come inside after a while and serve food to everyone at the meeting. Drago, Spinal and Dark are having an eating contest to see who can finish the fastest. Sukichu, Loopy, Maka and Lux are trying to keep their food down watching them, before turning to see the Lady join them in their contest. Jcoss and Kisuke are silently eating their meals while lightning sparks between them. It's an incredibly calm sight. Especially compared to the gatherings of Knights and Mages...
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The mage known as Negative walks down a hall filled with portraits of great wizards from the past and present, including a familiar looking one with white and blue robes surrounded by golden rings.
"Am I late?" he asks, entering a chamber with floating runes and and magical symbols which seem to serve no purpose other than decoration.
"Aren't you always?" asks an annoyed mage wearing a purple robe over a red dress. "I swear, between you and Blue, I don't know how we ever get anything done."
"I'm sure he has a good reason to be late." a man wearing a white T-shirt and red/black cargo pants interrupts. "Right, Cero?"
"It's Negative now, and thank you, Kanoke." the mage replies.
"Right, right. Let's hear it, Neg."
"It seems my usual assistant is now hospitalized with Hypothermia. I went to visit him before coming to the meeting. If you would allow-" Negative starts.
"That's enough." interrupts Morgana, the mage from before.
Fullblue walks in at that time, yawning, and takes her seat next to Kanoke.
"Glad you could make it, though you're kind of the last one here." Kanoke points out, smiling.
"Really?" she asks with a slightly confused look on her face.
Around the room, sat multiple wizards, dressed up in their usual gear, including Negative glaring at her, Kat waving to her and Morgana giving an exhausted look. A wizard wearing brown and red robes with a tattoo on his neck speaks up.
"That's a pretty angry look, Neg. Almost like you wanna fight Blue right here and now." he taunts.
"That's enough, Shaara." Morgana scolds, causing him to put his hands up defensively.
"Whatever you say, boss."
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A green eyed blonde woman stares at herself in the mirror while another woman puts her hair in a circular bun before taking the mirror. The blonde stands up, compliments the woman on her work and begins putting on silver and blue armor. She straps a sword to her belt and walks downstairs to a huge courtroom like area. There are stands on either side of an elevated throne.
"Will everyone please rise. King Saber has arrived." Lord Cool announces from next to the throne.
The multitude of people on both sides of the huge throne room stand at attention as their leader makes her way in. She arrives at her throne and motions everyone to be seated.
"Any words on Sir Freak's recovery?" she asks Lord Cool.
"All of the controlling magic is out of his system, but he's still got some hypothermia. Normally, it'd be no matter since we have warming beds, but his physiology makes him slightly susceptible to cold weather." her highest ranking knight reports.
"How long before he'll be suitable for combat?"
"A week at the most. Do you plan to send him into combat?"
She shakes her head in response.
"No, but whoever did this will be coming back. We can't always reliably keep an eye on him, so I need him able to fend for himself. Speaking of which..."
She looks around the room before motioning a knight clad in sparkling prism armor to stand.
"Madam Ayu, have you discovered what type of magic it was?"
"Yes, my King. It appears to be puppet magic." she replies.
"I see. So the culprit had to be close by. He or she probably specializes in magic that masks their magical presence."
(There are different kinds of mind control magic which vary in range and efficiency. Puppet magic is a powerful type where the user can control what the target's actions and motives behind those actions. The victim believes they are doing what they wish to do, so their skills aren't hampered by this magic as most are. The flaw is that the user has to remain in an extremely close proximity to maintain control. Otherwise, the "strings" break, thus the namesake.)
"Sir Tadashi!" Lord Cool summons. The Starry knight stands up.
"Yes, my Lord!" he answers immediately.
"Have we heard back from the Magic Council?"
"Not yet, my Lord. They're still trying to ascertain who the manipulator was. Since it was such a complicated magic, we believe it will narrow their search greatly, though we've yet to contact them since finding out."
"Why not?!" a purple clad knight demands. "Two of our knights have been attacked in the last 10 days. We know one was attacked by a Magnolian and the other had only one witness still alive."
"Sir Lightning, please try to understand we simply can't contact them currently to update our situation. I'll be leaving as soon as I can, but I had to report to King Saber myself as Eruner is still hospitalized."
"You could have given me that information before we began as Madam Cast did." Lord Cool points out.
"I didn't wish to burden my Lord with something I could do myself."
"Reporting to the King on the status of her kingdom is my job. It is a burden I proudly bear."
"Then it is my error."
"You know what's amazing, Sir Tadashi?" Lightning asks. "You're in charge of communicating between foreign lands and our kingdom, so the lack of travel to Magnolia and thus, justice to Freak's assaulter is your error."
"And I rightfully accept it."
"However, the one witness to Eruner being struck down was you as well. You are involved in both of these."
"Are you accusing me of foul play?"
"No accusations. Keep bet-"
A slamming of a sheathed sword echos through the room, silencing it. All those standing took their seat and look towards its bearer. The King opens her eyes with a raging fire in them.
"Will you all please stop bickering like children? My head aches from your constant complaining..."
No words are spoken, a golden tint to the air.
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"That was amazing..." Drago sighs, patting his stomach.
"The chefs do good work." The Lady grins.
"What are our orders?" asks Jcoss.
"You and Drago will investigate Negative by entering his home and keeping an eye on him. Find out what he's planning and report back home. Dark will be joining you as soon as he finishes up his work back home." Luxtra replies, handing him a sheet of paper.
"We're heading to the Grey Lord's Mansion? That place is protected by ghosts and an extremely powerful undead beast!" Drago points out.
"Correct."
"Heck yeah! I haven't been there in a long time!" he cheers, jumping out of his chair.
"Let's move." Jcoss orders. He and his emerald scaled apprentice leave the hall.
"Sukichu and Loopy. You two are free for today. We'll summon you when we need you." The blonde dragon continues.
"Sweetness." the older dragon calmly celebrates.
"Cool, a day off!" the younger one cheers.
"Kisuke and Spinal, continue your research. Knowing what specific type of magic it was will make it far easier to track down the one responsible."
"I bet I know who it was..." Sukichu thinks to herself.
"Of course." the Professor replies. He leaves with Spinal not too far behind. The latter felt no need to say anything before leaving.
"General Masamune, you're to stay and continue training our troops. Yami, you're to escort Sir Krill and Madam Cast home safely." Luxtra briefs.
"Yes, ma'am." the General answers. Yami nodded her head, but didn't feel like talking. They left shortly afterwards.
"Maka, please head back to the hospital and help out Itsuki. Lio should be returning in a few days, so you're in charge until then." Luxtra finishes up.
"Yessum!" the twin happily replies before leaving.
"...and dismissed." she says, annoyed. Loopy and Sukichu get up and leave, hiding a laugh for the former and the latter sighing.
"They never stay to the end of the meeting." The Lady points out, laughing.
"And my stress builds..."
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A/N: And that's the end of this one. Lot of exposition, but necessary to avoid exposition heavy chapters in the future. A LOT of members show up in this one. Some really obvious, some not and a few downright confusing ones. Thanks for reading.
