Chapter 15: Dance in the Shadows
"Say ah!" Agatha was holding a fork with meat in front of Stark, offering him a bite, her eyes shining with red cheeks. He didn't hesitate much before accepting.
The two were enjoying a pleasant meal, facing each other, with luxurious meats of all kinds laid before them as they laughed and talked, resembling lovers as they had fun.
Their glasses were filled with a crimson liquid, sweet and pleasant in smell, and whenever the food or drink ran out, a hand quickly brought more, never leaving them without. Stark had been in this state for some time, not very aware of what was happening.
"Say ah!" Agatha came again with the fork, and he accepted it cheerfully. She smiled, satisfied, her expression beautiful and soft. He was beginning to struggle with eating, but whenever Agatha noticed.
"Say ah!" He opened his mouth again, and once more, she laughed, feeding him like a beloved pet.
"Say ah!" He tried to push it away with his hand, already full and satisfied long ago. She looked at him with extreme displeasure.
"Say ah!" He tried to refuse again, her expression growing heavier and angrier. Beside the table, a hooded figure, seemingly made of shadows, observed, its arms covered in layers of pearl chains. The figure then grabbed one of the pearls and handed it to Agatha.
"Say ah!" He refused vehemently as shadowy hands emerged, holding him in place. Agatha grabbed his face with her rosy hand and forcibly shoved the pearl into his mouth while he struggled.
Coughing and choking, with saliva dripping from his mouth, she sat back down, her face softening again.
"Good boy."
…
…
Stark awoke from the night of drinking, lying on the floor next to the bed with his two companions. They all felt particularly at ease with one another, as if they could easily understand each other after going through the ordeal together.
He heard someone pounding loudly on the door. He turned to Agatha and gently shook her shoulder, waking her slowly.
"Someone's at your door." With one eye half-open and quietly grumbling, she went to the door. She came running back, her hair messy, shaking Alice awake violently.
"But… what is it?" Alice's eyes refused to open. Seeing the panic, Stark decided to hurry everyone's awakening, releasing his bloodlust, causing everyone's hair to stand on end and wake up instantly.
"Holy crap, that wasn't necessary," Alice shouted as she woke up. The three quickly rose and went to the door.
There were more than one person there, a few dozen in fact... and in front of them was a bearded old man leaning on a staff.
"So, these are the ones?" The old man looked back at Adriel and Amriel, who nodded, and the old man sighed.
"I expected a bit… more, I suppose..." Stark didn't know how to react.
'What the hell is that devil thinking?' He shrugged in the end, accepting the reality.
"Follow me to the meeting you're late for." The three looked at each other.
"We're late for a meeting?" Some of them seemed irritated, while others averted their faces, trying not to show their emotions.
"We sent a message to your room this morning informing you. We've been waiting for over an hour now. At this point, we expected more than a hungover group..." Stark cursed internally.
'To them, we're more than just a group of new recruits.' They followed him down the hall to a large round meeting room, where a seat with their names awaited them. They sat down in silence as everyone seemed to be analyzing the depths of their souls.
"As I introduced earlier, we're here to decide which division they will join. Adriel and Amriel, please explain what you know about their known aspects and what they have in common." The two angels kneeled before the council, with Adriel starting.
"We'll begin with Miss Alice. Her abilities are mysterious, but we can confirm heightened senses. She can see things that would normally be invisible, and this somehow intertwines with her abilities, which can be applied for pseudo-healing as well as tracking." Amriel continued.
"Her greatest achievement is the silent pursuit of the children of Baphomet over several days." The old man nodded.
"Next is Stark. His abilities include not only heightened senses but also a new spectrum of them and additional senses. His vision can perceive light spectra others can't, including thermal vision. His strength and agility are far beyond that of others. He has tremendous ease in emitting bloodlust and other forms of aura, as natural as breathing."
"His greatest achievement so far was in the battle during the return to the White Tower, where he took down countless Argos birds and hundreds of other creatures in solo combat, protecting the mission's envoys."
"Truly admirable..." The old man was reassessing his impression of Stark.
"Lastly, we have Miss Agatha. Her abilities revolve around negative emotions'. She can manifest this to enhance her physical abilities and alter her clothes and body. Her senses are superhuman, allowing her to see things others can't. Her survival capabilities have yet to find limits, as she can survive over fifteen days without eating, drinking, or even sleeping."
"Her greatest achievement so far has been the assassination of a group of mid- and low-level awakened, their deaths clean and painless." The elder dismissed them from the room. The report had surprised some of those present. Among them, Alice had the most mysterious abilities, Agatha's were the most understood, and Stark had the greatest achievement.
No one there needed to be a genius to understand that Stark's abilities had been superficially observed like those of others. They could perceive much more than the commanders imagined...
'It doesn't seem wise to reveal everything now...' He let them continue without concern. One of the leaders, a man with red hair and black armor, spoke loudly.
"The fact is that they all possess abilities focused on combat and tracking, to varying degrees. Therefore, I'd be happy to discover what else they can do, as well as welcome them into my division." Another shouted loudly, wearing a black cloak with silver ornaments.
"Are you insane? They can all see the hidden. Their abilities would be extremely valuable here! They would have a brilliant future under my guidance!" Another slammed the table forcefully. She was dressed in an elegant and refined fur coat.
"You're completely insane! You know very well the best way to evolve someone of high level or above, and I'm the best for that!" They continued bickering, with various leaders arguing about why they were the most suited to train each one. All of them demanded the trio, regardless of their division's focus, unwilling to let any of them go.
"Calm down, everyone. This division will cause problems. Each division will only be able to fight over... one... only," the old man said, lowering his voice as the others glared daggers at him, his authority that should have been absolute now being questioned. Stark turned to the two.
"Should we say something?" Alice and Agatha exchanged glances and shrugged in confusion for a moment. After a brief exchange of ideas, Stark cleared his throat, drawing the attention of everyone present, who promptly fell silent, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"As my companions and I discussed, we believe that, for now, we should postpone joining any specific division and, over the coming days, get to know all of them before making a decision..." They exchanged glances, unsure of who should respond. Delicacy was needed in moments like these.
"That's impossible," said a man with a scar on his mouth.
"Do you have any idea what kind of fight it would cause over someone of high level? Let alone someone of this new level? What are the chances of..." He was silenced by the others, their aura shaking the room. The elegant woman continued in his place.
"What he meant is that it's too good an opportunity to pass up." She said with the best smile she could manage.
'They don't want to risk losing us at all...' Agatha raised her voice this time.
"Then send us to the most neutral division of all, one that everyone can watch. In that case, there won't be any problems." Her words were soft, but everyone understood what she meant.
'It's clear they're in a power struggle. The balance could shift depending on the choice made today.'
…
…
"What rubbish" Stark kicked the ground as he tried to hide his tiredness. The two beside him also criticized, none of them were heard from beginning to end, at the end of the day what mattered was that a single division acquired them, which ended up becoming an auction.
Seeing that they would not be able to keep all three just using their authority and financial power, they decided to ally with other divisions to further increase their influence at the table.
At the end of the day they were acquired by five different divisions and their relations with any other member of the tower would be completely regulated as it could be a breach of agreement.
"There was only one good thing in the end…"
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