There was silence in the room. All eyes were on Regus.
Hashim sighed softly. He had wanted this to work out, but unfortunately, they were right. Regus's actions had been not only reckless, but against their agreement. They were going to have to banish him, or at least somehow get rid of him.
"Because of this, I call for a vote to pardon him," Toon said casually.
"What?" Jake exploded, shooting up from his chair. "That's not right! You can't do that! He disobeyed the agreement!"
"The rule says that whoever is strongest calls the shots, does it not?" Toon continued in the same tone. "So, he was strongest, and he was in charge. Besides, he had a good point. I mean, with him and the others, it's not like we can't deal with whatever happens."
"The strongest people are those with powerful abilities. How they happened to obtain those abilities is not questioned."
The voice came from the indistinct figure. As all eyes turned to him, he stood slowly.
"There may yet be ways to transfer abilities. It makes no sense that Ardena would have two abilities as powerful as those, or that they would compliment each other. There have been exactly two instances of people having two abilities naturally, though all reports of both are under suspicion. In each case, the abilities contradicted each other and ended up killing the bearers."
As it spoke, the figure became more distinct, slowly. While it stood there, the lighter robe was refined into a pure white coat similar to Toon's, while his face came into focus, angular and sharp but with rounded edges, and underneath the robe was simple dark clothing, a shade nearing black.
"So, got a name?" Toon asked, straightening up.
"Call me Gensa," he said, blinking slowly. "And I concur with Toon. There is no threat that we cannot face, aside from the group, or individual, that created the monstrosity known as "Ardena", especially if they have more. To discover them, we will be more suited to do well with the resources we can acquire."
"Sounds like a two," Toon said.
"No, it isn't," Jake said forcefully. "These new "fusions" can't vote until we establish them."
Hashim nodded, agreeing. That made the most sense, and there was no way he could refute it. That just meant that if he were to vote with Toon, they would need Xavier's vote to proceed.
He looked to Xavier, and Xavier slowly nodded.
"As much as I hate it, they're right," Xavier said eventually, sighing. "Regus has forced our hand, and we need power to deal with Ardena, especially if she becomes more attached. If we reject her, we'll immediately become top of her list of enemies, and we need a way to keep her at arm's length. The best way to do that is to make her think that we're out of her league."
"And does the age gap do anything?" Jake asked. He was grasping at straws now, Hashim could feel his desperation. "Couldn't we use that?
"Maybe it will do something, but not much," Xavier said. "Despite what it might seem, the age gap isn't very big. She's just a few years older than us. And besides-"
"Hang on," Hashim interrupted him, frowning. "Why are you all talking like this? Can't she handle herself? Why does it seem so inevitable that she emotionally relies on us?"
"Contrary to what it may seem, Ardena's emotional state is incredibly fragile," Anguis explained. "Her life has been difficult, at best. She's lost her parents and the rest of her family, along with all of their holdings, and with that her status as a noble. Then she was forced into the role of general, and has seen death after death at the hands of monsters from children's nightmares."
"But, why does that-" Hahsim started, but Xavier interrupted him.
"Just trust us, please," He said with a small groan. "I don't want to waste time explaining it to you like you're two."
Hashim breathed out heavily, unhappy, but he let it pass. If they said so, and even Jake agreed, then they were probably right, even if he didn't understand it. After all, yes, everyone around her had died. But wouldn't that just make her think she was immortal or something? It didn't really make sense to Hashim that she would be wounded by surviving. If anything, he would have assumed that she would think she was better than those that had died, by virtue of her being the only one that survived. That was certainly where Hashim's mind would go.
"Well, I hate to say it, but I agree," Jake admitted. "Ardena is fragile and powerful, and we need at least countermeasures. Our abilities are powerful, but they don't do much in the way of fighting. Maybe Corpse could take her, but I doubt it. People with plasma abilities are rarely predictable in what they are capable of doing, and even Corpse would likely have trouble with that. Besides, unfortunately, we can't just walk back into the shadow now that Regus has exposed us."
Jake sighed, long, loud, and clearly exaggerated, then raised his hand.
"I vote for them to stay," he said heavily.
"Hashim?" Corpse's tone was low and heavy. He knew what Hashim would say, and he was warning him against it.
"I want to hear everyone's opinions," Hashim said quickly. He had never before gotten nervous in front of the others, and it was strange that he would now. This was perhaps the most important decision they would ever make, however, so maybe it made sense. "Corpse, what do you think?"
"So now my opinion matters?" Corpse asked sarcastically.
"You're the most reasonable one here," Jake pointed out.
Hashim looked over, and he could tell that he was still unsure. Everyone could feel Corpse's anxiety. Toon was ignoring it, as he always did with emotions, and Xavier stuck with his decision, but Hashim and Jake were rattled. Corpse had never been concerned before. His mental landscape was a place of dark towers and spires, twisting footpaths that all ended at intersections, a sun that gave as much illumination as a dying torch. The most they got out of him was an occasional comment, and those were always sharp and to the point, barbed arrows that sank into their targets with deadly efficiency.
To see him now so anxious was terrifying. He knew something that the rest of them didn't.
"Corpse-" Jake began, but Corpse interrupted him, his voice now gruff and sharp, like it was in their mind, not here in the council chamber.
"Atrius, you all expect me to do everything when it gets hard? I've never been asked for advice before!"
Hashim sighed.
"Well, I suppose they're staying," he said. "We have three votes out of five, and if this is what you want, then I'll add mine and make it four."
"But this doesn't mean we let them have control," Jake said quickly. "Consider it... like a trial freedom."
Hashim nodded. That would do, for now. They would need Regus eventually, or at least some fusion. They had more power than any of them individually. To give up this resource would be idiotic, even for them. Shying from new things just because they were scared was wrong.
"So this council meeting is over," Regus said.
Hashim nodded, and then, one by one, the others followed.
Xavier, Toon, Corpse, and Jake, then Anguis and Gensa.
"Then there's only one more thing to say," Regus continued. "Corpse, prepare yourself to take control."
It was a grim truth, but Xavier's ability was the only one they had that was semi-useful in combat, aside from Corpse. They would need Corpse if they didn't intend to let the fusions have control, because not even Hashim was dense enough to ignore the fact that there would be conflict in the near future.
Corpse nodded once, jerking his head down stiffly. Hashim couldn't feel his emotions anymore, so he wasn't quite sure what Corpse was feeling. He was probably over it. This would be the best for them in the long run, after all.
And then it was done. The debate as over, and Regus had won.
As the council chamber dissolved, Hashim looked at Regus's straight back and solid stance, and he felt a brief shiver of indeterminable fear. Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to allow him to stay. He would get his way, somehow or other. And he had empowered him.
Xavier pressed one thought into Hashim's mind, a single word before they woke up.
Bunny.
And he was right. Hadn't Xavier made this same mistake?
But no. Xavier had always been on the edge, a necessary evil. Now Hashim couldn't get rid of him because of Anguis, but that didn't mean he had to listen to him.
Hashim opened his eyes, determined to keep up the image that Regus had projected.
The only problem was that he didn't know how to do that.