We entered through the gigantic double doors of the Arcane King's Castle as it opened slowly for us. One of the doors itself was three times as big as our whole double door set back home. They were completely white with golden seams, making an intricate design.
As it finally opened, we were met with a grand display of white and gold. The room looked like a gigantic hallway with windows that let in the sunlight, keeping the place dimly lit.
The floor was marble with hints of black and gold; its design resembled thunderclouds. The ceiling was high and carried that same intricate design from the doors all the way to the corners of the ceiling, which then blended into some kind of artwork above us.
There were two giant chandeliers that hung from the high ceiling. One as we entered and the other across from it, farther into the giant hallway.
We had an escort mage who led us to the meeting quarters for the Kingdom's Guild.
There were four doors in this hallway, all of them far away from each other, leading to who knew where. And we were led to the farthest one on the right.
"This way, please, Captain," the mage said.
He opened the door, and we were welcomed by an enormous room. It resembled that of an arena, but with nine thrones facing each other at the center and another set of double doors on the opposite side from where we entered. The middle of the floors had that same thundercloud marble design, but with an even more intricate design resembling a pentagram that lay above the design of the floors throughout the entirety of the room.
There were groups of mages already present there as we entered. Some from Guilds, others from the council. All mingled with each other on the center floors before the official meeting began. Sporting different uniforms unique to their own Guilds, they all looked more professional and "looked the part" of a mage than we did.
Their conversations stopped the minute they noticed us. Judgmental eyes toward our direction could be spotted throughout the room as we entered, last among the other Guilds.
But I could not have cared less. I carried a disinterested look upon my face, hands in my jacket pockets, slightly hunched over as I always was.
To my right, Havoc was the same way, except he was standing up straight. His face was more of an "I want to leave" type look as he glanced at a corner of the room on his right.
Code the most proper, however, still wearing his billed cap and hood over his head. His hands were in his pants pockets as well, and he carried that same long sword with the two opposite hilts on his back from when we sparred yesterday. His face was stern and emotionless as he stood on my left.
This was it. The Kingdom's Guild meeting. What a fucking drag…
I could sort of make out some of the murmurs going on around us, some sarcastic, others demeaning, and the rest just straight-up insults.
"Is that The Black Wolves?" one snickered.
"The delinquent Guild."
"They actually showed their faces here? I thought they were long gone."
"Criminals…"
"They should have just never shown up, and let the Kingdom abolish them. They'd be doing us all a favor."
"Can't believe we're associated with them."
"Filthy mutts…"
I stood there with my bangs covering my eyes. All that showed was a shadow where they once were.
Havoc's and Code's faces were the same. I knew none of them, but they all liked to think they knew us. The only thing I was certain of was that all we had to do was weather this drag of a meeting out. Who cares what they say about us? So long as they didn't insult him.
"Yo!" a familiar voice echoed. And when I heard his voice, my eyes left the shadows they were in. I didn't see him at first, but I recognized his voice, so I began scanning the room to find where it came from.
Then, from farther back in the room, a cool-looking male walked out from a group he was chatting with. His hair was blond with blue tips, spiked up, with a strand of stray hair that fell on his face over his right eye. He was wearing dangling silver earrings that resembled swords and was wearing round shades, but the type that adjusted when you were inside, so you could see his eyes, which were blueish-white but dimmed due to being inside. He wore a heavy coat jacket with a popped collar that was a contrast of blue and white, unzipped, with only a white tank underneath, sporting a couple of silver necklaces. His pants were baggy and the same blue as his jacket, but stopped right at his ankles and cuffed. The shoes he wore were some brand of white sneakers that still had a tag on one of them. And his fingernails, peeking out of black fingerless gloves, alternated blue, yellow, and white.
When I saw him, my mood shifted immediately. "Snow!" I said as he strode closer to us, one hand in pocket and the other waving.
When he got close enough, I gave him a fist bump. "My man. Haven't seen you in a little bit. What have you been up to?" I said as I made a jerking motion with my hand, pretending to hold my cock.
"Ah fuck you!" he said jokingly.
Havoc and Code stood there observing our conversation, genuinely surprised I knew someone else in another Guild aside from Ryo.
"Oh yeah." I said, turning to them, "This is some of my crew, Snow—Code, Havoc. Code, Havoc—Snow." I gestured.
"Nice to meet ya! Hmm," he said, studying Havoc.
"Uh, what's up?" Havoc asked, confused.
"Are you Exec 1 or 2?" Snow asked.
"Neither. I'm just a member," Havoc responded.
"No way! That's killer, bro! Imagine being just a member at a meeting like this!" Snow responded enthusiastically.
Havoc stared at him mindlessly, still thinking about leaving as soon as possible. Completely disinterested.
"But I gotta ask…" Snow now turned his attention to me with an almost crazed look on his face. He crept closer to me and looked almost like an obsessive fanboy.
"Real talk. Where is she, you damn hoarder? Where's Ophelia? I was expecting to see her here when I heard you guys were coming!" He frantically looked around as if she were somehow there with us.
I raised a brow and looked at him curiously. "I don't know where she is currently. That's why Havoc is here."
"YOU DON'T KNO—" He calmed himself down before completing his sentence, then asked again in a more poorly collected manner, "You don't know where she is? How can you not know? First, you hide Star from me and now Ophelia?"
"I just don't. And really, dude? Star? You couldn't handle her if you tried. Even I could barely… You know what… never mind."
"You don't know what I can handle, asshole! I don't know what I did to shoo her away, but I didn't mean to scare her off."
I snickered, "You? Scare Star? I doubt that's what happened. She's not scared of anyone or anything. What I bet it was—she sensed your Beta aura and got turned off. I'll bet a billion eterna that's what it was."
Snow cringed and ran his hands through his hair multiple times before saying, "Are you fucking serious? Is that any reason to block someone on social media? We could have at least talked it out! And I am no Beta, you sly—you—you—cool— No wait…" he wailed, trailing off.
Havoc chuckled at his inability to come up with any comebacks.
I ignored his quirks and told him the last time I saw Ophelia, which might have single-handedly been the worst move I took, considering his woman problems. "Oh, and about Ophelia. We drank together last night, and then the next morning, which is today, she was gone."
"You—you guys… hung out last night?" he said, looking at me, trembling.
"Yeah, we always—"
"Sleep with each other," Havoc finished my sentence, watching how Snow would react.
Snow looked at me with a smile on his face. His left eyebrow twitched.
"You—you… you sleep… You sleep with—" he stuttered, trying to hold back his emotions.
"I think I broke him," Havoc said, baring his teeth in amusement as he chuckled.
"Man, why you gotta go and say that? Look what you did to the guy. He was already struggling with the Star situation…" I said back to Havoc.
"What? You can't tell me you didn't… You guys are so fucking loud. But not as loud as you and Star. It's like a zoo when she's in there."
"Keeper, shut up."
While we were talking, Code had left us, but not before exchanging greetings with Snow while he was internally losing his mind at Havoc's proprietary facts.
After patting his shoulder, Code found our spot at one of the thrones in the room and sat on the stone seats laid out all around the walls behind each of the thrones.
The other mages, still on the floor, watched our conversation unfold until they got bored and started mingling amongst each other again, doing as Code did. It seemed, whether he knew it or not, Snow had saved us from being awkwardly judged all by our lonesome.
Ryo came in from the opposite end with some other Captains and meeting coordinators, and they made their way onto the meeting room floors.
From the looks of it, he was one of the first ones here to make sure everything was in order for today. Classic Ryo.
He found us from where we were and waved, then continued on with his duties as he helped the meeting coordinators place meeting scrolls on small tables that were all next to each throne in the room.
The other Captains made their way to their seats, which signaled the other mages loitering around to head to their posts. Slightly above the main area and the thrones, there was a caveat for the rest of the council mages to have their seats in the room. However…
One mage caught my eye as Snow was ranting and shaking me back and forth.
She came last into the room, following from where Ryo and the others entered. Time and space themselves seemed to have slowed in this moment as Snow's muffled voice rang out, and the girl walked slowly toward us barefoot. Smooth, rosy skin. Golden. As she was.
Without that drape over her head, she looked almost half naked as she elegantly walked closer and closer, jewelry chiming as she walked. I just couldn't stop staring at her.
What was this feeling? It was like I'd seen her before, but this was our first time meeting… Or was she just that beautiful that it made me feel this way?
She got so close that I didn't realize I was within kissing distance from her when she asked, "Can I help you?"
I caught a glimpse of her eyes under those wispy white eyelashes of hers, and they were so immensely deep blue, like the sky I always looked at. I felt as though I was falling into them. A similar feeling from when we were atop that skyscraper from LeHarla, and all the other times I tended to look at the sky and space out.
"Who are you?" I blurted, realizing too late that I had said that out loud.
Snow, shocked and still holding me, finally let me go and stood back with Havoc watching. "Did he seriously just ask who she was—"
"Shh," Havoc hushed.
This girl's face was perfect and glowed even through the drape she wore over it. Her lips were full and smooth and pink. Her nose, the perfect arc, and those white eyelashes glinted with each flicker of light as she blinked. It was like I was getting a glimpse of what just might be the most beautiful girl in the world at this very moment.
"I'm just here for the meeting," she said, her voice like a bed of flowers that enticed me to jump into. She still stood a few inches from my face, unflinching, and she smelled like white gardenia as she continued to stare right back into my black eyes so unapologetically.
I stared at her the same, unashamed. Like we were talking a secret language with our eyes that only we understood. The sexual tension was high between us. Snow and Havoc in the background spectated every minute of it as if watching a movie.
"You wanna ditch this meeting?" I said, again without thinking.
A small but silent gasp came from Snow and Havoc's direction, at the edge of their invisible seats.
"Does that line normally work on the bimbos you pick up?" she playfully jabbed as she flickered those white eyelashes of hers.
I coquettishly smirked in response to her. Feisty… I liked that.
At this time, though, we were delightfully interrupted by a man clad in gold armor, blond hair, and dangling lock gauges in his ears. What impeccable timing…
"Captain, is this stray bothering you?" he said as he continued to walk in between us, ruining the moment.
"Who the hell are you?" I said almost combatively, uncaring of status or rank.
He snickered, then said, "You've got to be joking, right? Listen, you might be a Captain by default, but to me, you are hardly deserving of the title. Besides… You are of the lowest class Guild. Your rank is almost laughable, even with a Captain title."
"That's rich, coming from someone who fell short of that title. Want me to humble you a bit?"
"You cocky mutt. You really think you can—"
"Lance. Stand down. I was just leaving," she said to him, glancing over at me afterward. Her tone had changed entirely. Like the bed of flowers now swept away by a harsh wind.
"Yes, ma'am." Lance stiffened as he followed after his captain, this girl.
"Tool," I said to him as he walked past me.
He clicked his tongue, glaring over his shoulder at me, looking as if he wanted to say something back but couldn't, as he went on his way with my draped, golden princess.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, the meeting's about to start. I need to get to my throne. Pleasure meeting you. I hope we'll get the opportunity again," she continued, her voice sweet once more. The bed of flowers fluttered back from where the wind blew as if inviting me to follow her back to wherever her quarters were afterward. Perhaps it was just my imagination. A mild welcome to accommodate Sir Cockblock's random showing.
"What's your name?" I blurted again. I really had no shame, did I?
She and Golden Boy were already walking away and didn't stop. But she looked back and simply smiled at me with her eyes closed, slightly tilting her head before they headed to their spot in the meeting room.
"Alright then, I'll just call you princess until you tell me."
She stopped walking, and so did Golden Boy as he continued to glare at me. She, however, was giving me an entirely different look as she turned around. A look I could stare into forever as I died inside of her if she let me…
I was delighted by her response.
"I think I'd like that. Also…" she said, closing her eyes in a cheerful manner, "you smell like barf."