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 framing, making an intricate design throughout it.
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. Grand citadel on the outside, glossy and clean cathedral on the inside.
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. The look I carried was that of disinterest and my hands were in my pockets as usual.
To my right, Havoc was the same way, except his hands were in his gilet pockets, and he had more of a bored look on his face as he continued to stare at a random corner of the room.
Code was the most proper, though he still wore his billed cap and hood over his head, and his hands were in his pockets as well. He carried that same long sword with the two opposite hilts, slung over his shoulder. And his face was stern and emotionless as he stood on my left.
Well, we're here Asura! Our first (well maybe not for Code) 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?"
"They're all criminals, I've always known."
"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 strays."
"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 had dangling silver earrings resembling swords and had round shades. His eyes were a type of blue that could also pass as white. He wore a heavy coat jacket with a popped collar that was blue and white contrast, unzipped, with only a white tank underneath, some silver necklaces, and harem pants—baggy above, cuffed at the bottom. And he wore white sneakers that still had a tag on one of them.
When I saw him, my mood shifted immediately. The overly flashy "Snow!" I said as he strode closer to us, one hand in pocket and the other waving and flaunting his multicolored nails.
When he got close enough, I gave him a fist bump. "My man. It's been a while. 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 forgot... the only one that knows you is our 1st Ace. The rest of them only know Ryo," 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, 2? An Ace maybe?" Snow asked.
"None. 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. "Well good for you, this is a great place to build clout!"
"Eh. I don't care," Havoc responded probably a bit too disinterestedly.
"Wow, you really are this guy's subordinate," Snow gestured a thumb to me. "But I gotta ask…" he now turned my direction; he had a crazed look about him. He crept close and almost breathed directly into my face like some creep.
"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. He even focused intently at a wall nearby like he sensed she was there or something...
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 shrugged, "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—you—you—cool— No wait…" he wailed, trailing off.
Havoc chuckled at his inability to come up with any comebacks. "I thought only Ace 1 knows this guy?"
"Let me rephrase... 'knows we're associated,'" I clarified. "Doesn't stop this guy from stalking Black Wolf girls, though."
"I am not stalking! I am just scouting their regular hang out spots!"
"That's fucking stalking."
While we continued to banter, Code had left us. I hardly noticed he had left and found our spot at one of the thrones in the room. He moved like a shadow.
The other mages shifted their attention off of us at this time. 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 by the thrones in the room.
The other captains with him spread out to their seats, signaling the rest of us on the floor to head to our stations. But then the last one to enter through that door...
She caught my eyes immediately. Whether it was her gaudy attire or the way she walked, I could not, for the life of me, take my eyes off of her.
Time and space seemed to have slowed in this moment as Snow's voice muffled out in my ears, and the girl walked slowly toward us. Barefoot. Smooth, rosy skin. Side boobs. Why were those the first three things I noticed? It was like she was doing this on purpose.
Without that drape over her head, she looked almost half naked as she elegantly walked closer and closer, jewelry chiming, clinking as she drew near. The sounds of everything else around me was basically nonexistent.
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?
I had apparently spaced out because she got so close I hardly realized we were within kissing distance from each other. I caught a glimpse of her eyes under those wispy white eyelashes of hers, and they were so immensely deep blue...
When she spoke, it sounded like a gentle song, "Are you a perv?"
"Yes."
"Excuse me?" she asked, her expression was so meek. And I had no idea what I was saying.
"My bad. I thought you asked me if I wanted to ditch this meeting with you."
Snow gasped and stood back with Havoc watching. "Did he seriously just—"
"Shh," Havoc hushed. Like they were watching a show.
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.
"Does that line normally work on the bimbos you pick up?" she playfully jabbed as she flickered those white eyelashes at me.
"Oh!" Snow and Havoc commented from the background.
I coquettishly smirked in response to her. Feisty… I liked that.
Her voice like a bed of flowers that enticed me to jump into. She remained a few inches from my face, unflinching, and she smelled like white gardenia as she continued to stare right back into my dark eyes so unapologetically.
I remained the same as well, unashamed. Like we were talking a secret language with our eyes that only we understood.
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.
"And you are?" I said boredly, 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 ranking Guild. Your rank is almost laughable, even with a Captain title."
"Are you a captain?" I asked.
"1st Vice Captain of the Golden Roses." he pompously answered.
"Wow, so just a smidge short of that captain's title, huh?"
"You cocky mutt. You really think you're—"
"Lance. Stand down. I was just leaving," she said to him, glancing over at me afterward. Her tone had changed entirely. 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 appearance.
"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 glowering at me. She, however, was giving me an entirely different look when 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."