The Great Meeting

Armond sat in the meeting room, the one at the top of Helios tower. He was waiting for the other three world leaders too arrive. He always looked forward too these meetings, as he got on quite well with Olivine and Kanana. Atreyu, not so much. But it wasn't as if he hated the guy, he just didn't like his attitude. The man was OBSESSED with revenge!

But, he wasn't there to talk about revenge, there was something far more important at hand. Some of his "eyes and ears" had reported hushed talks of secret organisations and the like. He didn't have enough information, so he sent a messenger to the other world leaders, in the hope that they could converge and talk.

Olivine arrived at the meeting, lightly guarded. Armond was there, but otherwise it was empty. She sat in her designated seat. This was her third time meeting like this, the rest were before she rose to power. She had never been on time before. Kanana was often late to the meetings, but Atreyu was almost always first to arrive. She wondered what was keeping him.

She had only brought the guards because her advisers had said too, she didn't believe that she would be in danger. She was one of the four strongest people in the world, and they would all be here. Sometimes she wished she could make her own decisions.

Armond smiled, glad Atreyu hadn't arrived, he was also glad too see Olivine, who he was fond of. He frowned, however when the guards entered,"Oh come on, Olive, I don't have any guards with me do I? I should think it's a little unfair, besides, what we are discussing must be kept secret. I trust you didn't tell your advisers as I asked?"

Olivine sighed. She hadn't told them, they saw her leaving and sent guards. But all she said was "Sorry Armond." Then she turned her head to the guards and said "Why don't you guard me from the first floor?" She motioned for the guards to leave.

"So, should we wait for them of just start?"

Armond chuckled, "Let's just start, i'll note things down"He pulled out a pen and paper "I'll start, My ears have been hearing rumors about some sort of organisation. I have no idea what they want. But I suspect they want to overthrow one of us. But that isn't what worries me. What worries me is the fact that they're right under are noses. They could be anyone, even your advisers. This is one of the biggest threats we've faced in our respective reigns. So, what have you heard?"

"Hmmm," she started, "My eyes and ears have told me, they appeared to be forming in Oloco, but now that you mention it..." She wasn't sure what to think. "We'd have to wait for the others yo be sure, but I have a nagging suspicion that they're forming in every nation, maybe to overthrow us all.

"interesting. Sadly, i fear we won't be able to talk about this subject further until our colleagues arrive. However, we have to consider another possibility. This organisation may not be trying to overththrow us. They may be trying to control us. This was the exact reason I asked you not to inform your advisers of this meeting's subject. Believe me when I say it can be done, the courts had a very firm hold on my father. Hell, the nobles practically ran the place." He leaned closer "So, I would consider that you personally asses your advisers. In my experience, there are certain criteria they should fit. "

"Criteria, huh," she said, "Like what? She was, in fact, suspicious of her advisers. They always wanted her guarded, it was as if her entire court was watching her. She needed to test them, if she didn't, it might end in war."And why would the organization in question want to control us? Why not just overthrow us, what is there to gain?

"Look at it this way, why would they want to go up against four immensely strong warriors? Why destroy us and the immense power we have when they can harness it? And the criteria is this: They must be handpicked, other people care less about your success than you do. They must not be allowed to rule the throne single-handedly if you're away, they'll want the power back once it's taken from them. Finally, they must have met you without the knowledge that they may once become your adviser, in other words, they must be your friends"

Armond stood up, and started to pace "Where are those two anyway?"

Oh, no Olivine thought. The advisers had been appointed by the previous ruler. She was scared, so scared, in fact, that she didn't notice Armond stand up, or that the others hadn't arrived. She couldn't fight this alone. She stood up, slamming her hands into the meeting table, and said, "I am going to need help, this organization has been operating under my nose for too long!

Then she noticed it. A guard, watching them. One of the guards she had ordered away.

Atreyu walked through the door leading to the meeting room. His eyes as cold as a winter stone. He looked around and examined everyone in the room. For a few seconds he stared at the guard that belonged to Olivine as if he were reading him like a book. His eyes soon motioned toward the other two. "Excuse me for my late arrival, I sensed a disturbance and had to arrest a few of my own this morning"
He closed his as he say down in his chair, sighing. "Kanana will be with us shortly," He said as if he had some sort of innuendo. "What have we discussed so far if you don't mind me asking," He continued to eye ball the Guard.

Armond had no time for Atreyu right now. The guard had alerted him, and Armond stared at the guard. Then, in the blink of an eye, crystal shot out of his middle finger, expanded, and engulfed the guard. After checking the other guard wasn't there, Armond slammed the door and looked around. He then turned towards Atreyu "Me and Olivine have both heard of some sort of secret society. We think they may be forming in every nation. I called you here to share information on the subject. Just read this if you need to know more."He offered the parchment to Atreyu, it had everything that had happened noted down, including the guard. "But. Before you do, have you noticed any strange goings on lately?"

The rulers were still short one, as Kanana had still failed to show up, but that was the least of everyone's worries. For the first time since before the explosion, Olivine felt powerless to help something. She couldn't contribute further to the conversation at this point. She sat back down in her seat.

Armond twirled round, arms outstretched, by the time he'd made the turn to the door all of the symbols on his chest were glowing. However the glowing subsided once he saw who was at the door. It was the...strangely dressed lightning mistress herself, Kanana, and she was not happy. Which, to be fair, Armond could understand. His eyes told him that she was on a hunting trip of sorts. Personally, Armond found no joy in mercilessly slaughtering animals, but who was he to judge? Kanana spoke up "Well? Which of you called this damned meeting, and just what exactly was so dire that it couldn't have waited a day or two?" The Diamond king winced slightly she was unhappy. Oh boy, this is going to be interesting.

"Well, I think you'll find it was I that called the meeting. There is an urgent matter to discuss, we believe that our respective nations are in danger...from within. Both myself and Olive here have heard news of some sort of secret organisation. We have no idea what they want. But the worst case scenario is they're looking to control us, to sway our wishes so that it benefits them." He motioned to the guard encased in crystal. "This man was listening to our conversation earlier, so we know the organisation is real. However it seems things are worst than we feared. Their group is so powerful that they are able to infiltrate Olive's elite guard. Worst of all, we have no idea who they are. We're completely cornered." He noticed Olivine's depressed pose, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But, if we combine our knowledge, we may be able to defeat them. When you bursted in Atreyu was about to tell us his findings, but he's busy reading the log I took of our conversation, so what have you found?"

Armond nodded "Of course you can interrogate them. And i did give room to breathe, just not much of it."The white circle on Armond's left hand began to glow, and the crystal encasing the guard fell to the floor. The guard's feet and hands were still bound in crystal, so he couldn't move or cast spells. Armond stepped aside, motioning to Olivine, "He's all yours."

The room finally seemed full with everyone here, and Olivine was happy about that, but the issue of her elite guard being invaded foreshadowed something terrible and she knew it. " I may not have anything else to bring up, she said aloud, " but I might suggest that maybe it's not just my court, it's very possible that it's all of us."

" And that just leaves you," She turned to the guard, her eyes met his as she began the interrogation, " Now, who sent you? Huh? Which of those ignoramuses was it?!? She gave him no time to answer before hitting him and knocking him to the floor. " ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

The guard didn't say anything when he was thrown to the ground, in fact he merely chuckled eerily. And he continued to chuckle when Kanana licked some of his blood. "What?" he said, and his chuckling subsided "do you really think i'm intimidated? You underestimate us" Armond slowly walked up to the guard. "You realize who you're in a room with, don't you? We are the four most powerful people on the planet, we can kill you in a thousand different ways without breaking a sweat." The guard started chuckling again "The most powerful? We'll have too see about that."

" Not talking, eh?" She picked him up by his shirt, (or vest or, whatever) " THAT IS NOT YOUR DECISION!" She hit him once for every syllable. His blood began to drip to the floor, but the look in his eyes was not one of fear.


" I guess you just need a little, MARINATION!" She rose her hands for what she called 'drainage'.

Atreyu was already finished with the paper seconds after Armond had given it to him; he just wanted to see if anyone would ask for his assistance which they didn't. He decided to let the poor excuse of interrogation linger one as he managed to pull a faint smirk. He was better at interrogating people than most of the leaders so he decided to take the situation into his own hands as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the man incased in the crystal. He brushed past olivine and kanana as he stood in between them and the man.
"You will tell us everything we need to know about this organization, or else suffer my wrath," He turned to look at the other leaders, "What I have learned about this small cult is that they are incredibly impure souls who are more likely opposites of us all. Imagine it like an alternate dimension behind some mirror. That is what they are to us and the world we protect," He turned his head back toward the man and within seconds the skin around his eyes turned black and stretched sharply to his ears. His eyes turned red and the white part, black.His hand was steaming with invigorating hit and he placed it on the mans face. Not caring for his emotions or his health condition at the moment, all he wanted was information. more information.

" Fine, he's yours." She said, though no matter what she said Atreyu would have taken him. But she still stood close to the interrogation, as she wanted to hear what the guard had to say.


She pulled out a towel to wipe the blood from her knuckles.