A clean, pristine room who’s floors were made of the most fine white marble, the walls adorned with glass like stone, who’s interiors almost pulsed with an orange lava like substance to give the area a warm, welcoming vibe, six dozen people crowded in, talking amongst themselves, identical masks, featureless faces to conceal identities stood in front of a raised platform with four chairs awaiting their leader. Sophia removed herself slightly to avoid conversation with those she deemed unworthy of her time, those who decided to indulge in crime, the booze smugglers, the front runners like the woman who ran the maid cafe who always had her bodyguard hooked to her at the hip making it very obvious they knew each other, the baker who smuggled drugs within his freshly baked bread, or the one who pretended to be homeless as to not rouse suspicion. No, she always tried to stay with the ones who wanted to control the continent, its kingdoms, cities, towns, villages, everything from the shadows rather than out in the open. A far cry from her youth when she wanted to be the Goddess of War, decided when, and who would wage war on each other, how long it would last, and how violent and costly it would become, but that path was denied to her, and now here she was with the remnants of the Crimson Myst, now re-forming after their crushing defeat at the hands of the Ichor Brotherhood under the Cult of Albatross. She loved coming to these meetings some months ago, as they would all get together, announce their progress, and decide what course of action to take to stealthily take over the continent one step at a time, rather than try to take it over by force and risk the wrath of the Brotherhood again, a fight they’d surely lose. But now, ever since the spring, all these meetings felt less like a group of equals, but now it was one person at the top… and everyone else was equal, under his boot.

Sophia eyed the door as a figure dressed in a red and gold robe, long slicked back black hair and a short beard entered, his hands clasped together in front of him, rubbing them together with a sickeningly evil grin. The Abnormal wanna be, the wizard from Dabakana- Albatross, a name he took after killing a son of Zeus to spite the dead God who stripped the gold from his blood. Now he serves the same Master as Sophia, in the hopes that one day Albatross will be made a god himself.

Albatross cleared his throat and held his left hand up toward the door he just exited himself, “Friends, confidants… may I present to you… our Master, the God-king, Reign!”

Those in attendance clapped respectfully, lightly as the man entered in a set of robes that engulfed him, dragged six feet behind him and dwarfed him, making him look oddly small, and he wore a silver helmet to conceal his face. He sat down in the largest chair, raising his hands as he did so to hush the audience.

“Our first order of business… if you please” Reign said in a cool, calm, and casual tone

A member to Sophia’s right stepped forward, “Our spies within the governments to the North tell us that Orion’s efforts to de- radiate Sparta have not progressed much further, the Spartans themselves have either all moved into a neighboring City-State that used to belong to them, the port City-State of Elis, my Lord. They even elected a Spartan to be their representative in the Athenian court, a man who was given the name - Hune, he lives within the walls of Athens away from us, and advocates for his people who chose to immigrate to Athens on their behalf.”

“And has he made progress?” asked Reign

“No, my Lord. His words fall upon ears of the uncaring.”

“Good.” Reign said, waving the member to sink back into the crowd, “What next?”

Another member to Sophia’s right stepped forward, “My spies within the walls of Athenian government have told me that their leader, the Deacon has made contact with the Ichor Brotherhood, and have made strives to re-connect, they seek to re-establish themselves as a powerhouse in the world stage, but refuse to give up their numbers. Their representative was…vague, likely out of distrust, or they feared spies.”

“Do they suspect our existence?”

“No, my Lord. But I’m told in their final days, the leaders of the Brotherhood suspected us wiped out, and the Cult of Albatross are simply a group of fanatics, those who seek human superiority. None know our true methods.”

“Good.” Reign said, drawing out the o’s in a devilish tone, as he turned to Albatross, “Any word on the search for the artifacts, or the smiths?” For the first time there was genuine interest in his voice, rather than some theatrics for the sake of having the meeting.

“No. No, my Lord, nothing has come of them. But rest assured they will be found.”

That last bit caught Sophia’s ears, why was Reign so interested in these artifacts? He brought them up in every single meeting, was this some show of force? Something to make him seem mysterious?

Sophia leaned over to one of her confidants named Erik, and whispered, “Does anyone know why he is so interested in these objects? He’s been hunting them from the moment he took over this troop. It’s getting not only annoying, but it’s starting to interfere with our grander plans.”

“No, not a word spoken. Some of the others joke that he just really likes collecting things from his age, which makes him feel more at home.” Erik said, lightly spreading his hands to not be noticed by the larger crowd

“A waste of resources…” Sophia muttered under her breath, “Resources we could be using to conquer the land. We need to speak up.” Sophia said as she went to turn, Erik grabbed her arm, “What is the meaning of this?!”

Erik hushed her, “We cannot make a scene in the middle of one of his meetings, you saw what happened to poor Amon, they had to clean pieces of his brain off the floor.”

“For months all we’ve heard is, where’s my magic this, where’s the magic that. And I’m sick of waiting until he collects his cabinet of trinkets before we can start acting! Let him keep that as a side project, but we must move beyond act one of our plan before the sun dies out!”

Erik raised his hand, trying to calm her down, “Just… wait a moment. I’ll speak in your place.”

Sophia eyed him, “Why?”

“If you are cut down for speaking against him, our supporters will scatter, and I am not one to lead.”

Sophia nodded, “I’m sure he will not kill you, he is not that vain.”

Erik sighed, “Let’s hope…”

Sophia watched Erik glacially step up to the stage, as she motioned for her followers to crowd around her. Erik cleared his throat, the words catching before they could leave his mouth…

Reign glared at him, “What is the meaning of this, I did not summon you.” Erik stood defiantly, refusing to speak, “If you have something to share…-” he raised his hands- “Share.”

“What does the almighty God-King need with useless trinkets?” Erik asked, mimicking Sophia’s speech pattern, “If you’re so powerful, why do you need golden spheres, or silver spears? Why not just snap your fingers and wipe our enemies from the face of this planet? Or is it that you are not truly Reign at all, but a meat puppet made by Albatross to make himself seem more powerful than he seems!?”

Reign let out a howling laugh, one that shook Sophia to her bones as he stood up, removing the helmet with a hiss escaping the metal, dropping it to the floor revealing a rather youthful, if heavily scarred face, looking as though it had been burned, his hair a rather neat, military haircut, and his beard well rounded, both a dark brown with shades of gray around his temples, “You question my motives, my reasonings, boy? Do you not know who I am? I am the man who took the fight to Zeus and his pathetic family, I am the man who waged war against the Gods of Olympus, and I am the man who murdered Ares, Hades Triton, and Posiedon!”

Erik scoffed, a fake sign of a lack of fear “Yet here you are, cowering with the rest of us in some cave, plotting our Illuminati takeover of the world, with nothing to show for it. I ask again, if you are so powerful, why did it take you thousands of years to recover from the beating Zeus gave you? Why do you need us to search for useless trinkets of an age gone by?”

Sophia sighed, Erik was getting too into his role as a stand in, trying to rile Reign up was not going the same way it would trying to rile up Albatross, clearly.

“As powerful as I am, I can easily kill all of you without breaking a sweat, but I do not know the lengths, the depths of the power the Ichor Brotherhood holds within their walls, for all I know, they could have their very own Zeus, their very own Kraken ready on their beck and call. I need those I seek to restore my body, my power to its former God-killing glory. And you, boy , need to learn your place, and speak only when spoken to.”

Erik let out a low laugh, the situation finally dawning on him, but it was too late to go back now, “We will not serve a God-King so weak he needs his underlings to do everything for him, we are conspirators, spies, and warriors in our own right. What makes you think we cannot, no, will not kill your ourselves, and take your throne? We were doing just fine before you supposedly came back from the dead, and we will continue to do fine once your body has withered away.”

“Mm, yes, doing so well, cowering in the dark, hoping… praying the Republic of Athens does not find you, hoping your maid cafe front isn’t raided by the local government, Once I am restored to my glory, we will take back what is rightfully mine, and we shall rule this world. Now you may choose to stay, or you will be forced out. The choice is yours.”

Erik raised his hands, “My supporters and I, we choose to leave, then continue to sit and hide in these caves, hoping your illustrious God-King decides today is the day we strike….” And that was it, the point of no return…

After a few tense moments, Reign let out another belly laugh, Sophia’s smile faded as she turned, her supporters were not only standing beside her ready to drop their masks and leave, but they had stepped backwards further into the pool of bodies, hiding their masked faces in shame.

“You cowards, you worms…” Sophia muttered to herself

“Then.” Reign started, waving to Albatross, who snapped his fingers causing a green spark to emit from between his fingers, “You have chosen exile. I could have easily shown you the mercy you deserve for speaking out against me, but I am feeling lenient today.”

As Sophia turned back to Reign, another figure emerged on stage, a person decked out in armor that seemed to be one giant piece of glass, mirror, and an overcoat over their arms, a katana on their hip. Sophia tried to read them, but there was nothing, no facial features, they moved almost robotically, making her think maybe this was some kind of new machine Albatross had devised in his labs, or stolen off Orion. The figure leapt from the stage and approached Erik , their left hand on their katana, clicking it with their thumb, the blade was a dark orange energy blade… Sophia could only sit and watch as Fade approached Erik, a menacing shadow engulfed the young man as the monster stepped ever closer, blocking Erik from the unnatural light of the cave. She wanted to leap between them, but something about Fade’s presence unnerved her, made her feet like solid steel, welded to the ground.

Reign cleared his throat, “Acolyte, I would like you to meet my left hand, my living weapon… the warrior named Fade. You may try to fight, by all means… but it will result in your demise.”

“I do not fear your glass warrior, Reign.” Erik spat out, “And I shall not die here today.” He drew his twin swords from beneath his cloak, and readied for a fight.

“Mhm, not the first time I’ve heard that one. Fade, if you please.”

Without warning, Fade launched forward, the orange energy blade slashing and cutting at Erik at such lightning fast speed, he found it difficult to block, impossible to counter or mount an offensive, as he felt his swords melt a bit with each strike, soon the sword in his right hand snapped in half, clattering to the floor, Erik moved to attack with his left sword, but Fade grabbed his left hand with his own right, and forced his energy blade through Erik’s arm with one swift motion. Erik fell to the floor howling in pain, as Fade tossed his hand to the side before picking him up by the shirt collar.

“Thirty seconds, lasted longer than the last one.” Reign mused, “Now…”

Fade ripped the mask from his face, crushing it with ease, the plastic and metal crumbling to the floor like sand, “Erik Mance… I exile you, not only from our order, but from these lands. While you may find refuge with the commoners, please take note, within the coming days, even those will not be safe for you.”

Sophia’s eyes burned with anger as she tried to focus, she fought the urge to try and rush Reign’s weapon, to sink her daggers into its throat, but as she locked eyes with Erik, he shook his head just enough for it to register, he raised his remaining hand, and struggled to his feet.

“Am I an example to those who would speak out against you, Reign? All mighty God-king” Erik said, spitting at the last bit

“You know, for one such as you who just…lost their hand in thirty seconds, one would expect you to learn when to shut up and take your loss with pride.”

“Fuck you.” Erik stated casually

Sophia and Erik’s gaze met one more time, Sophia shaking her head, silently pleading for him to stop talking and live to fight another day, but her thoughts were interrupted as Fade began smashing Erik’s head into the adjacent wall again, and again, and again, Sophia lost track after the fourth or fifth before he finally released his grip, Erik fell to the floor, her nose bleeding as Fade gently lifted his head up, and turning to Reign who only nodded, to which Fade delivered one final punch to his temple, and Erik’s body went limp as blood began pouring from his nose and mouth.

Reign cleared his throat, “Let it be known I take no issue with anyone speaking against any of my decisions, during a meeting or not. I do take issue with those who would question my motives without proper cause. And now that everyone here knows why am I searching for these… trinkets-” he said that last word with a bit of bite to it, staring right at Sophia, “- we can continue our plans. Albatross.”

“Yes, my Lord?” he replied ever the snake, gleefully still looking at Erik’s body

“Give Erik a proper burial and inform his kin that he was killed… heroically standing for justice.”

Sophia stared in confusion at this act, why have him killed then turn around and perform such an act of kindness?

“Until next time, my friends. To unity!” Reign shouted, holding up a glass of crimson wine

“TO UNITY!” his followers shouted in unison as Sophia imagined digging her dagger into Reign’s throat