"I agree with my brother, Sil." Eireen said, expressing her concerns, recognizing the risks involved. "What if she demands the Queen's soul as payment for her assistance? What would we do then?"
"I understand the risks, but do we have any alternatives?" Silver countered, emphasizing the urgency of the situation. "Time is of the essence, and the longer we spend contemplating other options, the greater the danger to her majesty."
The room fell silent as Silver's words resonated with them. Although it pained them to admit it out loud, they acknowledge the validity of her point.
"The white witch possesses the unique ability to track individuals in other dimensions," Silver explained with a somber expression. "We have no choice but to seek her aid."
Suddenly, Talon offered a suggestion. "How about we use the soul-binding spell to locate the Queen."
Eireen, Silver, and Eigeel turned their heads towards him. The three wore a complicated expression, particularly Eigeel who looked alarmed. Of course, Talon's suggestion offered a potential solution to finding their missing queen.
"None of us have ever performed a soul-binding ritual with the queen," Silver stated, stating the obvious fact that everyone in the room was already aware of.
Eireen nodded her agreement. "We can't perform a soul-binding ritual without the presence of the queen. In other words, it's impossible to use it to track her down."
Eireen and Silver's disappointment filled the room, while Talon remained silent in the corner, his expression blank as he exchanged a meaningful gaze with Eigeel. When Eigeel met Talon's gaze, he sighed.
"Actually, I might hold the solution to that."
Confusion clouded Eireen's face as she looked at her older brother. "What do you mean?" she asked.
Eigeel sighed again. "I mean, I might be the solution to that problem," he clarified.
Still not comprehending her brother's statement, Eigeel began unbuttoning his dress shirt to provide proof for his explanation.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold it right there!" A familiar booming female voice halted Eigeel's actions as it echoed from the doorway.
Aqua, a beautiful woman with flowing light blue hair and captivating emerald green eyes, stood at the now opened entrance. "Why is Eigeel undressing?" she inquired, her enchanting voice adding allure to her stunning appearance. "I thought you all were having a strategic meeting," she teased.
"Aqua!" Eireen exclaimed with delight, rushing to her side and linking her arm with Aqua's as if reuniting with a long-lost friend. "I'm so glad you're here!"
"Whoa there..." Aqua laughed, as if calming a horse. "Don't shake me too much, Eireen. I might barf," she then playfully responded, pretending to retch.
Eireen nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Barf ahead. I'm not letting you go. It's been so long since I last saw you." she exclaimed, still clinging to Aqua's arm.
Aqua, another member of the Scarlet Order, resembled a water nymph in her long blue gown adorned with pearls and corals. In her hand, she held a silver trident, a symbol of power and royalty among demon merfolk.
"I hurried to sober myself up as quickly as possible when I heard the queen had awakened," Aqua informed the room's occupants with a smile.
"Don't forget about me!" a man with copper-colored curly hair and red eyes announced as he entered the room, dressed in a white dress shirt, a long black midnight jacket, and breeches. The silver cross earring on his left ear jingled as he walked.
"Levin, you made it!" Eireen greeted the newcomer with a friendly smile.
"I came as fast as I could when I heard about the emergency. Did I miss anything?" Levin inquired.
"Thank you for responding promptly," Eigeel expressed his gratitude, nodding slightly at Levin.
Everyone in the room welcomed the man with red eyes, except for Silver. "Levin," she uttered his name with a sour taste in her mouth.
Levin smiled at Silver, flashing his fangs—a gesture she despised. "It's good to see everyone after all these years," he remarked, turning his attention back to Silver, who clearly was not pleased to see him. "Especially you, Lemons."
Silver's expression turned uglier upon hearing the obnoxious nickname he had given her years ago. "Stop calling me that!" she snapped, her calm demeanor shattering.
Levin grinned, unfazed by her mood. His eyes sparkled with dark amusement as he stared at Silver's beautiful face. "Nah. Even after so many years, I'm still not going to stop calling you Lemons. The nickname suits you perfectly, especially with that pained expression you make whenever you see me."
"Filthy Bloodsucker," Silver cursed, while Levin simply laughed, further fueling her anger.
"They never change, do they?" Eireen commented to Aqua, expressing her disbelief. "It's been so long since we've seen each other, and even after all these years, they're still bickering like this," she lamented, observing the ongoing exchange between Levin and Silver with a pout on her lips.
Eigeel listened to his sister's words and calmly reminded her of the longstanding animosity between the Silver Moon Wolf Clan and the Blood Moon Vampire Clan. "The two clans have never gotten along since the beginning," he said, his shirt still unbuttoned.
"By the way, where is Red? I don't see him anywhere," Levin asked, scanning the room.
Right on cue, Eireen gasped as if she felt an insect crawling on her leg.
"AHHH!" she screamed.
Aqua stepped back as Eireen released her arm. The others watched as Eireen desperately tried to shake off the red fur ball that clung to her leg like a leech.
Levin and Silver observed the scene, suppressing their laughter, while Talon and Eigeel let out sighs. It had been a while since they had all been in the same room, and it was good to see that some things hadn't changed.
"Alright, that's enough," Eigeel intervened, plucking the fur ball from Eireen's leg. "Stop scaring my little sister, Red."
The fur ball, known as Red, suddenly sprouted a head, legs, and nine fluffy tails. It stopped growing when it reached the size of a small puppy. The creature nestled against Eigeel's chest, purring as he cradled it in his arms.
Eireen glared at the little red fox, pointing her finger at it. "You nearly scared me to death!"
Red, the crimson fox, emitted a series of short squeaking noises, as if saying, "Stop overreacting," before smugly giving her a toothy grin.
Eireen seethed. "You—"
"That's enough, sister. Consider it his way of showing he missed you," Eigeel intervened gently, patting Red's head.
"But—"
"By the way, when I arrived, I saw Eigeel doing something interesting," Aqua interjected, changing the subject with a hint of amusement in her voice. "So, what did we miss?"
Levin, too, showed interest. "I thought you were undressing," he said to Eigeel.
The room fell silent, with all eyes on Eigeel, waiting for him to continue what he had intended to do before Aqua's interruption.
Eigeel sighed. "Firstly, I wasn't undressing for show. Secondly, now that Aqua and Levin are here, I will recap the discussion we had..."
A few minutes later, after Eigeel caught everyone up, Levin shared his thoughts on the soul-binding spell.
"It's possible that the soul-binding spell can track the queen's location, but none of us has ever performed the ritual with her majesty, as she declined to enter a master-servant contract with all of us," Levin explained.
Silence fell upon the room.
"That's why I was attempting to remove my shirt," Eigeel explained, breaking the silence. His statement left the people in the room confused, except for Eireen, who immediately understood what her brother meant, her eyes widening in realization.
She shook her head, looking at her brother with a mix of shock and disbelief. "No. No, no, no, no, no. Brother, don't tell me you—"
Eigeel pulled his collar down, revealing a black soul-binding symbol in the shape of a rose, Scarlet's insignia, on his chest, just above his heart.
Everyone gasped.
They were utterly speechless, and completely taken aback. Only Eireen managed to snap out of her stunned state after a few minutes.
"Brother, you— You are so incredibly unfair!"
Eigeel blinked. "Huh?" What is this reaction?
Eireen summoned her magic, and a clump of wet mud appeared in her hand, and then she threw it at his face. Eigeel hadn't expected his sister's reaction and managed to dodge the clump of mud before it hit him.
Silver was the next to react. "Indeed, you fiend!" she exclaimed, throwing a punch at him, but Eigeel easily evaded it since she wasn't really trying to kill him so her movements were slower than usual. Silver growled, glaring at him over her shoulder. "I never thought you could do this behind our back! You bastard!"
"That was years ago, before the war." He explained, but that didn't elevate the situation.
"That's even worse!" Eireen exclaimed.
Levin watched the commotion as he approached Talon beside the wall. "Since you're not reacting negatively like the others, I assume you knew about this?" he asked.
Talon nodded and didn't explain how. He broke his vow of silence, but he didn't regret revealing it. The queen's safety was more important. He can live the consequences as long as her mistress was alive and well.
"You knew we all wanted the same thing!" Aqua said, joining the one-sided onslaught as she hurled a water ball at Eigeel, her face filled with resentment.
Talon remained the calm one in the room, while Levin simply stood there, silently drowning in his own silent disappointment, because he too, wanted to form the soul binding spell with Scarlet.