"Let's get some light," the voice from the door spoke, who pulled on a small switch, igniting a gas lamp on a bedside cabinet. The room was small and cosy, a single bed taking up a large half of the bedroom, with a set of straw chairs and an oak cabinet taking up the opposite half.
A tiny set of steps led to the door the men stood in, with a cracking wooden-beamed ceiling barely tall enough to fit someone of average height. And with the yellow light illuminating the room, casting dancing shadows across the walls, the men in the doorway could be made out clearly, and rather than just two, there were in fact four.
In front, stood a heavily built and clearly older man, not too short or too tall, with a greying head of hair, and uneven stubble across his face. The other man who spoke was far more young looking and handsome, only a head shorter than the man in front, a defined jaw and face with a redish-brown mane of hair covering a large part of his face, leading into a set of stubbled sideburns.
The men behind were standing side-by-side, the one on the left with black hair flowing down the sides of his face and deep rich blue eyes and an extremely young appearance, being only slightly shorter than the red-haired man with the other, a brown haired and mature individual as well as being the tallest among them, scanning the room with an emotionless expression on his face.
"Okay, everyone make themselves comfortable, this might be a long one," the man in front, Igo, explained, taking his seat on the bottom end of the bed.
"Couldn't you of at least given us a pillow, Igo?" the handsome man complained, pointing at the straw chair nearest to the door.
"Don't go on complaining now, avo, after all this place is supposed to be abandoned." the expressionless one retorted.
"I told you, Gulliver, its Avos!" the handsome man shouted, "Only my Ma' gets to call me that."
"What was the story again?" the black haired man said, jokingly, "Came out of the womb as green as a-"
"Oh shut up, Lucan!" screamed Avos, embarrassed and flushed, "Would you like to tell me about the time you shat yourself everywhere in the orphanage and got it on the other orphans!"
"That was a funny one now you mention it..."
"God dammit... anyway what did you call us for, Igo." Avos cursed frustrated, before steeling himself and looking at Igo, concerned. By now, everyone was sitting down, looking at Igo with the same look of worry. Not only had Igo never called a meeting like this, but he had never looked so serious about anything in his life.
"Its about... Daniel."
"The boy? How's he doing, has something happened to him?" queried Gulliver, showing an out-of-place speck of emotion; anxiety.
"No... not really. He's doing fine, but..."
"But?" interrupted Avos, especially unnerved by Igo's hesitation.
"He's made a friend."
And with that, the entire room burst into laugher and sighs; all except Igo.
"What on Alium was that all about, Igo! You had us all worried!" laughed Lucan, patting Igo on the back, from where he was situated on the other end of the bed.
"Yeah, you had us good!"
"Igo, is that really all? You wouldn't act so serious for something like that, right?" questioned Gulliver, confused and almost frustrated at his 'friends' reactions.
"I mean, its a pretty big thing for someone like him to make a friend, why not talk about it or even celebrate it!?" argued Avos, an ear-to-ear smile across his face.
"The friend is Ellis' son."
And with that, the entire room sank into a deep silence, a blank stare on all of the friends' faces.
"How do you know that?" asked Lucan, solemnly.
"When Daniel came back home, he was waving to someone. So, of course, I looked back to them. That white hair is unmistakeable. The white hair of Diana, the late wife of the Inquisitor"
"Igo," stated Lucan, staring directly at him with a look of dread, "You need to stop it. Stop this... 'friendship' if you could even call it that. Igo, if he finds out Daniel is connected to you, then he'll think he's connected to me. And you'll know what happens next."
"I know, I know... it's just-"
"There are no 'justs' when talking about this, Igo. I agree with Lucan. The sooner the relationship ends, the safer it is for Daniel," agreed Gulliver, resting his eyes upon the dusty floor.
"What do you think, Avos?"
"Unlike you guys, I haven't had any experience with Ellis and I definitely don't want to have one based off of what you say about him. However, Lucan and Gulliver are right with this one. If this man is as dangerous as he is made out to be, Daniel will be a lamb to the slaughter."
"I-I'll try. I never said I wouldn't but... he ain't-"
"This isn't a matter of trying, Igo." an omnipotent voice rung out from the mortal frame of a seemingly young man standing up from the bed he was sitting on. When Lucan got angry, especially when concerning him, he often slipped into what is referred to as his 'true' state. The man born in the ruthless night of the Voidlands rather than the boy Igo had raised himself, or the façade he put on daily. This man wore the face of death itself, and exhumed an aura of wrath so palpable, it felt like you were being chocked to death, "For his sake, you must do it, Igo."
"Now, now, calm down Lucan," Avos tried to defuse the situation, struggling not to choke on the suffocating atmosphere, "You don't want to make a scene here, right?"
"Sorry," admitted Lucan, sitting back down on the bed and slipping back into his 'regular' state just as easily as he had slipped into the other, "I acted... immaturely and... too hastily."
"Its alright Lucan, if anything I was only denying what I had to do," apologised Igo, with a soft look on his face as he gazed back at Lucan, unshaken, "I know what I have to do. I'll do it tomorrow after he comes back from the Academy. Its just... I don't want to make Daniel lose his first real friendship. He never had any friends of any kind, only bullies and tormenters. Even if the friendship is fake, he'll never forgive me for ruining their relationship. But I know what I have to do. Even if it means he'll... hate me for it,"
And with a hard expression on his face, Igo muttered, "Even so, I have to stop it."