A silence hit that was so profound, nobody knew how to break it.
They were in the middle of talking about the Avgo's intentions and reason for being and suddenly, the unthinkable had happened.
The first person to speak was Dante.
"To the War Room."
"Wait, Your Majesties." The hapless attendant intervened. "It is still being remodeled. There is the Astrolab that is usable."
He turned to Candace. "There is also the Princess' Library, which is close by."
"Library is off-limits to anyone but Candace. I do not want any of her treasures to be damaged." Dante waved a hand of protest.
"Take us to the formal dining room." Dante bade. "Have the kitchen begin serving us dinner as soon as it's done. We can discuss further events from there."
"Yes Sir."
"Oh. One more thing." Dante called the man back. "Take the cobra head and find a place for it in the museum. I don't want it accidentally damaged."
"Yes Sir."
The attendant took off, his face full of relief that he had not been called out for having interrupted what looked to be the Crown Prince proposing to the Avgo Female.
Wait…the Crown Prince was proposing to the Avgo Female???
The Princes and Candi quickly made their way to the formal dining room. It was two hours too early for dinner, but at this point, dinner was the furthest thing on their mind.
The large dining room held a large rectangular linen-covered table that could hold ten people.
At the head of the table, a 3-D image of someone sat among them.
It was Ray Torra, the Custodian of The Tower on Earth.
At the moment, he looked more like the undisputed ruler of the universe and not just some low-level building custodian.
"Boys." He greeted the Princes and then turned to Candi. "Long time no see, Beautiful Woman. I'm glad these beasts have been treating you well."
She nodded her greeting and they all took their seats, fiddling with their suddenly too cheerful, too colorful tropical drinks.
As the Custodian looked around the table at the Princes, a twin set of red flames appeared within the pupils of his dark eyes.
"You all know I'm here to make sure everything is as it should be. When I'm not around, everything is as it should be."
His fangs began to grow longer, the flames in his eyes grew more intense.
"When you see me, everything n'est pas si bon."**
He waved his hand and a virtual monitor appeared at the far end.
For a moment, it showed nothing more interesting than the outline of several tall buildings. But then Ray Torra flicked a finger and the view zoomed in on one of the buildings.
At the top of the building, there was a small group of people.
The visual zoomed in closer. They were all wearing the same black outfits of the men who had attempted to assassinate Candace earlier that morning.
In between them was the all-too-familiar glass figure of Anaïse Paroles. She was struggling with them as they handled her with inordinate roughness.
Suddenly, before their shocked eyes, the men picked Anaïse up and threw her over the edge of the building.
Candi gasped, unable to look away as the blue glass figure of the Avgo Female flailed in the air for the few seconds that it took for her to fall.
The visual was low quality with no sound, but it was still good enough to capture Anaïse's body as she hit the concrete ground below, shattering into thousands of blue glass shards.
The shards bounced up, catching the light and spreading outward in a stunning glittering display of brilliance.
And just like that, she was gone from the world.
There was no sound in the room other than Candi's breathless sobs.
The Princes looked at each other between the heavy silver candelabras unable to say anything.
The servants moved with silent efficiency, setting the table with them already seated in their places.
Ray Torra shifted in his seat, looking as if he was actually seated at the dining table with all of them.
"Explain to me exactly what happened here. How is it possible for this to happen on your watch?"
"This happened because I cancelled the events." Dante finally broke through the silence.
"Come on Brother. You don't know that for a fact." Leonardo shook his head.
"No. I do know that." Dante stared at the white roses in the bowl between them.
"The Avgo Events were originally bloody fights between the Avgo Females." His eyes hardened. "The last one standing went on to dominate the entire empire, becoming the Empress. To her went the spoils of the galaxy."
Candi nodded. "That was what the book meant when it said, 'the gem is supposed to bring to the holder, the entire riches of the universe.' It was literally that."
"Yes." Dante nodded and looked up at Leonardo. "In an attempt to make the Avgo fights less…bloody, not to mention more profitable, people began to organize the fights into recognizable events that pitted the women against each other for specific attributes."
"It still didn't cut out all the violence, but it did bring civility and a certain sense of esprit de corps, a feeling of pride and common loyalty shared by the members of each Avgo Female's world or species."
Slate set his glass down with finality.
"Listen Dante. This is not your fault. All that broke down with this Avgo competition because Earth refused to back the legitimate Avgo Female."
He turned to Ray Torra. "This meant we had to keep protecting Candace over and over again."
He waved a hand and another visual screen appeared beside the one that Ray Torra had called up.
This one was of a much higher quality since it was shot from multiple angles and specifically for the purpose of transmission for viewing purposes.
Candi's eyes widened as she saw herself, surrounded by the same type of black-clad men who had just killed Anaïse Paroles.
There was energetic music playing in the background, as well as many close up and slow motion action shots of her nailing the men, one after the other.
Tears streamed from her eyes as she realized that the visuals team had turned her desperate struggle to stay alive into something exciting and fun to watch.
As she nailed a man in the heart with a knife and twisted the head of the last man, the visuals panned out to show a large pair of bat wings swooping down and carrying her away in a finale that was befitting of a victorious warrior woman.
The music thundered and the audience was on their feet roaring their approval.
They had no idea how scared the bat Prince was when he swooped off with Candace, and they never saw the fact that she was literally in shock and crying as she clutched onto his body as a lifeline.
"I cancelled the events because what happened to Anaïse is just the latest of a string of incidents that were already occurring with Candace as the target."
Dante stood up and stared Ray Torra in the eyes.
"No matter what happens, I will protect this woman with my life."
All the Princes stood up at this point.
"So shall we."
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** n'est pas si bon = not so good.
The first time Candace meets Ray Torra, he was whistling the song 'C'est Si Bon' because everything 'was all good'.