The air was like slime, the mucus-like liquid sticking to the tense seven figures like glue. There was an absence of light about the room, the only exception being a striped windowpane that hung above the top of the round table. Nobody could see one another, so they could only rely on their other senses to perceive the people in the room.
A steady beeping noise was emitted from the depths of the cloth on some, numbering three different sources in all. From another three, there was a small wave of nigh unnoticeable shadow spreading to their surroundings with the sound of a flickering fireplace, three robed figures in the center of the fluctuations.
The seventh seat was illuminated by the windowpane, and from the sleeves of the robe two wizened old hands steadily tapped on the wooden surface underneath it. With a heavier thud, the figure simply stopped tapping, instead taking the initiative to speak up about the current events.
"Should we count this as a failure? Or a success?" A voice that was neither feminine nor masculine wafted into each and every set of ears in the room, some of the figures that heard it exaggeratedly sitting up straight in their chairs. Others pursed their lips, stifling the murmurs of discontent that filled the forefront of their minds.
The visible hand traced along the table leisurely, languidly drawing thin depressions in the sturdy material. One of the figures to its left gulped, before meekly breaking the still that threatened to encroach upon the group once again.
"S-sir. I think...it's a failure. Ulun Frederick emerging was not even a part of the plan..." a nasally voice emerged from the shroud, the man behind it quivering underneath the pressure the supposed man was imposing on everyone else. A figure across from him spoke up, her voice impatient as she began her own assertions.
"You're wrong. How can you give up your name and yet be so stupid? I feel bad for you, you embarrassment." The woman snarled, underneath the pane of invisibility her lips curled as black lights threatened to reach towards those adjacent to her. The finger wagged in the air, and the miasma she began to emit was immediately suppressed.
"Explain what you're saying." The finger kept wagging, the shadow of it in the window light appearing as if it was a crow instead of a digit affixed to a hand. The woman calmed herself before answering, retracting her energy that unconsciously spewed out of her.
"Ulun Frederick. We didn't know where he was, and we all know he's the main threat to your council sir Datis. But now, we can have an approximation of where he is, plus, he did what we intended to do in the first place."
Another voice spoke up, this one feminine as well. Her utterances were laced with understanding as she quickly concluded the point the other woman was getting at. "We intended for the two forces, the loyalists, to wipe each other out so as to establish unity. Now, instead of those in the know thinking of us as incompetent, a third party is now the enemy they seek to revolt against."
The illuminated figure nodded, tsking softly as it considered the next course of action. It didn't take long for it to speak up once more, his words leaden with a sense of finality as he described his plan...
---
Seven months passed, fading into each other as the five bonded over time. Occasionally, Bie would even allow Uris to touch his hair, the distance he felt from both the father and daughter as well as the two "new" additions shortening considerably.
Domingo and Aimee got over their differences over the month, especially after she gave the cheeky man numerous beatings in order to vent out her frustrations. Ulun quit smoking, instead taking up a hobby of fishing in between various jobs they undertook. Every now and then, he asked the barkeep if they had received any official looking letters, each and every time meant with some sort of refusal.
That was, until today.
Ulun clenched an embroidered envelop, a three-piece suit with platemail underneath it's exterior. Uris donned a lime green dress bordered with black swirls that pointed towards the middle, where an imprint of her tower shield covered her chest. Domingo was popping a bowtie with gloved hands, donning a white suit that seemed to resemble a daffodil.
Aimee was more casual, wearing a pair of checkered slacks and a tidy red cossack that accentuated her figure. Underneath her apparel was an ivory breastplate, with intricate lines depicting a tree that stemmed out of the curved end of a hook.
Bie shimmied into a classic fitted suit, the unbuttoned jacket and pants black, while the shirt was white and had a pocket on the right breast. A similarly black long tie hung from the popped collar, and the outfit he wore before disappeared in his hands as it entered his Inner World.
Although his face had completely recovered, there were still some scars lashed across his back underneath the suit. Though Bie couldn't care less, it was an object of concern for his allies as he sported a formidable regeneration ability in their eyes. Bie simply shrugged it off, though he was touched by the concern they showed.
Aimee would occasionally buy salves for his skin, tutting about how his beautiful form was now carrying the story of war in its black marks. Uris would blow smoke on it, the smoke enriched with materials Ulun mentioned would accelerate cell regrowth, and Domingo simply showed him all sorts of scars he had in a means to show him that it was more than normal.
There was an air of happiness in the room the five huddled into, though it carried undertones of determination perceptible only to those within its confines. Ulun's fingers tore through the envelop while Bie squatted on the ground, throwing and catching the cracking bearded hand axe that gradually regenerated each time it left his hands, shimmering with a faint white glow each time it returned as if to express joy as it hummed along.
Aimee played with her now loose hair, her hands fixing a jewel encrusted hairclip on the leftmost side of her pink locks that spanned down to her collarbone. Domingo had an ivory cone that he used to slick back his hair, his movements inadvertently suave due to his...confidence? Everyone assumed it was confidence.
"The Decanthus invites the war heroes, The Hook and Shield, to the party to celebrate the commemoration of New Renthia. The city has been established in the Divide on an oasis as to represent the newfound hard-won unity of our people!" Ulun and Bie snickered, the latter's blue violet lips parting to reveal marble-like white lines that were slightly pointed, though the fact was only noticeable if he opened his mouth all the way. Ulun's voice was laced with sarcasm as he made his way through the rest of the letter, the other three giggling as he finished.
"We can't keep them waiting! That's rude! Like stealing a person's first sandwich!" Domingo babbled, while Uris humored him by nodding along. Aimee spoke up next, attempting to add on to the revelry.
"Those f*ckheads won't know what's coming to them," she said, as her visor flashed, and a faint red imprint of teeth surfaced on the bottom half of her face. Ulun folded the piece of paper before putting it into his jacket pocket, his steady gait carrying him out the door and towards an illustrious looking carriage...
One without a mentally ruined demihuman at the helm.