Hunter takes a look at his reflection in the mirror. He tries on a necktie before shaking his head, "nope," he said before loosing the knot and throwing the tie back on the bed.
There was a soft knock on the door and the sound was accompanied by a feminine voice, "Having troubles?" Circe said poking her head through the door.
"Just one," said the sprite looking pointedly at the different types of ties littered on the bed. The light red-haired woman lets the door slide open and walks into the room and towards the bed.
The yellow eyes woman picked up a bow tie from the bed and ties it around the dark-haired boy's neck. "This should do," she said adjusting the tie.
Hunter checks himself in the mirror. "I love it," he said. "You look beautiful by the way," the sprite said.
"Thank you," she smiled. "What about the back?" She asked turning around to show the sprite the back of her white, backless, deep v-neck with high slit dress.
"Wow ... It's uh ... It's beautiful," he said.
"Thanks," she smiled. "Come on," she said grabbing the dark-haired boy's hand and leading him out.
Outside, a black limousine awaited the duo. In front of the car was a bald man with droopy eyes who pulled the door open for them. He lowered his head a bit and bowed as Circe walked past him and into the car.
"So what do you think your mom is going to announce?" Hunter asked as the car began moving. The sprite had wanted to ask the question from the moment Circe had mentioned it but managed to keep his curiosity in check.
"I don't think it's anything, honestly," said the light red-haired woman. She turned to Hunter staring at his face in silent admiration before speaking. "Mom likes to exaggerate like that. It could be she's just trying to get the top brass of the mystic world together," she stated.
"I doubt that ... I'm not claiming to know your mom more than you or anything."
Circe raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you are."
"Apologies."
"I can't think of anything she could introduce that can 'shape the future of the mystic world' that doesn't involve you," said the Public Safety and Demon Control agency leader.
"Huh?"
"I've said it a thousand times Hunter: you are the future of the mystic world."
"Wow."
...
The car came to a stop and Hunter stepped out of the limousine with Circe stepping out after him. The two walk into the building arm in arm drawing the eyes and whispers of people outside.
The ceiling was upwards of ten meters with beautiful paintings of flowers carved into the wall and several men moved around the hall with trays of drinks and sweets in hand. Above the people present and below the ceiling were bright lamps floating.
"Aren't those yours?" The sprite asked his date. He had seen them some days earlier when he was at Circe's place.
"Yeah ... Mom borrowed them," she stated.
"Are events like this regular in the mystic world?" The sprite asked.
"Yes but this one is already the best I've been to since ever," Circe said. "I have an awesome date," she added.
"Thank you," the sprite smiled. "You had some bad experiences in that area?" He asked.
"More like no experience. Jade is the worst! She hates these things and would do anything rather than attend one," said the yellow-eyed woman.
"Yeah that's Jade alright, she's the most anti-fun person I know," Hunter laughed.
"Yeah ... I miss her," she said.
"Me too."
"Why don't --"
"Circe!" A voice called from behind. The duo turned and the sprite groaned internally as he set eyes on the caller. "Santa," she smiled.
"Come here!" He said pulling the yellow-eyed woman into a hug. The white-bearded man turned to Hunter and his smile widens even more. "Hunter! Come here," he said pulling the sprite into a hug. "How have you been? Hope those grinches haven't been causing you any problems. They tend to go after those I'm close with," said the fairy.
"Grinches?" Circe queried.
"Long story," said Hunter.
"Nonsense! It's not that long and I'm sure the lady can spare a couple of minutes to hear about an adventure involving the great Santa Claus!" He exclaimed.
'Adventure involving the what, what?'
[This guy sure loves hearing the sound of his voice doesn't he?]
'Sounds familiar?'
[You're comparing me with ... Santa?]
'Actually no, I'm sorry for even thinking about it.'
[Too late, you already did! I'll only forgive you if you get me the Eye of Arastoso!]
'What's that?'
[It was supposed to be a joke, the Eye is believed to be a lost artifact]
'Is it in any way related to Arastoso, the first sorcerer?'
[Kinda, it was an artifact used by him. Also, Arastoso is not the first sorcerer, he's the first known human sorcerer]
'Oh ...'
"... And that's when I told this one about the apple incident," Santa said nudging the sprite's shoulder.
'Yeesh! He's still going?'
"Isn't this just beautiful to see?" A fourth voice said from behind. They all turned around to see the speaker approaching them. The man was extremely muscular with long golden hair and eyes. Hunter immediately recognized him, the man was Conan, King of the fairies.
"Your Majesty," Santa bowed slightly. "Santa!" said the golden-eyed man enthusiastically as he drape both his arms around Hunter and Santa's shoulders.
"Two former foes speaking freely to each other," he said.
"It was a minor misunderstanding," said Santa.
"Well I'm glad it didn't come between the start of something beautiful," said the monarch.
"So am I," Santa smiled though Hunter could tell it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I think I see Sir Aragones waving at me. Excuse me, your Majesty," the white-bearded man bowed once more before making his way out of the small group.
Conan removes his hands from the sprite's shoulders, watching as Santa walked away, "don't you just love him?" He said before turning to face the sprite. "Hunter Heffernan, was it? I see Circe invited you so she could show you the ins and outs of the mystic world," he said.
"Hunter is here as my date," Circe chipped.
The King of the fairies now turned his attention to the light red-haired woman for the first time. "Really? I didn't know that you were out of suitors that you resorted to someone as ... frail as him," he said not even sparing the teal green-eyed boy a look.
Circe's face turns into a frown - an expression the sprite was seeing on the face of the yellow-eyed woman for the very first time. "I've certainly not run out of arrogant suitors since you're standing in front of me but he's the only one I have eyes for," she said interlocking her hands with Hunter's.
"Hm," he scoffed before turning away from them both. "You know where to find me when you grow bored of your toyboy," he added before disappearing into the crowd of people.
Circe sighs before looking at the dark-haired boy's face. "Hey, don't let that --"
"Circe," a voice called from behind, interrupting the yellow-eyed woman's thought.
[What is this? The day of interruptions? At this point, no one would ever finish their sent --]
"Zyair," Circe said.
"I ran into Lady Hecate in the garden at the back, she's waiting for you," said the caramel-skinned man.
"Thanks," she said before moving closer to the sprite and whispering in his ear. "Socialise a bit, okay? I'll be back soon," and with that, the light red-haired woman disappeared into the crowd.
Zyair turned to the sprite, a smile on his face as he speaks. "Heffernan, it's been a while."
"True, you just sort of disappeared after inviting me to join the Met school," said the sprite.
"That's not completely true, I was at the Inter-order competition," said the snow-white-haired man. "But you're not wrong either, I have been absent from the school day-to-day activities although I've followed your progress throughout that time," he added.
"You have?"
"Of course. I must say, Heffernan, what you have achieved in such a short amount of time is remarkable and deserving of praise," said the blue-eyed man.
"Thank you," Hunter smiled.
Zyair looks at the watch in his hand before looking at the sprite. "I have to go but it was nice talking with you. Let's chat some more later."
"Sure." The dark-haired boy scans the hall in search of who he should talk to.
He sees Sir Aragones talking to one of the councilors, Mene, and the head of the Bureau, Olivia. The sprite contemplated walking over to them but changed his mind when he sees Sydney sitting alone by a table not too far from where he stood.
"First time I'm seeing you in a dress," Hunter said sitting on a seat next to hers. The werewolf turned with a raised eyebrow but her expression softens into a smile as she sees the sprite. "You don't think it suits me?" She asks.
"I think you look beautiful," he stated.
The orange-haired girl's cheeks reddens and her lips curl upward into a smile. "Why thank you," she said.
"Are you here to represent the secret organization you told me about?" He asked curiously.
"No," she shook her head, "I'm here as the alpha of my pack," she stated.
"Oh yeah, I sometimes forget you're an alpha," said the sprite.
"Because she's a disgrace to the rest of us," a voice said. It came from in front of them. Hunter turned to see Benson and a much older and cold-looking man that looked so much like the latter next to him.
The man extends his hand for a handshake but Hunter ignores it. "And you are?"
"Benedict, the epitome of what a true alpha should look like," he said.
"So ... Bald?"
The man frowns. "I see, spending time with this ... with her has made you unappreciative of the greatness that stands before you," he said.
'Wait a minute ...'
Hunter's eyes widen, the amount of energy he could feel from the older alpha was more than everyone else in the hall.
The bald man's lips curl upward. "I watched your fight with the werewolves during your school's inter-order competition and was most impressed with your performance and I'm interested in taking you as a protégé. When you come back to your senses, my son here goes to the same school as you, he'd bring you to me," the man stated before walking away from the duo, his son following after him.
"Huh. I see where his son gets the --" The sprite turned to look at the orange-eyed girl to find that her face was somber. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah," she said forcing a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm going to step outside for some air," she said already up to her feet.
"Okay ... Want me to come with you?"
"No, I'd like to be alone," she said walking away.
Hunter rubs his eyebrows with his hands before scanning the hall to see if Circe was back, he was already tired of socializing with strangers, especially after speaking with Conan and Benedict.
"Hunter?"
The sprite turned to the voice, it was Camille Lovelace, the director of Alpha Sector, with Diana next to her.
"Hi hubby," Diana smiles.
"Hey, you two," Hunter smiled back.
"I don't see Jade around," said Camille looking around the great hall.
"Oh, she's not here. I'm here with Circe," he explained.
"Really? And where exactly is Jade right now?"
"On a secret mission, I believe," he stated.
"Jade on a secret mission? That sounds almost unbelievable. You sure she didn't put you up to that because she's avoiding me?"
"I promise you, she's not avoiding you," he assured.
'At least I hope so, 'cause this would be some twisted shit to do.'
"What about you," said Hunter, "I see you're with Diana again. She's your favorite agent or something?"
"She wishes," Camille laughs. "I only parade her around because she's a Drumalak and that attracts huge donations for my agency," said the black-haired woman.
"She means: yes, I am her favorite," said Diana. "I heard you've been training with the conjurers in school, how's that going?" The S Grade elemental asked.
"You heard about that huh?" He said rubbing the outside of his ear. "It's been going terribly, I don't think I'll be conjuring anything anytime soon," he stated.
"That must suck. If you're interested I could show you a thing or two in a one-on-one lesson."
"You can conjure?"
"'Course not but I'm sure you and I can think of something fun to do," said the snow-white-haired woman.
'Uh ...'
"Alright! I'm just going to drag her away before she embarrasses herself any further," Camille said pulling the agent away. "It was nice talking to you Hunter, say hello to Jade for me when you see her," Camille added dragging Diana who was wiggling her fingers at the sprite until they were out of sight.
[I wonder who we are meeting next]
'Stop stealing my thoughts.'
As if on cue, a voice spoke from behind the sprite. "Fancy seeing you here." The voice was soothing to the ear and calming to the heart and the sprite immediately knew who was speaking.
"Lilith," he said turning to face the ruler of Hel.
"We meet again," he said.
"Yes," said the silver-haired woman. Her eyes were maroon and she eyed the sprite carefully, taking in his attire. "A bit vanilla but I'm glad you're out of the hoodie," she said.
"What? You don't like my hoodie?"
"Not at all," she stated. "Dance with me." She said it more like a statement than a question and the sprite found himself leading the maroon-eyed woman to the center of the hall.
The composer had switched to a slower number and most of the couples move to the hall and began moving with their partners to the piece with the year one sprite and the ruler of Hel at the center of them all.
He held the silver-haired woman close and they both rocked slowly in silence until the composer neared the end. "We didn't seal our deal properly," she suddenly says.
"That's a thing?" He asked, spinning the maroon-eyed woman and then holding her close.
"Of course. We must fix that," she said.
"How?"
"With a kiss."
"What?"
"Dip me," she requested and the sprite obliged, dipping the silver-haired woman just as the number ends. The others who were not part of the dancing burst into applause while Lilith held the sprite's gaze, still in his arms. "You're just gonna leave me waiting?" She asked.
"I --" the sprite began lowering himself to the maroon-eyed woman.
[Hunter, don't]
'Huh?' He looked up to see Circe on the other side of the stage, a slight frown on her face.
Hunter swiftly detached himself from the ruler of Hel. "Excuse me," he said making his way over to the yellow-eyed woman.
"Listen I wasn't --"
"Let's get out of here," she said flatly.
The sprite nodded with no protest whatsoever even though the yellow-eyed woman was asking to leave early before the grand revelation was revealed, was it something her mother had told her, or was the leader of the public safety and demon control agency annoyed because he was with the ruler of Hel?
He quietly followed behind the light red-haired woman, not uttering a word even while they were in the car and even Circe did nothing to break that spell.
...
The limousine drove them back to Circe's mansion and the two of them walked into the building still not saying anything to one another despite walking side by side.
When they got inside, Hunter decided to speak as the silence was now far past uncomfortable.
He knew now that the light red-haired woman was not annoyed about whatever she spoke with her mother about.
He moved closer to her before he began. "I'm sorry about what happened during the dance ... I really thought you were ... No," he sighed. "I messed up, terribly. I don't want to stand here and give excuses on why I did what I did because they'll be just that: excuses. All I can say is I'm really sorry, it was a really dumb move on my part," he stated.
Circe stepped closer to Hunter, "I don't care about what happened at the dance," she said.
"You don't?"
Circe took another step closer to the sprite and at this point, there were no longer any steps to take. The sprite could feel the warm and scented breath from her mouth as she spoke. "I just want to always be around for you Hunter, I believe you'll achieve great things and I'm absolutely devoted to making sure you're free from distractions." Her eyes held a heat and a promise he dare not believe.
"I don't think I understand," Hunter stuttered.
"I believe you do," said the yellow-eyed woman. "Hunter, so long as you're alive, I want to always be by your side ... No matter the situation ... Don't you agree?" She placed each of her hands on the side of his face.
"Uh ..." The sprite swallowed. "Yes."
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