Chapter 1188: A Connection
Anthony and Vega arrived within what seemed to be an open field. The grass was short and low-levelled like a football (soccer) pitch, stretching outward in every direction with almost unnatural neatness. Gentle wind currents rolled through the atmosphere as trees and their leaves rustled so calmly that it gave off a peaceful scene.
This was the location Aura Nova had chosen for the meeting, which seemed quite perfect.
Within what seemed like the centre of the field, a large circular table could be seen, with various seats meant for those who were coming. At the table, Aura Nova, Aaaninja, and Lucian already sat, as it seemed they had been waiting for him for quite some time now. Despite the wait, none of them appeared impatient, each calmly occupying themselves in their own way.
"I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show. After all, no one is more punctual than you," Lucian stated as he stared at Anthony with a calm smile.
Anthony smiled as he replied, "Sorry for the delay, we were quite busy. Something came up," his tone calm as he walked forward and took a seat.
Lucian wanted to say something, but decided not to make the joke as it seemed now wasn’t the time for that. The words lingered at the tip of his tongue for a brief moment before he simply let them go.
Aaaninja turned to Vega as he spoke, "Thank you for the hospitality and your time regarding yesterday," his rainbow coloured clock-like eyes meeting Vega’s purple ones.
"No problem, Altheria is my girl," she replied.
Aura Nova, who hadn’t spoken until now, finally did. "Welcome to the Dusk Planet, I hope you love the location," she stated as Akira stayed on her head.
Vega smiled as she replied, "Seems like a beautiful planet," her tone calm. "After the meeting, if you have some time on your hands, I would love to be shown around," she stated.
"It would be my pleasure," Aura Nova replied, ready to be a guide at any time. After all, this was everyone’s first time here.
Akira, who had been seated on her head, jumped onto the table as she strode towards Anthony as though she was the one who had called the meeting. Arriving before Anthony, she jumped onto his lap and meowed. Anthony simply shook his head as he already knew what the cat wanted. Although the cat could speak, for some reason, it didn’t like speaking much and stayed true to its race.
"Unfortunately, I’m not the one with the treats today," he mused as he spoke to Akira. "My girlfriend is," he added as he pointed to Vega.
Akira’s black eyes shifted to Vega, and she immediately jumped towards her with the same cute eyes. The speed of her reaction was so quick that it made it obvious she had understood every word.
"Sigh... she acts like I starve her, I swear I don’t," Aura Nova couldn’t help but say with a sigh.
Everyone simply chuckled as they understood that this was just how cats were. Whether mortal or magical, some habits seemed universal.
"I thought you said you were coming with a few of your friends. Where are they?" Aaaninja asked as he sat calmly, his eyes turning towards Anthony.
"Besides, isn’t Kingsley supposed to also be at this meeting? Where is he?" Lucian followed up with his own question.
Anthony sighed as he replied, "Everyone will be here soon," he stated, and the moment he spoke, they all felt space quake.
Through the ripples of space, eight different men stepped out with calm ease. The distorted fabric of reality folded around them before settling back into place as though nothing had happened. Seven of them were Anthony’s subordinates, while the eighth person was Kingsley, who, the moment he appeared, simply walked towards one of the seats and nodded in greeting, not saying much as usual.
Anthony turned to Lucian, Aaaninja, and Aura Nova as he spoke. "These are my subordinates. Although there are ten of them, unfortunately, three won’t be joining us for this meeting as they have their own things to attend to," he began. "Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos, Lucian Darkheart, Aura Nova, I would like for you three to meet Spectre, Mike, Ross, Clement, Litt, Arnold, and Marcus," he stated as he calmly introduced everyone’s names.
He turned to his subordinates and introduced his friends to them. "I would love for you all to meet my friends, Aura Nova, Lucian Darkheart, and Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos," he stated as he felt kind of tired just calling out names.
Clement, who was usually covered in total darkness, wasn’t. Since he was coming here to meet Anthony’s friends, he had decided to do the courtesy of looking the part. Which, of course, meant that after this meeting he would cover himself in darkness again. It was perhaps one of the rare occasions where his features could be clearly seen by others.
Everyone walked forward, greeting each other with smiles on their faces. Although Aaaninja, Aura Nova, and Lucian had heard Anthony introduce them as his subordinates, they didn’t really react. After all, who didn’t have subordinates?
But they couldn’t help but wonder where Anthony had found these seven people. After all, the strong recognized the strong. And they could all tell these seven men were individuals of equal strength and not lower than them in any way. Such people were not common, nor were they the type to submit to anyone.
The moment Clement turned to greet Aura Nova, their eyes met for a brief moment, sky-blue ones meeting abyssal-black ones. They seemed to stare into each other’s eyes for a moment longer, as though they had both just shared a connection at this particular moment, before they finally broke eye contact and continued with the greeting. Neither of them spoke of it, yet the brief exchange lingered in the back of their minds.
As for Lucian, he wasn’t as curious about these seven as Aaaninja and Aura Nova were. As a reader of the book, he knew the Author had introduced these seven in the early stages of the story, only to end up never actually using them.
’I wonder why Donna, Vivian, and Evelyn couldn’t make it,’ he thought to himself, saying nothing aloud as he wasn’t even supposed to know those names.
Everyone settled into their seats once they were done. Aura Nova’s eyes shifted to the side where Clement sat, and whenever she stared and he returned the stare, she would simply look away as though she had never been looking in the first place.
And with that, the meeting began in earnest. A meeting which shouldn’t take too long.
