The Obsidian Void

Eight: Home Before Dark

"So you have returned..." Lord Cassion drawled, perched atop his throne like a hawk upon a branch, gazing down onto his potential prey.

"Indeed sir!" Pandora said, bowing, "And I have all of the information that you wanted!"

"Why do I have the feeling that that will be untrue and you will have been a disappointment?"

"Perhaps it would be worthwhile to assume as much and end this meeting now, sire?" Asked the eldest of his three advisors, Dante, who stood upright next to the throne.

"As much as I would love to, we should at least give the poor thing a chance first..."

"Thank you, my lord. You are indeed very wise and-"

"Just get on with it before I change my mind."

Pandora bowed again- Dante rolled his eyes- and eagerly began explaining.

"There are three in total, sir, including you-know-who. Their self-proclaimed 'leader' is a princess-"

"Ah, I suppose she is of the chosen one variety, then?"

"It seems as if she thinks so at least..."

Cassion laughed, "Most of them do. What was her name, exactly?"

"Artemis, my lord."

Cassion immediately stopped laughing and stared at her, unsure if he'd heard correctly.

"Artemis, you say? Describe her for me..."

Pandora sensed that she was on a roll and transformers into a perfect copy of her instead. Unfortunately, Cassion was too distracted to praise her efforts.

"She is familiar to you sire?" Dante asked, trying to recall if he had ever encountered the princess himself.

"Very much so...In fact, I may have to meet her personally in future..."

"There was also another human." Pandora continued, "I guessed that he was a male from how the others referred to him, very easily overshadowed by the rest of his party and surprisingly resilient to most of my dream magic."

"Less important does not equate to unimportant." Cassion observed, "He may still prove to be a crucial- hold on a moment..." He glared down at Pandora, too distracted to process what it was she had said, "Your what?"

"My dream magic, sire. I caught the three of them taking a nap beneath a tree and set them through a couple layers of nested dreams..."

"I see... I trust that you were cautious with such a plan." Cassion said.

"Especially since the one requirement for the mission was not to be discovered." Dante continued, "Very few variations of such a plan could result in your remaining undetected, what with an experienced target..."

Pandora flinched a little bit, realising her subtle boast had thrown her into hot water.

"Fear not, sire! All three remained asleep while I escaped!" She lied.

Lord Cassion blinked slowly at her, his furious expression contrasting harshly with his calm tone.

"Do you take me for a fool, Pandora?"

"N-no sire! Of course not!"

"Then why would you attempt to deceive me as if I were?" He asked. "I will give you one more chance. What happened?"

Pandora gulped, trembling, "I was caught by them, and they successfully distracted me for long enough that I failed to notice the princess waking up until it was too late, so I trapped the remaining one and fled immediately!"