The Mystique

Capitulum Septem

Jeongwoo sat silently next to his mentor, Jaehyuk, as he listened intently to the discussion of the department heads inside the room. He stared at their vice-leader who was wearing an unreadable as he stood beside their department leader who was seated at one of the three seats in the middle of the hall. 

His eyes wandered towards the assistant of the logistics and support team who wore a conflicted expression on his face as he listened intently to the contents of the discussion. He wonders if he'd also wear the same expression on his face if the one in the discussion would be Junghwan. Although they are not blood-related, Jeong-woo had taken Junghwan to be his younger brother and had kept the promise he had taken in the grave of their parents to keep the boy safe seriously. 

Apparently, the mist had visited their office earlier when he and Jaehyuk were training mystique control and had demanded that the diamond-eyed seer be part of their team. His team leader had a really sour expression on his face when they entered the office after their morning training. He hadn't even taken a bite of the breakfast Jihoon had ordered them when the terzo barked orders upon orders towards them. He had to run towards different departments to relay the notice of the emergency meeting. The cradle is humongous and a lap around the building would definitely exhaust him. 

"What would be the chance of fighting for it?" Lee Byounggon's serious voice echoed inside the silent conference hall. The head of logistics and support, Kil Dowhan, stared at their leader and replied, "We do not have enough sources to go against them. The loss would be greater than the gain."

"How about the possibility of denying the request?"

Yoonbin stared at their leader and shook their head, "They were ready to bring it up to the elven council. Their voting rights aside, the council owes them as much as we do some privileges. The nono  joining their ranks would not be considered since the decision was with quite personal from nono."

"How about Junkyu?" Byounggon stared at the older brother of the coveted seer who simply shook his head. Seunghun had explained everything to Junkyu and had allowed him time to reach a decision. However, even without Junkyu saying anything, he knew that his brother had decided already. It was already decided from the start. Seunghun let out a soft apologetic smile as he answered, "Primo's impact seems to have been too strong. Kyu had not reached a decision yet but the favor is against the cradle. As his brother, it is easy to see that he plans to thank the favor of saving his life to primo. He'd choose the mist."

"I see. In that case, let us comply with the demands." Byounggon sighed and massage his templates which were starting to ache. He continued, "Mobilize the shadows and gather information about the changes in the black market."

"Understood." Yoonbin replied making the clan leader nod and stare at the Dowhan and ordered, "Re-organize the support teams and prepare for a large-scale war."

"Understood, " replied the head of the logistics and support department. The meeting was about to conclude when they felt a strong vortex of energy appear in the conference hall. A black portal appeared in the room. 

Jeongwoo stared at the portal with caution as he was shielded by his mentor, Jaehyuk. The other mystiques with a combat-type ability stared at the portal with a defensive stance.  A boy stepped out of the portal wearing a grim expression, his eyes quickly scanned the room and stopped in Jaehyuk's, no, his body. 

"Haruto, what is-," Yoonbin's protest came to a halt as the tamer stepped out of the portal with an apologetic expression. She wore a black body tight combatant long-sleeved top and a dark navy green military cargo pants and dark brown boots. Terzo frowned and asked, "What does the mist mean with this visit, Ciel Lee?"