The room was like an iron cube, the metal looked clean and polished but dark and the absence of windows made it even more so, the only said light source was a large circular white bulb that hung on the ceiling.
The air in the room was a stark contrast to the warmth of Chrono's Keep, cold and stale.
About seven figures who wore all black sat round a circular table that had an empty seat at the far front. All of them had grim expressions on their face that made them look more like soldiers that have seen hell and back then people.
Amongst them was a certain individual with velvet-dark eyes and long white hair which was tied back. He twirled a lead bullet back and forth between his fingers though the tip of it was made of a type of silver like material.
His eyes glanced towards the door which he would do every once in a while.
"Is he late or something?" the young man pondered
The look on the faces of the others all said the same thing as well, especially one of them who was opposite the white-haired swayed back and forth on his chair looking at the ceiling his black hair falling to the side of his face.
"This is so damn boring. Can we just postpone this? I wanna to find the next one." The other man lamented with a dull groan.
"Can't you be more composed, Slash." The white haired complained. "This is a meeting, not a battleground."
Slash, as he was called, looked at the young man raising a brow. "You have no idea how important this is to me, don't you Ryker."
"Do I look like I care?"
"If I'm being honest, then…no absolutely not…but I need to get my lucky number 7 unless I'm never gonna get stronger and If I don't I'll never be able to get him."
"You mean the Crimson Moon?" Ryker asked raised a brow, before let out a mocking scoff. "There's only one person who can match up with that monster…and you think you can meet up with him?"
"I know I can, 'cause I have the best Relics in this room and you have…none."
Ryker stopped twirling the bullet at once, clenching it in his palm. "You kissed your mother with that mouth lately?"
Slash grit his teeth at the front leg of his chair slammed on the ground with a heavy THUD "Oh I will so-"
"Will you two just shut up?" Another one in the room spoke, a man with a lanky figure, his voice sounded drowsy and his hair looked like short protruding spikes and had heavy bags under his eyes.
He took a large gulp from the whisky bottle in his hand. "Your yapping is getting kind of annoying."
Both of the men looked at the alcoholic for a moment before taking their seats quietly.
"Really Don? I wanted to see some blood split amongst the younger captains and you went ahead and ruined all of that for me." Another boomed. This one looked more like a giant than a man, with his black shirt unbuttoned half way down revealing a thick layer of chest hair and a hardened chest.
"Ughh, why did I get stuck with a bunch of weirdo?" Don sulked as he took another gulp from his bottle.
"I should be the one to say that." A younger male with a more feminine face retorted, as he twirled his long well-groomed hair in front of a small handheld mirror, caressing the star-shaped hair pin on it.
Every single part of this individual seemed to sparkle flamboyantly and even his attire, which was all black, had some shine to it "My brilliance shouldn't be tainted by your ambitionless spirits."
"Great, now the living Light Bulb is involved." The spiked haired man groaned as his head fell on the edge of the table.
"Light bulb?" the young man gasped dramatically as he placed a hand on his chest. "Do you have any idea how long it took to build up this magnificence?" he gestured at himself with his mirror.
"East there, Caelum, don't want you burning out your 'brilliance' on a guy like Don, would you." Slash said as he leaned back into his seat and put both feet on the table.
Caelum sighed as he continued to look himself in his mirror. "Your point is…considerable…My shine cannot be wasted on such trivial matters."
"Speaking of matters," The hefty man who went by the name of Titan spoke, "Let's talk about how fast the younger ones are progressing.
"The most interesting one so far has been you, Ryker…You've managed to reach the rank of a captain in just three months…all with nothing but Aetherium tipped bullets…now that is very impressive."
"Excuse you…the only thing allowed to be impressive is me." Caelum commented not taking his face from the mirror but Titan ignored him and continued.
"Anyways, to reach a captain you have to at least kill 10 D-rank Mythics…which is impossible in under just 3 damn months."
Ryker raised a brow his large questionnaire. "So? What's your point?"
"My point is…You either be having someone to feed you that information or you know exactly where to find those Mythics."
The room suddenly fell quieter than it already was like everyone held in their breath at once and turned their gaze at Ryker.
"It looks like someone has been keeping very important secrets to himself." Slash grinned dangerously.
"You think I'm breaking code?" Ryker said his eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Maybe," Slash shrugged as he leaned on his elbows looking straight at the white-haired man. "I trust you not to break any rules, but just a slight reminder…Any Hunter who refuses to disclose the known location of a large group of Mythics is terminated."
"I know the rules you f*ck." Ryker spat his voice dropping an octave. "And I make sure I follow them thoroughly more than anyone else in this room...So piss off jackass!"
"And I've struck a nerve!" Slash exclaimed as he held his hands grinning from ear to ear.
Ryker grit his teeth as his fists clenched on the table. "You sneaky b*tch!!"
"Aww, you gonna cry?"
Don took another swig from his bottle as he looked at the two younger comrades bicker. "Why can't they be quiet like those two?"
He looked at the other two at the end of the table; one of them was another young man with messy dark hair with brownish tips that completely covered his eyes.
He leaned on the table in front of him as he flicked a tuning fork with his fingers leaving it to ring for a bit before repeating the process again.
And the other was a woman with a similar color of silky hair that was cut short.
She looked to be in her late twenties who wore round glasses and continuously playing with a Rubik's cube.
"You mean Elara and Sol?" Titan arched his brow as he shifted his gaze with Don's. "Yeah, they are kind of quiet but that doesn't mean they don't have their own agendas…Remember everyone in this room is a Captain!
"We do everything in our power to lead and aid our fellow Hunter to rid the Mythics of the surface of this earth. We play a great role in that and must not forget our responsibility."
Don groaned as he dropped his head on the table. "Ugh, you just had to go mention that word."
"Huh? What so wrong about responsibility?" the large man boomed.
"Could you please not say that word again?"
"Don't tell me you're scared of responsibility?!"
Again the alcoholic groaned deeper his shoulder sulking even more. "It's not that…I don't just like that feeling even the word weighs me down."
"Are you for real right now?" Titan gaped.
The room was now filled with chatter from Ryker and Slash, the constant humming of Caelum and Titan questioning the morality of Don. It was so hard to ignore that even Elara flinched every time Titan's loud voice boomed throughout the room.
But Sol's attention was completely wrapped around the tuning fork in his hand in which he continued hitting with his fingers, and the vibration, which only he could feel, rang through the room and beyond and bounced back to him akin to a bat's echolocation.
He kept at it again and again, until the vibration came back sensing something or someone coming towards him. He gasped at once, raising his head up and sitting up abruptly.
The others, noticing the sudden tension, turned towards him as his frail voice uttered a single sentence.
"He's here."
At that moment the metal door at the end was swung open and a man dressed in a navy blue uniform came in, his hair was a mullet that well complimented his side burns with a scar that slashed across his entire face making him even more terrifying.
He glanced round the room inspecting the figures that stood upright with their hands behind their back. The room had gone quiet once more replaced by the presence of one man, and even Caelum's mirror was mysteriously mirror was nowhere to be seen.
The man walked calmly to the seat at the front and slowly sat in it, no dared to speak or even move when he did.
"At ease." The man calmly stated and like magic they all took their seats in perfect sync with each other. "First of all, I apologize for coming late to this meeting even though I was prompt about the time scheduled.
"I was asked to make an urgent report on the situation on our area."
Even after a somewhat sincere apology, the tension in the room was still palpable and almost insufferable.
"Now with that out of the way…We can finally discuss the matters at hand…"