The meeting room was wide and round. Men and women sat in dark suits. A round, wide table sat in the center of the large 'hall'. their faces cold, their eyes focused.
They stood when Damian entered.
"This is my daughter," he said simply.
Raven bowed slightly.
They greeted her with light smiles, betraying the shock swirling in their calculating eyes.
The meeting began, the sound of pages flipping remained the only sound allowed to coexist with the sound of monotonous voices.
The reports kept pouring, the suggestions growing more diverse. Damian listened intently, speaking when it was necessary. His face remained cold, devoid of emotion as he analyzed the suggestions proposed by his board. Raven sat silent, her eyes focused intently on the faces of every speaker. her ears capturing every word. she looked quite like her father. Nairel on the other hand was dazed, his eyes staring intently at the tiny frame of the girl seated behind his boss, she was especially captivating, her red eyes focused entirely on the actions of the people around her. his heart skipped a beat. His thoughts swirled to flashbacks of that morning, a couple days ago. At that time she was clad in training garments, sparring with her father, her dark hair danced around, tickling his heart. He couldn't help wanting to reach out, to catch her attention, but his position wouldn't let him. he remembered entering another daze walking out of the training room, right behind his boss. At that moment he understood why his beast had never awakened, it hadn't found her yet.
He woke up from his daze feeling a deep cold gaze on him, 'shit' he cursed under his breath. Damian glared at the 'the ice prince' staring at his daughter and couldn't help but frown.
The meeting ended soon after he had caught Nairel's stare.
"You can explore," he told Raven, his eyes looking straight at his personal secretary. "Stay inside the building." he added after a pause.
"hmm." Raven responded excitement lacing her voice.
He left with Nairel following behind him. Nairel's eyes were back to their usual chill but this time his lips were pressed into a thin line, he was careless, he should have been able to control himself. ' it was going to come out sooner or later', he silently comforted his troubled heart.
**********
Raven wandered the building hall to hall, floor to floor. She rode lifts walking as her spirit lead with no apparent destination.
Climbing a lift from the ground floor, she had planned to return to her father's office since she had toured practically everywhere. Then she noticed something wrong, the private elevator had an additional floor. a 61 filled her vision. Her curiosity piqued, her hand reflexively pushing the button.
The light flickered inside the lift, a faint humming filling the space. With a light rumble, the lift sped 'down', 'the 61st floor was below!'. After minutes of descent, the doors opened.. The floor was covered in dark glass, vein lines faintly pulsing beneath the glass. An eerie silence hovered in the air, her heart quickened, her pulse flaring. She curiously walked into the pulsating hall, wandering around until she found herself in front of a deep-red door pulsing with golden and black runes, it was the only door on the floor. The door towered high with less than a centimeters distance separating it from the ceiling. Time passed as she stood before it as if captured by its magnificence. With a light screech the door opened up revealing its secrets. Glass cases lined the walls of the room behind the doors. The cases were filled with glowing rocks, each of a different shape and size. She walked in her mouth gaping and her thoughts whirring, her feet moving on their own, she stood in the center of the dense array of rocks. 'badump badump', the stones began to pulse. it was faint at first, its life force barely felt, then it sped up resonating with her heart. Startled she fell on the ground, her blood starting to run around giddy in her blood stream. Her red eyes began to faintly glow, their radiance reflected on the glass cases in front of her.
'Shh' a whisper so soft, so grumpy, like a little child awakened from deep slumber. "Hello?" she whispered back to the soft voice. 'child, you have come', a voice unlike the one before whispered in her ear. eyes wide with anxiety, she looked around. "who are you?", she said her face pale with fright.
"We are whatremains of the old gods." a voice, gentle like a woman spoke this time.
The light emitted by the glowing rocks flickered.
"We are the crown of dust. The breath of broken kings.", the voice this time was deeper, more mature.
"Kings?", she asked confused. Her raging heart already calmed.
"let us show you.", the child like voice sounded again in another whisper. A burst of pain assaulted her mind.
"We are bound."
"Our destiny is yours to overrule." The voices echoed together, a strange melody filling her head, then she blacked out.
The floor trembled. Images crashed into her mind.
Cities burning.
Crowns falling.
Oceans turning black.
A throne made of bones.
A world screaming.
She dropped to her knees.
"No… stop…"
The stones flared.
Then everything went dark.
***********
Seated behind his desk, Damian wore a frown on his handsome face. His cold eyes resting on the person seated in front of him.
"since when?", he asked, his voice as cold as thousand year wood ice.
" I'm not sure, maybe since she was born. My beast reacted and I... I couldn't stop myself from yearning." Nairel's head was lowered this time, his eyes dark from the pressure he was feeling from his cold boss.
"she is my daughter. she is just nineteen." Damian growled.
" I know, we both know, but it's not something we could control or avoid. maybe we could've ignored the feeling in our hearts but we definitely couldn't ignore it forever." he said. his beast stirring in agreement.
" you know what's going to happen now. don't you?" Damian said, this time his voice a little softer. He sighed.
" There's no need. I need to grow stronger. on my own" Nairel said, a deep pain in his chest.
'rumble', the air trembled. Damian felt it. Nairel felt it too, a little stronger.
"Raven", they whispered at the same moment.
The wind stirred in the office and they were gone. Their movement speed was too fast even for the multitude of super-naturals in the building. They arrived at the place with Raven's aura, the underground floor. Damian was terrified thinking of how she might've ended up going to the 61st floor. Nairel too was surprised, a quiet curse whispered.
They rushed into the floor's halls and finally found her on the dark floor sleeping. her pale white face forming a contrast with the dark floor. color draining from their faces.
Nairel stopped his actions, better off staying behind, he let Damian go to her first.
Damian dropped to his knees beside her. " Raven" he called gently hoping she would respond. He lifted her gently off the ground trying to sense her vitality. Her breathing was shallow. sweat glazed her forehead. Then another voice spoke; "The time is coming. My master would acknowledge us." this voice was soft but not feminine. Damian turned, his eyes moving to the folding shadows on the walls. two red eyes opened, staring straight at the vampire before him. " who are you?", Damian asked, his body tense, ready to attack.
"Ale, and you my masters 'father' and he, hermate", Damian went stiff from the shadows words 'master?', he thought looking at his daughters frowning face. Nairel stood stiffly behind, his heart and mind a mess.
"Ale," Damian muttered his thoughts whirring. 'wait. mate?', his gaze shifting to the dazed fae behind him. he furrowed his brows.
A light chuckle echoed in the room filled with stones as the shadow faded.
Above them, the barrier shook lightly and the spirit of brusselie moved slightly, its eyes opening to the dark energy threatening its domain.