Solus Council III

"Welcome, Nizael, Lulia. We must talk." At the wave of his hands, all the guards filtered out of the room, no other words uttered.

"Lord Everion." Taking steps at the bottom of the stairs to the throne, Nizael bent a knee and raised her left fist to her chest - it was an action that Lulu remembered being taught about, quickly following suit, silently imitating her grandmother.

The action was similar to the salute soldiers would give in times of war, but it was only done when in the presence of the Everion, right knee touching the ground, left hand in a fist over the chest.

Sweeping his gaze over the girl with vibrant blue hair, the Everion eyes glimmered with amusement. "You've done splendidly well in raising your grandchild, Nizael."

Not batting an eye, "Please, we are in serious conversation. Refer to me by my title." Nizael kept her gaze on the Everion

"Yes, yes. Now, no need to stay like that. You may rise." With a wave of his hand, servants swiftly stalked into the room, bringing with them a couple of chairs, placing them right behind the grandmother and granddaughter pair, departing like the passing breeze, swiftly as they came.

Nervously taking a seat, Lulu's eyes passed over Tavella; she had sat in the center of the steps, resting her head on the higher ones, relaxed with her eyes closed and exhaling soothing breaths.

Fiddling with her fingers, she kept her eyes on her feet, starting to kick them back and forth, unable to keep herself in one place under the old fossil's gaze.

"Anyways, I must inform you. He will be there." He stated.

Nizael paused, trying to repress anything that could accidentally spill from her lips. "I... assumed he would. It's not unexpected." She agreed.

Looking between the two in confusion, Lulu tilted her head at Nizael, "He? Who's he?"

...

The two made eye contact, clearly having a silent debate on whether or not she should know what they knew - or if she was better left in ignorance. The Everion eventually let loose a sigh, closing his eyes momentarily.

"General, I recommend you inform her." He stated

"You're correct." Nizael turned her head to Lulu, "I figured you should at least know of anything directly related to you."

Her brows furrowed, "At the moment? Does that mean something will happen to me in the future?" She questioned, not knowing whether or not she was curious anymore. She was.

At her inquiry, Tavella raised her head from the steps, her eyes fluttering open, "You know, sometimes you're too smart, Lulia."

Not knowing whether to be happy with her words, Lulu's face formed an awkward smile. "Thanks?"

With a hum, Tavella returned to laying her head down, relaxing on the steps.

Lulu returned her hands to fiddling with her fingers, waiting for the two elders to say what they wanted to say. Her already stressed nerves were being pulled on even more; it could become a problem with the tension on her grandmother's face.

"The person we're talking about is one of the Kritol Emperor's advisors; he is responsible for the surprise attack seven cycles ago."

She remembers the attack, but even still, her memories of everything that happened are a blur, she had hit her head and was having a panic attack, so it was a bit hard to hear things. "Ok? How is that connected to me? I don't see it." She was still confused.

"As the culprit of the attack, he is most likely in charge of the Ring they had brought with them. Also, more importantly, he has... recently placed a large bounty on your head. There's a high chance we'll soon have our hands full with all sorts of mercenaries and bounty hunters." She finished with an exhausted sigh.

"..."

The information had struck Lulu into silence. She stared off into her grandmother's face in search of a ruse - she knew better - her grandmother wasn't one for jokes, never was - this was serious.

Although she was looking at Nizael's face, she was staring past it; her attention was no longer on what was in the physical world. No, it was trapped in her mindscape, searching for a way to calm her down before she needed it.

Her mind flared over the thoughts of her one and only friend, the little adventure they took where she painted the ship. They made that little junkyard into a moment of escape; it was working as an escape for her at this very moment.

Bringing her head down to her lap, Lulu let out a breath she had held in for who knows how long, watching her hands while she fiddled with her fingers. She had calmed down, but it would continue to bother her.

Nizael watched her granddaughter with a wary gaze, "Lulu-"

She cut her off, "I'm alright, continue."

"Right."

The Everion merely nodded, quickly deciding to move on. Tavella had yet to open her eyes again, seemingly asleep, resting quietly on steps. Her figure under the curious gaze of the younger blue-head.

"The Council meeting seems to be of great importance this time; all the parties that are part of the council have been showing great signs of unease and nervousness." He stated, great interest dripping from his tone.

"Yes, I've taken notice of that. I've been sending scouts out to try and discern the situation. Have you managed a glimpse of what is happening, Lord Everion? If even the Solituls are anxious, it must be grand enough to affect the entire Universe."

She stopped before pulling her lips apart hesitantly. "Have-have you had any glimpses into the future that would inform you of what is happening?" She inquired.

The Everion's gaze glossed over. He brought his hand to the orb of his staff. He rotated it for a few moments, mumbling while doing so. Tavella raised her head off the steps, her eyes open, placing her starry gaze onto the Everion, a similar gloss over her eyes.

"Hmm, there seems to be an answer to that. Yes, I have seen it, I know of it, It confounds me, but it matters not, General. This issue plaguing the rest of the Council will not affect our people. I've made sure to learn that."

Nizael nodded at his words. Her expression remained in thought. Tavella stood to her feet, the Everion following right after; Nizael similarly rose from her seat.

With the sudden movement, Lulu took her gaze away from her hands, staring at them all in confusion.

Tavella walked up the steps, standing next to the throne, kicking its base before turning around and staring intently at Lulu, "It's about time. Let's go."

"Oh, coming."

Following her grandmother up the throne, Lulu urged after them behind the throne into a short hallway.

Coming out after them, she came face to face with a ship hangar that held a single large ship sitting in the center. Hovering above a pit of water, the vessel was held up by wires and hooks from the ceiling; workers were moving around and inspecting it from the raised walkways, preparing it for departure - the sparkling armored guards standing by near the open bottom hatch.

"Come then. I don't want to be late."

Tapping the bottom of his staff against the hangar floor, the Everion led them to the ship while the workers saluted when they passed.

"Yes, the faster we get this over with, the faster we can return to finish the transference ceremony." Nodding similarly, Tavella interlocked her hands in front of her, moving in a dignified manner.

"Mm, yes."

Placing a hand on Lulu's shoulder, Nizael followed close behind them.

The sparkling guards saluted before swiftly opening the back of the ship for them to enter. Once on board, two soldiers with platinum insignias' on their shoulders led them to the rest area; A large room with a table in the center, a single seat on one side while combined seating circled half of it, and in the corner was a purple bag seat placed under a lowly blowing air conditioner.

The Everion reclined in the seat while Nizael slid across from him, sitting Lulu down at her side. Instead of sitting near them, Tavella went over to the purple bag before plopping down atop it - sinking her face into its material while her half-orb crown floated aimlessly above her head.

After they settled in, the Everion pointed his chin toward the guards who had remained near the door, "Tell them to take off."

With a final salute, they left the four to their own devices.

Moments after the two left, the ship shook and lurched forward. After settling down, the humming of the smoothly running thrusters infiltrated the air, like soothing meditative music was being played throughout the ship.

Lulu was staring ahead of her, blanking out while her grandmother and the Everion talked about miscellaneous things, the state of the Collective, word on the Temple, and the Cult. She wasn't much interested in those subjects at the moment.

Then, pulled back in by a sudden sound, Lulu's attention was brought back to her surroundings, looking her grandmother's way only to see that she was still in talks with the Everion. Looking to the corner, she saw how Tavella was laid back in her bag, her eyes glued on the screen in the wall across from her.

Looking around the room, Lulu saw another purple bag. Glancing at her grandmother, she got up, grabbed the bag, and placed it next to Tavella.

"Uh, what are you watching?" She questioned

"It's a video on everything someone needs to know about mechanized units."

"Mechanized units?"

"Yes. They are units made of machines controlled by artificial intelligence. Often they are used by the Kritol and Solitul Empires'. The Solitul Empire being the more dangerous one." Not removing her eyes from the screen, she answered Lulu's questions.

"Really? Do we have mechanized units as well?"

"Well... in a way, yes, but they are a small organization. Our people have a known saying and thought, Nothing is as great and trustworthy-"

"As ourselves. Grandma drilled that into my head during training."

Finishing the phrase, Lulu rubbed the ends of her ears before she began to focus on the screen as well - her curiosity was peaked.

On the screen they were watching was a man dressed in simple attire, had swept-back hair, and appeared to be entirely human; the man was standing in front of a screen that changed with varying images every few moments.

He would talk about people or different types of machines and Artificial Intelligence, then images that showed what he was talking about for them to understand.

The video was attention-pulling. Once she started to watch it, she found it hard to pull her eyes away from the screen. Not just because she was learning about something new and intriguing but because the man spoke with such enthusiasm and joy on the subject - that it made it just enjoyable to watch and learn.

"Oh, so humans have started using it as well. How interesting."

Commenting on the man's words, Tavella continued to watch in silence. She would comment out loud like this every once in a while, but then she would return to just quietly watching on. The randomness of her actions tended to surprise Lulu now and then.

Time went by quickly while they continued watching the man go in-depth on the subject before the ship suddenly halted with a heavy shake, a screen appearing on the table of the Everion.

The pilot appeared on the screen, his helmet his the expression on his face, but his voice gave away how worried the man was.

"Lord Everion, General, there is a situation in the space ahead of us. You need to see this."

"Transfer the screen," Nizael spoke.

"Right away."

The screen blipped before a new image appeared on it. Sitting in the empty void of space was a storm of glowing red orbs moving in their direction.

With the ship stopping and the sudden message from the pilot, Lulu, and Tavella moved over to where the two elders were seated.

It paused in front of the ship. The storm of pitch black and ruby red parted. A figure stepped through it, across space - standing in the void between them and the red and black storm.

"What is that, Grandma?"

"Pesky creatures, don't worry too much. They won't harm our people. They must just be passing by. Though, that figure... what is it."

"It is our topic for this meeting." The Everion informed her, receiving a nod in turn.

Even though she said not to worry, Lulu's eyes remained on the screen, growing nauseous at the sight of the figure and the storm behind it, leaking an ocean of red energy. It was malevolent in its purpose - she felt it.

The energy swept over the entire ship, rocking it back in forth, even startling Nizael for a moment, while Tavella stared in Lulu's direction with a studying gaze. Her body was shielded in her flow of red energy.

After the energy washed over them, the figure returned to the storm before it moved on without further issue. Once gone, Lulu couldn't stop herself from putting a hand over her chest. The storm similarly affected her in a way reminiscent of the Machine that tried to suffocate her in Tyvetta's world.

With a sigh, Nizael turned to her granddaughter, "As I said, they were just passing by. Rest easy."

The screen returned to showing them the pilot; Nizael informed him that everything was fine and that they could continue to the Council. They were due to arrive soon.