A tunnel stretched on endlessly into the abyss. Its walls were rough and damp with unseen moisture that dripped in slow, rhythmic beats. The was air thick and heavy with decay, and something.. sinister.
Mujin calmly walked through that darkness, since it wasn't really an issue thanks to one of his attributes. He was greedily enjoying a bucket of popcorn that left a buttery smell hanging in the air.
'He should be on his way to the dream realm tomorrow.. should I go wish him good luck?'
He was a little excited about the rookie he got his hands on. Although all mundane, he killed 7 of his men! He would certainly become a treasure for The Red Sons in the future.
IF, he was obedient. But he had insurance that would turn him into a puppy, that being his mother. It didn't matter where in the world she went, she was only an arms distance for Mujin.
'I should probably leave a strong impression just to be sure.. should I kill his mother first? Or his brother?'
Even if he became an awakened as well, he was an Ascendent, there were only a few amount of people that could stand up to him.
He pondered this question in his mind thinking about how he should act, then before he knew it, he arrived at the end of the tunnel.
He found himself in an enormous cavern that stretched into the darkness above and below, with towering stone walls that were smooth to the touch.
Seven stone bridges extended from different parts of the wall, all converging at the central platform in the middle. An eighth bridge extended from it, but unlike the rest, it connected to a massive stone door that was sealed tight.
Mujin walked towards the middle of the room, shivering as it started to grow chilly out of nowhere, although he knew why. Unsurprisingly, there were 6 other people waiting at the top for him. Two of them looked to be missing.
These were the executives of The Red Sons. Most of them, at least.
"You're late again."
It was a woman with scarlet red hair, wearing some kind of kimono with red blossom flower patterns decorating it.
"I know~ They were screening that new Bastion movie and I wanted to check it out. It was terrible!"
She sighed.
Once Mujin arrived to the centre, the one who appeared to be leading them came forwards, and stood in the centre of the platform. Unlike Mujin, he wore a white suit with a black coat resting on his shoulders. The top half of his face was covered by a tight black blindfold, hiding his eyes, but he looked like he could see just fine.
"Mujin, did you find them?"
"Yeah, I recruited one of them. He looks real promising, so I'll take care him under my faction."
Although no one could see it, he raised an eyebrow.
"One of them?"
"Yep! Just one!"
"And of the other two?"
"They left for the NQSC to that awakened Academy they built over there. I'm sure the brother will come back at least, Leto."
All the members stared at him as if he made a mistake. Then a young, pale looking boy with short silver short hair began to laugh. He wore a simple plain white shirt, with a simple v going across it, and his body seemed to be.. steaming?
No one else seemed to think that it was abnormal though.
"So he must be so promising and powerful enough as just a mere sleeper, that you didn't care about the other two, right?"
Everyone's heads sharply turned to him. Mujin just quietly nodded, but he did grow quite serious.
"If so, won't you at least tell us a little about his Aspect? Oh, and its rank if you can."
The moment the word 'rank', came out of his mouth, everyone tensed. He was a bit of an enthusiast when it came to Aspects, and not in a good way.
"Even if I knew about that, you're the last person that I would tell."
The young mans lips curled,
"Oh? I guess I'll just have to take Klee, and go see him for myself then."
Mujin took a small step forwards,
"If you take even a glimpse at him, I'll kill you."
"You think you can kill me? I've killed my fare share of Ascendents too, I'll be glad to add you to that roster."
The women with scarlet red hair then shouted,
"Who said you could take Klee with you!? She's my deputy, not yours."
Despite being at a disadvantage by numbers, the pale boy welcomed the challenge. Before a fight could begin though, Leto commanded them,
"Stop this at once."
His voice was like an absolute authority in all their ears. Instantly, their aggression towards each other ceased with small hints of reluctance.
"Elaine, Mujin, don't fall for his provocation so easily. And Grey, your meant to be their senior, stop acting like a child."
Despite looking young, Grey was probably the 2nd oldest in the room having been part of the first wave of sleepers to be infected by the Nightmare Spell.
Grey raised his hands out of his pockets, and said in a carefree tone,
"You guys are boring, I'm going to take my leave. If anything important comes up, then you already know where I'll be."
Walking down the bridge that he arrived here on, Grey left the meeting early. Despite his disobedience, Leto just sighed. He never really did listen to him in the first place, so he didn't really care as long as he didn't step too far out of line.
Amongst there was now five people left. One of them wore a long blue coat, with a hood that hid their face in darkness. The only details of their face you could see, were his? her? Two glowing azure eyes.
They appeared to be glaring at Mujin especially though.
Taking notice of it, Mujin smirked.
"If you want it, you could just ask."
Mujin tossed the bucket of popcorn across the stone platform, as the figure in the blue coat caught it with ease without spilling a single kernel. They then began to greedily dig into it, but not too long after they started, the bucket slowly became encased in a thin layer of ice.
They didn't seem to mind though. Leto then asked,
"Jose, how's our pig doing?"
This time it was an older gentleman. Unlike everyone else, he seemed to be shivering from the cold especially hard. He was even sniffling, and you could hear a comedic rattle in his bones. He wore a golden suit, and was resting on a purple cane.
"He's fine, although his product output has been dropping a little..."
Leto silently nodded.
"I need one of you to send a message to the other two for me. The government have been sniffling a little bit too close to this place, so I'm starting to think that there may be a rat amongst us."
Everyone grew alerted.
"It may or may not be one of you Executives, but it could just as well be one of your Deputy's. Even if we may be comrades, be wary of each other, grow suspicious of one another, we can't afford any mistakes now, especially when we are so close to the end line."
Leto turned around, and began to walk to the massive stone door that lay ahead of all of them. He rested the palm of his hand against it, as he tried to connect with the being on the other end.
"It is almost done, master. I've almost fulfilled the promise that we made."