• Chapter 13: Supreme Magistrate

    “This is, quite interesting to say the least. The great mastermind of the Thelmian Underground Black Market has finally bit the dust. I never thought I’d see this day come.” Hark began to chuckle a bit. “Well, what do you say we get back into the room? It has gotten quite lively out here; we wouldn’t want our little miss to be found out by anyone. Isn’t that right Deckard?” Deckard turned to Hark slowly. “What? Oh, yes that is right. Come on Rydia, let’s go back inside.” Rydia looked up at Deckard and nodded, still trying to get hold of the situation and take in the information she just heard. The three of them quickly went back inside and sat down on the beds.

    “Well, I’m quite tired from all the running around lately, so I’m going to sleep. I still haven’t quite recovered from being injured either.” Deckard said as he lay on his bed under the covers. Rydia followed his example, but instead of sleeping on her own bed she crawled under the covers next to Deckard. “Well, good night then.” She whispered just quietly enough for both men to hear. “R-Rydia?!” Deckard turned around to look at her quickly. “What… This girl… She’s already asleep that fast? Ah whatever, it doesn’t matter, good night Hark.” Deckard then slowly lied back down and slowly fell asleep as well. Hark on the other hand, hadn’t even been in the room. In fact there wasn’t even a point in time when Hark actually entered the room.

    Hark was now standing in the shadows of the Council Room of the Royal District. On top of being in the shadows, Hark had also turned himself translucent in order to avoid being seen. The Council room consisted of a large, circular table in what would appear to most as being an “inquiry” room. The table was positioned into the bottom of a small, arena like room, with a door which provided direct access to the bottom section where the table was at. About 20 feet up, was a second circular platform that overlooked the table. On that very same platform, there were 30 chairs seated behind a long circular desk that went around the entire way, positioned almost exactly 5 feet from one another. Like the floor below it, there was only one door which provided access to the second floor. 30 feet up higher beyond the second floor was where the third floor stood at. The third floor however, had two doors to provide access to entry. The doors were directly opposite one another, but this by no means meant that council members were going to have direct access to both. In fact the second door provided access to a secluded area of the third floor, an area that was closed off to the rest of the floor that was designed specifically for the Emperor. On the third floor, there were 20 chairs that were positioned almost exactly 10 feet from one another, and then there was the Emperor’s section which took up its own 50 foot part.

    “Hark, are you eavesdropping on our meeting?” a young female voice called from inside the Emperor’s chamber as the door opened, where Hark had decided to hide. “Am I that easy for you to spot? I thought I was fully concealed.” A young looking woman slowly walked into the room. “Have you forgotten my heightened sense of smell, Hark?” The woman was wearing a white and orange kimono, a pair of sandals and hair bright orange hair that was set up into two long ponytails going behind her head. Her hair color, along with her eyes, was a beautiful orange, the color of a setting sun off the coast of the mainland. She also had a pair of fox ears on top of her head, which were actually not a decoration but were the real thing. “Well, just don’t interfere with our matters and you can stay here.” The young woman smiled for a moment before taking a seat at her chair, which was not the Emperor’s chair, but one next to it.

    The Emperor’s chamber was a unique room, as it was completely closed off once the door was shut. There was a glass window that allowed vision of the rest of the room, but it was a one way looking glass and was impenetrable to most attacks. The second floor, as well as the third, was also somewhat closed off by glass windows. There were two sheets of glass spreading over the center gap of the room horizontally that were made from a similar substance to the glass on the Emperor’s chamber, but it was viewable both ways. The doors to the Council room suddenly opened, as the door to the Emperor’s chamber closed. The Magistrates of the city walked in to the very bottom section, followed by the lower council members on the second floor, and then the higher council members on the third. The magistrates were each wearing regular, but formal clothing. The council members however, were all wearing a set of ceremonial robes that were light blue and gold if they were a lower council member, or dark blue and gold if they were a high council member. Each member of the council also wore a veil over their heads in order to mask their appearance to prevent people from learning their identities. In a spot that was directly across from the center of the Emperor’s chamber, sat the head of the high council. His outfit was red and gold, rather than blue but he still wore a veil to conceal his face. All of the council members were in attendance, but there were 3 seats on the bottom floor that were empty. The young woman pushed a button on the desk in front of her and began to speak.

    “As you are probably wondering by now, there are three empty seats on the lower floor and nineteen Magistrates in attendance. One of these seats belonged to the late Supreme Magistrate, and another belonged to Fenix Derringer, the magistrate of the 14th district who was recently murdered. The third seat belongs to no one at this point in time and will remain empty for a short while longer. As everyone in this room should well know by now, Beythemisia is a city that is constantly growing larger by the day. Because of this fact, a new district has slowly been developing over time and is nearly large enough to have a ruling magistrate. We currently are expecting the new district to be large enough after the remainder of houses is built during this week, as well as the business area that is undergoing finalizations. We will not however, be discussing the appointment of a ruler for that district as of yet. This meeting was called due to the two recent deaths of Magistrates in the city. The Supreme Magistrate died of old age over one week ago, and all of you were called in order to be informed that a new one would be appointed today. I will now turn the floor over to the High Council.” The young woman pressed the button again and turned to look at Hark. “It’s been a long time since you’ve come around your hometown, does this mean you are returning to us?” she smiled at him.

    “I’m not here because I chose to be, I’m here because I’m tracking down you know who. I also decided it would be best to protect our little princess from the front lines, since her journey seems to be taking her to some pretty dangerous places.” Hark suddenly became visible as his spell was stopped from channeling. “I see then. Well, would you at least have a meal with me for old time’s sake?” Hark laughed a bit. “Sure, why not. It is a bit hard to eat with this mask on though, so it will have to be in a place where no one can see us.” The girl nodded with a smile. “Of course, I wouldn’t want anyone to find out who you are. It would cause a great deal of confusion if your identity were revealed.”

    “Exactly one week from this day, the members of the higher and lower council agreed to make a decision on who we would appoint to the position of Supreme Magistrate, and who would be that person’s replacement to his or her district should the appointed person be a current ruler. After a long week of considering leadership, status, magical prowess, intelligence, and ability to succeed we have made a decision on who we shall appoint to the seat of district zero, otherwise known as the Supreme Magistrate. We would like to inform all of you, that this decision was fully unanimous amongst both the lower and the higher council. Such an appointment has not once ever been a possibility, and has never happened until now. The new magistrate of district zero, the Royal district, shall henceforth be Firomis Caine.” Firomis looked up at the high council member who had been speaking all this time, a bit confused. The entire room soon began applauding Firomis, and insisting that he sit down at the head chair immediately. With a bit of hesitation, Firomis did just that.

    Applaud slowly died down as they prepared for Firomis to speak. “My fellow friends, esteemed members of the council and magistrates, it is with great pride that I take up this new position given to me. I can only hope to become as great as Lucien Gray, my mentor and most recently the Supreme Magistrate. I had not expected to take this seat at all, and so I ask you to forgive me for not preparing a proper speech on this day. I am truly grateful with all that I am to the Council members for unanimously appointing me this position and I swear on my life that I will not disappoint you all.” Firomis slowly sat down in his new chair and the room was filled with applaud once more.

    A short moment later, the head council member began to speak once more as applaud died down. “We will now address the issue of the two missing seats of the magistrates. Firstly, the newly appointed 14th district ruler, Marianne Flay, please enter the room.” The door to the lower level opened slowly and a young girl entered the room. The girl was a brunette, but her hair almost looked like it was blonde because of how light it was. Her eyes were blue, and her face looked like that of a cute and innocent little girl. She was wearing almost all white except for a few areas. Her top and skirt were both pure white, with the top being a button up that had long black ribbons in the front that went down to her stomach. The skirt, which covered down to about where her knees were at, was layered and frilly. To match the top and skirt, she wore a pair of white shin-high shoes with black laces, although the upper portion of the shoes were covered up by a pair of black laced leg warmers. On her arms, she had a pair of white laced arm warmers and on her shoulder was a cloak that she wore around herself. The cloak was a very light purple, and it was layered in colors, becoming lighter in color the further down it went until it became a pearly white.

    “Pleased to meet you.” She curtseyed to everyone in the room with a smile on her face. “I am Marianne Flay, and I will be the one taking over district 14.” She slowly walked over to her seat and sat in it after she finished talking. “Marianne, are you aware of the current status in the 14th district?” Firomis looked at her and asked her. She closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at him with a smile. “Yes, I am well aware of the current status of the 14th district. I plan to completely reform the entire district as quickly as possible, though I also understand it will be a difficult task. I will be looking at you for guidance, Lord Firomis.” She smiled and looked up at the room to take in all of its sight finally.

    The head council member began to speak once more. “Lastly, it is with great honor that we appoint the new magistrate of the second district who is to become Firomis’ replacement. Many of you will no doubt have objections to our decision on this matter, but our decision will not be change and it is absolute. Sethos Karami shall henceforth take up the position of the 2nd district Magistrate, please enter the room.” The door opened once more as a new person entered the room. This time, it was a man, but he had a very unique appearance. The man was wearing a highly decorated and ornate gold and orange robe, a pair of matching sandals and a strange, semi-translucent crystalline pair of plate shoulders with a cape attached to them. His hair, which was very similar in color to the girl in the Emperor’s chamber, was extremely puffy and thick. His eyes were the same color as his hair, but none of these features were what made his appearance unique. On top of his head there sat a pair of fox ears, just like the girl in the chamber above. “I would like to extend my greetings to all of you. My name is Sethos Karami. I am the replacement, and new magistrate of district two. I look forward to working with you all and getting to know everyone better. Since my appearance might suggest it already, I would also like to point out that I am an eight tailed Kitsune, otherwise known as a half human half fox.”