Everyone's eyes gleamed from the flames in front of them, Leofric and Otis' jaws both dropped. Camille began grinning with her eyes dilated—holding her hands together. Sagitta rests his arms on the arm rests and Aeliana looks at the flames with a gentle smile.
Leuthard then uses the ladle to spread the flames around the wheel, he then puts the ladle to the side, grabbing the tongs, pulling the fettuccine off the pot and placing it over the wheel. Right after he grabs the cream sauce, places it over the fettuccine and circles the pasta with the ladle over the flames—mixing them.
He continues to mix, up until the flames die out. Once they have, he takes a pepper grinder and cracks some pepper onto the pasta, using the tongs to place the pasta alla ruota onto multiple plates and serves the pasta to everyone.
"Pasta alla ruota, per favore divertiti[1]." Leuthard bows then leaves the room with the trolley.
"This looks nothing like any of the food I've eaten before… pas—ta? Am I saying it right?" He uses the fork and lifts the pasta up.
"Yes, you are saying it correctly." Aeliana replies with a smile as she twirls her pasta with a fork.
"Pasta, a dish in Italy as you know it. There are many kinds of pasta, pasta alla ruota uses fettuccine." Camille starts twirling the pasta with her fork.
Sagitta was about to eat the pasta, his eyes closed and the pasta nearing his mouth, until he heard slurping and glanced at Otis beside him.
"Mmm!! Mmm! Mmmm!!!!" Otis moans while continuously stuffing the pasta in his mouth.
"What the hell are you doing you stupid fox?!" Sagitta said irritably.
Leofric then takes a bite. "Mmmmmm! This is… one of the best things I've eaten!" He exclaims.
Camille on the other hand joyfully eats the pasta with her eyes closed and a joyful expression on her face. Aeliana smiles at the scene and begins eating her pasta.
They all finish with their plates empty, Leuthard returns and begins taking the used plates on the trolley and leaves the room.
Otis, lazily lying down on the chair then burps out loud. Sagitta was about to speak, but instead just sighed resting his face by his palm.
Camille happily slouches on her chair with a smile on her face, rubbing her stomach. Leofric started patting his mouth with his napkin.
The servers return to take the charger plates and the used forks.
Aelian then speaks. "Now that we've eaten, we can now discuss what is important."
"Oh, yep, sorry." Otis groaned as he sat up properly from his chair—as a server took his plate and fork.
While the orchestra continued to play a symphony, the discussion began with a soft, gentle melody.
"As we know, Warragul had unlawfully entered Aurvenia." Aeliana clasps her hands to her lap.
"And her presence would only mean one thing…" She furrows her brows.
"…Otis and Leofric are now being kept on a close eye by Namarrkon." She continues.
Everyone's eyes widened except for Sagitta, Otis' smile dropped and Leofric's chest began pounding.
Calm down, calm down. She hasn't explained anything yet… Leofric briefly sighed.
"That would mean both of you must be cautious, I have asked Leuthard to keep a close eye on you both, especially Otis." She shifts her gaze to him.
Otis? Leofric turns to him.
"Why me though? Leofric's a human who ate the apple, wouldn't he be a larger threat? Knowing what happened centuries ago." Otis raised his brow with a face of worry.
"Because you're an anomaly Otis, there has never been a single corrupted soul like yours." Aeliana then studies him.
"Talking animals existed in the past but as they were either blessings or divine punishments. However, your soul is unstable, one that literally appears to have made it to hell and back…" She crosses her leg.
"Namarrkon would want you to perish." Aeliana said sternly.
"Perish…?" Leofric murmured—turning to Aeliana with a look of worry.
Otis then lowered his head. "Ain't it easier if you just… break me apart so I no longer exist?"
Leofric slams the tables and jolts standing up, turning to him. "Don't be a fool! And don't just go saying something like that!" He shouted as he scowled.
Camille holds Leofric's wrist and looks at him, but his gaszed is locked onto Otis.
"That is why you are both lucky to have met me upon your arrival." Aeliana opens her hand.
"We are going to restore Otis' soul and prevent him from becoming a subject of Namarrkon's wrath." Her brows relax.
Otis raised his head, staring at Aeliana still with a face of concern. "But… I don't want to be a burden to all of ya..."
"You told me we are in this together, so we are." Leofric scowls angrily to Otis, clenching his fists.
"Sit down, Leofric Godwinson." Sagitta spoke sternly—crossing his arms.
"Let Lady Aeliana explain everything first. You would want to hear the whole story, don't keep her stalling." Sagitta commanded.
Camille nudges his arm, Leofric turns to her. She looks at him with a worried look and nods. Leofric sighed then sat down holding onto the arm rest, still gritting his teeth.
"I sent Sagitta to Kutharru to have a brief formal discussion between courtiers as messengers. Sagitta, please explain." Aeliana gestures.
"Warragul informed me that Namarrkon is aware of the situation but will not inform the others about Otis and Leofric's existence." Sagitta explains as he sat up straight.
Leofric Lifted his head, his chest now pounding faster. He took a quick deep breath while worriedly looking at Sagitta.
"However, he has taken an interest in killing Otis, we either hand him over… or…—." Sagitta stammers.
"…start a war against Aurvenia." He said sternly, furrowing his brows.
Everyone's eyes widened except Aeliana.
Camilles leaned closer against the table. "A war against Aurvenia? Why?! That's too reckless!" she said frantically.
"Because the last time I went to the surface, many people, both Agarthians and people on the surface—died in the end." Aeliana muttered, the smile on her face fading away.
"But—, didn't only Caesar and the Romans die in the story?" Leofric nervously asked.
"It was more violent than that… he is trying to get back at me and disrupt my plans." She clenched her first, a few knuckles cracking.
Leofric then darts to Aeliana's fist then her calm expression.
She could appear so calm but deep inside she's infuriated… just… like me. He recalls the time he had to drink wine during his birthday.
"Warragul told me, Namarrkon believes it is a sacrifice for the greater good. Humanity will only fall into a deeper pit of violence if Lady Aeliana would continue to persist. Moreover, he mentions the possibility of Otis becoming a rogue soul and wiping out all of Agartha."
"What…?" Otis nervously muttered.
"We do not believe such a thing could happen, Namarrkon has been through a lot, his people are warriors, constantly fighting. Strange anomalies often occur in Kutharru—he is overreacting." Aeliana spoke calmly—resting her hands by her lap, clasping them.
Otis' tail began to wrap around down his lap, he instinctively began fidgeting with his fur.
Sagitta then crosses his arms. "Thus, Aeliana and Namarrkon will have a summit, with the condition that Otis and Leofric be there with her." He furrowed his brows.
Everyone but Aeliana's eyes widened in shock. "No way… are they going to be safe?" Camille said in disbelief.
"We agreed not to intervene with one another, only a discussion. But both Lady Aeliana and I will be keeping a close eye in case Namarrkon tries something fishy." Sagitta darts over to Otis and Leofric.
Aeliana continues to study her lap while resting on one arm, stuck in thought.
"I will go." Camille speaks up.
Leforic veers to her with his eyes widened. "No you can—." Leofric was subtly interrupted.
"I said I will, if any of you get hurt I'll be there to patch any wound." Camille said sternly furrowing her brows.
"Very well, Camille. You may go with us then." Aeliana opens her arm.
Leofric was about to speak, but remained silent.
I have a bad feeling about this… He shifted his gaze to Aeliana, whose eyes are fixated below her.
Aeliana took a deep breath and sighed, fixing her posture. "Tomorrow, mid day, is when the summit will start." She smoothes the fabric of her dress—her fingers lingering over the silkz.
"Please be ready by morning, we have invited them to discuss in The Ellipse." She stands up.
Everyone nods in agreement.
"I will ask Leuthard to bring you to your rooms, Sagitta." Sagitta shifts her gaze to Sagitta.
"Yes, Lady Aeliana?" He stands up.
"We ought to plan for tomorrow, come with me." She strolled to the door.
Leofric notices the candle went out, as Aeliana passed by.
Huh…? What was that?
His eyes glowed, using his soul vision, Aeliana glowed ominously, the waves of soul around her moved erratically like the air of a firepit. Leofric's eyes widened, the glow in his eyes faded as he watched Aeliana and Sagitta leave the room supported by the servants opening the door.
Leuthard steps in walking towards the table. "Signore, signora, your rooms." He gestures to the opposite door.
He shifts his gaze to Otis, whose head was lowered and stared mindlessly below him.
Otis is going through a lot right now… perhaps I was too hard on him… He darts to Otis upsettingly, his expression softening.
With a quick deep breath, he stands up off his chair.
The rest stood and followed Leuthard's lead. Otis hops off his chair, his face still full of worry and Camille darts between Leofric and Otis as they all make their way to their rooms.
The music continued to play, echoing through both of the hallways of Leuthard and Aeliana. In the hallway, Aeliana and Sagitta are walking beside each other.
"Lady Aeliana." Sagitta spoke.
"Yes, Sagitta?" She turns to him.
"Why did you lie about the possibility of Otis becoming a rogue?" Sagitta raised his brow.
"If we told them the truth… Do you think they would still fight?" She smiles at Sagitta.
Sagitta briefly gasped as they walked.
"Otis was already on the verge of breaking, you saw the parts of his soul begin to crack as we mentioned Namarrkon, yes?" Aeliana shifts her gaze back to in front of her.
Sagitta studies the ground, recalling the time Aeliana mentioned Namarrkon's interest. Otis sat down, but the coloured parts of soul began to split from one another, with different parts of his soul beginning to crack—specifically, the red part of his soul.
"I apologise for my judgement." Sagitta raises his head—darting to Aeliana.
"We have business to do." Aeliana furrows her brows as she pushes the door open to her office.
The moment her foot steps into the office, the waves of her soul began to furiously eradicate out of her, causing her clothes to violently blow.
Sagitta looks from behind, startled as he witnesses her rage. He takes a moment to watch her enter the room then he sighs. His face turned into one with a slight worry, proceeding to follow her inside.
Warragul then walks into Kutharru's throne room. "Elder Namarrkon." She shifts into her human form, appearing as a teenage girl with fangs, kneeling in front of him with her head lowered.
Namarrkon stands up from his throne, his antennas sparking bits of electricity throughout.
"Aeliana…" He furrows his brows.
His eyes began to glow gold with bits of lightning sparking out of his eyes.
"All these centuries, yet you never learn your lesson…" he presses his fingers against his forehead—his veins popping out of his hand.
A strong surge of electricity travels and cracks through his atenneas turning it from brown to sky blue. The waves of electric energy erratically surrounded him—the thin fabrics of his clothes rising.
"…it is time to put an end to your naïve view of the world."
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
— Isaiah 5:20
[1] "Please enjoy"