A/N: Kind of lewd and slightly darker scenes incoming for this and the next chapter? Well, it's an omegaverse story, so what did you expect… Anyways for any of you reading this, please make sure to get consent before you do anything… This is a work of fiction.
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[???'s POV]
As the three strange students stared and smiled at Rien, [???] perched on a wide marble windowsill, her legs swinging lazily over the edge as she watched the world far below.
In one hand, the tainted witch fingered a small shard of glass—glass belonging to the bottle containing the guttershells that she'd dropped at Vaulnere's docks a couple of days ago.
She clenched her fist.
*Ttuk*
The glass in her fingers shattered into a million crystal fragments. She littered the tinkling dust outside where it was blown away by the wind.
A cool breeze slipped through the tall arched window, carrying the scent of warm stone, distant incense, and the faint tang of smoke. The gauzy curtains billowed around her, brushing against her pale cheeks and tugging the strands of her long, navy-blue hair loose around her shoulders.
The witch hat [???] had worn at the apartment and down by the docks had been tossed carelessly onto the desk behind her, its brim half-crushed beneath a heap of parchment.
Her cloak lay crumpled beside it. In the bright morning light pouring through the window, her face remained hidden beneath the shadow of the room.
Across the capital city of Agëmon, sunlight spilled over everything in dazzling gold. It gleamed across polished rooftops and glass domes and across the towering spires that pierced the sky like lances. Imperial banners snapped sharply in the wind, crimson and gold ribbons fluttering against the blue.
Every so often, a dull plume of grey ash climbed into the sky somewhere in the distance.
[???] hugged her knees to her chest and twirled a small mirror lazily in one hand. Its silver frame caught the light and reflected her luxurious bed, where a human-like shape writhed, almost as if it were trying to free itself.
"Mmphh—!" A muffled protest came from somewhere behind her.
She sighed and glanced over her shoulder into the dim room. The faint creak of rope shifting accompanied the movement.
"Shhh," [???] whispered, pressing a finger to her lips while checking the mirror. "You're gonna ruin it."
The mirror, instead of reflecting the clear blue sky, reflected a table with four other individuals seated around it. One of them leaned forward slightly. A woman with black hair wearing a white Kitsune mask tilted her head.
"Little Crow," she said. "Didn't you say you were busy?"
"Mn… I am," [???] smiled.
Behind her, the shape on her bed shifted again as rope creaked. Her smile widened just a little as she tilted the mirror so the collective could see. "See?"
"A new toy?" The woman with the Kitsune mask asked. Her tone seemed to drop disapprovingly. "Again?"
[???] frowned. "You're the ones carrying out the majority of Hecate's will, so how can you talk? Having a toy is nothing compared to all the killing we've done." Her aquamarine eyes remained completely empty and unmoved, as though the subject held no weight at all. "You were the one who called the coven meeting, Mizuki. Do I actually need to be here, or can I leave?"
The Kitsune mask leaned back, sighing. "...Difficult as always. Anything to report?"
*Clack*
[???] set down the mirror as a bird—a hapless chickadee—flitted by the window, settling on the ledge. She stared at the bird for a brief moment before extending her hand towards it, drawing on her mana. The bird cocked its head slightly.
[???] closed her hand into a fist, and the shadow from the ledge seemingly crawled forward to the chickadee's. The bird froze for a brief moment before panic erupted.
It flapped its wings desperately, but it couldn't fly, nor could its feet even leave the windowsill. It sat there, glued in place, as it grew more and more distressed.
*Chirp, chirp, chirpchirpchirp—*
[???] smiled as the sounds of desperate chirps came louder and louder then—with a wave of her hand—the chickadee was swallowed by the shadow in a flash of black, leaving nothing but a few specks of red, ruby-dropped blood where the warm, living bird had used to be.
"I'm going to Chrysanthemum Academy soon," [???] said to those in the mirror, smiling dully at the ruby drops of red on her windowsill. "Keep your subcovens out of this."
"But you're the only one acting alone," the Kitsune mask replied. "Besides, it was your decision to use the guttershells at Vaulnere. Didn't some of the survivors manage to follow the Tidedrifter to the academy?"
[???]'s sapphire blue eyes glimmered in the dark. "Right, and they've evolved quite a bit," she laughed. "The constabulary will probably figure that one out soon. But I have a lead on SN. And without the archmage hugging the academy, I can finally enter."
The table roused visibly at this information. Kitsune mask's tone seemed to smile a little, though they still sounded a little… appalled. "…Very well. I wish you luck. And…have fun with your toy."
[???] nodded.
*ttak!*
[???] snapped her fingers and the mirror returned to normal. Turning around, she sauntered slowly to her bed, pulling the beige cardigan she was wearing closer to her while brushing down her midnight blue nightgown.
She sat down on the edge of her bed, which was currently occupied by a young woman—a maid, her family's—who was bound, blindfolded and gagged tightly with rope.
She'd found the rat listening to her conversation with the rest of the tainted mages earlier.
[???] sighed. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting."