(Ch 47)Meeting of the twelve III

Faith got up from his seat, waving goodbye to both his mother and sisters with a smile plastered on his face.

"Be careful Faith, somethings not right?" Eshir said, stopping ruby from attacking anything in sight.

Eshir wasn't usually paranoid but being a ruler made her aware of slight subtleties in the air. The fact that no noble demon had spoken out and was on their best behavior felt off.

'It could be the Royal knights… they wouldn't do anything stupid right? not with Alzeor here' She wondered

Despite the constant verbal and physical fights between them, the only reason she would ever be able to land a hit was that the dragons had let her in penance of himself for messing up as a father. Alzeor was not an opponent she could reasonably win against without stockpiles of tools and weapons from the royal vault or some kind of manpower on her side. Dragons grew stronger with age and Alzeor was considered ancient, at least by other race's standards.

"I'll be alright mom, I've got Luna if anything goes wrong." Faith replied misinterpreting her worries for his physical well-being as social.

Standing up and walking across the hall littered with high-ranking members of other races was much less daunting of a thing while accompanied by someone else. Faith could spot Giants, Dwarves, Merfolk, Elves, Humans, and Spirits all splayed across one side of the grand hall while Gnomes, Dark Elves, Demons, Dragons, Avians and Vampires kept to the other side. All of them were in humanoid form but the glaring difference from Dragons slitted pupils to Avians feathered appendages they showed off proudly made it all too clear their difference in species.

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a blunt butter knife and many of the residents, particularly the lower of status, stole glances at Faith from time to time. Perhaps hoping to see the legendary Rexel for themselves or to take note of future competition.

Faith tried to ignore it and simply followed Reasla making their way through the crowd, on the Dark-light side of course. The gap between the two races didn't bother Faith very much since it was bound to be a thing.

'On earth people enslaved each other for a difference in skin colour, I can't begin to imagine how hard it would be for different races to be brought together.' Faith thought.

'The first part sounded like static' Luna replied.

'How the hell do you know what static sounds like, no wait actually how do you even know what static is?'

'Familiars who communicate to this dimension through their own experience it, it sounds like how spirit water tastes'

'Spirit water?' Faith asked.

'Yeah it's that bubbly water that the chefs always serve nobles'

'…'

'Faith?'

'Sorry I was just contemplating genocide' Faith replied, scaring Luna with how serious he was. That damned bubbled water should've stayed in the shithole he came from.

"Oh I forgot to ask but have you met any of the attendants yet? They might find us rude if we don't show you around a little." Reasla asked, stopping on the spot as if it'd just came to her.

"No, I haven't had a chance yet. Honestly, I'd prefer to meet the future before the present or the past" Faith replied, trying to worm his way out of talking to a bunch of strangers he didn't know that was older than himself and more prone to violence. it should be mentioned that his only experience with rulers was Eshir and Alzeor so his opinions on their bloodlust habits were a bit skewed.

"Well if that's what you want, sweet little thing"

"Pardon?"

"Don't worry it was just a slip of the tongue," Reasla replied, shrugging while inwardly sweating bullets.

Despite what some may think Vampires did not single out humans kind and could maintain a healthy diet on the blood of any they choose. It was simply that humans were the easiest to maintain and gather as livestock.

Reasla had kept quiet in hopes to avoid letting it slip out but it was hard to avoid how divine Faith smelled, his blood radiating magic like a real Dragon.

'How can it smell so sweet despite being only half of his lineage. Maybe it's the royal side' Reasla wondered.

Unlike some other races, a dragon's colour of scale was a clear indicator of its status. Among the true dragons present only Alzeor and Ascilia had black hair, the majority having gold hair while some had silver or even bronze. Faith however was a mystery to Reasla and everyone else for that matter. He was a half-breed who even though possessing a dominant dragon side lacked their most predominant feature when in human form. (AN: In case of confusion, Scale equal hair, hair equal scale)

'Is my hair messed up Luna?' Faith asked wondering why the hell Reasla was so intrigued with it.

Since it was the only thing he shared with Eshir Faith was quite proud of his slicked shoulder-length hair. With the jacket it fell on, the snow-white hair stood out among a crowd, and forgetting to tie it back made him realise how much of a Hassle it posed.

"Anyway, I'll assume you haven't met any of those Light-dark cattle yet?" Reasla asked, chatting while they walked to the Terrance.

It was further away than he would've guessed and the people they were forced to navigate through didn't help. Tables filled with those trying to make connections and light food being served with drinks gave the meeting a far more business party vibe.

"No I haven't, other than you Krus is the only one I've had the pleasure of being meeting" Faith spoke, his silver tongue being far less the result of a crafty manipulative mind and far more his efforts to bullshit his way through social conduct.

"Well that's unfortunate, it'd be best if you didn't let it show around Light-dark and especially the elves. I'm pretty sure they have a bone to pick with you" Reasla added. "Not to mention that little monster. You'd do best to keep your guard up around her. Unlike me the pretentious little bitch might see you as a challenge to be promptly crushed"

Faith was slightly taken aback by the sheer spite in her voice, then again though he could understand it. Pride was prevalent among Dragons but it was still an emotion among all other races and Reasla's had clearly taken a hit.

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind then" Faith replied.

'I wonder what this "Monster" everyone talks about is like?' Luna queried.

'If I've learned anything from politics and social status it's to not judge a book by its cover, at least the girl seems on equal if not higher footing than myself' Faith noted.

He took friendship more seriously than one would imagine, half the reason he knew the races present was not for political purposes as a future ruler but as a way to bring up key conversations regarding them. If you got someone to talk about themselves they'd be more prone to liking you since living creatures were generally selfish by habit.

'Oh by the way… how's that whole "spirit water genocide" thing from earlier going?'

'My machinations lay in wait'

'We've literally just been walking to the Terrance, what could you have possibly done in that time

'It's not what I've done Luna… but what I will do… hehe' Faith replied.