Meeting(Rewrite)

(Arkisto, Midnight)

Deep underground, in a bunker made from a Celest-Metal alloy, a group of dangerous individuals gathered.

"I wonder why she gathered us today~," A bubbly pink-haired girl asked no one in particular.

"Most likely to discuss an important matter that came up." The silver-haired boy beside her answered, lifting his head up from the table momentarily before plopping back down. "I just hope that it's really worth our time."

The pink-haired girl hummed in agreement. From what she heard, Viola found something interesting about the Rift Beast. Or at least that's what Constantine told her. Who knows maybe the Trickster was being mischievous again. That's normal for him after all.

"I promise you, it's something you would want to know. After all, it pertains to our…" Constantine's voice made everyone look at him and see his grin. "Rank 1."

It was then that everyone became intrigued. Who wouldn't? It was about the mysterious Rank 1, whom only Stella, Akane, and Riku met. That much was obvious since all four of them came from Project Rupture. 

"Hikari? You know where my 'brother' is!?" A white-haired girl said as she slammed her hand on the table, creating a few cracks in the process. One of the people seated winced at that. The monetary value of the table decreased.

"Who knows~"

This immediately snapped the white-haired girl. She disappeared from her spot and reappeared beside Constantine. Even the Trickster barely had time to react. Luckily for him, he didn't need to do anything.

"[Freeze]."

With just one word, the world came to a stop. Everyone was frozen in time, except for two people that is. Constantine immediately created a portal away from the white-haired girl. The exit point of his portal appeared beside a familiar dark blue-haired girl.

Then time resumed once more.

The white-haired girl became a bit disoriented when she came crashing to nothing. She immediately looked around the room and spotted Constantine beside Viola.

"Why'd you tell them…" Viola sighed as she facepalmed, ignoring the chuckle the Trickster let out. "I know where he is, but I'm not telling. He wants to live normally."

"Normal? Him?" A boy with red hair said in a mocking tone. "Out of all four of us, he's the one everyone in this room should be afraid of. Hell, he's more of a monster than the Rift Beasts."

Viola can't really put a finger on it, but she somehow felt furious at hearing the red-hair call Hikari a monster. Most likely due to how she knew Hikari's wish to be a normal person. That feeling was thrown out the window though as she heard the red-haired boy gave a hearty laugh. Confused by this, Viola and the others looked at him as he stopped laughing, wiping the tear out of his eye.

"You should really see the look on your face, Belrose. I'm just joking. I'm not really mocking him, quite the opposite really. I'm proud of my little brother." He said sincerely. Viola looked at the other Project Rupture homunculi, and sure enough, they were smiling warmly at him. Their smiles soon faded though as the red-haired boy released a bit of his Celest. It was dense enough that even Viola felt herself about to kneel. "That kid had to suffer the most because of what he is…"

A minute passed before he decided to release the pressure, sighing as he leaned back on his seat. Viola wiped the sweat on her forehead that she didn't even know was there until she felt it move. It seems she has much to learn about these three newcomers.

"Riku, do you think he'll be happy to see us?" The white-haired girl broke the silence.

"That… I'm not sure, Akane. Maybe he will? After all, he cares about us." That brought a smile to Akane's lips.

"You're right… Let's hope."

With that small side quest done, Viola coughed to her closed fist. Akane got the message and returned back to her seat, the same going for Constantine. Everything going forward is now the official meeting of The Ten. Formalities aside, the meeting was akin to any political meetings before they got to the main point of the meeting.

"There's humanoid mutants."

Silence. That's to be expected, this news was rather concerning considering how Rift Beasts were a problem. Now they weren't even much of a beast anymore. A mimic of what they're meant to protect is problematic.

"Of course, there also exist non-humanoid mutants. But from what we've gathered, they seem to be far inferior to the humanoids. The only observed mutations were regeneration for Wolf Class and Pack Control for Bull Class."

The one who winced at the table being damaged thought deeply. This was Adam Skirk. The smartest person in the room. From what he heard just now, this could mean that at some point in the future, they'd be battling new types of Rift Beasts, which would render humanity's current defenses useless. This does bring a question to his mind though…

"How does this relate to Rank 1?"

"...He killed them all. He alone was able to completely erase all traces of the humanoid mutants and beast mutants that were recorded."

"What's so special about that?" a brown-haired boy asked with arrogance. "I bet we could all do tha-"

"We can't. The first humanoid was able to put me on the brink of death. Only Hikari can kill them, but I won't divulge why."

That shut him up.

"Ehem, anyways. Hikari is the only one who can deal with them, he even did so with a recent appearance of a beast mutant. However, a problem now arises. We as a whole can't do what he can. That's why I'll be suggesting for all of us to find ways to neutralize or at least locate these beasts and just have Hikari dispatch them. As much as I wish for him to have a peaceful life, my mission takes priority. This is the best way I could think of."

The other three from Veritas looked at her for a few seconds before sighing. "There's another way."

Everyone looked at Akane, just what she was expecting. When she confirmed that everyone's attention was at her, she continued. "Leia. She's the second strongest in this world, even stronger than Riku here. While she might not be able to destroy the mutants as efficiently as Hikari, she should be able to still kill them better than all of us combined."

Almost half of the people in the room didn't like that suggestion. After all, they still can't accept the fact that a NATURAL human was able to surpass them, weapons created specifically for power. However, as hard as it is for them to accept, this was the only way for true peace.

… or at least they thought.