This is a pub. A comfortable pub, well stocked with expensive alcohols, secluded booths and a bartender who also excels in making coffee and pizza. The pub lies in a keep. The keep lies between worlds; four of them to be exact.
A tall, thin man is lounging in one of the booths. His appearance is one of edged elegance; impeccable black suit and tie, fine, white gloves envelop his hands, black hair reaches a little past his shoulders and is carefully kept untidy. Next to him on the seat rests a wide-brimmed black hat and a neatly folded coat. He stirs his coffee slowly, apparently lost in deep thoughts. Even his cool, grey-violet eyes have a lost, faraway look in them.
Plink.
His spoon comes to rest in the cup, and he looks up. The scruffy man standing by the booth smirks in greeting. "Well, well. It's been a long time, hasn't it? ...Brother." he drawls. The rake regards him for a moments of silence, while a small smile flits across his face and curls the corners of his mouth upwards. "Indeed, brother. Would you care to join me, Nii-san?" The invitation floats softly from his lips. He gestures for the unshaven fellow to take a seat.
Nii smirks again, and flups down opposite his older brother. "How have you been, Akabane? We hardly ever hear from you these days."
Akabane smiles faintly. "I have been well, Nii-san. And you?" The other fumbles around in his rumpled lab coat, and produces a cigarette and a lighter. After lighting it, and inhaling deeply, he sighs. "Glad to hear it. Me, I'm bored. If those traveling misfits don't make it to the fortress soon, I think I'm going to die of sheer lack of entertainment."
"Oh dear, oh dear," his brother chuckles. "They still haven't reached you?" Nii shakes his head. "Nope. No matter how many incentives I give them, no matter how much I try pissing them off... Bah. And after he showed up, things got ever worse."
A raised eyebrow and a slight tilting of the head, signifies Akabane's interest. "He?" The rumpled doctor looks glum. "Our dearly beloved big brother has seen it fit to invade my Shadow. Seems he's got himself a new obsession."
"Dear me," Akabane comments, not without amusement. "But that ought to make things more interesting, no?" Nii humphs. "Not when he insists on messing up my pet projects, it isn't. He's a bloody nuisance. Him and his cronies! But I'll find a way around it. At least he's on a purity binge again, so he hasn't smarmed my mistress away from me."
"Yet," Akabane thinks to himself, but doesn't say it out loud. They both twitch faintly, and look up as they sense a familiar presence nearing the booth.
"Good evening, brothers. Nii, and Akabane. You certainly don't grace us with your presence much," the newcomer says in a calm, yet commanding voice. The aura of carefully honed and restrained violence clings tightly to him. "Mind if I join you?" It isn't really a question.
Akabane and Nii both incline their heads politely. One smiles his eternally amused little smile, the other goes for the sardonic look and sprawls in an even more laid-back and untidy manner. Their brother takes a seat next to Akabane, and places two glasses on the table. He is a bit more muscular in build than the other two, but equally dark of hair. His eyes are unusual, as one is a rich amber yellow, and the other is bright blue. He dresses in black; denim jeans and a tight armless shirt made from something that might be satin, or very soft leather. The other unusual thing about him, is the long chain that links his wrists together.
"Well met, Homura-san," Akabane murmurs politely. "You look well." Homura pushes a glass filled with golden whiskey over to Nii, and keeps a glass of water for himself. "Thank you, Akabane-san, you too look good."
Nii grabs the proffered glass, and sloshes its contents around a couple of swirls before he downs a good mouthful. A bored "Thanks bro," mutters its way across the table.
"I hear you have a new project, Homura-san," Akabane inquires mildly. "Mmm, yes. As it turns out, Nii's pet monk is traveling around with a rather unique creature. He was in Amber for a few years, back when Oberon was king still. The kid got too, ah, enthusiastic and earned the ire of Oberon himself. From what I heard, our Grandfather took his memory away with the Jewel and locked him up in a hidden Shadow. Our dear little brother seems to have found this Shadow, quite by accident..." He doesn't tell them the rest of it. Perhaps he will at some point in the future, or perhaps he will just eliminate the threat that they pose.
Nii's smirk is almost audible. "Accident, my dear brother? Hardly. Shadow Togenkyo is my birth home." Homura's chains clink quietly as he lifts his glass to drink. "And you still hang around that place?" he needles. "Will you never grow tired of that so-called research of yours? If you only ever test it in that place, it will hardly be of any use elsewhere."
Akabane listens in silence, hiding a smile. Homura, for all his aloof and superior mannerisms, is far from immune to Nii's insidious ways of getting under other people's skins. It is amusing to watch them fence with words and behaviour. One day, he will fight them, but with other methods. The small blades hidden within his blood shiver in anticipation, but he calms himself as he feels Homura's eyes settle on him. So perceptive. So alert. Yes, Homura is worthy of wariness.
Homura feels his skin crawl, despite his best efforts. It isn't only the foul cigarette Nii smokes, nor is it only the dubiously coloured stains on Nii's coat. It is the entire Nii experience that offends his senses and rubs his nerves the wrong way. Master of spite, forever burrowing deeper into the mysteries of the world. Always tinkering with something in his numerous laboratories. That man has moved way beyond pulling wings off flies and dissecting living kittens to study anatomy, but the principle remained the same.
Nii studies his brothers from behind his smirk and his dirty glasses. Akabane the sleek killer, whom he can't quite fathom. Homura the annoying knight; too intelligent to screw with, and too competent to eliminate. He will definitely do some more research into Homura when he's done with the minus-wave experiment. It ought to be interesting. Or perhaps he should investigate Akabane instead. Yes! Excitement surges in Nii. That little trick with the scalpels inside the blood-vessels is fascinating. If Nii can figure out how Akabane does it, and maybe reverse engineer it...
Cold grey-violet eyes bring the rumpled doctor out of his musings, and he smirks instinctively at his tall, skinny brother. The air between the three men in the booth takes on a distinctly edged tinge, as they regard each other. Each knows that the others are keenly aware. Their auras stink of death.
There's a flicker of something in the air, and then an Ace of Spades is pinned to the table. One of Akabane's many scalpels hums quietly, the pure note spreading through the wooden table.
A fey, mocking laughter tinkles over the tense, brotherly reunion. "So skittish! Can you not relax here, of all places?" a redhead dressed in a jester's outfit asks. His voice is somewhere between a purr and a laugh, as he seats himself unbidden on the table. Narrow blue eyes twinkle with hungry amusement, and the make-up on his face only add to the disturbing bizarreness of the man. The scalpel is pulled out of the table, and handed over to it's owner.
"Thank you, Hisoka. I see you are well, little brother," Akabane murmurs as the small blade disappears between his fingers. "Mmmm yes, I am I am!" the most recent arrival beams. Homura sighs and drinks the rest of his water. "Still short on manners I see. And your dress sense hasn't improved either," he remarks coolly. Nii giggles and shakes his head. "At least brother Hisoka knows how to have fun! How goes the magician business?"
"How is your little protégé coming along? Is he ready yet?" Akabane asks Hisoka. The latter shakes his head. "No, he isn't ripe yet. But I am having such fun watching him and his little friends blunder around. Such promising children. And your special pet? Have you killed him yet?" The thin man sighs a tad too heavily for it to be serious. "No, not yet. Something always crops up at the last moment, or he is hurt by others. I want him to be at full health when I fight him. But I do not mind. He and his equally interesting partner are so full of surprises and unexpected quirks. I profoundly enjoy each moment of this hunt," Akabane confesses happily. "How about the other one you were after? Did you get him yet?" he asks the redhead.
Hisoka visibly droops. "Alas no. A bothersome Malakite-Lilim crossbreed got to him before I did, and emasculated him with a forced agreement. I haven't been so disappointed in my entire life! Talk about an anti-climax..."
Nii blinks lazily. "A crossbreed? Do tell me more, brother," he drawls before he finishes his whiskey. The flamboyant man shrugs. "There isn't much to tell. It's a kid who has bound his own heart in oaths manifested as chains, and he can bind others as well. A true party-pooper if I ever saw one."
Hisoka perks up again, before Nii can continue questioning him, and looks from brother to brother. "But! It occurs to me that this is the first time we've all been gathered, ever since I walked the Pattern! Is sister here, by any chance?"
Homura closes his eyes, Nii winces and Akabane instinctively reaches up to finger the hat he isn't currently wearing. "No, she is not," they answer in unison. "And let's keep it that way. Sister is the very definition of a party-pooper," Nii adds.
Hisoka laughs and skips off the table. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let us escape this place before she is mysteriously drawn here by our collective presence! Come now, brothers. Let us go somewhere and have a party!" It will give him ample opportunity to scout them out, after all. No need to make it more difficult than it has to be. It will be a chore to keep his excitement in check, but all for the good cause. One by one, he will challenge them and best them. He just needs to prepare himself properly first.
"Actually..." Homura starts to protest, but Nii intercepts. "Oh come on, big brother! Hisoka's right, we should spend some quality sibling time together. It'll be fun!" Akabane smiles a happy little smile that would have scared his quarry witless. "I agree. And I know just the right place to go. There's this fascinating part of Shadow Mugenjou, called Babylon City. I think you will all enjoy an outing up there."
The elder brother stares at his empty glass for another moment, then stands up. The chain clinks discreetly. "Very well, I will join you." Nii scoots along the bench, and stands up in a posture that could only be called a slouch. Lastly, Akabane gathers up his hat and coat, and unfolds his lanky frame. "Shall we, my dear brothers?" he asks politely. They nod, and move to follow him.
As they head out one of the four main doors, they all studiously avoid setting foot on a small rug that lies on the floor next to a booth. The read-haired bartender notices this, and gives them a slight nod of approval. They respectfully nod back at him before he disappears behind his newspaper again.
Brand sighs to himself as he watches them leave the keep. Four strapping sons, and none of them really came out as he had planned for. Was this how Oberon had felt about him and his siblings? Of the lot, only Nii shows any promise in his father's fields of study. And...well, even Brand feels the urge to take long showers and scrub himself pink after spending more than a few minutes with that man. As for the others, they are pretty much useless. All brawn and insane combat abilities, utter lack of interest in proper power. Mind, Homura is definitely up to something, and it tastes like high treason. It won't work. The mere thought that he will succeed where Brand failed is ludicrous.
And then there's his daughter...
He still can't understand what went wrong there. Novalis has proved to be an abysmal failure, but damned if he's ever been able to utter his disappointment to her face. Her ability to force peace would be very useful, if it wasn't for her stubborn refusal to be guided in its use. How the hell had he managed to sire a child with such an abundance of...of...morals and ideals?
Brand puts his newspaper down and frowns. Next time, he must device some sort of ritual that will help mold the future offspring's talents and instincts. Next time, he decides, he may very well sneak a look at Nii's lab journals first...
This is Babylon City. Four brothers just entered the lowest level
in the tower complex. This is a bad place, that just became a whole
lot worse. This is...