Bethany and Alora took Aria into a side room to discuss whatever it was that they were discussing. Eli took off his mask and sat on the throne, letting some of the weariness that he felt from reliving that leak into his posture and expression. He hadn’t planned this but this was good, he looked more human now, more approachable, and he was seemingly tired and alone. People started whispering to each other and several looked like they wanted to approach him but there was still a lot of mystery and fear surrounding him so he just sat and waited for someone to approach him. Even if no one approached him he didn’t care, this entire conference was starting to bore him.

  With no one coming to talk to him, he decided to be proactive. “Winston, may I speak with you please?”

  Winston stood but then paused, hesitating. Not because he was scared, but because he was worried about how it would look if he just did what Eli said without protesting. “I don’t have anything to say to you.” Then he sat back down.

  “You were military. Which one? SAS? Foreign Legion? Spetsnaz?”

  Winston hesitated, but answered. “Foreign Legion.”

  “No shit, I was US Army, Spec-ops.”

  “You don’t seem like a grunt to me.”

  “Psyops. You?”

  “Sig-Int and demolitions.”

  “You see, there’s no reason for us to be so hostile.” Eli said.

  “That depends,” Winston said. “What is your opinion on French cooking?”

  “Well it’s better than British cooking.”

  “Everything is better than British cooking.” Winston said with a smirk.

  “Who puts meat in a pie?”

  Winston and Eli stayed where they were with Eli on his throne and Winston standing in front of his chair, but they were talking like they were both on vacation and ran into someone from their home town. Despite the friendly nature of their conversation, they were keeping their distance from each other and not pushing on any topics that might be a sore spot.

  “This has been enlightening, but can we discuss the vote now, we only have three hours left.” Liasandra said loudly, interrupting them.

  “I’m pretty sure everyone in this room has been trying to figure out how to have this conference without me and now all of a sudden you want my participation.” Eli leaned over the arm of his chair to stare directly at his mother.

  “Even a circus needs a ringmaster,” Liasandra replied sarcastically.

  “Yes. It. Does. Thank you for publicly acknowledging my authority. However, I find it interesting that you would reference a circus. Did you have them in the chaos world? Or perhaps you were able to travel to mine?”

  For the first time, Liasandra looked caught off guard, “On rare occasions it was possible to travel between worlds.”

  Eli wasn’t buying that she made that mistake by accident, “Interesting.” Then he turned to Ornori, “Did your people have this ability as well? On rare occasions.”

  “Yes we also had that capability.” Ornori said, but either he didn’t want to admit it or he admitted it so as not to look weak in front of everyone in the room.

  “Alright now that we are all aware of each other's past capabilities, Liasandra would like to discuss the vote.”

  The next hour was taken up by Ornori and Liasandra arguing over what they thought each option meant. Then another hour was about which one to vote for with both being as insulting and pretentious as possible to each other. It didn’t appear that anyone’s minds were changed on the subject and their arguments seemed like a pretense to try and make a point that they were superior. Eli found that point ironic since he was on top of the list, but it seemed like there was some history between the sides that he wasn’t aware of.

  When voting started, some of the people who had been missing from the room appeared and then left after a few moments. They were apparently just showing up to vote and then going back to their room or wherever they had been hiding out. No one seemed to want to stick around after they voted, there were only about twenty people left in the room. They were in small groups of two or three and just whispering to each other. Eli decided to wait for Bethany and the others to come out of the side room and while he was waiting Jasmine approached him. He was surprised since Liasandra, Ornori, and Figula were both still in the room and staring daggers at her.

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  “Might I have a word?” Jasmine asked, she was trying her best to sound polite and respectful, even going so far as to change the tone of her voice to make it more soft and less fierce.

  “Is this something you wish to discuss in private?” Eli asked, also softening his voice.

  “No, I think it’s best to have this conversation publicly. I wouldn’t want to antagonize anyone by having them think we are meeting for nefarious purposes.”

  “Nefarious? I don’t think I’ve been called that before. Very Well, speak your mind.” Eli said that last part with far more pretension than he had intended and it made Jasmine flinch a bit.

  “Are you planning on killing me? Is that why you had Aria accompany me here?”

  Eli paused and the room fell instantly quiet and he could feel the magic in everyone tense. “First of all, there is no difference between me wanting someone dead and them being dead. Secondly, Aria followed you here of her own volition, she told me you were unique and wanted us to meet. She seems to be eager to impress me which I find very endearing. Why do you think I would kill you?” He paused and tapped his chin in thought. “You did something didn’t you, something Bethany told you I would kill you for, right?”

  She lowered her head in resignation, “Yes.”

  “Well they don’t tell me much so you’ll have to walk me through it.”

  “I have been cruel to the people of my zone.”

  Eli stood up and walked right up to Jasmine, he was two feet taller than her so he made a completely unnecessary but dramatic hand motion and the floor under her rose so they were eye to eye. “Explain.” he said through gritted teeth. He didn’t have any inclination to settle something like this at the conference so his anger was mostly for show and to increase the drama.

  “I use my will skill on anyone who displays any sign of discontent or disloyalty.”

  “What does this skill do?” Eli asked in almost a growl. He was doing his best to put on a show for the people who were still there since he already knew what her skill was. What he didn’t know was how she was using it.

  “It resembles mind control, but is more complicated. And it doesn’t work on those with a will stronger than mine.”

  “Ok, I am going to place my will around your soul and you are going to speak the truth.” again Eli used unnecessary hand gestures ending with him slowly closing his hand in front of her as her arms became pinned at her sides. “Explain how you were cruel.”

  Jasmine went on to describe how she had been afraid of those around her so she used her skill to force loyalty and obedience. Some who fought against her skill were basically being soul tortured for months while she kept it in place for fear of being attacked. There were some quick stories about having people kill other people and having them sacrifice themselves to save herself when a monster they couldn’t handle came along. Apparently her class wasn’t great at defense or attack, it was more control and spy oriented so to level she had to have a team and more than a few teammates have died.

  Eli’s destiny instincts were not reacting though, he didn’t feel any urge to hurt or kill her. It was silent as he paced around her still motionless figure which served two purposes, the time he was taking would let others know that he doesn’t take killing lightly and it gave him time to puzzle it out. So far his prevailing theories were that his destiny was passive during system events, something that he thought was unlikely due to the system not even showing the ability to override something generated by the universe. His other theory was that she was repenting, she did not wish to continue being cruel to her people. In effect, the fear of him had changed her mind, which was exactly what his destiny was about, not forced compliance.

  “You seem like you may have learned your lesson. Do you plan on continuing your evil reign of cruelty and sacrifice?”

  “I do not wish to lead anymore, I want to follow.” Jasmine said.

  “Follow me?” Eli asked, gesturing to himself in an overly dramatic fashion.

  “That would be ideal, but anyone who is a good leader would also be acceptable. I want to learn how to lead without my skill.”

  “How would you handle this dilemma Liasandra?” Eli asked loudly without looking in her direction.

  “No comment.”

  “How about you Ornori?”

  “I don’t want to get involved.”

  “So neither of you have had to dispense justice before? You have never executed a criminal?”

  Both were silent. “Ok then,” Eli said. “Jasmine, you have until the first vote ends tomorrow to prove to me or one of my companions that you are reformed.” Then he sat back on his throne, lowered the floor under her and closed his eyes leaving a frustrated look on his face. Jasmine was in shock and was just standing there afraid to move.

  Just then, Bethany, Alora, and Aria left the side room. “Whoa, there's some tense energy out here.” She looked around and saw Jasmine just standing there, looking like she was in the process of shitting herself. “Aria, I think your new friend could use some help.”

  Aria helped Jasmine into a side room and Bethany and Alora sat on either arm of the throne. “What happened while we were having a tea party?” Bethany asked.

  “Tea party? Actually wait, I don’t want to know. I need some air, you guys stay here and wait for Aria. She is with us now and gets the open bedroom.” Then Eli walked over to the teleporter wall and vanished. He walked out onto the balcony, laid on the floor and looked up at the stars.