Inside of her secret meeting place - a spacious underground room with a round table with several desks and a metal vase at the center, in which one and only one tall flower with seven almost entirely transparent petals was placed, Lady Vyn, or Lucias Vyn, was standing by the round table marvelling at the flower with a glass of glowing green wine in her glass.
The door to the room opened, and the young woman that was almost always by her side came into the room, taking three individuals with her: the first one was a man wearing a facemask covering his upper face and had tattoos on his lower jaw; the second one was a woman with shoulder length hair in a suit of tight dark clothes and boots made of some matte fabric, and a robe on the outside; the final one was a short, bald and generally speaking unimpressive looking man in a stereotypical working class white shirt, khaki pants and cheap shoes.
“Thank you and welcome back, my agents.” Lady Vyn smiled at the three individuals and extended her hand at the table: “Please, have a seat, we have all the best food waiting for you.”
The short and bald man in the most normal clothes sat down without saying anything, and he took out a piece of cloth handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his bald spot when he settled into his seat, as if just this short walk had tired him out.
“I could smell it from miles away. It’d better taste as good as it smells.” the man wearing a facemask sat down and said.
“Is this the blossom of the Crystal Lake?” the woman in tight clothes and a robe asked Lady Vyn when she sat down: “It looks different … How many years?”
“Yes and no, it’s picked from a mutated strand. One that we picked from the side of the Fire Pit” Lady Vyn smiled and sat down with the three agents: “Good eyes, from what I’ve been told, this one has all the normal properties, and is more effective as well. And different from the others, they had hard petals and they actually radiate their effect into the air as long as they are soaked in the water from the crystal lake. So much more useful and for general purposes.”
“No wonder our favorite shapeshifter is sweating like a pig here.” the man wearing a facemask looked at the short and bald man: “You okay there man? You wanna head out for a bit while we eat?”
“No no. It’s fine. ” the short and bald man wiped his face with his handkerchief: “I am nothing but adaptable. I actually quite like this form - it just reminds me of the feebleness of human life, it brings back childhood memories.”
“Food is here.” the young woman opened the door, and four waiters with their eyes covered by pieces of dark cloth came in, each holding a tray.
Though blindfolded, all four servers navitated the room without a hitch. All four of them placed the plates on their trays right in front of all four people sitting around the table, and gently lifted the lids.
Lady Vyn had a piece of fish filet with some garnish and asparagus, the man wearing a mask had a piece of steak that was topped with a piece of butter; the woman in tight clothes and a robe had a bowl of noodles with thin slices of beef inside; and the short and bald man had a hamburger, some fries and a fogging sundae.
“Now, I hope all the food is prepared to your liking.” Lady Vyn smiled at all three agents: “Let’s eat.”
Before she started to eat, Lady Vyn picked a petal off the flower at the center of the table, sliced it in two halves and placed the two pieces onto the garnish.
“Have some, if you’d like. There are six petals now. I’m old, so one for me would be enough.” Lady Vyn told her agents.
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The female agent picked a petal, then crushed it with her fingers and sprinkled it into her noodle.
The bald and short man also picked a petal, and put it inside his burger, while the man wearing a facemask just put the petal he picked directly into his mouth.
The female agent in tight clothes and a robe and the man wearing a facemask immediately started coughing and smoking from their mouth and even nose after they ate their petals, but the short and bald man and Lady Vyn just had to clear their throat gently.
“This is some good stuff, whoo!” the man wearing a facemask said, his lower face all turned red and droplets of sweat appeared on his cheek: “Fucking hell! I could really taste the fire pit.”
“Who’s sweating like a pig now, huh?” the short and bald man chuckled while coughing: “Lady Vyn, thank you for the treat. Much appreciated.”
“Thank you. It’s the least I can do.” Lady Vyn smiled and sliced her fish filet into tiny pieces.
The four finished their main course in just about ten minutes, then, the same four servers came in blindfolded and handed everyone their drinks and dessert.
“Now. Let’s talk about business.” Lady Vyn took a sip from her shot glass and said: “What have you got for me? Do you have the codex with you?”
“No, unfortunately.” the man wearing a facemask and the woman in tight clothes looked at each other, then it was the short and bald man who started talking: “In fact, we found documents from the Department of Dark Artifact stating that they had the vault prepared for it, but it was never delivered to them. We also checked the vault - it’s not there.”
“But you know where it is?” Lady Vyn asked.
“We are able to deduce a few locations where it might be. And we have agents covering all of them. ” the short and bald man sighed: “Not all of them have returned, but from the intel brought back by those who did, we could rule out a few.”
“What else? This is hardly anything - ”
“We’ve got you this.” the woman in tight clothes reached into an inner pocket on her robe and took out a metal box.
“What is this?” Lady Vyn took the box slided to her by the female agent, opened it and saw only a small piece of light yellow rock enclosed in a smaller and transparent crystal case with runes and symbols carved on its surface: “I don’t remember asking for this.”
“An alternative to what you were seeking from the Hellinger Castle.” the short and bald man said: “A Stone of Negation, one of three that were in the possession of the authorities, and the only one held by the Division.”