"You're being ridiculous, you know." He said, nearly laughing in hysterics. "I mean, really, no one is going to believe me; let alone believe you!"
Arieus just looked at the man. For a moment he seemed to debate whether this kind of outburst actually deserved a response or not. He came to a negative conclusion, and he resumed his steady walk to the end of the corridor.
Unfortunately, that didn't seem to deter the man.
"I know you think I'm crazy," he was suddenly too close to Arieus, "but we both know it's just a guise," he whispered quickly before backing off. "The point is you can't just waltz on in there and expect them to believe you! Not in a million years, haha!" He began to laugh very hard. "Did you, hahaha, did you catch that? Good joke, huh?"
The Southern Elf sighed deeply. He had worked himself up to this point, and it had taken a lot of thought and internal debates before he could even begin to make his decision. Walking down this hallway was the final step in his decision-making process. He had made up his mind, and that was that.
"They'll throw you out." He whispered to the elf. "You know it too." That's when the man's voice had changed, like he had suddenly realized something and was shocked by its implications. Arieus spared him a single glance without breaking his stride. "You know they're going to throw you out?!" The man sped up, this time grabbing Arieus by the elbow and jerking him around so that they were face to face. "You know that they're going to throw you out, and you're still going?
"Yes." Arieus tried to withdraw his hand politely, but the man had an iron grip. "Yes, I know what they are going to do."
Suddenly, the man let go. "I'm coming with you," he said quietly. Arieus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Don't try to stop me."
Don't worry, Arieus thought, I won't.
The door at the end of the long hallway sprung open, and Arieus strode right in, followed closely by the man.
Sitting at the uppermost point of the isosceles triangular table, Raiis was bent over a long roll of paper, which was being held down by Klagula and being pointed to by Vohn. The man beside Arieus gasped, alerting everyone to their guests. Some of the table raised their heads, others were more intent on scrolls of paper or glowing monitors in front of them, and others still were texting.
Raiis raised his face, and upon taking notice of Arieus' entrance, he began to speak, "It seems our unexpected guest has arrived earlier than we had expected." He gave a brief smile to Klagula, who wrapped up her map, even as Vohn still had his fingers entangled in the city of Hai'Twee.
"Raiis," Arieus acknowledged, as he stopped directly at the seat-less, lower portion of the triangle. He tilted his head forward in a slight bow of respect. The Northern Gate looked over Arieus at the man still frozen by the now-closed door.
"And who might this be, Arieus?" He said.
"I have no idea, Raiis. He seems to believe I have lost my sanity. I cannot presume that he is wrong though."
"No matter," Raiis said, waving his hand as if dismissing the conversation entirely. He turned to his left, where a young man of Egyptian descent was pouting. "Amon, will you please take the man outside? Make sure he doesn't remember this meeting or the faces that he has seen." The young man sighed heavily and shoved his phone into his pocket before groaning with the effort of getting out of his chair. Raiis just smiled.
Amontari stole a furtive glance at Arieus as he passed the elf, before he went over to the man and took him by the shoulder to lead him out. Arieus watched them go. When the heavy door shut behind them, he reluctantly brought his attention back to the table. There were only seven people there.
Raiis watched the Southern Elf count the seats. He himself had counted the seats, the full ones only barely outlasting the empty ones. They couldn't deny it any longer; at this point it didn't matter what Farin thought. Gloria would back him up. The Gates couldn't stand much longer. People were already beginning to question their authority and debate their fragility.
The Gates stood for reason, for a government undecided by the people, but for the people nonetheless. Chosen by the gods, Raiis and the Eight Gates would protect the planet and try their hardest to maintain peace. But, here, in this room, there were not enough Gates. Only five remained, and it was time for the other three to be filled. Perhaps, today.
An excerpt from my stories. I was just playing with the characters, because I love them and they're fun. And, whoo-hoo, I finally got to use Amontari, because I've never solidly written about him.
Sweet.
~Hammeh
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