Hidden in the darkness of her domain, a feminine figure sitting on a throne with a back taller than a house and composed of grinding silver gears and clockwork mechanisms looked down from her elevated position to her subordinate kneeling before her at the bottom of the stairs leading to her imperial piece of furniture. The only thing that could clearly be seen of her was the red glow of her eyes, a haunting predatory stare that had her loyal minion sweat nervously, the sole human in the underground kingdom of machines her throne room had become, spider-like robots hanging on the walls between banners as metal guards stood on either side of the red carpet that led from the entrance to her, not to mention the dozens of different other artificial creatures she had crafted that waited by her side and were ready to act at her command.

The only thing breaking the silence her presence demanded was the sound of large pumps, their work echoing between the finely carved walls of stone and metal like the beating of a heart, their deed being visible by the dark red fluid moving through the countless glass pipes that ran throughout the room, forming lines framing the scarlet banners on the walls as well completely covering the ceiling, with a few more pairs leading to her throne and converging in a large transparent dome in the center of its back the size of a man, forming a beautiful ruby.

Her voice finally came, overshadowing the harmony of machinery. It was a chilling yet entrancing thing, a sound that begged to be the center of attention.

"Abrakaboom's oldest friend has disappeared, you say?"

"Yes, your Highness. It appears Runar Arthen went to war with a newcomer named Silhouette and lost. Silhouette has taken over most of Runar's former holdings, and replaced him as a provider of runic goods."

"A tragic yet predictable fate for such an arrogant man. He thought himself a Daedalus, but he was nothing more than another Icarus. I wonder how the old mage will react. Will he try to avenge his fallen comrade? Will he instead aim his wrath at those who isolated him from the rest of Wicked Witchcraft? Or will perhaps his fading sanity make him forget it all and drive him to live yet another day with nothing but explosions in mind? Hopefully, the final result will give us an opening to grow our reach. What more can you tell me of this Silhouette?"

"Nothing much, your Highness. All that is known is that he is a capable wielder of shadows, as well as a businessman first and foremost. He has yet to initiate any feud himself, he was merely responding to previous assaults by Runar."

"An element manipulator who can do more than just cause trouble related to their element? My, every day is a surprise. Keep track of his activities for now, if Abrakaboom is to act it will be sooner rather than later. The mage has a short fuse, he doesn't have the mental capacity to plan too far ahead, even before his mind degraded."

"As you command, your Highness. Should we send out living scouts or some of your glorious machines?"

"My dear servant, I wouldn't be an Empress if I involved myself in this sort of decision. Assign someone to oversee the operation, they are free to manage it however they please."

"It will be done, your Highness."

In another chamber far away, a group of a dozen people wearing extravagant and colorful outfits at a round table babbled on in panic as they discussed the latest piece of news that had reached them, and it took the banging of a wooden hammer in the hand of a bald dwarf with a braided pink beard wearing in green clothing to put an end to the cacophony and let their words be decipherable once more.

"Mages, mages, settle down! I've heard nests of Horrible Hornets more harmonious than this!"

The others turned as one to look at the diminutive druid, their eyes being level with his thanks to the custom chairs they had designed to all be placed at an equal height. A hulking figure twice as tall as a human man and covered in plates of thick red chitin huffed, the sole member of the group to not have a seat due to her sheer size, her width rivaling her height. Strips of white cloth were tied to her limbs when possible, and something that could vaguely be called a toga was draped over her bestial chest, with holes cut in place to allow her many arms to pass through. Golden bells and fake flowers and grapes were attached to her attire to compliment her looks, not that many found the spiky surface of her body or her alien visage aesthetically pleasing even with the elegant and graceful style of her outfit. Most non-arthropods struggled to genuinely think of a monstrous hybrid of a crab and a lobster as beautiful. Her voice was surprisingly normal, simply what could be expected from an average woman.

"You speak as though we were unruly children, Lotus. We have every reason to be agitated with the situation at hand."

A Caucasian human man with a slightly better-than-average face nodded, the gesture making the strange ball of red cotton attached to a particularly long and curved strand of hair that stood out from his short blonde locks bobble, the whole gesture giving his otherwise somewhat extravagant yet still stern red three-piece suit a completely ridiculous look.

"Mania speaks true. I propose we resume yelling until we have all vented our frustration and fear so that we can tackle the problem with a clear mind later on."

The woman sitting opposite him sighed as she put her head between her hands, the contrast of her otherwise dark skin with the light gray crackling veins that had overtaken her digits and were spreading to her exposed forearms, her dress composed of what appeared to be the severed wings of multiple species of raptors leaving her head and upper limbs bare while completely hiding the rest of her body beneath feathers, a small hood of paler ones hiding her hair from view.

"Kellen, we don't have the time for this sort of behavior. Lotus, Do you have anything in mind?"

The dwarven druid shook his head and the transparent blue figure sat to his right sighed before clearing their nonexistent throat, their featureless body flowing like barely-held-together fumes as they adjusted their position in their seat before they spoke, their androgynous voice tainted by a bizarre echo as the sparkles in their form grew a little brighter each time they spoke a syllable before returning to normal.

"I'll do the honor then, Avelle. To summarize the situation, Runar managed to get himself killed, and now we have to handle the repercussions of that. I propose-"

A tall muscled man with dark ginger hair and a bushy beard slammed his fist on the table, cracks spreading through the wood before it quickly healed itself. The anger that radiated from his eyes was almost burning, and his muscles tensed, perfectly visible as he wore only a pair of burlap pants, leaving his lightly tanned skin and his black tribal tattoos exposed, the sharp lines of black ink almost flowing like waves as he moved even for something as simple as a breath.

"NOTHING! That darn Runar is finally out of our hair for good, why should we bother doing anything?"

Avelle, the mage dressed in wings, answered.

"Galleus shut up and listen. Runar might have been a thorn in our side when he sat at this council, but he was still a core founder of Wicked Witchcraft, as well as one of the few people who could reliably ask Abrakaboom to do things. His death-"

She was interrupted before she could continue by a figure dressed in black. Their large coat featured silver trims and thin lines and left none of their skin exposed, the only thing being visible of the person beneath being the white simplistic avian mask they wore, cylinders of dark metal with black glass serving as goggles that replaced the eyes while their long beak featured no attempt at mimicking a mouth or nostrils, resulting in the porcelain item being hiding their body just as much as their cloak. To top their outfit off, a small black top hat, far too small to fit on the head of anything larger than a mundane domestic cat, sat atop their head and miraculously stayed attached.

"Disappearance, dear. Without a body, his death cannot be confirmed."

"Fine, his disappearance poses a lot of problems, Galleus. For one, it's an insult to us. He might have been exiled in all but name, but he was still technically part of this council. How do you think the rest of the cabal will react? Second, what do you think Abrakaboom will do once he learns about his best friend vanishing out of nowhere? He's going to be mad! And I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have each of my cells explode one by one. Ether, you sounded like you had a plan, please continue."

The spectral blue being nodded.

"Yes, thank you Avelle. The way I see it, our most logical and safest choice would be to aim Abrakaboom's wrath at this Silhouette. We get rid of a possible threat, we let our champion vent his frustration, and we make an example of anyone trying to insult us."

Lotus, the dwarven druid, hummed as he held his chin hidden beneath his thick pink beard.

"Yes, I can see it. If we went in ourselves he might be mad we stole his kill or something of the sort. I'm with Ether on this one."

The figure dressed in black with a white bird mask clicked their tongue repeatedly as they shook their head.

"My dears, you are missing another major possibility."

Avielle sighed.

"And what might that be, Mercury?"

"Why, befriending this Silhouette, my dear."

Galleus banged his first against the table once more.

"Are you mad, you old bird?! We aren't gonna ally with a guy who just killed one of ours!"

Ether continued.

"Especially not when Abrakaboom has a reason to want them dead."

"Oh, my dears, you fail to see the bigger picture. Runar, much like myself, wasn't a master of the arcane arts for combat, but creation. We do not bend the elements to our will or anything of the sort, we instead use magic with a focus for utility. Any of you dears would have killed either of us in a duel, and I'm confident so could most of your direct subordinates. That is, of course, so long as the duel is on neutral grounds. Unlike you lot, bar perhaps Lotus and his druids, we are incredibly reliant on our environment. Fighting a runemaster or an alchemist in their workshop or laboratory is utter madness, and yet that is how Runar was lost."

The crustacean creature shifted her position on the cushion her lower part laid on.

"He was the weakest of us. Besides, we kicked him out only a few months ago, that's nothing compared to how long you've been in your lab."

"Ah, my dear Mania, that's where you miss my point. While it is true his new base could not be as heavily defended as his original workshop, the fact remains a runemaster as experienced as him would have installed measures to prepare for intruders, measures that none of you would dare to brave alone. I know for a fact that were I to be the one cast out of this council, I would have befallen the same fate as Runar."

Ether butted in.

"Is this it? Are you afraid you might be the next one on the list? Mercury, you know we wouldn't allow that to happen."

"And yet, my dear, the truth is in front of our eyes. Don't tell me you haven't put the facts together, dear, you are intelligent enough to figure out something is off about this situation. We all received the reports regarding Runar's demise hours before this meeting at best, and yet his defeat occurred days ago according to those very same reports. Why such a delay? I will vocalize the thought we share. This is sabotage."

Hushed whispers that grew louder every second resumed in the room, and before a minute was over the mages were back to yelling to the point none of their voices were clear. Lotus was forced to grow a vine from his sleeve that turned into a wooden hammer in his hand once more, the strength of his blows cracking the table beneath as the hits echoed in the chamber, only held back from being heard throughout the rest of their base by the soundproofing enchantments on the walls.

"SILENCE! Silence! Mercury, those are grave accusations. For something of this magnitude, holding back all of our subordinates' reports, the only possibility would be-"

Avielle finished.

"There is a traitor at this table."

Kellen, the man dressed sharply in red, tilted his head.

"Couldn't it be simply one of our direct subordinates? Or perhaps a move planned by all of our scouts working together. Not to forget, this could be a gaffe from a secretary who forgot to give us those reports until today."

The translucent figure answered.

"No, that can't be it. Lotus' druids wouldn't listen to any orders given out by Mercury's lab assistants, for instance. A globalized attempt at withholding information from us by the scouts is possible, but the logistics of it would be insane, not to mention one of them would likely have ratted the rest of them out by now. As for the idea that this is the result of an incompetent's mistake, it doesn't work. We don't have a centralized service for reports, they go up our respective command chains independently, and a single person wouldn't be able to accidentally hold them all back."

Yet another banging of a fist against wood resonated, and the gruff voice of Galleus filled the room.

"There's only one of us here who showed any support to that Silhouette, and that's the old bird!"

The alchemist let out a short sound, something that could have either been a sign of amusement or anger before they spoke.

"On the contrary, a traitor would not be so blatant in their support. Not that the delay in this piece of news only benefits Silhouette, other groups would be more than happy to turn our dear Abrakaboom against us. Not to mention, I mentioned a saboteur, not a traitor my dear Lotus. This could very well be the work of an outside agent particularly gifted in stealth or information manipulation."

Avielle was the first one to speak out after this.

"Didn't Runar have someone that could turn invisible?"

Lotus grumbled.

"Yeah, but we would have caught it. We wouldn't miss the magic. Some technological nonsense on the other hand might slip through."

Mania continued, one of her claws from her largest pair of limbs tapping the chitin of the other one.

"With us out of the picture, the Empress could just swoop in on our assets while Abrakaboom is off doing his usual stuff, and all that's left in her way are the Hivines, which she will happily use to fuel her expansion. One swift move and she takes over the entire city's criminal world."

Ether hummed as they pondered the situation.

"While I agree with the idea this isn't a genius move by a newcomer but rather a scheme from one of our rivals, this doesn't suddenly eliminate the possibility of a traitor in our ranks. Still, without any proof to either confirm or deny this theory, there's nothing we can do about it. Increase the overall security perhaps, and have our messengers be in contact more often is the best I've got."

"On this, I agree dear. This sabotage will remain a mystery for now, but what we can discuss is which plan we will use to handle this Silhouette situation. Let it be known, no matter what decision this council makes, I will contact Silhouette to attempt and establish a peaceful relationship."

Another banging of flesh on wood.

"Old bird! That's against the rules!"

"Would you please cease calling me a bird, Galleus dear? As for the rules, I will be acting as an independent agent, not a representative of the cabal. Should our dear Abrakaboom be displeased by my actions, I will provide a sincere apology and believable excuses. You will be free from consequences either way."

The dwarven druid still seemed uncomfortable with the alchemist's choice.

"Are you certain, Mercury? You said yourself that without your lab you'd be as weak as Runar, and this is the man that took him down we're talking about. Remember, you are a valued member of this council."

"Yes, my dear Lotus, I am confident in my decision. Now, I propose a vote. Who among us wishes to calm the situation before any fighting begins?"

Their gloved hand went up in the air, and so did those of two other robed figures that had stayed silent so far. Ether picked it up from there.

"Those in favor of informing Abrakaboom and letting him atomize everything in his path as he pleases so long as it isn't here?"

The rest of the council raised their hands, even more of those that had stayed silent choosing this moment to show their opinion by following the others.

"I see. There will be no need for counting, dears, I can see we already have our result. Now, with that matter dealt with, I have something I believe you will all appreciate."

The white-masked being reached inside their coat and pulled out small wooden crates the size of egg cartons one at a time, quickly producing too many containers to fit reasonably inside of their clothing without at the very least making large bulges, despite the cloth being perfectly flat beforehand. The surrounding mages promptly grabbed one of those crates each, every box featuring a paper note with a sketch of a corresponding member of the council bar for Ether and Mercury themself. Once only those two were left without a box, the alchemist continued to talk, ignoring the way most of them had opened the wooden thing in their hands and pulled out a small glass vial half a thumb in height and filled with a red liquid that they hurried to empty down their throats.

"I had my dear assistants pack our clients' commands already, everything should be in the global warehouse by now. I went ahead and experimented with your potions for this batch, dears."

The mages all froze at once, eyeing the white elongated mask of their comrade as Avielle dared to vocalize the thought they all shared.

"Mercury, what did you do?"

"Ouh, I replaced the fermented bergamot with seeds of depressed dandelions! It replaces the usual strawberry flavor with a cherry one!"

"Mercury, what about side effects?"

"Ah, right, sorry dear. There are next to none and they are always the same bar the one test subject that spontaneously combusted after consuming five in a row. They turn all bodily wastes pink for a week and replace the natural stench with a much more pleasant raspberry perfume."

Kellen nodded, his face as serious as ever.

"If you could isolate the phenomenon responsible for this, we could have a popular potion. Pet owners would fight to get it to make the upkeep of their companions' hygiene more tolerable, and bars and dance clubs would be more than happy to have a way to ensure their bathrooms are always comfortable for use."

"You forgot the gyms, dear! I said all bodily wastes, that includes sweat. Athletes may find the pink coloration unpleasant, but the changing room and showers would be far more relaxing."

Lotus the druid had to chyme in to pull the duo away from their discussion about potential customers.

"Mercury, did you say one subject spontaneously combusted? Those things are unusable!"

"Lotus, dear, I make sure to only present functional goods. Had you listened you would have known the reaction only occurred after five doses in a row, so long as those as used as the upkeep portion and not the initial intake, they are perfectly fine. Our clients' commands use the usual formula. Now, as much as I wish I could stay and go on about my latest discoveries and potential new applications for old products, I have a meeting with a possible abyssal to prepare. I will let the rest of you handle how to inform our dear Abrakaboom his most beloved friend has disappeared."

Before they could protest the alchemist threw a glass orb filled a pink gas on the ground where it shattered, and in a puff of yellow smoke, they were gone from their seat.

The others raged on Mercury's exit for a few minutes before ultimately fighting out who would tell their supposed leader the bad news in what could only be described as a magical and slightly more complex form of rock paper scissors.