United (Magics AU - Part 1)

Chapter 30 - Ruby

Ruby leaned forward in the office chair that Falte had let her sit in, sliding her eyes across everyone else in the room. Marcus was sitting on the edge of the desk, turned slightly to face both Ruby and the others in the room. Ezekiel was standing alertly beside the desk, his eyes narrow and his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, as usual. Ruby's father was seated in one of the chairs that were facing the desk, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and an impatient frown on his face. Shintaro's eighteen year old son, Chase Carter, was sitting in the other chair, his arms crossed over his chest and his expression neutral. Abby, his sister, was standing behind the chair with her hands placed on the back, her eyes alight with curiosity. Guardian Shintaro was behind her, standing stiffly, his hair loose behind his back but his stance ready. Falte was a few paces to Shintaro's left, standing close to his son, Kai, who stood almost a foot taller than his father and wore an anxious, confused expression that was occasionally directed at Chase and Abby. Amy was leaning against the closed door, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes curious and calculating, gliding swiftly over Kai every once and a while. Gabriel and Rachel were standing idly near the tracker, their expressions confused and anxiously eager. Emily, who had begged that she join the meeting too, was standing near the other side of the room, her head tilted curiously. Linda was standing near to the desk, leaning back on her heels with her arms crossed over her chest. Everyone was here. 

Ruby propped her elbows on the desk and laced her fingers together, resting her chin on her knuckles. She turned her gaze first to Shintaro, who had been the one to partially scout out the mysterious fortress. 

"To start off," Ruby said smoothly, as Shintaro met her eyes readily. "Shintaro, please inform us of anything of importance. Whether that be something you discovered in your short scouting mission, or if it that be something you realized after explaining your theory." 

Shintaro straightened his back, crossing his arms over his chest. "I only managed to get so far in the fortress before I got lost in the corridors. There was nothing important there, other than my children and the dungeons. When Amy and I first arrived while chasing the beast, we ascended one flight of stairs before we were intercepted by two Shadows, a man and... and a woman." 

"What was that hesitation?" Marcus asked before Ruby, who had caught it almost immediately, could. "Is there something you're not telling us? Also, why didn't either of you say so before? I was wondering who injured Amy." 

"I briefly mentioned it," the tracker said from her spot by the door, shrugging her shoulders. "Honestly, I thought Shintaro would have informed you two of this already." 

Shintaro cleared his throat with a short glare in Amy's direction, telling her to be quiet to allow him to answer Marcus's question. "I have met this woman before," he said lowly, his gaze dropping towards the floor. "She... She is a very dangerous, powerful Shadow, and is not to be trifled with. The other man, who also was a Shadow... I've seen him before, too. I promise you, I didn't know it was them behind this. After I had last seen them, I thought they had vanished." 

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the guardian, shameful suspicion crawling into her heart. She wanted to trust Shintaro - she believed him - but there was definitely something he wasn't telling them. The queen tried to tell herself that it was something personal, nothing vital to what they had to know. 

"You saw nothing else?" Ruby asked instead, untangling one of her hands and resting it on the surface of the desk. 

"When we went to search for Kai," Shintaro continued smoothly, "we only managed to get a single floor up once again. There is quite a bit of the fortress that I haven't seen yet." 

"We'll get to reorganizing that scouting mission later," Marcus said with a wave of his hand, then used the same hand to gesture to the two teenagers that were near to Shintaro. "You two. Do you know anything that we don't already? Maybe what the Shadows want or what they're plan is?"