The room framed by the marble doors was a disturbing contrast to the outer hall. The sterile white had been replaced by a red the exact color of blood. The walls were covered in paintings of singular eyes, so realistic it looked like giant eyeballs were embedded in the walls. Most of them seemed to follow the movements of Alice and Felix walking through the doors while trying not to startle at how fast the doors shut themselves.. The bloodied room was small and separated by a half circle wall, a few feet taller than Felix. Just high enough that he wouldn't be able to get over it. This wall was red again, but a much more uneven paint job than the others. It seemed even more like blood than the rest. The light was dim, almost non-existent, and both Felix and Alice took a long while to adjust to it. Once they did, they made their way to the center of the semi-circle.
"I hate this part," Alice muttered, rolling her eyes when Felix hurriedly shushed her.
The anticipation broke when the walls shifted with loud creaking, closing the circle and trapping them entirely in a full circle. Felix breathed out as quietly as possible, squaring his shoulders and moving to stand back-to-back with Alice. The silence that spread through the room choked the both of them, silent prayers that the nightmare would be over sooner rather than later most likely going unheard. There wasn't a god that dared enter the room they stood in.
Just before either of them had the chance to completely lose courage, the sound of another marble door swinging open caught their attention. Five figures appeared, standing just behind the second circled wall and looking down on the two in the center of it. Alice's mind couldn't help but wander, she'd always wondered if the council members were standing on a platform she couldn't see, or if they were just incredibly tall. She'd brought it up casually to Felix once, who'd rolled his eyes and hadn't answered her half-serious question.
"What business brings you here?" A booming voice came from the center figure, taller than the others. All were dressed head to toe in robes, the signature ethereal purple that the Venators wore. It wouldn't have been so unsettling, but for the porcelain masks they wore. The expressions were blankly frozen, harsh white frowns framed by the violet and gazing mercilessly through Alice's very soul.
Felix took a deep breath, trying to quell his irritation before he recited the required sentences.
"We are here at the request of the honored Council."
The figure at the far left answered in a softer, more feminine voice, "what is your assignment?"
"An elimination."
Felix's words came out so dead and hard it sent shudders through Alice. She hated seeing him in this light, the further steeled and hardened version of the man she knew.
"And you have an apprentice?" Asked the figure to the center's left, the voice the harshest woman's tone Alice had ever heard. She much preferred the mask on this particular council member and had no desire to ever see it removed.
Felix nodded once, dreading having to answer the next question he knew would be presented by the head of the council.
"Is this the apprentice's first elimination?" The center figure's near-roar asked.
"Yes."
"And this is the exception apprentice?" He asked, departing from the script, as always happened when Alice was the topic.
"Yes."
"She will take the lead on this assignment."
Felix's head jerked up, his expression shifting into worry. Alice tried her best to stay still, keeping her gaze to the ground and willing her feet to stay planted.
