Nothing but Pawns (Seven Knights Fanfiction)

Chapter 22: This Conference You are to Hold

The queen's blue eyes glittered in pleasure as she didn't have to wait for him at all. She tried to smile, but the heavy and cold gaze coming from Rudy was a little different from how she remembered. Days before, he wouldn't even look at her this way. Then again, it didn't matter.

"We need to talk... alone." She would like to act airy and proud, but she felt no need to do so. Something about the previous guardian of Terra was throwing her off, even enough for her to secretly hope that Spina and Hayoung would get in between if something bad happened.

Rudy only took his gaze off of Elysia and descended the tree, careful of stepping on Spike or dropping bits of wood on him. He managed to get on the ground and walked off to a distance, soon looking over his shoulder as if waiting for Elysia. The queen cast a gaze at Kyrielle before walking off towards him.

Kris had jumped down from the tree and watched the two intently... even Kyrielle was being surveyed by his yellow moonlight eyes. Spike was awakened by the movements, but he still had his eyes closed. Jave and Hayoung had long got up and was watching the two from afar as well while Spina was worriedly holding onto the angel pet who was staring at that direction intently.

"I'll be straight to the point. This is about the conference you were proposing to hold. It's been days, and I'm wondering when you are planning to hold it." Elysia knew that Rudy was extremely busy and had no time to spare for now. However, she heard that the leaders of different factions had been forming several conjectures about the world they were in. Without any reliable resources, she refused to even conceptualize lies. This was why hearing the leaders' conjectures felt like a form of salvation to her chaotic mind.

"Oh." Rudy's eyes suddenly mellowed as he looked away and remembered the conference. He had also asked Teo about it, but who seemed to be Teo's wife kept on telling him off. Due to Rudy's awakening 'bonus', he could take on more direct hits than anyone else in the team, making him less susceptible to pain and exhaustion. He was tired nonetheless; what more of the others?

It wasn't Teo's call to be honest, but as a faction leader, he should be there as well. If he chose to send someone else to represent the Night Crow, maybe they would be able to proceed. Then again, some others wouldn't even communicate directly with Rudy as well. The conference was being a pain, and there came a time that Rudy forgot about it.

He brought his eyes back to Elysia's face. "If NK wouldn't open the doors for a day, maybe I could call for the conference. If you like, you can help asking the others to participate as well. Yeonhee refused to talk with me about this as well as the other Four Lords. As it is, the conference might start all of a sudden. You should be ready at any time."

"I see." Elysia only hummed before turning away fast. She had nothing else to discuss with Rudy, and she didn't even want to ask him what was his take on this conference. She had no idea what the talks would be about in the first place. Then again, she remembered about something weird. The queen twirled on her heel and ask in suspicion. "Rudy...

"I met this strange girl named Vanessa somewhere in the prison. When I asked her who she stands with, she said she's a Seven Knight." Elysia noticed the change in Rudy's expression. She continued as she could feel the loss in Rudy's eyes. "I only ran into her once. She wouldn't join us in the waiting rooms. I saw her talking to Rachel and Eileene though. Don't you think it's a little odd? A Seven Knight you don't know about?"

"I'll look for her." Rudy only gave a small bitter smile before jogging away from her. "Jave, watch over everyone else. Kris, let's go!" He didn't wait for his friend and headed outside in a hurry. 

Before Jave could talk, he felt a breeze brush by as Kris ran after Rudy. Elysia and Platin both had this grim expression as they knew whatever it was about could be either be alarming or very strange to handle.

Right, the reason why the women didn't stay with Rudy and the others in the pet farm was because they were with this woman named Vanessa. They seemed to be close friends, and they were the only ones Vanessa was talking to. She was hiding from everyone else as if not willing to make conversations with the others.

At the moment, Rudy went to find Dellons since he was the only one who could sense the entire prison. He couldn't tell who was who, but he had idea where some people were. Groups of three were located, and the other two went to check out those places. Rudy didn't tell Dellons about this girl for now.

NK once mentioned Vanessa's name when Rudy was undergoing the 'awakening' procedure. They said something about completing the list as they ticked the names one by one. He indeed heard the name Vanessa, but he thought he just missed Dellons' name during the roster call. Now that the foreign name surfaced, he wanted to know why this woman was hiding from them.

Of course, Rudy and Kris managed to find the girls chatting without a care. The Special Dungeon team was a little carefree than the Arena team, and so they were less tired. However, the three shot their gazes at the intruding boys. Rudy cast his gaze at the green-haired lady as he had seen her before. To be honest, he doubted Dellons didn't know her because the Over-all Leader knew who gets in and out of the prison.

"Who is she?" Kris murmured next to Rudy. He had no idea who that girl was, but he did hear Elysia say she called herself a Seven Knight.

"Funny, it seemed that time and possibilities won't work properly in this world. You're not supposed to find out today..." Vanessa hummed before she chose to smile at Rudy. "Hello, Rudy... it seemed that you have the powers of destruction in this place, too."

"I'm sorry, but I need you to explain things for me. You're a Seven Knight, too?" Rudy closed the door behind him after Kris walked into the room first.

"Yes." She nodded, not even shocking Eileene and Rachel. "I guess it's time to tell you what this world is..."