This is AU, so if you don't like it don't read it. I don't know if this will work out or not, but I have a concept and a plot, and I'm gonna go with it!
1: Dusty Darkness
Everything was encompassed in a kind of black that seemed to suck the very breath out of you. Like it was a great weight pushing in on you, trying to squeeze the life out of you. Only the faint, stray beams of light poking through offered any sort of reprieve.
These beams illuminated a thin cloud of dust as the specks passed through from darkness into the light and through the dim in between. The specks swirled and swarmed; dancing fluidly upon stray breaths and breezes brought by movement, but not the movement of people.
These faint beams fell on a stone table. It was shaped like an octagon, and the sides were colored a faint, caramel brown. The top of the table was covered by a mosaic, the tiny pieces formed from colored clay. Its age should not have been easy to tell – nor should it have appeared aged at all – but its maker had wanted it to appear ancient. Some of the small tiles were cracked, faded, some even missing.
The light brightened the area around the table only barely. It rested on the exact center of a small island of brown stone, the same color as the table. In fact, they seemed to be attached, as if the table and the island were cut from the same block. Almost as if it had once been a huge chunk of stone, and most of it had simply been carved away.
Beyond the island was a murky, gray-black nothingness. A thick, swirling, formless emptiness. But in fact, it was a sea of dust. So much of it that it looked like it was solid, like it could be touched should one reach out to it. It was simply a great cloud.
The dust rippled, and a figure stepped through onto the island as if stepping off of solid ground. It was a robed figure, barely discernable in the darkness. Its clothing seemed like a single, large sheet had been draped over a person. It hid feet, arms, hand, and the figure's face – if it had any of those, to begin with.
It moved silently and swiftly to the table in the center of the island. There were three more ripples, and three more figures – none robed like the first, though one did trail some strange cloud – stepped onto the island and approached the table in the middle. The shadows hid them, as well. But they all knew who the others were. They did not move so swiftly, nor so silently. Footsteps resounded – both low and echoing, and loud and booming, and one set that clacked and cracked.
Each stopped at one side of the table, until all four were taken. There were spaces in between them for more, but no others would show. It was just them. The matter that had called them together was a matter only for them to deal with. No others need be bothered, no others were capable enough.
No others were high enough.
"Could we hurry and get this over with?" asked one in a deep, gravelly voice. "I have more important things to tend to." he added, sounding rushed.
"Really, and what could that possibly be?" another asked with a sigh. His voice sounded relatively normal, though there was the underlying hint of some ancient sorcery or power to it.
"Keep to your own affairs, Nu-"
"Enough!" the robed one spoke, its hidden head twisting quickly to look at one and then the other, the folds of its robe waving as it moved. Its voice was odd. It had a liquid sound to it, like it was not quite there. "This is a very serious matter, and it takes presidence over any of your personal matters."
"Of course." grunted the one with the deep voice.
"My sincerest apologies." the other said.
The fourth tilted it head to the side and layed a single hand on the table. It seemed to be made of glass or crystal, and it ended in sharp spikes. The tips made sharp, high pitched cracking noises as they slowly lowered to rest upon the mosaic tiles, and thin strands of icy white mist drifted with the hand and over the table, dissipating quickly.
A voice moved through the minds of the three, as it did not truly speak, "I presume that this has something to do with the New one?" it asked. Though it did not physically speak, the sound of ice hissing and popping also ran through their minds as the being "spoke".
The robed being nodded, "Indeed." it confirmed. "Now comes the time to make a decision of great importance."
"Whether or not to introduce him to us?" asked the one with the normal voice.
The robed one inclined its head once more, "Yes. The New Architect – as he called himself – is still unaware, we-"
"As his predecessor was." the gravelly voiced one spoke again.
"Not of her own decision, mind you." the airy, icy whispering came again. The other three were silent for a moment.
"Touche." came the grunted reply.
"Well, that was an interesting show of irony." muttered the normal voice, a hint of amusement buried within the comment.
"I do have my moments." the whisper replied.
"Once again we stray from the matter at hand."
"Right!" the normal one said again. "So, what are our options? I believe someone has already mentioned simply letting him stay ignorant?"
"Indeed." the robed one answered. "Not quite, actually, but yes, that is an option. But, I must let it be known that I do not support such action. However, it is a majority rule. So, what say you?"
"I do not see a reason to bother with him." snorted the gravelly one with obvious disinterest. He was already bored of the matter.
"What would the harm be in simply letting him know?" asked the normal voice. This was one of the few times a situation such as this had risen. Though the circumstances surrounding it were unique, and he did not know just how to go about the matter.
"There would be little." came the whisper.
"He would simply go about his days without consciously acknowledging our influences."
"On the other hand we would not have to bother with the whelp." the deep voice muttered irritatedly.
"What do you have against him?" the normal voice asked. He was perplexed as to his dislike of the person in question. He did not like most people to begin with, but there was always a reason. He could see none here.
"My business is my own!" the gravelly voice snarled.
There was a brief pause, "Very well." the normal voice said, backing down.
"I believe that it would be better for him if he were to know of us." the whisper said, devoid of emotion as it almost always was.
The three looked to the normal voice, "Well?" the gravelly voice asked impatiently.
There was a low sigh, "I . . I think we should induct him."
The deep voice let out an annoyed groan, "Great! You can deal with him!"
"Me?" the normal voice cried indignantly.
"Yes." the gravelly voice stated authoritatively.
The normal voice caught the tone and felt a surge of anger from deep within, "How dare you! You have no power over me, you prideful-"
"Silence!" the robed one ordered. The normal voice fell silent. "Maybe it would be best should you handle the introductions."
"I'm a little busy at the moment." the normal voice muttered, feeling defeated, and shamed at his outburst. "I cannot do it personally-"
"Then send one of your Numerary Ultimas." the deep voice suggested with barely contained rage. "Just to inform this New Architect to expect a visitor. Send Alpha, Mu, or Omega. It's your choice, just do it and leave me alone!" he turned to the robed one and asked if he could leave. The robed one nodded, and he turned and departed the same way he had come: By stepping through the murky sea of dust.
"He seems more agitated than normal." the normal voice said, thinking aloud.
"It is not our place to pry." the robed one said.
"No," the normal voice said thoughtfully, "no, it's not." he turned to leave and noticed that the other one, the one with the whispery voice, had already gone. Looking back he found that the robed one had departed as well. With a sigh he stepped into the dusty darkness and vanished.
All that was left was the island, and the table, and the swarming dust. All made just barely visible by the thin strands of dim-gold light wafting down from nowhere.
