CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"We should kill her."
There were protests throughout the throne room. One voice spoke above the rest. "Riddle, what grounds would we have to kill her?"
"She's invading our space."
The throne room was now filled with murmurs of agreement and contemplative looks.
"We cannot kill Heiress Greengrass just because she must share a room with us," Hel broke in.
Malefic watched the debate without a word. Daphne Greengrass, Heiress to the Most Noble House of Greengrass had been assigned her roommate. Irritating, yes, that was something all those in her head agreed to, but was it something to kill the girl over? That was up for debate.
Riddle's facial expression broke into a pout (if anyone asked Riddle would deny it to his dying breath) and he folded his arms in front of his face. "But she's annoying!"
"She spoke two words to us, and those words were 'good' and 'night'!" Maya interjected. "Out of everyone we could have gotten, she's our best bet. Or would you rather have been stuck with Miss Parkinson?"
The throne room stared at the red headed embodiment in shock. For her to be so loud and make such a good point was so inherently out of character that they could only respond with silence.
"Blagh! Fine! We don't kill the girl but if she steps a toe out of line..." Riddle left the threat in the air.
"Good," Hel commented dryly. "Now, onto more pressing matters. Maya Potter."
The girl in question perked up and Malefic herself held herself up straighter. Her dream had just gotten interesting.
"Yes, her celebrity status," Apollo drawled. Maya shot the blonde embodiment a glare. Apollo responded with a smirk.
"Spreading around the news of her supposed death will only work in our favour. The lime light we would've been placed under otherwise would interfere with our plans," Heimdall pointed out.
"They will find out."
All eyes turned to Tarot who had said nothing until that moment.
"They will find out," Tarot repeated.
"How?" Somnus spat. "The only proof of her existence lies in our own head!"
Tarot smiled but the expression seemed blank as if she had been sculpted with no passion and no thought. "A battle between shadow and sun and the walls will crumble, releasing the fumes of oppression."*
"I hate seers," Riddle bemoaned. "They always feel the need to speak in tongues."
Hel hummed and all attention returned to her. "We will continue to implicate Maya Potter's death, we will not discuss our involvement but leave it open for interpretation. Plausible deniability is key. If it gets revealed as Tarot says it will then that is a problem for then. There is no need to cause problems now."
"Are we going to mention the position that awaits us?" Nike asked leaning forward.
"We are 11, Nike. There is no need for a power grab just yet. The title of Slytherin Queen can wait," Hel responded.
"I disagree," Riddle chimed in. "If there was ever a time to take power it would be now. If you control them from the start there is little space for betrayal in the future."
"You would know all about betrayal," Somnus muttered bitterly.
Riddle's eyes snapped to her. "Betrayal, Somnus? I thought you were over this silly tantrum. It was not my intention to hoodwink or bamboozle you with my appearance as Mamba. I did not know who I was at the time."
"Shut up!" Somnus bit out. "Your excuses mean nothing to me. To any of us. We cannot trust you anymore, it's as simple as that! Anything you say, including this intention of a power grab, will not be taken into consideration because you're just a liar!" She turned on Amun Ra in a snap. "Get yourself under control, you stupid little rat!"
Amun Ra's lower lip trembled as she stared to her feet.
Riddle grinned like the cat who had caught the canary. "Our dear Somnus, not wanting to fight for power? A true miracle." He leaned back on his throne. "Fine, don't take the title. It will haunt you later but that's none of my business."
"If you're so apart of us then it is your business!" Somnus snapped. "Pick one! Are you apart of Malefic or are you not?"
"Enough!"
The other embodiments looked to Hel in shock. The embodiment of Death Magick never lost her composure enough to shout.
Malefic felt a throb shoot through her head and for a moment the throne room blurred.
It all cleared up again once Hel continued speaking.
"Somnus and Riddle cease your arguing immediately. We will not be taking the title lest it becomes a problem to us later. That is the final decision on this matter. And Amun Ra, Somnus is correct, contain yourself. We are tearing ourselves apart because you don't know how to keep the emotions to yourself. This is why you are here! To contain the emotions, not to scatter them and leave us all bullheaded and irrational. Do you understand?"
Amun Ra let out a wobbly, "Yes, Hel," before she began to quietly sob to herself.
"Good." Hel looked to Heimdall who had observed the meeting quietly. "Heimdall, help in keeping her contained. The research we found indicated that you can help with that, yes?"
"Yes, Hel," Heimdall murmured.
"Excellent," Hel responded. Her eyes cut around the throne room. "Are there any other matters that anyone would like to address?"
Silence then—
"I still think we should kill the Greengrass girl," Riddle piped up.
The throne room glared at him.
"What? A little murder is good for the soul! And it will do wonders for our reputation."
"Any matters that aren't foolish and will undoubtedly get us expelled?" Hel corrected herself with a deadpan ignoring Riddle's, "Only if you get caught."
There were some shakes of the head but no verbal responses.
"Alright then, meeting adjourned."
And with that Malefic's eyes shot open. Her first day at Hogwarts awaited.
-
LAST EDITED: [28/05/2023]
-
*that's a special tool that can help us later.