What if #1
The shrieking of the alarm filled the air. From beneath the comforter of the king-sized bed in the room, a pale hand reached out. It groggily swung and missed the alarm a couple of times before finally silencing the infernal thing. Then the hand drooped down, dangling along the side of the bed for half of a minute longer before the person in the bed finally accepted that it was time to get up.
The formerly sleeping form beneath the blanket moved, sitting up and starting to stretch. Alador Blight let out a yawn, smacking his lips a bit as he reluctantly got onto his feet. He shuffled over to the large closet in the bedroom, rubbing his eyes as he opened the door. From the numerous dark gray lab coats hanging within, Alador grabbed one off its hanger and went get the rest of his clothes for the day. Once he was dressed, he left his bedroom and made his way down the stairs.
As he descended to the first floor, Alador could hear his wife arguing with their youngest. He let out another yawn and scratched at the stubble on his face, mentally preparing himself for the inevitable. The moment he was in Odalia's field of vision, Alador just knew she would wrangle him into her conversation with Amity. It was almost enough to make him want to crawl back into bed.
Precisely as he predicted, Odalia turned to face him as he walked into the dining room. She didn't even wait for him to sit down before trying to drag him into whatever was going on. Alador did his best not to let out a sigh as his wife stood an approached him.
"Alador, would you please speak with your daughter? She's being unreasonable!"
"I am not!" Amity argued from her seat.
"Do not talk back, young lady!" Odalia chastised. "You are already testing my patience enough as it is!"
Amity let out a 'hmph' and turned to face away from her mother. Odalia gritted her teeth at her child's behavior, a vein starting to bulge on her forehead. She turned to face Alador again and gestured to their daughter as if to emphasize her point.
"What exactly is going on this time?" Alador inquired, holding back a sigh.
"Our daughter has been associating with that… that human again!"
"She has a name!" Amity interjected. "And it's Luz!"
"It is rude to interrupt your parents when they are talking!" Odalia barked, looking to her husband imploringly. "Do you see how disrespectful she is being? She was never like this before that human child started to run amok in Bonesborough!"
Amity muttered something which Alador was unable to hear. Odalia however seemed to hear it just fine and turned to glare daggers at the teenager. Before she could express her outrage, Alador placed his hand onto her shoulder and gripped it firmly, as if to hold her back. He stepped forward and looked her in the eyes, wordlessly letting her know he'd handle the matter. The fire in Odalia's eyes died down as a smug smirk came to her face. She crossed her arms and watched on in satisfaction as her husband approached their daughter.
"Mittens, dear." Alador began, sitting down in the seat beside hers. "What is going on now? Why are you and your mother arguing?"
"She tried to take something from me!" Amity replied. "She didn't even say anything! She just reached out and tried to take it right from my hands!"
"What was it that your mother tried to take from you?"
"Well… I'm not entirely sure what it is to be completely honest." Amity told him. "It's something that Luz gave to me just yesterday."
"May I see it?" Alador requested.
Amity nodded and handed her father some sort of plastic bauble. It was yellow with a cat face and ears near the top and easily fit into the palm of his hand. On its front was a square screen just below the face and a few buttons below the screen. He looked the odd little device over for a moment or two longer before returning his attention back to Amity.
"Is this some sort of communicator?"
"I think so. Although it only seems to send coded messages." Amity replied. "I was trying to decipher one when Mom tried to take it away from me."
"Hmm… I see." Alador muttered, giving the object one last look before returning it to Amity. "Perhaps it would be best if we followed the same rule as using Penstagram at the table during meals. Understood?"
"Yes sir." Amity replied with a nod. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not the one to whom you owe an apology." He told her, gesturing to his wife.
Amity sighed and stepped closer to her mother. She hesitated for a moment, but then folded her hands in front of herself and looked Odalia in the eyes. Her mother scowled at her, but waited for Amity to speak instead of taking a chance she'd incite the girl's rebellious behavior by demanding the apology from her.
"Mom, I'm sorry for raising my voice and speaking to you so abrasively." Amity said, trying her best to sound sincere. "I didn't mean to disrespect you."
"I would certainly hope not! Now finish your breakfast and hurry along to school." Odalia ordered. "After all, if you aren't early then you may as well be tardy."
"Yes ma'am." Amity replied, sounding listless and returning to her seat.
Alador nodded with a small smile, grateful that the matter was settled. He turned to leave the dining room, heading to the kitchen where a plump abomination was stationed for the purpose of preparing food. It turned to face him when he entered, groaning softly as it awaited his orders. Instead of submitting a meal request however, Alador simply got an energy potion and quickly downed it before turning to leave.
He made his way to his workshop, passing by his family in the dining room. Odalia got up from her seat, calling out to him. Her voice didn't quite reach him though, he was already becoming enrapt in his work, planning out what needed to be done that morning. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Odalia started to follow after Alador, once again trying to gain his attention.
Odalia managed to catch up to him before he could reach the door to his workshop. Alador stopped, finally hearing her calling his name. He grumbled as quietly as he could, displeased to be losing even the smallest amount of time he could be dedicating to his work. However, he knew that unless he gave Odalia a little time, she would take far more of it from him.
"Yes, dear?" He asked tiredly.
"Alador, you're not planning to skip breakfast again, are you?"
"You know that I prohibit having food in my workshop. And even if I didn't, a meal would be more distracting than anything else."
"And a growling stomach won't be distracting?" Odalia countered, raising an eyebrow. "You need to eat something. At least have a muffin or some fruit if nothing else!"
"I'm only going to need a little time to check on everything for my presentation and then I need to be on my way." Alador replied. "But since you do have a good point, I'll be sure to eat something before I head to the coven meeting this morning."
With a relieved sigh, Odalia returned to the dining room and Alador went into his workshop. On his drafting table sat his latest blueprints for the Abomiton. He had spent the better part of the preceding evening planning upgrades for his creations and wanted to review them before he had to leave. While he was always confident with his inventions, he always felt there were ways to further improve them.
The short amount of time passed by quickly and Alador had to reluctantly set down his pen. He gathered up his notebook and some of the blueprints, packing them into his attaché case. After taking a moment to double check that he had everything he would need, Alador left his workshop and made a little detour into the kitchen for something light to eat.
A couple of minutes later, Alador was exiting the front doors of the manor and finishing the last of a bag of spicy scorn chips. He crumpled up the bag and dropped it into the hand of the abomination butler. With nothing more than a quick call to his family to announce his departure, Alador hurried off.
The journey to Emperor Belos's castle took longer than Alador liked. Although having to go anywhere by airship was always frustratingly slow in his opinion. He started pondering making a new form of air travel using his abomi-geneering knowledge. Although he would need to find a way to overcome the issue of how dense abomination goo was first.
His thoughts became solely focused on his new idea as he departed the airship. He made his way to the entrance to Belos's castle, consumed by his brainstorm. The new idea was so enticing to him that he dug into his attaché case for his notebook and began scribbling it down on a new page. A clear image for a prototype was forming in his mind's eye and he started to sketch it in with the notes when he encountered an obstacle. One in the form of a wall of abomination goo.
Alador pried himself out of the wall, wiping some goo from his face. After flicking it to the ground, he checked his notes, finding a bit on them as well. He grumbled and cleaned them off as well, frowning as some of the fresh ink became smeared on the page. The sound of someone chuckling drew his attention away from his notebook and he found Darius leaning against the wall near the entryway, a smug smirk on his face.
"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself." He said cattily. "It can be so hard to resist when you make that face."
"Very mature, Darius." Alador commented. "And I suppose I have you to thank for that wall of goo."
"You only have yourself to blame, walking around without paying any attention to your surroundings." Darius replied. "If I had a snail for every time that I've managed to do that to you, I could afford the down payment for a vacation home in Palm Stings. One of these days, someone other than me will take advantage of you the same way and it will not be as harmless."
"Your concern is noted." Alador informed him dryly, tucking his notes back into his case. "Now, if you are done delaying me, I'd like to head inside. The meeting is going to start soon."
"Not so fast. You're not heading in like that."
"If there are any stains on my clothes, you are the one to blame." Alador countered. "My outfit was just fine before your little stunt."
"And I am impressed with how you arrived in clean clothes for a change." Darius remarked. "But you aren't in proper uniform just yet. Once again, you have gone and forgotten your cape. Luckily, I knew you would and brought a spare."
The next thing Alador knew, Darius was right up in front of him. In addition to fashioning a lilac side-cape on over Alador's lab coat, Darius took the liberty of trying to neaten up Alador's hair. However, his efforts were rejected swiftly and met with an irritated look. Darius didn't let it bother him, but he did back off and let Alador keep his usual style in place.
"Fine, have it your way." He said with a sigh. "At least keep your cloak on for the duration of the meeting. It would be nice if you could look like you're in the coven for a change."
"I shouldn't need some fancy piece of cloth to prove that sort of thing."
"Do I need to remind you of your position in the coven?"
"I know very well where I stand, Darius." Alador replied icily. "Now could we please head inside? You know how the emperor can be if you make him wait too long."
Darius didn't argue the matter further and they entered the castle. It was a long walk to the meeting room, where the other covens and Emperor Belos would be waiting for them. The two scouts posted on either side of the doors saluted them when they arrived. Alador and Darius returned the salute and the scouts then opened the doors for them.
The moment they stepped into the meeting room nineteen sets of eyes turned to face them. In addition to the other coven heads, the second in command of each coven was present for the meeting as well. The Golden Guard and Kikimora were beside Emperor Belos, who stood and folded his arms behind his back.
"Well, gentlemen, so good of you to finally join us." Belos greeted, his tone somewhat patronizing. "Is there a reason for your tardiness?"
"My apologies, Emperor Belos." Alador replied, stepping forward and offering a short and formal bow. "I was delayed at home this morning; I became distracted while revising my work."
"I see. Well, I cannot fault you for doing your diligence, Alador. But perhaps you could manage your time a little better. We have important matters to discuss and it is better to have all the covens present to ensure everyone is kept up to speed."
"I understand. Again, I apologize, my emperor."
"That's quite alright. We were only just starting the meeting. Now please, sit."
Alador and Darius went around the table to their seats while Kikimora continued to review the minutes from their last meeting. Their spot was situated between the Potions Coven and the Illusions Coven. Darius gave a wary glance to the Illusionists as they passed them by, mainly due to his distrust of the second in command. He normally wasn't one to shy away from his peers, but for this witch, he could easily make an exception.
He was a tall witch who always wore an eyeless mask with a swirling pattern. Unlike the head of the Illusion Coven, he was not keen on drawing attention to himself and always had a cold air about him. And there was something else off about him too. Darius wasn't entirely sure what it was, but being near the masked witch made him uneasy.
The other witch turned his head to face Darius, startling him. He had to put in a lot of effort not to grimace when he found that bizarrely patterned mask facing him. For a moment the other witch was silent, and Darius was starting to feel his uneasiness grow. His eyes became fixed on the mask and it wasn't until the one wearing it spoke that he snapped out of his small trance.
"Something the matter, pretty boy?" He asked, his voice gravelly.
"Just trying to figure out how you can wear that gaudy mask all the time, that's all." Darius replied, averting his gaze.
"Unlike you, I don't wear things to impress people. Keep your opinions to yourself."
"That will be enough ad-libbing, Spiros." Adrian whispered. "You know you weren't given any lines for this scene."
Without so much as another word, Spiros turned to face forwards again and remaining completely motionless. Darius shuddered ever so slightly and went to his spot beside Alador, who had already taken his seat. To their other side sat Vitimir and his second in command, a young bipedal demon by the name of Torith. They were a short and sinewy with purple fur covering almost their entire body aside of their face and upper limbs, which were tentacles almost as long as they were tall. On their backside they had a pair of long, skinny tails which each ended in a hand with four digits, including opposable thumbs.
Torith turned and greeted them silently with a short nod. They often met with them on business for the Potions Coven and were very familiar with them. Despite being only a few years out of school, they had proven highly proficient with potions and performed inspections for any who sold or made use of them for their profession. As such, this gave both covens a healthy business relationship.
Kikimora wrapped up reviewing the minutes for their last meeting and sat down on the stack of books on her seat. Belos stood again and officially began their meeting. He looked around the table, setting his gaze on the recent arrivals.
"Let's start with the Abomination Coven." He stated. "I'm eager to hear about the progress you've been making with those Abomitons."
Darius stood, knowing that Alador would not be ready for his part just yet. As to be expected, he was busily searching through his notes and blueprints stowed into his attaché case. If they had been anyplace else, he would have reprimanded Alador for not being better organized. But with the full attention of the room on them, he instead focused on buying Alador a little time.
"Yes, the Abomiton project has been coming along smoothly." He announced. "In fact, there has been substantial progress since our last meeting. For starters…"
"Excuse me, Darius. But I'll need you to stop you right there." Belos interrupted. "I'd prefer to hear the report from the head of the coven, thank you."
A couple of the other coven heads and their seconds snickered, making Darius scowl at them in response. He sat back down and allowed Alador to take over, relieved to see that he seemed to have gotten things in order. Alador stood and with a twirl of his finger, called forth a small abomination onto the table.
"Here is a summary of all that has occurred with the Abomiton Project up to today." He stated, giving his little abomination a folder containing a report to bring over to Belos. "I am pleased to inform you that I have resolved the power issue and have upgraded the efficiency of the weapons."
"Very good." Belos commented, skimming over the report. "So, I take it that I can expect production to return to our original expectations then?"
Alador nodded. "Yes, my emperor. We will have everything prepared in time for the Day of Unity."
"That's precisely what I wanted to hear." Belos replied, setting the report down and steepling his fingers. "The Day of Unity needs to go off without any complications. Your success will be crucial for that. I'm counting on you, Alador."
What if Alador were the head of the Abomination Coven?