Lost in a Memory

[Maleficent]

Maleficent sighed and clasped her hands together, turning to fully face the crowd of her followers. She smiled gently, and nodded her head.

"Any questions?" she asked, but didn't pause before continuing, "No? Good. Well then, I shall be off then. I have things to do."

"Nasira," Maleficent turned her hooded gaze upon the necromancer, "See that everyone gets their orders and the details of the training location, and the like."

Maleficent threw her arms up, fire bursting from her feet and growing higher until she was consumed, much like Thomas had been. It seemed her choice of teleportation. Her silhouette disappeared into the emerald blaze leaving no sign of her wake. No ash, no scorches. The fire was completely at her bid and command, harming only what she intended.

Maleficent even controlled the elements completely. Everything under her power was utterly under her control. She wouldn't accept anything less...

[627]

"Evil!" 627 immediately ran to the spot where Maleficent had disappeared, sniffing the air angrily in disappointment and gritting his teeth. How DARE she. How DARE she disappear like some parlor trick magic human! He wanted to fight her, by kweesta. Only a coward disappeared like that!

"EVIL, evil!" He growled, jumping up and down on the spot as if that by itself would cause the sorceress to reappear. "EVIL!" He cawed at the sky, trying in his own way to command the strange sorceress to come back.

[Crow]

For the duration of the meeting, a lone bird sat perched in a windowsill. 

It had remained silent, and frankly uninteresting to watch for more than a moment.  The crow, who was known as Diablo, preferred it this way.  If anyone had watched Maleficent's pet bird instead of the Sultana herself, they likely would've had an example made of them for not devoting their full attention.

But logistics aside, they might've also noticed the crow observing the crowd, lingering on the face of one recruit for a moment, then moving onto the next.  Scanning, searching, committing every person of interest to memory.

Diablo's feathers had barely ruffled when Thomas was chained and subsequently imprisoned: it was only to be expected.  The Mistress had high standards, and whether they wanted to or not the Blackbloods were going to meet them.  He examined the crowd for reactions, for passing glances, for any wayward expressions that betrayed their intention.  Orientation day was the day to learn, after all, and the audience was a wellspring of new knowledge.

When Maleficent had decided she was well and finished addressing her subjects, Diablo seemed to decide that he was done picking apart the crowd as well.  For the time being, he was content to people watch, until something more interesting would happen or his attention was required elsewhere.

[Nasira]

A shiver ran down her spine when Maleficent looked at her again. Those yellow eyes again. "Yes, your Excellency," she complied, struggling to keep a straight face.

After Maleficent had left, Nasira addressed the crowd. "For the duration of your-" 

Suddenly, 627 made a beeline for the throne and proceeded to throw a temper tantrum. Nasira narrowed her eyes. She would have blasted that insolent cur, but she really wanted to get this meeting over with. She resumed: "For the duration of your service, you will serve twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Bottom line, you'll work when you're told regardless of the day or how many hours and always show proper respect. Is. That. Clear?" What happened to Thomas should have enough of a deterrent, but Nasira was not playing around. Hikaru ran away, Thomas showed up late to orientation and 627 just went ballistic. They were not off to a good start.  

"On the fifth, there will be a training session which will start at dawn and end around noon. Attendance is mandatory. And due to, um, 'unforeseen circumstances', we only have one apprentice at the moment: Kovu. And Kovu needs a mentor. Mystic, as of today, you will be Kovu's assigned mentor until he is old enough for his assessment."

She nodded thoughtfully after going over this week's schedule. "Well, I think that just about covers it. If any of you have any questions, feel free to ask me or another overseer. Meeting's over."

Nasira briskly walked off, wondering what the hell just happened. Maleficent's reign was going to be interesting.

The End