[center][h2][color=6ecff6]Salem,[/color] [color=a187be]Aliira,[/color] [color=black]Zeke,[/color] [color=0072bc]Lizzy,[/color] [color=f7976a]David[/color] & [color=9b9b9b]Augie.[/color][/h2][/center]
[hr][hr]A collab between [@HaleyTheRandom], [@Grape]. [@PureHeroine], [@Zetsuko], [@Zakattacks], & [@Strange Rodent]
[b]Location:[/b] Guild Headquarters.
[b]Time:[/b] 10 pm.[hr][hr]

Salem had finished her work in the life of the mundane, and was currently at the Guild headquarters, sitting in a tall wooden chair at the center of the ‘stage.’ The chair was something as old as the guild itself, the shape of each of the previous Leaders marks carved into it. Salem’s was located on the very end of the right arm rest. She traced the shape with her finger, waiting on the others to arrive. The young woman was always sure to be early to her own meetings. If her members were expected to be punctual, then so was she. After she had got done with work, she had gone back to her apartment and researched everything that she could on today's train accident. She watched the clip over and over before confirming her suspicions: Aloysius was to blame. There was no way that you could deny the smirk on the mans face as he walked off camera, and there was no doubt in her mind that this was leading to some plan that was much greater. So there she sat, thoughts swirling in her head as she watched the first of the clan arrive. 

Elizabeth wasn't one to sit still for very long, when she wasn't working as a receptionist at the local clinic, she was out partying or finding something else just as fun to do, and that day was no exception. Since it was still light out, clubbing was out of the picture, so Lizzie decided she would head down to an old abandoned warehouse she used to hang out in, and get in some more practice with her powers; after checking no one else was around of course. Before she knew it, the day was coming to an end. She had worked up quite the appetite and was on her way to go get something to eat when she got a notification from The Guild's group chat. It was from Salem, asking them all to meet back at headquarters, meaning something big must have happened. Lizzie decided it would be best to head back as soon as possible, but since she was still hungry she decided to grab some take out on the way. Elizabeth would arrive a few minutes after Salem had, drink still in hand. The meeting hadn't officially started, so she figured it would be okay to sip away at it while waiting for the others to arrive.

Augie was woken by the buzzing of his phone. Obviously he had been pissfaced last night, because he had a killer hangover and his phone was on. He usually left it off so that this exact thing wouldn’t happen. Begrudgingly, he rolled over and checked his phone. Oh fuck. It was 9:04 PM and there was a guild meeting he had to be at in an hour, and he hadn’t even started getting ready yet. He opened his drawer and pulled out his hangover remedy kit: Water, berocca, painkillers, a towel, and a glass for water. Berocca in first, then pop two painkillers in, and chug it all in one. Usually he wouldn’t, but time was running low. He moved as quickly as he could to the shower, then immediately regretted that decision as he threw his remedy up into the toilet. Well, half of it anyway. The other half got on the seat and floor. After this extremely dignified act, he ran a cold shower. He didn’t feel like standing, so he sat on the floor. Lucky for him, he wasn’t a complete slob and he’d cleaned the shower a few weeks back, so there wasn’t any mold lining it. After about ten minutes he was feeling considerably better. He dragged himself out of the shower and into some fresh clothes, and went to his fridge to raid it, but found a slice of pizza on a clothes iron and just ate that instead. He hauled arse to the train station and caught the next train in the direction of the HQ, and made it there with plenty of time to spare. He spied Lizzy in the room, and Salem up on the raised section, but apart from that he was actually unexpectedly punctual. He did his best to make himself look like he had expected to be here on time, then asked nobody in particular, [color=9b9b9b]”Uh… do any of you chaps have a berocca?”[/color].

When Zeke got to the restaurant he found that Salem had left already, but that didn't entirely thwart him. He sat down and placed an order, intend on eating and killing a bit of time until the meeting as he did. He saw the news on the TV while he ate, seeing the trainwreck from earlier in the day. A train suddenly derailing, as if by magic, did seem suspicious. Salem must have thought Dark Shadow was behind it. He felt a pang of worry for the girl, she'd lost her father to Dark Shadow and he wondered now if she would begin to see the Shadow's evil hand in everything. He pushed the thought away as soon as it came, He trusted her judgement. When he eventually finished his meal he paid and set off again to HQ. He arrived at the meeting room to find a few others already there, he gave a short nod in greeting to them as he came in before finding a seat to wait for the meeting to start.

Aliira arrived into the guild hall shortly before the beginning of the meeting; she had been doing small tasks around the guild that needed attention. As Aliira walked in she had a complacent look upon her face, no longer the perpetually joyful smile on her lips. This was a serious matter and it needed her to act as such. Though it truly wasn’t an act. Her heart hung heavy in her chest, all those poor souls lost for no reason at all. Aliira walked up the steps of the stage where the Leader and Second in Command remained during Guild meetings. Aliira was a simple dress, a soft salmon color made of elegant fabric that hugged her figure nicely down to her hips before blooming out to cascade down to just above her knees. Aliira got to the seat beside Salem, brushing the backside of her dress flat before taking a seat. She sat quiet for a moment before reaching over to Salem and taking her hand gently before giving it a supportive squeeze. Though Salem most likely realized it was Aliira who needed the support at this moment, she was definitely the weaker emotionally speaking.

Not long after Aliira arrived, David himself arrived, having managed to adjust his brown hair to be much more presentable than earlier in the day, it much more tidy and straightened out than before, still wearing a pair of baggy blue jeans, but at least managing to wear a decent-looking black overshirt with white buttons with a white undershirt. He soon moved to slowly sit beside Aliira. As a Guard, it was his job to keep her safe and watch over her, and as such, he figured he had at least enough permission to do this. Despite this, he felt a deep tension come over him as he looked towards Salem, the temptation to make a passive-aggressive quip at her rising by the second. He simply withdrew that thought from his mind after a moment, closing his eyes and reverting back to his lax, apathetic nature,  soon deciding to watch the others arrive while not saying anything to Aliira quite yet. She knew how he was, and if she had anything to say to him, he was sure she would say it in time...though, to say he didn’t -want- her to talk to him would be a bit of a false assertion, as much as he hated to admit it.

Salem sat patiently, waiting for the others to arrive. She began to feel anxious, her mind running wild as always. She knew that some of her followers doubted her, no matter how loyal that they were. Was she to quick to jump to a conclusion? Perhaps that was the case. She sat up straight in the chair, crossing her right leg over her left, setting her jaw in determination. She would [i]not[/i] start doubting herself. 

The first to arrive was Elizabeth, her drink in her hand. Though Salem didn’t entirely approve, she said nothing. Then there was Augie. [color=6ecff5]”No beroccas here, my friend. Maybe you should have taken your Flinstones before coming,”[/color] she said, her tone slightly playful. Others started to arrive, the room filling quickly. Everyone knew that Salem did not like it when people were late. Salem returned Zekes nod, as she felt her mood shift towards the better as Aliira walked in. Something about having your greatest ally by your side did wonders for a person. When Li squeezed her hand, Salem returned it with a firm squeeze of reassurance herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Davids facial expression. She gave him a curt nod as he sat down. Taking a deep breath, she would stand and face the crowd of familiar faces before her, her hands making a fist behind her back. 

[color=6ecff6]”As I am sure that you all know, there was a train crash in DC today. As normal, the nomagi think that it was a technical difficulty on their end. However, I thought that something was off with the way that the train flipped, so I looked into it. I think that the Dark Shadow is to be held accountable.”[/color] She took a deep breath a the room filled with murmured questions and the sounds of people re-situating in their seats. Salem held up her hand in the air, and the room quickly feel silent again. [color=6ecff6]”I know what you’re all thinking, and I am not just jumping to conclusions. If you watch the clip of the wreck, there is nothing natural about the way that it flipped. For a split second, you can see that the train is lifted off the ground, and if you look closer, you can see Aloysius smiling as he walks off the screen. I am one-hundred percent sure that it is, indeed him. Now, as for if this leads to a bigger plan, I am not sure. All I know is that it has been quite a few months since there has been any activity from the Dark Shadow, and we should all keep a close eye on things. The topic is now open for discussion. Any questions or debates are welcome as usual.”[/color]

As the room began to fill up with other people, Elizabeth would excuse herself to go throw her empty cup in the rubbish, before quietly slipping back into the room. When she had left only Salem, Augie and Zeke had been present, however, by the time she got back, Aliira and David had arrived as well. Trying to avoid drawing any attention away from their leader and onto herself, Lizzie would take up a seat near the back of the room. The atmosphere surrounding Salem seemed pretty tense and serious, so she made sure to pay close attention.

She had to admit, given Salem’s history with Dark Shadow, it did seem like she might be jumping to conclusions, but rather than prejudging the situation herself, Lizzie decided to take out her phone and look up the news on the incident. She had her earplugs in, so as not to disturb anyone else, as she watched the video clip. She played it over a few times, paying close attention to different areas of the video each time, and sure enough she saw what Salem was talking about.

Lizzie wanted to wait and see what everyone else had to say before she decided to say anything, so after she was finished analyzing the video, she put her phone away and sat back in her chair, waiting to hear what the others had to say.

It seemed the others didn’t have much to say, which bothered Augie a bit. They were meant to be finding something out about this, and they were sitting around looking at Salem and waiting for orders. [color=9b9b9b]”Uh… yeah. I have a question. When are we going to do something about this? At the least we could be down there offering support, and at the most we could use some of the guild’s vast wealth to buy a hitman or twenty. Just… anything more than sitting around and talking about it.”[/color]. His words wandered away towards the end, leaving his point dead in the air. The seconds before a reply stretched to weeks in his mind. His face swirled into confusion as he spoke in a voice inky with headache, [color=9b9b9b]”Actually, why haven’t we hired a few hitmen yet?”[/color].

[color=9e0b0f]”BECAUSE WE ARE THE HITMEN YOU IDIOT!”[/color] immediately after his outburst Zeke brought a fist up to cover his mouth, staying silent for a moment before moving his hand away [color=000000]"Sorry, but isn't this what we're supposed to handle ourselves? It's our job to stop these people even if it means killing them"[/color] he paused for a moment, making sure he didn't shout again [color=000000]"besides, I don't think there are many hitmen around that could handle any-err...most of us, let alone him, without magic. At best we could look into an investigator, I don't think any of us are really the best at it. All we'd need if for one to tell us where he is and what he's doing. then we come along to[/color][color=9e0b0f]-kill them[/color][color=000000]...ehm, catch them"[/color]


Surprise attacked Augie’s face, until realisation shielded him from that onslaught. He was still getting used to the not-Zeke part of Zeke. [color=9b9b9b]”Yes, let’s do that. Something. Anything to help these people.”[/color]

Aliira remained silent as she remained seated behind Salem. Her warm brown eyes scanned the room as those in attendance voiced their concerns. As they seemed to all have spoke up Aliira pushed herself out of her seat and stepped up to stand beside Salem. 

[color=a187be]”I understand all your concerns..”[/color] Her voice trailed off, thinking of her words carefully before carrying on. [color=a187be]”And Zeke is correct, we are the [i]’hitmen’[/i]. But we must remember that if we simply go out their and hunt them down we become no better than them. Our purpose is to create harmony in this world. If we simply put our boots to the throats of anyone who opposes us we become the enemies of progress. Now, I very much agree we must do something about this. But killing indiscriminately those who do not follow our philosophy goes against what we stand for. We must come up with a plan to shut down their operations and put those that put the world in danger into custody. We have facilities that can handle these Magi. And that is where we shall put them.”[/color] Aliira instructed, her voice warm and assuring in nature. She knew not all would agree with her, she knew she was among the few that didn’t immediately jump to extermination. Though she hoped her words at least meant something to some.

David simply couldn’t help but halfway smile at Aliira’s words. Even if they were naive, he couldn’t help but admire her dedication to not be murderous or vile, in comparison to so many others in this particular organization. As such, he simply nodded to her words, which was more than what he gave others, his green eyes then slowly looking towards the others in preparation of a rebuttal. He knew they would give some excuse. This foe was too powerful to be held, and must be destroyed. Others would rise up if they didn’t make an example of this one. All sorts of excuses that they would, no doubt, toss out in time. But he said nothing. He saw no point. Anything he said would be discarded as a simple “recruit”, if not less. So he simply folded his arms, watching the others observantly.

Salem listened to all of the comments that people put forward. There was understandably a lot of mixed feelings, anger mixed in with restraint. She could understand the anger. She wanted Aloysius’s head on a pike. The thought of him lying in front of him begging for her to stop caused a rush of elation to surge through her body. Soon… so very soon.

If Aliira wasn’t standing next to her, this meeting would have gone in a different direction. Salem would be shouting at the top lungs for Aloysius head. Aiira was an important part of the Guild. She counterbalanced the more [i]heartless[/i] decisions that Salem sometimes leaned towards. Salem wasn’t malevolent. The death of her father had left a sour taste in her mouth. She had tried so hard to keep the peace while she had been in charge, but Aloysius had always tried his best to disrupt that.

[color=6ecff6]“I understand that people believe we should be careful about what action we take” [/color] She looked over to Aliira to acknowledge her. [color=6ecff6]”However, we need to take action. Aloysius is a bold leader, If we do not react he will just keep attacking with more an more daring.” [/color]A small sigh would escape her lips [color=6ecff6]” I know many of you have heard of the history between myself and Aloysius. Yes, that does make me  biased, but do we not have any pride? Aloysius tried to plunge us into chaos. He murdered our former leader, my father, and thought we would collapse. We have never had a threat to us like this in modern history. If we make an example of the Dark Shadow it will send a message that the Guild is serious about keeping the peace” [/color] She decided to shut up now, her voice was starting to build up as she had given her speech, a mixture of sadness and anger combined.

And with that, David had more of his suspicions confirmed. More selfish, self-serving words. She says she wants to make an example. And it is true that it does make an example, it makes the -wrong- example. The kind where, eventually, a group would rise up against them. Even if it ensured short-term peace, more forces would grow in the shadow until it was too late. In a way, they were lucky the Dark Shadow was making waves now. Usually, he would keep these thoughts to himself. But in a way, the fact that Aliira’s idea had been thrown away had slightly ticked off the young man. Perhaps it was because it was the only one he saw merit in. And finally, for once in a great while, he spoke up, his voice calm and detached, unlike the others who had spoken thus far. [color=f7976a] “For only so long. To show such swift force is to send rats scurrying into the sewers, where they will simply multiply and then return. This is no mere criminal you’re dealing with, where destroying one would destroy all. Surely his ideals would remain, and do you not think others would continue his legacy as if he’s a martyr?”[/color] He asked, his eyes closing as he spoke further. [color=f7976a] “No. The best thing to do now is to take action, quickly, to ascertain his position and those associated with him and await a proper chance to arrest him. If we kill him violently now, you risk more like him coming to fruition, and many more innocent lives will be lost. As a recruit, I know I hold no weight, but the best thing to do, in my mind, is to send a scouting party out to the region of activity and have them blend in with normal people. I’m sure that there are those in the Guild with capabilities to sense others magic. Furthermore, if we locate them, I recommend we play our cards to our chest, so to speak. If they know we know where they are, they will hold the advantage. But if they do not, we can wait and see how things will turn to our advantage instead. Then when they reveal their nature through their actions, strike and capture them, arrest them properly, giving those with magic the proof they need to know that this was done in a proper manner so that no others with possible seeds of dissension form.”[/color] David finishes, finally sighing. [color=f7976a]“Not that I care. It just annoys me to see the Guild acting more like criminals than the protectors they say they are. And the yelling annoys me, too.”[/color] He comments with some disdain, moving to lean back in his chair and saying nothing more.

Augie facepalmed. [color=9b9b9b]”As much as I hate the pretentious way you said that, I kinda have to agree. Although I disagree with what you think we should do next. I reckon we should improve our relations with the non magic users as much as possible… The Dark Shadow clearly aren’t going to, so we may as well have them on our side…”[/color], he took a breath, and then looked straight at David, [color=9b9b9b]”But seriously man, I don’t care how cranky you are. Zeke can’t control that yelling, and is higher up than you. Lay off him, yeah?”[/color]. 

Sitting at the back had its advantages. No one was watching Lizzie. In her mind she was still processing the video. The video was pretty clear. Something wasn’t right. Someone was behind it. Was it Aloysius? The Dark Shadow? Possibly. There was no way to be sure. She could see that Salem was clearly passionate about this, and Lizzie could understand that. If you let a jerk at party keep being a jerk, he would eventually ruin the party for everyone. Lizzie had seen that experience many atimes. But did that mean it was acceptable to get a knife and stab the jerk to death and hold him up as an example to other partygoers about not being a jerk? But if the jerk was to disappear from the party and never appear at other parties again? That was a far more amenable solution.

[color=004b80]”I think we have to be careful here.”[/color] Finally speaking out from the back. [color=004b80]”While I trust Salem, we do not know for sure if Aloysius was behind this. We have a video with a blurred figure in the background. If we start an inquisition and we are wrong, we look like the fools. If Aloysius was behind it, then we need to arrest and shut down the Dark Shadow and then once they are here, decide their punishment. Even if that includes death.”[/color] Lizzie would slump into her seat. She had said her piece. She just wanted to disappear now.

[color=000000]"Aloysius has killed I don't know how many of the nonmagi with his train attack, he's killed the former leader of the guild and attacked us directly in the past. He's likely to be executed for what he's done, even if he isn't done in by our hand in the field”[/color] Zeke spoke calmly looking off into space. He looked to Salem as he continued [color=000000]"But it won't matter at all if we don't get him and arguing about it now isn't going to help. Like August said we need to do something, whether it's finding a professional investigator or, like David said, sending a group out to locate them ourselves"[/color] He sat back and looked up at the stage to their leader [color=000000]"What's our plan?[/color]

 Salem watched the scene unfold around her. It was clear that the members of the Guild had mixed opinions. With Zekes final question, it was time for her to speak again. She had to be honest with these people. She cared for them, even if it was only to the slightest degree. It was her duty to protect them. Her mind flashed back upon a previous text message that she had received earlier that day. It was from an unknown number, and when she had tried to call it back, the line was disconnected.

[i]"Auction house tonight. Aloysius is after something valuable. Be there if you care about humanities fate as much as you act like you do.[/i]

[color=6ecff6]"Our plan,"[/color] she said at first, her voice hardly audible. Salem cleared her throat. [color=6ecff6]"I have received an anonymous tip about Aloysius's plans for this afternoon. Aliira will accompany me. The rest of you need to stay here and train your asses off. Zeke, Augie, since the two of you are so willing to do something, pick your team and keep a close eye on our city. Lizzie, help train the recruits. They need your assistance."[/color] There was a slight murmur of voices once again. [color=6ecff6] "I know that this wasn't the call to action that you all had in mind, but it is the best that I can do for now. I will update you all on how tonight goes as soon as I can. You are dismissed."[/color] Salem watched as people got up to leave their seats, the room in a brief moment of chaos as they moved around. She was glad to see some of them pairing up for their training.
She turned to Aliira. [color=6ecff6]"You and I are going to get a little... dressed up tonight,"[/color] She said with a smirk on her face, in a whisper as to where only her friend could hear her. [color=6ecff6] "Follow me."[/color]