May the Garden flourish

"How are we supposed to hide from him?” Zelia murmured, her eyes widened in fear.

“You- you won’t.” Nicole stammered, lowering his head. “Sorry, but now for you all… you’ll have to share my fears…”

Lumière, unperturbed, spoke out. "No, this is good. If our fates are intertwined, there will be no difficulty in tracking that deity and the Phantoms down. All that's left is to prepare ourselves in time for that inevitable occurrence.”

He leaned his head back on his hand.

“Have you guys forgotten who you’ve made a deal with?”

Nicole, glancing over towards the Demon of the Garden, suddenly recalled one of his first conversations with the figure. While walking alongside who he had first perceived as Lumière Croft, he had conversed with Mr. Demon, and he had promised to defend Nicole and the White Roses. In the end, Meraline, who he had assumed would be able to protect herself, was the only one who had died. Mr. Demon had kept his promise. If any problems were to arise, he was sure that Mr. Demon would protect them. Nicole let a sharp exhale brush past his lips, his anxiety escaping with it. Then, he conjured up the courage to speak seriously, loudly, confidently.

However, it was in warning. “If you see a gaze staring at you from the darkness, don’t fear it. It just means those Phantoms- it just means they’ve begun to watch you.”

Suddenly, each person in the room began to understand the chill they felt on their backs. It was a feeling of horror, of despair. While Lumière observed their gazes, he felt a little uneasy that he had caused them to fear. However, at the same time, he felt the accumulation of their fear ease his own ‘Despair’ ability.

‘Unfortunately, this was just something we all had to come to know of. The implications it brings are definitely immense, but all we can do now is prepare for the danger that awaits us.’

“If there’s ever a time where you feel as if you’re in danger, you can call upon me.”

After a moment, each member let out a sigh, and turned towards the Demon of the Garden.

“Thank you, Mr. Ophelia.” Cartwell nodded his head politely.

"Yes, it's a comfort to know that we can do so." Zelia followed.

They all seemed to visibly relax after Lumière reminded them of their ability to call on him for assistance. Of course, according to the issue, it might be difficult for him to do so. For a Demon, as long as a deal was made, most requests were possible based on the Demon's law of equivalent exchange.

Rather than function based off of the basic laws reality followed, according to the texts Lumière had once pulled off of the monastery’s shelf, the realm in which the Demons resided tended to bend rules a bit. Like a genie granting a wish, as long as a suitable crossroads deal occurred, the Demon would be able to make it possible.

This was what made a Demon so powerful, so terrifying that Lumière could use it to distract the members of the Mythos Garden from his true affiliation with an evil deity. However, since he had no ability to make actual exchanges, he had been relying on pure chance that they wouldn’t ask for anything too

‘What will I say if any of them use the one wish I’ve offered them? In that instance, maybe even lies won't be enough. Thankfully, Lysander's wish was something I could agree upon in advance. If he's to die, I'll have to think of some means of fulfilling it...'

“Does anyone else have anything they wish to speak of?”

Zelia raised her hand suddenly. Looking over towards her, Lumière nodded his head.

“In the capital, all the Higher and Lesser Noble families have gathered, as well as all members of the Senate and the Centurian Assembly. The High Conference will take place shortly. Various matters of state will be discussed there. I myself will be attending.”

“As will I.” Cartwell added.

Lumière scoffed inwardly. ‘Hmmph. Well, I know one nobleman who won’t be in attendance. He’s too busy trying to rope me into his games.’

“What’s the High Conference?” Nicole asked, puzzled. He had mostly calmed down, and his nerves had relaxed.

“It’s a meeting for all the stuck-up brats living in Lindgram.” Juno sighed.

Zelia’s eyebrow twitched as she listened to Juno.

“Don’t begin to think you know anything of it, merchant.” Cartwell chided in response.

‘They’re like bickering children…’ Lumière sighed inwardly. ‘I’m sure they’ll come together once we truly start the operation. There’s no time to act like this when you’re in danger. It’s not like Juno- no, like Shylock is an antagonistic person. He seems to be very jesting, and just happens to hit Laertes’s and Lysander’s nerves often. If this continues, it won’t be horribly unsolveable. I can just threaten to kill him.’

“I’ve never been to Lindgram.” Nicole shook his head, oblivious to their fighting. “Is it quite nice there?”

“It is very nice. It’s so incredibly massive- thirty-nine stratums in total, thirteen in the outer region, the middle region, and the center region.” She began to speak towards Nicole as if she were a mother telling a child a story. “In the center of Lindgram, there’s a massive marble palace that pierces the sky- so polished that it glistens under the sun as if it were a second sun in the center of the city. Unlike Leiden, it almost never rains in Lindgram. It’s almost become an unlucky omen in a way for all of us that live there.”

‘Of course, that’s the perspective a noblewoman would have regarding the Capital.' Lumière pondered, humoured. ‘Growing up not worrying for a thing… her perspective, I wonder how narrowed it has become?’

“I think I would like to go one day.” Nicole smiled happily. “It sounds very fun.”

In response, Zelia brightened. “I’ll take you one day, then. You can visit my family’s estate! Our baker makes wonderful delicacies during the day, and the servants brew the most perfect tea using leaves from our garden!”

Juno scoffed. “If you had such a perfect life, Laertes, why bother with entering the magical world? Don’t you put that all at risk?”

“That- that’s a secret.” Zelia’s visage shifted to a more reserved look. She averted her gaze, and her genial attitude ceased. Nicole, seeing this, also looked towards his feet.

For once, however, Juno conceded that he had went too far. “My apologies, Laertes. I shouldn’t have pried further.”

Without exploring her background, Juno had still been able to gather that her past was one filled with tragedy. Of course, he had just been messing with her, but antagonising her to such an extent was not his goal. Moreover, he had become wary not only of angering her attendant, Cartwell, but was also hesitant to anger the Demon of the Garden.

“It’s fine. Don’t mind it too much.” Zelia let out a sigh, turning her head towards the head of the table. Lumière had raised his hand as if to silence them.

He smiled gently and spoke. “This has been the first meeting of the commission, Mythos Garden. If none are opposed, this meeting will end here for today. However, before we adjourn, I would like to say a few things.”

All attention was immediately diverted to listening to Lumière.

“None of you shall discuss the details of our meetings with anyone outside of this room. Of course, there’s no need to hide them. It’s obvious to anyone in the House of Cards that we’re meeting with each other. Still, the contents of our correspondences must remain a secret.”

‘If that secret organisation were to catch wind of our plans, they would surely send someone to foil them before we could even have a chance to enact them.’ Juno nodded his head as he ruminated. ‘This much makes sense.’

“Second, I would rather you treat our meetings in the future with a little more seriousness.” The temperament in his eyes changed. As he stared at each member of the Garden, they began to feel that the threat of the icy gaze on their backs was also equivalent to the one in front of them.

“As you wish, Mr. Ophelia,” was the general response.

“My apologies.” Juno echoed once more.

“Then, you all may go.”

Juno was the first to stand up, and facing Lumière, bowed his head. “May the Garden flourish.”

Lumière’s eyebrow twitched instinctively. ‘That was really stupid, merchant. Why bother saying something so cringeworthy?’

Unknowingly, Nicole followed suit. He stood up from his seat, and bowing towards Lumière, repeated the phrase. “May the Garden flourish.”

‘Fuck, don’t copy him...’

Then the other two stood up and spoke in unison. “May the Garden flourish.”

‘Please don’t tell me that just became a thing? How am I supposed to speak out against that now? You all seem so happy to say it…’ Lumière cursed inwardly. ‘Well, maybe it’s for the best. The more they feel as if this group is their own, the more they’ll do for it…’

A grin curled up his lips. “May the Garden flourish.” He spoke in response.

One by one, the members of the Garden began to exit the private room, with Nicole following behind him as the last person to leave. The five walked through the halls under the ire of the attendant’s gazes. From their perspective, a strange man in a black cloak had waltzed in, killed another man for seemingly no reason, and then brought in an outsider before adjourning to a meeting room with three others.

As Juno, Cartwell, and Zelia glanced around them, it felt as if they had made an enemy of the entire room. Nicole remained oblivious, bouncing up and down like a little dog behind his owner as he followed the Demon of the Garden.

Lumière, who had been ignoring it up to this point, suddenly smirked.

‘It seems everyone is keen to become my enemy. It’s already at a point where it’s too much to handle. Does it really matter if I antagonise them further?’ Lumière humoured himself.

As they stepped out of the door of the House of Cards, the space around them shimmered, and Nicole and Lumière found themselves back in the alleyway they had came from. Nicole glanced around and noticed the lack of the three other members he had previously met.

“Why did they not exit with us?” Nicole asked, bewildered. ”Where did they disappear to?”

“Back to their lives, little mage.” Lumière pulled the collar of his coat up to his cheek, letting a breath of steam fill the cold morning air. “Welcome to the intricacies of the magical world.”