GAIA

Chapter 7: Regalia

The elevator silently descended into a part of the city that not many knew about. He was running a little late but that could not be helped. The appointment had been pushed forward with the notice coming in only half an hour before the actual meeting time. The news that he was about to bring to him personally, was his ticket to freedom.

A soft bing was emitted when he arrived at the intended destination. The floors were as shiny and polished as he remembered it to be. The blonde that greeted him at the landing was different this time round. She was much taller than the previous one, sporting piercing emerald green eyes rather than grey ones.

"Mr Leigh." She greeted with a practiced smile. "He will see you now."

Asura vaguely wondered at the back of his mind whether these assistants ever got out alive. Surely with the kind of privacy that this man demanded, he would have undertaken some pretty extreme measures when it came to the disposal of his staff. The male nodded slightly and followed after the new blonde.

The glass doors opened without a sound and the lush carpeting of the next room silenced Asura's footsteps.

"Mr Halloway." The blonde greeted before making her exit.

Asura hardLy dared to breathe once he was within visual range of the man that sat before him. One would imagine him to be an old man who had amassed a fortune from his huge business but Mr Asla Halloway was a man in his late twenties with a head of dark hair in a back combed fashion, dressed in a perfectly tailored dark blue suit that accentuated the icy blue of his eyes making them stand out like little light blue crystals. The power than his man exuded even when sitting down was enough to intimidate Asura Leigh, the baddest Gaia user on the block.

He would have nothing to do with Asla if not for the shots and modifications that this man's company could provide him with.

"Take a seat, Asura." Asla smiled, his deep voice commanding and Asura obeyed like a child. "What do you have for me that demands such an urgent meeting? Perhaps I should remind you of the last time that you were here and you failed me."

Asura steeled himself from wincing when the memories of his last visit came flooding back. He had been paralysed for a whole week after that ordeal. Pulling his subconscious away from that day, Asura allowed himself a small smile. "I completed my end of the bargain. Now it's your turn to fulfill yours."

Asla reclined into his seat, hands clasped in front of his front. "Tell me about it."

"I let leak about his sister's involvement in Gaia and gave him the contact to get geared up. And he took the bait." Asura was eager to earn Asla's favour. "I fitted him with a regular core and sent the Archangel after him. Knowing her, Tempest was not far behind. Then I sent an encrypted message from the Seven Storms' network to Damascus Morgernstern."

The expression on Asla's feral features made him look hungry as the man leaned in closer. It took almost everything from Asura to not lean back in slight fear.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "She took the bait. Damascus activated the regular core with ease and without question. This is this best part - she contacted the Stardust Empress and Kyria Shira has returned to Gaia."