The room was full of tension as the well dressed aristocrats glared at one another without saying a word. They were all in their best dress, clearly wanting to one-up each other in any way possible. These were assuredly the wealthiest and highest notoriety guests this particular middle-of-nowhere hotel had ever hosted. All of them were sitting around a large table in the only conference room the hotel had.
They were the elite of the financial world, the CEOs of every major banking franchise on Rathe. All of them had arrived in the past ten minutes, basically bringing a cavalcade of luxury parading into this normally quiet town. Their cars seemed to only get grander as one after another rolled-up in front of the hotel. They were immediately directed to the conference room by the hotel staff who were shaking with nervousness.
Only the CEOs themselves were allowed to enter, all staff and security detail had to wait at either the hotel lobby or the diner nearby. When they entered the room, the chairs were labeled with their respective names and titles. Over the course of the past ten minutes, each chair with a CEO’s name was filled. The process had been entirely silent, with each one refusing to be the first to address the others. Noticeably, there were a few chairs left empty, with no nameplates on them.
The CEO of Gence Banking was the first to break the silence. “So, which one of you had the gallto call me here?! A meeting which I wasn’t even told the reason for, and in this zjikhole of a town no less!” He was positively fuming, and veins were starting to pop out of his forehead.
“You always were the brash bull,” The CEO of Petal Trust mocked him. “I had no doubt you’d be sullying us with your unpleasant voice, but I didn’t think it’d be so soon. You should learn some manners before you find yourself down in the mud with the rest of your bank.”
“Sly words for someone who raised their institution by climbing over the corpses of competitors you gutted,” The CEO of Regionless Finance joined the fray.
“Enough!” a brutish woman, The CEO of Community Coffer slammed her fist down on the table. “If I don’t get answers in the next ten seconds, I’m out of here. This is a waste of time! Every single one of my banks has been hit by The Drazahs, and I need to figure out why. So, unless one of you has answers, I have better things to be doing than coercing with you scoundrels.”
“What, you think you’re the only one the Drazah’s have hit?!” The CEO of Bank of Everyone seemed bewildered and astounded. “They’ve hit all of us! Not a single bank has been exempt from their tirade. The only ones that haven’t been hit are those between here and their base. We’re all affected, so like it or not, we’re all in this together. You want answers? I have no doubt that’s why we're here, assuming the Fiends even let us leave this place alive.”
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“Wait, they’re here?!” Petal Trust’s CEO panicked.
“I’m not taking that chance! I’m out of here!” Gence Bank’s CEO declared, and tried to sit up from his chair, but he couldn’t. His clothes were firmly stuck to the chair. “What is this?! I can’t move!” he bellowed as he tried to wriggle free. The rest joined in, but their attempts were fruitless.
“It seems we’re trapped,” Regionless Finance’s CEO deduced. “Our only options are to destroy our clothes, ripping them free, or strip completely in front of everyone here.”
“That can’t be!” Petal Trust’s CEO hollered. “Do you have any idea how much I paid for this dress?! It has to be worth more than the entirety of some of those pathetic buildings you call banks! I’m not moving, there has to be a way to unstick us!”
The doors to the conference room opened, and everyone inside of it went silent. They were all expecting devilish Fiends to be on the other side, but rather, it was several familiar faces.
“The Minister of Economics, The PostMaster Major, The Head of the Treasury Department, and Harth Boldur,” The Bank of Everyone’s CEO listed them off as they entered the room.
“Where are they, Harth?!” The Treasury Head raged as her eyes stormed around the room. “I only came because you said they’d be here! Where are those bastards who destroyed my Mint?!”
“Calm down, Preiche,” The Minister of Economics scolded her. “Harth is a man of his word, so let’s be calm. I myself do not even know why we are here, but I’m sure we’ll find out in due time. Let’s take a seat, and talk like adults.” The four of them took their seats, but their chairs noticeably weren’t trapping them like they had the CEOs.
“Now then, I’m sure you’re curious as to why you’re all here,” Harth addressed the room. “I’m afraid that I don’t have the answers myself. I’m just a messenger who was in charge of organizing this event. I’m sure you’re wondering why we’re in this location. It’s because it is a neutral territory to all of us, and none of you have a stake here. It was also a convenient location for them to meet us here on their journey. I’m sad to say that’s all the information I have, so I’ll leave the rest to them.”
On cue, the four Fiends appeared instantaneously in front of the door. Phon didn’t waste time and immediately threatened them. “As of right now, all of your money, and the money of every one of your patrons is our hostage. So if you don’t want to be out on the streets with the entire world hating you, you’ll listen to what we have to say!”