Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Jahandeer, Seraphim, and Riyanzah, each half-siblings of Elana marched closer to her with a smile. Following the man, they circled around the dining table, their eyes focused on their sister. Ignoring the rest like they ignored commoners, they made their way up to Elana and stood in front, looking at her.

Even resting his hand on her tired shoulder, Jahandeer smirked and squeezed her arm while she sat in her chair. A bead of sweat trailed down Elana's forehead as her half-brother looked around at her guest wearing the same eerie smile. With a frame comparable to Raven and the dastardly charm of a devil, he and his blonde fade were often–even now, the center of attention.

"Didn't I tell you not to try anything behind our backs?" He whispered, smiling and massaging Elana's shoulders yet his eyes still fixed on the audience in the front.

Dressed like a mix of a mage and a barbarian in his black coat with his abs hanging out, he was trying to intimidate the bunch–although not as directly as he usually would've. Moving up beside him, a flicker of jealousy burning in their eyes, his sister–one older and the other slightly younger pulled him back with his arm nestled between their breasts.

On the one hand, was Seraphim, a Djinn whose body burned a clear blue flame. Her eyes were oceanic and her dress blazing at the hem. Much like her hair, her nails were blazing and ever so often her pale blue skin was illuminated by orange spark as dust burned against her skin. Being the only older sister, however, she ensured her flame wouldn't hurt her cousin-brother.

"No need to be so agitated, sweetheart~ I'm sure she was just intimidated by you, unable to accept her fate to be entwined with someone so handsome, so powerful, Elana was probably just trying to do a friendly rebellion." Moving her head closer to his face, Seraphim planted a kiss on her cousin's cheek before slowly guiding his hand onto her belly.

In the meantime, Riyanzah, as pale as a ghost with massive oyster pearls for eyes, smiled looking at the hero's party before summoning behind them a spear-wielding merman. Instead of attacking them, however, she kept them stationed behind the party–ready to slice their necks if they attempted to get up.

"Big sis is right, she's acting out like a kid, ahaha~" Riyanzah whispered, her free hand running all over Jahandeer's back.

Looking down at his sister again, the djinn decided to give his sister the benefit of the doubt.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Is that right?" Reaching under Elana's chin, he squeezed her mouth until she was forced to speak up.

"N-no…I…" Cutting her own words, she glanced across the table at Raven. Blind in one eye and incapable of using his magic, and much like the rest of his party at the moment, he wasn't equipped to defeat her siblings, she decided to buy some time instead of pushing her brother' buttons. "Noo…I was just talking about what to do with Aran, he's attacking Lantherem and these heroes have decided to help us."

Hiding her wishes to be free, she squinted her eyes and stared deep into Raven's eyes. Nodding lightly as her brother let go of her head, she tried to get him on board to continue masking the truth from her brother.

"Aran's attacking Lanthererm?" Slowly pulling himself away from Elana, Jahandeer stood beside his sisters, both of whom quickly moved closer and began hugging his arms tightly. Pushing them out of his mind, the djinn turned his attention to Raven and his party. "None of the council members informed me when they came to my mansion today, why is that?"

Frowning in doubt, he kept Elana in his peripherals as he awaited an answer. The queen already knew that her brother was trying to gain the favor of the councilmen and women, while also breathing poison in their ears about her. Why would he do so? The answer was simple, because he was a narcissistic bastard.

"I didn't want them to worry and try to head out, because if they do–you already know what would happen…" The mirage of prosperity would shatter and anyone who comes back is bound to tell the others.

"And so these guys are here to help you take care of the situation without anyone else knowing about what's happening?" Finally looking directly down at her, Jahandeer showed some level of empathy and taking note of that, an idea instantly popped into nearly everyone's head.

But the first to pursue it was the person most versed in politics.

"Discord, we'd only had a single walk through the streets but I can already tell your people are no soldiers…Satiated beyond what they should be, especially since they just get whatever they wish served on a golden platter." Speaking up in the middle of the conversation between the siblings, Maria got everyone's attention turned on her. Staring back at the only person she needed to convince, she slid her hand forward on the table. "If Aran gets the dead god's body and attacks this island, the people of this island, they won't fight, they'll run only to be slaughtered like pigs."

Grabbing a fork and tapping it against the wood, Regalia too decided to chime in.

"They're traveling by a fleet of ships, and one mean witch hunter that nearly killed a few of us, who's to say they don't have more soldiers like her on that ship? Not to mention a dozen canons that pack the same punch as that damned rifle that blew half of a building off and everyone who got in its path."

Concern grew in Jahandeer's eyes, and his sisters began to frown with a lick of concern on their faces. There was a real chance of recruiting these monsters in their fight against the Aranuvian fleet.

'We can worry about what to do with these guys after taking out the ships…'

Was the chain of thoughts shared by everyone seated at that dining. And thankfully for them, none of the half-siblings could read their minds, unlike the queen.