The air in the large cavern was thick and frigid biting at his pale flesh. He turned his head to look back at the entrance before sighing; there was no going back now. He had been summoned by his lord and knew without a doubt that it meant something terrible. The only time his lord ever called on one of them was for something awful. He knew this time would be no different.

Looking at the glowing yet murky water he continued on. Down the jagged steps that had been carved out of the stone that made up the cavern long ago and then under the Whispering Arch that was supposed to protect the creatures that awaited him from anyone wishing them harm. He groaned as he felt a shiver roll through him. It was a signal that the Whispering Arch accepted him and though he had felt it made times before he still hated it.

Finally he made his way to the water he had been looking at just moments before. Fog or steam, he wasn't too sure which, hung over the flowing liquid like meat clung to bone. Kneeling down, he pressed his face into the murky liquid before opening his mouth and letting out a high pitched shriek. Once he was sure they had heard him he pulled his face from the water and stood. One he had made the mistake of keeping his face under too long and had almost lost his eyes to the clawing hands of one of his sisters.

"Ah." "Ah." "Ah." Three voices sang out. He looked to the surface of the water and rolled his eyes when he didn't spot them. They just loved to play games.

"Our brother dearest has returned to us," a sickly sweet voice called out from the farthest end of the cavern.

"Oh joy," another voice called, this one a bit deeper.

"I wonder why he has come?" a third more high pitched voice questioned.

"You know," the first one answered.

"I know," the second one responded.

"We know," the third giggled.

He sighed at their games and waited patiently for them to tire of their play. After a moment of silence he heard them all sigh together and then in an instant three beautiful women were in the water before him. The one in the middle, Hyra, had long black hair and twinkling black eyes. She had her arms crossed before her, obviously disappointed that he didn't want to engage in their games.

The next was Lido who was stockier than the other two and had black hair that stuck up haphazardly around her head. Her eyes were the same twinkling black as her older sister's and her skin the same greenish hue. She offered him a wide toothy grin and of the three she was probably his favorite.

Last but not least was the youngest, little Ivion with her curly gold hair. He wondered how she had gotten it to stay that color so long, as she was originally a brunette like the others. She was also the thinnest sister, slight in every way. She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him playfully before splashing him. He offered her a wink after a moment of pretending to be upset with her.

Though they all annoyed him a great deal he sometimes missed the company of his sisters. Times like these made him remember that they had not always been this way, trapped in this damn cavern and at the mercy of the G-ds due to circumstances they had little control over.

"Tell me, lovely sisters of mine, what is the word you have ordered me here to hear?" he asked as he pulled the legs of his pants up and made to sit by the edge of the water. Lido watched him sadly before flicking her own tail out, breaking the surface of the water before tucking back under her bottom.

"We have been sent a message. From who we are not sure," Hyra spoke out first. She was the oldest and as such always took the lead.

"Deliver this message to me then," he murmured, his fingers gently skimming the surface of the water. He watched as all his sisters hummed their approval of his actions. The water was more than just where they slept and lived. It was attached to them in mystical ways.

"The sacrificed child has been retrieved from the land under the darkness. By what forces, we do not know," Lido stated.

"The child is in your world now and the gates of the darkness have opened once again," Ivion further explained.

"What does this mean then?" he asked, a bit confused.

"It means that the sirens, we, must sing our song. Our call must be heard. There will be war," Hyra hissed.

"The sacrificed child will destroy the old G-ds and with them the old ways and old rules. We do not know the intentions; good, evil, or otherwise.  Only the chosen can stop the sacrificed child."

"Where is the Chosen?" he questioned, knowing that they could not answer.

"We cannot tell. And if we could we still would not tell. We wish to see the old world destroyed," Ivion admitted, her face fixed in a deep frown as hatred burned in her eyes.

"We will never have freedom if the old ways are not changed," Lido muttered from her spot behind her youngest sister. She rubbed her sister's cold skin in long comforting strokes.

"What of our Lord? Our f...,"

"We care not. We will sing our song. We will sing and the darkness will return. The child will succeed. We will sing," Hyra concluded before turning her back to him and diving under water. He watched as Ivion followed right after.

"Your mate is coming," Lido said after a tense moment.

His eyes widened in shock. He hadn't thought of finding his mate in years, about a hundred of them to be more exact.

"I have seen her in my dreams. You will love her," Lido smiled wickedly before diving after her sisters.

He shook thoughts of his mate out of his head for the time being and returned to the more important details. Like the possibility of there being a few upcoming battles.

He knew they wanted their freedom, anyone would in their circumstance, but the thought of them calling for war angered him. Thousands of lives could be lost and they only cared about their own freedom. He stalked back the way he came deep in thought. Perhaps his lord would know... no, he could not share with his lord all that they had told him. His lord would only march to the cavern and try to fight his way through the Whispering Arch which would distress his sisters and cause an even worse situation.

There was only one person he could go to with something like this.

Khadijah moaned softly as she rocked her hips back and forth above Chauncey. He was as tall and built as they came, all man from the very tips of his toes to the ends of his loced hair. And right now, he was all hers.

"Shiiiiit," he murmured below her, his eyes squeezed shut tightly while his hands gripped her hips for dear life.

Khadijah leaned over, slowing down her movements, until her head was right next to his, her lips softly grazing his earlobe. "You like how I make you feel, don't you baby?" she asked, ending her question with a lick on the shell of his ear.

"Yes, Dijah. Damn you feel good girl," he answered. Khadijah laughed and jerked her hips forcefully, rewarding him for his good answer.

'You can't just get by no more, you've got to get over', yelled her phone. She groaned and reached for it after a short heated moment.

"Come on, bae. Don't answer it. We ain't even close," Chauncey pleaded. Khadijah rolled her eyes and offered him a swift kiss before removing his length from her hot center and answering the phone.

"Who it be?"

"Ms. Jordan?" a voice answered awkwardly.

"This be her, who's asking?" Khadijah inquired as she slid her sticky snatch against Chauncey's pulsing member. She grinned as he bit his bottom lip to keep from shouting out. The things Khadijah did to him had him seeing stars.

"This is um... Mrs. Wong's new assistant, Francine Baker. She's asked me to request your attendance in a meeting," the voice responded.

"When's the meeting?"

"Now," Francine stated. Khadijah coolly hung up the phone before jumping from Chauncey's lap. She quickly tore through her room to find a suitable outfit before running to the shower.

"So I guess I'm going to finish alone," he muttered to himself and sighed. Khadijah stayed running so he wasn't surprised. Just a tad annoyed.

Chauncey stood from the bed and wrapped a stray towel around his waist before heading to the small kitchen. He quickly made himself a bowl of cereal and waited for Khadijah. He could bet money that she was going to order him to leave his raging hard on alone and... Speak of the devil.

Khadijah ran quickly from her room with her wet afro dripping onto a towel she had thrown around her shoulders. She wore a cream colored bottom up blouse, khaki colored slacks that stuck to her like a second skin, and brown and peach colored oxfords. She looked gorgeous. If she didn't have somewhere to be he'd...

"Sorry bae. Gotta get to work, I’m supposed to meet the new team today. And don't you dare finish without me. When this meeting is done I'm coming back to work your ass over," Khadijah shouted as she made her way out the door. Chauncey chuckled and just continued eating his cereal. Yeah, today was going to be a good day.

She was sixteen when Arman found her. She was doing tarot card readings on the corner of 8th and Amsterdam for extra cash. She hadn’t been in the city that long but she had made her way around just like any native. She learned to move quickly and talk quicker. It was key if she wanted to survive out here.

She spent most of her time pretending that she didn’t notice all the extra limbs a many of the people around her sported. It was quickly becoming second nature to just ignore the altogether unnaturalness that surrounded her. In those days she desperately wished she had been this nonchalant back when it had actually mattered.

Before the fire had consumed her life in its blistering heat.

When Arman found her she was cracking jokes and giving a false reading to some yuppie and his boyfriend. They enjoyed it and she tried her hardest not to feel bad at what fate really had in store for him. She’d learned early on if she wanted to make enough to eat she’d either have to get creative when certain cards popped up or she’d have to learn how to switch things out without any noticing.

He had watched the whole interaction so intensely that she’d almost fumbled a few times. Of course, she’d caught herself and kept that god-awful smile up the whole time. The yuppie had tipped her extra before heading off to his certain doom. She didn’t bat a lash when the eyes in the back of his boyfriend’s head winked at her. She pretended to be oblivious as usual and called for her next customer. She’d seen first had what happened when you acknowledged the stranglings and she didn’t want any part of that again.

“I’d like a reading,” a thick voice called. That was the first time she’d met Arman. She gave him a reading and he paid her the regular fee before stalking off. She’d shrugged him off as just another grumpy customer and continued on with her day.

He’d come back two weeks later with a broken arm. He asked her again for a reading and she gave him another one with pretty much the same results. It continued on like that for another two or so months.

She initially thought he was just some creepy stalker dude she she’d moved her operation down a block. She didn’t see him again for a while after that.

Khadijah quickly skidded to a halt front of the conference room. She smoothed down her blouse and fluff her hair before opening the door and plastering a large smile on her face. Seven heads turned to look at her as she made her way from the door to her usual seat next to other head seat at the end of the table. Mrs. Wong, the head of her division stopped her talk to send her a silent glare. If there was one this the old bat hated more than late people that it was having to repeat herself. Khadijah had, of course, hit the jackpot.

"Nice of you to join us, Khadijah. And what kept you so long this morning?" the older woman asked, her dark eyes narrowed.

"I was busy fucking my man's brains out. So what's the meeting about?" Khadijah retorted hotly. The room was full of gasps and wide eyes. Good now they knew exactly who they were dealing with.

"Lucky him, huh?" a strong voice stated after a moment of silence. Khadijah grinned when she caught the eye of a tall Asian man, sitting two seats a way from her. He wore a emerald green button up shirt, black pants, and a black bowtie. His lips were pouty and pink, they looked almost as succulent as Chauncey's. But what really set him apart was his long straight hair, held back in a high ponytail that stopped just past his shoulders.

"You have no idea," she teased. Mrs. Wong cleared her throat and began talking about their new team and regulation and all the other shit Khadijah already knew. Once that part was over they were made to stand and introduce themselves again, for Khadijah's benefit.

"I am Francine Baker. I am the new assistant to Mrs. Wong. I'm here to relay messages to and from Mrs. Wong and to make sure everything here in Chamber 6 runs smoothly. You can reach me at anytime. If you have any special request please come and talk to me in my office," the shortest woman said. She had long wavy brown hair, clipped back with a cute studded headband. She was what Chauncey would call 'extra extra petite'. She had delicate shoulders, slim arms, a flat chest, what Khadijah assumed was also a flat back, narrow hips and short thin legs all tapering down to tiny feet. All in all she looked like a toddler dressed in grown up clothes. She had a pretty face though; round rosy cheeks, a small mouth,  a little button nose, and brown eyes all wrapped in an olive complextion.

The next to speak was the gorgeous Asian man from earlier. "I am Lorenzo Wong. I am the new tech guy, I guess you could say. I'm in charge of research, keeping the files in order, and maintaining surveillance. If there's any help you need, I'm always available. Always," he said, looking pointedly at Khadijah, before taking his seat again.

"I am Arhman Khan. I am a senior watcher here in Chamber 6. I am here to train one of your newbies and show you the ropes,"Arhman stated sternly. He was a short man who had begun to bald in his later years. He wore a blue and green track suit, neon green blue and black sneakers ecasing his large feet. He was at least a head or so shorter than Lorenzo which put him almost at eye level with Khadijah. He had been with Chamber 6 since it first opened it's doors in the early sixties. He'd also been Khadijah's old partner when she had first arrived at C6.

"I'm Vincente Castalino. I'm one of the new recruits and Mr. Khan's new partner. I hope to learn a lot and make some close bonds in my career here at Chamber 6." Vincente stood next to Arhman. He had creamy mocha skin, a large nose, lips that were a bit on the thinner side, and dark brown eyes. He had pretty round cheeks set into a long face. He had his black hair shaved close to his scalp in a dark ceasar cut. He wore a very smart olive green suit, a crisp white shirt underneath and brown loafers completed his outfit.

Once he was seated all eyes turned to the rather tall woman sitting off Kadijah's left. She looked up quickly and heaved a large sigh before standing to her full height. She was a giant.

"My name is Cobalt Vega. I um... I am very grateful at this position here at Chamber 6. I hope to learn a lot and help people," the tall one said. She had greenish blue hair that stuck up haphazardly around her head. She was at least a head taller than the asian fellow. She wore a pretty purple sundress under a black blazer, a few sparkly imbeleshments a long the lapel. Of all the new individuals around her something the new girl was the one who most intruiged her. She could just feel something a bit... sinister right underneath the surface. Something she wanted to explore. Though if she was honest she wasn't the only one she wanted to explore.

That Lorenzo was very... tempting and if she didn't already have a man she'd have been all over him like white on rice.

"Khadijah would you like to introduce yourself?" Commander Wong asked with a stiff sneer etched across her face. That look told Khadijah that she had no real choice in the matter.

"Sure this, boss lady. I'm Khadijah Jordan and I've been with C6 for about six years. I enjoy what I do because I'm good at it. If I sucked I'd probably like it a lot less. And though I seem like a bit of a bitch I can assure you that I am actually a full blown bitch and that I enjoy it very much," Khadijah said with a wicked smirk. She watched her new coworker's reactions and smiled as she saw Commander Wong quietly seething while Arman coughed to cover up his coming chuckle.

They each wondered, absently if coming to work her had been a mistake.