The various beings seated around the table studied their rather unusual new "Leader" with skeptical, or sometimes merely curious gazes. The news that he was an "Entity of Darkness" was a bit worrying to some of them who believed all such creatures to be evil rather than physical manifestations of an absence of light. 

The creature himself was pleasant enough. He was an exceedingly handsome young man, one who was clearly supernaturally attractive, and he was very polite. At the moment he was quiet, his eyes shifting rapidly from person to person and his mind operating at speeds beyond even the others in the room. 

Nathan, as a newly super-powered being, had quietly and quickly come to enjoy being in control of his surroundings. And at the moment, the revelation that he was one of the feared "Entities of Darkness", was changing how the people in the room felt about him. And, frustratingly, not in ways that he liked. That said, Nathan's supercharged mind was fast and he had the ability to use his enhanced cognition to its maximum potential.

For a psychic minds are surprisingly easy to mold and manipulate. They are easier still to sense and read. And I was, so far, above all else, a psychic. 

As I recovered from Ceylan's reveal that I was a darkness elemental, I allowed my mind to reach out and read the minds of everyone around me. Their reactions to that reveal ranged quite widely from person to person, due to the fact that "The Trapped" were an eclectic bunch. 

There were no less than three "Holy" type figures among "The Trapped". They consisted of a crusader, a deity, and a literal angel, all of which had different goals and views, and none of whom were eager to hear that I was a darkness elemental. On the other hand, there were multiple men and two distinct women whose impressions of me were noticeably improved when they learned of my nature as an elemental of darkness. 

The two women had enormously different outlooks, one was a cultist dressed in gothic robes, and the other young woman was the daughter of Caiden, the half-darkness-elemental. The men included the demon, Xander, and the monstrous foe I had defeated earlier today, "Bigman", as well as a number of orcs who felt more comfortable obeying a "Creature of Darkness" than a seemingly normal human. I nodded at them, smiling as my eyes turned into swirling, miasmic orbs of darkness, and made a mental note to embrace my monstrous nature around them as a means to keep them satisfied. 

"I possess a number of powers," I began, before allowing my entire head to momentarily disappear and become a swirling orb of light seated atop my head, doing this as a manifestation of "Light Control", one of my new abilities earned as a result of acquiring power over The Sanctuary. This caused the crowd of figures to stop moving entirely and instead stare, dumbfounded, at me. 

"I can utilize my powers in a considerable number of ways. At the moment I can't do things like resurrect the dead on my own or create life, but aside from those incredibly high-end feats, there is a lot I can do." I explained, before suddenly dampening the light in the room by returning my head to its previous state. As I spoke my mind filled with full awareness of both my newfound powers and the capabilities of The Sanctuary itself, and that made me smile. 

"With my powers, I intend to be a superhero. In the world that Ms. Drakos went to before she lost ownership over The Sanctuary, my world, superheroes didn't exist though stories of them, as fictional works, certainly did. That is going to be changing, and indeed has already changed due in part to my existence there, since I had superpowers even before coming to The Sanctuary." I continued, my remarks causing one of the women at the table to snap to attention. 

"A world... without superheroes..." She remarked, almost idly. She had scarlet hair and was dressed in a rainbow-colored outfit that covered her entire body but her face. A simple "Glance" at her mind revealed that she was from some sort of alternative Earth where superheroes were somewhat common.

Truth be told, under other circumstances, I normally wouldn't have revealed something like that to a group of powered beings, but I knew that they couldn't leave The Sanctuary without my express consent and so they were only able to do so much in their current states. In time I planned to recruit each of them more fully than I had at the moment, but for now I was content to make mental notes on who I had most strongly affected and who was either verbally or non-verbally expressing the most interest in Earth.

"My goals have become much easier as a result of my acquisition of The Sanctuary. It has further empowered me in... considerable ways." I stated, a confident smile on my face as I rose my hand and casually flexed my newfound control over elements I previously couldn't have controlled, such as water and earth, generated and effortlessly controlling both water and stone. The others watched my precise and fairly dexterous control of the elements and I sensed jealousy radiating out of some of them. 

"Your goals are to protect... One world?" Olivia asked, looking at me skeptically. I turned to her and chuckled before responding to her question.

"My goals are to protect people regardless of their world of origin. I would like to start with my world though." I clarified, articulating for perhaps the first time that I fully intended to protect people. It felt weird to vocalize something like that, but it made numerous people gathered at the table again revise their impressions and opinions of me. 

"I see... Well that is certainly a relief." Olivia stated, rather bluntly. There was a smile on her face though, one that was genuine. Everyone turned to look at her and upon seeing that look on her face they all visibly relaxed and I knew for sure that for the moment things here were settled. 

I would politely make conversation with "The Trapped" and get to learn names, for the next hour before finally announcing an end to the meeting. With the meeting over I ordered those who had opted to listen to me to go ahead and help the settlers with establishing temporary homes in the area just outside of my manor or to go and begin to take records of those who lived here, recording information such as names, desired spots for more permanent homes, and other such valuable information for future plans and plots. As for me... Well, I had other goals at the moment.

I needed to research my home. And to do that I needed to explore it.

Within minutes of the meeting being over, I found myself mostly alone in the depths of my private residence. I quietly strolled through the depths of a vast library, accompanied by a single figure: a female member of "The Trapped" named "Material Intelligence" or "M.I." for short. 

The two of us were busy studiously recording the titles of every single book located in the library. M.I.'s scanners were perfect for this sort of work, as the strange entity was, according to her anyway, a "Modified Human" who possessed a wealth of cybernetic enhancements to her physiology. She was a largely human-like being from the head down but from the head-up had a visibly and obviously robotic head complete with a smooth visor for a face. She could project eyebrows, eyes, and other facial features but they didn't really distract from the obviously robotic nature of her body. 

She was an obedient aid and she had volunteered to accompany me when I explained to some of "The Trapped" who were curious about me that I intended to research the manor right away. Together we were making what would have otherwise been a laborious effort much smoother and far more efficient. 

"This area seems to consist of old grimoires. If you wish to study magic this section would be quite useful for beginners." The robot-like entity informed me, her mechanical and emotionless voice coming out of her eerie head as she spoke. The fembot dutifully continued her duties while I also visually scanned the bookshelves that surrounded me. I was unsurprised but delighted to note that many of the books the coven had in their impressive collection were magical, and as I speedily studied them I excitedly mused on the fact that this place was surely a place where I could begin to gain greater magical power. 

"More magic... How exciting." I whispered as I imagined gaining much more magical power.