"You alright Lil'. Just 'cause I'm around doesn't mean you're completely safe at these things ya'know" Came a deep, authoritative voice from beside her. She could smell the fish on the man's breath, feel the sea breeze practically waving off him as he spoke and she turned to look at him.

The man's features came into view, albeit in the usual blurry way Lilith saw the world. She considered actually looking at him but where she was right now… Not the best idea. The blurry vision in front of her wasn't helping so she tried to remember his features.

His salt-white hair swept back and cut short made him look young despite it's colour. Yet the wrinkles on his face, sagging of his abundant muscles and his drying tanned skin told the story of a man who's long past his prime. Not that she'd ever seen him in it.

His eyes, gate and overall demeanour seemed to give off a completely different impression at least. His predatory black eyes felt like being stared at by a Mako shark. Ferocious, deadly and ready to pounce at any blood in the water. His gate was that of a veteran sailor. His balance was perfect, his steps powerful and he gave off an heir of confidence and authority.

He was the complete opposite of his daughter. Lilith noticed the black and purple silhouette behind him and smiled. A friend in research!

"My apologies Sir Douglas. I was simply lost in thought, please don't mind my lack of-" Lilith was in the middle of her usual apology when Douglas cut her off.

"Cut the crap Lil'. That formality wouldn't work on even the thickest of these muscas. What's got your head in the clouds?." His tone might have been abrasive or daring but there was no hint of censure.

Lilith gave a glance around the room. Lilith wouldn't call them Muscas but there were certainly a lot of… disreputable characters in the room. Lilith, Douglas and his companion were all standing around one of the buffet tables near the edge of the room. There was no one else around them. In fact they almost seemed to be magnets of the same polarity as everyone else was repulsed by their presence.

The room itself was large and decadent. It wasn't somewhere Lilith would chose to be. The chandelier on the ceiling lit up the intricately embroidered carpet on the floor. Lilith couldn't understand the embroidery but the blurry golden lines were a good enough indication there was something there.

The chandelier also lit the tables that seemed to be placed in strategic areas throughout the room. A few by the doors, a few in the corner, a few in the middle. It was essentially separating the people eating at them into their own groups.

Sure enough, you could tell that the people at each table were associated with each other in one way or another. The middle of the room was almost a battle of who's group could take up the most of the table. Lilith could only see vaguely golden blobs of fat looking like they were rolling into each other in the middle of the room and it almost made her laugh.

It wasn't all good. Lilith knew behind her blurry veil there was a group of people paid to keep the country afloat. Yet they were jabbing each other in the ribs with their elbows and standing on each other's feet like squabbling children. Even worse they were trying to be discreet about it.

The traditionalists and the reformists. A typical political dispute and normally something Lilith wouldn't be interested in. The left golden blobs consisted mostly of people involved in the military. They were practically all teenagers or younger than 30 at least. You could tell who was there because they were an opportunist pretty easily. They were all fat and in their 40s or above.

They were the type of people to flit like a bat. Well that or they just didn't like the idea of a girl being on the throne. It's happened before yet these people are wilfully blind to that fact. Lilith shook her head internally at them as she continued to peruse the group. If they tried actually saying their views out loud, they'd have a rebellion on their hands so she didn't need to care.

The only ones who actually required attention on this side were the 6 people in the middle of the group. 5 of them were famous commanders that controlled a whole galaxy worth of soldiers. Over a thousand of them at their beck and call.

These were the type of people who had meteorically rose up the ranks in recent years. They weren't all once in a century talents but they all came close. They were lined up in a row behind First prince Wyatt like good puppies.

Lilith didn't actually know much about them though. The person she knew the most about was their commander. There were only 7 Galaxy cluster commanders in the Empire. Lilith knew all of their names. This was one of them.

Wyatt Von Allistar. Lilith's half sibling and the crown prince of the empire. He was also one of the most accomplished military talents of his generation and possibly beyond. Last time Lilith actually looked at him, his gaze seemed to take in the sight before him and dismiss it as mere nonsense. His posture was tall, imposing and seemed to radiate his confidence throughout the room.

Despite not participating in the discussion whatsoever this time, it felt as though his aura was snapping at his subordinates, nipping at their heels. A subtle yet stark reminder that if they lose or turn back they'd be chewed up and spit out.

He had blonde hair and brown eyes but they were not the calm and gentle eyes of Lilith's sister. This was the overpowering and ambition filled gaze of an alpha. The gaze of someone who looks down upon yet still takes up the burdens of those around them. Someone who takes care of their own and only their own.

He was always openly sneering at everyone around him. His followers seemed to delight in that sight though. Lilith knew some level of confidence was required in a leader. Historically leaders without confidence watched their worlds fall apart. But Wyatt's confidence was a tad too much for her.

Lilith remembered his clothing choices and grimaced. His taste was just so alien to her. Sparkling jewels, golden threads, always black, purple, gold or white. He didn't have a crown on his head but that felt out of place among his outfit. As though the outfit was built around the crown and it was simply missing.

'I never did understand his reason for throwing his hat in the ring. They're fighting over something that may or may not even pass to them at all. Even if it did, all they get for their hard work is more hard work. It never ends.' Thought Lilith. She couldn't understand either of her siblings. One was so obsessed with the throne he practically lived for it and the other turned herself into a marionette just to keep up.

Wyatt wasn't participating in the elbow jabbing. Lilith guessed this wasn't him shying away from it though. He probably just thought it beneath his notice. He was just sitting back and watching as his people yapped like dogs at those on the other side of the table.

Speaking of the other side of the table. That side had far less eye candy. Lilith wasn't particularly interested in the men or the women from either side but if she was, she might side with Wyatt's reformists just for the sheer difference in appearance.

Lilith's vision had perhaps lead to her lack of interest in anyone's appearance. It was hard to determine if someone was attractive when they looked like a blurry mess most of the time. Despite that, even she could tell the difference between Wyatt's side of the table and the traditionalists.

As you would expect from traditionalists it was comprised mostly of old men. Some of them might have been legends in their times but now they were a shadow of their former selves. Some had let themselves go quite a bit. Gaining a good deal of weight or letting their shoulders sag and their feet drag.

There were some exceptions however. The real legends who kept themselves fit even into old age. Lilith respected them for it. She had learnt quite a bit about them from history books. The biggest question was whether they had anything to teach her.

This faction was lead by yet another of Lilith's siblings, full this time. Unlike Wyatt, who was in the middle of his group but not participating, Nadia was at the back of hers and most definitely participating. Like Wyatt, she was surrounded by her Galaxy commanders.

Hers however were surrounding her almost like bodyguards. They had a star-looking formation arrayed around her. You could tell that if someone tried to attack Nadia they were willing to trap the swords with their very bodies to let her escape.

Like the rest of her camp, they were also all old men. So perhaps there was a level of grandfatherly affection there. Nadia never really talked about politics around her as she didn't want Lilith getting involved in this struggle for the throne. Lilith understood this and didn't pursue the topic.

Nadia was a girl with blonde hair like a wig, strands perfectly golden and groomed to perfection. Lilith remembered her calming brown eyes and smile like someone had pulled strings attached to her lips a little too high.

The way those brown eyes would never once crinkle during these parties. The way she talked about her achievements with that same smile on strings. She knew her sister wanted to be here and Lilith had no reason to contradict her, so she didn't. She just pretended to never notice that the fans to hide her smile couldn't hide her eyes.

She had them out now but when she was talking to Lilith, Nadia would put the fans in her sash. It was wrapped around something akin to a kimono if Lilith remembered correctly. She had memorised the majority of her sister's outfits, they were all the same anyway really. They all helped her gather followers by giving her a memorable image, or so her sister had told her.

The most consistent part of her image however was the badge sewn onto the kimono. It was Nadia's proof that she was a Galaxy cluster commander, one of only 7 in the empire. When Lilith was younger, she had admired the feat but not really understood how impressive it was. Until she tried to do it herself. She never tried again.

Wyatt would sometimes forget to put his badge on, like today. Nadia though, she would never forget her badge. It had an array of stars sewn into it's surface. They each painted a constellation of sorts, a swirl of shining lights orbiting a single point. These were galaxies. Not just galaxies though.

These were galaxy clusters. A group of galaxies that all orbited a single point in space. That point in space being her. Her sister had 5 of these galaxies all orbiting a single star right in the middle of the badge. The star shone golden like the sun. It was made from an exquisite golden thread made with the colour's namesake. This was the badge of a super cluster.

Nothing changed in the middle of the room while Lilith was admiring Nadia's badge so Lilith diverted her attention to the other groups in the room. The others, including her own, were far smaller in comparison. While the middle table was all bickering and elbow jabbing, the rest of the room was relatively peaceful. Seemingly innocuous conversation between people in fancy dress.

One corner was talking about changing the few nature mages over to brassicas this month. Another was talking about the depreciation of mercenaries as a national asset. Another group were complaining about the ate-up Clux in charge of their cluster. The fourth and final group Lilith bothered to listen in on was talking about creating a MAT out of the military and scholarly academies.

The only group in the room that wasn't talking shop was the planets. There were 8 prestigious planet houses. Most of them were run by former royalty who'd been loyal to the empire since near enough it's founding.

The only exception being the Pluto family, who had risen to planet status a hundred or so years back. The current Pluto family was a bit strange. The head was weirdly airheaded yet observant. No one knew what to make of the man. He would just wander from topic to topic and occasionally make incredibly sharp observations.

The man supported Lilith if only because she was incredibly friendly with his hier. She didn't know what to make of him herself. Lilith rarely interacted with him but when she did he was pleasant enough.

More interesting to most however was the current heir. Candace Cerocass Pluto. She seemed to be hiding behind her father and not participating in the conversation. People called her the arthrocrat behind her back and there was a good reason.

The girl was obsessed with bugs, dressed like a mad woman and acted like a fly on the wall. When Lilith once asked her about some of those traits, she gave answers such as 'she was wearing bright colours to warn off predators'. Lilith was pretty sure the 'predators' she was referring to were the nobility.

Candace was a close friend of Lilith's, partially because they were similar. She didn't care about anything outside of her expertise. In her case, that was bugs. Lilith knew two of the planet families' heirs and they were both obsessive researchers. She couldn't blame them. Their scope of research was just a bit more precise than Lilith's own and they were ostracised for it.

That's why she made sure to give them a place to research and make it into a tangible project to produce results. Candace Cerocass Pluto, Zilla Marinez Neptune and Lilith Von Allistar. They were known as something akin to the three witches with Lilith at their head. Lilith didn't particularly care what she was called but the other two had mixed reactions. Which reminded her, she hadn't responded to Douglas Marinez Neptune yet.

"Head in the clouds? I suppose you could say that. I just find all the politics tedious as you well know. I'd much sooner learn with the healing mages again than attend one of these parties." Lilith replied exhaustion creeping into her tone. She was a little glad her sister kept her away from politics.

Douglas laughed uproariously as he heard her response.