B2 Chapter 6: The Guest of Honor Arrives (Patreon)

“What do you mean ‘what’s floor 98?’” Jason asked Roland in disbelief. “It’s the forest foundational floor that you were talking about. It’s where everyone starts in the tower before moving on to the lower floors.”

I nodded in agreement, while wondering how he’d missed something so obvious.

Roland shrugged. “Maybe you two were in a different forest?”

Jason and I shared another look of confusion.

“What about the elevator or the stairs?” I tried. “You must have come across them at some point.”

“Nope,” he said, looking bored. “Now where’s the alcohol?”

As he stood up, Gundred asked, “And where is your patron tonight? It has been quite some time since we’ve… conversed.”

Roland spied the alcohol from across the room and ignored her to go after it. He took three steps and then stopped. His body trembled momentarily before he turned around and hurried back to the table.

He coughed and said, “my patron said that he could not attend and that I should go alone in the car. It drove me here automatically.”

“Car?” Jason snorted. “It’s not a car, you moron, it’s…” Gundred silenced him with a look before turning back to Roland. “Thank you. You may leave now.”

Roland nodded, his eyes wide, but he did not move.

“Let’s give the children time to talk amongst themselves,” Gundred said.

Persephone concurred and after they both left, Jason turned to Roland and asked, “dude, what was that?”

Roland grabbed two drinks off the tray of a passing waiter. He downed one and then the other before grinning. “I don’t know, but it was a strength unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I haven’t felt fear like that since that time I was a boy and I came across a young grizzly bear cub.”

“You were scared of a baby bear?” Jason scoffed.

“It’s mother,” I said.

Roland nodded. “There’s nothing more dangerous than a mother bear that you can’t see but you know is close by. Which reminds me, I must get back to the forest. I have to train if I’m to be stronger than her the next time we meet.”

“We’ve been over this. It’s a tower,” Jason said sourly.

Roland guffawed. “A tower with no walls in sight and an open sky? I think not.”

Jason groaned. “Oh my god.”

I tried not to laugh as Jason continued to try and argue with Roland while he was constantly flagging down waiters for more alcohol. It allowed me a moment to disengage from the conversation and take in the rest of the room. So far, it appeared that we three were the only tower residents that had been invited. The rest of the guests appeared to be gods or beings of some influence. I took Persephone's advice about how dangerous they were to heart and avoided looking too closely at any of them, lest I draw their attention in turn.

The ambient music that had been playing in the background this whole time suddenly faded and many of the guests turned to look to the entrance. There was a servant on each side, already waiting to open the double doors. At some hidden signal they did so, and Samara and a man entered together.

Samara was as radiant as ever in a long, flowing red dress with her hair tied up. Hanging from her neck was a necklace with a small red gem in the shape of a teardrop that faintly glowed. By her side was a handsome tall man in a black suit who looked like he was about to charm people into giving up their souls. He graced the room with a small smile that never reached his eyes.

As they moved further into the room to greet some nearby guests, I noticed someone was trailing behind the pair. A pale girl with dark hair who also wore all black, but she’d chosen combat boots, pants, and a jacket. Almost like she expected violence and had dressed accordingly, though it was plain to see that she’d rather be somewhere else as she sullenly stared at the ground while following the couple around.

After the guests they were speaking to had moved on, Samara looked right at me to signal that I was to introduce myself. Like before, I also got the sense that this wasn’t a request.

Reluctantly, I left the table and went over to them. Weirdly enough, the tall red lizardman from earlier watched me do so with open hostility. Maybe I’d killed someone he’d sponsored in the tower? I thought to myself.

I ignored him and joined Samara and her companion.

“Ah, so this is young Lucas in the flesh,” said the man with a rich, velvety voice.

Goddamn it. I recognize that voice.

He offered his hand, and I shook it. “Tell me,” I asked. “What would it take for you to release Hugo from his bond to you?”

Roan laughed. “My, you’ve got yourself a bold one here.”

Samara smiled politely, but her eyes told me to tread carefully.

“I’m afraid that my dealings with your friend are between him and me,” he said.

“He’s not here, is he?”

“No. I’m sponsoring more than one tower resident this time and Hugo remains in the tower.”

The lizardman suddenly slammed his fist on the table. “Bitch!” he yelled, pointing one claw at Samara accusingly. He stood up and upended the table. But due to his strength, it was thrown aside so hard that it smashed into two waiters and killed them both. “You fucking dare!” he roared.

Nobody seemed surprised or frightened but they all turned to watch in curiosity as fire formed and swirled around the lizardman’s claws. They sensed a fight was near, which meant entertainment for them.

Samara, who had clearly wanted something from my interaction with Roan, glanced at the lizardman in an annoyance. The red teardrop gem from her necklace broke off from its chain and floated up into the air. The gem then shot forward like a bullet through his chest before it slowed down and floated back to Samara to become part of her necklace again.

It was blood that she’d turned into jewelry with some kind of shaping technique. I stared in amazement. The control was incredible, and I started to wonder if her red dress was made of the same stuff.

I looked back to see the lizardman standing there frozen, but still alive. Blood was slowly dripping out of his wound, but instead of it hitting the floor, it was collected into a floating ball near his feet.

Samara wasn’t even looking at him and she was still controlling all of the blood inside his body while having a quiet conversation with Roan. She was also bleeding him out slowly to maximize his suffering as a punishment for interrupting her party.

Roan leaned closer and whispered something to Samara. She laughed before nodding and suddenly the lizardman’s body jerked back. All of his blood rushed back into his body and then sputtered in and out like a stream. Upon Roan’s suggestion, she’d turned him into a living blood fountain. Unable to die and forced to stand there in agony while his suffering entertained the others. It seemed to work too, as some of the guests laughed while others politely applauded.

I looked away, sickened by the display. It was easy to get fooled by their outward appearance and forget the kind of monsters these beings really are.

“She had to make an example out of him,” said the sullen girl.

I nearly jumped. She’d crept up beside me without making a sound.

“Why did he try to fight her at her own party?” I asked.

“It was because he’d noticed the necklace she was wearing. It’s from one of his ancestral gods. She took the god’s blood after killing him. Ammunash likely came here to do business, but seeing her wear his god’s blood like a trophy was too much for him. In an ironic way that blood became his undoing twice over, but I’d expect nothing less from a god’s blood. I know neither of ours would’ve been capable of penetrating a grade A being’s exterior.”

The girl had raised a point that I’d never considered before. Blood had all felt the same to me till now. The idea that different types of blood held different properties was interesting though, and worth exploring once I get out of here.

“So, Roan is your patron?” I asked, eager to learn whatever I could about him.

Her face twisted in disgust. “Unfortunately.”

“Buyer’s remorse?”

She shook her head. “Unlike you and the others, I never got a chance to pick anyone else. Now we should get moving to the front. It’s starting.”

Before I could ask what was starting, she’d pointed to a stage with a red curtain behind it. Odd that I hadn’t noticed it before now, but even stranger were people gathered below it. They all looked like human tower residents. There must be around fifty of them. How did I not manage to see any of them at the part till now?

Someone’s messing with my senses. Getting into my head.

My aura spiked with a wave of anxiety, and I redoubled my focus to clamp down on it. Whoever doing this must have a reason for it. I just have to find them and figure out what it is.

I looked around and frowned. That’s odd. All of the gods have gone too.

A spotlight fell on the stage and a drumroll started.

“Oh no,” I said.

The girl gave me a funny look. “What is it?”

“Trouble,” I replied.

The drumroll stopped and a System message appeared.

[Hey kids! Did you miss me?]