Execution Party

The Creator

"Alright. Aila, then. Now, let's find Vi."

They moved through the crowd finally spotting Vi who was scanning over a list.

"Hey," he called out to her. Vi looked up, startled. Finally she sighed heavily, running a hand through her dark green hair.

"I'm checking it again," she said, gesturing to the thin sheet of metallic paper in her hand. "Mexy was most definitely not on the hit list. This is an execution party, not a G_D damn murder whoever you like party. This was one of the first events I've ever had a high position in and it's already a fucking disaster." Jenx gave a little shrug.

"Well, at least they'll probably execute the murderer at the next party extremely dramatically." Vi sighed.

"Yeah...I guess you're right." She suddenly caught sight of the girl now. "Who's she." Jenx swallowed hard, attempting to figure out how to explain the situation to her. It was much easier telling it to a drunk Yasha who probably wouldn't even remember it in the morning.

"Okay....well this girl...is the prince's sister." Vi furrowed her brow.

"What are you talking about? The prince doesn't have a sister, everyone would know if he did." Jenx took a deep breathe, pinching the bridge of his nose as he attempted to explain.

"Honestly, I don't know much about it. I just know people are after her and if we don't hide her...well...I'm not sure what will happen but it won't be good." Vi stared at the girl then back at Jenx.

"Jenx are you drunk?"

"No." Vi was silent for a beat before she suddenly glanced down at the girl's wrist.

"Holy shit...where's her chip?"

"She doesn't have one." Vi's eyes widened.

"That's not possible Jenx. She couldn't have gotten in here without one."

"There's something weird about her. She has some sort of...shit I'm not sure how to explain it-"

"Jenx," Vi said suddenly, cutting him off. "I would love to help you...I really would but, shit man. This is waaaaay too much of a mess. I'm this fucking close to finally snatching Mexy's job and I can't afford to lose it over some girl that you can't even explain..." she stopped. The girl was staring at her intently and Vi suddenly grasped her hands to her head as if attempting to hold the very pieces of her skull together. Finally Aila stopped, and Vi stumbled a few feet back. "Holy shit," she murmured. Jenx blinked.

"What just..."

"I'll help her," Vi stated matter of factly, causing her to receive a confused look from Jenx. "I'll try to find a way to slip her out without anyone noticing. If she never received a card chip it shouldn't trigger the alarm. You just stay here and act natural."

"What did she do...? Did she try to talk to you in your head? She did that to me once. What did she tell you?" Vi shook her head.

"Yeah, she talked to me. As for what she said...it's nothing you ever need to know. You can let this go now Jenx it's not your problem anymore."

"But...I don't think it's safe for me to go back to my apartment after the party..."

"She says you'll be fine. She's looked ahead, they won't hurt you." Jenx took a step forward.

"What do you mean looked ahead?" Vi sighed softly, resting a hand on Jenx's shoulder.

"Listen Jenx, just enjoy the rest of the party. Everything is going to be fine. I've got it from here." And with that Vi wrapped an arm around Ailia's shoulder and led her off into the crowd. Jenx swallowed hard before returning to the party himself. He hung out with Yasha and Nibs a bit who were both way too drunk to realize that anything was wrong with him. A few more dead bodies turned up over the course of the event, one on a banquet table that was wheeled in, another rising up from the dance floor amongst the dancers. Now that these were actually planned deaths everyone simply cheered whenever one of the cities criminals on the hit list turned up dead throughout the event. Jenx wasn't able to find Vi by the time the party ended and after about an hour of waiting in line to get his chip removed he made his way back through the darkened streets alone by foot. It was a much longer walk then he had anticipated and he received a few unwelcome cat calls from the shadow of figures in the darkness. Finally he arrived at his apartment. It was a relief when he finally tossed off his shoes, his feet were aching. Normally he would head off to the aux room for a bit to unwind before heading off to bed but he simply couldn't tonight, just the thought of it made him feel sick. Instead he made his way back to his room, changing into an oversized shirt and a pair of pajama pants. He was about to climb into his sleeping pod when suddenly there was a rapping sound at the door. His blood turned to ice water. Hadn't Aila said he would be safe? It could be Vi...shit what if she was in trouble? Trembling slightly he made his way to the door and opened it. A young man was standing there, a dark blue suit clinging to his tall slender frame. He had dark blue black hair and wore an extremely heavy amount of eyeliner around his narrowed, violet eyes. He scoffed when he glanced behind Jenx at the insides of his apartment.

"You actually live in a dirty hole like this? Ugh, it makes me feel faint even contemplating entering it. There's probably germs crawling everywhere. Hold on." The man's voice had a slight rasp to it. He dug around in his pocket, pulling out a thin bottle, and then proceeded to spray his hands with some kind of purple handsanetizer. When he finished he then fished further into his pocket pulling out a pair of latex gloves which he put on and some kind of medical mask which he pulled up over mouth. He took a deep breathe. "Alright, I am ready to come inside." He didn't even ask for Jenx's permission, he simply pushed past him. "Really," he murmured to himself, "your home only had one set of locks. You really must take your life extremely lightly, not that I blame you." Jenx blinked, confused.

"What?"

The man glanced around, noticing the ragged couch that sat at the center of Jenx's tiny apartment.

"Is this really the only place to sit down you have?" Jenx nodded slowly.

"Yeah...that and the aux room." The man rolled his eyes.

"Fine, it will have to do, an aux room is no place for a conversation." He scanned over the flat again. "I have no idea how you people live like this." Despite all laws of 'pocket physics' the man managed to pull out some kind of latex sheet from his pocket and laid it down over a little section of the couch before he sat down on it slowly. "What are you simply standing around for," he snapped. "Make me some tea." Jenx swallowed hard.

"I...don't have any." The man rolled his eyes again.

"Of course you don't, uncultured little shrimp." He waved one latex gloved hand. "I suppose it's for the best, it would probably have been contaminated anyways." Jenx fought the urge to punch this man and instead took a deep breathe.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" The man wrinkled his nose.

"I don't think I would call this a home. To even call it a hovel would be extremely gracious."

"Who. The fuck. Are you?" The man shot him a glare.

"You seriously don't know?"

"Should I?" He sighed heavily from behind his medical mask, rolling his eyes yet again.

"Rifter, Rifter Thornton?" The name sounded familiar but Jenx couldn't remember where he had heard it before, thus he just continued to stare at him blankly. Rifter gave an exasperated sigh. "Do you live under a rock? I literally created arcAdia." Jenx's eyes widened.

"Holy shit...you're..."

"Yeah, Rifter Thornton, soul creator and designer of arcAdia, became a billionaire when I was only 16, best friend of prince Florzel, starting to ring a bell?" Jenx nodded slowly. "Uuuugh, I hate talking to stupid people. Then again, that's practically everyone when you have a mind like mine. I can't believe Florzel sent me all the way here to this dump." Jenx froze.

"Florzel sent you?" Rifter nodded slowly.

"Yes, he said he doubted that you would listen to him and seeing how stupid you already seem to be I can see why." He removed his gloves a moment to do another spray of the purple hand sanitizer which was so pungent sprayed inside that it caused Jenx to cough. Rifter resumed talking as he pulled his latex gloves back on. "We need to find the girl." Jenx crossed his arms.

"I'm not going to let you have her." Rifter shot him a glare.

"Listen shrimp, Florzel and I are not the villains here, you are."