Constructors: New Beginning

Chapter 30 A Night at the Golden Lion Pt. 1

The night came, and we got ready for The Golden Lion cabaret, the cabaret where Head Mistress Chesh wanted to discuss our plans with Bianca. Thankfully when we told Luna that we were going, she ordered our clothes and had them ready for us when we got back to the suite. She got me a nice blue, faded dress shirt, black dress pants, and the finest dress shoes that she could find, and surprisingly they all fit me perfectly. But just like our graduation, I was waiting by the bathroom door for Julia to get out. 

"For Gods' sake Jules you've been in there for two hours. I know you don't put makeup on, so I have no idea why you take so long to get ready," I called out to her, but she didn't respond. "Geez, what am I going to do with her." 

She's thinking about how the others will look, James. Eighty-Four leaned on the other side of the door. 

"The others?" 

Yeah, each of the girls has their own preferences, even though they all are just Julia's emotions personified. They're fun to talk with. 

"Wait, you can see and talk to the girls?" 

Yeah, just like how Julia can also see me, I can see her emotions. At first, they didn't know what to think of me. To them, I looked like a broken version of one of your emotions. But I told them what the situation was with me, and from then we've all been friends. What do you think I do when I'm not with you? I need to figure out how to occupy myself, and the girls are good company. 

All of a sudden, the bathroom door opened, and out of the steam, Julia came out. She wore a long dress transitioning from violet to black at the bottom. She had also adorned her milkmaid braid with silver, crystal beaded gems. "And the girls appreciate your company as well Eighty-Four." Julia finished linking the jewelry in her braid. "Sorry for taking so long, James. Ester is impossible to convince when it comes to wearing cute things like this. I'm ready now, let's go." 

"Right, Head Mistress Chesh is probably for us." I nodded. We left to the streets, and I didn't realize it before, but at night the city streets are filled with well-dressed people seemingly going somewhere fancy. 

I called for a taxi and told them to take us to The Golden Lion. The driver took off to the air and drove us to The Golden Lion, and it appeared as if the building owned the entire block. We could see from the front two entrances that so many people were going in. I can only imagine what the other two entrances were like. The driver dropped us off at one of them. I looked back to the entrance, and it had the look of a classic building with the feel of it too. But the thing that was bothering me was that the building seemed to hold no stone in it, so if things got hairy, I would have to solely rely on my training with Master Feng. 

We walked inside, and the interior of the building had an old-fashioned style as well, but everything looked brand new and polished. The owner takes good care of this place and actually makes it feel welcoming. Before we got to the main room, we were stopped by a bouncer at the door. "Let me see your invitation please," the guy told us, and I obliged by giving him the red envelop that Head Mistress Chesh gave us. When he saw it and opened it, he read the card that was inside and nodded. "You're with the Night Mistress' party. She's up in one of the VIP lounges. Before we go up, I must ask you to wear these." 

The bouncer handed us two inhibitor bracelets made of a special crystal. "Why do we need to wear this?" 

"Cabaret house rules. All mages must wear these inhibitor bracelets so as not to cause chaos while in the building by using spells. Now please put them on if you would. And just to let you know, once you put these on, they will not come off until you leave the premises." 

We both looked at each other and didn't know what to think. Not only did all of this feel fishy, but if things go south, we can't use our magic to defend ourselves. 

Whatever happens in here, Jules, I'll need you to trust me. 

Don't worry about that. I'll be down to whatever you plan, James. 

"Alright, we'll put them on." I clicked mine on, and the moment I did so, I felt the bracelet on my left arm take effect, and my rock arm instantly came apart, falling to the ground, and my heart sank with it. 

Shit, I forgot that my arm relies on my magic to make it stay! I won't be able to fight as well now... 

"Ah, sorry about that, I forgot my right arm was made of rock." I got a little flustered, and Julia gave me the same look because she was thinking the same thing. 

"Don't worry; we'll have someone clean that. Now follow me. I'll take you to the Night Mistress." The bouncer walked into the main lounge room, and we followed behind. The lounge room looked like it was more of a massive theater with lounge sections pointing towards a massive stage up front. 

No one was on stage, but as we walked in, the light slightly dimmed, and a spotlight flashed at the center of the stage where a microphone was standing alone. Everyone was dead silent with anticipation for whoever was about to perform. After a couple more seconds of silence, everyone could hear the sound of shoes walking on the wooden floor and then saw a guy standing in the spotlight. He was fully dressed in a suit and had his hair gelled up. He looked at the audience, and the sound of a piano began to play. Soon after the piano came a mixture of instruments. The instruments played a little bit, but then they stopped when the guy snapped his fingers, and he tapped the mic. 

"Greetings, my patrons, allow me to be your opening act to a great night of performances." The guy spoke in a smooth, relaxed voice, and everyone was applauding. "Let's begin the night right then. Hit it, boys!" 

The curtains behind him pull away to show a huge band with their instruments. The first to play was the piano followed by the drums, and then the clarinets and the saxophones came in. The guy began to sing, and his words strummed up a story about how he would be king with his girl. If King Alistaire heard this, he might not find it amusing mainly because the guy seemed to hold seriousness with his words. 

"Who is that?" I asked. 

"That man is Calem Moriarti. He's the owner of The Golden Lion. Cal is one of the richest citizens of Mormore City because of this place," the bouncer told us. 

"He looks like he's our age. How could he be running a cabaret so young?" Julia asked with intrigue as she watched Calem's performance. 

"His mother died when he was sixteen and has been running the cabaret for two years now. I'll have to admit, though, he's running this place better than his mother ever did. Now come on, you two, the Night Mistress is waiting on you." The bouncer continued to walk, and he took us up to the third floor, where all of the VIP rooms are. 

As we passed by all of them, we could hear the laughter, murmurs, and other noises coming from each room. The bouncer stopped in front of one of the doors. This one was colored red with gold accents on it. "The Night Mistress is in here. Please go in, and I hope you enjoy your night at The Golden Lion." The bouncer gave us a slight bow and walked back down the stairs. A little hesitant to open the door, we both just stood there staring at it. If we could speak to each other in our heads right now, we could, but even that comfort was taken from us when we put on these inhibitor bracelets. 

"Let's do this, Julia. For Bianca." I finally said. 

"For Bianca." She nodded, and I opened the door for us, only to get blasted with a puff of smoke. We had to duck a little to get away from the big plume just so we could breathe, but there was no escaping the smoke. 

"Ah, there you two are! I'm glad you could make it, please come in." Head Mistress Chesh's voice came from inside, so we had no choice but to walk through the smoke. Walking inside, the room was bigger than I had expected. It looks like it could hold an entire party complete with a bar to keep that party happy. We saw the Head Mistress relaxing on a loveseat with incense burning around her. That's what was producing this strong smoke around us, and honestly, it was giving me a headache.