It was the night of the banquet and the entire island was partying, Bryn may have been standing on the street but he could hear the sound of music from all around him.

None more clearly than from the building in front of him.

Throughout the entire day Bryn had been second guessing himself over whether or not he should be out tonight, but now that he was here, there was only one thing to do.

It was time to steel his resolved and follow through with his decision.

Bryn walked forward to the entrance under the eyes of the bouncers, he moved to go past the velour rope and walk up the step steps.

“Not tonight, this is a private party, no monsters allowed” one of the bouncers said before putting his weight in front of Bryn to stop him from going any further, although his eyes were daring Bryn to try.

All in all, that was not how Bryn expected this night to start out.

It took a call off his new Holowatch Solomon had gotten from one of his friends for Bryn, Five minutes waiting and a pissed off Armani before he was able to get into the building.

It was a waitress that came to the door and spoke to the bouncers that got him the entry, only she had come on orders from Armarni and by god, she let the bouncers know it.

“As you were informed earlier, this person is a guest of the young master Armarni de Vici and you will treat him as such” She spoke in a no-nonsense tone of voice to which the lead bouncer tried to respond.

“Now see here” but he never stood a chance, “Be Quiet!” she roared and all the bouncers stilled.

She may work as a maid, but would a maid that not only worked for the mafia but did so at an academy that trained heroes, ever be so simple.

“The orders that you have received were passed down from the 'Head', are you challenging his rule” She asked and only now did the bouncers show a look as if they had eaten a sour lemon.

“He is to be afforded all the rights and privileges given to that of a ‘guest’, in other words, if he is even served a drink that he does not like, then we'll be taking a short trip to a forest where you'll be digging you own graves, understand” she said before poking the biggest bouncers in the chest.

“Understood” The big one replied nervously before she pointed at another who wholeheartedly nodded in acknowledgement.

“Very good, Come along Bryn, the young master is awaiting your arrival inside” She said before walking through the entrance without looking back to see if Bryn was following or not.

Bryn gave an uneasy smile to the bouncers who looked down on him as he shuffled past their hulking mass before giving a slight jog to catch back up to the maid.

The two walked down a long hallway and a set of stairs, each decorated with extravagant artwork and beautiful marble sculptures, they two travelled further and deeper into the building, Only as they got further down the hallway, did the music get louder.

Finally, the two came upon a set of double doors.

“Bryn Lockhart, The De Vici family welcomes you to our...Hells Banquet” She said before opening the doors.

A wall of music hit Bryn so hard that he had to take a step back to regain his composure, the doors let to a massive three-story club that had been built in an underground cellar where the dance floor was overlooked by an outcropping balcony on each floor.

Bryn stood on the first-floor balcony overlooking the dance floor as he took it all in, hundreds, possibly thousands of people were dancing and raving under the flashing lights and hypnotic beat that was better known as 'dub step'.

The party was wild, students of all ages were dancing and drinking, smoking from bongs that produced clouds of luminescent smoke whilst other swung from the rafters and a few that could used their powers so they could dance in the sky.

It was the epitome of hedonism and pleasure, and Bryn knew that he would love it!

Bryn was brought out of his trance as he felt someone’s shoulder embrace his but he quickly relaxed as he realised it was only a slightly inebriated Armarni.

“Ha-Ha Bryn, you finally made it” Armarni said as he embraced Bryn, his slightly enlarged eyes focused on the dance floor in front of them.

Before he could respond Armarni had let go and swung around to take two drinks off a tray that a waitress was carrying as she passed by.

He passed one to Bryn before wiggling his finger over his shoulder as he walked off towards a booth that overlooked the dance floor.

With his arms over the back of the sofa, Armarni looked at Bryn who a questioning eye, Bryn may have had a drink in his hand and may have been in the middle of a party, and yet somehow he looked as if he was a target on a shooting range.

“Bryn, I'm sorry about what happened earlier but you're safe here, you can relax” Armarni reassured to which Bryn gave a soft chuckle before loosening his shoulders and actually taking a sip of his drink.

A Sip that soon turned into a gulp which then turned into downing it in one.

“Damn!” Bryn said in surprise, his eyebrows raised whilst he nodded his head at the drink.

“That may be the best thing that I have ever tasted” Bryn admired to which Armarni chuckle.

“It best be, that drink goes for £1000 a bottle” he said before motioning for a waitress to bring two more of the same to the table.

Bryn took another sip but this time he did not finish, he savoured it before allowing his body to sink further into the leather booth.

“Better”

“Better “Bryn responded before clinking his glass against Armani's as he held it out.

“So” Armarni said to get Bryn's attention.

“So” Bryn responded.

“How was your first week at the academy” Armarni asked before leaning in with a knowing smile, he had been there for most of it, but he wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth, and from what he could tell, this particular horse needed to let it out.

Bryn laughed for a second before wiping a tear from his eye, “Well, you were there for most of it but I’ll give you an overview”

“fair enough”

“Well, let’s start off with finding out that my dad is actually Ryuto Asakura, a ruthless killer that wiped out Hong Kong”

“Quite a revelation”

“On top of that I learnt that my parents didn't actually die in a car accident but my dad killed my mother before magically disappearing off the face of the planet”

“Did you know that it is rumoured that it was his wife's head that was dangling from his hip when he attacked Hong Kong” Armarni reposed to which Bryn gave a strained smile before draining his entire drink before ordering another one.

“Nope, didn't know that but thank you” Bryn responded in restrained sarcasm but if Armani noticed, He did not react to it.

“You welcome, what else?” Armarni continued and Bryn through back.

“Became public enemy number one”

“I saw on TV”

“Was in a train crash”

“But you met me so that doesn't count as a bad thing” Armarni said to which the two clinked glasses again in agreement.

“Almost got eaten by a horde of dragons”

“Dragon! When did that happen?”

“During the second test, They were the reason for the warning about the holes being ‘almost certain death’”

“huh, Surprised you lived through that one”

“They were only babies”

“ah, still impressive”

“Killed one of them too”

“Ooh, they're bodies are natural treasures”

“Wasn't able to take it with me”

“A Shame”

“Passed the academy exam”

“So did I but still noteworthy”

“Ah, almost forgot, Beat up a punk ass Yakuza wannabe”

“He wasn't a wannabe”

“meh, close enough”

“Fair enough”

“Became a Hero”

“Congratulations”, “Congratulations to you too” the two responded before clinking glasses and downing their drinks before ordering again.

“Is that all?” Armarni asked before Bryn chuckled, “If only”

“Lost control on the first day of class and tried to kill a teacher”

“Oh, didn't know about that one, did you succeed?”

“Nope”

“Was it close?”

“Her no, the others yes”

“The others?”

“Got jumped”

“you told me”

“Died”

“You came back”

“To their loss”

“I'm sure”

“Got arrested”

“It happens when you kill people”

“Got put in a dungeon”

“Who has a dungeon in this day and age”

“Went to trial”

“Verdict”

“Found to be Justified”

“And may all your future murders be found that way too” Armarni said before the two of them burst into laughter at the entire situation.

“What are we doing?” Bryn asked as he thought back on the entire situation.

“We're staring down the barrel of a gun and dealing with it the best we can” Armarni said before pointing towards his drink.

“here here” Bryn said before drinking from his drink again.

The two of them carried on like this for a while before Bryn noticed something out of the corner of his eye and he couldn't believe what he had seen.

“You have got to be shitting me” Bryn said out loud before standing up to get a better look.

Armarni noticed that Bryn had found something interesting so he turned his head to look at the dance floor where he was looking and he was just as amazed.

“No, no way, isn't that?”

“Yeah”

“but didn't they?”

“Yeah”

“” Damnn”” The two said together after a bout of silence.

What had attracted Bryn's attention was of course a girl, namely it was Alexa.

She was wearing a silk satin black dress that clung to her body and black Dr marten boots, she was mesmerizing but that was not what had attracted Bryn's gaze.

She was not alone, she was very much not alone, she was with another girl, not that that was a problem, it was 'AOK' in Bryn and Armani's opinion, in fact they really wanted to encourage it at that moment in time, but what had gotten them both so shocked was who it was with.

It was with Kimberly Cloud, The girl with the Elf bloodline legacy that Alexa had absolutely destroyed in the fight that happened a few days ago.

They had seen the kiss at the end of the fight but they had not expected this!

The two of them were going at it, bumping and grinding, kissing and touching,

The two were in their own little world, no worries, no inhibitions.

“I want some of that” Bryn said without any deeper meaning behind his words but Armani's eyes flashed with glee.

“All you needed to do was ask” Armarni said before pulling out an ornately decorated silver metal case from his pocket.

Flipping it open, Armani revealed it to contain several pills of different colours strapped to a velvet liner.

“If you want the same as Alexa then take the blue one, but if you want something extra special, well, then I can only recommend the one with the little golden star” Armarni said before pointing to ones he was offering.

Bryn took a step back in hesitation, He wanted to take one but at the same time, he was worried about what would happen if he really did take one, and this was something that Armani could clearly see.

Armarni held out his hand and held his shoulder, “you can trust me, you'll be safe” Armarni said before patting his shoulder reassuringly.

Bryn hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take the blue pill but he wavered just as he was about to take it.

He had decided to trust in Armarni so he might as follow it through to the end.

He took the golden star and popped it into his mouth before washing it down with the rest of his drink.

“HaHaHa, you made a good choice” Armarni said before leaving him back to his seat.

“Now listen here, you've got about 15 minutes before the pill kicks in so have a seat here, order a drink and chill out until it takes effect, but when it does, get ready for a wild ride” Armarni said before walking away to enjoy the party.

Bryn lent back into the chair and waited for the pill to take effect.

The minutes passed and as they did the chair seemed to get deeper and whilst the stress and worries in his life seemed to fade.

After ten minutes Bryn felt like a new man, he felt calm and collected, happy and excited, he felt like there was a bubble of energy within him just waiting to explode.

He didn't even lose his smile when he recognised Trey's girlfriend and the rest of her team bearing down on him.

He even smiled at them when they drew their weapons with rage filled eyes.

Whether it was the pill or his true feelings, he trusted Armarni.

It had been a week since he felt this way.

Since he felt safe.

The bouncers came down upon Trey's Girlfriends group like a tide, they swallowed them up and threw them out of the club without its patrons even knowing,

He was safe and best of all, they were playing his beat.

********************************************************************************

Bryn awoke the next day with a smile on his face and weight on his arm. The night was wild and the party long, the alcohol was great but the drugs were even better.

It was exactly what he needed.

Bryn Went to cross his arms behind his head as he lay on the bed, but there was something resting on his right arm.

A Smile arose on his face as he peaked below the quilt that the girl had used to hide from the morning sun.

The girl struggled against it in her sleep but he was able to pry it off her and was amazed by what he saw.

“Kim” He softly whispered as he questioned the reality in front of him. “...but wasn't she with...” And as if to answer his question, he heard a noise from the kitchen of the apartment he was in and watched as Alexa walked out with a tray in one hand.

Although he wasn't concentrating on the tray, as Alexa was wearing nothing but a lace thong.

Alexa strutted over and sat on the edge of the bed, placing the tray to his side.

Everything may have made sense the night before when they were all high on pills and booze, but now that he was sober, Bryn had so, so many questions, but in the end all he could come up with was “I thought you were gay?”

Alexa gave a coy smile, “I don't like to label what I am but I'll tell you this, If I see something I want...I'll take it, now eat up, we need to get some energy in you for round 6” She said before walking back towards the kitchen, a sight that may have been even better than the view when she came over.

Bryn looked over to the side and saw Kim's white eyes under the quilt, “And what about you?”

Kim pulled the edge of the blanket in whilst snuggling closer, “have you ever head the saying 'Forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest” she said before going back to sleep.

Bryn took the silver cloche off his food and gave a toothy smile when he saw the thick and juicy bacon sandwich.

“Best night ever” he said before biting into the sandwich.

***********************************************************************************

It was a few strenuous hours later when Bryn was able to find Armarni out on a balcony that overlooked the entirety of Rosewater, he was sat on a lounge chair in nothing but a dressing gown, an espresso in one hand and the news projected holographically in the other.

Bryn sneaked up behind him before putting him on both his shoulder to make him jump, Armarni cursed out as he spilt a little bit of espresso on his dressing gown but Bryn didn't care, he sat down opposite to him before pouring a large drink from the jug of water on the water and downing it in one.

Armarni gave him an appreciative eye whilst he waited for his 'thirsty' friend to finish his drink, a knowing smile on his face.

“I take it you had a good night then?” Armarni asked almost rhetorically as he knew the answer, but if he didn't, the wide smile on his face would have painted a clear picture.

“I don't know what that pill was that you gave me, I don’t really care, I wholly endorse it's sale, that thing should be sold at every club world wide” Bryn joked before patting Armarni leg repeatedly in excitement as his thoughts drifted back to last night.

...And this morning.

Armarni shook his head and thought back to the conversation he had with Bryn a couple days ago, about how 'Bryn knew the shadier side of society'.

“Bryn, those are already sold in basically every club worldwide, you just have to know where to look and who to ask” Armarni said before taking a sip, Bryn's expression now displayed a 'no shit?' display in response.

“Anyway, you're giving the drugs too much credit, the girls would not have come back with you if they didn't find something about you that they liked, they make you have a good time, not miracles” Armani said with complete belief but by the way Bryn shirked back in his seat, he didn't.

“Maybe, but they definitely helped, I thought it was going to be a long time before I got to enjoy myself like last night, because of you know” Bryn said before gesturing to himself, his identity.

Armarni shook his head in denial, “I'm not going to say that they didn't help, but I think you're discarding the feelings of Alexa and Kim too much”

“What do you mean?” Bryn questioned as he did not know where Armarni was going with this.

Armarni shook his head at his new friend and was realising for the first time that in some areas, Bryn was a bit out of touch with society thanks to everything that had happened to him in the past week.

“Bryn, we're Heroes now, magic wielding, gunslinging bad asses that are about to be send to the ass end of the galaxy to defeat evil and protect the innocent”

“I know” Bryn said as if it was obvious but Armarni just shook his head as Bryn still hadn't realised what he was getting at.

“Bryn, Do you even realise how many Heroes die on their first mission?” Armarni asked with complete seriousness and it was then that Bryn realised what he was getting at.

“I know that you have been through a lot in the past week but for most of us, the time until we go on out first mission is a countdown, and at the end of the count is a person flipping a coin, deciding whether we live or die” Armarni explained and Bryn couldn't help but agree, he didn't know when but at some point, his view on the world had changed to simply being happy if he lived through another day.

He never had the time to worry about whether he would die during his first mission, he just wanted to make it to it.

“I don't know about everybody, but I am going to live my life to the fullest whilst I still can, it’s the reason why 'Hell's Banquet' gets as crazy as it does every year, because it might be the last time they ever get to celebrate like that”.

Bryn thought on Armani's words and agreed with it for the most part, a little smile appeared on his face as he thought about something, “Do you reckon that applies to Alexa as well?”

Armarni thought about it before chuckling, “Alexa, nah, she and her family have always been known to have strange views on life and death, Next week probably never came across her thoughts last night” Armarni said before chuckling, Bryn was going to ask why he had brought her family into it but decided against it.

On a day like that day, he just wanted to relax on the balcony, have a drink, and enjoy the company of those that would have him.

As for what happened between him and Alexa, he knew the score, they were just friends, but that didn't mean they couldn't have any fun once in a while. As for what counted as a while, well, he didn't have any other plans for the rest of the weekend.