Auric’s bedroom had become sanctuary to him over the course of the past day. He was beginning to miss his former lifestyle being able to get away with doing absolutely nothing. The room was dark, with the only light coming from the glow of his television. He pulled his bedsheets up, rustling the various candy wrappers that were littered across his bed. An epic car-chase ensued on his HD television as he reached for his bowl of popcorn. Duodem was tomorrow, which meant he’d be meeting the other Kings and Queens of just about every region at the conference.. This had stress written all over it, yet he felt great. Duodem wasn’t his favourite holiday, but it was still a fun time. The bright lights, massive feasts, and festive atmosphere was something he’d loved experiencing every year. Even on the night before the conference, he still remained severely uninformed. He had no idea what he was expected to talk about or what he was supposed to say, but even that didn’t phase him. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. He picked up the remote and flipped through channels, searching for another movie as he heard a knock on his door. Before he could get up to answer it, Galavaine barged in stumbling over. His face was unusually red and he wore a large, gaping smile.

“Aurrricccc! C’mon we’re going to the Lionsmouth tonight!”

“ As in, the nightclub? Galavaine. . . what the hell, are you drunk?”

“ Nawwww! We’ve just been having some pre-Duodem fun haha! Come on!”

Auric shortly found himself wandering the streets of the social district alongside Galavaine. Tayn, Lola, with Amie trailing behind them. Ribbons of all colors wrapped around the streetlights, while grande looking banners and sparkling lights adorned building sides and billboards. Numerous balloons were tied to nearly every structure in sight. Auric assumed when Galavaine said “we’ve”, he actually meant “I’ve”, because the others seemed completely fine.

“Lola, Tayn, how did you do all this in one day!?”, Auric asked

Lola snapped her fingers, and a transparent cube appeared in front of her. It glowed a bright blue, and seemed to momentarily flicker in and out of existence. Suddenly,within the cube appeared a lamppost, and the next second, a statue-fountain. Lola continued to cycle through the various objects before she decided on a giant billboard that read “Happy Duodem!”. She then looked around, and set her sights on a restaurant across the street. The cube rapidly shifted in a grid-like movement, before eventually sliding onto the side of the restaurant building. Lola twirled her fingers once again and the cube disappeared, leaving behind the colorful billboard.

“It’s the Artisian’s Exis! I love it so much, isn’t it great!?”

“Oh. So that’s how you’ve been doing everything. That’s quite . . .convenient.”

This had been the most populated Auric had ever seen the Social District. Hundreds of people were walking the streets, and coming in and out of restaurants and clubs. The city had an uplifting feel to it tonight, which was something Auric wasn’t used to. He smiled in enjoyment, and pondered if it was perhaps an achievable feat to have the spirits of his people like this every night.

It was only five minutes later Auric had found himself at the entrance of the famed club. The Lionsmouth. It was the largest and most popular in the city of Halford, and was even more packed than usual. Upon entrance Auric was instantly blasted by the blaring dance music and the rainbow lights. The space was large with a massive dancefloor in the middle, and numerous bars and tables divided throughout the area. Lola grabbed Amie, and within seconds they’d disappeared into the crowd of people. Galavaine guided Auric and Tayn to the nearest bar. They took their seats and Tayn let out an excessive sigh.

“What’s even the point of me being here? I don’t even drink. You should’ve just let me stay at the castle. . . “

Galavaine began to laugh and put his arm around Tayn, who grew noticeably uncomfortable.

“Tayn my friend! I don’t care if you drink apple juice! Just relax and have a good time! That’s all that matters tonight!”

Galavaine eagerly ordered drinks for the three of them and moments later, the bartender returned. He placed a large glass that contained a reddish-orange liquid in front of Galavaine, and plopped a glass of apple juice down in front of Tayn. The man handed Auric a glass filled with an unrecognizable bright-blue concoction.

“Even the King huh? How’re you guys doing tonight?”

Galavaine engaged in small talk with the bartender and the two exchanged laughs. The man was burly, with a hardened face full of scars and scratches, A large beard occupied the lower half of his face and atop his head rested a brown bandanna.

“You do understand how important tomorrow is for you right?”, Tayn said to Auric.

Auric gazed towards the ceiling, and pondered the question for a moment.

“It may not seem like it, but I do.”

“Then how are you able to be so relaxed? So carefree? That conference could change our City, man. I’m not saying it’s your fault but we’re still not in a good place right now. The city’s in the same state as it was months ago when Preston went M.I.A.”

“Jeez man, you seem to care about this more than I do. I’m relaxed ‘because I know things will work out when they need to. This city's been here for decades, and I’m sure it’s seen far worse. Times of war and bloodshed, in an era where people didn’t have the luxuries we do. Up’s and down’s have their place in well, everything. Look around man. See that? Despite this city being the way it is, in this state. . .. people are still able to keep good vibes and enjoy themselves on a night like this. It’s almost magical. ”

Auric took a sip of the mysterious liquid that occupied his glass..

Far off across the dancefloor, sat Amie, with a mug of coffee, and Lola, who opted for a glass of water. Amidst the storm of pulsating lights and the sea of people, they’d somehow found a table for themselves. It was hard to converse due to ear-shattering music erupting from the stacks of speakers nearby, so the two had to yell. Despite not speaking to each other very often, the two felt close being the only women that currently worked under the Kingdom. Amie found that Lola’s over the top, bubbly personality exhausted her, but she was friendly and entertaining to speak to. That alone made her worth having as a friend.

Among the dozens of people walking about, Amie spotted an exceptionally handsome man begin to approach. He grabbed a wooden chair from another table and sat across her. He adjusted his blue tie, and rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. With emerald eyes he looked at Amie and smiled.

“Hey, I’m Nate. Nice to meet you!”

Lola suddenly rose up and giggled

“Well, I’m going to go dance for a bit! See you in a bit!”

Amie thanked Lola in her mind, and introduced herself to the man.

“Great night huh?”, he asked.

He shifted over a few chairs until he was next to her.

Tayn and Auric stared at Galavaine, who didn’t really seem like Galavaine at the moment.

“Auricccc man. Did’ja know Preston had a girlfriend a while back? Yeah, that’s right. He did. She was realllyyyyy hot. Being a king sure gets you anything am I right?”

He slapped his knees and buckled over, Hysterical.

“Yeahh he’s being cut off for the night”, said the bartender.

He collected their glasses and briefly left. Auric felt a little guilty, as it’d been an hour since he took his first sip of whatever was ordered forhim. He never touched the drink after that.

To Auric’s surprised, Tayn smiled.

“Hey well, at least this doesn’t happen often right?”

The two laughed with each other. They’d connected over the course of the past hour and Auric was grateful to have another someone he could call friend. He spun his barstool 180-degrees and glanced about their surroundings. In the distance he spotted Amie, who looked unusually happy. Next to her was. . .a guy? He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t under a spell or in a dream before grabbing Tayn’s attention.

“Dude, check that out!

“Whoah”, Tayn said, unable to think of another suitable response.

“Well, to be fair, that guy’s probably only known her for like ten minutes or something.”

“Yeahh must be”.

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

Nate was proud of himself tonight. If he had the extra arms, he’d give himself a pat on the back, or even a hug. He wasn’t exactly sure how he did it, but he’d stolen this young woman’s heart. Captivated her. He’d get to keep his face tonight. Thoughts of the praise he’d receive when he brought her back swirled about his head. He let out a pleasant smile and decided to seal the deal.

“So, want to head back to my place? It’ll be fun.”

Amie cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“To. . .do what?”

“Ah you know, just. . . hang out. Maybe watch a movie or something.”

She considered it. It wasn't often she had the opportunity to be in the presence of graceful guys like this. However, tomorrow was Duodem, and there was the conference.. She’d receive a lot of heat from the others if she were a no show, and she was certain there was still work to be done.

“I’d love to, but I’ll have to pass. Give me your number and maybe some other time?”

“Haha. . . . the funny thing is. . . .it has to be tonight.”

What am I saying? Why did I say that?

“Um. . . why is tonight so important?”

“Ah, well. The night just feels. . .right, for this kind of thing, you know what I mean?”

“For what kind of thing. . .?”

Amie’s infatuated, carefree persona and quickly defaulted back to her bitchy and defensive self.

This was free!. What the hell? Why? I totally had this. God damn it. She was into me right? RIGHT? SO WHAT HAPPENED?

“Please?”

“Sorry I’m going to go. I had a great time talking to you though! Happy Holidays.”

Amie quickly stood up and turned to leave, when she felt a cold hand tightly grip her wrist and pull her back.

“Sorry babe, you don’t have a choice..”

Man,what is wrong with me. . .

Nate briefly flashed a knife, and nervously smiled.

“Hey Tayn, looks like they’re leaving!”, said Auric

“Gross”

Galavaine erupted with laughter and jumped off of his barstool, nearly falling over.

“Guysss. Let’s follow them!”