Evening

New Eos

The city New Eos was popular for its bright streets and dark secrets. The glow from the buildings and the hover cars below lit up club fronts and scraped the dark off the alleyways' cement.

A hovering limo hummed quietly as it crept to a stop. On the outside stood an incredible skyscraper, the very top of which disappeared into the night sky.

Inside the vehicle, an older gentleman gritted his teeth and struggled with a lighter under his cigarette. 

“For the last time, it’s not just for show,” he stated frustrated.

Across from him, a young, beautiful brown skinned woman sat with her legs folded and her cheek in her palm as she gazed out the window.

The man continued, “The FarRunners see themselves as not just above the law…but even more powerful than all of the Acuti crime gangs combined.”

*Spkk*

The lighter ignited a tall flame and the man relaxed as his cigarette became lit.

“So with that being said, if they call for all Acuti heads to attend some party, then we attend the party. End of story.”  

The woman turned her head toward the man with her eyes squinted, “It just seems a bit sudden. What other purpose could this party serve other than being a show of power? And all of you “men” tuck your tails and come running when they call.”

The man sighed and took another hit of his cigarette.

“You're missing the point. In this world there are those who have power, those who are foolish enough to oppose them, and us who are wise enough to do what needs to be done to survive,” he stated assertively.

“So please, for the sake of the Red side of Acuti Family, look dazzling, close that mouth with a smile, and most importantly…don’t get us killed,” he finished, crumpling his cig in a nearby tray.

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes.

The man exited the limo and held out his hand for her to take. She smacked it away and exited on her own, pulling her shawl around her shoulders aggressively. The two walk along the red carpet to the luxurious entrance of the building. The woman stopped abruptly as she looked down to see two men dressed in black laying on the ground. Her face changed from confusion to panic.

“Are…Are those the security?”she asked, terrified. However, before she could get an answer, she heard a loud cry of pain.

“ARRRGgggh!”

The woman looked down to see her partner crumpled on the ground and a light blue electric current faintly crackling around his body.

Tap Tap Tap.

She turned around to see the beautiful, blue haired girl that Kai met previously as part of the Saints. She wore a stunning lapis blue dress with accompanying heels and her hair was styled beautifully into a bun. Her expression was deathly calm…almost cold.

“Who…are you?” she asked nervously.

“The ones with strength," a voice answered from behind her.

The woman turned around just in time to see a palm flowing with electricity cover her face.

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The asian boy from the Saint’s group and the girl in the lapis dress exited the main elevator and entered the fiftieth floor of the building. They walked into a massive ballroom. Anyone with working eyes would admit it was a marvelous sight. 

Large, woolen, red carpet covered the floor from one end to the other. Massive golden chandeliers gleamed and sparkled in the roof lights as they dangled. In the back of the room there was a huge flight of stairs that led upwards to the second floor.

“Ughh…How pretentious. Do they think bedazzling a room is going to cover up how ugly they really are?” The boy stated as he was being seated at a nearby empty table.

“Focus, Nico” The girl stated as she took her seat as well, “This mission is too important to mess up. Arch’s counting on us.”

“Yeah, Yeah I know,” Nico stated while accepting a glass from a waitress who was walking nearby.

The girl sighed once more.

Nico pulled on the collar of his tuxedo. He hated formal clothing with every bone in his body, but wouldn’t deny that he looked great in it. He finished his drink and looked back at the girl, his face more serious and his eyes now focused.

“So, how many in the building?” He asked her.

“Four in here, Six on floor 2, five on floor 29 and seven more on the roof.” She informed him.

“Can you get them all?” 

“Not likely. Too much interference with the wind drafts on the roof to try and be that precise.” She responded.

“Oh well…Guess we’ll deal with that problem when it gets here then.” Nico replied, sighing and closing his eyes. He reopened them slowly as he looked at her.

“Knock em.” 

“On it.”

Suddenly, both of her irises glowed a light gray and her hair floated upward slightly.

“Emunah, Decrescendo.” 

Several seconds passed, then her eyes slowly returned to normal and her hair fell. She nodded towards the boy.

Music began to play lightly from the speakers in the roof of the room. Everyone rose from their seats and began to pair up and dance.

Nico rose from his seat and extended his hand towards the girl. 

“May I have this dance, tense one?” He asked mockingly.

“What? No! And I'm not tense!” She stated firmly.

“Myra, we need to blend in. This is supposed to be a covert mission, remember?

“I said no.”

“ I bet you would say yes if it was Archamed…” Nico said with a sly grin.

“Shut Up!” Myra exclaimed while blushing. “Fine. Let’s go.”

The two left their seats and moved to the center of the room among the other guests. They began dancing together in perfect synchronization and moved with the crowd.

The song, Khan’s Poison Lily, was a very familiar ballroom classic among the 'upper class' of Astia. Even Myra, who was typically disgusted by all forms of secular compositions, had to submit that it was an excellent piece. 

“ It’s been ages since we’ve danced in a place like this,” Nico remarked.

“At least this time it’s our choice and not some publicity stunt for The Court,” Myra replied.

 Nico laughed, “Isn’t that the truth!”

The two were silent for a moment.

“So My*, about Arch…” Nico started.

*Myra’s nickname*

“The plan will work Nico.”

“It’s not about that. Do you think he;s really going to be okay?”

Myra’s eyes lowered slightly with sadness.

“It’s too late to worry about that Nico. We’re the reason he has to do what he does.”

“The way things are now…it’s killing me on the inside. Even Mina and La are shaken.”

Nico looked at Myra and realized that her irises were glowing gray and she was fighting back her tears. He pulled her into his chest and held her close.

“Of course, even I know…this has been hardest on you.”

She did not respond as her tears streamed down her face.

“It’s not too late My…”

She looked up at Nico, eyes slightly reddened but focused.

“Do not disrupt the mission, Nico.”

He was shocked for a moment, but then surrendered a slight smile.

“You really do love him, huh?”

“That’s..”

“Good Evening everyone.”

Myra and Nico turned with everyone else in the room to see who was speaking. A slim, middle aged hispanic lady stood dressed in a red sparkly dress held a microphone in her hand. Myra was disgusted by the amount of makeup she wore on her face as she proceeded to dry her own eyes .

The woman continued, “Please join me in welcoming our host for this evening, Henry Daffodil!” 

The room erupted into applause as a stout man dressed in a tuxedo and monocle descended from the second floor. As he walked down the stairs he grinned and waved at everyone.

Nico’s irises glow bright sapphire as he watches the man.

“Target sighted. Apprehension in progress,” Nico stated while slackening his tie.

He cracked his knuckles and Myra interlocked her hands and closed her eyes as if to pray.

“Don’t allow any interference.”

“As if you have to tell me,” she responded.

In an instant, he disappeared from sight, leaving nothing but a trail of blue electricity in his wake.

“Good Evening all, it is a pleasure to be among some of the most brilliant and influential men and women in all of New Eos. Look at you all! Beautifully dressed and equipped with an attitude fit for festivity,” Mr. Daffodil began. The crowd cheered at the words he spoke. He held out his hand and chuckled to ease the applause.

“Now, the FarRunners are grateful for your attendance. And I'm sure that many of you are eager to hear of the purpose of tonight’s gathering just as we are eager to share.”

He continued, “However, let us first enjoy the fellowship before we get to business. With that being said, a toast to N-”

“Emunah, Sforzando!” 

FShoooosh!

A bundle of air swirls and bursts outward from the center of the crowd, sending people, tables and other objects flying in every direction. Several people screamed as they were tossed away and toppled over each other. Myra stood in the center of the impact, unharmed and unbothered.

Dozens of disoriented persons slowly struggled to their feet unsure of what happened. Others looked on in shock at what they had just witnessed. The four bodyguards in the room rush to circle Myra and instantly draw their handguns.

“I mean…I wouldn’t do that,” a voice says from across the room.

The bodyguards turned to see Nico with his arm around the host’s shoulder. Henry Daffodil looks up at him in shock, not aware of when he got there.

Nico smiled smugly, “But hey, Don't let me stop your fun!”

They turned toward Nico and aimed their guns. Nico’s smile expanded to a grin.

“Oh by all means,” he started as he squinted his eyes “Shoot.”

The guards became visibly frustrated as they lowered their weapons.

Persons in the room began to mumble with panic in their voices and soon the sound of chatter filled the area. Nico leaned over and whispered to the lady in the red dress. She nodded her head and handed him the mic.

“Hey now, I thought the Acuti gangs were supposed to be organized” Nico greeted them. Everyone looked at the young Saint. Some with uncertainty, some with anger.

Nico grinned. 

“Incredible, this must be every SHF officer’s dream. All of the scum of Neo Eos united in one building.”

He continued as he descended the stairs with the host.

“Drug lords, human traffickers, smugglers… we’ve got all kinds of clowns in here. To be honest, from where I stand, I see a bunch of forgotten gangs clinging to the FarRunners for relevance.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“But hey don’t worry. I'm not a cop or anything. I make it my business not to deal in the affairs of lowlives. I have, however, tipped off the local authorities of this gathering and fed them some very… incriminating evidence.”

Nico held up a cellphone. On the screen there was a police badge emblem with a red exclamation mark flashing on its center.

“Happy run folks,” Nico mocked, tossing the phone to the crowd. An unexpecting man in the front fumbled as he caught the phone and looked down at the screen. He began to yell and many others after him. 

Immediately, everyone in the room bolted for the exit. Individuals threw each other to the ground in a desperate struggle to get to the elevator. Persons fell over the rails of the emergency stairs in their escape. In minutes the entire room was clear.

“Seems like the circus is empty…minus one clown.” He looked down at the host who was sweating nervously beneath him. 

“Wait, this doesn’t have to get …” Henry started.

Suddenly, more bodyguards bursted into the room and joined those who were present before.

“FREEZE!”

Nico sighed.

“These idiots dude. My, if you would be so kind?” 

Myra was leaned up against the wall behind the group of guards with her arms folded. Her eyes were closed as she raised her right hand towards them casually.

“Emunah, Forte.”

A blast of wind bursted out from around Myra’s arm, slamming into the guards and throwing them across the room. Several of them were knocked out by the blast and the remainder layed injured on the ground.

Nico’s eyes widened as he sensed something disturbing. He dashed away from the host in a trail of lightning. As he moved, he narrowly dodged a sword slash. He skidded over to Myra’s side as she leaned off the wall while her hair rose into the air as her eyes changed.

“Hmm, who are you now?” Nico inquired.

The duo looked up to see a tall asian man with a ponytail dressed in a black suit. He was elegant indeed, but was most impressive was the sword with the neon-green blade he was brandishing. Nico looked at the blade and frowned.

“Hey My, is that …” he started.

“Yeah it is.” Myra stated, aiming her palm toward the man.

However, to both their surprises, the man sheathed his sword on his back and turned to face them.

“We’ve been expecting you, Saint.” The man said to Nico.

Nico squinted his eyes as they glowed a bright sapphire. 

“Is that so?” he questioned.

“We have something you want. You’re here to take it. What you might not know, is that we actually have a mutual goal. So perhaps we can discuss this peacefully?”

Nico raised his eyebrow. He looked over to Myra.

“It seems they know our intentions. Should we engage anyway?” Nico whispered.

“I'm hesitant about cooperating with Blinded…but that’s not our call to make.” She stated as her hair fell.

“Contact Arch, he’ll decide the move from here. Besides, I want to keep my eyes on the Cursed item.”

Nico sighed and his irises faded back to black.

“Very well. You want to talk? Start talking.”