The welcoming party was a bit more chaotic than Jaid expected. While it did have the word ‘party’ in the name, Jaid was expecting a friendly dinner. Rowdy didn’t even begin to describe it. The noise levels were off the charts, but everyone but her seemed to be having a marvelous time.
All the members and staff were there, but that was it. Unlike the earlier lunch, there were no outside citizens, not even the others only staying here temporarily. This was it, the bunch she’d be spending the rest of her life with if the Central Peace never managed to dismantle this group.
Jaid was doing her best to ignore them for now, focusing on the mountain of food in front of her. This time, everything was served buffet style, so she’d stacked a few plates with as much as physically possible. While the meal was delicious, the constant irritating noise around her was making it hard to enjoy.
She eventually gave in and observed the merriment around her. Most of them had divided into groups, but there were a few solo flyers like herself. One college student was attempting to study amongst the ruckus, the poor soul. The Witch, Ahvra, was sleeping on top of a table. From what Jaid knew about her, she had undoubtedly been forced to attend, and no one would dare try to wake her.
Nathym was also off in his own corner, tinkering with one item after another. There was quite a pile in front of him of gadgets and gear from people asking for modifications. The leashed woman from earlier, Kaizu, was now tethered to a table, but seemed to have free reign otherwise. She seemed to have even less interest than Jaid in consorting with anyone else.
The giant woman, Itsy, was challenging anyone to an arm-wrestling contest that she could, but got few takers after the first few squashed hands. Even Jaid couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of her name. The butler, Mallea, was ignoring everyone entirely and only making the rounds to replenish refreshments. Her new ward, Crucion, appeared to have the night off and was mingling rather well.
Several others had formed a gaming group with handheld consoles Jaid had never seen before. Kada, Niloy, Rusa, and Rezin, whom everyone was already calling Rez, were part of it with a few others. They had briefly been playing a competitive game, but dropped that quickly after Rusa destroyed everyone. Now, they were playing something more cooperative.
Xard, Gatrim, Deborah, and Andi were all hanging out together as well. It seemed like an odd grouping, but they appeared to be having a more casual discussion over dinner, only with Gatrim throwing out eccentricities now and then. If she got the motivation to mingle, she’d probably try with that group. She may receive objection from Gatrim, but perhaps she could smooth things over with him a bit. Another enemy around here was the last thing she needed.
The group that worried her the most was Phon, Roque, and Chorus. They were huddled together off to the side. She didn’t know they were discussing, and they were constantly taking breaks to leer at the others before whispering amongst themselves some more. She feared they were plotting something, or maybe scheming, or perhaps… even conspiring. It all scared her, and of course, Chorus was filming the entire time.
Lastly, there was Tize and Nachi off at their own table. The workout from before had somehow bonded them, quite the opposite of what Jaid experienced since she was now overly wary of Nachi. They were having a drinking contest, both getting sloshed and then drinking some tonic that Roque had given them to quickly sober up. They’d occasionally call Niloy over to increase the potency of the alcohol they were drinking, to the point that they were nearly passing out with a single sip.
The party continued for about another hour. Jaid had more than eaten her fill and somehow found herself getting roped up in the shenaniganry of others. At one point, Itsy had tried to lift as many people as possible, so Jaid had ended up in a giant ball of bodies, stuck somewhere in the middle. When there was no one left to lift, Jaid was forced to make several clones of herself.
After others realized how much she was eating, an eating contest was called for. The old couple who ran the kitchen were more than happy to oblige with ample food. There had been about 15 contestants to start, but it came down to Jaid, Kada, Itsy, and Chorus.
Surprisingly, Itsy had been the first to drop out, with Kada shortly behind; disqualification via vomiting. It was obvious then that she’d been converting the food to liquid in her body to store it easier, so she was doubly disqualified. Jaid decided to surrender when she was nearing her breaking point after seeing how Chorus’ expression hadn’t changed in the slightest. It was bewildering how someone who had worked in a profession that detested overeating would be able to consume so much.
Jaid was eventually recruited into the video game group, claiming that they needed another person to make the teams even once they went back to competitive play. She’d had little experience with games, always forced to play for others amusement similar to this. While she wasn’t terrible at them, and even found them a bit engaging, she had always assumed it was expected of her to let the party win. She resumed this mentality, just playing well enough to fly under the radar. After enough matches, she actually put in some effort and managed a win for her team, claiming her victory as an excuse to stop playing.
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She didn’t know how many outfits she’d been forced to showcase in Chorus’ impromptu fashion show. When she slumped in the chair after she managed to escape, she was just happy to be back in her regular clothes.
Drim Drazah slumped down next to her, but he hadn’t been so lucky. He was still in a kilt and a scarf of rags that could barely be considered a top. Somehow, he had become her stalwart companion in all this. Anywhere she was dragged, he was also there, subjected to the same torment.
It was even worse for him as he never got a chance to settle with any group before someone else was pulling him away. In a way, she felt for him. It was obvious he wasn’t a social person, but he still went along with everything without complaint. Sitting next to her now for a few moments was probably the biggest rest he’d had so far.
“Seems you could use a break,” was the first thing Drim had said to her the entire night. Even when he was clearly so worn out, he was worrying about her. It was annoying, but Jaid couldn’t help but nod.
“Well, I promised I’d pay you back, so here it is. We need Ahvra awake for the orientation, but for some odd inexplicable and not at all convenient reason, we’re out of energy drinks to keep her conscious. Would you be so kind as to run into town and get some for us? What kind doesn’t matter, just any you see.”
“I’d be happy to!” Jaid perked up from her exhaustion, but was still wary towards the genuineness of his request.
“Thanks so much for doing this, Jaid! We’ll see you when you get back from the store,” Drim said loud enough for any prying ears to hear. Now back at a volume only the two could hear, “Feel free to take your time. We’ll wind this down when you get back, so no need to rush. Now I’m off to… ugh, I think they’re starting karaoke. You should get out while you can.” Drim got up and walked away with a smile.
◆◆◆
As Jaid waited for the cashier to slowly scan each individual energy drink, she completely dissociated, trying to sort out her ongoing crisis. Why had she come straight here as asked? This would have been the perfect opportunity to delve into the more restricted sections of the compound. All members and staff were currently at the party, half of them drunk off their ass, and they’d stay there specifically until she returned.
Had Drim Drazah already used his manipulation power on her to make her obey without question? It didn’t feel like it, but something was wrong. She could still do some scouting on the way back, but for whatever reason, she wanted to go back to the party right away. It was just… warm. It was loud and obnoxious, the people were annoying, but it was nice for some reason.
It was a life she’d never known. Rowdiness was basically a banned word in her previous life. Meals were eaten in silence, and friendship wasn’t really an option. She’d found fun in her duties, and after joining the Central Peace, things had lightened up a little, but were still pretty formal. Everything now was so disorganized, and these people were insane. How could she be finding comfort in the company of Fiends? Something was wrong indeed.
Jaid stopped at a bench just outside the compound on her way back. Her disassociation continued as she stared up at the sky. Sadly, even though the rain had stopped, tonight was rather cloudy, so she couldn’t even find comfort in the dazzling stars. Part of her wanted to run away, the conflicting emotions of this mission too compromising for her.
She’d need to get her sword, but everything else was replaceable. If she got that, she could just hop on a bus and be gone before anyone realized. It’d make her a failure in the eyes of the CP, but right now that didn’t seem like the worst thing. Better to fail and face their ire than to lose herself in this place, right? No, that wasn’t an option. If she gave up now, all her turmoil to get here would be wasted and she’d be betraying her own convictions.
Even with that self-reassurance, she still couldn’t bring herself to move. A bit of rustling brought her out of her funk as she sat up to attention. The pet Pox jumped up onto the bench next to her. She hadn’t seen it at the party, surely to the chagrin of many, but it had found her here away from home. It pulled something out of its pouch and set it down next to her.
Jaid picked up the gifted book. It was the exact same one Pox had eaten this morning. She flipped through it. It was a different copy without her hidden notes, but there was no way he could have known about that, right? He was just a little monster that had somehow been tamed, no way it could know about subtle subterfuge.
She raised a hand to pet the creature, and it moved its head in to accept, but her hand froze. No, she just couldn’t do it, and pulled her hand away. Pox looked at her with sad eyes for a moment, taking a step closer to encourage her, but she didn’t budge. His eyes got sadder, but then he darted away. Jaid could have sworn that she saw tears start to flow.
That had hurt her heart—stabbed it with guilt, even. But this was how it had to be. She had to steel herself. Any real connection made here would lead to her downfall, that was the new truth she had to accept. She’d be friendly, get close with as many as she could, but she could never let herself be one of them.
Jaid hadn’t chosen to become a Fiend, and understood that some of the others may have been forced into a similar fate. But, she couldn’t let that affect her. She couldn’t let them off that easily. Because… they were no longer human.