Chapter 46

Jay and his friends were brought directly to a back room. The room wasn't dimly lit as the other rooms were but nice and bright with comfortable cushioned seating along the walls. A low coffee table stood in front of a couch with numerous cushions, all of varying shades of blue. Across from it was a similar setup but with yellow cushions. A desk covered in paperwork stood at the far end of the room surrounded by filing cabinets. The room had the scent of alcohol and incense.

“Jay!” yelled one of the men sitting behind the desk said as he got up and took off his mask. M'tthew grinned as he walked over to Jay and shook his hand. He was wearing a black suit and his title was visible. “I'm loving these titles!”

Jay grinned and introduced his two friends, “M'redith, Aiden, this is M'tthew, he helped keep me alive on my last two dungeon runs.”

As they exchanged hellos they took off their masks and shook hands. C'nthia and Jon walked in and removed their masks. “Everything's set.” C'nthia said as she flopped down on to a couch and Jon joined her.

“Hey guys!” Jay waved from the other side of the room.

“Jay!” yelled Jon. Everyone was introduced to everyone else and M'redith held on to Jay's arm as everyone sat down.

“Thank you for the invite, what the hell is this all about though?” Jay finally asked with a grin.

C'nthia opened her mouth to speak but Jon jumped in, “We bought the place!”

C'nthia looked perturbed at the interruption and sighed. “What he said. We've been thinking about how it'd be nice to have a place we can all hang out in without constantly being kicked out. Plus, residual income is hot.” She grinned and winked as she combed back her hair with her fingers.

“Wow. You bought this entire place? Congratulations!” Jay said with a grin.

“Thanks!” they all said.

C'nthia nodded. “Walter actually got a little bit involved.” She watched Jay to see his reaction and was a little surprised to see M'redith react instead.

M'redith grabbed Jay's arm a little tighter as she winced lightly at the mention of Walter but she remained silent. Jay already knew how she felt about Walter.

Jay chuckled, “You don't say. How so? I mean if you don't mind telling me.”

Jon laughed, “Oh we don't mind, especially since it was about you anyway.”

M'tthew added in, “Walter was helping expedite things for our purchase when he mentioned we might want to talk to a man named Boland to secure some additional funding? You know him?”

Jay paused a moment before answering and looked at M'redith who shrugged in return. “Sure, he's an advisor to me for all things financial. I met him a few days ago.”

“Well we met him and he made a rather strong case for you.” C'nthia said kindly.

“What case? What do you mean?” Jay asked in confusion as he straightened his jacket.

“How would you like to own a minor share in Redgrass?” C'nthia asked Jay while watching M'redith for her reaction.

M'redith had gone still not because she was nervous but because the conversation had rapidly outpaced her ability to give advice. Buying shares in another entertainment venue, especially one as upscale as Redgrass, wasn't something she felt comfortable exerting any influence over Jay over.

“I.. would have to ask Boland first I think. I mean I'd like to own more shares in property. I was sort of poor in my old life and I'd rather not repeat that if at all possible.” Jay answered hesitantly, not wanting to offend their gracious offer. “I'm flattered, don't get me wrong, just – why?”

C'nthia laughed, “We like you? You're unique, good to have around in a fight, and have the luck of Gaia Herself at times. We'd rather get money from a friendly investor than the bank if at all possible. That way future profits help out a friend instead of a faceless bank.”

Jay smiled, “Thanks for that. I'm interested. I'd just need to clear it with Boland. How much?”

Jon grinned as he got up and walked over to Jay and handed him a sealed envelope.

Jay looked up in curiosity as he opened it. “Jay, I set this up for you. You wanted opportunities to grow your money – this is how you do it! Invest two gold. It is a decent amount and should provide good residuals as the business is already popular. -Boland” read the note.

Jay chuckled. “Good enough for me. You guys have a bank draft?”

“No need. Just send a message to Boland saying to go ahead with the investment. He'll take care of everything else.” C'nthia said with a grin. She gave Jay a writing tool and paper and Jay wrote up a quick note and closed it. Placing it in an envelope Jay handed it back to her. She went to the door and opened it.

Someone was standing right outside the door and C'nthia handed them the note while speaking to them in a low voice. Closing the door she sat back down at her desk. Moments later in walked a young woman wearing a beautiful sparkly dress. She carried a tray of champagne flutes, not to be confused with champagne glasses which Jay thought was really the exact same thing.

Popping open a bottle of champagne the server poured it and handed one flute out to each person in the room.

“To making it home alive! To Redgrass!” C'nthia said with a grin as she and everyone else toasted and took a sip. The toast sobered Jay a bit and M'redith leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

It didn't matter what she said, and Jay would never be able to quite recall it – but the whispering in his ear immediately distracted him from his morbid thoughts and redirected them in a more pleasant direction.

Desire.

Jay had one arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “I can't believe I just bought a share in this place. I haven't even seen it yet, but if you guys and Boland think it's a good investment then I trust you.” Jay said reasonably as Aiden took another sip of the champagne.

M'redith looked up at him with a pleasant smile, her cheeks slightly flushed from the champagne. Jay thought it looked good on her and smiled.

“Well now that is settled Jay, Jon, M'tthew, and myself are now the new owners of Redgrass! Congratulations guys!” C'nthia said with another toast.

Everyone drank and Jon said conversationally, “We've been wanting to buy a share in this place forever but it has never gone up for sale. We lucked out, we had the right money at the right time. Walter certainly helped as well. I won't get in to it but he's a good guy to have on your side.”

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M'tthew nodded at that seriously.

A light knock came at the door. “Yes?” C'nthia called out.

A primly dressed woman entered wearing a long dark blue dress that covered almost all of her skin save for her hands and head. She clutched a clipboard covered in papers to her chest as she walked confidently in to the room.

“We have a big problem,” she said in a raspy voice. She sounded like she coughed a lot based just off of her voice.

M'tthew sighed, “Of course we do. This thing has been covered in problems. What is it now?”

The woman looked worried but didn't back down, “You have hired too many Dungeon Room players.”

“What do you mean?” Jay asked without thinking.

“You have two groups out there that think they're running the Dungeon Room tonight. One is fine, people love watching a good dungeon run, don't get me wrong. Two though, I think they'll come to blows before one of them agrees to leave.” the woman said while glaring at the ceiling.

“What if we just pay them both?” Jon asked.

The woman gave out an exasperated huff, “You already DID pay them both! That is a problem too! They don't care about just the money though, they insist they need to show up 'for their fans' they said.”

Jay laughed and the woman turned around and glared at him. “You think this is funny?” she said. Perhaps she had already had enough for one night, regardless she had been on the brink of losing her temper and Jay had unfortunately been the one to make it happen.

Jay saw her about to get truly angry and made calming motions with his hands, “I can fix this. I think.”

“You can?” C'nthia said with a bit of shock. Although they had needed Jay's investment they hadn't actually counted on his active involvement. Seeing him willingly offer to get involved was surprising but not unwelcome.

“In that case, go for it. You've got thirty minutes before they're supposed to go on.” M'tthew said with a shrug. The others all nodded and Jay realized he had just volunteered himself.

“Ok.” he said getting up, “Just show me the way.”

Everyone put their masks back on and Aiden tugged at Jay's suit jacket. Jay looked over at him.

“You mind if I go take a look around? I'll meet you at the Dungeon Room display in 30 minutes.” Aiden asked the same way a child would beg for candy.

Jay chuckled, “Go on, have fun. I'll see you in a bit.”

Jay looked over at M'redith questioningly to see if she wanted to wander off as well. She just grabbed his arm with hers and gave it a hug. She wasn't going anywhere without him it seemed.

Another woman entered with a new problem, they were running out of a specific and popular brand of wine. Jay left that to the others as he and M'redith were escorted out of the room. They walked through a dance floor, a room with a long table and twelve seats surrounding it, a gorgeous wood paneled room with soft lighting and a long bar down one side, and others until they were finally deposited in a room with a stage up front.

On the stage was a giant dungeon room table. The wall behind the table was a giant screen where the table's fights would be projected on to with the help of an illusion mage. Mages of that type were in great demand throughout the city for various entertainment related jobs. They were popular at music concerts as well being able to act almost as a loud speaker system for the artists.

M'redith walked over to the Dungeon Room table and inspected it casually as Jay went to find someone to speak with.

Two figures immediately approached Jay and he assumed they were the group leaders for the two Dungeon Room teams hired for that evening. Jay was the only one in the room with the title “The Masked One” over his head and it had become common knowledge by that point that “The Masked Ones” were the new owners.

One of the figures was a slim but well muscled woman with blond hair and blue eyes. The other was a man shorter than her but wider as well, brimming with muscles. They began arguing their cases before Jay could even get their names. He let them go for a moment before he spoke up.

“Silence.” he said almost too low for them to hear him, but hear him they did. They went quiet not wanting to anger their mysterious employer. “There has been a change in tonight's program.” Jay said with a smile which his mask hid. “Who sets up the Dungeon Room table?”

An older gentleman wearing glasses waved from over by the table, “That would be me?”

Jay chuckled, turning away from the two figures that had approached him and towards the older man. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

“Oh. Telling. Excuse me.” the man answered while extending his hand to Jay, “I'm X'vier. What can I do for you sir?”

“How long does it take to set up the table?” Jay asked him as the other two angry people that had originally approached him stayed quiet while listening to the new conversation.

“Oh not long, maybe 5 minutes, why?” X'vier said as he took off his glasses and used his shirt to wipe them clean.

“I'm looking for a dungeon. Straight shot. Three rooms. I want two copies of the dungeon, side by side. Can this table do that?” Jay asked.

X'vier nodded, his wispy hair flopping about as he did so. “Sure, I can just mirror them.”

“And what about players, can it handle ten players, five per dungeon copy?” Jay asked as he glanced at the two people listening to their conversation.

X'vier continued to nod, “Uh huh. Easily.”

“And,” Jay said thoughtfully, “can I give you details of a dungeon and have you design a fight around it?”

X'vier appeared to become confident for the first time, “I'm quite skilled with a Dungeon Room, Sir. I can do almost anything you ask.”

Jay nodded and led X'vier further away from the original two people he spoke with. Once they were far enough away to not be overheard Jay began to list off what he wanted to see. Once he was done he gave X'vier a pat on the back. “We good?” he asked.

“Yes. I'll get to work right away, Sir.” X'vier said with excitement as he went back over to the table and began to move things around. Jay wasn't sure if it involved magic or skills or what but he didn't care as long as it worked.

“You two,” Jay said as he went back over to the waiting pair. They stayed silent as he walked back over to them. “You asked for a solution and here it is. You will both fight tonight, but not as you usually do. You will both fight the same dungeon, at the same time, side by side, in front of everyone. A race - the first to defeat the final room is the true winner.”

The two's eyes went wide at the same time and they seemed on the verge of arguing but Jay raised one eyebrow and that appeared to be enough to keep them quiet. They both nodded and immediately left to return to their teams.

Jay returned to M'redith's side and offered her his arm which she took with an almost hidden smile. “Want to go dance for a bit while he sets things up?”

“Oh yes! Can we?” M'redith almost begged in delight.

Jay led her off back through the various rooms until they found one with the live music and joined some of the others dancing.

“Oh my Goddess I know what this is!” Jay said as they danced to the beat. Jay knew a little bit of ballroom dancing along with some square dancing and a few others thanks to high school gym. Dancing had been a required class. He had hated it at the time.

“It's dancing, of course you know what this is,” M'redith said playfully as her hair went crazy as Jay spun her about.

“This isn't just dancing,” said Jay, “this is SWING dancing!”

Jay spun her again and pulled slightly on her hand causing her to twirl in to him, his arm wrapped around her.

Giving the same hand a light tug he then spun her around and back out until they were leaning away from each other, only their hands still clasped.

The live musicians played on as M'redith made high pitched sounds of delight as they spun about the dance floor.