I sat in the hotel lobby with several big bags of coins, a new notepad, and the pen that had just been invented. It was a fountain pen, and the person who invented it hadn’t come up with a name yet, so he went along with it when I called it a fountain pen. Anyway, I wrote down all my expenses in the notebook to see how much money I spent and gained.
And after a countless amount of time making sure I had everything and double checking my numbers, it turns out I had 10,551 Lucre minus 60 for the pen and notepad, so I actually had 10,491 Lucre. Happy with my final count, I poured the coins into a bag and took out ten platinums so I had a thousand Lucre on me and then was escorted down to the safe deposit boxes to drop off my money.
Once I walked back up, I walked right into the smiling face of Orrin. “Hello, Zeana! A pleasure to see you again.”
“BAHH!!” I yelped as I jumped back in surprise. “What are you doing here?” I asked, a bit annoyed.
“Why I’ve come to deliver some invitations,” Orrin answered and, with a flourish, pulled out a golden envelope from within his pristine white jacket. “Please give this to your master when you see her. And tell her to come this time,” Orrin said as I took the envelope.
“Okay?” I said hesitantly, “Why, though?”
“Because I asked nicely. And so will you,” Orrin said with a smile, then walked away, his cane clicking against the floor as he walked.
I raised an eyebrow at that almost cryptic answer he gave me and began the short ascent to the room. Haze wasn’t there when I walked in, but Yuki greeted me happily, yapping and jumping around excitedly. The twins were at school doing tests and crushing them, most likely. Cami and Scarlet had gone out to celebrate while the boys were doing whatever they did. So I sat and waited, cycling my Crucible core and expanding it.
Five hours later, Yuki pulled on my sleeve, demanding food and attention. I smiled warmly at her, “Oh, Yuki. You don’t have to pull on my sleeve to get my attention. I’ll feed you here in a minute.”
Yuki continued to pull on my sleeve. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, and she released my sleeve. I then lifted her by her scruff to eye level, glaring into her eyes. “No, biting,” I growled, and Yuki looked to shrink into herself. I put her down after that, and she laid down next to me.
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Scratching behind her ears, I heard the door open, and Haze walked in with Cami and Scarlet thrown over her shoulders. “What happened to them?” I asked, and Haze dropped them unceremonially onto the floor.
“They wrecked another bar,” Haze groaned, “It cost me all my winnings from my matches. Looks like I’m going to have to start betting on you to recoup the profits.”
“Don’t worwee *hic* mashter,” Cami said, face down on the floor and slurring her words, “We won. That’shh what mashters.”
Haze clenched her fists and took a deep breath, clearly holding back the urge to beat Cami herself. “You were wrestling a Bullwarge. And very clearly losing,” Haze said with barely controlled anger.
“We won, though,” Scarlet said in their defense to the ceiling.
“Only after I jumped in and killed the thing!!” Haze snapped.
“Umm,” I said, raising a hand, “What’s a Bullwarge?”
“Imagin a dire wolf with horns!” Haze snapped again, very annoyed.
I recoiled from her anger and said, “Okay, calm down.”
“I AM CALM!” Haze yelled, not calm.
“Then don’t yell. You’re scaring Yuki,” I countered, placing a hand on the shaking fox kit.
Haze took another deep breath and spoke through gritted teeth, “What have you been up to today?”
“Counting my money,” I answered, then remembered, “Oh, and Orrin stopped by to drop off an invitation.” I climbed up the bunk bed and grabbed the golden envelope from my bed to give to Haze.
She took it and sat on her bed before ripping it open and reading its contents. “Ha, yeah, right,” Haze scoffed before tossing the envelope aside.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s an invitation to a gala for all the teams and people making it to the tournament’s final rounds,” Haze answered, waving me off with a hand.
“A party?!” Cami exclaimed, pushing herself up from the ground.
“We aren’t going,” Haze said, scowling at Cami.
“Umm, master,” I said hesitantly, and Haze turned her scowl to me. “I was told to tell you that Orrin insisted. And a party doesn’t sound so bad,” I hedged.
“So, Orrin insisted?”
“Yes.”
“And you want to go?”
“Yes?”
Haze kept scowling at me for another minute before she sighed heavily and said, “FFFFFIIIIIINNNNNNEEEEE! The party’s after the next round of fights. Tomorrow we’re going on missions. So be ready to go.”
“Party!” Cami yelled, standing up too quickly and falling backward, hitting the ground with a loud thud and snoring loudly.
“Well, that was unexpected,” I said, and at that moment, Yuki sneezed, creating a small pillar of ice before her. I pointed at the ice, “No, that was unexpected.” And Yuki began licking the ice.