Chapter 59- Scarface

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Sol exited the auction and found his teammates waiting at the Blue Moon Inn.

“How’s the dagger?” Tower asked.

“Good,” Sol replied.

“You're not gonna show us?” Spike asked with a cigarette in his mouth.

“Nothing to really see,” Sol replied casually.

“Right,” Tower said, “This party?”

“Yeah, I’ll call Elora now.”

“Masks or?” Spike questioned.

Sol shrugged as he put the phone to his ear.

“Hey!” Elora shouted over loud music.

“I thought you said a small party?” Sol questioned

“Yeah I did, but we invited a lot more people!”

“How many are there?” Sol asked.

“About 70 I think, it's on the floor above my apartment. We invited other Unwanted too, there’s some people from the Dark Mages college but they’re a little weird.”

“We’re heading there now. Do we need masks?” Sol said.

“Everyone’s under oath, see you soon!”

Sol ended the call, “There’s about 70 people and other Unwanted there.”

“Really, are we safe there?” Tower asked.

Sol shrugged again. “I mean the High Temple is there- safest place we could possibly be.”

“Good point,” Tower remarked. “Lead the way.”

They headed to the teleporter and flashed to the base and then another near Elora’s place. They could hear the music as soon as they got out of a jewelry store. Tower seemed nervous.

“You ok big man?” Sol asked.

“First party, well big one anyway.”

Sol thought about the places he had been with Tower, they had been to bars and inns but never a large party.

“What’s the problem?” Spike asked.

“Nothing,” Sol responded. “Just relax,” He whispered to Tower.

They rounded the corner to see a single security guard at the lavish entrance. He opened the door without question.

“This place is nice,” Spike remarked as he glanced around. “Low-key, stylish, doesn’t smell of shit.

They took the elevator up onto the top floor which was one above Elora’s apartment. The bass of the music was pulsing through the building.

“Does anyone else live here?” Tower asked. “I’d be pissed.”

“She owns the entire building,” Sol explained.

There were two guards at the door down the hallway. When they approached, they noticed a clipboard in one of their hands. “Names?”

“The Ill-Favoured Five,” Sol replied.

“Really?”

“No,” Spike stated. “We just called ourselves that for the shits and giggles.”

“My apologies, please, enjoy the party.”

The team entered the lavish party. It was a large open room with one side completely made out of glass looking out over New London. There were two bars on either side of the room that were broken up by a dance floor. Dotted around the outside there were sunken seats where people sat and talked. There was a stretched balcony that led around the outside of the building.

“Holy shit,” Spike remarked. “Talk about daddy’s money.”

Sol caught the eye of Elora who was sitting inside a lowered seating and none other than Scarface was sitting next to her. He was chatting away to her like they were good friends. He froze for a minute, confused about what she was doing. Was she trying to mess with him? Scarface was someone Sol hated, not just of what the man had done to him during training but to others as well.

A giant hand landed on his shoulder. “Bar?” Tower asked- it was becoming his catchphrase.

Sol looked back at Elora who had already gone back to chatting to Scarface.

“Yeah,” Sol said, his tone lower than usual.

A familiar face came bounding up to them. “Hi guys!” Ozark shouted over the music.

“Who invited you?” Tower asked.

She made a confused face. “I can’t remembery,” she said, she was already drunk. Her little antennae were all over the place. Of course, it didn’t take much for the skinny insect-kin to get tipsy.

Another figure came up to them.

“Boseman?” Sol questioned.

“What? Just cause I’m a Calamity doesn’t mean I can’t come to a party.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Sol said.

Boseman grabbed Sol’s arm and yanked it into the air. “The Immortal’s here!” He yelled out.

The party all cheered and hollered which perked Sol’s mood up a bit.

“We’re gonna go to the bar, do you and Ozark want to come?” Sol asked.

“Too fucking right, it’s free drinks. I’m on my ninth pint and I’ve only been here for 30 minutes,” Boseman started with a shit-eating grin.

They were around a curved section of the bar where they could all see each other. There were far more than 70 people at the party. There were people from the Dark Mages College, Unwanted, Mages of the High Temple and many more famous adventurers.

“So Mercy decided to keep you then?” Sol asked the little insect girl.

She nodded slowly with her eyes closed. “I got moved up to Fodder and a permanent position, and full access to the black market.”

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“I saw the… The thing,” Sol said.

“Ozark’s Monster!!” she exclaimed proudly.

“Yeah, I heard it was level 90. That’s incredible,” Sol admired, it was really amazing what she did regardless of its looks.

She slumped her forehead on the wooden surface hard, “I’m sad it's gone.” She said, “It took me 3 years to build.”

“Still, to be able to build a level 90 monster is something that deserves recognition.”

“It’ll take me only a year to build another,” Ozark said. “Less if I can get funding.”

“Since you’re a part of the team now you have our support. You need something, we’ll get it,” Sol said.

“I saw the video too,” Sharp said. “Absolutely incredible Ozark. Your mind works differently to most but that is the secret ingredient.”

Boseman chuckled. “Scared the fuck out of me I won’t lie. It gave that boss a run for its money.”

The group laughed together.

“How’s Mercy doing?” Sol asked Boseman.

“A bit down at the moment. Never seen him like it. Him and the other Elders lost to the boss so he feels like he’s failed.” Boseman replied, looking at the liquid in his glass.

“Anyway,” Tower said solemnly, “To the fallen!”

“To the fallen!” The group cheered back.

“Say Immortal,” Boseman said. “That big fucking demon wasn’t yours by any chance.”

The Ill Favoured Five went quiet.

“Me? You know I don’t have any affinities,” Sol lied.

Boseman looked up and smiled without making eye contact. “Mercy assigned me to find out who it was. There was a lovely hidden CCTV camera in the building you fell into.”

Sol froze with the glass in his mouth then put it down, he looked at Ozark who was happily humming to herself- completely oblivious to everything around her.

“Ah fuck, you saw?” Sol said quietly to him.

“With my own eyes,” Boseman said, meeting Sol’s.

“You tell anyone?” Sol asked.

“I may have told Mercy, but that’s all.” Boseman said. He was a lot smarter than he let on. “C’mon, I don’t spread shit unless it’s about someone I don’t like.”

“I want to keep it under wraps,” Sol added.

“Fine by me,” Boseman said, “Let’s drink. Forget our problems.”

Boseman slapped Sol on the shoulder and smiled at him. “That prick Scarface is here.”

“Yeah I know,” Sol said grudgingly.

“We got picked up at the same time yet he’s barely in Raptor,” Boseman replied with a chuckle.

Tower laughed. “Karma’s a bitch.”

Elora came over to the group, not even looking at Sol.

“Hey guys!” Elora said, “Thanks for coming. Spike, do you fancy playing?”

Spike pulled the cigarette out his mouth, “Am I getting paid?”

Tower pulled the olive out from his drink with his teeth and spat it at the back of Spike’s head. Elora brought out a small bag of fairy dust from her necklace and dropped it into his lap.

“There’s more for you after, depending on how well you perform,” Elora stated.

Spike checked his mohawk. “It’ll be the best performance of your life.”

“Just nothing too metal ok?” Elora said.

“First rule of being a bard- Know your audience,” Spike said as he stood up.

“Do you guys want to come and dance?” Elora asked.

Boseman laughed. “Maybe, Lady Evegrand- maybe.”

“You couldn’t move those big feet even if you tried.” Tower said.

“I have it in the beginner tier,” Boseman protested. “Dwarves can’t dance anyway.”

“I can,” Tower lied.

“Sureeeeee,” Spike added.

“See you guys there then,” Elora said and hurried off into the crowd.

Tower turned to Sol. “You alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, yeah- all good.” he responded, “Spike, can I have a cigarette?”

The pink mohawked man pinged one over to him as he took out a fancy guitar. “You guys just sit and watch, there’ll be women all over me,” he said, cockily.

The group rolled their eyes and Sol got out of his seat to go outside for a smoke. He went through double doors and ended out on the balcony overlooking the city. It was night, and the lights from the city made the view something to remember. Although it didn’t reflect his mood. He was sour, which Sol rarely felt.

He pulled out an old lighter and lit the cigarette in his mouth. He looked back in the party to see Elora drag Scarface up by his arm onto the dancefloor. He turned around again and took a long drag of the cigarette. He was not a smoker but understood the pleasure and stress-release of it.

“So much for treating her with respect,” Sol muttered, rekindling what her father said.

He felt a furry hand grip his forearm; it was Kara, “Hey,” she said seductively.

Sol turned to see she was wearing a silver dress that hugged her figure. She wasn’t wearing glasses like the last time. She looked much hotter than before. Still, he wasn’t interested- not at the moment anyway.

“Hey, how you doing?” Sol asked.

She had a drink in her hand and seemed a little drunk. She stroked his forearm lightly. He sighed internally.

“I’m good, thank youuuu. Nice night tonight,” she said as she got closer while stroking his biceps.

Sol flicked the cigarette away, “I’ll see you inside.”

He turned and walked inside, Kara was going to say something but decided not too. She glanced at Elora inside who looked back at her with a concerned face. Scarface moved in front and grabbed Elora’s hips.

Sol arrived back at the bar.

“Are you sure you’re good?” Tower asked caringly.

“Yeah, just fancied a smoke,” Sol replied casually. He had just removed Elora from his memories, he never wanted to become attached anyway.

A few female adventurers came up and sat next to Sol, he turned his back to face the group more. He still wasn’t interested.

Back on the stage, Spike was climbing up it after a song. He recognised the band, they were an inner city lot, performing for the elites. They were a great band and their lead singer was a female merfolk. They were often great singers, their amphibious body gave them excellent control over their vocals.

“You’re Mohawk right?” the merfolk asked, “You play down at the Ox’s Head.”

Spike put his finger to his lips. “Oath remember?”

She nodded. “An oath is an oath. What can I do for you?”

Spike cracked his neck. “I should be asking that question, can you guys follow along?”

She glanced at the large band behind her who all nodded their confirmation- they knew he was good. “Sure,” she said, “This is a big one for us so don’t fuck it up.”

Spike smiled with the cigarette in his mouth. “I like your arrogance,” he said.

He hooked his guitar up to an amp on the stage and then poured a strange liquid onto his mohawk. He tapped the microphone a few times and double checked his guitar. His voice turned into an 80s rockstar by the time he spoke into it, shocking the band behind him.

“How y’all doing tonight!” Spike shouted in an American accent.

The Ill-Favoured Five all internally cringed at what he said.

The party hollered back.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Spike, one of the Ill Favoured Five. Elora Evergrand kindly asked me to perform tonight so give it up for the lady of the house!”

A spotlight pinged onto Elora who waved back from the dance floor. Spike pointed to his hair and she fired a blue ball of fire at it. The pink mohawk lit up in blue flames catching everyone’s attention.

Spike put a cigarette up to his hair and put it back in his mouth.

“Now, are you guys ready to rock!”

“Yeah!”

Spike started strumming his guitar, the band behind him knew exactly what song he was playing.

The group back at the bar all watched as their member became an overnight sensation in 20 seconds.

“You know,” Tower said. “For how much of a prick he is, he knows how to get a crowd going.”

“Those trousers really show everything,” Sol said, staring off into space.

“That’s the first thing you noticed?” Boseman questioned with a grin on his face.

Sol smiled at the joke and tried to ignore a female adventurer rubbing her ass against his back. He couldn’t catch a break.

Even Mute was watching Spike, she seemed to be happy being with the group even though she never spoke. Most guys avoided her, the white cloth around her eyes seemed to put off most men. Of course, she looked fairly attractive even though she wore ragged clothing like Tower and Sol. The team often let daring men come up and speak to her as a joke which she didn’t like. They were soon all turned off by her aura when she flared her killing intent on them.

Most people had got on the dancefloor now as Spike was putting on a show. The flaming blue hair and music grabbed everyone’s attention. Kara came back up to them even more drunk.

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