Luckily, he didn’t explode and aether seemed to come much easier to him than before. As he zipped through the evening streets of Trianon, he realized that he hadn’t actually asked how Granny was doing. That had to wait. His stiff body crashed into the cobblestones of a side alley and he quickly got up and ran as fast as he could. If he pushed himself over the rooftops, he would be found out within seconds. So tried to fuel every step with a push of aether. Because he wasn’t able to fly anymore, he got lost many times but was still able to get to the back alley of the restaurant at last. He sighed out in relief when he heard the pompous voice of some noble presenting his poem.

“At least Vincent got one noble to join the poetry competition.”, Res muttered. With a hardened fist, he banged against the grate and a small voice answered.

“Yes, Sir Elite palace guard. Look, I told you he would come.”

When Res pushed the grate aside, the face of Brent emerged from the shaft. A gigantic smile spread across Brent’s face when he saw him. “Sensei!”

As fast as he could, he clambered up the ladder and hugged Res. “Sensei, I have missed you so much. Where were you? We have been attacked by the elite palace guard!”

Memories of decapitated bodies resurfaced in his mind as he stroked Brent’s dirty hair. “I wish I was there to help.” No excuses. There were none.

“It is what it is. They killed lots of our members, though. Morale is running very low.”

“How many are left?”

“About one thousand.”

Res’s jaw dropped and Brent laughed. “We have a new system. We can’t feed as many, so we have outer members who have to prove themselves. Inner members who get food but also more dangerous jobs.”

The system felt eerily similar to that of a gang, but Res kept his mouth shut. “I have expanded the ‘young revolution’ to the prostitutes. You will establish contact with them at Bard Lane 45. Exchange messages through the food vendor who has a stall at that address. Get someone to write down all the important information you have gathered and make plans for more communication channels. Do you still have enough potions for raids?”

“Yes, sensei. We already managed to burn down a warehouse and nine carts full of supplies.”

“Excellent job. Make sure you don’t burn down the entire city. I need to leave now and I hope that I can send you more money soon.” To the great amazement of the two boys, he downed a potion and turned to them. “Do I look different?”

Their scared faces told him that the potion was working as intended and he laughed. With a wave to Brent, he pushed himself into the direction of the restaurant and onto its wall. To his surprise, Orson had actually built and place the four enormous cook pots in the garden. A wooden facade around each pot and basic walls provided privacy and enhanced the appearance.

“Bro, how the fuck did they actually do it? Is Orson’s second name actually Bob the Builder?”

When his gaze roamed the entire perimeter, his jaw nearly dropped to the ground. The entire building was stuffed to the brim with people. Hundreds of fine young nobles were standing around a podium in the middle of the bottom floor. A table next to the podium was populated with the most prestigious poets and poet teachers of the court. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw young members of the royal family as judges. When he realized that he was in plain sight of everyone present, he dropped down.

“Bro, that Vincent guy sure knows how to get a crowd. Those must have been at least three hundred nobles. The freaking second floor was even stuffed full.”

A quick look at the bouncers had sufficed for him to realize that he would not enter without a ticket. With a sigh, he made his way around the block to enter from the other side. When he entered the side street that led to the entrance, an enormous queue of nobles, servants, and rich individuals greeted him. Some of them were shouting at the bouncers at the door to finally let them in. All in all - The atmosphere was tense. Walking past everyone waiting in line wouldn’t play out nicely, he could see that already. As inconspicuously as he could, he passed the first noble waiting in line. His actions provoked an enraged shout, but he only sped up. He tried to ignore the angry shouts and general ruckus as he passed one noble after another. One noble further down the line had noticed the ruckus and stepped in his path.

“You don’t get to play like that.”

Furiously, he tried to think of an explanation and settled on the most likely one. “I coming to help the owner out.”

The noble leaned forward and hissed. “You ugly faced bastard. Stop playing around. You are the dirt on my boots and I am slowly questioning the ability of the guards to get rid of filth in this area.”

Realizing that he couldn’t get any further, he screamed at the guards. “I know your boss. I have trained with him and he would be spitting mad if I were to be turned away.” The guards stared at him blankly and called out: “You aren’t the first one to try that!” The fact that he wasn’t able to get into his own property bugged him. “Tell him I am from the warehouse.”

It seemed like the guards knew Orson’s training center and they exchanged looks. One of them vanished into the door and came out with Orson in tow. Nobles around him shouted about buying a ticket for four gold and Res took the chance to pull up his shirt which revealed the scar on his stomach. Finally, it clicked in Orson’s mind and he motioned for all the nobles to stop.

“This is …” Orson raised an eyebrow and looked at Res who finished the sentence. “… an employee.”

“Yes, yes. He is an employee. To my deepest dismay to you lords and ladies, we are already stacked full and I can’t sell any more tickets.”

After entering, Orson guided him to a side door that led into the kitchen. Tens of cooks were prepping small strips of fresh fish and pastries. In the middle of this chaos was Arthur artfully instructing his employees like a true head chef. Orson poked at his nose and asked. “Soo, why did you get a masking potion with that face.”

“You can feel it?”

“Everyone above C+ with some instructions can feel masks.”

“I didn’t choose the face, I got it from a friend. By the way, Arthur is in his element.”

“I have never seen him this happy.”

“How did the renovations go? We had to loan an extra two hundred gold from the carpenters to finish on time. The cost includes a built-in heater and a system that allows us to empty and refill the pools. First, we asked for one silver, but with all the demand we got up to eighty silvers. The musician you got is ecstatic about playing for such a crowd and your friend Vincent has some serious social skills.”

Res smiled and dropped two ‘lesser booster nuts’ that he had prepared in Orson’s hand. “You did an impressive job. Get someone to decorate the nut and get a nice case. I can envision the competition taking place regularly. It will be called: The golden nut.”

Orson grinned and pocketed the nuts. “We only have enough money for some gold paint and a small box, but it will work. I will delegate it to one of my men and taking bouncer duty myself.”

Res didn’t want to disturb Arthur in his element and so instead went into the cramped ground floor. Currently, a long-haired noble was singing about a ‘flower peddle in the wind’. With a bit of jumping around, he spotted Xenia and Serafina surrounded by hundreds of nobles, including Antoinette. When he had squeezed onto a propped-up table at the back, Res turned his attention inward.

“Jason, let’s have a contest. I have improved my aether control quite a bit and I bet that you won’t be able to prick them from here, but I can. Let’s do it one at a time.”

Jason adopted a deep voice and said. “Oh oh, Jotaro. You’re Approaching Me?”

Res could feel the minuscule push of aether from Jason and, a second later, Serafina slapped her hand to her neck. “Bro that counted, right?”

“Didn’t get their attention.”

Res tried to grab as little aether as he could hold, and when he had caught a firm hold, he lessened it. His attention narrowed down to a fine pinprick of concentration and … Suddenly, a foreign aether pulse shot through the left shoulder again. Outraged, Res sent feelings of betrayal to Jason.

“You sore loser. I didn’t think you would be that kind of person.”

“There was nothing in the rules about not shooting multiple times.”

As if to hammer the point home, Jason shot off a barrage of pinpricks that finally made Serafina turn. He hadn’t thought of what to do when it would actually happen, which was stupid in hindsight. So, he formed a heart with his hand next to his chest. That might have seemed inappropriate because Serafina put her right hand on her sword. Serafina whispered something in Xenia’s ear, probably about a pervert at the back of the room. Xenia whirled around and stared at Res, who smiled and waved. When she mouthed his name and he answered with a thumbs up, she made as if to go to him then and there. Luckily, Serafina held her back and whispered something in her ear to which the princess nodded. The lackeys around the princess threw questioning glances at him, but he acted like the poems had enraptured him.

When each participant had read their version of the poems, Vincent got up onto the stage. He cracked some of his lame jokes until the judges came to an agreement and the winner was announced. The winner, a sixteen-year-old boy, was brought up to the stage and Vincent gave him a red satin box. The young noble took the small box with such reverence as if it was his life’s achievement. When the noble opened it, it revealed a golden booster nut inside. In his normal cheerful attitude, Vincent announced that the lottery to win the other nuts would happen at midnight. There was general cheering and the new bar was overrun with people. Res watched in fascination as small drinks sold for tens of silvers. He could already hear the sound of money raining down in his head. Xenia didn’t seem to care for the famous musician Lee Barrett or the drinks. Instead, she made her way over to him. Res tried to motion for them to meet later, but Xenia seemed determined on her path. At last, Res gave up and sat down dejectedly.

Xenia curtseyed in front of him as if they had never met before. “Nice to meet you. May I inquire your name?”

Res motioned at the sycophants that were following the princess. “I would love to talk to you, but did you have to do it with those guys following you?”

Xenia’s grin when she heard his voice made him forget his objections. “What part do you want me to play? I was playing the part of an employee.”

“You could be a relative of Serafina?”

Serafina opened her mouth and closed it again, but Res ignored her. Somehow, he knew that bothering with Serafina wasn’t a good idea when the last time he did, he went mad. With Antoinette in the lead, the sycophants arrived one by one.

Antoinette turned to him with clear malice in her eyes: “Who are you?”

It was short enough to warrant a duel in court, but Res put on his most peasant-like accent. “Well, you know me and my mighty fine cousin Serafina over here are mi family. We are tied together like a mighty fine piece of sailor’s rope.”

Antoinette seemed overwhelmed by the accent while Xenia had to press her hands in front of her mouth to keep from laughing. Serafina didn’t seem to like the joke as usual. “We are only acquaintances and …”

Res interrupted her, which only made her even more furious. “Come on, Serafina, we have been rokin’ the ball for over ten years together.”

Res had made up that expression on the spot, but everyone seemed to interpret it in their own ways. Antoinette seemed askance at the perceived indecency, while the others only looked confused. Jason emerged from the dream world. “Bro, relax. Why are you such a fucking douchebag? She did nothing.”

Res thought back over his actions and wondered why he had gone on the offensive like that. His immediate conclusion was interrupted by a menacing whisper from Serafina. “I would be careful if I were you.”

She revealed a glint of steel from her blade. The threat was clear: if he were to continue, she would attack and judging by the fire in her eyes, it wasn’t a keen threat. The fact that she would attack him, broke some last vestiges of trust and admiration he had felt for her. He felt her change in demeanor as he let some of the emotions, he was feeling surface into his eyes. She backed away several steps and Res asked in a sorrowful tone: “Why do you hate me? Why do you hurt me?”

Xenia and the surrounding nobles were watching them like they were both on a stage of a bad romantic opera. Serafina’s temper flared hot, and she hissed out. “Because you shame me. I feel shame, lots of shame every time I am with you.”

His restraints and accent were now completely gone. “What is shame? A mechanism in your body that tells you you are acting against some untold social norm? Serafina, I feel it all the time.”

Her entire body shook with rage now. “Do you think you are better than me? Fine, I admit it, you fucking snake. You are better than me. That is the only thing you want. Recognition.”

Her facade cracked a bit when Res laughed. “That is the most hypocritical statement I have ever heard. You were the one to turn me down because I was not good enough. Didn’t you think that I would see your hesitation, your disgust warring with the duty to play along yesterday?”

Serafina drew an inch of steel, but she clung to the sword as if it was her only anchor keeping her from breaking. Res turned away, walked into the crowd, and called out over his shoulder. “It broke my heart, but I have gotten over it.”

Without looking back, he went into the kitchen and snatched away a bottle of wine from a barrel. He had never drunken out of grief, but he supposed today was a good day to start. He exited out of a back door onto the green backyard. With a push of aether, he propelled himself onto the roof and opened the bottle. People were coming outside and trying out the pools, but the shouts of delight only hurt his self-pitying self. The cooking wine tasted horrible, but he gulped the contents down, anyway.

“Bro?” Res didn’t react and instead chugged down the entire bottle in one enormous chug. “Bro, I speak out of personal experience. Drinking to drown grief doesn’t work. Believe me, in my world, I tried the same with harder stuff than wine.”

He continued to watch the beautiful blankets of stars.

“You can talk to her.”

“Can you please stop giving advice? I don’t need someone constantly commenting on things.”

Through their mental connection, Res felt the immense hurt that his retort caused, but he shrugged it away. Despite protests from Jason, he sank into the black abyss of his mind where emotions didn’t plague him. Pure rationality. His thoughts examined his actions and their consequences even went through possible future. He chided himself for perceived errors and questioned existence, love, and life.

Oblivious to his environment, he was sucked into the whirlpool. Faster and faster did his thoughts spin. The white glow from that entity once again enveloped him. It filled him with empathy but allowed him to drift off into the whirlpool. Res reveled in that warm, forgiving place and decided to stay. Suddenly, a cold lance of anger shot through his entire being. It seemed to shout at him: “Is that who you are?”

The warm glow vanished, the spear of anger vanished, and Res was left alone with the whirlpool. For the first time in his life, he knew what it was like to have an authoritative figure shouting at you to move your butt. “Why was he doing this, anyway? Why was he that petty?”

He gave the whirlpool a last look of disgust and pulled himself out of the trance. With a lurch, he found himself back in his body and on the roof. He was freezing cold, so he must have lain in the cold for quite long. The pools were abandoned, but judging by the splatters of water around them, they had been excessively used. Holding out both of his hands to keep his balance, he rubbed his head and went to the other side of the roof.

“Bro, are you all right?”

“I am so sorry for the things I said. I was angry at you because you were right. I love your comments even though I rarely react to them.”

The pause stretched so long that Res thought Jason would never answer. “Shit happens man. The commenting part kind of hurt, but we will sort it out.”

On shaky feet, Res went to the edge of the roof facing the side street. He came right in time to see bouncers usher out the last pair– Xenia and Serafina. Without thinking, he dropped and impacted the cobbled street in front of Serafina.

It didn’t go as planned and his hardened body tumbled around, but he stopped himself. One of the bouncers recognized him, and Res faced Serafina. “I am deeply sorry for what I have said to you. My reaction might have been my way to deal with hurt. I hope that I can make up for that.”

Simple, but everything he wanted to say. He looked up to see Serafina standing in front of him and holding out her hand. Grateful, Res took it and was surprised to receive a hesitant hug. The light form of Xenia crashed into both of them and encompassed them in a hug. “That feels so good, doesn’t it? We are back together.”

Laughter loud enough to let the surrounding air vibrate, shook the entire street. “Isn’t that cute? The reunion of someone with a high-level masking potion meeting with the princess. That is excellent information. Are you sensei by any chance?”