The stilted tension in the air was palpable. All three of them—Vincent, Eliot, and Fang—stood there in anticipation. The only sound that could be heard was the creaking of the ceiling, barely carrying the noise of the free people above.

The shadowy figure on the other side of the bars turned to one of the other figures flanking them and said, “Unlock the cell, I want to see who I sponsored.”

The jingle of keys resonated as they were jostled into the cell door. With a creak, the rusty cell door opened. Eliot and Fang didn’t move an inch, even with a way out finally opened for them. Vincent, on the other hand, didn’t wait a single second before walking out.

The moment he came into the dim light, Vincent saw the face of his new owner. A look of shock and disgust was ever plastered across the entirety of his face. His mouth was left gapingly open.

“Are you kidding me?” was all that Vincent could say.

Upon hearing his surprise, Eliot began to follow him out. Right behind him, Fang brought up the rear. Eliot’s face mimicked Vincent’s, but there was more joy in his. Fang just looked at both of them, eyes narrowed, and his eyebrow raised.

“Are you all just going to stand there?” the figure said. “I don’t have that kind of time—I have things to do.”

The light from the lantern swung over to the figure. As the shadows peeled away, the slightly annoyed, but smiling face of Zander was revealed. The way the light bounced off of his new clothes accentuated his playfully egotistical demeanor. The focus of the room was on him, despite the fact that his two guards towered over him.

Eliot cracked a melancholy smile and said, “I’m so glad to see you, Zander.”

Fang looked at Eliot and then quickly shot a glance over to Zander. “Ohhhh, you’re Zander,” they realized. “I’m Fang. Nice to meet you.”

“Who else would I be?” Zander replied. “And it’s nice to meet you, too.” He then turned towards Vincent. “Well, should we get going? We have a lot of stuff to do and catch up on.”

With that, they all began to walk through the stone-cold corridors of the Collider for the last time. The group was flanked by Zander’s two guards, one male, one female, and they both were absolute mammoths. They towered over everyone, except Fang, who was a couple of inches taller. Build-wise, though, Fang was nothing compared to them.

After 20 minutes or so of walking, they finally made it out of the long, twisting corridors, arriving at a single elevator. Zander motioned to one of his guards, who inserted a key into a special hole. The doors opened and Zander, followed by everyone else, began to enter.

Before the guards entered, Zander turned around and said, “Oh, you two don’t need to follow me anymore—you’re free for the day.”

They both nodded and stood on the other side of the doors as they closed. The moment the doors closed, Zander’s body relaxed and he let out a long sigh. He grabbed his head and leaned back on the elevator’s wall.

“I’m so tired,” he finally said. “But I just need to get something off of my chest.”

“What’s that?” Vincent casually asked. “I don’t know what—”

But before he could finish his thought, he was struck by Zander’s fist. In the daze from being sucker-punched, Vincent stumbled towards the other side of the elevator. Eliot immediately rushed to Zander, trying to hold him back from further violence, while Fang immediately stood in front of Vincent to protect him.

“Zander!” Eliot yelled in disbelief.

“How reckless can you be!?” Zander yelled at Vincent. “I can’t believe you actually went and did something like that?”

Vincent, wiping the blood from his nose, just looked back at him. No words.

“Good god, Vince, I can’t believe you,” Zander sighed, covering his face with his hand. “How could you put yourself and Eliot in such danger? And then you made him suffer so much.”

Eliot looked back in Zander’s eyes, which were hard when looking at Vincent, but soft when looking at him. “Zander…” Eliot trailed off.

With a sniff, Zander continued. “Do you even realize how hard I had to work to be able to save you all? And then you had the audacity to ask for this stranger,” he said, referring to Fang, “to be freed, too. Honestly.”

There was a pause, but Vincent, looking towards the ground, replied, “I know.”

Zander narrowed his eyes towards him and responded, “Do you? I told you not to do anything rash, and then you went and slugged someone just because you were angry. I know this is how you are—that’s why I’ve always liked being friends with you—but we’re not in Maryland, anymore. When will you learn that actions have consequences?”

Vincent winced a bit and took a couple of slow breaths. With sincere eyes, he finally looked Zander in the eyes and said, “I’m sorry.”

Zander looked down at Eliot, back at Vincent, and sighed. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about that now. We have to just look at the future.” He looked at Fang. “Do you,” then he looked back at Vincent, “and you think you can help me? And actually listen to me?”

“Yeah, I promise,” Vincent stated, nodding his head.

“I don’t know what that was about,” Fang responded, “but I’m happy to help. Besides, I would still be down there if it wasn’t for you.”

Eliot, still holding onto the Zander, calmly asked, “Are you ok now, Zander?”

“Yeah,” Zander replied, “I’m sorry for the outburst.”

“Nah, don’t be,” Vincent countered. “I deserved it.” He then cracked his neck and wiped the last of the tricking blood off of his face.

Ding Dong.

The elevator finally came to rest. Within a few seconds, the doors opened back up, revealing an unexpected sight. The room that was laid out before them was a small cubicle, only a dozen feet in length and width. There was a single receptionist that was seated against the wall directly to their right. On the opposite side of the room was a beautifully ornate door, covered in many clear jewels and painted in a lovely turquoise color.

Zander motioned for them to stay put and then made his way to the receptionist. No words were exchanged, just a couple of cards, keys, and money. Zander handed the receptionist a small card that looked like a credit card, in addition to a few gold coins. In exchange, the receptionist gave him two keys and typed something into their computer.

After a few minutes of waiting in anticipation, the receptionist asked a few questions, which Zander answered. Vincent couldn’t hear anything that was spoken, but he did see the result. Zander smiled, shook their hand, and turned back to the group.

“What was that about?” Fang asked.

“Oh, that?” Zander replied. “That was me wasting my hard-earned money on you idiots,” he chuckled a bit, although there were some hints of serious annoyance to the way he said it.

“The hell does that mean?” Vincent questioned.

“Why don’t I show you?” Zander answered.

He then strutted forwards, towards the door. He tapped his card against a reader that was mounted to the door and it beeped. As soon as it did, the decorated door slowly swung open.

Light immediately filled the chamber, and Vincent's eyes were filled with an overwhelming sight. What lay beyond that door was something that even Las Vegas would be envious of. The room beyond was gargantuan—mind-boggling in size.

Every inch was incredible and wonderful. Art pieces hung in precise locations, where the dazzling lights would only accentuate their beauty. The floors were lined with the cleanest marble tiles, and the ceilings dangled down the most elegantly bejeweled chandeliers.

The one thing that everything seemed to have in common, even the rooms that were connected to the main hub, was how clear everything was. There was not a single ounce of color in the lighting, which was almost impossible to comprehend. In addition, there were glass panes and glass vases and glass...everything. Even the sculptures were made of glass.

Zander then turned back towards the group and announced, “Welcome to the Diamond Pillar.”

“Woah,” Vincent and Eliot said at the same time.

“I can’t even fathom how much this all costs,” Eliot said in awe.

“This place just looks cool,” Vincent nodded.

“What are we doing up here?” Fang asked Zander.

Zander placed his hands on his side and stood proud. With an egotistical grin, he answered “Because I live here.” He then reached in his pocket and pulled out three different ID cards, which were a shiny, gold color. “And now you all do, too.”

Vincent and Eliot turned around with the same surprised face. They both snatched the cards out of his hand and looked at them. Eliot smiled and thanked Zander, while Vincent looked confused.

“What’s this?” Vincent asked, flipping the card over a half-dozen times. “Some kind of credit card? I don’t need to be in any more debt.”

Zander chuckled. “It can be,” he answered. “But it’s much more than that. It’s proof that you belong in this pillar. It’s your means to get around, it’s your means to play games and gamble, and it’s essentially your everything. It’s really important that you don’t run off and lose—”

Vincent started to take off in a dead sprint towards the nearest slot machine. Before he could take more than a few steps, he felt his arm yanked back, keeping him in place.

“What did I just say?” Zander questioned, looking like a disappointed father.

Vincent looked down, his eyes showing his pseudo-guilt. “I just wanted to play some games,” he mumbled.

“Mhm,” Zander said, releasing his arm. Turning back to the rest of the group, he addressed them, stating, “Like I was saying, you need to all take care of them. It’s a pain to get new ones and it’s an even bigger pain to have someone use your lost card, impersonate you, and spend your money.”

“I think I get it,” Eliot said. “I’ll take care of it like my life depends on it.”

“It kind of does,” Fang quipped.

Eliot rolled his eyes and smiled.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way,” Zander started, “why don’t I show you around?”

He then marched forward, gesturing for everyone to follow him, which they did. He led them through the main lobby of the Diamond Pillar and through the various different rooms.

The Slot Room had hundreds of different machines, making every sort of sound possible. The Card Room was behind closed doors, so they didn’t get to really see it. The hotel rooms were down a hallway that they passed. Zander remarked that calling them “hotels” was a vast understatement. He mentioned that most of them are practically the size of Vincent’s house back home.

The Ballroom was currently active and full of people dancing in the most exquisite attire possible. Every ear was pierced and had at least 3 gems drooping from them. Constantly bringing the rich dancers more drinks were people that were dressed in waiter uniforms, but with one important difference. Each “waiter” had a thin metallic circlet wrapped around their neck.

Those waiters were talked at with a level of disrespect that made them seem less than human. Even so, they obeyed the orders and continually served drinks and food to the guests that they seemed to serve.

The sports room was a humongous restaurant that circled around a glass circle in the middle. Every barstool was made of glass and embezzled with some kind of bling. There were TVs of impossible sizes plastered along every wall, each one showcasing different sporting events.

When Vincent peered down through the giant glass circle, he saw that there was some kind of metal structure below. It looked like a bunch of metal poles and platforms that were connected in various ways. It was hard to make out any details, though, because it was so far down and dark. Vincent, his curiosity now peaked, ran up to Zander and pulled on his shirt.

“Yo, Zander,” Vincent started to say, “what’s that for?”

“Good eye, Vince. That,” Zander answered, looking at the glass circle, “is something I was just about to bring up.”

“Oh really?” Eliot added.

“Yes,” Zander affirmed. “That is the sight of one of the events in the Omnia Challenge.”

“What’s that?”

“Omnia, to put it simply, is probably the most important event that goes on in this casino, at least for now.”

“Why’s that?” Fang asked, jumping into the conversation.

“Well,” Zander started, pulling on his collar to loosen it, “it’s because it involves winning the one thing that the Diadems haven’t figured out how to monopolize in this casino. Not only that, but because the prizes are so sought after, it brings a lot of people from all over these upper pillars to it. And because of that, the amount of money gambled here is unmatched.”

“Oh wow, you really know your stuff,” Eliot complimented.

“I guess, haha,” Zander awkwardly laughed.

Stepping in front of Eliot, Fang raised an eyebrow and asked “So what are these prizes that are so sought after.”

Zander took a deep breath and looked over to a man with a thin metallic band around their neck. “A deed,” he answered.

“A deed?”

“Yes, a deed that entitles me to something that I’m going to need.”

Fang just raised an eyebrow. Eliot then jumped in, asking, “And what are you going to need that for?”

Zander quickly glanced around, his eyes darting to each and every person that was around them. He then looked back at the group and softly said, “That’s not something we can talk about out in the open. I’ll let you know later.”

“Oh come on, at least—”

“So how are we gettin’ this deed thing?” Vincent interjected. “I’m tired of all these questions and small talk.”

Zander coughed. “I agree,” he said. “Let’s head back to my room and discuss it.”