(Song and quote above)

"So let me get this straight," Quin said, jumping out of the car. "This is an entire city for criminals?"

"Mm-hmm," I replied, slamming the door. I slipped the keys into my pocket.

"And it's under the City, the capital of a notoriously magic-aggressive city."

"Yep."

"And no one knows about it but these criminals?"

"Not true, actually. Sometimes police come down here and get a drink or meet a friend or something. There's more than one entrance. Some specifically for non-magicians."

He let out along, irritated sigh. "Right. So tell me, where are we now?"

I parked in the back parking lot of special place. It was the back parking lot, so you think it'd be empty, but it wasn't. There was a car in nearly every space, of all different colors, makes, and models. There weren't however, any people. And, with the lack of real light, being that it's an underground cavern and all, it was kinda creepy. The multi colored lights still shone brightly from the lamps on the sides of the roads and sidewalks.

I motioned, with one hand, to the black magicians hat that was painted on the back of the building.

"Welcome to Black Hat," I said, smiling. "It's kinda...a bar. But it's more than a bar too. Oh, and you're about to meet Niquie, and she's really cool. Wynnie's probably in there too. Just be ready for anything cause it'll be weird for you. Oh, and don't be real judgey cause there are a lot of magicians. I can only protect you from so many people at once. Well, that's a lie, I could probably protect you from all of them, but that-"

"Hecate," Heather said, looking irritated. "We get it. Can we get inside?"

I nodded.

We slinked towards the door. When I opened it, blasts of music shot out, making the other three jump.

"Sound proofing!" I yelled. "You'll get used to it."

Inside the building, lights flashed from the ceiling and light bulbs on the floor. In the center, there was a square platform with glowing white lights. Magicians and normals both danced on the platform to Hasley's 'Gasoline'. Good song, by the way. On the far wall, a bar was set up with a single woman with brown curly hair and olive skin standing behind it. The woman was talking to a man while making a drink for another customer.

"Over here," I said, motioning with my hand.

The others followed me as we walked over to the bar. They looked pretty awkward and uncomfortable, which was kinda an adorable look on all of them. It was funny too. I really did try to hold back the little snicker that got me glares from Heather and Quin. It wasn't really little though.

I sat down at the bar.

"One of the usual," I said, smiling.

The olive skinned bartender turned to me. When she caught my gaze, she smiled.

"Good to see you again, Majesty."

"You too, Niquie."

She looked up at the others. When she only counted four, she did a double take. Finally figuring it out, she looked at me. I gently shook my head.

She nodded and turned to the back to make my drink.

"You're drinking?" Quin asked, finally pulling up the courage to sit down.

"Yeah."

"Do you get drunk after every near death experience?" Hatchet asked, sitting uncomfortably on my other side.

"It's not alcoholic," I replied, pouting. "I don't drink drink I just drink."

"Surprising," Heather said, sitting on Hatchet's other side, "considering you sound drunk half the time."

I stuck my tongue out at her.

Niquie turned back to me, setting down a drink that was a light yellow at the top and turned to a dark orange once it hit the bottom.

"Can I get you anything, cutie?" She asked, looking to my left.

"I'm good, thanks," Hatchet replied.

Niquie smiled. "Sorry, but I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to her."

Heather froze, her jaw half open.

Niquie let out a long, soft laugh, holding her stomach. "They're new to this all, aren't they?" She asked me.

I nodded.

"Well, don't worry too much, sweetheart, I already have a girlfriend. Now, any of you want anything?"

Hatchet spoke up. "I guess I'll have what she's having."

The other two nodded.

"Three more Sunsets then," she said, turning her back to us.

She was wearing the vest thing I was used to seeing her in with a white long sleeved undershirt and black pants that clung tightly to her skin.

I bent down and took a sip of the sweetly sour drink. That's what I loved about this drink. The more you drank, the more the flavor changed. The weirdest thing was it wasn't even magic. Just amazing.

"What happens next?" Quin asked me, quietly. "Now that we don't have... What happens to us?"

I shrugged, letting go of the straw I was sipping from. "Same as it would've been. You're not really free over here, so I'd suggest moving to the west coast. Or leaving the country. You're welcome to stay in New York though. Not stopping you from that one. Well, wherever you go, I can get you a job to start you off, and a house and money. I'm sure there are a lot of places that could use a Mr. Grumpy Pants of their own."

"What about you? What're you going to do?"

Niquie turned around and set a Sunrise in front of Quin, then Hatchet, and finally Heather. I watched him take the first sip. He bit back, squeezing his eyes closed and shaking his head.

"Oh my god, what is that?"

"Not magic," I said, giggling then taking another sip. "I promise."

Hatchet was shaking his head. "How can you drink that?"

"I can take it, if you want," I suggested, leaning over to snatch it from him.

He swatted my hand away. "No, I wanna finish it. It's addictive."

"Glad you like it," Niquie said, leaning forward on the bar.

"Mm," I hummed, remembering something.

I took the keys out of my pocket and passed them to her.

"Ugly beige minivan in the back," I said. "You have anything nice I can take?"

She nodded, heading into the back.

"You never answered me," Quin said, leaning back from his last sip. "What're your plans?"

"Well, I got queenly stuff to do. I'll spend the night here and then head off at noonish tomorrow."

"You're leaving?" He sounded almost surprised.

"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'. "I'm a busy person. Saving lives while studying the boundaries of magic's a full time job."

"You study magic?"

"She's like a magical genius," Niquie said, tossing me a key. "Black convertible in the back. Seats five, comfortably. Six, if you wanna, I don't know, hide a body." Her brown eyes moved to behind me. "Incoming."

I braced myself for the body slamming into my back.

"Majesty!" A high pitched voice yelled.

Wynnie's arms wrapped around my shoulders.

I saw Hatchet and Heather's shocked looks. I was waiting for them, too.

When Wynnie finally let go, she leaned against the bar and I got a good look at her. Fuchsia pink hair cut to her shoulders. She had a pierced lip and piercing up her ears. She was wearing dark eyeshadow and a black crop top. She, honestly, looked like a rebellious teenager from the nineties. But she pulled it off in an adorable Wynnie way.

"Who're the newbies?" She asked, excited.

"Oh, right, guys," I said. "This is Heather, Hatchet, which is an awesome name for the record, and Quintin, aka Mr. Grumpy Pants, aka Quin. Heather, Hatchet, Quintin, aka Mr. Grumpy Pants, aka Quin, this is Wynnie and Niquie."

Quin gave his manly nod of approval, Heather scowled, and Hatchet politely said hi to them both. Niquie gave her Niquie nod of hello while Wynnie enthusiastically greeted all of them.

Wynnie's head suddenly shot up, scaring Quin, Heather, and Hatchet. She was still for a second before a smile spread across her face.

"I love this song! I'm gonna go dance. Nice, meeting you guys, hope to see you later."

She turned to go dance.

"Hold on," Niquie said, leaning across the bar.

Smiling, Wynnie turned back and pecked her lips against Niquie's.

I took a lot not to loose my shit at the others faces, honestly. Instead, I chuckled while trying to drink. Not a very smart idea, in the long run. I almost died chocking and then ended up laughing at myself.

"Can we talk about you being a genius?" Heather asked. "Cause I have a hard time believing that."

I smiled. "Let's get going. I'll give you rooms for tonight. Oh, Hatchet, I need you for something else. Niquie, I'm taking lounge A."

"You always do."

"Oh, and where's Jacin? I wanna introduce him to Hatchet."

She smiled. "He's in the garage, like usual."

I nodded. "Thanks. Let's get going, not so friendly friends."

They scowled at me, but followed anyways. I led them through one door that lead to a hall. The walls were spotted with doors, all labeled different thing.

"What was the point in stopping there?" Heather asked, mad at me for something.

I smiled while we walked. "I wanted to say hi."

I stopped and turned to the last door on the left side labeled Lounge A. I grabbed hold of the door knob. Pure magic swirled out of me and into the brass medal. There was a click and it opened.

"Welcome to Lounge A," I said, walking in and waving my hands. "Pick a room, any room. Okay, not any room. Room one's kinda mine."

"You live here?" Quin asked. I got that he was trying to figure it out, but he could've been a little more secrety about it. Secrety? Is that a word? I don't think it is. Well, I'm gonna use secrety and I won't be secrety about it... Secrety.

I shook my head. "I bounce in and out."

I looked into the lounge I was so familiar with. The actual lounge had a red velvety couch and a T.V. with a coffee table between them. Towards the back, there was a kitchen with a fridge that Niquie restocked all the time. Just in case. There was a pantry door too, and the pantry had food in it too. It should've, at least. There was an island with a sink and a bar and a table that seated four, too.

"Alright," I said, clapping my hands, "you guys get settled in. Hatchet, come on."

"Where're we going?" He asked, suspicious.

"There's someone I want you to meet."

"Who?"

"A friend."

"Why?"

"Cause I want you two to meet."

"Where?"

"In the garage."

"How?"

"By walking."

"What is this?" Heather asked, her arms crossed. "Twenty questions? Just go with her. It's not like she'll kill you or anything."

Hatchet nodded and walked out the door with me.

"Be back in a few," I yelled before the door closed itself.

"So why do you want me to meet this friend of yours?" He asked.

I let out a short laugh. "You'll see. I promise Jacin isn't dangerous or anything. He doesn't even have enough magic to hurt you. Actually his magic can't really hurt people unless..."

"Unless what?" He asked, worried.

"He'd push his limiter to his limit."

"...oh."

I turned to the tenth door on the right, if you're coming from Black Hat, and opened the door.

The smell of gas and oil his me like a rock. I stuck my tongue out in disgust.

"Can I help you?" An echo of a voice said.

In the middle of the room, was a car, lifted a few inches up in the air by a weird machine. Feet stuck out from under the car. Stained and smudged jeans and sneakers. I didn't even know what color the sneakers originally were.

"Jacin!" I yelled, happy.

There was a clank from under the car, and my old friend rolled out, his back pressed on a duck taped skateboard.

"Majesty!"