As Vincent and his friends were led through the Rising Red, he couldn’t help but feel a mixture of guilt and excitement. On one hand, he could be brought to the obelisk and he accomplishes what he set out to do. However, on the other hand, he could have accidently led him and his friends into a death trap.

Normally, most people would be as scared as can be, like Eliot was, but Vincent wasn’t too phased with the idea of being led into a trap. He was confident that he could get out of any situation, especially with his new powers. The two things that he could always count on in his life were his natural gift of athletics and his impossibly good luck—which he had used to outrun the many law enforcement officers. With all of that going in his favor, he was sure that he could get out of anything that the casino could throw at him.

Eventually, the group was brought to an elevator that looked inconspicuous and just like the rest of the elevators in the casino. As a matter of fact, two average-looking gamblers just walked out of it, seemingly without trouble.

See, Vincent thought, there’s nothing to worry about. We’re just being led to the obelisk.

When everyone was in the elevator—Vincent, his friends, and the receptionist—she closed the doors and pulled out a strange-looking key. She inserted the key into a slot that rested right below the buttons and turned it. She then pressed 3 0 8 4 on the buttons and twisted the key even further. As soon as she did, many different clicking and mechanical sounds could be heard all around them.

After a few seconds of listening to those sounds, Vincent saw the wall behind them open up, revealing another small room, much like the one he was in. The receptionist made her way into that other room and motioned for the group to follow, which they hesitantly did.

The moment he entered the room, Vincent could quickly tell that it was just another elevator, exactly like the one that they were just in. The only difference between the two were the buttons on the wall. Instead of floor numbers, they were blank, with the only difference between each button being their color. One was a matte gray color, one was a shining silver, one was gold, one was a crystallized clear color, and one was an amethyst purple color.

After the door closed behind them, the receptionist pressed the matte gray one, and then turned to face the group. As soon as the elevator began to move downwards, she spoke to the group with a slight smile.

“Seeing as we have a bit of time until we reach our destination, allow me to introduce myself,” she began. “My name is Livia, and I welcome you to the Setting Sun—the shadow and true side of the Rising Red.”

She then pulled out three gold coins from her pocket and held them in her hand.

“I apologize for my rudeness earlier, for I did not know that you were special patrons of the house. Please, accept this as my apology.” She then held out those three coins out in front of her. “I can only hope that the Lady of the House can overlook this.”

As she said that, Vincent could see her hand begin to tremble a bit. It wasn’t immediately noticeable, but there was definitely some shaking happening and her demeanor seemed ever so on edge. That being said, he still didn’t accept the coins, after all, he hates taking free handouts.

Zander immediately took the gold coins and began to examine them.

“Damn, I guess the rich really do get richer,” Vincent joked.

“That’s because we’re opportunists,” Zander replied, still curiously fixated on the gold coins. “I gave you a few seconds to take them before me.

After a few seconds of quickly looking over the coins, Zander looked up at the rest of the group with an odd look on his face.

“These are...real gold as far as I can tell,” he said.

“Indeed they are,” Livia interjected, her demeanor back to the way it was. “Each of those are worth their weight in gold, which is a decent amount. That being said, don’t expect this to happen again.”

Zander then looked up at her, his one eyebrow cocked up. And both him and Vincent asked at the same time “Why did you give these to us?”

After a quick glance towards each other, Zander and Vincent looked back at Livia.

“Allow me to explain this place, the reason why you’re here, and how you can get to the obelisk that you asked about,” she began.

“Please do,” Zander replied.

“As you have probably figured out, the main casino, the Rising Red, is just a front for the real gambling that goes on here: The Setting Sun. Those who have been selected by the Lady of the House, meaning the owner, are the only ones who have the privilege of partaking in the,” she paused as if she was trying to find the right word, “unique and potentially unmatched rewards of what takes place here.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The reason why this place is so secretive and exclusive is because the way things operate here isn’t exactly legal...in any country.”

“I see,” Zander began, “I figured it was something like that.”

“Well aren’t you just the astute one,” Livia said, mockingly. “But yes, things here operate only by the rules of the house, and there are only a few of them. The first is that money reigns supreme; anything and everything can be purchased, sold, and traded for money. In addition, anything that has an agreed-upon monetary value can be used to bet and gamble with. Anything.” Her expression was more serious, although it was hard to tell if it was diabolically serious or remorsefully serious.

“Now hold on,” Vincent interrupted. He was already getting overwhelmed by information and his brain was having a hard time keeping up with what he was being told. “Who the hell is making up what things are worth? Like can I just bet a rock and claim that it’s some rare moonstone or something?”

Livia smirked a bit and let out a really short chuckle. “No, no, if both parties don’t agree on the value of something, there are in-house appraisers that will appraise anything that isn’t directly cash. And before you barge in,” she said, staring at Zander, “our appraisers are always fair and consistent with their appraisals”

“Sure they are,” Zander replied, rolling his eyes.

“More importantly, there are a few more rules and things to go over before we reach our destination. The two golden rules of the Setting Sun are as follows: absolutely no cheating is permitted in any regard, including by our staff as well, and there is no unsanctioned violence allowed in the casino.”

“Unsanctioned?” Vincent asked. “So there is still allowed fighting somewhere here.”

Livia just smiled a bit and continued her statement. “Now, for arguably the most important part of this casino: the Pillars.”

“Pillars?”

“Yes, this casino is divided into 5 Pillars, or tiers, if you will. Each one allows you to gamble for higher stakes, and they each come with more and more luxuries and privileges the higher you climb. The wealthier you are, the higher you can ascend up the ranks.” She then righted herself up a bit straighter and continued her thought. “Now, the Pillars of the Setting Sun are: the Stone Pillar, the Silver Pillar, the Gold Pillar, the Diamond Pillar, and the Upper Echelons, in that order. In order to advance to the next one, you have to pay a certain amount of money to be allowed access into that Pillar. In addition, the Gold Pillar and above require a weekly fee in order to maintain membership. I should also mention, in addition to paying your way into a Pillar, you have to maintain a certain amount of wealth to your person in order to remain in a Pillar.”

“There it is, I knew there was going to be some kind of demotion system in place,” Zander remarked. “These Pillars sound great and all, but this all sounds like nothing but a scam to me,” His face didn’t hide how disgusted he probably felt about hearing money being wasted. “Ignoring the fact that this is entirely illegal and that you will all be getting arrested when this gets out, what is the point of moving up to different Pillars? Besides being able to gamble for more and more money, and a few added luxuries, it seems a bit pointless for the cost. I’m assuming there’s something more, seeing as it seems to requires an idiotic amount of effort to even advance.”

“Indeed,” she began, “I’m glad you asked. Normally, for a group like you, I couldn’t imagine that there would be anything here that would be of interest. However, because of some recent events that you seem to be a bit keen on, there is one thing that I think would interest you: a chance to view the newly acquired obelisk.”

“Of course,” Zander sighed. “How high do we have to climb in order to see it?”

“Unfortunately, only those in the Upper Echelon have the ability to purchase a viewing of it. The obelisk is something very personal to the owner, and she has taken quite an unusual interest in it.”

“And why is that?”

“I don’t personally know, they don’t tell me more than I need to know.” Her facial expression grew a bit more somber as she said that, but as her eyes met Vincent’s, her entire composure shifted right back. “Anyways,” she said, straightening up her bowtie, “I only know of its existence and how you can acquire it. Normally, something so personal to someone wouldn’t be available to others, but The Lady’s view on life has always been: Money rules the world, and anything can be bought for the right price.”

“Kinda sounds like you, Zan,” Vincent half-joked.

“Although I don’t entirely disagree with that,” Zander started to say, “she seems like an idiot who thinks that money is above the law.”

“So Liv,” Vincent started to ask, his attention shifting back to the receptionist, “how hard could it possibly be to work your way up? It shouldn't be too hard if you gamble a little each day, leave and work a bit, and then come back the next day with a little more money. Doesn’t seem like there’s a whole lot of urgency to climb up.”

Ding dong.

As he asked that, the elevator seemed to halt, indicating that they had reached their destination. In addition, as soon as he asked that, Livia’s somber demeanor came back, but that time, it didn't leave when she answered him.

“Well, there lies your issue—no one can ever leave this place.”