The atmosphere was a sensory overload, a fever dream of modern day aesthetics and supernatural excess. Todd, or at least a version of him that looked like he'd been snorting stardust, was standing on a coffee table, waving a bottle of something Kai had absolutely no idea of except it looked like a neon drink. "This party needs a ramp up! Let's fucking goooooo!"
Kai stood near the punch bowl, his usual smirk firmly in place. He reached out to pat a passing student on the shoulder, but the moment his fingers brushed the fabric, his expression curdled. Through his magical senses, he felt something oily, tangy, and distinctly rotten. It was the feeling of a used bandage soaked in lemon juice.
'What the…' Kai thought, wiping his hand on his pants. That almost felt like what he'd imagined fear to feel like, which was weird as this was a positive dimension. He shook his head and looked up at Todd. "Hey, Bro-tastic. Any chance the 'oily void' is part of the theme, or did you just forget to wash your soul this morning?"
Todd blinked, his eyes unfocused and pupils dinner-plate wide. "I have no idea what you just said, bro! But we are so down! Let's hit the sky!"
Marina, growing restless, tried to flick a simple spark from her fingers to light a cigarette. Instead of a flame, a small, squeaking bouquet of plastic flowers popped out of her palm. "What the hell?" she hissed. She tried again, aiming for a minor kinetic blast; it turned into a shower of colorful confetti that tickled Alicia's nose.
Alicia frowned as she saw the dilemma the blue eyes hedge was in, "The laws of physics here are... suggestible," she noted. She traced a complex sigil in the air for a Revelation Spell, intending to strip away the glamour and see the core she knew was hiding underneath.
The spell flared and then collapsed into a literal party trick. Instead of revealing the truth, it turned every drink in the room into a sparkling fountain of glitter, causing the students to scream in manic joy.
"I don't think I'm comfortable being here," Alicia said, her voice trembling. "Okay, enough with this bullshit," Marina snapped, her patience finally bottoming out. She turned toward the center of the room. "Kai! What the fuck are we still doing in this dump? Get us out of this bargain-bin purgatory!"
The effect of her outburst was instantaneous.
The music died mid-note and the maniac laughter vanished. Every single person in the room, dozens of them immediately snapped their heads toward Marina and Alicia with synchronized, neck-cracking order that felt very creepy. Their eyes were blank and focused mainly on both girls.
Kai didn't move from where he was, he just leaned against the wall, swirling his drink while observing the strange phenomenon. 'Well,' he thought, 'That's one way to kill the vibe.'
Suddenly, Marina heard Kai's voice ringing inside her skull: 'If you want to avoid vexing the demon who owns this house, I suggest you entertain it. It's hungry, Marina. Don't be the appetizer for the blasted thing.'
The crowd surged towards both girls and grabbed Marina's shoulders and Alicia's arms.
"Let go of me, you freaks!" Marina shouted, struggling against their grip. She looked at Kai, who was casually downing the rest of his drink, looking completely unbothered. "Kai! Help us! Don't just sit there like a decorative lamp, you sanctimonious prick!"
Kai looked at them with a stupid, mocking pout, tilting his head as if he were watching a moderately interesting play.
"You son of a bitch!" Marina screamed, her struggle intensifying. "When I get out of this, I am going to rip your balls off and feed them to a Great Cock! I will dismantle you! Kai!"
Kai's smirk didn't falter, but he felt a sudden, sharp shiver in the back of his mind, he looked around searching for where the disturbance came from, but he couldn't find anything. 'That's strange, was that the demon?.'
Alicia, her eyes darting around in a panic, realized the "rules" of the space. It was a performance. If they didn't play along, they'd be absorbed. She took a deep breath, her voice shaky at first but gaining strength as she began to sing.
Marina caught on, her survival instincts overriding her rage. She added a raspy, soulful harmony, her voice sounded grounded and gritty against Alicia's crystalline tone.
The grip on their arms loosened. The blank faced students pulled away and began to sway. Slowly, the entire room took up the melody, a low, thrumming chorus that vibrated through the floorboards and the dancing resumed.
"Huh," Kai muttered, pushing off the wall. "Nice choice. Very 'end of the world chic.' 10 out of 10 for the vocals."
In a blur of motion, Kai flickered, moving toward the staircase. But before he vanished into the upper floors, he stopped suddenly. He narrowed his eyes at a dark corner under the stairs, he stared at the patch of shadow that seemed darker than the rest, pulsating like a heartbeat only to see nothing.
'Hmmm,' he thought as a confused look crossed his face. 'So, I was just imagining it?'
————
The second Kai stepped into the upper area and stepped into the room, he wasn't alone. Josh, who had been missing for weeks now, was standing by a mahogany desk, looking like he'd been trying to build a sandwich out of pure hallucination. His eyes bugged out as he saw Kai stroll in like he owned the place.
"Well, hello there," Kai chirped. "Gosh, it's been a minute, hasn't it? You've put on a little... existential weight. It suits you."
Josh nearly dropped his imaginary sandwich. "Kai?! How the hell are you here?."
"Funny thing, that," Kai said, wandering over to a bookshelf. "We had a bit of a musical displacement. A minor chord, a major shift in reality and you know how it is. It's like a GPS glitch, but with more jazz and fewer satellite towers."
Josh stared at him, blank-faced. "What?"
"I see you've been enjoying yourself in this lovely little pocket realm," Kai continued, gesturing to the plush surroundings. "Free drinks, endless dancing, and a wardrobe that never goes out of style. Living the dream, Josh."
"Enjoying myself?!" Josh exploded, his voice rising an octave. "Please! I've been trapped here for weeks! Weeks, Kai! I practically called everyone, I left messages and none of you picked up! I thought the world ended and everyone just forgot to invite me to the funeral!"
Kai turned, giving him a calm, level look. "Oh, we were busy you see. World-ending business, you know how it is. Besides, I knew exactly where you were. I just figured I'd leave you to enjoy the peace and quiet."
"You knew?"
"Think of it as a forced vacation," Kai nodded sagely. "A place where you could truly be the Party King you were born to be. The absolute monarch of the mid-century rager." He looked at Josh's face that was now set into a look of sheer outrage, "Though, I have to say, you don't look too thrilled about the promotion. Where's the royal spirit?"
Josh looked like he was about to spontaneously combust, his face turning a dangerous shade of purple. Before he could unleash a torrent of Josh-flavored fury, Kai blurred across the room, stopping at a sleek, brown upright piano in the corner.
"Let's calm down, shall we?" Kai said, his voice dropping into a warning tone. "Let's not forget the creepy ones downstairs. They have a real 'nose' for negative energy, and frankly, I've had enough of their creepiness for one day."
At that exact moment, the door burst open. Marina and Alicia ran inside and closed the door behind them with haste, both looking like they were ready to commit multiple homicides.
"Ah, there you both are!" Kai said brightly, not even looking up. "I've been wondering when you'd both get here. Did you finish your set? I hear the audience is dying for an encore."
Marina looked at Kai, then at a trembling Josh, her mouth opening to unleash a verbal tactical nuke. But Kai was faster. He reached into the top of the piano, his fingers dancing along the internal strings until they hooked onto something cold and metallic.
He pulled it out, revealing the Fifth Key.
Alicia gasped, her anger momentarily replaced by a look of shock. "You... you found it. Just like that?"
Josh blinked, his jaw hanging open. "How the hell did you know where that was? I've been in this room for days and I didn't think to look in there for anything!"
Kai tossed the key into the air and caught it with a wink. "Call it a 'Spidey-sense,' Josh. My Peter-tingle is just exceptionally well-tuned to objects of immense power. Also, I read the room. Literally."
Marina took a deep, shaky breath, her eyes darting to the door as the muffled sound of the singing shadows drifted up from below. "Great. You have the shiny toy. Now can we get the fuck out of here? I am tired of this creepy dump, I'm tired of the singing, and I am this close to seeing if I can use a flaying spell on those creeps."
"Don't be like that, Marina," Kai chuckled, heading toward the center of the room. "But you're right. The party's over, and I think it's time we skipped the cleanup."
"Okay, great, now what? Do we click our heels together? Do we have to sing another show tune? Because honestly, my vocal cords are at their structural limit." Josh said.
"Patience, Josh. It's a virtue you clearly haven't cultivated during your sabbatical in the land of endless appetizers," Kai said, his eyes tracking the ripples that were starting to form in the air. "We are getting the hell out of here, but first, I think the party line is about to get a lot more crowded."
Without warning, the Unity Key flared with a blinding, white-hot intensity. Kai didn't flinch, but the others recoiled. Suddenly, the silence of the room was shattered not by a sound in the air, but by a cacophony of voices erupting directly inside their craniums.
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