The Suburbs

The stairs creaked with each step of the woman, drawings and splashes of paint went from the walls to the steps of the stairs. Rory looked down at the city a few feet away. The environment was surrounded by orange and green lights, Rory rested his hands on the worn railing and looked carefully at the environment.

"Despite the smell…" She grimaced. "It's nicer than there."

The region was different, messier than the city, neon was present everywhere. Graffitied walls, hair in the most diverse shades, clothes in an absurd mix of colors. It was a huge burst of information, but it wasn't unpleasant. In fact Rory thought she was much nicer than Kiori.

The crowd began to move, a little boy running through the crowd. He jumped up and yelled in the middle of everyone.

"The Dockz are coming!"

At that moment the light of the entire city went out, Rory frowned. He expected to hear screams of fear, or people telling everyone to run, but everything that happened was just the opposite. Everyone was excited, told to look up, she could see the shadow of pointing hands. From afar, she could see points of light in the sky, along with the sound of music getting louder and louder.

The lights came on, but only a few, the lighting was purple making the neon stand out. Rory looked down at her own wrist to check the bracelet, but her expression became even more confused. There was a green handprint there. She ran her hand around, trying to remember where it had come from.

"What…" Before she could think of something else, she felt someone grab her by the waist and pull her up.

The princess's eyes widened, the bracelet turned into a rope and wrapped around the neck of the person holding it.

She looked down and noticed that she was several feet off the ground, her feet on a piece of metal. She lifted her face and looked at the person holding her, it was a woman.

"Hey, hey. Take easy. We're a few, several, feet off the ground." The woman smiled, the wind blowing against the long black strands. "Just enjoy the welcome from the suburbs! At the end of this wonderful tour we'll be in the Four Deaths" Her tone was amused, and the damn smile didn't seem to leave her lips.

"People in this damned town have the unfortunate habit of touching others without permission." Rory pulled the rope. "Let me go and then take me to the Four Deaths." His words sounded like orders.

"Our methods are not the best!" She paused for some doing, making an exaggerated and thoughtful face. "But I thought you already knew what to expect." The woman looked around and a pensive expression dissipated, in its place an awkward smile took over. "Well, if that's what you want, I'll grant our esteemed guest's request."

The woman released Rory off the metal platform, the rope gone from her neck causing a feeling of relief. She waited to hear screams from the other, but nothing came. She looked down only to see Rory sitting on top of what looked like a cloud.

"I don't need the useless tricks you guys use." She smiled and waved at the other, her gestures were calm and she kept her gaze on the other. "Come on, I don't have all day."

The woman looked speechless, she shook her head and said nothing. She focused her eyes on the sky in front of her and began to guide the princess to her desired location. Neither of them spoke during the ride, Rory didn't feel like talking to the people there.

"The Four Deaths" The woman pointed to a huge building, that was a huge explosion of colors. "Thanks for my kindness would be nice."

"As far as I remember I didn't ask to pick me up in a crowd of people." The cloud that Rory was sitting on went towards the ground and she came down. "Bringing me here was the bare minimum."

She looked at the people and noticed that most of them were people who had come from other nations. All had a handprint on their bodies, Rory turned to the dark-skinned woman and held up her scarred wrist.

"Don't worry princess... leave with water! We need to differentiate the tourists authorized to enter the party. From the curious ones."

"Like you guys have a lot to hide."

Rory looked at the two big men standing in front of the door, she walked towards them, the two didn't even move. Her expression turned ugly, no one was allowed to bar her entrance.

"Polt she's the little princess who threatened Decor in front of everyone."

"It was a friendly warning." She corrected the woman.

"I don't even want to imagine what your threats are like." The two men opened the door and Rory walked into the bar.

The sudden change in temperature made Rory stand still for a few seconds, in addition to the environment being extremely hot, it was completely dark. The only lights there were dim and colorful, the strong smell of booze and something sweet was the biggest hallmark of the place.

"Lindyz! My golden bird has returned with our esteemed guest!" A tall, thin man approached the two. "Liev came and he looks a bit in shock, go see him. I'm going to entertain our guest."

Lindyz smiled at Rory and walked away. The princess was starting to regret having gone there, those people just seemed to be crazy. She thought they might have something useful in all that chaos.

"The whole town has heard about your arrival, it seems Kiori's Council didn't make you very happy... although people say that Telfy intends to seal deals with the Council. Your sister was coming with a proposal, but she was replaced at the last minute."

"If you came to state the obvious I will withdraw." If it was to hear the same as the gossip or the idiot councilor himself, she would have stayed at that damn festival.

The man seemed to sense the woman's intent and took a step back.

"I, head of the suburbs, Lian. It is my great pleasure to welcome the Thirteenth Princess of Telfy." He bowed to the woman. "If your Highness is interested, I'd like to talk about a humble project... something that could jeopardize the production of Kiori's energy cores."

The princess opened a simple smile. She crossed her arms in front of her and moved a little closer to the man.

"Tomorrow one of my guards will meet at the entrance I entered through, give him a folder with all the information. Before leaving Kiori I'll give you an answer."

Rory was young, but he wasn't going to accept any proposal without first knowing the details. He was already risking enough going here. His hatred for the council was great, but he wouldn't let it get past his reason.

"Of course... we just have that the Princess might regret if she accepts the deal too late."

"I don't usually regret it."

The man smiled and raised an arm pointing in the direction of the bar.

"I hope you enjoy your evening, after all since you're here... why not have a little fun?"

Rory didn't speak anymore, she just headed towards the bar. The environment was practically empty. Most of the people there were employees. From the confusion outside, they would only release the entrance later.

She sat down on a bench and crossed her legs, looked at the menu on the counter. The names of the drinks were strange, she didn't know any there. It was better to stay in the water.

Her eyes roamed around the room, on the wall next to a huge drinks rack was a poster, People in this place really liked things over the top.

In the center of the poster two people were fighting, ink splatters randomly all over the paper, an extremely large and stretched font.

"Come watch the best championship in the suburbs. Foreigners are extremely welcome, registrations from the 9th."

On the 9th everyone would have returned to their nations. Only those who had scheduled meetings would stay.

"He's crazy if he thinks someone will stay just for that." She doubted people knew about that kind of competition.

"Looks like Lian was wrong, he thought you would accept the proposal in the first second." She heard Lindyz's voice and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not first in line, but I received the same education as my sisters. I will never accept a proposal without reading it."

The brunette placed a glass in front of the princess, Rory frowned and glared at Lindyz.

"Drink, it's the specialty of the house."

"I don't take drinks from strangers." She pushed the glass away from her and placed it in front of Lindyz.

The woman seemed not to care about the princess's comment. She just shrugged and drank what was in her glass.

Rory heard a loud sound coming from the entrance, turned her face and saw the doors being opened. A crowd of people began to enter. Most there didn't look like the typical diplomats she'd seen at the festival.

The atmosphere started to take on a shy party aura, people seemed afraid to really let loose. They had already gotten there, it was just a party.

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