Troy began to feel the overwhelming force of mana before the elevator came close to its final stop. The weight of the mana being projected caused the doors to the elevator to strain as they opened. The immense pressure pushing Troy backward the moment the doors cracked the slightest bit.

  The mana was so abundant that Troy could see it visibly. Lush golden and red energy flooded the elevator like water plunging into a damaged submarine. Troy cursed, instantly overwhelmed by the magnitude of the energy, stretching her arms out in front of her in an attempt to push through the mana.

  “By the embers of the sun, Arson!”

  Speaking nearly stripped her of the air within her lungs. At first, she couldn’t see anything but the storm of mana all around her, until her eyes adjusted to the brilliance of the energies.

  Arson sat within the vortex of storm like power made physical. His eyes were closed, but Troy felt as if she was being stared at. Arson’s face was turned toward her, and he smiled up at her, even as his tears fell from his face, instantly wiped away by the volatility of the storm around him.

  His crown was vibrating fiercely above his head, drawing in not the energy of the storm of his own mana, but instead strands of various colors of mana could be seen drifting toward its center. The manifestation of his soul seeming to struggle with how much power it was drawing in.

  “You should leave, my love, I can’t seem to control my emotions currently,” said Arson, chuckling as he spoke in a near whisper.

  “Not a chance, buddy,” said Troy still pushing forward through the violent energies condensing all around her. She gritted her teeth more and more with every step forward, leaning into the mana that threatened to knock her off her feet.

  Arson looked away, nodding more to himself than in response to Troy from what she could tell. She knew Arson had difficulty showing weakness of any kind, but felt special knowing that he’d let her see the raw aspects of his personality.

  “So, is this what we are doing? I thought you would have long outgrown these tantrums of yours,” said Troy playfully, feeling as if she was on the verge of losing consciousness the closer to Arson she got.

  “Nope,” said Arson, shaking his head.

  “I just have them in my own little corner where my emotions don’t harm those around me, feels more mature, even if it isn’t.”

  “Wow,” said Troy, conjuring hard light clones to help her push forward through the dense cloud of spiraling mana.

  “You look like you just rolled around in the dump,” said Troy, getting Arson to laugh as she closed the distance; a train of nearly seven clones pushing at her back. The pressure of his mana had reduced the closer she got, not in its gravitational weight, but more the intensity thrusted upon her mind.

  “You know that once upon a time I would have thought you were less ridiculous than me, but I guess I was wrong about you, your just as stubborn as I am, if not more,” said Arson, finally opening his eyes to look at Troy. She gasped as he gazed up at her, his normally star filled irises as black as cavernous depths untouched by Cultivators. It wasn’t until that moment that Troy noticed the drifting energies that spun around Arson like celestial bodies traveling around a black hole.

  She reached out toward him delicately, her hand trembling as she touched his face. The veraciousness of the storm dying almost immediately, causing Troy to nearly fall over as gravity shifted around her.

  She watched as his eyes returned to normal. Literally able to see the energies shaped like that of exotic planets streak through the air, reentering his eyes, returning his irises to their normal twisting spiral of crimson and mana. Troy suddenly comforted by the sight like that of a galaxy staring back at her.

  “There we are, you had me scared there for a moment,” said Troy. She and her clones beginning to check him for injuries.

  One clone went to grab him a change of clothes. As another filled an empty bowl with warm water; the group of clones walking in and out of Arson’s room, retrieving items to clean him up with.

  Troy took off his shoes and pants as a pair of clones took off his blood soaked shirt; Arson remaining unmoving as Troy cared for him.

  Sparks, buddy, you must really be drained if you’re letting me do this much for you…

  Troy could see the shame Arson felt through his gaze. His misery in that moment as obvious to her as a quickly rising tide, lapping higher and higher against her legs on a shoreline. He was ready to burst, and Troy knew not what to say that would help him in that moment.

  Instead, she wiped him down. Helped him to put on fresh clothes, and began to rub his feet, somehow feeling comforted by taking care of someone she felt to be strong. Feeling as if his weakness in that moment was for her and her alone.

  “I…” started Arson, closing his eyes as they teared up, biting his quivering bottom lip. Troy shushed him, trying not to cry herself, continuing to massage his feet.

  “We’ll talk about it later, hooligan, don’t worry, just sit with me for now, okay?”

  Arson nodded, blinking away tears. Vigorously wiping his face, blowing his nose on his blood soaked shirt.

  “Geez, what’s wrong with you, foo, you got blood all over your face now!”

  One of her clones wiped off his face. While the others grabbed pillows from their rooms, filling the hall with comfort. The pair sitting there in silence; both their minds racing. Neither knowing what to say.

  After a while Arson grabbed Troy’s foot, stripping the shoe off her, returning the massage. Troys groan of pleasure made Arson smile, causing her to look away as she blushed wildly.

  “Wipe that look off your face, and sparks, ooh, bloody embers, that feels amazing.”

  Arson began to use mana to emit heat from his hands, even managing to push his mana’s restorative properties outward, causing the sensation to be intensified.

  Troy stopped moving, completely wrapped up in the feeling of bliss running through her body. So caught up in the feeling, that she didn’t hear the elevator doors open. Her eyes now closed as she softly moaned, jumping as someone cleared their throat.

  “Sorry to interrupt, we all just wanted to check on you now that everything seemed okay on the cameras,” said Rob. Troy swatted at Arson to stop, but he ignored her, making it hard for her to think straight, let alone communicate.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Everything is okay, he’s okay, right, hooligan?” said Troy seemingly struggling to breathe.

  “Yeah, sorry, Rob, Xani,” said Arson with a nod. His eyes closed as he once more turned his face away. Troy tried swatting at him again, but he continued to ignore her.

  “Well, I guess we will leave you two to whatever this is,” said Xani playfully.

  “Yeah, don’t want to intrude,” said Khalif.

  “I do, who gonna rub my feet,” said Jasmine with a pout.

  “Yeah, I would, but Brianna would probably kill me if she found out,” said Rob without a hint of humor.

  “Bloody embers, what about you Khalif, help a sister out?”

  Jasmine put her hands on her hips, kicking her heels off, instantly becoming a foot shorter.

  “Nope,” said Khalif, looking over his shoulder toward Micro. The young Cultivator standing in the elevator doors with her arms crossed, looking into the interior of the elevator as if she couldn’t help but look away.

  “Xani, you got me right,” said Jasmine, hoping that her growing frown would break through her sister’s introverted boundaries long enough for her to get a massage of her own.

  “Sorry, I got dates to go on,” said Xani turning on her toes before strutting off.

  “Come on, seriously,” said Jasmine, looking at her last option as Xani and Micro left down the elevator. Jasmine stomped her foot, giving her best pleading eyes to the silent Lane, whose huge smile didn’t drop for a blink as she looked around at everyone.

  “Please?”

  “You should have asked me first, sister…”

  Jasmine squealed in excitement, dropping down next to Arson, pushing him over to share the abundance of pillows at his back. Even with his eyes closed Troy could tell he rolled his eyes, scooting over to make room.

  Lane sat next to Troy, who groaned as Arson stripped off her other shoe. Her eyes closed once more and before long Jasmine randomly kicked her, her own massage managing to tickle her feet as Lane worked.

  “Really,” said Troy, peeking at the blushing Jasmine through one narrow lid.

  “My bad,” whispered Jasmin.

  Khalif and Rob stood there for an awkward moment, and nearly turned to leave as well until Arson spoke up.

  “Where are you two going?”

  “Umm, figured we should get back to work,” said Khalif.

  “Yeah,” confirmed Rob. Yet Arson shook his head surprising them all.

  “Sit down, we’re on vacation, remember?”

  Both Khalif and rob nodded, stepping over the girls to sit on the pillows on the other side of Arson. Both taking off their shoes as they sat.

  After a while the silence was broken by conversation and Troy’s snoring. She’d crawled over to lay on Arson,the young man now holding her as she slept.

  “Anyone else feel like this place was made for us,” asked Rob.

  “Yeah, not going to lie but I’ve been feeling like this place is familiar in a strange way, like I’ve been here before,” said Khalif, looking around fondly until his eyes landed on the portrait of him outside his room. The image of himself sitting in a throne making Khalif feel unsettled in a way that he couldn’t put a finger on no matter how long he thought about it.

  “Yeah, makes me wonder if we could take this entire strip with us,” said Jasmine now returning Lane’s massage.

  “Why can’t we, Arson walks around with an entire apartment building in his pocket, and from what I learned from talking with his merry band of assassins in plain clothing, there’s a synthetic environment in there, they experience sunrises and sunsets and various weather changes in there too,” said Lane.

  “No way, really?” asked Jasmine sitting upright with a jolt. The young woman’s eyes shining in a way that told Lane that a new idea was growing in the depths of her mind.

  “You don’t think Arson could put this entire street inside one of those boxes, do you?” asked Jasmine.

  “Probably,” said Rob, scrolling through the holo-web on his handheld flatscreen.

  “Easy,” offered Khalif, also not looking away from his phone as he spoke.

  “Yo, do you know how much we could make selling massive portable real estate,” mumbled Jasmine in question.

  “We’d have to buy the strip from RaidCorp first, probably would have been dirt cheap before we renovated, but now, don’t know,” said Lane trailing off.

  “I already bought the strip,” said Arson, speaking up for the first time since he told Khalif and Rob to sit down. His deep voice low, but powerful enough to make them all jump.

  “What the sparks, when did you buy the strip, don’t you think that you should tell your manager when you do things like that?” asked Jasmine as she kicked him.

  “Just after we found out the entire block has a portal system linking all the buildings, don’t know why or how this place has gone ignored for so long, but I doubt even the top floor of the resort is as advanced as this place, almost makes me feel like the resort started here and was abandoned as the amusement park grew.”

  “What makes you say that?” asked Lane.

  Arson sighed, barely opening his eyes to look at Lane as he spoke.

  “You’ve been to higher floors, and it may not be readily apparent, but each floor fills a certain utility to the park as a whole, yet this hotel and the surrounding area is completely self sufficient. The only thing it was missing was staff, and we have that by the boatload with how many orphans back home want reliable jobs.”

  The girls went silent as they digested the information, before Jasmine spoke up again.

  “So, can you?”

  “Can I what?” asked Arson.

  “Add this strip to the pocket apartment space, or should we leave this here to have a foothold inside RaidCorp?”

  “Easily…”

  “Told you,” murmured Khalif and Rob.

  “Oh my Maiden, we’re going to be ungodly wealthy,” said Jasmine.

  “Really, why,” asked Lane excitement filling her voice.

  “Look, baby girl, I know that a box filled with a small plot of land that you could build up and work on is probably trivial to you with your family’s background, but you have to think about what is affordable for the fake rich, and the slightly rich, that is a market that we can grow on easily.”

  “What, fake rich, slightly rich, either you got it or you don’t, I’m confused…”

  “Geez, there is levels to this, baby girl, you gotta think outside the box, how many planets are overpopulated inside the realms? Or how many people try to live above their means, spending money they don’t really have, even worse, how many Cultivators do you know personally that see a new trend and instantly begin to compete to have the best version of a new commodity? We are literally named the Builders of Godhood. Why? ‘cause we build everything. You don’t think a city in your pocket isn’t going to make people lose their minds?”

  Lane’s eyes widened.

  “Come on, you’re thinking too small, baby girl. We could staff cities full of all our own people, while solving food shortages. Inflating the Maelstrom economy a hundred fold, and with how Arson is moving, we could be the sole supplier for everything inside, Sekts will buy from us, private organizations, even royalty that want to provide a lavish place for their upper crust to live unbothered by the poor and the problems caused by living in areas bordered by crime filled streets, messed up, yeah for sure, but this gives all the orphans back home the opportunity to be a part of something beautiful, greater than anything we’ve ever done!”

  “She’s right,” said Arson, Khalif and Rob nodding in agreement, finally looking up from their handhelds.

  “Let Xani know for me, will ya?” asked Arson, closing his eyes once more.

  “Of course, boss, do you got time to talk to me about the RaidCorp contracts and your other idea?”

  “Yeah, but I can already tell you that my other idea is outside what we can afford right now, regardless of how much we are already making,” said Arson.

  “Wow, something is actually outside your budget, boss, that blows my mind,” said Rob.

  “Agreed,” murmured Khalif.

  “What is it, I have some savings I can lend you,” said Lane. Arson looked over at her momentarily, before shaking his head and closing his eyes again.

  “Planets, the dump is vast, but it won’t last forever no matter how bountiful it feels right now, we need to ensure that we will be able to continue to provide materials to all of our shoppers and even expand further.”

  “You want to buy bloody planets now? I don’t even see how that is going to do anything but give us more work and stress, I mean, isn’t that way too political, you know you’re a prince, right? People make be threatened by that,” said Rob, true worry tinging his voice as he spoke softly.

  “Not when I’m buying planetary dumps,” said Arson smirking. Everyone froze but Jasmine who also smirked.

  “Yeah, you heard him. Welcome to the Builders of Godhood, baby,” said Jasmine, leaning over to close Lane’s dropped jaw, then Rob’s, and finally crawling over to do the same for the equally stunned Khalif.

  “Quit acting new, guys, we’ve been stepping away from normal for a while now, catch up.”

  Their conversations eventually wound down. The group leaving Arson and Troy alone after a while.

  Arson realized sunset was soon and picked up the still sleeping Troy, placing her in her bed and pulling the covers over her. He smiled to himself, thankful for her in more ways than he could even think of in a single moment.

  He exited swiftly not wanting to disrupt her sleep. He made it half way down the hall to his room and froze.

  Hmm…

  He spun around slowly, looking in every direction, feeling the overwhelming sensation of countless eyes on him. Only to find no one there. Just a seemingly endless hall filled with portraits of people Arson now assumed were guests who’d previously visited the hotel.

  Man… my nerves must be shot…

  He sighed and entered his room, slowly making his way toward his bed. Completely unable to sleep, knowing that his dreams may hold an open gateway to his trauma, staring up at the ceiling to wait for sunrise.

  “I mean, come on, this is boring… like way way way, mind numbingly boring…!”

  “Oh yeah,” said Arson lifting his wrist to look at Anastasia.

  “So what, you killed some street trash and now I gotta watch you stare at nothing till sunrise?”

  Arson glared at her, scowling in a way that unmistakably showed his agitation toward her comment.

  “Okay, too soon for jokes, got it!”

  “You’re terrible at jokes Anastasia…”

  “What am I supposed to do? At least when you’re non stop working I can help. Sorry to say this, bud, but I can’t help you lay around, nor would I want you to even if I could help.”

  “You have before,” said Arson softly, lowering his wrist.

  “No way, when?”

  A projection of Anastasia bloomed into the air above his watch to stare down at him, and Arson shrugged, glancing over at her.

  “You used to tell me stories when I was younger.”

  “Oh yeah, but that doesn’t count, you were seven and fighting for your life, not to mention so moody that I was worried you were going to leave me on a random planet who knows how many bloody realms away from home at the drop of a hat,” said Anastasia, making Arson laugh.

  “Keep it up and I still might,” said Arson.

  “Ha ha ha, whose terrible at joking now…”

  “Better than you, and that’s all that matters,” said Arson still laughing. They continued to bicker back and forward for so long that Arson eventually got hungry and rose to go toward the kitchen in his room to prepare himself something to eat.

  He decided on breakfast, cooking a meal large enough to feed a family of ten before he sat down and began stuffing himself.

  “So, you want to talk about it, buddy?”

  Arson sighed and eventually shook his head. Worried that his emotional and mental state was far too fragile to start unpacking everything he was running from expressing to those around him.

  “Nope…”

  Anastasia shook her head, sighing.

  “Didn’t think so.”

  “Thanks, Anna.”

  “No problem, just let me know if you change your mind, kiddo.”

  “Will do…”