120: A Fountain of Red

Words : 756 Updated : Sep 28th, 2025

120: A Fountain of Red Somehow, Nyssa, Celeste, and Olivia had free choice of whatever seating they wanted. The event had no assigned seating, and the entire rest of the guest list—including the star of the show, Roxanne—had decided to show up late. “No, we’re just early,” Celeste checked her watch. “There’s still twenty minutes before the event formally starts.” “... Oh, you’re so right...” Nyssa coughed after taking a second glance at the clock on the wall. One deep breath later though, her faint embarrassment faded and she continued looking around the room. Empty round tables dotted the room like polka dots. Snow white tablecloths, ironed to perfection, covered each table. A vase with a singular flower sat in the center of each table, with each flower’s splash of red, violet, or yellow opening up the room’s space. The room itself had a high ceiling, with chandeliers hanging from it, casting warm lights throughout the room. Other than the solid wall with the double doors to let people in, all three other walls had hosted floor to ceiling windows overlooking the now-festival decorated institute's campus. “Want to sit in the corner?” Nyssa proposed, pointing to the table farthest off to the side, by one of the windows. “I don’t really want to be the center of attention.” “Are you sure? You won’t be able to talk much with Roxanne that way,” Celeste pointed to the one table in the center reserved for Roxanne. “We could also sit at the table right beside her.” “... Yeah, I don’t know, that seems like so much work. We’ll probably get grilled, and Roxanne, I assume, won’t have much time to talk to us anyway. She’ll be chatting with the executives... and probably Angelica,” Nyssa grumbled, seeing the seat right beside Roxanne’s also reserved for a certain ‘campus guide.’ “Well, then I’m down to follow your lead, I don’t particularly want to be the center of attention either,” Celeste sighed, turning on her heel and weaving through the sea of tables to arrive at the corner pick Nyssa had taken. Cupping her hands, she called out to Olivia who stood by the window, just staring off into space. “Olivia! We’re sitting over here if you want to come join!” Snapping out of her trance and turning towards Celeste, it took Olivia a second to process what Celeste had said. Once the light of enlightenment entered her eyes, she nodded, flashing an ‘ok’ hand sign before turning back around to continue looking out the window. “There’s nothing stopping you from cooking,” Electra retorted as Olivia nodded in agreement. “I mean, it’s just hard,” Ryker sighed. “Sometimes I get too excited and accidentally blow up my hand, and then like... poof, there goes my hard work. It’s happened a few too many times and I don't know why I keep failing.” “That just sounds like you’re too hungry,” Celeste cut into her own steak with bright eyes. “Everyone’s powers get a little haywire when they’re too hungry.” “True...” Ryker sighed, gobbling down another slice of his steak. “I’ll ask Angelica about some tips sometime.” “That’s probably smart,” Nyssa filled in the gap of conversation. As she opened her mouth to continue talking though, the lights dimmed. Roxanne had gotten up to give a short presentation about the school’s resources. “I’ll be adding in a few short anecdotes as I present,” Roxanne stretched while walking up to the stage. “I hope you all don’t mind, right?” A chorus of “no”s rang out. Smiling, Roxanne pumped her fist with a teasing laugh. “That’s great, I hope you all don’t get too bored then.” Yet, the moment she arrived at the podium, time seemed to come to a stand still. The moment she rested her hands on the podium, all the lights in the room went out. Sparks of electricity crackled, and a blurry figure shot out from the podium. While a spurt of red sprayed against the wall and presentation, every chair in the room transformed into a pure-white automata. Everyone sitting fell to the ground with a thump, while five businessmen sitting at the three tables closest to Roxanne snapped their fingers, getting enveloped in mecha-suits. The blurry figure buried itself into the wall, pinning Roxanne against it as well as it lanced through her shoulder, only missing her heart by an instinctual lean on Roxanne’s part.@@@@

120: A Fountain of Red

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