Twelve

"Silla!" A young effeminate man made his way inside the humble abode with a strange golden envelope in his hand. "Look at this!" His voice was full of surprise and excitement that he could barely contain. He waved the envelope in his hand, and looked around the apartment. "Silla!"

Not finding his friend or the boy she had taken in, he made his way back outside of the tiny complex where he saw Silla and Raizel putting out buckets to collect rain water. The sun was up and it wouldn't rain anytime soon. Besides with the provisions the lower ring had been gifted, they wouldn't need it anyway. Though he supposed Silla was always the most cautious and well prepared out of the three of them.

"Silla! Raizel!"

"Stop shouting, Jyn. All the neighbors will hear you. Trust me, many of them aren't friendly," said the raven haired woman, rolling her big blue eyes. "Whats gotten you so excited?" She asked.

The man named Jyn smiled at his friend and showed her the envelope in his hand. "Look what we received," there was a black seal on the envelope that had been opened, "It's an invitation to a ceremony in the upper ring, the inner wall is allowing plebeians from the lower ring to enter."

"That's not possible. Why would the aristocrats allow us to enter, much less send an invitation to us?" Silla asked and then took the letter into her own hands.

A month ago she had thought that the terrorist attacks would stop since there was nothing of importance left in the lower ring. However, instead of pure destruction, Black Sun seemed to just be occupying the lower ring for the last few weeks. Everywhere you went you'd at least see one person with a black hood and white mask.

Many things had changed since then.

It was almost like crime had completed stopped. With Black Sun walking the streets there was much less crime and instead of everyone stealing food like she had expected more resources became available. It seemed like law enforcement was actually making a comeback after hundreds of years.

It was incredibly strange but Black Sun seemed to have the entire lower city held hostage and because of this the aristocrats seceded control of the city to the organization. Thus with the shift in power the lower ring was flushed with new technology, food, and water. Many new things came to be accessible in the lower ring. She never would have expected it since, the upper ring forbid those in the lower ring from even passing through the inner wall.

Despite being violent perhaps Black Sun wasn't as bad as they seemed. Instead of the terrorists they had been portrayed as in the media, they seemed to be anti-aristocrat anarchists hoping to change the city for the better. More like extreme fighters against corruption.

While the city had gone under extreme changes, so had Silla's life. Thankfully she hadn't heard a peep out of her father and the small boy she took in had become a consistency in her life. Even though he was just a boy, he was rather mature and she didn't have to do much parenting. A lot of what he needed, Raizel did himself.

"Why would they send an invitation to us?" Raizel asked looking at the letter, speaking aloud what all three of them were thinking.

By the writing on the letter they could tell it was some sort of grand ceremony that was going to be held at the entrance of the inner wall. A celebration of sorts for the newly granted access, the citizens of the lower ring now had. Rather it seemed to be hosted by both the aristocrats and the Black Sun organization. It seemed the two enemies had come to some sort of agreement. Many wished to go to these parties hosted by aristocrats but it was not for the lower people, mostly those who hailed from the rich class attended and were granted access. People like Silla and Jyn didn't have the opportunity to get an invitation which was why Silla wondered if her friend was imagining things.

She smiled at her friend Jyn, who looked excited to go. It was obvious he had been waiting to go there like many other folk who couldn't afford to even step past the inner wall and could only look at the upper ring from afar. "How did we get invited?" The raven haired woman asked. "Is it for everyone?" She found it hard to believe that the aristocrats would so easily let people like them into the upper ring without benefiting anything from it.

Seeing the frown on her face, Jyn spoke, "The aristocrats have decided to be generous enough in inviting many unwed men and women from the ages of 19 to 25 to attend the celebration instead of limiting it with minimum numbers. I was right there in the market when I heard the news announcement."

"Wow. How kind of them." Silla murmured under her breath. With what she knew, the aristocrats were nowhere near generous and had the reputation of a cruel tyrants who held the city under the threat of a bloodbath. People like her and many others who lived in this side of the city had never been in the upper ring and only heard stories.

Some good but mostly bad.

If she had her way they wouldn't go, but something told her that whoever sent them that letter wasn't going to take no for an answer. Raizel, however would have to stay.

"I suppose we'll have to get some clothes for the occasion then."

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On the day of celebration, many young girls, women, and men couldn't help but look forward to the night that was approaching closer with every tick of time and second that moved without waiting for anyone. As written in the invitation, the ceremony would start at eight that night. It was also added that everyone would be eating in the nearest building to the ceremony so they could watch from afar. The thought of tasting something unusual with the mouth watering delicacies that most had only dreamt, people could hardly wait.

The journey to the event would take nearly an hour and none of them wanted to be late. After all, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"Are you going to be alright?" Asked Silla who was helping to pull the laces to Jyn's extravagant outfit. He wore a crimson jumpsuit with the front cut open revealing his slender v-line chest. Although beautiful the back had a lace frill like design that required a tight fit. Jyn held his breath and nodded his head while he held onto a bed post.

"Make it tighter," Jyn said with sweat dripping down his face and Silla pulled the lace further so that he could have a more accentuated bodice. "Okay, this looks good," her friend went to stand in front of the mirror. Turning himself back to front to make sure it looked as she wanted and it did.

"Will you be able to breathe?" Silla asked once she saw him gathering many ruby colored jewels and accessories to put on his neck line and wrists. Watching him it made her worried just by looking at it. There was no way he was comfortable. Even though all the jewels and clothes they rented were fake Jyn managed to pull it off.

"Absolutely," the man smiled with an assuring gaze, "come, let me help you get ready," Silla looked at him apprehensively.

"No thank you." Silla spoke whose arm was then pulled by Jyn. She thought she had done just fine on her own. Although she had never been dressed up like this before, she though she did just fine on her own. The pure black dress she picked out matched her dark hair and  fell past her knees. With a tiny slit in the skirt, it also covered her shoulders, arms, and neck, giving off a classy approach. The black dress was form fitting and showed off a little of her figure despite coming off as rather plain at first. With a few pieces of jewelry such as large blue earrings, and a few necklaces it would complete the look. While her dress wasn't as eye catching as Jyn's it was simple yet pretty in its own way. There were no stones like her friends but a lot of delicate thread work.

"Don't be a child. At least let me do your hair." Taking her smooth raven locks in his hands he made sure to leave her long uniquely cut bangs down while he intricately wove the back of her hair with his slim fingers. He knew that she was already stepping out of her comfort zone so he let her have this one solace, Jyn knew she disliked others seeing her face, but he could never figure out why. In his eyes she was beautiful and it was a down right shame that she hid such a face from the world under a set of flimsy bangs.

When the two of them were finally ready they could hear many vehicles passing by their complex as a lot of the guests had started to head to the celebration. Hearing all the holocrafts Silla looked at the road again to finally see their own method of transportation stop at the front of their building. Neither Jyn nor Silla owned any vehicles of their own like many in the lower ring so one was provided to them. The most they had done was use the local transport that moved twice a day.

It was the reason why both Jyn, as well as Silla appeared to be looking out of the window with eager eyes.

Deep blue eyes looked outside the window through black bangs, watching buildings pass by one after another. The sky had turned dark two hours ago and the city lights illuminated the ground.

Thankfully the drive was uneventful. But passing by certain areas they could tell the tensions were high. Of course it was all because the upper ring was opening up to the poor. It made Silla nervous about going out to such a event, but it was highly unlikely that anything would happen and yet... She wasn't so sure about this idea.

Nothing bad was going to happen.

Right?

As they neared the destination they could see glimpses of the inner wall from afar. It wasn't until they passed through the big pillars, that they reached the biggest building on this side of the wall. It was a skyscraper, like many of the buildings, yet it was by far the largest. It was also the only building that overtook the inner wall. Once they went inside to the very top, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that they would get a view of the entire city.

The holocraft they were in finally came to a pause and the door was opened by two servants. "Thank you," Silla bowed at the valets after they helped them out of the vehicle and fixed her dress once she stepped out.

The skyscraper was lit up with millions of lights, and right now it looked beautiful. Every person who had stepped out of their vehicles and was getting down were dressed in different materials and textured clothing that was eye catching. Some of the dresses even had expensive jewels and bows embroidered into them. Despite being a bit flashy the oddity seemed to work for them and it looked cool when it reflected off the diamond lights. It was as if the gods had adjusted the colours of the world just for tonight. Watching the other guests enter Silla felt extremely under dressed. Thankfully she doubted anyone would notice with all the alcohol and drugs that were being consumed.

"Please head this way ladies and gentlemen," the guard stood guiding the guests inside.

Silla, along with Jyn walked inside the building that had wide metal doors that were carved beautifully. There was paintings on the ceilings that lit up for view because of the diamond chandeliers, with many gems that seemed to glow attached to the ceiling which reflected light around them. While the elite continued to walk forward, it was the poor people who couldn't help but look at the beautiful things they were surrounded in. It was easy for everyone to tell who was and wasn't from the upper ring and those who were gave them all dirty looks which showed pure distaste on their lips. Silla could tell that only the most esteemed guests went first as she watched the glass escalators move up with many other partygoers, it would take awhile for all of them to get up to the top floor.

Her friend, Jyn took his time to look around the building while she accompanied him, who could barely wait to explore and go to the ballroom on the top floor which was where the celebration was taking place. Before they even reached the ballroom, they could hear music filling up every part of the building. No doubt the sound coming from the very top floor. "This is going to be a wonderful night, isn't it?" Jyn exclaimed to Silla as quietly as he could, "The music is so beautiful, yet there's some sadness in there. The rooms are magnificent."

"Indeed it it," Silla agreed, looking at the humongous pillars and walls that were apart of the skyscraper. Some people walked by, talking and laughing with each other. People who knew each other. A lot of women and men who came to pass by looked at Jyn as he stood out with the red pants suit and stones that caught one's eye in the long wide corridors. A few gazed upon her but once they realized they couldn't see her face they lost interest.

"Imagine to live in a place like this, Silla. I can only imagine what the upper ring must look like," said Jyn looking around without being too obvious, "One would live like a king."

"There must be a lot of servants to maintain such a huge building," Silla responded. She was sure with the amount they had walked and covered, and this was just a little part of the building. To keep such a huge and magnificent place as spotless as it was, must have been backbreaking for them.

Jyn laughed, hearing this, "Are you thinking about cleaning this building?"

A man who was coming in the opposite direction appeared to be tall, wearing clothes that only the richest of the rich could afford. One could tell this man was handsome with decent features even from afar, and as he walked by them, his eyes fell on Jyn and he smiled. Her friend raised his head, tipping up his chin as if he were from another wealthy family.

"He was looking at you," Silla pointed out the obvious with a whisper. "Do you think he will ask you to dance later?"

"Who knows," Jyn replied, shrugging his shoulders, "He may be from the upper ring but I don't think he's an aristocrat," he murmured. Jyn obviously had his eye on the prize, he only went for the best of the best. He wouldn't settle for only a rich man; he wanted so much more. Kudos to him for being so goal oriented and ambitious.

They started to head towards the ballroom and when the glass elevator became available to them, they quickly rushed inside and practically flew up to the final floor. On they way up they got a view of the entire building and all it's lights. Two guards stood on either side of the top floor as they entered the ballroom, which was filled with music and people. She wouldn't have even noticed the two men if it weren't for the fact that they both wore white masks and black robes. It seemed like Black Sun was also invited to the celebration.

The room was lit just enough for one person to be able to walk without crashing into another person. Like her friend had mentioned, the music that was placed in one corner of the room was indeed beautiful yet hauntingly sad, sad enough that it could make a person anxious.

Thankfully they had plenty of food and alcoholic beverages to help pass the time. One of the drinks even had blue flames around the glass ring that when touched didn't burn but left a tingling feeling on your skin. They were having the time of their lives and somehow something felt off to her. Something wasn't quite right, it was as if two eyes had been placed on her and were never coming off until the day she died. From then on she didn't notice anything strange, she didn't notice the bloody hands on the window, or the pale blood covered face above pressed against the glass ceiling skylight staring down. Or the window fogging with the unearthly creatures breath.

It seemed to be eyeing the crowd it's vision of each person clouded with a dark energy that only it could see. For as long as it can remember everyone it came to encounter had been riddled with this black smog. All but one person that is. Though when it's bright green glowing eyes spotted a single woman seemingly the only one not enveloped in this darkness it never took its eyes off her. Perhaps it was hallucinating.

It's eyes followed her every movement but could only gaze from afar as it couldn't see her face. The creatures heart lurched, it had been searching for years, and it's eyes swelled with boundless hope and obsession. It held onto her every breath it's large hand on the window, it's razor sharp claws tapping on the glass creating scratch marks. The creature only had to take a moment to retract its nails and inhuman appearance so it would seem more approachable.

Now it was but a man, who stood near the railing of the gallery, looking at people through the white mask that covered its eyes.

As the clock counted down, excitement enthralled all the guests. At the stroke of midnight, the inner wall would open, allowing all to enter. It was like nothing she had ever seen. The view from the top of the building gave them a peek into the shining metropolis that was the upper ring. From afar it almost looked like an entire city made out of gold and diamonds. When the humongous newly built entrance to the inner ring, slowly creaked opened the ground of the building they were on shook lightly. The same way a mini earthquake would have shook the city. It was understandable as even from as high up as they were the wall seemed ginormous. Things were changing and the city would not be the same as before. The only question she had to ask was, would it be even worse than before?

Large golden double doors opened letting everyone know that someone else had walked in, rather late apparently. Doors swinging open an unnaturally tall, embellished figure emerged from the other side. In the sea of darkness that had been created by the guests who wore dark clothes and girls who wore flashy colors in order to catch an aristocrats eyes, Silla looked up in surprise to see a man in a black suit. He was very sophisticated and was not a person you would expect to see in the lower ring. He must have been some sort of aristocrat. Everyone seemed to notice this man ever since he walked through as not a single eye looked anywhere else.

His clothes were certainly not cheap but neither flashy. Underneath his pitch black suit was a simple black button up that had the neck collar puffed out. His cravat looked soft as silk and held a large valuable gem in the middle. Over his broad shoulder was a large over coat that seemed to flow more like a robe yet still seemed masculine. The neckline of the jacket was fur and only made him look all the more gorgeous, it was kind of like a royal mantel that only kings wore. With every elegant move he made she could see a bit of the contour of his body every time his suit tightened a bit. She had no doubt he was absolutely ripped under there. She could only imagine the damage he could do with what was at least a few hundred pounds of muscle.

A white and silver mask concealed only part of his face, his eyes and nose. On his hands he wore black leather gloves that stopped at his wrists and to put it all together it were golden and gem encrusted cuff links. It was dark but she could make out a few more details. He had messy sandy blonde hair that went down to his shoulders yet looked elegant.

A silver glare strangely caught her eye. Around his slim waist was a black leather belt with a silver belt buckle. On the sides of the belt under his overcoat unnoticeable to most were some sort of weapon, one on each hip. Women were considered easy targets so Silla had learned how to spot when someone was concealing a weapon.  This man oozed danger, and he definitely wasn't afraid to use his strength. Bright red blood that was not his smeared and splattered along the left side of his face; showing most brightly on his white mask and light skin. It seemed he had tried to wipe it away but only ended up smudging it across his skin. She wouldn't have noticed in the darkened light unless she was keenly observing him.

Silla was in the middle of the crowd with her friend, Jyn, until he was asked by a gentleman to dance with him. Her friend danced with other couples to the music that was played and Silla watched from afar at the buffet table. She spent a few more minutes trying out different foods before deciding to step out of the ballroom.

But when Silla turned around, ready to walk forward, she saw a person not too far away walking in the opposite direction she was in. By clothes, she noticed it was the man from earlier that everyone had their eyes on, she was surprised that he was able to slip through the massive crowd without anyone badgering him. Through his mask his ethereal green eyes caught her attention, they were mesmerizing. She had to turn her head to snap out of whatever trance they had put her in.

Silla had started to walk forward, her eyes shifting away from the person to look at the other guests but her eyes went back to look at him, noticing him looking at her and it almost felt as if he were heading towards her.

Just when they were about to pass by one another, his eyes appeared to be looking elsewhere and she realized she had mistaken that he was staring at her. Silla let out a breathe she didn't realize she had been holding which was too soon as when she took two steps away, she heard a man's deep voice speak.

"I z'ink you dropped your earring, dearest?"

Hearing the deep accented voice behind her, Silla turned around to meet the man's eyes that were looking at her. There was something intimidating in the way that he gazed at her, a darkness that lingering in those glowing eyes.

He raised his hand with the earring in his hand, and Silla's blue eyes looked down at his hand to realize it was indeed her earring. It had been tightly clasped on her pierced earlobe all this time, which made her wonder how it had fallen without her notice.

Thankful that the man had noticed it, Silla offered the man a smile, "thank you," and when she said those simple words of gratitude, the man who was looking at her breathed in her words that sounded sweet to his ears.

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to be continued...