Two: Nico's Prelude

Nighttime had descended upon Brooklyn's cityscape, the summer sunset a spectacular combination of orange and purple. Nico was currently sitting on his bed, a brown paper bag on the table he was allotted by the school's facilities. It was a peaceful moment, Nico simply focusing on the burger he had in his hand. The room was quiet and empty as it had been for the past few hours. Outside, the busy streets of New York City went undetected to the insulated walls and windows, not a sound coming from the exterior seeping into the enclosed dormitory. As Nico savored the final bites of his burger, he reflected upon the past few hours–Kadin had not returned yet, but that was because he was out with some girl, apparently, and there was still time before the night could begin. Nico set aside the wrapper, putting it into the paper bag that he was about to throw away soon.He glanced around his surroundings, still unfamiliar to his fresh eyes; he was currently across the nation from where he used to be earlier in the day, which also happened to be the primary residence where he grew up. Being here, in New York City, was a drastically different environment with new rules that he would have to learn and play by. Just earlier, he had ventured outside his dorm once again and visited a local fast food joint just to get a quick meal, because he was tired and was not looking to try the dining hall food just quite yet. Nico leaned back against his pillow, the sense of excitement and anticipation washing over him, combined with a sort of anxiety and fear about the uncertainties of the future. He was never a social butterfly in high school, merely starting to come out of his shell during his senior year. Before anything else could happen, though, Nico heard steps from down the hallway. It was another random skill he picked up, and he attributed to the enhanced senses he gained when he awakened. Players were apparently more astute and aware than regular people, which made sense, though he did not know about the extent of these capabilities. Nonetheless, mere moments later, he heard the sound of keys entering and twisting into the lock before the doorknob turned and opened, revealing his roommate. Nico's bed was positioned so that he was facing the door, meaning that he was a little shocked when he saw that there was not only one person–Kadin–but a girl accompanying him. Nico was surprised at the sudden guest and sat up joltingly as the two walked in. However, it seemed as if the two didn't notice him, as they were engrossed in a conversation of their own. "-and I wonder how many people will get chosen." A feminine voice entered Nico's ears as he passively began to perk up and listen, not intentionally eavesdropping. "Who knows? It can't be that much though," Kadin responded to the girl, closing the door behind him and turning around to face Nico, who had now sat upright on his bed, his feet dangling off. "Oh, hey Nico!" Exclaimed the Magic Archer.Replying, Nico merely gave him a short greeting before he continued. But he was more focused on the question marks appearing above the girl's head, marking her as a fellow player. He was already meeting players, which he hadn't done in San Francisco, which made Nico feel better about integrating within the community. "This is Grace," Introduced Kadin, motioning to the red-haired girl before turning to motion to Nico next, "and this is Nico. He's also going with us to the party." The girl then looked at Nico for the first time, the question marks above her head turning into her name after the introductions were out of the way, revealing <Gracelyn Corrigan.> "Nice to meet you." Nico gestured sincerely. "Nice to meet you, too." The redhead responded, her voice coming across as a tad bit shy. Taking the time to look at her properly, he realized that she was on the smaller side, probably standing at no more than a few inches above five-foot. Furthermore, she possessed emerald-green eyes, a rare color to have, and copper-red hair, and he wondered if he had ever seen anyone with that set of appearance. But it did seem like her and Kadin were probably becoming more than friends, even if they just hung out for the first time today, so Nico guessed he would be seeing more of her around if he was to hang with Kadin a lot. "Grace here just became a player a little over a year ago, so she's new to the community, too." Kadin explained, opting to let her do her own talking afterward as he led the way for her to divulge. "Yeah, I'm from Concord, New Hampshire, so I don't know anyone here. It's so much different than small town New England here." The girl said, a sentiment to which Nico could imagine was not anywhere further from fact. "I can imagine," he replied, "It even seems busier than San Francisco, and that's a pretty big city." The conversation continued on, mostly small talk occurring with the occasional interjection about the player world, something Nico still wasn't used to, as he had grown up his entire life not ever knowing or talking about such a phenomenon, and now he was a part of it, discussing something that would be catastrophically society-changing if it were ever revealed to the entire population of the world like it was something he was so ordinarily used to. The three of them continued talking for a bit, just about New York City and their school; since it was move-in day, the topic at hand were regular college freshman discussion categories like classes, friends, and the city they were in. Nico felt that it was nice to chat to people like normal again, as he was extremely closed off during the entirety of summer. He didn't know if it was a coping mechanism for getting over the heartbreak or if he was too invested in testing his Witchblade powers out to their fullest extent and completing beginner, tutorial quests, but he had not hung out with anyone he could call a friend. Therefore, starting his life at Excelsior was a truly fresh start. By now, the sun had fully set upon the concrete jungle, and it would normally have been dark out if it weren't for the myriad of artifical light coming from an innumerable amount of sources. Since skyrise buildings could be seen for as long as the eye could witness, the city that never sleeps would continue to shine bright lights and blare loud noises as long as you stepped outside. Of course, Nico wanted to make it his mission to find those hidden gem getaway spots where the city didn't seem so bright or noisy, only a peaceful quiet metropolis to be viewed from far away. As the time continued onward, the clock ticked closer to 9:00 PM, another person showed up at the door of Nico and Kadin's dormitory. When the knocks on the door reverberated throughout the small space, it was Grace that perked up."That must be Saniya," The girl exclaimed, "You guys ready to go?" The arrival of the person who was Grace's roommate signaled the time to head out; the three of them had waited for Saniya to come in order for them to depart, and it was finally time. According to Grace, this person was a player, too, which made Nico felt better–being new to the world of players, meeting as many as he could and knowing as many as possible would better integrate him faster. Kadin approached to open the door, revealing a girl no more than half an inch taller than Grace, who was already fairly short. The girl's dark-brown eyes scanned the room and rested on Nico for a second before moving to her roommate."Hi everyone!" Saniya gave a short wave, and introductions were underway. A second after, the question marks above her head faded and were replaced with <Saniya Razavi> as Nico talked to her for the first time. He could tell that this process was going to happen a lot as he met more and more players. "Is everyone ready?" She questioned, seeming to have a more outgoing personality than her shyer roommate. And since everyone had prepared and gotten ready to go, there were no objections other than Kadin stopping right before he got to the door, where the girls were already in the hallway and Nico was trailing behind him. Since that was where the closets were, the Magic Archer reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose tucked away under a pile of clothes. Nico let out a slight chuckle as he saw the bottle, not expecting alcohol to come out so soon–but of course, he was going to a college party, drinking, illegally or not, was going to be a staple. He had no clue where Kadin got that bottle from, but it looked to be unopened and brand new, meaning he probably had a way to repeatedly get more. It seemed as if in a lot of aspects, players were just like regular people, especially college students, who just wanted to party and get drunk. The four of them strolled out of the dormitory and took a path through some back stairways that Nico had personally not seen before with Gracelyn and Kadin in the lead. There was minimal chatter among them, but Nico was filled with anticipation either way. Soon, they were led to the door of a back entrance where a parking garage underground was revealed. Guessing that this was where her car was parked, Nico continued following the leads until they stumbled upon another group of people standing outside of a few parked cars. Since it was this early in the year, Nico saw that the garage wasn't as packed. The cool air of the summer night in the breezy garage felt pleasant on his exposed sleeves, and Nico pulled his hands out of his jeans' pockets to feel the brisk crispness–it was pleasant to the touch. Voices vociferated throughout the parking garage as the strangers came into view, Nico assumed that these were some of Kadin's friends that he was talking about carpooling with earlier. There was a girl and two other guys. "Lucia! Ready to go?" Kadin exclaimed as they all got closer, motioning to the girl with dark-brown hair and eyes of the same hue. They were standing on different sides of a car door, ready to get in. "Took you long enough. Yeah, we're all ready. Meet you there?" The girl, Lucia, as Kadin referred to her as, queried."ETA 15 minutes. We'll see you guys there." Kadin responded before pulling a jingle of keys out of his denim pockets, pressing the unlock button on them. A sleek-looking, modern white sedan to the left of Lucia's car beeped as it unlocked itself, the others already entering their designated vehicles. The four walked to the car and got in it, Nico admiring the smoothness of the interior–it couldn't have been an old car, the designs being reminiscent of more recent models. The drive to the party was mostly quiet, with hush whispers between Kadin and Grace in the two front seats while Nico semi-awkwardly sat with Saniya in the backseat, neither of them knowing each other meaning that they weren't going to engage in conversation as fluidly. The car ride to the airport was filled with quiet chatter, especially from the two people in the front seat, who were Kadin and Grace. They were in the middle of their own conversation, and the backseat was pretty much quiet with one or two times where either Nico or Saniya chimed into the dialogue. Other than that, a tiny anxious jitter began to course through Nico, and he was feeling the nervousness for the first time. It was his first time doing anything remotely this novel, especially that thing being going to a party in a part of the world he had never been to before with people had had never meet. Sure he had been to New York City, but this part of urban Brooklyn was a place that tourists didn't usually go, meaning that locals were usually the only people who resided in these parts.The drive didn't last much longer, as the houseparty wasn't located too far from the college dorms. This meant that before Nico knew it, the car had pulled up to the suburban neighborhood, slowing down and looking for a parking spot. There were cars parked along both sides of the street's sidewalks, but it was mostly quiet out, which made sense due to it being nighttime. Soon, the car was parked a block or two away from the house, which they had driven by a minute prior; Nico could see purple, red, and blue lights alternating glows from within the house coming from what he assumed was an LED lights projector or something of the sort. The neighborhood, while quieter than the inner city, was still not completely silent.Being in Brooklyn, city sounds could still be heard in the distant, meaning that the noise coming from within the houseparty was not as grating as one might assume, especially to a neighboring house, who had the distance of a normal suburban yard as a barrier of separation.By now, Nico had gotten used to the darkness of nighttime and his anxious anticipation only grew. The chatter picked up now, with Saniya joining Kadin and Grace's conversation while Nico purposely stayed in his own thoughts. The four of them exited the vehicle and the warm, soft breeze of the night air relaxed Nico's partial unease.Kadin led the way, as he had invited them all to the houseparty of someone who he considered a friend. Nico guessed that in the worst case scenario, he could always call an Uber ride home if he wanted to leave extra early, since he didn't see the night unfolding in a way that would make him want to leave extra late, but Nico didn't completely write off the possibility. The walk to the house was short, as the cool night air of summer made Nico take in the scenery with a sense of appreciation; he knew that this type of weather and climate would not last forever and that soon, in a couple of months, the skies would turn dark gray and the temperature would take a dramatic dip. He had never experienced an East Coast winter, but Nico had heard of their significant snowfall and short, frigid days. Finally, before he knew it, their group of four arrived at the front of the house. Being right up close to it, Nico could easily hear the pumping music playing coming from inside, as well as LED multi-colored lights flashing through the windows. It seemed that the spacing between the houses in this suburban neighborhood were large enough so that the party might not bother the neighbors, and being in proximity with the loud, noisy city didn't hurt. As they walked up to the stairs that led onto the porch, Nico could hear a ton of voices coming from inside, and it reminded him that he had been in these scenarios several times; after all, parties weren't uncommon in high school or college. Kadin and Grace seemed to disappear right away as they got to the door, sliding through after giving a glance back at Saniya and Nico, who gave them a curt nod of acknowledgement, almost as to say, "you guys go on, we'll find our own way."The porch was already crowded, a sign that the interior of the house was just as packed, if not moreso proportionally. There were several people, some gathered in different smaller groups or some standing by their lonesome, and Nico even noticed above the heads of a few of the people who were blended in with individuals without that hovering symbol. The entryway to the door, fortunately, was open, and no one seemed to pay any attention to the newcomers–it was as if there were so many people coming and going that it wasn't worth it to note each and every single one. Nico wondered how many people at this party went to Excelsior or were his grade, and if he would see some of their faces later in the school year.As Nico headed through the door, he could see the flashing colors of blue, red, and green that lit up the otherwise dim house. Of course, all of the lights were off, and the LED disco lamp was located in one corner of the main living room, that was connected to the main entryway. Other than that, there were strips of LED flashing lights under the cabinets of some of the kitchen, adding to the atmosphere of the environment.From what Nico was assuming was a massive speaker in the living room, loud music vibrated throughout the house, blasting popular hip hop and pop songs that perfectly fit the summer mood. Of course, as he entered the house, Nico could feel his body getting automatically hotter, the accumulation of a large quantity of body heat being gathered in that small space. Luckily, he was wearing a mere t-shirt and jeans. As Nico entered the doorway, he could see that there was a long staircase leading to the upstairs of the house; it was populated by people standing and talking, red solo cups in hand, ranging all the way from the bottom of the stairs to the top, so he didn't feel the need to wanter upstairs anytime soon. Furthermore, bodies were already in sight as soon as he walked past the front door, meaning that it was probably a packed house.Nico turned around to see if he could interact with Saniya, the other person that he came here with–their interactions were quite sparse throughout the car ride, but with no one else in sight he thought that talking to the one other person he knew was better than nothing. But as he looked behind, he saw that there was nobody there but the entrance back into the outside patio; Saniya was already gone.Probably disappearing into the sea of people already, Nico sighed at his silly mistake–he knew he should have said something sooner–and continued on his way, telling himself that he'd find Kadin or something at least, just to maybe be introduced to someone and to start a conversation that way. Even though he had only met the guy, Kadin was the person Nico was closest to at this party, and the thought of that suddenly sent a pang of homesickness through his chest. He missed the social gatherings that he would go to with his friends at the end of senior year, his girlfriend to keep him company if everyone else had their own people to talk to, and being able to drive to a getaway spot and sit and relax to a view overlooking San Francisco's nighttime skyline. Now, he was left to fend for himself in this foreign environment–Nico brushed the thoughts to the back of his head and marched onward, into the masses. There were an abundance of people talking to each other, and the smell of alcohol and other drugs, notably marijuana, filled the air. Everyone was either talking to someone, intoxicated, or swaying softly to the sound of the music, singing or dancing to the tunes. He skooched past multiple bodies, as there were more people than the area could normally accommodate, until finally, he had found himself in the living room of the house.The singular couch that existed was entirely filled, guys and girls sitting next to each other, almost like a getaway spot right inside the center of the gathering itself. Mostly, people stood in small circles or in one-on-one conversations, laughter filling the air. The music was blaring as he got closer to the speaker, making it hard to make out any of the noises, not that he could hear any distinct conversations over the massive number of people talking all at once, all straining their voices to be heard over the music.The living room, fortunately, was larger than most–in the far back corner that connected to a kitchen, a semi-large group of people gathered around a dining table, and Nico could see a ping pong ball fly through the air, momentarily flashing from red, then to green, to the blue, as the lights changed colors around it. The back of Kadin's figure was closest to the side Nico was facing, and he could make out Grace's figure next to him, too. It looked like the two were having a good time, and Nico assumed that someone among the large bunch was the host that Kadin personally knew. After a second of noticing them, Nico heard laughter erupt from that side as presumably, someone made the winning throw in the game of beer pong that was going on; as he went up to approach them, he could see the smiles and genuine joviality on the faces of everyone circled around the table, and Nico knew that they were all having quite a lot of fun–therefore, it felt wrong to disturb their dynamic and pushing himself into a situation he didn't need to be inserted into. Subsequently, Nico turned and continued pushing through the sea of bodies in a different direction; he was already grateful that he was given the chance to attend a social gathering on his first night in New York City, so he thought that he might as well accept the opportunity and see what comes of it–it's not every day that you get a socially-inclined roommate to possibly make new friends out of, either. As the black-haired boy continued to walk past conversations here and there, he knew that he was not going to see any familiar faces, and the odds of randomly striking up dialogue between a stranger wasn't the most likely scenario in the world, especially when everyone here already seems to know everyone else and were engrossed in chitchat with their friends, too preoccupied to notice a stranger by himself. Out of all of the parties he had ever been to, he had known most of the people there, if not had a group of or at least a few individuals he was close with and could rely on to talk to if there was no one else around. Now, for the first time it felt like, he was truly alone.