Masquerade by Moonlight

[Linie Moonreef]

¤72 Winter 516AV

Linie had fallen asleep that night wrapped up in Buckeye's arms, though she didn't want to be there. It had been nearly sixty days since she had last seen Alex and had given up hope. Nysel had scorned her, offering up such a beautiful man only to take him away. There was something about his soft sadness that just made him feel for her. He seemed fragile. Like at any moment that weight of the world which he held on his shoulders would break him. She didn't lust for him, but instead yearned for the company. Their intelligent conversations and the way he kissed her forehead goodbye, never to be seen again. Buckeye had sensed her angst and had done all he could to comfort her, which did help. He was a wonderful man in his burly sweetness but she often would wonder what the point of everything was? To begin to have feelings for a man who needed to help people, but couldn't help himself. She fell asleep thinking of this, held tight by Buckeye's loving embrace.

She came to standing outside of a doorway, women and men in lavish gowns and suits were in line in front of her and being ushered through the door and she wondered where they were going. This time, she knew she was dreaming as she had done in the past few weeks, but never had seen Alex in them. Nysel was toying with her, or perhaps judging her. Seeing if she was worthy. On her body she wore a long pink ballroom gown with forest green beads and trim, it was long and flowing and the ends of it trailed on the floor behind her. She noticed on her feet she wore no shoes and passing by a mirror she saw she had a mask on her face that was the same color green. Everyone here wore masks. Her hair was done up in a mess of curls on top of her head, something she would never wear in waking life but could admit to herself looked nice. As she slowly made her way up to the front of the line she thought she saw Alex, but he was being let into the room. She raised her hand up in an attempt to accost him but he was already gone.

Finally it was her turn and in Alex's voice the man at the door asked,
"Ticket?"
She began to shrug and look around to the sides of herself but then noticed in her hand the ticket was there. She handed it to him gingerly, scrutinizing him to see if it was really really Alex speaking to her. The mask hid everything but his mouth and he was wearing a cap. She couldn't tell. But she did see him come in here. When she stepped through the door she was greeted by a beautiful ballroom, the ceiling two stories high and people all around dancing, eating, and laughing. Everyone was dressed in something different in a menagerie of colors and shapes. Then again she thought she saw him as he darted in and out of the crowd. Without thinking she took off after him, pushing her way through the dancers. Then, everyone froze and went silent. She stopped too, wild instincts kicking. Looking around herself she spotted him again and walked up to him. Frozen in time she took off his mask and regarded him, sadness filling her eyes. Surely Nysel had cursed her.
"Alex, why?"
She yelled. Then she noticed something odd. The woman beside him... she looked like her. She took off the woman's mask and indeed stared herself in the face. Curious, she took off another man's mask and again was greeted by Alex's face. Then her own, then Alex's. She was taking off everyone's mask finding they all were she and Alex. What Hai had Nysel subjected her to?

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


Alex sat in the corner of his room his coat draped over him as the two Vantha women slept on the opposite side. One atop the bed and the other on the flooring with cloaks and blankets for warmth. He just had his coat and took solace in a singular chair. He glanced around a final time before finally letting sleep take him. His mind thinking of Linie, before he finally fell into the world of dreams once again.

Shaking his head a little he found himself in a line, a singular line behind a row of men and women all the same height and build. Something about that wasn’t right however what stood out was the myriad of different colours and masks that people wore. Glancing towards the right of him he spotted a mirror. He found himself dressed in a suit. Jet black with a dark green shirt and crimson tie. His mask was what threw him a little most of them were simplistic singular colour however his was a strange prismatic shade. Depending upon how the light took the angle of him. An interesting choice, yet the mask only covered his face to the jaw.

He stepped upto the ticket teller and found himself staring back at him.
“Ticket?”
He glanced over his person before feeling his chest pocket, the thin sliver of paper handed over easily. Inspected and then allowed entrance. As he stepped into the large ballroom the walls draped in fabrics and large reflective mirrors multiplying the occupants many fold making the interior seem endless he stepped into the room as the entire ballroom froze. The music silenced, and the people like mannequins.

“Alex, why!?” The voice echoed out throughout the ballroom reverberating off of the glass. And he knew that voice. He swung his head back and forth glancing around for the source as the room once again sprung back into life. He pushed through the crowds trying his best to simply avoid people. And then the room stopped again. Something told him to reach out, and as he did he lifted the masks of the man and woman in front of him. His own face and Linies were staring back at him.
“Oh what the…” He spoke softly pushing the masks back down. Yellow and blue. He shook his head, If she was lost in this mess then he should make himself easy to find despite the madness of the crowd and the incessant motion. He made a bee line for the staircase, the large sweeping bannisters opening out. He near leapt up the stairs and fixed his collar as he stood atop the peak of the first staircase. He coughed lightly clearing his throat and then with his voice at half volume called out.

“Linie! The stairs!” However as he called out his voice as loud as it was, seemingly was swallowed by the music. The reverberations of the mirrors and the instruments ate his voice. Though as he stood there with his arms folded and his mas on he was joined by four other versions of himself in similar shaped masks but all different colours, some clashing horribly but they didn’t seem to give a damn. This was going to be a test…Of patience more than much else.

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

Just as she had given up and stopped taking off their masks the music came sweeping back into life, drowning out Alex's yell. She was everything but knocked over as the dancers resumed their dancing once again. Again she pushed her way out of the crowd and this time found herself in front of the food court. A long table was piled high with sweets, meats, side dishes, and fruit. She considered it for a moment, wondering what it would be like to eat in a dream, but eventually sat down and began digging in. She found she could taste everything, but never felt full. It all was so delicious and she gorged herself on the sweets and meat, those two being her favorites. The man flanked by other men looking similar to him, but in different shades, was lost to her as she stuffed food down her gullet as fast as she could, each bite gaining more of a fervor than the last. The people at the table were looking at her and pointing, in any other setting she would be acting quite rude. But she didn't care, she knew this was just a dream and the food tasted damn good. Like each bite was throwing a party in her mouth. This continued on for awhile until in the middle of stuffing a piece of cake down her throat she remembered she had heard... something when the music went on. It was faint, but it sounded like Alex's yell. All of the Alex's here were talking in a quite tone, Alex's trademark whisper, so she didn't think it was any of them. Could it be? She dropped the cake from her hand on to the floor. But what did he say?

She stood up and paced.
"Hmmm..."
Scratching her chin she looked past the food court, past the dancers, and to the staircase. There, that would be where she would be able to see him, if she could just get up there. Then, a trio of Linies grabbed her by the arms and started pulling her away.
"Come with us!"
They had a vice grip on her arm, much stronger than she was in real life, and although she struggled they pulled her away. Defeated, she looked up and was awed. Above their heads floated bubbles, never popping just floating to and fro, and a sheer cloud of glitter. Its sparkle dazzled her and she got lost in it, watching the bubbles and shimmer above her as she was dragged of to the God's know where. Then, everything froze again. She looked around herself and began prying her arms from the other Linie's grip. Where had they been taking her? Once out she looked around, find where the Linies were dragging her off to. There was a balcony not far from them and from where she stood she could see no one on there. What were they going to do? Throw her off? She shivered, though she wasn't cold.
'Anyway, back to the staircase. If I can't see him from there he ought to see me when I get up there... If he's here at all.'
She set off once again for the staircase, stepping around people though on the side that she was on there weren't many people to step around, just enough.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


Atop the staircase Alex felt like he was being flanked. Two of himself either side of him. A difficult situation if they were indeed copies of himself he’d have to do something about that because they’d be as clever and skilled as he was. He took a deep breath and started to make a motion down the stairs. He was crabbed by the arms. One of each of the versions of himself flanking him on either side.
“Come with us.” All that was spoken to him as he was dragged off. Despite the fact that he knew he was of a decent amount of strength fighting against these clones was utterly futile. Each one held vastly more strength than he did which meant if this came down to a fight of some sort he was in a seriously bad way. He gave up struggling as he was taken up the stairs from the first floor to the second. The main ballroom on the ground floor feeling further away.

The duplicates dragged him through a pair of doors at the end of the hall leading into a much darker lit room. Taking a moment for his eyes to adjust he glance around a series of small tables. In the distance a bar. Again something manned by another clone of himself. All around him were versions of himself and of linie at the small tables smiling flirting and giggling.

Finally he was let free of their grip. And he spun to confront them but by the time he’d managed too they’d already vanished.
“Well that’s great.” He spoke muttering under his breath. Surrounded by a sight he knew but when he was approached by another linie he was about to follow her before bolting for the door. When the entirety of the building froze he knew he’d made the right choice. He raced out onto the balcony of the second floor and knowing that the music would eat his words he at his full volume shouted from the rafters for her to hear.
“Linie! Staircase!” His words reverberated off of the mirrors warbling and warping the whole of the room a little. And with the silence and freeze he was certain that the words carried through the empty space. He then started to make his way down to the first floor staircase once again.

Though Alex had pieced one thing together. Each of the versions of themselves were trying to set each other up. One line and Alex pair in each. But who were the real ones? He thought to himself as he made a sharp decision to set himself apart from the myriad of other shapes and colours. He removed his jacket. Pulling the black fabric off and tossing it to the ground. He raced towards the stairs leaping up on the banister to slide down. And as he glanced down to check his balance he spotted something. The jacket had returned to his form.


OOCThe pink/light purple is his voice from another source.

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

"Linie! Staircase!"
His words rang through the ballroom, and she stopped her pursuit. It seemed they had the same idea. Her heart rate quickened, was it really him? She began walking faster through the crowd of their clones, starting to feel a bit creeped out by how many of them there were. There had to be at least one hundred people here, all one of them.
"Ugh."
She muttered as she considered this. How bizarre. As she pushed her way through the crowd to the staircase the music came back on, resuming the noise and motion the people had been doing prior. Linie had to be more careful now as she walked through the crowd, taking it slower until finally she made it to the staircase. She watched as Alex slid down the banister to the first floor of the staircase.
'Oh this has got to be him.'
She hiked up her dress and started up the staircase, elegantly the dress flowed behind her and she was reminded of how regal Alex seemed the last time she saw him, in the room of Pride. There he seemed to have an air of knightly-ness and she could almost picture him as a squire.

Finally they met in the middle and she stood in front of him grinning.
"It be truly you? I couldn't imagine another one of these... Alex's slidin' down the balcony. They all be seemin' too posh."
She wanted to hug him but didn't know if it was okay or not. Where did they stand? She couldn't forget the last time they met and being in the dream world together seemed so... romantic. Here they were able to do anything, anything they thought could become real.
'By that logic why couldn't what I feel be real?'
But no, she wouldn't go there unless he wanted to.
'Always I be so unsure of him. Unsure if he's real, unsure if he... feels that way for me.'
Although she could almost read him like a book it wasn't as if she realised she could. Reading people came naturally to her but when it came to matters of the heart she got all mixed up, no longer the sure footed Svefra image that her race may provoke. Even when she was seeing three lovers at one time she never tried to overstep their boundaries, always keeping them at arms length as it were, even though in her heart she wanted to be right there beside them.
"This is so bizzare," she said to him in a hushed tone reminiscent of the first time she ever spoke to him, "Nysel sure be toying with us now."
She paused and mulled over saying the next part, but with a leap of her heart decided to go for it.
"I've.... I've missed you. It's been so long. I doubted we would ever see each other again. My dreams be lacking without you."

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


It seemed like the distinguishing action he took was something more easily spotted than he anticipated. He also from his heightened vantage point caught sight of someone running through the crowd. In the mess of frozen people that was most likely the real one. She ran up the staircase hiking up the overtly large dress as she ran up it. Barefoot as usual. Something he could see she clearly preferred. He slipped off the banister and landed infront of her and before she could say a single word he wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her into a full hig lifting her a foof foot off of the ground as he did so.

“Eh all the other, versions of me here have a stick up their ass. They’re way too uptight for their own good.” He smirked and glanced down at the crowd staring up at them. “Take a picture it lasts longer. Oh wait half of you are me so you’ve got the image now buzz off!” He really hated talking to himself. Most of the time it was because he was right. And he couldn’t argue with himself. Though as he turned back to look at Linie he caught a deep look of frustration and uncertainty briefly flashing across her features, as soft as they were.

She was right when she spoke. It was bizzare. But he didn’t think Nysel was toying with them this was probably something else. At least given what he’d seen above. Though when she said her speech about her missing him he couldn’t help by take a moment to toy with her. “Really I find my dreams are a lot more peaceful.” He then pulled the top of her mask down a little and mussed up her hair a little. “Yeah I missed you too. And I think the evidence is right before you.” He glanced around.

“I don’t think this is Nysel torturing us I think this is him showing us how much we’ve had each other on our minds.” He hoped his summation of the situation was right.

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

She hugged him back, a bright grin on her face.
"You? Callin' somethin' uptight?" She laughed. "Get down with your bad self then."
She pushed him away playfully and at her touch the sparkles from the ceiling began to fall, covering them in a light dust of shimmer as time would go on.
"More peaceful? You--"
She was going to call him a bastard but he pulled her mask down, shutting her up and messed about with the curls on top of her head. As he continued to speak she playfully fumed, rearranging her mask and patting down her hair back into place. What did he mean the evidence is before her? She frowned, but then he spoke more and she understood.
"Yes... I hadn't considered that. Perhaps you're right." She changed the subject quickly, despite How have you been in Alvadas? Syka, things have been okay. Crazy thing about Morwen shirkin' her duties. There are no Vantha in Syka thank the gods, I would be sick to my stomach to see someone get killed for no reason."

She was happy now, despite the overwhelming creepiness of all of the selves that were here she was glad to be with the actual Alex and thought maybe if she had this dream without him here she would have just been sad the whole time. Or perhaps had just sat at that table and ate until she woke up. Either way, thinking about this made her feel pitiful. As if some man had that much sway over her emotions, pah. But, the allure of new love was not wasted on Linie and even though she set her resolve to not letting herself fall for him she looked at his green eyes and fell a little deeper still. As she gazed into his eyes the ballroom erupted back into a commotion, everyone resuming their dancing, laughing, and drinking.
"What do we do now. I be a bit... freaked out by these other Linie's. They tried dragging me away to the balcony. For what reason I can't be sure. But it's the oddest thing. Speakin' of, I saw no one on that balcony, at least before. Would you like to be joinin' me there?"

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


“Hey that’s not exactly fair.” He spoke with his usual relaxed and even tones. Even as she pushed him back and away from her a little he never let his hand slip from her waist. Keeping a firm hold on her. He hadn’t seen her in over fifty days. Seeing her again with a smile and a spring in her step made him instinctively not want to let go. Though it seemed she was agreeing with him and his thoughts on what or even who the myriad of other versions of themselves littering the ball were. But he did notice how quickly she snatched the conversation away from the subject he sparked.

“Good to hear that the Vantha are safe in Syka. As for Alvadas I’ve got two vantha women under my protection.” He spoke with a more guarded tone, not out of hiding what he was doing but out of that sense of purpose he held when he felt he was doing the right thing. “And it’s never easy to see people die…Least of all when you know you could have prevented it.” As he focused and felt that cold rage build within him subconsciously his hand filled with the flicker of light a refraction of crystal but his sword never fully appeared.

“Seems weapons aren’t allowed in this place.” He smiled knowing fully well that there was probably no need to fight here after all over hundred versions of himself and Linie were there to guard this place from intruders. “It’s understandable to feel a bit scared. I got dragged away myself by versions of me upstairs. They took me to a fake version of you.” Alex emphasized the word “fake” as best he could to get across that there really wasn’t even a comparison. “But I’d love to go out to the balcony with you.” His hand lifted following along her side and down her arm until he lightly had a hold of her hand and lead her on the way to the open air balcony.

The view was spectacular. An endless drop and a view of nothing but clouds with the soft moonlight reflecting off the top of them. Behind him the music picked up once again but a much slower tune this time. “Well Linie seeing as we don’t have much else to do. May I have this dance?” He smirked and waited for her response.

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

"Oh I think it's fair."
She noticed how he kept a hold of her, he must have missed her. At the thought of it Linie blushed lightly, resisting the fact that he really would like her. She knew about men. She knew what every man wanted, plain and simple. It wasn't that she didn't want that too, she did, but she wasn't going to feign intimacy to get to that point. Not that she didn't want to be intimate with him, she did. There was something that inexplicably drew him to her. But she always held back from men until she was sure, until she knew what they were truly after. In a human's case, probably monogamy, which meant Alex was probably serious about her. But she wasn't taking any chances. Still, she couldn't deny how he made her feel and that worried her, she was falling too quickly and wasn't used to that. She would have to keep her distance. That was what she decided, keep her distance and play it cool. He would show her in the end what he was really after.

"Oh? You're harboring Vantha? In your house no less?"
She raised her eyebrow at him, not missing the fact that he named them as women. His guarded tone, was he trying to make her jealous?
"Yes, we've spoken on this before. Death weighs heavy on your shoulders."
She shielded her eyes from the light that formed in his hand, but the sword never came.
"You must be right. I be disappointed, I'll admit I was goin' to ask you to train me next time I saw you. To a fake version of me you say? There must have been a fake version of you on the balcony then, I daresay he would have been... better looking."
She laughed and touched his arm playfully, batting at it.
"Aye, lets go there."

He held her hand the whole way to the balcony and she was breath taken by the view. Once again the moon graced their dream, though this time it was obscured by clouds from time to time. She took his hand when he asked her to dance, pressing her body close to him naturally. She would lead, twirling them around and trying not to step on his toes. As they danced some of the bubbles from inside started to come out onto the balcony, surrounding them as they danced. Linie laughed and ran a hand up to his face, her biggest sign of affection. She looked into his eyes as they bobbed to the music, slowly turning and stepping to the beat. She lifted his arm and spun herself around under it, then pulled herself closer than before and kissed him before she knew what had hit her. It was a light kiss but it still ignited something in her, a burning desire in her heart to have him as her own.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


“Yes but it’s less of a house. I don’t really have one. It’s three people in a single room.” He spoke with a soft resignation in his voice. "I’ve let them two of them have the bed and the larger space of the room. Resigning myself to sleep in a chair for a little while.” Though at her mention of what weighed on him he just spoke honestly. “Yes, we have. So no need to dampen the beautiful night. And the fact the blade didn’t show up means there’s most likely nothing here to harm us.” He spoke softly though as she mentioned the better looking version he gave her a rather deadpan look.

“Sorry to be the inferior version then.” And as she batted his arm he just shook his head lightly. He didn’t show it well but he knew she was just playing with him with the comment. Though he was surprised when she took the lead with the dancing. Not as much as he should have been but he was a little caught off guard. The motions to the music and the light caught in the floating reflective spheres. Something about this just felt right. Like he was having some semblance of “fun” though what came next he didn’t expect the soft touch and then the lighter meeting of lips.

He wanted to say something clever as she pulled away but he couldn’t. At least not for a moment. “Nice to see that I don’t always have to be the one starting something.” He let the words slip out with a small lightness to them. “You seem a little more unfocused than the last two times we’ve met. What’s wrong?” This time he took the lead taking her along with him as he lead her through the motions his arm wrapped around her waist softly and kept her close to him Leading her through the steps of something he hoped she didn’t know.

“You’re not your usual carefree self. Trust me, you can’t fool someone who’s worn that weight for that long.” He could see it clear as day that something was on her mind and he was going to get the bottom of it. One way or another. If he couldn’t get a direct answer he’d follow his techniques he learnt to extract information. Rudimentary but when paired with his roundabout thinking they often worked. Right now who lead the dance it seemed had control of the situation as much as this was enjoyable it was quite clear that there was more going on behind the scenes. Mostly as they kept dancing even when the crowd around them froze and the music dropped into stunned silence.