As per Irideis’ request, Raine and Nikolay organised their outfits separately. They visited the tailor in their own time, who completed her measurements and fitting much faster than they would’ve expected. It was good, because the masquerade ball commenced only a few days later.

When the morning of the party date came around, Irideis left a letter on the table. Despite the expensive waxed paper, the message written inside was relatively simple.

‘Come to the venue separately, so that you don’t spoil the outfits. I have two cabs coming five minutes apart. Just… don’t look at each other when you leave, I guess.’

And so, that was exactly what they did.

Fast forward to many hours later, and Nikolay now stood inside a massive chamber covered in too many layers of fabric. The mask on his face was suffocating, the lights were too bright, and most of all, it was stifling to completely suppress his magic to avoid being recognised. For the other sorcerers attending the event, it wasn’t much of a problem. But for him, it was more like trying to stuff an elephant into a tiny closet.

He didn’t particularly care for social events at the best of times, but unfortunately, he had to engage in conversation for the sake of gathering information. Thus, Nikolay pushed aside everything that was annoying him, and started on his quest.

Nikolay wasn’t nearly as silver-tongued as Irideis, but he still had enough tact to engage in a few conversations. Surprisingly, the guests weren’t nearly as unapproachable as he’d imagined. Perhaps it was the fact that nobody recognised each other, which meant everyone was on equal footing for tonight.

About halfway through the night, the sound of a giant organ blasted through the chamber. It started off as a single note, echoing on its lonesome to test the waters. Then, once the audience had acclimatised to the sound, only then did more notes begin streaming forth. The player at the hidden organ slowly weaved in a melody, each resonating boom blending into one cohesive song.

Drawn by the compelling allure of the music, attendees made their way to the dance floor at the centre of the room. Hands joined together, drinks put aside, and pairs emerged from the groups of people.

Nikolay watched the procession, hanging towards the far end of the room. He had no interest in trivial acts like dancing with a stranger, especially since it held no importance towards his true goal. From his vantage point, it looked like the guests were having plenty of fun with their duo waltzes. If it were anyone else, they’d feel left out of the festivities.

Just as he was settling into his position from afar, somebody’s hand tugged at his own.

Startled, Nikolay blinked and turned to the stranger.

They wore a brass goat mask that covered the entire face. Horns curled back around their ears, etched with ornate rose designs. A gloved hand cheekily waved at him, then pointed over to the dance floor.

Even though the other’s face and body were disguised in layers of elaborate fabric, no amount of physical barriers could erase the unique demeanour that Nikolay had come to know. Not to mention, it was obvious why this ‘stranger’ didn’t speak at all, despite there being no restrictions on verbal communication.

You idiot, he thought. We’re supposed to be gathering information. That means talking to others, not to each other.

Despite this, he played along with the charade and took the other’s gloved hand.

Walking to the dance floor felt more like he was being dragged. Nikolay disliked dancing in front of other people, and was only doing this for Raine’s sake.

It wasn’t long before they were standing on the smooth wooden boards, surrounded by many other guests in the middle of their own routines. His goat-masked partner finally stood still and placed a hand on Nikolay’s waist. Their free hands loosely intertwined with each other, a gentle and familiar connection.

Slowly but steadily, they began to move in time with the music. The organ player had started a slow, melodic waltz. Each step in their improvised dance weaved in and out of other pairs, brushing close but never enough to interrupt their dance.

The languid notes of the song blended into each other, a thick harmonic treacle that descended and poured over the entire ballroom. It blocked out the nearby masquerade-goers and isolated just the two of them in their own personal bubble. Everything narrowed down to where they were holding each other: a hand on the waist, two hands intertwined, a delicate placement on the shoulder.

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Nikolay could almost hear the sound of pouring rain in the background. The rain that had soaked them to the bone when they were last holding each other like this. The rain when they’d kissed — properly, without being influenced by alcohol.

And when his mind wandered to that time, he then realised something.

Right now, they were performing the exact same routine as they had done on that very night.

…You really are a one-trick pony.

But just as they were about to reach the climactic ending of the routine, suddenly the comforting hands on his waist disappeared. Nikolay snapped open his eyes, far too late. There was nothing but an empty dance floor waiting in front of him.

His dancing partner was gone.

—

Left with nothing else to distract him from the mundanity of tonight, Nikolay reluctantly returned to gathering information from the party attendees. Although he tried to scour the nearby areas for a goat mask, nothing stood out to him.

Just as he’d witnessed for the past hour, the conversations were too dull, too entrenched in invisible social rules. All he could do was bite his tongue and force his way through the mundanity of party talk, in hopes of gleaning even just a sliver of information.

To his relief, another opportunity for respite presented itself shortly after. The tinny sound of a bell rang, and waiters began wheeling out carts full of food. It looked like appetisers were being served for the night, which meant attendees would have to sit down soon for the main meal.

And luckily for Nikolay, it provided an excuse to slip away amidst the scuffle of finding seats.

After excusing himself from the current conversation with the reason of needing a ‘smoke break’ — despite never having smoked a cigarette in this life — Nikolay stepped out of the main hall. He walked down a few hallways until finding a door that opened out onto an empty balcony.

Nikolay stepped out into the open area and let out a loud sigh of relief. It was much, much quieter on the balcony. Unlike the constant clamour of talking and music, this place was devoid of any human sound. He almost felt bad for disturbing the peace with his own breathing.

Aside from the chirping of insects and the gentle breeze blowing through the trees, it was a peaceful sort of stillness. The kind of quiet that he would only get while camping out in the wilderness. While Raine was sound asleep, safe in their tent.

…And there he went again. Couldn’t he just go a minute without thinking about Raine? Nikolay blamed the other’s stunt earlier.

To sour his mood further, a stranger decided to disturb the fragile tranquility. Nikolay heard the sound of the balcony door opening behind him, shattering the silence from before.

“Excuse me, good sir…” they started.

He turned around and shot the newcomer a dark look.

The man, who wore a fabric wasp mask, backpedalled a little after seeing Nikolay’s reaction.

“Sorry for disturbing you on this wonderful night,” the man hastily said. “I was simply wondering if you knew where the main banquet hall was.”

Nikolay crossed his arms resolutely. “You’re 3 hours late for the masquerade. Either you weren’t invited, or you’re missing a large chunk of your brain.”

“A- Actually, I was already at the party! I thought I would explore around, but then ended up getting myself lost,” the man spluttered.

“How embarrassing.”

“Please, help me! I really don’t want to miss out on this opportunity! I beg of you, kind sir!”

After the man got down on his knees to beg, Nikolay let out a sigh and raised a hand to stop him.

“I don’t want to see any of that. The main hall is over there,” Nikolay said, pointing in the wrong direction.

“Thank you, thank you so much! I’ll be sure to remember you as the kind stranger in the crow mask!”

He’d rather if nobody remembered him at all, but at least it was with this ridiculous mask on.

Nikolay watched the stranger walk back through the door and head down the wrong hallway. Once the man was out of sight, he could finally release the chokehold on his magic. Because of the masquerade’s rules, it was mandatory to suppress all magic, since it would easily give away the sorcerer’s identity.

Now that nobody was here, though, it wasn’t a violation to let his magic run free. The azure blue motes once again floated around him in mesmerising waves, creating a sight that he’d gotten used to seeing. It was refreshing to have that pressure release all at once, almost as if a window had been opened in a stuffy room.

Just as he thought the balcony was finally empty, a familiar goat mask popped out from behind a pillar.

“Hey,” Raine said. “What was that guy’s deal?”

Nikolay shrugged nonchalantly. “Not my problem. I’d rather avoid wasting any more brain power on him.”

“Pfft, you really don’t like this ball, huh?” Raine laughed. “I’ve never seen you this irritable.”

Was it really that obvious? And here, Nikolay was thinking he was handling it so well.

“Your little stunt earlier didn’t help things, either.”

“Aw, I just wanted to give you some motivation. I knew you were going to get sick of things pretty quickly, with the claustrophobic atmosphere and all.”

“How did you know it was me? What if you asked a random stranger for a dance?”

Even though a full mask obscured Raine’s face, somehow Nikolay knew that there was a wide grin underneath.

“I would be able to find you in any universe, any timeline. A simple outfit change is hardly a problem for me.”

Unsure of how to respond, Nikolay stood there silently. The gravity of Raine’s seemingly offhanded comment made him feel like he shouldn’t just brush it aside.

It turned out that he didn’t need to think of an answer at all, because a loud, rumbling boom came from the direction of the main hall. Although they were a decent way away, the heat of the explosion reached all the way to the balcony. A cascade of crumbling stone and dust followed shortly after, as Nikolay and Raine watched the roof over the hall collapse.

They looked away from the smoke and destruction, and locked eyes with each other.

This went far, far beyond any small accident. It was an attack targeted towards this specific masquerade.