“There. With this final… touch… there! All set!” The beautician, Audrina, said after rubbing a napkin against his face to clear away any dust. She took a step and observed him up and down before claiming with a big smile, “Now, you look like a movie star!”
“A movie star?” Lakshman asked, sounding surprised. “Who’s that?”
“Well, it’s someone who is super popular for being able to act well in any character that he is put in behind the screen.”
“Ah? They are put behind the screen?” Lakshman asked, then turned to look at the large screen fixed on the wall, and then looked back at her with a look that said, “How is that possible?”
Seeing his reaction, Audrina winked and said, “It’s fine. There’s plenty of time for you to get used to a lot of things in this world. I’m confident you’ll get to it. You’re a super hero and everything, so I trust you’ll get used to it in time.”
“Thank you for your faith,” replied Lakshman, making her giggle with energy, “and thank you for this. I really appreciate it.”
“Oh! I so love young boys, especially the good-looking ones! They always make my heart race,” she said, glancing at him with twinkles emitting from her eyes. As he smiled a little, she quickly recovered and picked up a mirror to show him and said, “Anyway, take a look of how handsome you’ve become.”
When the mirror came in front of his face, Lakshman was taken aback by the dashing young man that stared back at him. For a moment, he could not believe it was really him that he was looking at in the mirror. His skin was lighter, brighter and fairer along with the clean look that his face sported. Raising his hands, he touched his face experimentally and found that his skin was soft to the touch quite smooth.
“Wow. This is…”
“This is the power of a beautician!” The woman said proudly. Then, she turned her attention over to the dress and inched closer to it while saying, “Now, to get you to wear that—!”
“I can wear it myself, thank you!” Lakshman quickly replied, sensing an imminent danger and spoke out to evade it.
“Ah? It’s fine. You don’t need to be embarrassed,” she said with a chuckle.
“Thank you, but no. I’d like to wear it myself. So, please step outside while I change,” replied Lakshman, adding firmness to his words to convince them.
Audrina looked at him for a moment before turning to look at her assistants, who nodded silently at her, causing her shoulders to instantly droop in disappointment. She turned back to him and said, “Fine. We’ll leave it to you. Pack up, girls.”
With the order, the other three women quickly clicked several times on the devices attached to their wrists and made the seating machine fold itself into a compact form. Packing and locking it securely, the girls bowed to him and left while dragging their boss with them, who was looking back wistfully at him.
“If you ever need any assistant in making you look good, ask the guards! They’ll let you know!” She called to him before disappearing out of the room.
Lakshman watched her go with a smile and also saw the butler out of the room before letting out a deep sigh.
“That woman is suspicious,” said Asura in his mind in a concerned voice.
“I think she’s an alright person, but strange in many ways,” commented Lakshman with a smile. “Now, to get changed.”
***
Several minutes later, he had changed from his clothes from his original world and was wearing the handsomely made garments that donned a cape at the back. Overall, it gave him an impressive appearance that matched with the cool expression that he currently wore. In the mirror set to the side, he checked himself to be sure that his clothing was indeed accurate, a habit he got from Ondine, who always wanted him to look his best whenever he and his wives attended parties of a noblemen of his kingdom.
“Remember to look your best, impress the gents and flatter the ladies. Alright?” She had said with a smile on her face.
Remembering her words made him long for her and the rest of his wives left back in his world, but it was not to be. Loneliness started to settle on him when Asura’s voice cut through it like a sharp knife cutting down butter.
“Get it together, Lakshman. You’re not alone. I’m here to keep you company,” he replied in a firm voice.
“Yeah, but you won’t fill the comfort only your wives can give,” said Lakshman, making a sad smile on his face.
Asura did feel sorry for him but, at the same time, felt annoyed that a man would become so down just like that. Still, he knew he was of a different mentality than Lakshman, who grew up together with his wives unlike him. Still, he knew what was important and this was what made him say to his present self in a sharp voice.
“Whatever! Remember that one of your future wives is in this world. For yours and her sake, focus on what you must do. Alright?”
This clicked Lakshman’s mind back into action, and he looked towards the door with a determined expression on his face.
“You’re right. There’s no time to waste.”
Without further ado, he unlocked the door using the voice command and opened the door, allowing a sound of chatter to enter. It seemed that the other eight heroes were talking to one another excitedly and seemed to be wearing some kind of animal masks, something Lakshman noticed when he exited the room.
As he closed and locked his door, one of them noticed him and said in an energetic voice, “Oh! It’s the guy from the world of sword and magic!”
The owner of the voice was instantly recognisable as Vikram, who was wearing the mask of a monkey.
“Sorry I’m late,” said Lakshman apologetically.
“Yeah, you’re late, but hey; better late than never,” said Vikram, sensing the smile he wore behind his mask.
Lakshman smiled and, while looking at everyone, he asked, “What’s up with you all? Why are you wearing masks?”
“They said the party will begin with a ball dance and everyone’ll be wearing masks to not identify each other,” responded Maxwell, wearing the mask of a bird.
“Something about keeping things interesting,” added Fred, letting out a light chuckle.
“Well, I’m getting excited thinking about the unknown woman we’ll dance with,” said Martin’s voice, sounding excited while his fingers fidgeted nervously.
“Don’t be nervous, Martin. Letting your nerves take over is a fatal mistake,” said Ward’s telepathic voice.
“I’m not nervous. Just excited, that’s all. Really.”
“Well, I’d just say: bring on the ladies!” Vikram said boastfully, taking a proud stance.
The man wearing the vulture mask sighed and shook his head before saying, “Pitiful, Martin. Really pitiful. Back in my world, it’s normal for us to dance with the many ladies that attend it.”
While Martin’s shoulders slumped dejectedly, Vikram came to his rescue by speaking in a scathing voice.
“Give me a break. Unlike us ‘normal people’ you’re the weird one here, mister prince from another world!”
“Mmm,” said Gram, pausing for a moment as he processed Vikram’s words. Then, he seemed to smile behind the mask as he replied with, “If being politically powerful, then that makes me superior compared to the rest of you lot.”
“What?!” Vikram exclaimed, anger evident in his voice.
“Oh, but of course, it does hurt to know that you’re powerless against a superior authority like mine.”
“Huh?! What sort of authority do you have that trumps ours? We’re all summoned heroes, or did you forget?”
Gram chuckled darkly and said, “No… It’s my title of being a prince from another world, while you’re just a regular guy on the streets, trying to make girls fall in love with you, unlike me where the girls flock to me.”
Everyone was shocked, and Vikram struggled to say words as he said, “Y-Y-Y-You—!”
“Yes. It’s me. I’m special, and you know it,” replied Gram without a care, making Vikram become furious.
“Enough!” Said Natsu wearing a peacock mask in a stern voice, stepping in between Vikram and Gram.
“But this guy—!”
“Drop it, Vikram! Some people are like that! Ignore them!” Natsu said forcefully, cutting across Vikram’s dialogue.
The Sonic Hero was not happy, but he knew staying that way right before the party was a bad idea. So, he breathed a deep sigh and turned away with a “hmph” sound. Gram smirked and turned the opposite direction, just as several Royal Guards arrived to escort them. One of them walked towards Lakshman carrying a tray with a lid on it, which they opened to reveal a set of masks.
“Please choose your mask, sir.”
Lakshman looked at various animals that he reminded him of the people he met in their likeness. The lion mask for Nara Simhara, the warrior mask for Dominic Rutherford, the skull mask for Sevedant and the dragon mask for Lagron Rodraigun. Smiling at the expression he might see on his rival’s face, he picked the dragon mask and wore it. He liked that it was not rough like most masks he wore in the past to hide his identity as the Phoenix Titan, which was mainly during his childhood.
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“Okay. This way please,” said one of the Royal Guards, and began to lead them ahead while they followed behind.
They walked for a few minutes in silence, with the only sound made by their footsteps and they turned several corners before finally hearing the sound of music. It grew louder and louder as they drew closer to it until they stopped outside a pair of large doors, which the Royal Guards stationed themselves at before pushing them open.
A world of sound, wind and a sweet aroma wafted out of the room, instantly engulfing in its rich sense and making them feel really amazed. The inside was a large hall that was splendidly decorated with string, ribbons, and a lot of floating orbs positioned high in the air. On the sides were tables and benches seated with many people wearing different kinds of masks, but they were not that of animals. Some had masks with designs and strange markings.
“Wow. This is something else,” commented Vikram in a mutter that was loud enough for them to hear, receiving their silent nods of the heads in agreement.
At the sound of the door opening, the people turned their attention away from the blaring music and looked towards them. In an instant, they rose from their seat and watched as Gram led the way forward, with Natsu going in next followed by everyone else, with Lakshman bringing up the rear. They were glancing around the large hall and noticed the huge gap of space in the centre of the room, where the dancing would take place at.
“I see. That’s the place, ah?” Maxwell asked of no one in particular. “I think it’ll fit for us all.”
As they arrived, the king stood up from his seat at the side and greeted them before addressing the wider audience.
“Well, well, well! Greeting ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our party celebrating our complete victory against the alien attack! We have suffered greatly and many of our cities were ruined, but today, we won the battle and defeated the aliens! It would not have been possible without the help of these nine young lads, the Nine Heroes of Legends!”
He spoke the last few words in a louder voice, causing everyone to start clapping almost immediately. The nine men were facing the audience and their masks hiding their looks of annoyance at the fact that they did not do anything. Lakshman, however, did not care because he was looking for a certain someone, whose presence he could not sense.
The king waited for a few seconds before raising his hand for attention and the clapping died, all eyes focused on him.
“The one to lead the charge against the alien was Gram, the Tempest Hero and it would not have been possible without the aided support of the Solaris Hero, Asura!”
Once again, clapping sound rang from all sides, and Lakshman felt a piercing stare at him from the side. He realised Gram was eying him with a look of annoyance while seeming to face the front, but he ignored him. The clapping slowed died down, and the king resumed his speech.
“It is time for us to begin the party and the joyous way to start it is with a dance,” he said and turned to face the stairs behind him.
As everyone’s attention focused on the stairs, the two Royal Guards stationed next to the stairs, raised their spears and hammered them on the ground twice before saying, “Presenting the First Prince, the Second Prince and the Princess!”
In the next moment, the lights in the great hall vanished and the lights on the stairs got lit. A flutter of movement was heard coming from upstairs, then six people slowly came down the stairs in a pair; one male holding tenderly to the hand of their female partner. Upon seeing them coming, there was an audible gasp of admiration and awe from everyone from the spectacular appearances of the six people, especially the two-lead male sporting some amazing clothing.
While everyone was either impressed, astonished or taken aback by their amazing appearance, Lakshman was thinking something else.
“So, they’re her brothers,” he thought, eying them with a serious expression that no one can see. “I think Erza mentioned their names to me a few times. Mmm… I think the first prince’s name is Bolten and the second prince’s name is Santa. Strange. The second prince appears more splendid looking than his older brother.”
“Relax, Lakshman. Not everyone will have a relationship like our family did; a powerful older brother and a cool younger brother. That’s what I and Chandra were, remember?”
Lakshman silently agreed and continued to watch them slowly down the stairs. His expression softened when he saw the beautiful dress that his future wife, Erza, was wearing. It made her realised that her fashion sense came from this world’s advanced knowledge in how to make someone appear radiant by the clothing they wear. This he saw in her when she often helped pick the right clothes with Ondine when they got him ready to attend parties, although, the selection choice was always left up to Emilia and Tetra for some reason.
“I thought you’re good at everything, but I guess fashion isn’t your strong suit,” she had said jokingly at one point in time.
He clucked to himself before focusing his attention back on the three pairs of royalties and their partners. Once they reached the bottom stair, their partners let go of their hands, bowed to each other and left to stand aside. Then, the two princes’ and the princess moved to greet their father, who smiled genially at them and rubbed his hand on their heads.
“Lead the way, Bolten,” said the king, indicating the great hall.
“Ah! I do remember!” Lakshman thought in triumph, amazed that he got the first prince’s name right.
Bolten nodded towards his father and replied, “Of course. Let us enter.”
He turned towards his partner and lent his hand out to her, which she tenderly grasped with her own. Then, the two walked onto the large space and took up stances while facing one another. The music started to play from the speakers, and everyone watched as the pair started to move slowly around, moving rhythmically in time with the music.
A while later, the second prince joined the dance with his partner and, following their example, many more started to enter. As they danced with the music, the partners danced for a fair bit before letting the ladies move onto the next person to dance with, almost like a rotation. Lakshman watched Erza, who wearing a beautiful rainbow feathered bird mask, danced gracefully and moved to the next partner with relative ease.
“This explains why she’s so good at dancing,” thought Lakshman with a satisfied smile that no one can see.
“Heroes,” said the king, walking over to speak with them. “Please, join enter as well. Your partners are awaiting.”
As he said that, he turned and indicated nine other women, who were all wearing a different kind of masks. Their dresses were neat and gave them an attractive air about them as they waited for them on the side. It seemed that the king had planned beforehand to set nine beautiful women aside just so that the heroes could enter.
“On… second thought, I think I’d like to watch from the sidelines,” said Martin, becoming nervous at the great number of people present on the scene.
“Yes. I doubt I can dance as great as them,” said Fred, realising that his lack of expertise in it would make him seem like a rock trying to dance.
The king laughed heartily at their statements and said, “Oh no. That’s no problem, and being nervous doesn’t suit a hero, am I right? Please. The ladies also want to dance with you,” then he suddenly leaned a little forward and said in a quiet voice so that only they could hear him, “I think it’s a man’s duty to impress the ladies, right?”
He leaned back and straightened up, laughing at his own remark while the heroes watched in surprise. While his airs were certainly deceiving, none of them fell for it and saw his clear intentions. He wanted them to dance together with beautiful ladies and rotate around so that the noblemen could become accustomed to having them around and would not alienate them just because they are from another world.
“A brilliant strategy,” said Asura quietly in Lakshman’s mind. “We dance and slowly have the others feel relaxed while being around us. A great strategy indeed.”
“Yes, and I’ll get to dance with Erza soon enough,” replied Lakshman in his mind, smiling to himself.
The nine heroes looked at one another before moving slowly towards the nine waiting ladies on the side. As they moved, the other dancers looked over and gave them side on glances while continuing to dance. Once the nine reached the ladies, Gram was the first to step forward, and he bowed to her like a prince from fairy tales and asked in a soft voice that was opposite to his normal behaviour.
“Young lady in the spectacular dress, will you dance together with me?”
The girl, whose face was hidden behind the mask, clearly showed how surprised she was by both his handsome face and the truly prince like posture he had taken. She readily gave her hand to him and proceeded to follow him to dance with the others.
“Show off,” commented Vikram, while others silently agreed with him. Then, he turned back to focus on his partner girl and asked, “Will you dance with me?” There was no immediate reply and, feeling worried, he added the word, “Please.”
This immediately made the girl nod in agreement and lend her hand to him, which he took and they followed after Gram and his partner.
“Uh…” Martin began, looking nervously at his partner, trying his best to avoid making eye contact. “Will you dance with together with me? Um, if you’re okay with me that is.”
“Certainly, hero,” she replied immediately as if she had been waiting for him to request her. Then, seeing how nervous he was, she seemed to smile behind her face and said, “Please relax. It’ll be difficult to dance if you’re so nervous.”
“I-I’ll be in your care,” replied Martin, fidgeting with his hands.
As he entered the dance space with his partner, Natsu walked forward and asked, “Will you dance with me?” When the girl readily accepted and went with him, he wished the others, “Good luck.”
Maxwell, William and Ward proceeded to easily acquire the hand of their partner and enter the dance. When it came down to Fred, it was a little bit different.
“I want to upfront and straight that I don’t know how to dance,” he informed his partner with great honesty. “I may sound silly but, where I’m from, we didn’t have kingdoms and the dance was completely different to this. That’s why, I may cause you some trouble if I stumble or struggle with the moves. Will you still dance with me?”
For a moment, his partner remained silent before she said, “Thank you for being honest, sir. I didn’t know how much of a dance you know, but your honesty is greatly appreciated. No worries. I’ll assist you in dancing and you may learn a few things while we’re at it.”
“Thank you for that,” he said, lending his hand out for her to grasp, which she did and the two walked towards the dance.
Lakshman watched them go and thought, “It’s not always good to be honest, but being truthful sometimes isn’t bad.” Then, he turned to face his partner and extended his hand out while asking, “Dear fair lady, will you enter the dance with me?”
The girl appeared to be clearly taken aback by his remark before recovering and saying in a sweet gentle voice.
“Yes. Gladly, hero.”
“Huh?” He thought, a little surprised when he thought the voice was familiar to him. “Why does her voice sound so familiar?”
“Hero? Is something the matter?” She asked after seeing that he didn’t move to grasp her hand.
“Oh. Ah. It’s nothing,” he said, moving his hand forward and allowing her to grasp it with gentleness. “Shall we go?”
With a nod of consent from her, the pair walked towards the dance and joined everyone else. For several minutes, the rest of the dancers were nervous while dancing when Gram first entered, but they gradually got accustomed to it as Vikram, Martin, Natsu, Maxwell, William, Ward and Fred join. Now, with Lakshman finally joining them, everyone was more relaxed and seemed to be slowly circulating their partners around.
Lakshman was slightly taller than his partner, who seemed skilled with her movement, but did not seem to match his stretch. Still, Lakshman maintained his posture of keeping up with his partner and did performed quite well as a partner. This made him feel a sense of strangeness because the only woman that he was able to dance like this was with Emilia, Tetra, Sonia and Erza. Sumara refused to dance, Silvera did not know how to dance and Ondine never felt like dancing, although, would watch from the sidelines with interest.
Things, however, were not going to go his way because, after a while of dancing, a great explosion of sound occurred from somewhere nearby. Following it were the sounds of alarm, cutting the music off in an instant and causing utter confusion to fill everyone in the great all.
“W-What was that?!”
“It sounded like an explosion!”
“It’s an explosion! No doubt!”
“By why?! What happened?”
“Are the aliens here already for revenge?!”
“We’re under attack!”
Not a moment too soon, there was the sound of fierce battle from outsider before the door opened with a blast. The force of the explosion sent wild wind blowing inside along with the smoke that drifted in. Everyone covered their faces and took cover behind the capes they all wore as the drifting smoke slowly subsided.
“Oh my? Am I crashing a party?” A strong and powerful voice rang from the doorway. “How exciting!”
“That voice! No way!” The king exclaimed, instantly recognising who the owner of the voice was.
The Royal Guards, that had recovered from the explosion, quickly took up positions in front of the king and the guests, facing towards the entrance. In an instant, several lightning shots were released and they pieced through the warrior’s armoured plates where the heart was located. Shrill screams could be heard from all around as several of the Royal Guards fell dead on the floor, blood slowly covering the spot they lay on.
Lakshman was shocked at the merciless methods of their attacker and turned to face the entrance, where the smoke was lessening. A moment later, the smoke lessened to reveal the face of the man, who had an intimidating expression on his face. He was tall, strongly built and had a moustache that gave him an impressive look. Currently, he dropped the intimidating look for a cool look as his eyes fell on the king protected by no one.
The man tilted his head slightly and asked, “Looking so old and helpless. It sure has been a while, hasn’t it, friend?”