Watching the armored form of the adventurer’s leader enter the fray, I can’t help but strum my lute in excitement. The essence, ready to infuse it at my fingertips, remains still, but notes still weakly ring out that calm my racing heart. I can also feel the leader’s - Simon’s - command. A powerful vocal skill that aids in staying focused and aware is something I gladly lean into as I enter the throng of bodies, the heavy golden token held in my left. I stick close to the adventurer's mage, his blue robe my guide through the crowd that shuffles and jostles around me, the thrum of conversation becoming louder and louder the deeper in we advance.
Harry and Nathan stay on either side of me, but as the seconds pass it is more and more of a struggle to stay together. A giggling group of mannequins as well as some human and elven ladies in ball gowns prove to be the obstacle that finally separates us, their surprisingly powerful frames interposing themselves between myself and Harry as I am shoved off course and off balance. Reflexively, I raise my left towards my chest, hugging the token protectively while I attempt to steady myself.
Gathering myself and looking around, I suddenly find myself surrounded by only unfamiliar faces. The blue robe, my guide, is absent from my point of view, and neither the tall frame of Nathan nor the more diminutive one of Harry are visible to either side of me. Not for the first time, but certainly not for the last time, I curse my short stature, as I am unable to make out anything over the crowd's heads. Turning towards the entrance in the hope of maybe spotting the tall redhead supposed to bring up our rear, I am positively surprised to see a familiar looking flash of red through the throng of people. However, to my dismay, my sweeping eyes detect another similar looking glimpse of red hair at a different angle… And then another in yet another new direction.
As I hesitate a moment over whether or not to give a distress signal, I see a flash of color to the side that Nathan disappeared from I believe, as a splash of yellow ink forms an arrow up in the air, pointing down at a spot in the crowd, before dripping away.
That’s Nathan’s signal! Seeing this as my chance to meet up with the rest, I relax slightly and remove my right hand from my lute’s strings and begin shoving my way through the crowd in the direction of the arrow. Shortly, thankfully, the familiar appearance of the college’s robes comes into view and I think I can make out Harry’s frame in the direction I am moving.
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Hurrying to catch up to him I push by another group of chattering mannequins and reach out to touch his shoulder. He turns towards me and I am momentarily taken aback. While he looks very similar to Harry, the person in front of me is evidently not Harry, his facial proportions are all off and his robe and tabard fit badly. Before I can recoil, however, the person grasps my outstretched hand as I feel another pair of hands wrapping themselves over my mouth and around my torso.
I struggle with all my might, but I am forced down by another pair of hands as my palm is forced open, the golden token taken from me by the person resembling Harry in front of me. I can but watch in horror as my Lute is also taken from me as the Imposter’s features ripple and shift, their hair elongating, changing in color and their body shifting to better fill out the robes they are wearing.
Slinging the lute around their shoulder, the person that stands in front of me finishes their transformation as they flick the golden token once more before grinning at me with the features of an attractive blonde with freckles and green eyes… My features. This time, copied flawlessly. I scream into the palm that keeps my mouth covered, to no avail, as the imposter turns and begins making their way towards the signal, the token taken along with them as I am dragged away.
The crowd parts just enough for me to see Harry, the real Harry, breaking through the crowd and tapping my imposter’s shoulder, who turns towards him and gives him a reassuring smile, just as I would have, before I am dragged out of view.
I simply hang in my captor’s grasp limply, all fight having gone out of me, as I am pulled out of the crowd and into a hallway, where my captor unexpectedly turns me around and lets go of me.
“Right, this is you!” a smug voice sounds out, and I turn to see a human man, with slightly graying black hair, a short stubble and piercing blue eyes standing behind me.
He gives me a cocky grin, before pointing down the hallway. Turning, I see a sign on the side, pointing down the hallway that reads “Costume Shop”.
“Congratulations, Lady! Since you don’t have a ticket, you get to be part of the show! Now, hurry up and get your costume fitted, we are on a tight schedule here!”