I suppose I can scout ahead again. Wait- Does this make me a type of guardian for them? Always making sure that they're headed in the right direction? Maybe. I wouldn’t mind that. At least they’re more fun than the dryads and the other damn tree spirits, they never listen to me. I mean, come on. I get that they are technically under Ahelia’s jurisdiction, but still! I have trees under mine! Which means they should be mine! Not the soulstresses! So what if they have souls?

Luckily it seems that there aren’t any guards, not so sure if this counts as luck anymore. Starting to be a bit creepy now. I’ve gone around three times now! Just long, poorly decorated, stone hallways with windows that give a good view of the courtyard. At least it’s daytime now. Maybe they’ll try to jump out these instead of taking the front door?

“I thought you said you knew the way out, Ms. Mercenary? This certainly doesn’t look like so.”

You really don’t like her do you, wizard boy?

“Would you rather us waste more time down there, or get out quick?”

Get out quick? With a detour through a courtyard? Wow, how stealthy. Really, great thinking there Bunny.

“With how easily we would get caught? Aren’t you supposed to be some high tier mercenary?”

“High tier? I’m so honored a prince would think such of me!”

How much longer will this be? I signed up for adventure! Not filler and sarcasm!

“Yo, so we going through the front gate or finding a back gate?”

Oh! I almost forgot! The supposed party! I still need to guide them to wherever it is! Most likely the ballroom. Now where would that be? I’ll take a quick look around the corner and stay within range of them.

“If there’s a ‘banquete’ as ya wanna call it, it’d be better to find a back entrance in this castle, right? Don’t wanna get spotted by guests. Or guards.”

“I’m sorry, you think there’s a backdoor to a highly fortified castle? Even if there was a backdoor, it would probably only be used by staff, which means we get caught. And the door would lead to the outside, which would still have us walled in.”

Except for the wall I broke down for you! Shame you won’t be able to get there, you all have a party to attend! And- Aha! An ostentatious black feather, stuck in a black flat cap! And decked out in royal green!

“Oh yoo hoo!” That’ll get his attention!

“What was that? Is that marching? Shit, go back, go back. Move out of the way dammit!”

“Stop shoving- Ow! that was my foot!”

“Move, we’ll get caught!”

Hah! Look at ‘em! They can barely move around each other! The hallway isn’t even that small!

“Are you all alright? State your business.”

Ha ha! Now they just need to lie convincingly enough!

“Oh, um- we are here-”

“Hello, seems my friends and I have gotten lost. Would you know the way back to the, um-”

And our wizard takes the lead! Nice try Red, but you suck at lying!

“The ballroom?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

The gaurd obviously doesn’t believe a word of this. Lie better will you? I don’t want to end up possessing the guy, just to get zapped again!

“You all seem a bit, underdressed.”

“Well. The journey here was a bit, rough. To say the least.”

“May I have your names.”

“Ou- I- well… My name is Jianyu Longwei. And, these are my… retainers. You don’t need their names.”

DRAGON!? Y’ALL GOT DRAGONS?!

“From the Yangguang Empire?”

Sunlight? Ere? Him?

“Yes.”

“I’ll guide you to the dressing room then, my liege.”

The what now?

“Dressing room?”

“You are here for the ball, are you not?”

“Well, Yes! Of course. I just thought I would stop by, I don’t want to bother your King.”

“Nonsense, my liege. I only hope that the Prince’s selection of costumes is up to your standards. If not, we have complementary fabric weavers to suit your wants.”

Fabric weavers? Is this-? This is definitely related to the magic of this world, they would have to ‘grow’ the fabric, wouldn’t they? As it is happening and sew it. Sounds quite tedious. Good for them, then! A good job that includes their magic. But the prince is hosting the party? Is he allowed to do that? Humans and their little rules of etiquette and chains of command are so confusing sometimes. But a ball! How fun! And a prince? I might just be able to snag a dance.

“Oh, we really wouldn’t want to intrude on the Prince’s party-”

“And here we are. Enjoy the festivities, my liege. The maids will fix you up nicely here.”

I’ll admit. I’m jealous. The ‘retainers’ certainly don’t look happy, but what I would do to be in their shoes. A shame I’m playing guardian to them, I would have loved to wear one of those fancy dresses. And look at this room! Beautiful silks of reds, oranges, greens, pinks, and blues! I really should just possess one of the lady’s on the ballroom floor. But alas, it wouldn’t be the same.

I suppose I’ll just wait for them beyond the other door of the dressing room.

Oh dear Chaos. I’ve been consumed by jealousy.

Beautiful dresses and suits! Oh, I should have stayed in the fitting room and seen how they sewed the garments! Oh look how beautiful that whip-stitching is! And the multitudes of corsets! Vaguely Victorian? They are all so beautifully made I don’t care much for the accuracy at this point! And the men’s waistcoats don’t even look cohesive with a certain time period, yet they all look so good! Look at that man! Is that a velvet waistcoat? Dear Creator, what kind of environment do these people prosper from!? Purple for commoners and pure cotton for higher class!? What kind of medieval fantasy BS is this, Creator?!

And the fitting room door is opening! Let’s see the cast!

Our red headed hero is wearing a dark green, almost blue, rounded waistcoat, tailcoat, with pearl buttons! How nice, they compliment his pearl earrings quite well. And a black buttoned shirt with a white cravat, along with black fall front trousers. I have to admit, the small ponytail of the long strands of hair from the back really makes him look good, the fringe really ties it all together. He doesn't look all that happy, really out of his element here.

Now, our mercenary is also in green. More so a beautiful emerald linen. Do the people here have a higher resistance to poison or different ways of dyeing clothes? Then again, the only people who seem to be wearing deep greens appear to be those regarded as the help. Regardless, the white ruffles around the off-the-shoulder collar is a very nice touch. The black ruffles run down the middle of where the corset should be, and down the rest of the dress. And the bottom has white ruffles beneath the skirt of the dress. She seems to be faring much better in her clothes than him. Her short white hair has been done into a crown braid. Her brown, are they a dark pink, eyes are showing how guarded she is. She’s glaring at everything and everyone. Where's the pri-

And now outsteps our runaway royalty!

We’ll look at that! I think they gave him a bath! His hair certainly looks better. It's been let loose and allowed to drape down, the white fringe even seems to blend well into the hair. His lilac eyes are flitting around the room. He’s quite nervous isn’t he? Let’s see…, a creamy off-white waistcoat, embellished with swirling shimmers. Ivory buttons, and white detailing, is that embroidery, on the waistcoat collar and edges. A white linen dress shirt, and a white taupe pair of fall front trousers, all covered by a slightly off-white tailcoat. And a pair of white oxfords. I’ve never really liked shoes, far too troublesome. I’d much rather go barefoot-

“Welcome one and all to my Masquerade!”

“So, not a banquete I’m guessing?”

Nope! Better! A ball! Don't be so down, hero. And I’m guessing the man speaking is the prince. If it’s not obvious from the white silk… everything. Silk waistcoat with clear boning and pronounced collar, silk coat, and the only not silk, white trousers. The only things not white, are the gold detailing spread out along the outfit. Gold buttons, and gold painted along the ends of the sleeves of his high collar white dress shirt. Is the complete pure white a slight at the off-white of our wizards garb?

“I understand that you may have expected the King and Queen to be here, as this is a royal masquerade, but I promise you that everything will continue just as if they were here! Lovely snack tables and polished floors fit for a royal dance!”

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Well isn’t he charismatic? I need to snag a dance. But which woman to possess?

“We didn’t get any masks, did we?”

“Oh, and how could I forget! We have a special guest! The Prince of The Yangguang Empire!”

And what beautiful trouble will unfold because of this? Wonder how long it will take for the action to rise when his past catches up to him. And it seems all the eyes have turned to our darling prince and his 'retainers.'

"Shit."

Speak up now, I could barely hear you.

"Now let the party commence!"

And it seems the prince of Nuusilicia is coming our way. I wonder what he wishes to talk to them about? I doubt he knows the faces of the people who blew up his wall, much less that they've escaped. The blonde hair certainly compliments his outfit. Lucky genes.

"Good evening. My name is Elouan, Prince of Nuusilicia of the country Cattewalt. May I inquire as to why you've decided to join my festivities?"

Oho! A smooth talker I see! The red eyes are a bit too calculative, pretty nonetheless.

"Good evening Prince Elouan. I am Jianyu Longwei, Prince of the Yangguang Empire of the country of Taiyang Shanfeng. I was just passing by and overheard of the masquerade. My apologies if I overstepped by inviting myself."

"Nonsense! I'm honored to have you at my party, and a guest from across the sea is no doubt to raise public opinion of me."

"Well thank you, but is public opinion of you really not good? I'd highly doubt that with how populated your masquerade is. Speaking of which, we never received any masks?"

"That's because of security reasons I'm afraid. I'm not even allowed to wear a mask, all so the servants can make sure the party runs smoothly. You'd expect the outfit to be a dead giveaway, wouldn't you agree?"

"Ah yes, the clothing is quite extravagant. Yet you don't seem as dressed up as the rest of your party-goers, I'm guessing also because of security reasons?"

"You'd be correct. Security and all that, you know. As for the public opinion, I'm actually quite well liked. No doubt you're the same. I simply wish to gain more support from the nobility, but to be honest, I'm really not a big fan of all the politics."

"Politics was never really my strong suit either. My tutors would continuously scold me no matter what it seemed I would do."

Well don't you two get along charmingly? Try not to keep him for too long, I still want that dance. I suppose I can check in on the hero and mercenary in the meantime. But after that I'm absolutely going to dance around with the nobility for a bit!

“Would you like to accompany me to the fruit table? I’m perfectly aware of being locked up in a castle without any knowledge of outside fruits. I feel like sharing something with a new friend.”

And is this where the team splits up? I’ll have to follow the hero and merc then. The flowery words are starting to annoy me.

“Of course, I’d be delighted.”

“The party is quite large, and since you’ll be with me, the retainers aren’t entirely necessary, are they?”

“Not at all! Well you two, have fun! Please don’t leave me with him alone for too long.”

Hm? Not a fan of his? Good thing you know how to whisper at least. Bad lying and incapable of whispering would be a horrible combination, now wouldn’t it, Mr. Hero?

Now! Where shall we go? Aidren is already headed over to the dessert table, and Bunny is headed off to the wall and outskirts of the ballroom. Well that's no fun. One is being a glutton and the other isn’t interacting with anyone, and Jianyu is likely going to be occupied for a while with the prince. I suppose this is the perfect time for me to take a step into the fray and possess a woman! Now who to choose?

Too garish.

Too campy.

Too revealing.

I’ve never been this picky before, but there has to be something good here! Will I have to go in here in my own form? I suppose I will. Back to the dressing room it is, at least this time I will get a better look at it instead of just barging through to the other side. I hope I don’t get- wait Samudra didn’t get smited when he was in his human form! The rules may be different for him, but I should be in the clear! Yes! Smooth sailing!

And here we are! Right where the guard dropped them off! Now, I just have to get back into my corporeal form.

Damn the floor is cold!

“Good evening, I’m here for the masquerade?” Wow, all the seamstresses here are quite pretty.

“Of course, dear. Step up here onto the raised wood. Do you have any… preferred types of cloth or color you would like? Perine, come here and hold her hair up, will you please?”

What was with that tone? Is there something wrong with my outfit? It’s just a chiton, it may not be up to your standards, but hop off will you?

“I’d like something elegant but not too absurd.”

I can’t wear white, and I’m assuming yellow is also off limits. There doesn’t seem to be any yellow here. What color do I want?

“Are you looking for a suitor, young miss?”

“Please let me remove your robes, My Lady.”

A suitor? I can play on that. I’ll add more inflection to my voice to seem more nice.

“Oh, well, I suppose I am, but I don’t want to overestimate myself. It is a masquerade after all.” And I suppose I do need a good outfit to score a dance with that prince.

“Nonsense, young Lady! If you’re here, you're bound to have some standing. No doubt you could charm the Prince with those looks of yours.”

What a charmer! I like this old lady!

“You really think so? I just hope I don’t make a fool of myself.” That’ll be impossible. I won’t make too big of a scene. I can always just fix it anyways.

“Now my young Lady, do you have a preferred color for what you’d like for your dress?”

Do I? I like whites, but those are off the table, yellow as well.

“I’m not entirely sure, do you have any recommendations?” I haven’t the slightest clue if there are house specific colors either. I know dark green is saved for the help, but the dark blue of the seamstresses is also incredibly pretty. It’s quite hard to choose.

“Luckily we have a large assortment, so perhaps we start with fabric choice?”

“I’d like something light, a kind of cotton if possible?” I need something breathable, I can’t stand being too restricted. I’m already giving the corset a pass, no doubt Bunny felt the same. They don’t hurt anyways, but it just sucks to bend in them.

“Cotton it is, perhaps we can move onto shape if you aren’t ready to pick a color yet?”

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I haven’t the slightest idea what color to choose. Everyone on the dance floor seemed to be teeming with pastels, and I’m starting to understand that the lighter a color is the more expensive it is regarded as. But shapewear? I have to wear a crinoline won’t I? That's not terrible, maybe a bustle? Dear Chaos, don’t put me in a pannier please!

“Madlyon, get the hoops. The one with the bottom white ruffles. Let’s give you a more traditional flow for your dress.”

Hm? Really going to set me on display, are you?

“And some off the shoulder short white ruffle sleeves. Along with a bertha to keep those girls contained.”

Thanks… you’re quite skilled with that measuring tape, you almost put me to shame.

“Aren't whites reserved for royalty?”

“Perhaps, but a little accessorizing with it won’t get you executed, don’t worry. Those eyes of yours might give you some trouble, though. I’ve got to admit, young Lady. Your indecisiveness is a breath of fresh air compared to the other women out there.”

Well I’m happy to grant you a moment of peace then, your fellow seamstresses also seem a bit happy with a moment to rest before getting back to ‘growing’ fabric. Seems I'm also right about the color theory.

“No doubt, but it is a masquerade. I bet they just want to look their best.”

“Best? If that’s what you’d like to call it my young Lady, I won’t stop you. They had constant demands, never satisfied. Oh! My apologies, My Lady, it seems I’m rambling.”

“It’s quite alright, I like to hear stories.”

“Heh… Has anyone ever told you you’re easy to talk to, My lady? You make a mighty fine listener, I almost want to tell you about all my secrets!”

“All your secrets? My, my, dear seamstress! Me? A keeper of secrets? Wouldn’t want that rumor flying around now would we? I might really be caught for wearing white if my tongue doesn’t match its nobility.”

“Haha! My Lady, you might just put us out of work with how well you weave words! I have the perfect idea for your dress now! Let’s go with pink, yes? Yes. And vertical white ruffles down the median of the bodice, along with the skirt, having it flare out along the skirt. Some pannier placing of fabric over the main skirt with ruffles along its edges. On the edges, above the ruffles, let's do some light green embroidery of vines, and some white roses embroidered between them.”

Sounds quite pretty, is it late eighteenth century French? Yet you're not putting me in a pannier? I think I’ve gotten far too used to the Creator's lack of creativity. Either humans consistently make the same mistakes, or the Creator just sucks at making new things. I mean really, I can pretty much pin down exactly the influence of the dress designs!

“Young Lady, I’ll have our hairstylists do your hair while we make the fabric, alright?”

“Of course, madam.” Now what kind of hair are they going to put me in?

“My name is Perine, I’ll be in charge of your hair, My Lady. Any desires?”

“Thank you Perine, I’m Ari-. Just Ari. I’d like it if my underlight of blonde could be more on display?” I’d like it if it was more noticeable compared to the rest of my brown hair.

“Blonde? My Lady, are you sure this isn’t white? I almost can’t tell the difference. How would you feel about a crown braid that brings the lighter part of your hair above your bangs. Along with how long your hair is, we can leave the brown out and down, while having the rest of the light blonde in braids hanging down.”

“That sounds quite nice, thank you.”

“How about your bangs, let's mov-”

“Careful there, hypnotizing aren’t they? That’s why I cover them with the overgrown bangs.”

Your fate isn’t very kind, is it? Surrounded on all sides by people, yelling, screaming at you, all while you scream back for help. The weight becoming too much as each second passes by. The sadism you can see in everyone's eyes as they refuse to move from where they stand. The sky being far too clear and blue, not a drop of water to mourn you. The stones that continue to be piled on. You can feel the air escaping your lungs, you can see the edges of your vision going dark. You can’t feel your legs, only the the pain spread throughout your entire body.

Time moving at almost a standstill, feeling each and every passing moment.

Life, your soul, hovering within your chest, close to rising up out of your throat.

Death being just around the corner, where you can feel yourself beginning to give in too.

Gravity bearing down on your body on all sides, crushing you.

Space slipping between your fingertips, an escape just out of your reach.

Mass, your body, feeling as though it is collapsing in upon itself.

Darkness reaching from the edges of your vision, bound to consume you.

Light burning into your eyes as you can see everything around you in uncomfortable detail.

Fire, heat, burning, from the torches of the sadistic circle around you, feeling it from so far away, on your skin, feeling the heat of your own blood racing through your veins.

Water, sweat, the blood itself, pouring from you, itself looking for an escape.

Earth beneath you feeling far too uncomfortable, almost rivaling the pain of the earth above you.

Air escaping your lungs as you desperately try to hold on in hope.

Chaos of your mind, racing for answers, anything to make sense of what is happening.

“Let’s keep my eyes hidden, ‘kay?”

“ye-yes”

“Thank you for doing my hair, let's let the seamstresses do their work now, alright?”

“Is everything alright? Perine?”

Really don’t need the nice old lady asking questions. Let's do this quickly.

“Oh! Everything’s alright! She just got a bit too caught up in doing my hair, I think!”

“Oh, well take a break then dear. Now you, let's get you dressed, shall we?”

“Why thank you!” Well aren’t I lucky! The mirrors seem to give me a complete view as the dress is assembled onto me. A wonder how well they made this in such a short period of time, another form of magic? Or do they have sewing machines?

Oh my, this is coming together nicely! It’s very pretty! Pink cotton is the main focus, with the white ruffles as large accents pretty much everywhere along the dress. The light green embroidery, along with the small white rose embroidery is really beautiful. I quite like the collar as well, it drops off my shoulders. Really shows off my collar bones, don’t they? How nice. The hair as well makes it look very effortlessly elegant! And up from there are my eyes, a silvery iris with glowing white pupils and limbal rings that descend into them, a shame they only tell momentary truths. And some light pink kitten heels. Not terrible.

“Now, young Lady. Give us a spin! You look absolutely beautiful!”

“Thank you for your service, I’m afraid I never got your name?”

A bit odd, I knew the hairdresser's name before I knew hers.

“My name is Athelisia, My Lady. It’s been a joy to serve you today, now go get a man!”

Wait! A mask. Better safe than sorry.

“I almost forgot, but I will need a mask, won’t I?”

“Ah yes, of course. Here, a pink embroidered mask, with white lace detailing. Enjoy the party now, young Lady!”

Well if you insist! And out into the light of the masquerade!