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 Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:03 pm
The scene was a ballroom, which seemed normal enough until you realized the orchestra was made of beetles. The chandeliers looked like lava lamps, but vaguely, as if the creator knew what they were, but was not quite sure. Shadowy people in masks danced and swayed to the music, which seemed to be the only thing solid and real about the place, the notes clear and beautiful, but together creating a strangely worried sounding song.
Casia stood against the wall and listened to the music, watching the dancers carefully and occasionally giving a start and opening her mouth to speak when one or another passed her by. She always closed it though, catching herself, and nodded back and forth to the music again. The conductor beetle chirped at her questioningly, causing a hiccup in the music. She shook her head at it and it went back to its work while the siren sank to the ground, as if the view of the dancers' feet was infinitely preferable.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:11 pm
She had seen any number of unusual things in dreams, so the masque and the band of beetles didn't phase Galleai. What was strange, though, was that when she arrived in the dream she was gowned in a vivid purple striped ballgown and was wearing an eerie bird-mask. Usually she had some sort of say in the way she appeared to dreamers. Not so here. Strange.
Caught up in the dance, Galleai tried to twist her head to catch a glimpse of the dreamer while she was whirled about. Finally, she saw her pressed painfully against the wall and looking miserable. While it was impossible to escape the strange dance, she did manage to start making her way to the edge of the crowd, slowly getting closer to the dreamer.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:28 pm
The dream was not going to make it easy for her.
As soon as the intruder began walking towards the siren, the crowd knitted closer together and the music developed a sinister undercurrent. The Siren looked up only as the music changed, but couldn't yet see which figure was a threat. Fluttering her wings nervously, she pressed closer to the wall, closing her eyes and whispering to herself. Her hands balled up into fists and then released themselves, over and over, and as they did, the sinister tone receded from the music and she calmed down. "...Ten." The fists released, only to begin again. "One... Two..."
Meanwhile, with every finger the dreamer counted, another dancer jumped in front of Galleai, offering her a dance, trying to distract her. They spoke unintelligible words in honey voices, like siren song or a lullaby, and their masks seemed sweet and kind. Their clothes were strange, familiar formal attire, yet no part of their body was showing, not even their necks, and they seemed intent on keeping it that way.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:35 pm
It was then that Galleai knew she was in the dreams of someone powerful. She was used to being able to slip about and change things as she wanted, even if she messed up and things got uglier. But usually she could manipulate the dreams if she chose. But this dreamer... she was closed off and strong, wether she knew it or not. If she really was as young as she looked, Gal guessed that she probably didn't know it.
With innate grace, Gal patiently danced her way again to the edge of the crowd, her mind starting to get fuzzy with the thick, heady music and the strange seductive words of the dancers. She shook her head, blinking behind the mask and found herself again close to Casia. This time she reached out towards the other girl.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:49 pm
Any semblance of power the girl may have had seemed to possess vanished with the offering of the hand. The dancers immediately moved away from Galleai and stopped talking. Entranced, the siren reached out for the intruder and the music became a whispery serenade, quietly hopeful.
Galleai was scrutinized for a moment, dark brown eyes sweeping over the mask carefully. The dreamer didn't seem to entirely disapprove, but her hand hovered near the other girl's without moving farther. "What are you doing here?" asked the dreamer, trying to catch a glimpse of Galleai's eyes.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:54 pm
"I don't know." Galleai answered honestly, inspecting the dreamer. She smiled a little underneath her mask. "Dancing, I suppose." She added, since that seemed to be the order of the day. With a slow, serene move Galleai closed the small distance between the two of them, her hand grasping Casia's gently.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:12 pm
For a second, the serenade grew, and a warm smile appeared on Casia's face, but when the hand grasped hers, the music wavered and the smile disappeared. However, the siren herself didn't hesitate and awkwardly curtseyed. "I'll dance with you." she offered carefully.
As soon as she said it though, the dancers moved faster, the steps becoming more and more difficult to follow, defying the music and the limits of human imagination at the same time. The music wavered and sped up, desperate to keep up with the figures but not quite managing it. A beetle playing the trumpet collapsed from effort. The dreamer herself looked desperately at the whirling figures, but clenched her fists and appeared to be counting in her head again. "I will," she said more forcefully, and for just a moment the dancers seemed to slow down, "If you want."
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:22 pm
"Yes." Galleai said firmly, more to the dream in general than to the dreamer. She put a hand at Casia's waist and squeezed her other hand. "I would like that. We can dance as slow as we want." She added, again more to the dream.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:38 pm
The music slowed down to a desirable pace at Galleai's words, but the dancers didn't, and as Casia began to dance, she desperately tried to copy the crowd. "Ah..." Every time she tripped or missed a step, more dancers seemed to turn to look at her. "Sorry... Sorry, I'm sorry!" It wasn't clear whether this was addressed to her partner or to the crowd or to no one in particular, but the more dancers that looked at her, the more the serene, slow music began to disrupt itself despite itself. Finally, she fell and when she got up, she looked at Galleai suspiciously.
"What are you doing here?" she repeated, and the dancers stopped dancing, every single one staring at the pair of them.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:51 pm
She didn't like all the eyes on her, but Gal squared her shoulders and glared through her mask at the still dancers. Raising her chin proudly, she answered again, "I'm dancing." She said. "And you're the only one worth having as a partner." She added to Casia. "They're just rubbish." She made a general gesture at the crowd.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:04 pm
Casia looked frightened at Galleai's statement.
"I can't be the only one." she said, and her eyes darted back and forth, from dancer to dancer, and every one her gaze alighted on smiled, deceivingly friendly. She smiled back, shakily. "That's right. They're all groovy people, see? It's just I can't keep up with them..." She gave a nervous laugh and walked up towards one. It beseeched her with the same song-voice that had slowed Galleai earlier. The siren's hands trembled, but she peeled off its mask, and recoiled when it revealed a leering, blue-skinned face underneath. "No!" Casia screamed, stumbling towards one guest after another, tearing off any mask she could reach. "No, no no!" But each one became twisted as she touched them and she finally sank again to the ground and buried her face in her hands. The music had stopped and the beetles watched from the orchestral pit, clicking concernedly. Slowly, a chandelier tipped over and thick, colourful lava surrounded Casia in a perfect circle. She took a ragged breath and began to count again, frantically moving her fingers in the same pattern as before. "Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten!" She looked desperate as the monsters didn't change back into people and repeated herself. "Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten!" Nothing happened. "Ten!" she shouted at them, pounding her fists on the floor. "Ten! Ten!"
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:12 pm
Galleai wasn't sure what to do about this nightmare. She frowned at the blue-skinned people, perplexed. "Hey... hey..." Galleai tugged at her mask, finally yanking it off. Her head cleared a little and she shook out her hair. "Hey..." She said again softly, standing at the edge of the lava circle and poking it with her toe to see if it was safe to cross.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:25 pm
Casia looked up at Galleai miserably and snapped her fingers. The beetle orchestra silenced itself. "The music stopped so they'll leave." she told her flatly. "Or die. Or something." and as she said it, the dancers disappeared one by one and the orchestra became music notes, which flew into Casia's mouth. She and Galleai were alone and the siren gave a shuddering laugh. "See?" Tracing her finger along the floor, she said, "They stayed and kept their masks on till you came." a tad reproachfully. "I didn't know who they were till you came." The wistful tone in her voice suggested that despite her frowns and fears, she would rather not have known. She stared at the perpetrator of her disillusionment unhappily. "How many other people are monsters? Where you come from, is everyone a monster too?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:11 pm
"Where I come from everbody could be a monster if they wanted to." Gal said thoughtfully. "Some of them just look like monsters, though."
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:48 pm
The siren's stare continued, sullen brown eyes looking at the intruder as she spoke. "Look like monsters." she muttered, and an image flew into her mind, the memory made vague by the screen between her dream and reality. She shook her head. "Hardly anyone looks like a monster until it's too late." she said grimly. "They've already got to you by the time you find out."
"I'm a monster, you know." she said quietly, flapping her wings. "I can feel me being a monster sometimes, I can't help it." She tapped her fingers on the floor again, agitated. "Are you one?"
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