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 Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:28 pm
"A monster?" Frowning, Galleai sat down cross-legged on the floor and thought about it. There was the blood and all the death and the coven killing people and kidnapping them... and she was part of the coven. Were they monsters, though? "I'm not sure, I might be. How do you tell?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:58 pm
Casia shrugged. "I don't know. It depends on what kind of monster you are." She tried to think of a blanket definition. "It's... Um..."
Blinking, she smiled weakly. "You know, I don't know what a monster is." Made perversely cheerful by this thought, she studied Galleai. "You took off your mask and you don't look like one." she told her. "And you didn't leave with the music. You're probably not one." the siren said decidedly. "But sometimes I think maybe everyone is a monster sometimes, even humans." She bit her lip. "It just depends on who we're with."
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:03 pm
"Well you dont look like a monster either." Galleai said, looking up at Casia and trying a small smile. "Are you okay?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:26 pm
Casia looked quite pleased by the comment. "You think?" she asked proudly, flapping her wings a bit.
The siren frowned. "I don't remember." The dream distorted her sense of self, and she looked perplexed. "I remember making the beetles play and that I have to keep bringing people here until I find the real ones. That's all." She considered the question further. "I will be, maybe. Maybe after I'm done I will be." She looked back at Galleai, trying to banish the confusing sensations that accompanied the question. "What about you?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:40 pm
"I'm okay." Galleai was quick to reassure. Dreams didn't generally frighten her and Casia's certainly hadn't, aside from the strong sense of power she'd gotten. "What real people were you looking for?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:54 pm
Casia shrugged. "Dunno." she said ineloquently. "Any real people. I sort of thought I'd know when I saw them, but I guess not." She remembered unmasking the monsters and shuddered. "I guess it's trickier than that." Clenching her fists, she said "It's frustrating..." and for a few moments her wings flapped alarmingly before settling down.
"But that's what the counting's for." she said eventually. "If I can just keep my temper for ten seconds, everything'll be better." She nodded firmly. "Like... Like with people seeming bad at first. If I can wait ten seconds before flying off the handle at them I could find out they're groovy. Like what you said, like people who seem like monsters." She looked uncertain, but shook her head. "That's true anyway." she reassured herself. "I remember..."
She frowned again, perplexed. "Anyway, real people. There're some out there, right? You're real." Looking at her crookedly, the siren added "I think."
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:22 pm
"Real enough." Galleai agreed, looking around the empty ballroom. She stood up and tried a little pirouette, her crazy ballgown ballooning out around her like an umbrella on acid. "This would be really nice if we had some music. And just us, no creepy people in masks."
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:33 pm
Casia smiled as she watched Galleai twirl and paused. Hesitantly, she opened her mouth, looking around first to make sure there weren't any masked folk listening in. "If I know just one real person is here..." she said slowly, "Maybe it won't be that bad." If she picked the right song, maybe. A thousand maybes, but it was worth a shot. "You did come here to dance, after all." The siren started to hum, and it rose into a song, careful and slow.
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise."
Something happened, but it was not a susurrus of honeyed voices, nor masked faces sliding from the darkness of the siren's fearful mind. It was the scenery subtly changing, the colours becoming more vibrant.
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see.
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to be free."
And with every verse, her voice, so quiet for fear of waking monsters grew a little more confident, because the song felt familiar and comforting and somehow... Somehow right. With this real person here, in this fanciful nightmare, she could finally sing something without being nervous about what would come to listen, and she had so many feelings she wanted to express.
"Blackbird fly, blackbird fly,
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly,
Into the light of the dark black night.
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
You were only waiting for this moment to arise."
She didn't know where it would end, but she felt like this was how it was supposed to start. It wouldn't fend off the monsters forever, but if she knew that one real person had listened and danced, and there was at least one out there, maybe she could put up with the monsters. It could be worth the disappointment, just for the real people who danced and smiled and cared, and that was all that mattered. Casia finished and looked at the welcome intruder. "No monsters." she said blissfully. "I know they're out there though." She twiddled her fingers anxiously. "But if I attract them, I can deal with them too. Now I know that there are real people out there, I can deal with the monsters. Thank you." Smiling warmly, she opened her eyes...
And opened them again, blinking in the weak morning sunlight. "Mmmmn... Mmm?" Getting a grip on reality, she looked around the attic room she had lodged herself in until her room was redecorated. It had been an odd dream, but not a bad one. She reminded herself to remember it, getting slowly out of the warm bed and onto the cold floor. A trippy dream like that was worth remembering, and it wasn't just strange, it was reassuring, it left her feeling good.
But like so many dreamers with good intentions, Casia had forgotten the strange ordeal by breakfast. First, nothing remained but the vaguest details, then nothing remained but the feeling, and that would last long enough to make everything worthwhile.
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