Masquerade

# Story

## Chapter 1

*By R*

"It itches!" the little girl cries out as she walks in to my shop. "Please, mummy, can I take it off?"

"Not yet, Angelique," her mother said, gripping her hand tightly and pulling her along as the pair of them approached the front desk where I stood. "I was told you could sell me some specially tailored items."

There was something off about the both of them. Their clothes did not fit well, bulging oddly at the back. Shoddy work, good enough to ease passing eyes but not the expertly wary. Beneath my caliber.

"Come into the back," I gestured, and pulled Jerome from between shelves of cloth to man the desk for me while I went with them in to the rear of the shop. "Now, what seems to be your particular affliction?"

The mother gestured, and with a fervent sort of glee the young girl began to remove her dress. As the over cloth was removed, and only her shift remained, the source of the bulge and the child's discomfort became clear.

From her back, long, silvery wings, which seemed avian in nature extended, free from a shoddy bit of binding work that kept them trapped.

"I see," I mutter, looking the wings over. I had done work with a young man who had more bat-like wings, but never these fine feathers. "And you have them as well?" I asked the mother as her daughter flexed her wings wide in relaxation.

"Yes. Please, I have a great deal of money, and I've been told that you are the best. You are, aren't you?"

"Of course, Madam." I turned to the young girl. "Now, Mademoiselle, I can not guarantee my solution will not be uncomfortable, but I can assure you it will be less itchy and easily distracted from."

"Do you have wings too?" She asked, staring up at me with wide eyes. I smiled back, and carefully removed my mask, eyes uttering open.

"Now, I'll need some measurements."

## Chapter 2

*By robin hood*

I pulled the tape measure around, taking countless measurements for each wing, and wrote them down.

"Would you like full conversion, Madam?" I looked towards the mother, and she nodded.

The young girl looked scared. She had every right to be. If she knew what I intended to do...

"What is the reason for the conversion, may I ask?"

"We are going to the masquerade, you know, tonight." The woman brought her voice to a whisper, and glanced at her daughter, who seemed not to notice that we were talking, instead, looking. "They say that any young girl who catches the eye of the king may have a place in his bed."

*And more than in his bed,* I smile inwardly. The woman had no idea what goes on in the palace.

"Well, I do believe that your daughter has a chance, however, I would not advise it, Madam." The woman snorted.

"You should not dally in something you have no idea about. I'm paying you to cut off her wings, not to tell me what to do with my daughter."

"Of course, Madam, I was only remarking to myself." Thankfully, she didn't question me.

As I finished taking the measurements, the young girl looked straight at me.

"Why do you cover up your eyes, Miss, when revealing them could mean you walk among the powerful and famous? Why stay here, offering conversions and repairs?"

I bow to the young girl. "Because, Madamoiselle, this is where I truly belong."

## Chapter 3

*By* *xsiilvercookie*

"But, miss, why hide with the underdogs if you could live amongst the almighty?" She continued to question, as I prepared my tools for the conversion and wore the mask again. Her mother had impatiently left to the front of the shop, and I knew she was peeking through the lacy curtains, eyeballing competition.

"Mademoiselle, I am only here to remove your wings." I once again bowed my head slightly towards her and laid my equipment one by one in front of her. A wand of fine wood, a jagged saw, and a small but incredibly sharp blade.

I heard Angelique suck in a breath, and I sympathized with her.

"I don't want to remove my wings... I pride in them," she murmured. "I'm only doing this because my mother tells me that if I will look beautiful after, enchant the king, and bring pride to the family." She paused. "It may be selfish, but I wouldn't want to bring pride to the family if it meant sacrificing my wings. To be honest, sometimes my mummy can be a pain ... I don't want to be the queen. I just want to go home and be with my friends."

I finally looked up at her, curiosity in my (many) eyes, and I brushed the tools aside to sit next to her. "It isn't selfish. I would think so too. But, Mademoiselle, I would like to ask something. Would you run away if you could?"

She sighed and looked down at her hands, fiddling with her dress. "Well ... yes. Actually, I would fly away. I love my mummy, but I love my wings too. Please don't remove them!"

I carefully pulled my mask off and I was sure my eyes were glittering with an idea in mind. "Mademoiselle, I cannot help you run away, but I've got a plan to help you keep your wings.

After all ... I'm not good at nothing besides repairs. If I am to stay here for my life just doing so, I might as well help someone else realise their full potential."

And I grabbed the wand.

## Chapter 4

*By* ♥*Tillie*♥

"This may tickle, Mademoiselle," I told the child.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tensed her body.

"Thruibfjayyyeindk, azesd-" I chanted but was interrupted.

"What language is that?" The little girl questioned.

I smiled. "It's a spell, Mademoiselle."

She nodded and said, "I suppose spells don't have to be proper English do they?"

"Correct you are," I told her.

Her mother had gone to the restroom and I was going to need to hurry. I began to chant again, starting over from the beginning,

"Thruibfjayyyeindk, azesd behadi, Cynormichi moravve."

The spell was done and the little girl stopped giggling. She opened her eyes and looked beside her.

"Wow. Ma'am, you really are powerful. But umm, how is this supposed to help me keep my exquisite wings?"

A smile played across my lips.

"Mademoiselle, this twin will make your mother think it's you. You can soar above the clouds while your twins’ wings get chopped off."

The girl smiled.

"Pleasure doing business, Mademoiselle."

"Thanks... Miss, what is your name?"

I couldn't help but frown. Forcing a smile, I said, "If I told you, Mademoiselle, you would not trust me like you do."

Her sweet smile turned into a frown.

## Chapter 5

By Erin Higgins

"But why?" Angelique asked, suddenly gloomy.

"Just trust me, Mademoiselle. Now hide in the closet. Your mother is coming," I replied, hurriedly

As her mother entered the room, I replaced my mask and made it look like I was preparing my tools one last time. "Ready Madam?" I asked.

She nodded and I began with the jagged saw on Angelique's twin's left wing. There was crying out as I was cutting, but her mother quickly shushed her.

I finished cutting with the saw and finished cutting the wing with the small blade, using the same process on the right wing.

When I was finished, Angelique's mother pressed bills into my hands, took the twin, and left.

"Mademoiselle, you may come out now. Your mother has left," I called to the little girl.

Carefully, Angelique came out of the closet in which she was hiding in. "Can I go outside now?" she asked.

"I would wait, Mademoiselle until we are sure she is gone," I replied.

## Chapter 6

by Sam

After a few minutes, Angelique rocked back and fourth on the balls of her feet, peering out the window. "I don't see her...may I go?"

"Of course, Mademoiselle. Enjoy your wings."

She beamed at me, a child's innocence bright across herface, and with a quiet squeal she skipped out of the shop, her wings bulging. Chuckling to myself, I turned to play my own immature game.

The rickety stairs were centuries old, and no one but me dared climb them to the roof of the compartmentalized building. I carefully pulled off my mask as I approached the top, stroking it gently with my fingers.

The streets of the Kingdom of Aivon were bustling with the rush of Midsun, and the palace glimmered in the distance. I gazed down at the people, drinking everything in.

I found a particularly interesting man...holding a basket upside down in one hand and with the other eating an overstuffed pastry. I focused every eye on him...

'...this pastry is delicious...it's probably more fattening than the Mizzus would want, but she ain't here..."

I pulled my gaze away from him, already bored. A few stores down from him was a woman, dressed completely in black, ngering a knife at her side. It was normal for people to be armed in the square, but a young woman standing alone...that was rare.

My eyes locked in to look at her, one by one, until-

'...where is he, he said we would meet here at Midsun to discuss the assassination...'

My gaze lost focus for a moment as a few of my eyes glazed overin fear. Assassination? I quickly refocused.

'...I can't get into the palace without him, and I must kill her tonight-'

Suddenly, the girl looked up at the roof...straight into my face. My face full of eyes, all staring at her.

I tore my gaze away, breathing heavily. "Fool," I scolded myself as I snapped my mask back on.

"Fool, this is why you don't belong. This is why you can't be around people."

I was halfway down the stairs before I stopped, the stairs beneath me threatening to break.

Could I just pretend I knew nothing? Was that my moral? But how would I explain where I got the information, and to whom?

My hear traced as I approached the bottom of the staircase...peering around the edge I saw- The store was empty. Jerome must of closed up forthe day. I breathed a sigh of relief, walking out to straighten some things on the shelves when-

"Hello."

## Chapter 7

*By* *Rose* *Leiru*

The girl stood before me, but she looked different. Her dark hood had ripped open in two places, revealing horns sticking out of her head. A troll. I should have known.

"Tell me your name," the girl said rmly, but with a long drawl in her voice.

I hesitated to say the name, forit had gained too much power overthe many years it had gone unspoken. If I told the girl who Ireally was, she would cease to exist.

"Tell me, I said! I need to know who you are! I can't stand it! And what happened to your face?" The troll girl brandished her dagger dangerously.

Of course, I had forgotten that trolls were overly curious. I could give her a fake name, but I wasn't sure what to do about the second, more deadly question.

"My name, Mademoiselle, is - "

Suddenly, the girl cried out in pain. She keeled over as blood welled up like rainwater and stained her shirt. An arrow stuck straight out of her heart. I knew it must've come from the window, as the doors were closed. Even I could do nothing to save her now. I watched the girl bleed out onto the floor in horror. Who could have shot so accurately through my small, narrow window?

Then, all of a sudden, Iremembered.

I remembered the hard, cold face, the piercing green eyes - all of them. The leather clad woman who, I knew, now stood outside my window, prepared to shoot me. Her name was Adalene.

## Chapter 8

*By go!den-in-the-mist*

I smiled weakly. "Adalene! It can't be you! After all these years!"

She cut me off. "Don't fake it. You didn't want me, instead you gave me away. You thought I didn't deserve to be in this world, Mother."

I cringed at the words. It seemed like an alien language to me now.

"You know it wasn't my fault! The king put me here, and I had to give you away. If he knew you were his child, he would have cursed you too! He would make you a monster, just like him!"

Adalene smiled. "Ah, but Mother, I am a monster. It was destined. After all, I am your offspring. Anyone related to you would be called a monster. Wings or not." As she said it, her devilish wings flapped, and began to glow. One by one, eyes began to appear on each of them.

"Now, before I kill you, I need you to cut my wings off."

I winced, my eyes filled with pain. I've done this many times before, but it would be hard to do it to my only child.

"Those wings were given to you for a reason. Cutting the off would be-"

"Enough!" Her voice echoed in the room. "Do it, before I kill you!"

I nodded. Those words were so familiar, from someone I knew for a long time.

"He found you, didn't he? The king?"

I knew I was hitting her last nerve, but she sighed in reply.

"Father has been kind to me. He showed me what I could be."

I smiled half-half heartedly, and took a saw from all my weapons.

Adalene grinned. "I'm assuming that's for me?"

I smiled, but shook my head. "No, dear. *This* one has never been used before. It is my prized possession. It will only be used once, and for one person only. It will not be used to make a monster a human, but rather to kill someone."

Adalene frowned. "Well then, who is it for then?"

I touched the end of the saw. "Ah, well, it's for the king of course!"

## Chapter 9

By Cecelia☯

Adalene's brow burrowed in frustration.

"What makes you believe I would let you do such a thing to my father?" She hissed.

I slowly circled my table of shiny tools, my finger lightly tracing the edge.

"I'm sorry you were raised by such a man, Adalene. At the time of your birth, it was neither feasible nor acceptable for me to raise you on my own."

I paused my pace and sighed.

"Plenty of sleepless nights, I've experienced, wondering whether or not you were okay and if I had made the right decision."

At this point her eyes pierced my own, both the two on her face and the hundreds on her wing, clearly doubtful of my intentions. However, she offered no counterpoint.

"This was part of the plan, sweet girl." I continued. "I will show to you how vile of a man he truly is, and how much of a parasite on society he's become. Stay with me and I'll show you, daughter."

Her many eyes still glared at me with uncertainty, but I could see a glimpse of hope behind the animosity.

## Chapter 10

*By Old Toady*

"Do you remember the old language? The one I taught you when you were young?" I asked as I shuffled through my tools. If someone walked in, it would look like I was simply fidgeting. I lifted a knife, smaller still than the one I had used to trim the twin's wings, and began to carve a rune into the table.

She nodded slowly, watching my movements like a bird of prey. I could see that she knew exactly what I was doing. "I can't risk being seen with magic."

Her risk was nothing compared to my own. I had cast once already, and with this second spell, there was no chance that the twin would remain corporeal. She would fade into mist, and I would be discovered. I would have to leave the shop, leave the kingdom, leave Jerome to pick up the pieces of my shattered mask.

"I know," I said instead of saying all of this. Having my daughter's love once more would be worth any consequences. I smiled at her, but I'm sure it was more horrifying than comforting. "The rune is complete. Do you recognize it?"

"How could I not? I see it every day branded onto my chest. The inner eyes. Contemplation." She sneered. "Is this another one of your lessons, Mother? Another chance to damage me beyond repair?"

I sighed. "No. I lied to you back then. I was too scared to face the truth of what I had done to you. What I had forced upon you." At her snort, I said, "Your destiny is greater than you know, Adalene. Greater than your father knows. Possibly greater than I know. But the fact remains; it was I that branded you and I that betrayed you. I will not make excuses."

I pointed to the rune. "An eye in an eye in an eye. The past, the present, and the future. Time, not contemplation." With that, I sliced the knife along my palm, letting the blood ll the scars left in the table. "Do you trust me?"

She stared, and for a moment I thought she would leave me like this, alone and bleeding in the back room of a tailor's shop, but she took the knife and did the same.

"Dghro nv akovfk," I said. "Dghro nv hjunvj."

## Chapter 11

*By Ara Argentum Aurum!*

"Dghro nv akovfk, Dghro nv hjunvi."

The words stopped being spoken, but instead, it was a pounding, living entity in my shop.

*Ismeil lorev Sereph. Ismeil sereph Mystof.*

The chanting became deafening as colors switched from complete saturation to black in white before my very many eyes.

A small memory tugged at me as Adalene and I fell silent as things a soft glow enveloped us.

A soft smile on Jerome's face, a rarity back then and now, with a spark of laughter from all of us as he played with Adalene and Adelina.

That is, until things changed.

I shake my head. Now is not the time to dwell on memories that you have locked away in your mind for forever.

I open my eyes, realizing just now that they have been closed, and look at the twin standing beside me and my daughter.

"Now," I pulled out a dress I've only wore once before