Masquerade {open}

[Leaf]

Masquerade! 
Paper faces on parade!
Masquerade! 
Hide your face...
So the world can never find you



Quickly and expertly, a young man in his early twenties fixed the shirt of a smaller boy before him. "Now, now, Matty, you've gotta look spiffy for the party. Yes, even if no one is supposed to recognize you." The boy, Matthias, looked up and squirmed uncomfortably. He was never comfortable with parties. All the people and commotion just seemed to make him sweat. "Konrad," he whined softly. "Do I really have to go? I don't even have a mask!" The man smiled as he lifted his hand to tilt his own paper white masque into place. It was simple, but looked princely upon Konrad's thin face. "Well, of course no one can tell it's me now." He looked down at his magnificent attire. Bright colors that seemed fit for a king embroided with glittery things. The only thing that seemed normal was his foil that hung by his side. "Seriously, why did father make me wear such flamboyance? I feel like a damn peacock!"

Matthias winced slightly at Konrad's choice of words. "Please, dear brother, pay more thought to your tongue." Konrad only rolled his eyes at the comment. "Puh-leeze, not you, too. I thought you of all people would understand. All this noble poppycock and such is really a bore." He took a deep sigh, then perked up and said, "Anywho, dear Matty, we must pick out a good masque for you. After all, it is a masquerade."

Konrad walked over to the other side of the dressing room and pulled out a box. It was a collection of all his spare clothing that wouldn't fit in his wardrobe. Much of it was old costumes and dress clothing from past parties and balls and such. Konrad wanted to pick something that might give Matthias a different image. "Ha HA! Well lookie here! Just what I need." Without realizing what was happening, Matthias felt something heavy being plopped on his head. He turned to the mirror and saw a helmet seemingly stolen from a suit of armour sitting on his head. Protruding from it was a ridiculously large plume. "What? How is this a-" Matthias was cut off when Konrad slammed the visor down. It was almost impossible to see the upper half of the boy's face now. 

Konrad giggled and said, "'Tis ridiculous! You look like an aristocrat with a cannonball for a head! But I can fix that!" Still stiffling a laugh, Konrad shuffled over to the box and pulled out a long, billowing cape. With a swift motion, he draped it over the boy's shoulders. Next, he pulled out an old foil and attached it to Matthias' belt. "There you go! We'll show them Akaikan folk that we Daikans can look spiffy, too."

Shuddering slightly, Matthias stepped out of the dressing room and looked around. His tense shoulders dropped when he saw an array of masks and costumes much more ridiculous than his own. He swore he could've seen a man with a chicken head walk by. "Really now, Matty. You don't need to be so nervous for a party. Come now, little knight." Konrad smiled as he pulled the boy down the corridor to the ballroom. Akaika really had the most glamourous palace though it was smaller than Daika's. Marble pillars stood with intricate designs all over them. The floor was so clean it seemed like a mirror.

Konrad started to walk in the direction of the dance floor. Obviously to chat and dance and maybe flirt a little, not that he was ever seriously interested in a courtship. Matthias had another look of worry strike over his face. If Konrad ditched him, he would be stuck in this sea of unknown faces. Konrad, who seemingly knew Matthias' conflict, turn his head and gave a small wave, signaling the boy to go galavant and have fun. The fledgling noble bit his lip nervously before nodding back at his brother. After all, he would have to start getting used to crowds if he wanted to end up like his dazzling brother.  

Faces...
Take your turn, take your ride
On the merry-go-round...
Of an inhuman race

     

[glee]

Gah! It's so boring here! These were the thoughts that currently filled the mind of the young elven Princess Azalea, who was situated in the ballroom of the castle. She had nothing to do! Why was she even here if she could having nothing to do? Oh, that's right. Her parents, being the kind and generous King and Queen of the land of Akaika, had decided to hold a party. For what, the young elven princess did not know; nor did she care, for that matter. But, her parents had wished that she would go, and thus she did. However, today was just not her day and she had a feeling that she would do something embarrassing in front of the people of the nations. Especially when she had such luck as to be terribly clumsy today.

Throughout the day, things had been happening against her, seemingly aiming to ruin her day. That morning, though she had awoken with a cheerful attitude and outlook on life, she had realized that it was actually midday. She had overslept and missed out on half of the free part of the day before the party. Rushing to get ready for her scheduled sword practice, she rushed down to the kitchens to grab a quick bite to eat before said practice. Once there, she promptly lost her footing and accidently knocked over the cake that the kitchen people had been working on since that morning. After that, she had to go to practice covered in cake, where she proceeded to be distracted most of the time there. She ended up with scratches spanning her forearms and legs, with few being held above the shoulder.

After all this bad luck, she was promptly rushed to the bath house, where she was dunked in the warm water and soaps to clean herself before the party. Of course, this got into her cuts and caused her to hiss profanities every so often, much to the shocked staff. After she was cleaned and dried, her wounds were taken care of and bandaged. She was then promptly sent off to her room where all her clothing sat in waiting to be put on and worn. And so she then sat, idling in her room in wait to leave for the party, sitting in an elegant, sleeveless red gown that reached the floor. Her dress even had a matching set of bloody red gloves that reached to her elbows, covering most of the bandages. However, it could not cover all, as one still sat just above her right elbow and the other was positioned near her right shoulder. Oh well; she couldn't really help it if it looked bad. It would look worse to walk out with fresh wounds, anyway.

Suddenly, a knock had sounded on her door, echoing in her cavernous room and startling Azalea. Standing up, she checked herself once more in the mirror. She had wanted to make sure that she looked nice. Along with her dress, she wore a red and black mask. All the deep and dark red made her cherry orbs even more red as they peered out from behind the mask. Her normally long and straight light-blue locks were now placed in a messy bun with two curled strands framing her face. To complete the look, she had a set of silver dangling earrings and a black chocker necklace with a red rose on the side. Yep, her outfit was overkill red and black, but it looked nice so she wasn't complaining. Checking to make sure her two swords were still located on each of thighs, she then made her way to the door. Hey, she wasn't going to be defenseless at a party, wearing something that would be hard to run in. No way, no how. That why she purposefully made sure her dress was long and poofy.

Once the door had been opened, she had looked at the servant that had been ordered to fetch her. Smiling at the young girl that stood before her, she gave a nod and followed her towards the ballroom. Thus, she was currently found, mingling amongst the older nobles and hardly seeing a young face that she could even partially recognize beneath the masks of many colors. Looking around, she noticed two young men enter the room, one seemingly around 14 and the other one seemingly older than herself. She knew he wasn't, though, as she was a elf and thus aged differently than others. The elder one had made his way towards the dance floor, leaving the other one looking uneasy. Well, she couldn't have that, now could she?

And so, Princess Azalea made up her mind as she began to march gracefully towards the younger noble, a smile upon her face as she stood before him. "Hello young sir. How might you be faring this evening," she inquired, hoping to lighten his mood by being friendly and open. "The weather has been nice, hasn't it, she followed with, using the biggest icebreaker in the history of icebreakers. It probably made her look like an idiot, but she didn't care. She was just hoping to get the young boy to open up and talk to her.

Dress
Mask
Hairstyle

[Leaf]

Drink it in, drink it up
'Till you drown in the light, in the sound



As Matthias watched his brother's back disappear into the throng, he turned around found himself greeted by a girl. She seemed but a few years older than he, but in this world, looks could be deceiving. Her scarlet attire was intimidating, but her friendly approach soon lowered the boy's guard. "H-hullo," he began, stumbling into an awkward bow. "'Twas quite nice in the afternoon, what say you?" By this time, Matthias was quite overridden in the head. He had never had a conversation with a stranger like this before and the experience was overwhelming (and the poor fool had spoke naught a sentence). Why did it feel as if the whole crowd was watching, waiting for him to say something out of place. He was most certainly no good in these kinds of circumstances. 

Fidgeting timidly, Matthias struggled to find words, yet they always seemed to lodge at the end of his tongue just before he could spit it out. "Um, I'm Matthias... Matthias Zeigler. Um I do like music and the arts and reading..." His voice trailed off as he started beating himself up inside his head. Why couldn't he talk about something more interesting in a more engaging way? Perhaps it was this lack of charisma that tore his family's attention away.

The increasingly crowded sea of people swarmed and moved consistently. They seemed to swirl around and about like a swarm of bees. The constant hum of chatter in the air mixed with the music drifting from the orchestra at the other side of the room. And he and the girl before him were only a small part of this congregation with their incoherent conversation hanging dryly in the atmosphere. There was a reason to Matthias' distaste in parties. "It's much too crowded here... Do you attend these parties often?" The young lady before him had bandages wound up her arm, Matthias silently noticed. The way she carried herself gave off an air of importance, but seemed carefree for a noble. Due to his nervousness and the mask, Matthias could not recognize the person before him. Not only so, but everyone surrounding him seemed a stranger. He felt very much trapped in a cloud of forbearing faces, all estranged and ominous. Crowds were never a good thing, Matthias concluded.    

But who can
name the face?