Matthias looked at the two, the emperor and his empress, a cold, a searing ball of hatred bursting into flame. Richard had much to pay for and Matthias would make sure he payed his debt, but for now Matthias would have to wait behind his new face; wait for the moment when everything aligned. Only then would Matthias make his move. "Victory can't be rushed." Matthias whispered under his breath. He turned away from and looked at Dame, who had eyeing the core of Seisan anxiously. "Something wrong?" Matthias asked, his voice drawing Dame's attention. Dame dispersed her thoughts, forcing her right hand to not reach for her knife. She knew that Matthias was counting on her to be ready to steal the core of Seisan when he sprung his distraction. "I don't know if you are always this stiff, but I won't spring my distraction until things have gotten more lively." Matthias said, smoothing his hair back, the six small bottles that contained his blades in their liquid form around his belt shining in the arcane lights that lit up the ballroom. The lights were simple devices that only required a bit of aura to ignite them, and they gave off no heat, only light. The gathered nobility and elites of Ignation, Faedom, and Seisan society were still fixated on Richard and Dina. Celest had already gained friends in the twenty minutes they had been there, but this was Celest's element. She thrived in parties and balls like this. Matthias kept close to Dame, going over their escape plan one last time, until a loud fanfare broke their focus. "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your partners for the first dance." A youthful Seisan announced as the band struck up a peppy tune. Dame felt Matthias tense up as the music started and the assembled people started dancing to he tune. It had never occurred to Dame before that this was most likely Matthias's first dance, or social activity for that matter, ever. Dame felt a pressure on her feet and, looking at her feet, she saw Matthias's aura, a gentle silver and black, coalescing around his legs. Dame gripped Matthias's right arm with her left and said, "Matthias your aura is leaking out." As she said these words, she saw Matthias's aura retreat, but he was still tense as a coiled spring. "After this dance, I really need to teach you how to control that strong aura of yours." She felt Matthias's body start to relax with each word she said so she continued talking. "Most people learn to control their aura at an early age, or at least before they hit teenage years and their aura starts growing, but you haven't had that opportunity." Dame was starting to reach the end of her thread until Matthias said, "Thanks. I'm calm now. We should start dancing I guess?" Dame gave a small smile as Matthias moved awkwardly to the tune. "I also need to teach you how to dance." Dame said, dancing around Matthias. They stopped talking as the music reached a crescendo and became to loud for a true conversation. In a few minutes however, the song had ended and changed to a more flowing and peaceful tune. Dame grabbed Matthias's hand and led him closer to the center of the ballroom, the core shining brightly to their right. "This is a slow dance." Dame explained guiding Matthias's right hand to her left waist and clasping his left and raising it to her shoulder. "It's much simpler than the dance we did before." Matthias said, his eyes gazing soulfully into Dame's crystal blue eyes. They began to sway to and fro, Dame letting Matthias learn the basic gist of the dance before saying, "When are you going to make your distraction?"
"Let's see. Things are getting lively, but we still need to wait a bit." Matthias said, scanning the crowd.
"If we wait too long we'll miss our chance." Dame replied, eyeing the extremely tall obelisk the core was embedded into.
"Five minutes." Matthias said, slowly maneuvering Dame closer to the pillar, and gave a look at Celest. The song ended, transitioning to another fast paced song. Matthias tapped Celest on the shoulder and pointed at the core and said, "start making any preparations you need to steal the core. I'm going to start my distraction." Matthias moved towards a nearby stalagmite, leaving Dame and Celest on their own. Dame quietly moved slowly toward the core, Celest following her and dancing at the same time. Matthias concentrated and the silver liquid flowed into a mask with two slits for eyes, hiding Matthias's face completely. The rest of the silver liquid flowed into two medium sized silver scimitars. He peeked around the pillar, his eyes seeking out the two people who would unknowingly assist in making the distraction he needed to draw everyone's attention. There they were dancing, happy and content. Matthias walked out from the safety of the stalagmite and walked toward the couple, scimitars drawn. Richard Gardner and Dina Brightflame!" Matthias shouted. "I challenge you both. I will avenge Matthias's death!" Richard and Dina drew their weapons, they had been concealed in rune accessories, and faced the masked Matthias. "What do you want?" Richard asked, his crossbows raised. "I seek vengeance, nothing more and nothing less." Matthias leaped at Richard, his scimitars slicing through the air, only parried just in time by Dina's swords. The people crowded around the three fighters, oohing and aahing at what they thought was a mock battle. Matthias was locked in a deadly sword fight with Dina, his scimitars slicing at every chance he got to slip through her defenses, all the while dodging and deflecting Richard's arrows. The battle seemed to drag on forever, until Matthias locked Dina's swords, the metal clash sounding like music. Matthias levered his feet onto Dina's shoulders and pushed forward,breaking through her guard, and pushing her swords aside. Matthias kept walking, using the back of Dina's head to springboard himself forward. Matthias sprinted forward, the exploding bolts Richard shot at him being either deflected or passing harmlessly. Matthias leapt and was about to strike Richard down, when he heard a great roar and felt fire start to sear his back. Matthias dropped like a stone, rolling into the crowd, turning towards the source of the roar. Where Dina had been, there was a great red dragon, tall and ferocious. Matthias's focus was momentarily disrupted by this new discovery, and Richard realized it. Drawing his sniper rifle, Richard fired one shot that, although it was stopped by Matthias's scimitars, it sent Matthias flying across the room. Something deep in Matthias rose to the surface. Grabbing a nearby stalactite, Matthias hid, melting his scimitars and mask into the six silver bottles and maneuvering himself as quietly to the floor as possible, looked at Dame's progress. She and Celest had only gotten halfway up the five hundred foot obelisk, remarkable progress, but he needed that core. Matthias was about to go and try to distract the audience, when his head throbbed painfully. The throbbing blotted out all thoughts and spread to the rest of his body, forcing Matthias to the stone floor. Blood pulsed across his vision as he slowly lost consciousness. Matthias awoke almost immediately, but Matthias felt different. He looked down at his hands, the fingernails filed to sharp points. Matthias felt some primal instinct grip him. He had vengeance to mete. Matthias slunk through the crowd and leapt to the empty center where Richard and Dina, she was gorging on the food that was set out, standing there. "Richard!" Matthias roared, but when his voice rang out it was much more sinister and had a cruel tone to it. "Who are you?" Richard asked, his crossbows raised. Dame looked out at the fight that was about to brew. She hadn't spotted Matthias, but this new person seemed ready to keep the the distraction going. Dame continued to climb, Celest climbing next to her. The plan was that Celest would shift and pry the stone free and Dame would pop in a illusion cube to disguise the disappearance of the core. Matthias, but he wasn't Matthias, raised his hands, black aura spilling from them and igniting into black fire. The fire advanced around the ballroom, imprisoning all the gathered people in a ring of black fire. Richard and Dina resumed a fighting position, the gathered elite forming a circle around the three fighters. Matthias walked forward, his aura bursting into black fire around his hands. Dina unsheathed her swords and slowly advanced forward. Matthias sprinted toward Dina, his arms outstretched, a manic laugh rising from his throat. Dina burst into motion, fire outlining her blades as she attacked Matthias mercilessly. Matthias ducked and spun, striking whenever he had the chance. Matthias grabbed Dina's blades, his fire protecting him from Dina's fire. Matthias titled his head backward, dodging the silent bolt Richard shot at him. "Nice try." Matthias said as he savagely kicked at Dina, enhancing the kick with black fire, forcing Dina across the open space with a loud crack. Dina got up, her fury rising, flames engulfing her and forming the blazing form of a dragon that transformed into flesh and blood, raging forward, while Richard harried Matthias with bolt after bolt. Matthias jumped, using his flames to propel him onto Dina's back. It was good that Dina wasn't a full grown dragon, only about the size of a large bear now, because otherwise she might have pushed some of the spectators into the flames. Matthias continued to pummel Dina from behind, using Dina's body to shield himself from Richard's arrows. Dina bucked and roared, trying to dislodge Matthias from her back. Her body started to shiver, starting to crumble under Matthias's vicious assault. She dislodged him just in time, until a kick from Matthias sent Dina flying forward in human form, her dragon form could only take so much punishment. Dina slid painfully to Richard's feet, utterly exhausted from using her dragon form and it being defeated. Matthias wasn't doing much better than Dina; his breathing was ragged and haggard from the effort of fighting and keeping the ring of fire tall enough to prevent escape. "If I were you Richard, I would get that girl to somewhere safe." Dame was watching all of this from the pinnacle of the obelisk, waiting until Celest pulled the core out. It must have been embedded far into the rock for Celest to have as much trouble as she was, so Dame had been watching the battle with awe and a degree of disgust. Even before his first duel against Richard, Matthias had always maintained some amount of decorum to his fighting style, but now he had thrown decorum out the window. She saw Dina's dragon form disintegrate, and then Celest gave her a poke, holding the core of Seisan, it was about one foot wide and one foot tall, easily able to fit into Celest's shifted hand. "Good, now let's get down from here and run for our lives. Richard looked at Matthias with a look of pure loathing saying, "What is your name? I want to know it so that the next time we meet, I can carve it into your tombstone." Matthias looked at him, the fire around his hands sputtering, and replied in a creepy, whisper, "Hyde. Edward Hyde." Matthias, or was it Edward, brought his hands together, sparking a bright explosion, smoke billowing out like a plague. The ring around the crowd exploded, creating panic and plenty of smoke. Edward used the smoke to get to Dame and Celest, who had gotten to the entrance of the exit to the surface, and joined them, the three thieves running like demons were after them. Dame wanted to ask the questions that were buzzing in her head, but Matthias stayed silent until they had all gotten in the Lightchaser and had taken off towards the Faedom. Matthias gave a gasp as Edward retreated, releasing his grip on Matthias's body. Matthias had been playing spectator to the carnage that Edward had been causing. This had never happened before, maybe it was something to do with his aura or something. Matthias lay back in the guest seat, exhausted in both mind, body, and soul. All he wanted to do was sleep. He would ask Dame about it, she always seemed to know the right answer. Matthias's eyes drooped as his mind slowly drifted into sweet, blissful sleep.