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I never actually thought I would make this story into chapters... Guess I was wrong.


Chapter 2 Dear Friends

I walked over to Billy smiling happily, and rested my hand gently on her shoulder. "It's so good to see you again, Billy!" I greeted, noticing how Billy jumped when my arm rested on her shoulder.

"Oh, Liebe how nice to see you!" She responded, returning the smile despite the fact that her mask was covering most of her mouth.

I continued. "I did not expect to see so many friends at this ball, is there anyone else I know that is here?" I asked, mostly just making small talk.

Billy nodded smiling brightly. "Lord Malekai, Princess Leliana, and Duchess Claudia are all here." Billy stated motioning to each of them as they were sitting in the room. Lord Malekai Van Collec or Malek as most called him was sitting on the sidelines. His brown hair was mussed slightly in what could be seen as an organized mess, his blue eyes watching one of the dancers. He had a cute face, one in which quite often subjected him to girls who simply wanted to pinch his cheeks and fuss over his hair, he didn't much like that and tried to avoid them at all costs.

Lord Malekai is also a man that is very easily startled. Some says that Malek can see spirits, which is believed to be the reason for his skittish behavior. I noticed that Malek had brought his servant with him, whom was a tall dark, and very handsome, with black hair and dark eyes that made me feel like I would burst into flames. I highly suspected however that Malek's servant Vincent was monopolizing all of Malek's attention, and manipulating the brown haired noble into doing things of questionable nature. My suspicions where confirmed when Vincent leaned over and whispered in Malek's ear with a look of a wolf in his eyes, which in turn cause Malek's cheeks to redden. It really was such a shame that the two handsome men were gay.

Billy and I giggled about the way that Vincent made Lord Malekai blush, quietly for a good while before I noticed that the Duchess Claudia had moved over to us; I smiled politely at her and then burst into laughter; of which Billy and Claudia joined in on.

Claudia Imonia Prexidante was the most scandalous woman in society, with her dark hair, red eyes and stunning beauty, she reigned almost supreme. However she is unmarried, which is frowned upon, especially for someone like Claudia. But the reason Claudia is unmarried is because most men were intimidated by this beautiful woman. That alone most of the time wouldn't keep men away, but what kept most men away was because Claudia is far cleverer than any of the scholars in the court combined, she could do anything any man can do with more grace, beauty and skill than anyone could ever dream of, and she knew this too. She flaunted this skill, which didn't bode well with the older and more traditional; and to make matters worse, whenever she was on a mission to get what she desired, she threw all caution to the wind and broke all of the rules along the way. If anyone dared to try and stop her, in the end they would be swept up in the excitement of Claudia's ventures and go along with it. As a result Claudia had just as many admirers as she did people who loathed her. I am one of the admirers. I love Claudia, she is good company, and while you are with her you feel as if you could fly.

"I see that you've noticed Lord Malekai." Claudia stated once we had calmed enough. "His servant Vincent has been doing that to the poor boy all night." Claudia said, causing the three of us to burst out into laughter once more.

"I can only imagine what he is saying!" Billy stated, making a scandalous hand gestures that warranted several hostile looks from other guests. After that the three of us formed a tight circle, whispering to one another the wild things that we thought they could be saying, until finally we tired of the subject. Having had enough of sitting in one place for so long, the three of us moved into the powder room, taking the masks from our faces and freshening up. We chatted with each other and helped each other fix our hair. We stayed in the powder room for the longest while, until Princess Leliana entered.

...

Princess Leliana Markim Yates is a well-respected Princess of a far off country that has both extremely cold and extremely hot climates. This country was first founded by amazons who worshipped and fought by the ways of their dragon god. You could see the proud warrior in the dragon Princess's gait. The way her long dark brown hair swayed behind her and her light brown eyes pierced us through the mask she wore. The mask on her face was in the visage of the Chinese dragon. Completely gold, the head resting over her right eye with its jaw open and forked tongue resting on her temple, its two arms circling halfway around her eye, its body snaking down her cheek then curving back up and wrapping around her ear. Its wings spread out and looked as if they would take off in flight at any moment. It was truly an intricate mask, but it didn't take away from the splendor of her outfit, the black and gold silk clinging to her body, accenting every curve, her long renaissance sleeves, the designs seemed to look like black fire flecked with gold cinders. A red silk ribbon was tied around her waist, as the top ended just below her bottom, where slightly baggy Chinese pants that covered her legs, simple flats graced her feet.

The three of us breathed in amazement at how such a simple outfit could be so beautiful. I held my breath a little longer than the other two when Leliana's gaze caught mine. However before I could even think to acknowledge the Amazonian princess Leliana turned to leave.

...

The first time that I heard the clock, I very nearly stopped breathing. The sound was amazing, it was beautiful; it touched my soul and elated me. I heard it and felt that I had to stop to drink it in, to let it fill me up. For a moment that eternal longing that always shimmered in my eyes was snuffed replaced with a profound sense of being complete. But after that sense of euphoria came a moment of complete understanding, I understood what the sound meant. Then the sound would stop, and I would forget what the sound meant, the longing would return, but also, I would feel rejuvenated, as if a need had been met and I would continue with what I had been doing before with a new vigor and purpose.

Over the course of time, with the passing of each day, each chime of that clock, I had explored the entirety of the duke's home. I had moved through all of the rooms, the orange had a mood about it that gave one hope, but also seemed to wave goodbye to the vibrancy of the rooms before, like someone passing their prime. The white room offered one clarity and understanding that there is much to do and truly not a lot of time to do it, it compelled you to take pause and reminisce about things you might wish to remember. The violet room its dark hue seemed to heed you to stop, to not go any further, to turn back and return to a room that you had already visited. It seemed almost like the end of the road, as if you could not go any further. Finally there was the black room, the room that when the night fell no one dared to enter. I had entered the room and dared to sit in one of the chairs, to listen to the protest of the strange clock that leaned against the wall warily. I had been one of the brave ones, but I had not been the only one. The first time that I had entered the room, a man had been standing next to the clock reaching out a hand almost as if he dared to touch it. When I saw his hand approaching the clock an unexplainable sense of panic came over me.

"Sir…" I cried out, and he would turn his head pulling his hand back sharply as if he had been caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

The man's hair was just as vibrant a gold as mine and his eyes were a red that seemed to burn with madness and mischief. He had an arrogant air about him that brought out my own, and the mask that he wore seemed to match that arrogance perfectly, he stirred up the desire that I had always kept tightly contained in a small box and shook the box furiously. So when he strode over to me so suddenly, I couldn't help but to stand up tall and defiantly to meet his gaze.

The two of us stared at each other, the air around us fizzled and cracked, and the clock behind us ceased its incessant protests to watch us in amusement. A small drop of sweat slid down my cheek and my bravado faltered. The man grinned at this, showing a row of gleaming white teeth that made me feel as if I were a lamb that had been caught by a wolf. He spoke suddenly with such confidence and purpose that I felt silly standing there attempting to stare him down.

"What's a lovely young thing like you doing wandering so far away from the party?" He asked daring to reach over to me so that he might remove the crescent mask from my face. My eyes widened at the man's bold behavior and I blushed, for some reason feeling as if I was completely exposed to him, my heart beat hard in my chest and I stammered.

"I-I-I-I wanted t-t-t-to see the rest of the rooms!" I cried out, quickly taking back my mask and holding it close to my chest as if it could hide me from the man's gaze. He grinned wider at the sudden action and my face turned into a cherry.

"Ah I see…" He drawled, moving slightly closer, causing me to step back out of the black room. "Not many people are brave enough to even step into this room, let alone hold a conversation in it." He chuckled lightly. "It's probably the red windows; they make it rather grotesque… Don't you think?" He leaned against the frame of the door, physically towering over me, once again displaying that arrogance and once against seeming to bait me into rising up to face him.

I grew bolder straightening myself to rise at his challenge; I stepped around him into the black room, moving over to one of the glass window panes with purpose. I rested the palm of my hand on the glass and spoke up. "It's different from the rest of the rooms; the glass is red instead of black, not the same as the rest of the room. It reminds me of a magician's cape, black on the outside and red on the inside."

I felt myself shaking; I was in the black room, in the room in which no one else seemed to want to enter. I felt a bit uneasy as if I shouldn't be in the room, but the feeling soon passed, and I felt myself beginning to like the room. It appealed to me, it was like the end, it WAS the end, which made me love it; but I soon began to question why I was there in the first place. The man walked closely behind me almost breathing down my neck.

"It's odd isn't it? You wonder why the duke would make a room like this, especially since he too seems afraid to enter."

I watched him as he leaned against the wall next to the window. I looked him over, staring at his simple attire, the red vest suit, black tie, white shirt, and black dress pants. He was so much more handsome than Lord Malekai's servant Vincent, I found myself thinking impure thoughts. Once I realized what kind of thoughts were in my mind I blushed furiously. The man detected this and grinned wickedly, he didn't bother to hear the response for the last question, and moved on to another.

"My name is Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh Riviera, what's yours?" I frowned at this and hesitated for a moment before responding.

"Liebe, Liebe Von Tod…" I looked into his eyes waiting for him to comment, most people here knew German, and I was pretty sure that if he realized what my name meant, he would be disgusted with me.

"Liebe Von Tod…" He stood there and contemplated on my name for a moment. I held my breath.

"That means Love of Death, doesn't it?" He asked, looking me over. My heart fell for a moment, he would for sure be disgusted.

"That makes sense, only someone with a love for the end would want to be in a room like this." He stated with an even wider grin than before, after which he headed for the door. I stood stunned for a while, unsure a to weather he had meant that as an insult or a compliment, until finally I turned to look at him, but by then he was already gone, leaving me there to listen to the soft protests of the Ivory clock.