Disclaimer: I do not own ToS, yet again.
Colette the Klutz: Well, thanks for the comment anyway. I'll make sure the Gesea chapter is extra good, just for you! XD
HolyknightSteve: Thank you so much for accepting me into your c2! It means so much to me. And getting a review from you is such an honor since your stories are like, the best.
Pyro45-- I hope you like this one!
One-Peice-and-Naruto-Fan-- I'm glad you appreciated this; most of the time I write tragedies, so it's good to know that my happy stories are also appreciated!
"Indeed actions are judged by intentions." -- Prophet Muhammad.
Masquerade, Part Two of Midsummer's Festival.
PAITENCE is said to be a virtue; however, there are certain times in life when it would be best to cast patience aside. In those rare situations, it would be best to evacuate all innocent bystanders as soon as possible. For Sheena, this was one of those times. But what in the world could kill Sheena's patience, which had been great in number since Mithos' death? Two words: Zelos's groupies. Sheena wasn't sure what she liked better: the way the girls treated her before, or the way they treated her after her life-changing journey. Before, they acted as if she were a hideous, rotting plant: highly unfashionable, disgusting, socially unacceptable, and meant to be avoided at all costs. But now...
Well, to put it simply, they revered her. Sheena would be remembered for all time; the groupies would not. Sheena was constantly under the girls' watchful eyes, and everything about her, from the cut of her hair to the style of her clothing was observed. Sheena wasn't sure why their attitude had changed, but she had a feeling that it had to do with Zelos. For each of the very few times Sheena danced with Zelos, she could absolutely feel the jealousy radiating from his groupies. Because of that, she preferred to have Lloyd as a dance partner, for not only did she feel safe and unwatched with him, but he was also quite graceful on his feet.
But oh no. That was not it. That was purely and simply not it. Those things didn't completely and totally summarize the way she felt about Lloyd. In fact, it was barely the icing on the cake...
Sheena couldn't help but smile as she looked around the ballroom from her seat at the guests-of-honor table. Lloyd had volunteered to get her punch (he was being quite the gentleman that night), and her friends were dancing. She felt content as she watched Colette and Zelos move along with the music, Colette tripping occasionally. There was, however, a certain passion in the way they moved-- desire, shoved and stifled into a box much too small, threatening to explode at any moment. It was in the way her hand would slip into his during the waltz; it was in the way his body would lightly bang against hers when she rushed back into his arms after twirling with another man in the Anwar, a dance the King had created.
Sheena's eyes traveled over to Genis and Presea. They were at the other side of the room, playing cards again. B/S seemed to be a particular favorite of Presea's. She would actually get into a semi-excited state when she played, and that was quite a breakthrough, for she didn't show positive emotion very often. She even smiled at Genis from time to time. Regal and Raine, however, were nowhere to be seen.
"Sheena." Lloyd's voice brought her back from her thoughts as he sat down next to her. He handed her a cup of punch. He looked absolutely dashing in his white Nobleman's costume. "I heard from some of the nobles that there's a party going on at the Coliseum. It's supposed to be more fun than this, because the nobles called it a bunch of uncivilized riffraff." he grinned. "Supposedly everyone who goes receives a mask, and at the first stroke of midnight everyone takes off their masks. There's dancing, food, fighting tournaments... What do you say?"
Sheena pondered her options as she took a sip of punch. "I'm definitely in," Sheena said as she took note of all the rich old people around her, complete with Zelos's groupies. "But I'll need to tell Colette, so she won't worry or anything. We had originally planned to go back to the hotel together, for safety reasons." Lloyd nodded and told her that he'd be waiting where he was.
It took Sheena a while to find Colette, because of Zelos' groupies. They kept asking her where Zelos had gone to, and for once in her life Sheena could honestly say she had no clue. Oh, there was Colette, standing by the balcony doors. Her face was cool and collected, but Sheena had the feeling that something was troubling Colette. As Sheena walked over, it seemed that Colette came out of a trance; Colette turned to open the door.
"Colette. Colette?" Sheena called out, walking faster. Colette turned back around and smiled when she realized it was Sheena. "Where are you going? It's only twenty minutes past ten o'clock, you can't possibly be leaving, it's Festival..."
"Please don't worry Sheena. I'm just going out to the palace gardens, it's so hot in this ballroom."
"Okay. Well, I'm going to the Coliseum with Lloyd..."
"I'll find you if I need you." With another smile, Colette slipped through the doors and out of sight.
Sheena walked back to Lloyd; they were about to leave when someone clapped their hand on Sheena's shoulder. It was Zelos, looking slightly alarmed. He managed to ask, "Where are you going and can I come with you?"
Lloyd and Sheena just stared at him. Behind him Sheena saw a girl with dim gray eyes and red hair. She was perhaps a hundred meters behind Zelos, and looking wildly around for something-- or someone. And then it clicked. With an easy smile, Sheena said, "Colette is outside in the gardens. Why don't you go to her?"
Zelos grinned at her and slithered away, but Lloyd looked slightly troubled. "Why is he running away from Rosmilda?" he asked, referring to the redheaded girl. "I thought she was one of his lovers." And when Sheena just shrugged, he just nodded and led her outside, heading towards the Coliseum.
Sheena had heard fearful stories about girls who got lost on Festival, and because of this she gripped Lloyd's hand even more tightly as they neared the small crowd around the Coliseum. Sheena hoped that this was a good idea. When they entered, they were separated and led to two different rooms. This only made Sheena more nervous as she was given a black mask that covered around her eyed and covered her nose, but didn't cover the rest of her face. A woman cast a spell over her, turning her dress a dark purple color. When Sheena cast the woman a confused look, the lady explained that there would be an unmasking at midnight and at that time all the spells would wear off. With that, the woman gently pushed Sheena through the doors and into the arena. It was crowded there, and lit by round balls of fire that floated around in the air. Fast-paced music was loud enough to be heard over all the voices and in the very center of the place was a cluster of people dancing. There were fighting contests going on in each corner of the rectangular arena, and Sheena could spot the men's entrance at the other side of the Coliseum. In the bleachers were several food and prize stands.
Sheena searched the arena with her eyes. No Lloyd. Of course she wouldn't be able to find him, he most likely had a spell put over his appearance too! Sheena decided to participate in the fighting contest nearby. There were signs in front of each station, stating the level of each competition: beginner, intermediate, advanced and master. Sheena decided to join the master competition; after all, hadn't she fought tons of enemies, one of which happened to be the great Mithos?
The man at the desk smirked when she told him she wanted to enter. "Why don't ye try the beginner's tournament, little lady? I'm sure yer nails won't get too messed up there."
Sheena rolled her eyes. "Just give me a weapon and I'll show you what I'm made of." When the man handed her a rusty spear, she glared. "I'll take the cards, thank you." Sheena had forgotten her cards in her hotel room. But she wasn't worried; these cards weren't as powerful as the ones she currently favored, but she could manage.
As Sheena stepped into the ring the man had led her to, she looked around her, taking note of everything. There were three other rings; their circumferences were at least twenty feet each. Sheena was contestant number seven and was fighting in ring four. As she strapped on the protective armor that the man had handed to her, Sheena studied the other competitors. There was a buff man wearing loose clothes, like a ninja's, with brass knuckles strapped onto his hands; he was facing a short boy whom wielded a bow-and-arrow kit skillfully. Another ring contained a pair of wizards-- one short and one as tall and lean as a tree. The last ring contained a young, lean man with dark eyes and carried two daggers. His opponent carried a heavy axe. Sheena couldn't help but notice that the other contestants were all males. She smiled confidently-- she would cream them. This corner of fighters had a larger audience than the rest of the stations combined. Perhaps this was because she was the only woman competing. Something caught Sheena's eye and she turned away from the audience. She finally had a challenger, a man who was very small and mousy. He grinned at Sheena and swung his katana threateningly; he knew what he was doing.
The man at the desk, named Harris, stood and shouted into a megaphone: "Let the competition begin!"
Sheena crouched into a fighting position as competitor number eight rushed towards her. She would let him come to her; she wouldn't waste her energy. As she felt her dress flow loosely around her knees, she felt glad that she decided to wear shorts underneath. She kicked off her high heels without breaking the position. Faster than she expected, the opponent was already a few feet from her, and had the katana lowered to his side as he continued to run at her. Feeling herself slipping into the flow of battle, Sheena pivoted on her right foot and dunked, dodging the overhead swing while throwing her left fist into the guy's stomach as hard as she could. The swordsman grunted in pain, and doubled over, one hand clutching where she had punched him, giving Sheena the time to roll out from underneath him, cards being drawn as she rolled, preparing herself for the man to recover.
By the small amount of time it had taken Sheena to roll a few feet away and get into a defensive crouch, the fighter was already running towards her again, looking only bit annoyed from the wound she had inflicted upon him. For a small guy, he wasn't weak. She rolled again to the side as the samurai made another swing, but this time she immediately stood up behind him, and placed one of her cards on his back, shouting the words to release the spell. "Power Seal Pinion! Life Seal!" The man was shot across the arena by a sudden powerful gust from the card, heading straight for the other side of the ring. Just before the out of bounds line, he managed to stab his sword into the ground right at the edge of the arena, and used the handle to swing himself back in-bounds before he could touch the ground outside the arena. He pulled his sword out of the new hole in the ground, breathing a bit heavily, eyeing her with newfound respect. He bowed his head to her before speaking softly. " I see you're not new at this. Forgive me for underestimating you...but don't think I'm going easy on you anymore just because you're a woman."
Without waiting for a response, the samurai was already rushing towards her, this time the sword held above his head, obviously preparing to arch it down upon her. Sheena automatically switched into defensive mode, taken back by the sudden speech and the sudden increase of speed - he was moving much faster than before. Sheena could hardly watch him with her eyes. She barely had time to put up a few cards above her head to block the man's swing-- however, he moved it quickly so that the flat side hit the armor on her leg, and he hit hard enough so that she could feel pain-- and that only provided her with enough time to stumble backwards a few feet, landing near her edge of the arena.
Sheena glanced around quickly. The man was moving too fast - he was crossing the arena in seconds. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to roll, nowhere to dodge. If she blocked, she would most definitely be forced off the edge by purely by his strength advantage. Sheena grinned faintly, suddenly remembering her trump card - it was her last hope. Sheena grabbed one specific card from her sleeve, before slamming it onto the ground of the arena, trying to summon her newfound help before the samurai could close the last 8 feet between them. If summoning couldn't help her, and she couldn't defeat this man, then it was only by the luck of the gods she survived the adventure with Lloyd. "I call upon the servant of Mother Earth. Gnome!" A sudden rumbling in the earth made the samurai stumble slightly and falter, eyes wide as he watched as the ground beneath Sheena tremble, and a sudden pillar of Earth shoot straight into the sky. Sheena was on top of it, with a large chucking fat mole thing with a shovel and bow behind her. The crowd around the arena started going wild, some with fear, others with surprise, and some who thought that was just plain out cool. Sheena grinned down at the even smaller form of the man below her before pulling out another card, and pointing it down towards the man. Sheena shouted an inaudible command and Gnome obeyed-- wave after wave of rocks began pelting the samurai, and yet not hitting Sheena or the audience at all. Sheena slid down the slope of the pillar, and since all the rocks distracted the man-- Sheena could only imagine how much they hurt-- began hitting him nonstop with her cards.
"Pyre Seal! Force seal! Power Seal Pinion!" The man was getting very close to the edge of the ring-- very very close. Sheena decided to levitate him out of the ring. "Cyclone Seal!" her plan worked. The man was thrown roughly out of the ring and skidded along the hard ground. As soon as he did, Gnome disappeared with the pillar and raining rocks.
Sheena smiled proudly. She was the first fighter to finish. Eventually the others were done, and Sheena took note of who was left. It was just she, the man with the brass knuckles, the tall wizard, and the guy with the dark eyes now. Sheena walked over to the next ring and met her new opponent: Competitor number three, who happened to be the wizard. The match started soon enough and was much easier than the first match; Sheena was still pretty tired from the first battle. She first used a Magic Lens and realized that her opponent only had 3,000 HP remaining from his last battle. The wizard's eyes widened when Sheena pulled out the Lens and immediately began calling forth a spell-- Indignation. Sheena dashed quickly towards him and reached him in no time and began hitting him in random places. He seemed to be in over limit mode, so she didn't stop his spell, but she did deal damage to him.
100...119...281... Five hundred points of damage so far! Sheena thought. "Demon Seal! Pyre seal!" 200...270...330... that's 1,500... you're halfway there, girl. And then, mid-hit, the wizard's spell finished. A large sphere of lightning hit Sheena and she couldn't help but cry out in pain, feeling fresh bruises form, and even some cuts... The spell finally stopped and Sheena got back up on her feet wearily. The wizard had distanced himself from her and was casting another spell-- and Sheena didn't want to find out what it was. She ran back to him and began hitting him with her cards again: 250, 350, Pyre seal! 300, 200, 250, 250! 3,000!
The wizard fell to the ground with a sickening grunt and Sheena straightened up. Immediately she met the eyes of the winner from the ring next door; it belonged to the young man with the two daggers. He smiled a bit, almost cockily as he walked into her ring. He walked up to her and extended a hand.
"May the best fighter win." he said good-naturedly, flashing another smile as Sheena took his hand and shook it. They were soft; no, his hands were rough, she could feel a callus on the index finger... and yet his thumb's skin felt smooth... Sheena unconsciously heard herself say something along the lines of 'I plan to win' and 'good luck'.
Something caught Sheena's eye and she turned, looking at the sky. She gasped out, "A shooting star!" Everyone in the audience looked up. There was a shower of shooting stars streaking across the sky; Sheena had never seen so many at one time. Sheena realized she was still holding the stranger's hand. She turned to look at him-- and he stared right back. She detangled her hand from his gently. She managed to say casually, "Um... it's nice to meet you."
"What's your name?" he asked as the audience stayed entranced by the stars.
"I'd prefer not to tell. After all, you might stalk me after I beat your ass." Sheena smiled and walked across the ring. "What's your name?" she called out.
"I'd prefer not to tell. You might stalk me after I kick your butt." the man mimicked. Sheena turned around when she reached her destination and caught a grin on his face.
Harris had returned to the world. "Ready... set... begin!" he called out. At once, Sheena and her opponent rushed at each other. He swung his daggers wildly but skillfully, and Sheena blocked him with her cards each time. Sheena managed to hit him here and there, but he also managed to do the same. Block up, block down... wait, he took a step back, what is he...?
"Fierce Demon Fang!" the man called out, pulling a dagger in an arc towards the ground. A wave of hot wind hit Sheena and roughly shoved her onto her back. In no time Sheena was back up and the man was rushing towards her. He yelled, "Hurricane Thrust!" Sheena ducked in the middle of the statement and did a sort of twirl around him, so that she was behind him. She quickly attacked him and Sheena saw him weaken slightly before he whirled around and sort of hopped backwards, away from her. He then rushed towards her again, slashing with ease. Sheena felt him cut deeply into the unprotected part of her shoulder and gave an involuntary gasp. The man seemed to hesitate; he lowered his daggers.
"Don't!" Sheena called out. "Don't you dare go easy on me." She began hitting him with the cards again. She hit the man in the face and created a bruise on his cheek, and yet he didn't give the slightest reaction of pain. His mouth was set in a grim line as they kept hitting each other, occasionally using techniques and attacks. And Sheena could feel herself slowly weakening when the battle came to a close: Her opponent hit her quite hard on her left side when she had let her guard down for a moment. He did several moves then-- Sonic Sword Rain and Heavy Tiger Blade among them-- before he did Rising Falcon, pinning her to the ground. He sat on her stomach with his legs on either side of her. He raised his dagger to her throat.
"I win." He said softly as the audience cheered. He stayed there for a moment before rising and holding his hand out to her. After a moment of hesitation, Sheena took it and realized that she needed it; she stumbled a bit, feeling weak. The man shifted his arm so that it was wrapped around her shoulders; a nurse handed him Energy Tablets. He took a few and gave the rest to Sheena; she swallowed them willingly. Suddenly the bruises and cuts mostly disappeared, and Sheena felt much better. She shook the man's arm off her shoulders and looked at the clock; it was eleven thirty.
"You owe me a dance." The man with the dark eyes smiled gently at Sheena. "Because I won." Harris came and took their borrowed weapons and the young man held out his hand. Sheena put her hand in his; she was intrigued. The dance was slow and peaceful, nothing like the stuffy dances at the palace. His hand on her waist felt so comfortable. She looked up into his eyes and found his gaze on her, with a look in his eyes that made it seem as if he were memorizing everything about her.
"So. Where are you from? I've never seen you around Meltokio before." Sheena asked, trying to be friendly.
"I travel a lot... Maybe we've passed each other in the streets before, but we never really took notice of each other." He suggested gently.
"Your eyes are so familiar... I feel as if I've met you before. I know I have..." Sheena sighed and shook her head slightly. "Anyway. How old are you?" She asked. "I'm nineteen. I've been nineteen for a little more than eight months."
"That's funny. I'm taller than you, but I'm younger. I turned eighteen around two weeks ago." The man smiled at her, a smile that sent chills down her spine. She had seen that smile before-- a half-innocent smile, with the right side of the lip raised higher than the left.
"Really now? A friend of mine turned eighteen two weeks ago! Maybe you two share the same birthday... His name's Lloyd--" Sheena paused at this. Thinking of him made her think of the next day. She didn't want to think about leaving him. She would never sleep next to him by the campfire, or stay up late staring at the stars and talking about their dreams and goals.
"Did something happen between you two?" The man asked.
"I..." Sheena bit her lip, and then sighed. "Nothing's happened. I like him but he doesn't like me. I think he's still in love with my friend Colette. Colette's like a sister to me, so I can't do anything..." Sheena shrugged lightly. "But Colette deserves more than anyone to be happy. I don't want to ruin what she has with Lloyd. Lloyd has just treated me like a friend the entire time."
The man was silent for a moment; probably considering what advice he could give. "Maybe this Lewis--"
"--Lloyd." Sheena corrected.
"Yes, maybe he is hiding what he feels. Maybe he is afraid that you don't return his affection. You should tell him how you feel."
"No!" Sheena exclaimed. "No. I don't want to ruin anything. I'm too shy..."
"Then he will come to you," the man said firmly. "Trust me on that." And when Sheena just nodded, the man switched the topic to politics.
When they had begun talking about their favorite foods, Sheena heard the palace clocks ring-- midnight. Everything in the Coliseum seemed to stop-- the music stopped, people stopped dancing and talking. Sheena felt as if hot water was running down her back as the spells that disguised her slowly dispelled. Her dance partner had let go of her and his pants were slowly turning white.
"Unmask!" Harris shouted. Sheena met her partner's eyes and her hand slid to her face the same time that he did. She pulled her mask off, and then got a first look at...
Lloyd!
Sheena stared at him. She had told him everything. Her heart was racing. He probably thought she was a freak now. He was smirking. No, smiling, no... He was... leaning over. He was putting his hands around her waist. God, his hands were warm. He kissed her gently after saying, "I knew it was you." His lips felt amazing. Sheena took in his scent-- a scent of soap, gently mixed with his own essence and some sort of cologne.
When Lloyd pulled away, Sheena put her arms around his neck to keep him close. "Lloyd, how did you know it was me?"
He smiled at her and shook his head gently. A hand went to her cheek and traced the curve up to the corner of her eye. "Don't you get it, Sheena? I'll always be able to find you, no matter how far apart we are. I can't forget you, no matter how hard I try."
Sheena couldn't help but smile at that. She pulled her to him for another sensual kiss, and fireworks lit up the sky.
AN: WOW! Another long chapter. Oh well. Thanks to Chain/Johnathan for helping me with the first battle! I really appreciated it. I hope you guys like this chapter. Gesea is next. I'm currently writing the Raine chapter. I'm not very sure about how that will turn out, but I hope it will turn out wonderfully! Suggestions for what should be in the Raine chapter are welcome! Review!