His Other Half
Chapter 2
"And after midnight, there will be an hour for you and your guests to change into your second costumes. Because Lady Shaelren von Bielefeld is here, she will no doubt be singing for your entertainment…"
Gunter continued to go through the long list of what was planned for the ball while Conrad helped Yuri get his mask straight. His costume looked like something out of Phantom of the Opera, all black and red silk with a silver half-mask. Yuri thought it was nice, and Conrad thought that it was very appropriate. Yuri pushed at his mask again as he looked at Conrad in the mirror.
"I didn't know that she could sing. Is she good?"
Conrad smiled proudly and brushed a piece of lint off his long coat.
"Yes. She was trained by the greatest singers of both demon and human decent. She can do things with her voice that nobody else can. She's a bit of a rock star here, and it drives Gunter mad."
"Why?"
"Once word gets out that she's back in town, there will be more visitors than he can handle. It really does put a strain on the guard."
Yuri looked over his shoulder at the door that hid his husband and the blond man's sister, listening to the muffled laughs and voices coming through the heavy wood. The two had decided to help each other change into their costumes with none of the maids to help. When Yuri went to protest, Conrad just smiled and Gwendel had sighed and told the king that the two had been unusually close all their life. Their bond was like twins in the human world, but the psychic connection was so powerful that usually they could feel even if one was feeling a little under the weather.
"Say Conrad… Is Lady Anissina going to be here?"
The man looked down and cleared his throat to cover a faint blush. It was common knowledge that the pink haired inventor and the captain of the guard were in love with each other, but neither had made any move to start anything. Conrad was a little torn about how he felt that his only sister was back. On one hand, he was thrilled to see the smiling little princess (a brat like her twin) and on the other, mortified at what she may do when she learned of the feelings he had for a woman she was close friends with.
"I just hope that my sister doesn't try anything…"
Yuri chuckled and turned his head toward the door as the sound of singing floated into their room.
………
Wolfram stood behind his sister, carefully running a brush through her long curling hair. He wore a long coat of black and red velvet over a white silk shirt and close fitting black trousers. To top off the ensemble he wore a large hat with three long feathers bobbing jauntily on the right side and a black mask over his upper face. He smiled and gently touched his sister's hair, laughing when he found that his hand came back covered in silver glitter.
"Ugh, it's everywhere!"
"That's the nature of glitter, brother mine."
He stepped back so she could stand up and look at herself in the full-length mirror critically.
"Maybe I did go a little overboard."
She wore a jade green gown made of many thin gauzy layers of silk that showed her long legs and had a 'maybe you see it, maybe you don't' top. She had glued glitter to her arms and neck in intricate patterns with Wolfram's help and had dusted her hair with it, making her golden hair glisten. She wore no mask, but had painted her face to look like a Chinese opera star.
"Oh well, too late now. I'll wash it off for the other dress though."
Wolfram sat down and looked his sister over carefully, his eyes lingering on her arms, or to be more precise, the thin white scars under all the glitter. There were scars on her shoulders too, but he hadn't asked about them.
"Wolfram, are you listening to me?"
"Huh? I'm sorry, say it again?"
Shaelren laughed and sat down next to him, flipping her hair behind her shoulder and resting her head on his shoulder.
"I said that I was going to sing at the ball. I asked Gunter if I could, and he said yes… I wrote a song for you… Can I sing it to you first? I want you to be the first person to hear it."
Wolfram smiled and kissed her hair, then made a face as he remembered the copious amount of glitter that would now be stuck to his lips and, upon reflection, his clothes…
"Yeah, I want to hear it. But move please, I'm covered in your damnable glitter."
She chuckled and sat up straight and cleared her throat quietly, locking her green eyes on her brother's.
"Okay, here I go…"
She looked actually a little nervous as she folded her hands in front of her and started to sing. Her voice was just like Wolfram remembered, soft and deep with an incredible range. He wondered what Greta would think of his singing after she heard his sister.
I
dip my hands into this darkness
This is the ink of all of our
lifetimes
Here in this world of utter silence
Let the stones
speak to me
Tattooed here across my skin, "I Will Live"
Like
a rose that grows from the wreckage
Blood red, beautiful
How
the storms all around me are now breathless
Is this the end of
the raging road
Through the tangled mind?
Is this the end of
starlit skies?
Are we walking blind?
Let me set out through
this morning
Open arms to greet the empty ages
Reborn, see how
I'm circling
I'm a sailor, eternal
Is this the end of the
wasted way?
Is this the death of time?
Is this the end of blue
psychic seas?
Are we sailing blind?
Oh, look down on
me
Watch over me as I walk across this world
Oh, hold me in
hidden hands
Let us go
Oh, look down on me
Watch over me
as I walk across this world
Teach me how to take my first
footsteps...
to the end...
Wolfram smiled and stood just in time for them to hear Yuri to call through the door.
"That was great Lady Shaelren, but shouldn't you save some of it for the party?"
Shaelren gave the door a dark look then sighed with a smile at her brother. Wolfram took her hand and the two walked into the next room. From there, Wolfram walked with Yuri, while Shaelren walked with Conrad. When the party got to the ballroom, fashionably late, the room burst into loud applause.
"Oh! There's Anissina! Anissina!"
She dashed away from her brother and hugged her friend and praised her 'super sexy inventor suit'. It really was a glitzed up version of her usual clothes spiced up with leather and lace. Soon a crowd was forming around the blond woman and Wolfram chuckled.
"I'm glad that she's happy."
"Huh?"
Yuri looked worried as his husband sighed as he
chewed his lips thoughtfully.
"Something is bothering her. I don't know what it is, but I need to find out. I'm sorry Yuri, but I'm going to spend the night with Shaelren tonight and try to see what's going on."
"What?!"
Yuri felt a twinge of jealousy toward the blond woman that had so easily stolen his husband's attention. She was his sister, for chrissake! He could talk to her during the day like other siblings!
"She and I could always talk at night, when the rest of the castle was asleep. We would sit in the window and…"
His voice trailed off as Shaelren was pushed toward the stairs that led to the stage, the crowd shouting for a song. The loudest voice being that of Anissina. The blond looked around from her perch and smiled at her brother and Yuri, straightening her shoulders and began to sway in time with her song, and Yuri had to say, he was impressed.
"Where's the synth machine?"
"Synth? What are you talking about? Oh, that machine humans use to make their voices change in music on your world?"
Yuri nodded and Wolfram laughed.
"She doesn't need one of those. She was taught by the best musicians and even a few monks how to train her voice. That's all her."
Shaelren kept singing, but changed to a new song. This was a slow song, and one many people apparently knew, as most were singing along with her. A few hours passed and soon it was time to change.
Wolfram stood behind his sister again, this time tying the back of the red and purple ribbon dress shut and smiled as she spun happily in a circle. She sat down in front of a mirror and tied on a black thin mask that looked like Zorro's with little black beads hanging off the bottom. Wolfram himself wore a coat also of purple satin and black pants that were flared about the ankles with a black mask that matched his sister's.
"Wolfram?"
"Hm?"
"Would you ever consider… nothing. Forget I said anything. It wasn't important at all."
Wolfram watched her eyes as they darted around the room. Suddenly she smiled and was standing again.
"Well… to the party then."
A/N
Well, this is going to be interesting. The song that I used in this was "Walking Through This Empty Age" as sung by Yoko Ishida. Please review, as it is the sole thing that keeps Wolfram well fed on cookies and cakes!
Thank you!
Deception'sChosen