The second night
The ballroom was dimly lit with a warm orange glow. Walls were distand, hidden behind a dusty haze, and the ceiling seemed nonexistant, vanishing into an ink-black frigid sky.
She slid over the fancy parquetry. The next dance was about to begin. She could see faint and uncertain figures of the other dancers in the hazy distance by the walls. She knew that if she didn't find a partner for the dance, struggling through the mass of dancing pairs would be a real problem. Not to say that would be rather embarrasing.
But as much as she wanted to, she couldn't lift her head and look around.
- While we are here, shall we dance? - a gentle voice emerged and she looked up and around, startled.
It turned out that there was a lady behind her. She squinted her eyes - the lady was dressed in a blue dress with layers of skirts that looked flowing, as if in waters, along with her ridiculously long silvery hair. Her dress didn't look too fancy - which was rather surprising, since she suddenly realised they were on a masquerade.
The lady, however, was wearing a golden mask decorated with feathers. Her face also seemed covered with a veil, as her features was subtle and escaping her vision.
She looked down on herself and realised she had been wearing a gentlemanly attire.
- I'm playing the knight role again, right? - she asked.
- Not that I can help it, - the lady answered in a slightly annoyed voice, - My effeminacy is more than enough for the both of us.
- Yes, but you always leave the weakest parts of said effeminacy to me, - she felt insulted, - And then you make me your knight.
- I don't need you as my knight, - the lady waved her hand nonchalantly, - Accept me and you will get your dress back.
- You are going to ruin me.
- Devour. I'm going to devour you, just as I got you to devour me. The butterfly would be beautiful, if there is any butterfly. Ever heard of that dragon that ate his own tail and lived forever?
- Which part of the dragon I am exactly?
- Scales and liver. I'm fine with the heart and claws.
She realised that she had already began dancing with the lady, in a slow waltzing circles. Her features, albeit being closer, weren't any clearer. But her large almond-shaped eyes were gleaming with a mysterious glow.
- We've met already, a few years ago, haven't we?
- Yes, and a long time before that.
- I've been falling a great deal, I only want to know - why?
- Should you care? That's my role.
- Caring?
- I meant falling. Isn't it funny how you fly forward but don't go anywhere?
- But you want me to go there in your place.
- Not that you have to. I'm perfectly fine with the heart.
- I know you're lying.
The lady gave her a soft laugh.
- I am fine with the heart. It's warm there, in the back.
- But I'm going to live as a man if you are there!
- More likely something inbetween. I will never meet anyone good enough. So it doesn't even worth trying.
And she knew the lady was right. There wasn't anyone good enough around her. There wasn't and would never be anyone like... like that person.
- You know, when that prince got those eyes of his blinded, - the lady mused, - Did he really accepted the girl when she found him?
- You mean he didn't care if it was her?
- I think that if the door was shut once, it would never open up again.
- They say you can always look for a window.
- Yes, and be killed as an outlaw.
She stopped.
- I still don't understand. What do you want from me exactly?
The lady stared into her eyes seriously.
- I want to live, - she said softly and firmly, - I want to remain strong. However distant, I want to live up to his expectations. It as simple as that.
The ballroom felt empty and cold. She was suddenly aware that the dark haze was much closer, as if the two of them were lit by a haunting dim spotlight.
She had to correct herself that the ballroom wasn't empty. The dancers gathered beyond the spot of light, and there was a muffled sound of murmuring.
She frowned a little.
- It's not that dream again, is it?
The lady was somewhere in the corner of her eyes, and she couldn't see her clearly. She realized she were guarding her.
- I don't think so, - the lady appeared to be vanishing, - But you might need a rapier this time.
- Not that I ever learned how to use it, - she stared at the long blade in her right hand.
A hush fell over the mob. As she squinted her eyes and stared into the murky haziness, a man clad in dark reds walked past the dancers, staight towards her, light reflecting from the golden feather mask he was wearing. He had an air of a cold arrogance, a slight disdanful smile curving his lips.
She wondered if that was a nightmare. She felt uncertain, and it was the confusion that worried her the most.
Everything was lost to the hazy darkness of the ballroom, only the man was shining with a kind of a dark radiance. He was mesmerizing, in a way.
No, she thought as she gave her head a mental shake. I can't be thinking that. He's worth respecting, that part is true, but I can't be looking at him that way. That would be weak. And I can't be weak in front of him. I know too well where does the weakness lead.
She clinged onto a rising feeling of arrogance that could have been matching his, and then she suddenly realized he's actually below her level in a certain sense. She was smarter than him. More perceiving than him. It was her secret knowledge. That was, too, something he would never know.
He scrutinized her, and she could as well return his stare. She wondered if he knew who she was. She also wondered if the lady was watching.
In his hands, there was a rapier as well.
- Are we duelling? - she dared to venture.
- What's your prize, then? - his voice alone could sent shivers down her spine.
- I don't think I am the one you should be addressing to, - she searched and indeed there the lady was, standing over on a balcony, holding something in her hands, - I was merely put up by my lady, you see.
He barely looked in the direction of the balcony.
- Would you fight in her name, then? - the tip of his rapier drew a lazy, graceful arch in the air. He bared his teeth in a taunting grin.
- I suppose so.
And as she raised his rapier, the lady held her hands up to her mouth, and a smooth marching song filled the hall.
And then she dashed forward.
- Kathy? Yo-hoo, Kah-thee!
The girl blinked, looked around, then blinked again. NiGHTS lowered his hand he'd been waving before her face and gave her another stare.
- What's with those clothes? - he asked with bright curiousity.
Kathryn looked down. She had a dress suit on, and she felt funny over her face; she held her hand up and touched something that felt like a cardboard. She pulled a mask over her head.
She looked around once more, standing in the middle of a big ballroom, light shining through the tall open windows.
- Hi, NiGHTS. You haven't seen, uh... some guy with a rapier around, have you?
- No, - he looked more serious, - Owl told me that the Mare was breaching into the Nightopia, and so I rushed here. And here you was. Thought so.
- What do you mean, "thought so"? - she gave him a puzzled look.
- It's a... oh, - he suddenly had a stale expression on his face, - I can't quite explainn it. Let's say, you lucid dreamers attract marens.
- 'Cause our kind is more tasty, right? - she said absent-mindly, staring at the balcony and trying to recall what was it that she had seen.
- Yeah... uh... Yes, I think you can put it thas way...
NiGHTS voice drifted into distance. Kathryn dragged the vision of her dream back before her sober mind's eye. There was the ballroom, and the black haze. There was the parquet. There was a... there was that blue... the blue lady. They'd been talking about... about dragons and butterflies, what was it exactly? Did she demanded that lady's dress? Then there was a lot more of the black haze, then there was the man...
- KATH-REEEEN!
The girl leaped, giving the walls and NiGHTS an involuntary shriek.
- Oh, God damn you!.. Don't scare me like that! You want me to have a heart attack?
- Erm... what about a heart attacking?
She took a breath.
- I've been thinking. Not that I think it was important, though. What was it that you wanted, again?
NiGHTS beamed at her:
- Let's dualize and fly!
Kathryn thought. Then rolled that "dualize" word on her tongue and thought some more.
- Dualize. Dual-ize. As in "divide in two", - she mused aloud.
- Ehhh... kind the other way around, actually.
- Oh. Joining two into one, I presume?
- That's right! - NiGHTS grinned cheerfully.
- Oh, I see.
She fell into a long, thougtful pauze, during which NiGHTS grew less and less cheerful, and more worried.
- No, I kindly thank you, but no.
The law of gravity seemed to remember it ever existed, and began its work with tugging at NiGHTS, as his purple-clad figure nearly fell down to the floor.
- But Kathy!..
- Thank you, and I wholly believe that it doesn't involde anything kinky, but still no, - she refused politely but firmly, raising her voice a little.
- You just don't understand! - NiGHTS threw his hands up in the air and rushed after her, as the girl was proceeding towards the doors, - Dualizing is essential! What if marens come and steal your Ideya? What if marens invade your dreamscapes?
She couldn't help an odd laughter:
- I'd want to see them try!.. - then she blinked and turned around, - Wait, what did you say?
- What-if-marens-come-after-you? - NiGHTS repeated in a persistent manner, - Not that you are the only lucid dreamer around, but if that happens...
- Nonono, wait, what was about that "idea" thing?
- The Ideya. It's a sphere of light that comes from your very soul, dear Visitor.
Kathryn turned around and saw Owl in the doorway.
- Oh, hello, Owl, it's nice to see you again. Care to tell me more?..
- Certainly. Every person of the waking is supposed to have five Ideyas, each one representing key element of his psyche. The first is the Ideya of Purity. The second is the Ideya of Bravery. The third in the Ideya of Wisdom, which also represents Growth. The fourth one is the Ideya of Hope, and the fifth one is the Ideya of Intelligence. It's quite rare for the person to have all the Ideyas equally strong, usually one of them takes the lead, so to say. For a brief period of time, however, it is possible to have all of them resonate in unison...
- Supposed to have, you said, - Kathryn looked at the bird, - Sorry to interrupt. But that means there are not always all of them represented in the psyche?
- That's right, - Owl heaved a sigh, - Incidentally, you seem to have the Ideya of Intelligence in the lead. Yes, sometimes the light of Ideya is stolen by those from the Nightmare.
Kathryn felt a little airheaded.
- I think I might not have much time before I wake up, - she murmured, - Do you know something about that blue lady? I think I saw her today around this place.
Owl looked at NiGHTS.
- The mare _had_ been trying to drag her in, - the trickster said reluctantly, - But she had snapped out of it. She was alone when I found her.
- Do you know or not?
- It would seem to me, dear, - Owl said softly, after a small pause, - That she is merely a vision from your dream. It's only in your head, as they say. You shouldn't be trying so hard to find out...
- Listen, - she brought her head closer to the bird, staring him straight into his eyes, - Since I was six, I'd been having a certain nightmare I'm sure wasn't even mine to begin with. Nothing in my real life linked to it, and it was quite unnerving, okay? When I was eleven or so, I had managed to overcome it, but ever since I've been having small things reminding me about it. And that is quite unnerving, too. I meet a strange lady dressed in blue here and there, the same lady I was with every time I had that nightmare. But even now I've no idea who is she or what does she wants from me. So when I met you, beings that, and I'm fairly sure about it, don't come from my sick mind, I thought that as much of an oddball I am, I could as well ask if you might know something. I want to find that lady, okay? I want to ask her what was that nightmare all about.
As she opened her eyes, she realized she had been thinking the speech over in her head, rather that saying it. She was wide awake and laying in her bed, some bird crirping outside the window.
Her alarm clock went off as she wondered how much of it she was able to tell.