Chapter XVII: The Gathering
Evil-Lyn paced somewhat impatiently as she waited for her mother. She was dressed in her gown and ready to depart for the big party crashing, and more than a little impatient to cause mayhem. Lyn admitted to herself that she was also just a little curious to see how her mother would look in her dress, and she grinned.
She was pacing back and forth in the hall, pausing every now and then to look in the mirror. Her hair was down around her shoulders, which gave her a little bit of pause, as she was so accustomed to having it pinned up in her helmet. It felt somewhat odd, being free around her shoulders. Almost .invigorating. She felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and she grinned, knowing her thoughts were absurd.
Lyn stepped back and regarded herself in the mirror. She wore a long, black dress with a narrow and somewhat deep neckline. Silver inlays came down just beneath her breasts and tapered at her navel, before spreading out again in threads fine as spider's silk. It was a long-sleeved gown, but very form-fitting and close to her body, making sure to accent every curve. She wore no jewelry, and her hair being worn long made the earrings she frequently wore impractical. Instead, she wore only two small hoops, silver in color and so light she could barely feel them.
She had to admit, she looked gorgeous. She had been skeptical at first about both the dress and her hair, unaccustomed as she was to wearing long sleeves. But, looking at herself now, she realized that her ensemble was very appealing, and completely unique. The palace wouldn't know what had hit it, she thought idly.
Exhaling deeply, Lyn resumed her pacing, her feet shuffling slightly in her boots. They were pitch-black, thigh high monstrosities, elegant and threatening at the same time. The heels were not overly high, but still enough so to give the perception of impressiveness. The toes were square, and they were easy to move in, which, Evil-Lyn thought, would probably prove advantageous as the evening progressed.
She paused, becoming thirsty, and quickly conjured up a pitcher of water to a nearby stand. Lyn reached for it, smiling gently at her improved summoning spells.
The door to her mother's chamber opened as Lyn was reaching.
Turning, Evil-Lyn shifted her head to look at the opening door, and her breath caught in her throat.
Lady Moria Vadorian smiled at her, her amethyst eyes glowing warmly. Her sister's black dress seemed to float around her form in an almost otherworldly fashion. The bodice clung to her, accentuating her every curve, while the base flowed out, catching in the slightest breeze. Two straps on the shoulders, which could slide and fall around as they wished, held up the dress. A small triangle at the bodice had been cut out, and was now only a thin netting of silver thread, with black silken twine etched within.
Her hair, like her daughter's, was worn freely and cascaded down her back like a white waterfall. She wore only one earring in her left ear; a miniscule crescent moon, dangling from a small chain. The only other jewelry she wore was a necklace, with two strands of silver chains, one that came up close around her throat, and the other that fell between her breasts and her throat. A small, amethyst pendant joined the two strands, as well as two or three small, silver beads. She smiled gently at her daughter's open mouth.
"What do you think, Lyn?" she asked, amusedly, turning around like a bemused model.
Evil-Lyn found words difficult for a moment. "You look. wonderful," she finally said after a moment.
Moria smiled gently at her only child. "You're an image of loveliness yourself, my dear." She walked gracefully over to Lyn, her feet, in boots similar to her daughter's, making not a sound on the marble floor.
Lyn preened a bit at the compliment, smiling widely at her mother. She looked at the elder woman in the mirror, and then at herself. Those at the party would die of shock when they came through the door, much less when they were announced. Speaking of which.
The younger Dereskian turned her hand in the air, summoning two identical pieces of parchment. When her mother looked at them quizzically, she said simply, "Our invitations."
Moria grinned. "Of course, love. We can't well show up without those, now can we?"
"No, we can't." Lyn laughed gently, her eyes becoming a shade or two darker in her mirth. "Shall we go, Morämé?"
The elder woman looked up at the ceiling, her eyes flashed once and it disappeared, bathing the room in the light of the sunset. She judged the position of the sun and shook her head, replacing the ceiling. "Not just yet, dear," she said, returning her gaze to Lyn. "We want to arrive fashionably late to this gala."
Her daughter looked at her with a curious expression. "And why is that?"
Lady Moria Vadorian winked gently at her daughter, before turning to look in the direction of Eternos. "Because we want everyone to know we're there.." .....
Teela paced back and forth roughly, regarding herself in the mirror and throwing her hands up in disgust. To her, it seemed amazing that the mirror did not break into a hundred pieces at the scene of hideousness before her. She angrily reminded herself to never again let her father choose what dress she would wear to any social events.
Then again, she argued, that would mean she would have to pick them, and that was unfathomable. Taking another fleeting glance in the mirror, she quickly looked away and moved to another part of her chambers.
It was times like these that made her want to break something. In her entire life, she could never once remember ever wearing .PINK. And, if the color itself was not bad enough, the dress was. hideous; there was no other way to describe it. It was a mass of different sized bows, draped haphazardly around the mainly sleeveless dress. At the back, there was a corset-like section, tied off with a bright red ribbon that looked completely out-of-place. Teela wanted to gag.
She wandered around her room in a huff, cursing the names of every god or goddess she had ever heard of, and some she made up on the spot.
In her anger, she very nearly tripped over a large box that had been placed on the floor. She had not noticed it before, and cursed loudly as her foot struck it.
"What in the Elders.?" she broke off, bending down to look at the box. Her name was written on it in precise, loopy letters, but there was nothing else.
A little warily, she lifted the mysterious package and set it on the table with some effort. It's heavy, she thought idly. What's in it?
Hesitantly, she grabbed a scanner she had lying around and checked the package for anything that could be harmful, and had no result. Even so, she lifted the top of the box uncertainly, setting it to the side after revealing a large wad of tissue paper.
Reaching beneath it, she was amazed to feel something soft and almost downy, and she slowly moved the paper aside to reveal a shiny blue material.
Her eyes widened as she grasped the dress, for that was what it was, gently and slid it out of its box. This, then, was much better than what she wore.
She held it up to herself, looking at how the dress looked on her. It was a light shade of deep blue, and long, flowing down to be almost a puddle of fabric on the floor.
Constricting as she knew it would be, Teela still grinned, slipping off the hideous pile of garment she wore and sliding the blue fabric over her body. It clung to her, though not unpleasantly. The dress seemed almost an extension of her body. It was sleeveless, and though that might normally have given her pause, with this dress it seemed entirely natural.
She twirled in front of the mirror, smiling widely at the way the fabric seemed to ripple off her body. Looking again in the box, she found a pair of flat-heeled shoes that matched the dress perfectly in color. Teela put them on and found she could move quite freely in them.
Idly, she wondered who had sent her the dress, but chalked it up to one of the Masters being nice to her again. They were always doing that, even though she never really asked them to.
So delighted was she with her dress, she did not see the strange falcon sitting on a branch nearby her window. Nor did she see this same falcon seem to almost smile or hear its screech as it took flight for Castle Grayskull. .....
The Sorceress landed in her bedchamber, transforming back into her human form and smiling gently. She was glad that Teela liked her gift so much, even if she could not say who had sent it.
Teelina felt a sharp pain of regret then, and she sighed raggedly. If she had been able to raise Teela herself, she would not have to send unmarked packages and leave them at her doorstep.
Her mind continued on this tangent throughout her entire dressing process. As the Sorceress lifted the headdress off of her form, she silently debated on what she should do with her long red tresses. As her hair was almost always hidden, Teelina was very unversed in the latest fashion, so she finally decided to leave her hair long and unfettered. As she brushed out the minimal amount of knots, she idly became conscious of the volume and weight of her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders. There was something almost liberating about having it down, she decided, grinning. It was not an unpleasant feeling.
She regarded herself in the mirror, a small grin on her face.
As she had told Moria, she was clothed in a deep blue velvet dress, long- sleeved and quite full in length. The neckline plunged deeply, but at the same time moderately, showing nothing that would compromise her sense of modesty. The skirts were full but easy to move in.
Looking over at her staff, Teelina gently closed her eyes and relaxed her mind, seeking out any potential danger to Grayskull this night. She could find no such threat, however, something unusual was present.
She opened her mind to all Elements, searching for more information about this peculiarity. It was nothing to do with Grayskull, she noted, and a small sigh of relief passed through her.
The Sorceress concentrated harder, and could not place what this abnormality was or would be, but could only find out that it would come into play tonight, when no one was expecting it. However, it would not be dangerous, even though it may seem so. and that was all. She thought she could see a flash of colored light, but whatever color it was moved far to quickly for her to properly view.
In annoyance, she massaged her temples, giving up on the effort. As long as this. whatever it was did not threaten Grayskull, she figured that it was nothing to be concerned with.
In the back corners of her mind, far enough away from her consciousness that she could not hear it, an eerily familiar feminine voice laughed. .....
Throughout the rest of Eternia, peoples of all races and species were preparing for Randor's large gathering. Apparently, two or three representatives from each kingdom were invited, but no more, as otherwise there would be precious little space in the capital city. A few of the more suspicious and reclusive peoples were grumbling amongst themselves that this did not seem fair, but they were going nonetheless.
The ladies were all preoccupied with their hair/fur/scales/skin/spikes/what- have-you. The men were all busy procrastinating until the last moment, determined to do nothing unless by painful obligation.
Nevertheless, all over the planet, people were excited about this party. Its true motives were still unknown, of course, but that didn't matter. No one stopped to think why Randor might be inviting delegates from each kingdom. .....
No one barring Moria, her daughter and the Sorceress, of course.
Even Teelina was unsure as to Randor's reasoning. There was talk of everything from reunifying the planet against Skeletor, to of finally finding a way to make Eternium ore available to all.
In the palace, there were doubts that Randor himself even knew what he was doing, though, of course, none paused to question him.
In any case, the planet was a bustle with the putting on of finery, the combing of hair/fins/scales/fur/what-have-you and the excited gabble of potential partygoers.
And through it all, Moria and Evil-Lyn watched, waiting for the time when their entrance was to be made.
The Sorceress looked on through her viewing chamber, Evil-Lyn peered through the crystal on the end of her staff, and Moria looked on through some unknown medium as, one by one, the guests began arriving.
In the sands of time, two pairs of amethyst eyes locked and identical smirks formed on their owners as they looked on the proceedings.
This proved to be an entertaining evening.
Evil-Lyn paced somewhat impatiently as she waited for her mother. She was dressed in her gown and ready to depart for the big party crashing, and more than a little impatient to cause mayhem. Lyn admitted to herself that she was also just a little curious to see how her mother would look in her dress, and she grinned.
She was pacing back and forth in the hall, pausing every now and then to look in the mirror. Her hair was down around her shoulders, which gave her a little bit of pause, as she was so accustomed to having it pinned up in her helmet. It felt somewhat odd, being free around her shoulders. Almost .invigorating. She felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and she grinned, knowing her thoughts were absurd.
Lyn stepped back and regarded herself in the mirror. She wore a long, black dress with a narrow and somewhat deep neckline. Silver inlays came down just beneath her breasts and tapered at her navel, before spreading out again in threads fine as spider's silk. It was a long-sleeved gown, but very form-fitting and close to her body, making sure to accent every curve. She wore no jewelry, and her hair being worn long made the earrings she frequently wore impractical. Instead, she wore only two small hoops, silver in color and so light she could barely feel them.
She had to admit, she looked gorgeous. She had been skeptical at first about both the dress and her hair, unaccustomed as she was to wearing long sleeves. But, looking at herself now, she realized that her ensemble was very appealing, and completely unique. The palace wouldn't know what had hit it, she thought idly.
Exhaling deeply, Lyn resumed her pacing, her feet shuffling slightly in her boots. They were pitch-black, thigh high monstrosities, elegant and threatening at the same time. The heels were not overly high, but still enough so to give the perception of impressiveness. The toes were square, and they were easy to move in, which, Evil-Lyn thought, would probably prove advantageous as the evening progressed.
She paused, becoming thirsty, and quickly conjured up a pitcher of water to a nearby stand. Lyn reached for it, smiling gently at her improved summoning spells.
The door to her mother's chamber opened as Lyn was reaching.
Turning, Evil-Lyn shifted her head to look at the opening door, and her breath caught in her throat.
Lady Moria Vadorian smiled at her, her amethyst eyes glowing warmly. Her sister's black dress seemed to float around her form in an almost otherworldly fashion. The bodice clung to her, accentuating her every curve, while the base flowed out, catching in the slightest breeze. Two straps on the shoulders, which could slide and fall around as they wished, held up the dress. A small triangle at the bodice had been cut out, and was now only a thin netting of silver thread, with black silken twine etched within.
Her hair, like her daughter's, was worn freely and cascaded down her back like a white waterfall. She wore only one earring in her left ear; a miniscule crescent moon, dangling from a small chain. The only other jewelry she wore was a necklace, with two strands of silver chains, one that came up close around her throat, and the other that fell between her breasts and her throat. A small, amethyst pendant joined the two strands, as well as two or three small, silver beads. She smiled gently at her daughter's open mouth.
"What do you think, Lyn?" she asked, amusedly, turning around like a bemused model.
Evil-Lyn found words difficult for a moment. "You look. wonderful," she finally said after a moment.
Moria smiled gently at her only child. "You're an image of loveliness yourself, my dear." She walked gracefully over to Lyn, her feet, in boots similar to her daughter's, making not a sound on the marble floor.
Lyn preened a bit at the compliment, smiling widely at her mother. She looked at the elder woman in the mirror, and then at herself. Those at the party would die of shock when they came through the door, much less when they were announced. Speaking of which.
The younger Dereskian turned her hand in the air, summoning two identical pieces of parchment. When her mother looked at them quizzically, she said simply, "Our invitations."
Moria grinned. "Of course, love. We can't well show up without those, now can we?"
"No, we can't." Lyn laughed gently, her eyes becoming a shade or two darker in her mirth. "Shall we go, Morämé?"
The elder woman looked up at the ceiling, her eyes flashed once and it disappeared, bathing the room in the light of the sunset. She judged the position of the sun and shook her head, replacing the ceiling. "Not just yet, dear," she said, returning her gaze to Lyn. "We want to arrive fashionably late to this gala."
Her daughter looked at her with a curious expression. "And why is that?"
Lady Moria Vadorian winked gently at her daughter, before turning to look in the direction of Eternos. "Because we want everyone to know we're there.." .....
Teela paced back and forth roughly, regarding herself in the mirror and throwing her hands up in disgust. To her, it seemed amazing that the mirror did not break into a hundred pieces at the scene of hideousness before her. She angrily reminded herself to never again let her father choose what dress she would wear to any social events.
Then again, she argued, that would mean she would have to pick them, and that was unfathomable. Taking another fleeting glance in the mirror, she quickly looked away and moved to another part of her chambers.
It was times like these that made her want to break something. In her entire life, she could never once remember ever wearing .PINK. And, if the color itself was not bad enough, the dress was. hideous; there was no other way to describe it. It was a mass of different sized bows, draped haphazardly around the mainly sleeveless dress. At the back, there was a corset-like section, tied off with a bright red ribbon that looked completely out-of-place. Teela wanted to gag.
She wandered around her room in a huff, cursing the names of every god or goddess she had ever heard of, and some she made up on the spot.
In her anger, she very nearly tripped over a large box that had been placed on the floor. She had not noticed it before, and cursed loudly as her foot struck it.
"What in the Elders.?" she broke off, bending down to look at the box. Her name was written on it in precise, loopy letters, but there was nothing else.
A little warily, she lifted the mysterious package and set it on the table with some effort. It's heavy, she thought idly. What's in it?
Hesitantly, she grabbed a scanner she had lying around and checked the package for anything that could be harmful, and had no result. Even so, she lifted the top of the box uncertainly, setting it to the side after revealing a large wad of tissue paper.
Reaching beneath it, she was amazed to feel something soft and almost downy, and she slowly moved the paper aside to reveal a shiny blue material.
Her eyes widened as she grasped the dress, for that was what it was, gently and slid it out of its box. This, then, was much better than what she wore.
She held it up to herself, looking at how the dress looked on her. It was a light shade of deep blue, and long, flowing down to be almost a puddle of fabric on the floor.
Constricting as she knew it would be, Teela still grinned, slipping off the hideous pile of garment she wore and sliding the blue fabric over her body. It clung to her, though not unpleasantly. The dress seemed almost an extension of her body. It was sleeveless, and though that might normally have given her pause, with this dress it seemed entirely natural.
She twirled in front of the mirror, smiling widely at the way the fabric seemed to ripple off her body. Looking again in the box, she found a pair of flat-heeled shoes that matched the dress perfectly in color. Teela put them on and found she could move quite freely in them.
Idly, she wondered who had sent her the dress, but chalked it up to one of the Masters being nice to her again. They were always doing that, even though she never really asked them to.
So delighted was she with her dress, she did not see the strange falcon sitting on a branch nearby her window. Nor did she see this same falcon seem to almost smile or hear its screech as it took flight for Castle Grayskull. .....
The Sorceress landed in her bedchamber, transforming back into her human form and smiling gently. She was glad that Teela liked her gift so much, even if she could not say who had sent it.
Teelina felt a sharp pain of regret then, and she sighed raggedly. If she had been able to raise Teela herself, she would not have to send unmarked packages and leave them at her doorstep.
Her mind continued on this tangent throughout her entire dressing process. As the Sorceress lifted the headdress off of her form, she silently debated on what she should do with her long red tresses. As her hair was almost always hidden, Teelina was very unversed in the latest fashion, so she finally decided to leave her hair long and unfettered. As she brushed out the minimal amount of knots, she idly became conscious of the volume and weight of her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders. There was something almost liberating about having it down, she decided, grinning. It was not an unpleasant feeling.
She regarded herself in the mirror, a small grin on her face.
As she had told Moria, she was clothed in a deep blue velvet dress, long- sleeved and quite full in length. The neckline plunged deeply, but at the same time moderately, showing nothing that would compromise her sense of modesty. The skirts were full but easy to move in.
Looking over at her staff, Teelina gently closed her eyes and relaxed her mind, seeking out any potential danger to Grayskull this night. She could find no such threat, however, something unusual was present.
She opened her mind to all Elements, searching for more information about this peculiarity. It was nothing to do with Grayskull, she noted, and a small sigh of relief passed through her.
The Sorceress concentrated harder, and could not place what this abnormality was or would be, but could only find out that it would come into play tonight, when no one was expecting it. However, it would not be dangerous, even though it may seem so. and that was all. She thought she could see a flash of colored light, but whatever color it was moved far to quickly for her to properly view.
In annoyance, she massaged her temples, giving up on the effort. As long as this. whatever it was did not threaten Grayskull, she figured that it was nothing to be concerned with.
In the back corners of her mind, far enough away from her consciousness that she could not hear it, an eerily familiar feminine voice laughed. .....
Throughout the rest of Eternia, peoples of all races and species were preparing for Randor's large gathering. Apparently, two or three representatives from each kingdom were invited, but no more, as otherwise there would be precious little space in the capital city. A few of the more suspicious and reclusive peoples were grumbling amongst themselves that this did not seem fair, but they were going nonetheless.
The ladies were all preoccupied with their hair/fur/scales/skin/spikes/what- have-you. The men were all busy procrastinating until the last moment, determined to do nothing unless by painful obligation.
Nevertheless, all over the planet, people were excited about this party. Its true motives were still unknown, of course, but that didn't matter. No one stopped to think why Randor might be inviting delegates from each kingdom. .....
No one barring Moria, her daughter and the Sorceress, of course.
Even Teelina was unsure as to Randor's reasoning. There was talk of everything from reunifying the planet against Skeletor, to of finally finding a way to make Eternium ore available to all.
In the palace, there were doubts that Randor himself even knew what he was doing, though, of course, none paused to question him.
In any case, the planet was a bustle with the putting on of finery, the combing of hair/fins/scales/fur/what-have-you and the excited gabble of potential partygoers.
And through it all, Moria and Evil-Lyn watched, waiting for the time when their entrance was to be made.
The Sorceress looked on through her viewing chamber, Evil-Lyn peered through the crystal on the end of her staff, and Moria looked on through some unknown medium as, one by one, the guests began arriving.
In the sands of time, two pairs of amethyst eyes locked and identical smirks formed on their owners as they looked on the proceedings.
This proved to be an entertaining evening.