Chapter 5: The Quincentennial Ball
"Thanks." a voice said from behind her.
Selene, who had been getting ready a variety of things into a pack, turned to see Elias, with a red face and shy expression.
"No need to thank me, sweetie."
"Yes. There is." Elias cleared his throat. "You first saved me from the ocean, pulling me from it. Then, you didn't kill me because of my family, and didn't let anyone else do so. Now, you've arranged for me to go home. And for all that, though it's nowhere near enough, I thank you."
Selene smiled softly before going over and giving the lad a hug. "You're a good kid, Elias. You'll go far. I just know it. You're smart, and you've got something a lot of people don't have. Compassion. And passion for what you love. I've been honored to meet the little brother of my greatest entertainment. It's been a pleasure knowing you." She heard a quiet sob a felt a slight dampness on her shoulder as Elias hugged her back.
"It's odd, but I'm going to miss you. You, and Philyra and Yukiya and Serge, even Luca. And...Katalina, I'll miss her, too." He sniffled, "I've actually made friends, since the shipwreck. For the first time in my life I have actual friends. Not people who interact with me because their parents told them to, or because of my family. But real friends. I miss my family, yes, I do, but now I'm going to miss you guys." His voice was quiet but Selene heard every word.
She pulled back slightly, her hands firmly on his shoulders. "I'll tell you what. Blayze is going to get the exercise he needs. We'll keep in contact with you, all of us, through letters. I can definitely send him around once a month to drop off our letter and pick yours up. Of course, only if you'd like that to happen."
He looked at her, wide-eyed, "R-really?"
"Really."
He smiled and gave her a hug, "Thank you."
"You're very welcome lad. Now, go on," Selene let him go and shooed him to the door. "Make sure to remind Luca not to stay and flirt to long with his obsession."
Elias laughed as he went to go find the obnoxious man who was to be his escort back home.
Selene stood in front of a set of large doors, behind which there was music that could be heard. She was wearing a fancier get-up than she ever had in her life. The dress was a beautiful silvery thing, with a flowy, shimmery skirt, little star embroidery patterns along all the hems and the neckline. She was just glad she had managed to convince Francis, who had made the dress (the man had quite the talent of fashion), to let her wear her normal shoes instead of the delicate slippers. The dress was long enough to hide them, and the skirt was loose enough to conceal that fact.
There were also a few knives concealed on her person, so she wasn't totally unarmed.
Her face, on top of well-done makeup, donned a silvery mask. It was an obvious touch, she knew, to have the little faintly engraved patterns look like flames, but she figured that no one would think that the Silver Flame herself was there. Not when this masquarade ball was for noble and military personnel only.
She took a deep breath (or as deep as she could with the corset) and exhaled before pushing open the door.
Elias was riding upon Luca's back piggy-back style, and clinging for dear life as Luca kept jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Luca would have normally teased the younger boy for being such a scaredy-cat, but he was too elated by his anticipation at seeing his bella again.
Finally, they landed on a roof Elias recognized from his many nights of climbing out the bedroom window to look at the stars, or read while basking in the sun. Luca set the nobleboy down, and Elias hurried as fast as he dared to his window. Inside was dark, empty. But the light from the next room, his parents' room, glowed from the curtain. He tested to see if his window was locked, and, thankfully, it wasn't. So he pulled it up slowly to avoid making as much noise as he could. Slipping inside, he didn't even think about shutting, much less locking, the window behind him in his haste to see his parents, which made it all the easier for a green-haired man to slink in after him.
It was only when he reached his door did he see movement out of the corner of his eye. Eh whirled around and whisper-hissed. "Luca! You've delivered me, so go! Before you're caught or something!"
Luca grinned, "I've got business here, but not with you or your family, kid."
The door creaked open and they both faced it. There stood the silhouette of a tall woman, "I should have known."
Not many people noticed the silver-clad woman slip into the ballroom, where the party was already full swing. Admiral Klaus Goldstein, however, did. The woman was beautiful, though from her entrance, clearly was a bit shy. He himself had turned down offers to dance and hold a conversation. Normally, this would be far from socially acceptable, but everyone knew of the recent tragedy the Goldstein family had experienced, and gave some leeway for the mourning man.
He realized he had probably consumed one too many glasses of wine, but was beyond caring. Which is probably why the appearance of this mystery woman in the silver dress fascinated him so. He made his way over to where she stood, at the edge of the party. She looked up and saw him coming towards her, twisting her hands nervously. Klaus put on a confident smile. He could push aside his sadness for awhile, with the help of wine and, if he was lucky, a few kisses from a beautiful woman.
Selene noticed how her target had practically made a beeline for her within moments of her entrance and had to withhold a smirk. This was too easy, particularly as how the admiral, from his red cheeks, had a little bit much of the wine.
When he made it over to her, she put on a shy persona, fluttering her pretty little fan.
"Hello, silver lady. You've arrived a bit later than is fashionable." Klaus leaned against the wall, and Selene kept her eyes on the floor, both to act shy and to conceal her eyes, which Klaus would recognise despite her being dolled up.
"My brother insisted I go, but there are far too many people here, so I aimed to be unnoticed. I seem to have failed." Selene used a soft, ladylike voice quite different from her normal, powerful one.
"Very few things escape me, my lady. How could I miss such a stunning beauty in silver?" The man wondered, inching closer to her.
Selene would admit, only to herself, that the deepening of her rival's voice was quite attractive. But she had to stay focused on her mission. So she giggled and hid her lips with her fan.
"You say this setting has to many people, does it?"
"Yes, sir. Far too many. It makes me dizzy, almost." She replied.
"Would you like me to lead you someplace quieter, where we can talk a little easier, perhaps?" the admiral asked, a single brow raised in an almost seductive manner.
She let loose another little giggle, and nodded.
Elias spun around to see the warrioress, Marelda Krammer, standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. She only seemed to be seeing Luca, at least at first, because she looked down a moment later and gasped, "Elias? Is that you?"
"Y-yes. Are my p-parents next door?" He stumbled over his words so awkwardly, probably due to the unusually happy aura of the man behind him clashing with the surprised annoyance of the woman in front of him.
Marelda nodded, not saying another word as she let Elias dart past her. He almost slipped and fell from the sudden turn that left him standing in front of his parent's bedroom door. He took a deep breath and opened it.
"Is something wrong, Marelda?" said his father's voice. "We heard something in Elias'..." His father stopped short when he turned to look at the door. The eyes of Fleet Admiral Walter Goldstein widened as he stood up abruptly.
Elias heard his mother gasp as she noticed him. His father took slow steps over to him, and placed his large, calloused hand on his son's cheek.
"You're...real. You're...you're alive." Elias had never heard a man's voice so broken, and had never seen tears slip out of his father's eyes as he did now.
"Y-yes, father. I'm alive." Elias said quietly, looking down.
Only to be pulled into his father's arms and hugged tightly. "Oh, my boy, my son!" His father cried.
Elias felt tears start slipping down his own face as he hugged his father back.
"What the bloody heck are you doing here, Orlem?" Marelda hissed.
Luca gasped, quiet but dramatic, "You wound me with your harsh tone, bella! I was merely delivering a young, lost boy back home." He chuckled, inching towards her. "And coming for a little visit with my favorite warrior. That, too." He smirked as Marelda made an indignant sound.
"I'll let you go this time, priate, for bringing the kid home. Next time I won't be so nice." She spat, only to have the lips of the aforementioned pirate brush hers before pulling back.
"Wouldn't have it any other way, bella." Luca whispered as he slipped out the window, leaving a stunned woman warrior in his wake.
"You've come quite a way, my lady, if you live in Terra. I've never been there myself, but I've heard it's interesting." Klaus said, eyeing the Lady Diana.
"Oh, it's nothing special. I much prefer Gedonelune, it's so much prettier. Both the nature and the men." The shy lady seemed to have vanished, replaced with a flirtatious vixen of a lady the moment they left the crowds. From what she had told him, she apparently was much more open when alone than in a crowded place.
"The men, hmm? Any of them in particular?" They were currently on a balcony, away from the ball, where there was a nice view of the town.
"I've found a certain admiral quite to my liking," she winked at him, fluttering her fan.
He moved closer to her, placing his hands on the railing, one on either side of her. "I believe that admiral thinks the same about you, my lady." He leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers, eliciting a pleased hum from her throat.
Selene began running her hands slowly up Klaus' chest, until the tips of her right hand left hand brushed the complex badge he wore. Her prize. She moved one hand up to his hair as one of his moved to the small of her back, her right hand slowly and carefully working off the pinned on badge. It was hard not to be distracted by the kisses of the man who held her, but in the fog one part of her brain remained focused, and she knew if she didn't hurry she'd totally forget about the mission.
The badge finally came free and it carefully slipped into the special strap attached to her arm, placed just below the wrist, hidden by the loose sleeves of the dress, which were tight to the elbow before flaring out.
She pulled back slightly, gasping, only to find herself almost lost in darkened amethyst eyes. He leaned forward again but she turned her head, and Klaus kissed her cheek instead of his original mark. When she looked back she saw the confusion in his eyes as the large clock in the center of town struck one. Time to go.
"That was lovely, really." She murmured, "But if I'm not home by two, my brother will be worried."
Klaus nodded in understanding, as young women were generally put to a curfew. "Well, then I must thank you for the lovely evening, and insist you let me escort me to your carriage." He let go of her only to grab her hand, bringing the knuckles of her left hand to his lips.
Ever the gentlemen to a lady, Selene thought, inwardly snickering, but never to a Pirate Princess.
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary." She pulled her hand from his with another giggle (which, honestly, she vowed not to do again after this night, because it was an annoying sound even to her own ears). She backed away as an arrow flew and struck the wall above their heads, and the thin, but strong, rope attached to it pulled taunt. Klaus tried to pull her inside, away from this sudden new danger, but she evaded him and pulled a special stick from a hidden pocket in her gown even as she pulled off the blond wig to reveal her short, oddly colored hair.
Klaus realized, despite the wine, that he'd been duped the moment he saw the short hair. Suddenly, he could see all the similarities on the face of Lady Diana, and realized that it was in fact his greatest enemy.
"I think I've won another point, don't you, Klausy?" She laughed, hopping on the balcony. Klaus lunged to grab her but was a moment too late, for the elusive Silver Flame had pushed herself off and glided to the next rooftop. He would've followed, but cursed, because the second she touched the roof, the line went slack as a man hidden in the shadow's cut it.
"See you soon, sweetheart!" Klaus growled in frustration as Selene Celeste Fonix, Pirate Princess, laughed as she hurried into the darkness.
"She's going to pay for this!"
The next morning he found that several men and a few women had infiltrated the ball, stealing an enormous amount of jewelry and expensive small objects.
And worst of all, his badge was gone. And he knew it was in the hands of a woman who he knew would spend a long time driving him mad.
"She won this time." He muttered angrily as he put another tally in his notebook. "But next time, I'm going to win, once and for all. This humiliation will not stand."
Oh, but it will, won't it Klausy?
He mentally shouted at the feminine voice in his head, one that sounded too much like a certain pirate, to shut up.