A dark twist on Rise of the Guardians, this came to me while I was home with an allergic reaction, drinking hot chocolate and watching the Jungle Book.
Genre: Thriller/Suspense/Adventure/Romance/Angst
Warning: The following story intended for an older youth audience. The fic will eventually contain violence, coarse language and relations to sexual content. Reader discretion is now advised. It is also extremely long. Do not read in one position for extended periods of time. I'm not responsible for eye and muscle discomfort but I am guilty of achy thumbs!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of the media shared in this story. They belong to William Joyce, Dreamworks, Blue Stahli and other various artists. Cover art belongs with big thank yous to arcana-break at Tumblr. And any popular spy-related tropes which are recognized are all disclaimed to the cinematic efforts of film/television that we have become enchanted or influenced by. The events, places, and people are purely fictional.
A big thanks to my wonderful beta NightShade25 who endured my ranting for four weeks and helped me with the plot. You're the best!
Dedication: For Crisbel, who wants to be a weirdo princess who solves murders, and to lovers of snowcones.
Enjoy!
Four weeks later
International Arrivals, Suvarnabhumi Bangkok Airport, Thailand, 5:37 pm
"Look whose back, girls!"
A group of girls turned their heads. Their faces exploded with excitement.
"TOOOOOTH!"
The other people in the airport jumped at the abrupt screaming. One guy even dropped his suitcase and all his clothes fell out of his luggage.
Who knew eight (seemingly quiet) girls could make such noise.
People watched in amusement as the little crowd stampeded over to the young woman coming through the glass doors. They also had several men dressed in business suits tagging behind them. Whoever the girl was, they figured she was probably rich.
Really, they had no clue.
Thia Hypunjam lifted her sunglasses and gave her family a blinding white grin. She was wearing a blue-green tank top with the words Fay University written on it, white shorts, and purple sneakers. When her posse came close, she pulled out her pink earbuds and dropped her bags, arms open wide to greet them.
"Hollah!"
"Ew, don't say that!" Tuhina, one of the girls said as she stuck out her tongue while Tooth was suddenly tackled by Tiati, the youngest girl, in a giant bear hug.
"Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Finally, you're back! Tiana SUCKS at braiding my hair!" the eight year-old cried.
"I DO NOT!"
"Oh my gosh, Tooth! Tina was spying on that guard again she likes so much!" Tulia butted in. "I saw her! When I was reading in the l–"
"TULIA! YOU WERE SPYING ON ME?!"
"Guys, sheesh! She just landed and you're already bringing up gossip?" Tia, the mature and second eldest of the eight said.
"What's the problem, Tia?!" Tulia said. "Why do you always suck the fun out of ever–!"
"Uh bup bup! "
Tooth interrupted them with her hands on her hips. They stopped at once from her scolding. "Before anything, what do we do first?"
The girls jumped when they remembered and after Tooth put Tiati down she bent slightly facing all the girls in a circle ready to do 'their thing'. She laughed.
"Wings up, ladies!"
And immediately all nine of the girls, made wings with their hands and lifted their arms like were flying up. When they joined them together above their heads, Tina cheered and they all broke apart happily. Tooth was then enveloped in a huge group hug and she squeezed her pink eyes blissfully shut.
God, she missed her handmaidens when she was away!
When they pulled away, Tatiana, the oldest of her eight handmaidens came up to her again and gave her another big hug.
"Wow Tooth, Massachusetts must be killing you!" she laughed. "Look how you dressed! Isn't it snowing there right now?"
"Exactly!" Tooth smiled widely. "Which is why I couldn't wait for my winter exams to end! Being away from you guys for eight months is torture."
And the girls laughed, just as an older gentleman came up to them in his black suit. He smiled.
"Well then I suppose all the pampering that awaits you will be worth the wait, huh princess?"
Tooth made a big smile and let him envelope her in a warm hug.
"It is good to see you again, Mr. Bangkot," she said into the shirt of her country's Prime Minister. Ty Bangkot pulled away and straightened out his suit. Tooth rolled her eyes warmly.
"Likewise, your highness."
"You've known me since birth. What happened to Toothie?"
"We're in public."
Tooth scoffed but Tia grabbed her arm and yanked her down to her eye-level.
"Which is why we've got to get you out of those clothes, and into your dress for the party!"
Tooth blinked and tilted her head. She gave them a cheeky smile.
"You guys were already prepared?" And before she could blink, all the eight girls suddenly swarmed their nearby luggage cart pulled out their colorful shopping bags, makeup kits, and boxes from the large totes it held. Tooth's eyes bugged out.
"I-Is that all for me?!"
"Yup!" Tuhina cheered with a grin.
Tooth laughed and crossed her arms.
"Are you guys saying I need a lot of work done?"
"Yes–" But Tooth shoved Tatiana away before she could finish. The other seven laughed.
"So come on, Tooth! Come on!" Theena jumped on her flats. "We haven't done a princess makeover since you last came home!" And Tooth gave a wide smile.
"Haha all right, all right, girls!"
She couldn't believe their eagerness. Just twelve hours ago she was in her baggy t-shirt with a messy bun, cramming for her last exam and now, ten thousand miles away from the cold and bitter United States, she was going to get primped out like crazy. But who was she to hate? She was only a princess four months of the year! Attending private school since you were ten years old on another continent for eight months of your life didn't give you the royal treatment everyone expected you to have. Seeing all her handmaidens just as pumped made her excited for her cordial event after all.
Suddenly, one of her castle bodyguards popped up beside her in his dark suit and leaned out in front of her.
"Your highness, the private limo will arrive for you and the Prime Minister in one hour. Is that enough time for you to prepare in the washroom?"
Tatiana bumped in, getting all in his face like she was good at doing with people at the Hypunjam Palace.
"Yeah that's enough time! The princess doesn't need that much work," she shot the older girl an apologetic look for earlier, "and besides, she has all of us here! So she'll be done in no time!"
And Tooth gave a dazzling smile.
'Yeah, I have all of them here.'
...
Inside, one of the private airport washrooms
There was so much giggling, shushing, laughing, and screaming going on behind the locked bathroom door. It was all Tooth could do not to bend over in her chair and clutch her stomach as the eight girls, Tatiana, Tia, Tiana, Tina, Tuhina, Tulia, Theena, and Tiati, flit and floated around her like little birds.
Each girl had a different job for getting Tooth ready for the development gala that she and Mr. Bangkot were invited to attend at the Bangkok hotel. They were worked happily on her nails, her feet, her hair, and her makeup. When two had to work together on something they would start to argue and Tooth would have to call them back in line but they were otherwise hard at work, happy, and in sync.
Tooth smiled tenderly.
She knew how much they missed her when she was away at school because she was always brought the fun back and put them in order when they squabbled like arguing sisters.
They weren't sisters, mind you. No, Tooth was an only child and each of her handmaidens were selectively chosen from different homes. They were picked when they were very little and lived in the palace with her and while she was away. Each was of different age too, starting from eight to sixteen.
But they were sisters nonetheless. Growing up that close had a tendency to make you, and the rest of the country, think so.
Tia flickered her purple eyes at Tooth with a big smile as she pulled away and checked her makeup.
"Perfect!"
Tina jumped up too.
"Finished on the shoes, Tooth!"
"And we got the hair done!" Tulia and Tiana beamed as they spun her in her chair. Tooth gasped. She loved the pile on her head! And the bright orange feather was a nice touch.
Tooth went to stand up.
"Whoa! No! Not yet, princess!" Tuhina grinned and Tooth huffed as she plopped back down. She heard all her jewellery jingle around her neck and wrists, and on her ears.
"Not yet?!"
"Almost! Just one more thing!"
That's when Tatiana came over with the royal shringar, then the two of them bent over Tooth's head and placed it on her hairline.
When the large, gold jewelry piece was centered on her forehead and floated down just above the space between her eyebrows, the girls sighed.
"There...Now, you're a princess again." And Tooth nodded numbly to agree with Tia's mature voice.
"Yeah..." she mumbled and she finally went to stand up, letting the plastic cover fall from her as she moved in front of the mirror. The girls clapped and gave each other a well done.
Tooth's eyes grew wide at the reflection and her mouth fell open breathlessly.
Sometimes she forgot that she was a princess and this brought it all back. Being in these beautiful clothes, the jewelry, the hair and makeup...and the royal headpiece, really made her remember who she was at heart, and who she was representing.
"Girls," she mumbled with a great big, grateful smile. "I love you, you know that, right?"
And Tiati grinned and stepped beside her to clutch her hand.
"We know. Now go have fun for us tonight. Then come home so we can have that slumber party!"
Tooth nodded happily, cringing as the gold piece knocked against her forehead. She remembered that only Tatiana would be coming with her to the hotel. The rest would fly back to the island on a tiny plane to the palace.
That's when Tia reached over and gave her an elegant piece of paper.
"And here's your invitation, princess. All perfect and ready to go."
When Tooth read the script, she grinned.
HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS TOOTHIANA HYPUNJAM OF PUNJAM HY LOO
When was it last since she saw her full name? She couldn't remember. She almost always went by Thia in public or Tooth at home.
It looked like she'd get to sport it one more time before the year ended.
Then Tiana thought it was the perfect time to say some weird American slang that Tooth had taught her to say long ago.
"Knock 'em dead, Tooth!"
...
Downtown Bangkok, 7:23 pm
The most prestige hotel in Bangkok city was lit up like an evening jewel.
Its golden pillars and smooth marble glittered with the excitement at being host to the most important people of the Southeast Asian hemisphere. A large banner hung over the biggest and most expensive hall in the hotel. In English and Thai, the words,
"The 37th Annual Southeast Asian Development Gala"
were printed in a royal blue and gold pattern. Several well-dressed security guards hung about in the lobby with the reception personnel. The hotel workers and hired caterers were skittering back and forth around them trying to get everything perfect. Meanwhile, the invited guests glided elegantly through them in their beautiful clothes and high status. The development gala brought together all the most powerful people of the Southeast Asian region. Everyone from royalty and parliament and military, to religious leaders and corporate business owners, were cordially invited.
And that meant Princess Toothiana Hypunjam couldn't wait to get in as she waited in line to enter the grand hall.
In her blue-green flats and jingling gold bangles, she glided happily across the marble floor. The Prime Minister and their two royal guards trailed anxiously behind, alert and polite.
Wearing all her favorite colors, the princess wore a beautiful sari of green, turquoise, and blue. Her top was a modern, one-shoulder blouse that stopped above her midriff and the fabric had beautiful hues of pink in it, along with a soft gold trim along the thin shoulder strap. Her skirt was a fish-tail of the same matching cloth, wrapping around her waist and trailing down behind her in a short train.
It was nice to dress fancy after having been in sweats her whole semester, but all Thia could think was that she was finally being presented as an active royal in global affairs, and she had the papers to prove it.
When they got to the welcome desk, the receptionist's mouth fell a little but Thia didn't see it as she gave a wide smile and said "Sawatdee kah."
With a happy hum, Thia signed the paper and the receptionist placed it in a special file, struggling with her own Thai nervously as she spoke.
"W-We also have your welcome package for you with all the information about tonight, and here is the pamphlet we designed about Punjam Hy Loo for the other guests!"
When she handed the prime minister the welcome package, Thia eagerly reached over and took the booklet.
The pamphlet had all the information about her country, Punjam Hy Loo.
It was a tiny island nation floating in the Bay of Bengal close to India where the islanders spoke Thai and everyone in the palace was fluent in English. The people were vibrant, friendly, and overlooked by the big countries but they worked hard.
Punjam's main and proud export was peppermint.
They grew acres of it and sold it for agriculture, tea, and as a flavorant for things like ice cream and toothpaste. Because of it, many countries invested in Punjam's farms and the kingdom was well off.
Thia loved peppermint just as much as she loved colors, and was so proud of her roots and where she came from.
As they exchanged a quick formal goodbye, the receptionist wanted to be brave and tried to say one more thing before the princess was out of earshot.
"I-I like your dress, your highness!"
"Really?" Thia replied automatically back in English, not even thinking to switch to Thai. "Thanks so much! I-I mean..."
She smiled awkwardly, immediately trying to translate back into Thai but the receptionist's eyes grew wide with relief and delight since her spoke English.
"Sorry princess! Had I known you preferred that I wouldn't have tried to struggle through this translation!"
The blonde sighed but Thia shook her gold shringar crown resting on her hairline. When it banged against her forehead annoyingly, she ignored it while the long orange feather resting in her large bun swayed back and forth playfully.
"Oh don't worry about it," she laughed. "A lot of people forget I don't live there so half the time I'm trying to translate stuff too."
Thia really only spoke English unless she was back at the palace.
"Yes, but don't you speak Thai?"
Thia shrugged.
"Yeah but not as often as I like," she replied fondly and the receptionist nodded with a small smile.
It was nice to know that the colorful princess was so easygoing.
"Same," she agreed. "I wish I'd practiced more before the all old dignitaries arrived."
"I know! Isn't that the worst? I hate when they scrunch their faces while you talk," she giggled.
As the two talked, Mr. Ty rolled his eyes good-naturedly. The princess could be so chatty once she got talking. But they were on a tight schedule to meet people.
"But th—" So he coughed to get her attention.
When Thia turned, he rolled his eyes playfully and she threw him a shy grin.
"Princess?"
"Sorry!"
A warm blush bloomed on her tanned cheeks.
Afterwards, she and the receptionist then gave each other a guilty but amicable look before they said one, last warm goodbye and she left the welcome desk with her court. Thia missed how the receptionist watched her leave, being left with a happy feeling from meeting the interesting princess since not many really knew her.
Thia's bubbly existence was almost kept hidden from the limelight.
Embarrassed by her usual blabbing, she flipped through the pamphlet some more to ignore the stares from the people around the lobby.
A sad smile immediately came on her face as she finished looking through all the familiar pictures of her island.
The Prime Minister frowned when he saw her expression change so he touched her arm and pulled her to a nearby pillar. The guards followed and so the whole group was stopped just before the doors.
When Thia looked up, he had a placid smile on his face. He spoke quietly to her in English so they were both comfortable. He had grown up in the States too.
"Tooth, I am so sorry again that your uncle could not attend this event with me and that you had to. Otherwise you could have been home and relaxing with your sisters right now."
He knew that Tooth had flown back to Punjam because her university was on break right now for two weeks and felt bad that she was forced to work again. But her uncle, the Prince Regent, who was originally invited, had to stay behind to fix a royal issue with the kingdom. He was the younger cousin of Tooth's father who, after passed away when she was 10, took the throne to make all the kingdom decisions because she was too young. Tooth would not take the full title as Queen or the commanding title until she finished her studies.
But Tooth grinned and shook her head at the man (who was basically like an uncle to her)'s apology.
"You're crazy, Mr. Bangkot. I'm thrilled to be invited in his place! I've never been before."
She smirked.
"Besides, one day when I take the crown, I'll be here all the time. This will be an awesome opportunity to showcase my knowledge of the other countries! If I just keep my conversations current, I know I've got this!"
Ty smiled, reassuring himself that she was fine after all. He then proceeded to escort her back to the grand hall.
As they walked, Tooth vaguely thought about what she studied at Fay U.
Her program, Southeast Asian development studies, was essential to her future career but she often wondered what it would be like to have her own life, and take something that she liked. With a secret smile, Tooth thought about the dream she had on the plane earlier about being a dental hygienist who solved crimes for the police.
Tooth laughed at herself.
She realized that maybe she spent too much time sneaking across campus to go check out the School of Dentistry that Fay University was also famous for.
But with a name like Toothiana, she'd probably get in even without credentials.
As she scrunched her fist in her skirt, her handmaiden, Tatiana, silently appeared beside her and poked her in the side. A third guard had arrived with her and was busy talking to the other two in hushed tones about security business. Tooth squeaked when her finger touched the bare skin of her slim stomach.
"Tat!" she cried. "You're cold!"
Tat gave a cheeky smile. They hadn't seen each other since getting out of the limo together.
"Sorry Tooth!" she whispered, "I just wanted to tell you that I have to go upstairs now."
Tooth frowned.
"Already?"
Tat nodded.
"Yes, you know that I can't be seen here with you, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Tooth mumbled disappointingly. "I forgot about the security call."
Tat nodded her head before she reached up and patted her hair self-consciously. They had both dressed with the same hairstyle and in the same style sari. But being the princess, Tooth's had more expensive detail and more jewelry. Tat then reached up to rub the taller girl's tanned arm.
"Oh stop frowning! I'll be upstairs waiting for you. Then you can list all the cute guys that you run into!"
"Oh my god, Tat."
Tooth laughed and she rolled her eyes, then reached up and retouched Tat's hair.
"Hang on before you leave, BT," she mumbled. "Your streak's not in the center."
Tooth pulled Tat's one blonde streak back into the large pile on her head, moving it so its color was perfectly accented against the rest of her dark hair, just like Tooth's.
Purely coincidental, both Tooth and Tatiana were born with one strange streak of natural blonde hair while the rest of their hair was a beautiful, thick and wavy dark brown. Doctors thought their streaks was the result of poliosis but they couldn't explain why the streaks were so rich and golden yellow, and not pale white like most people's. But it made the two of them special.
It was why Tat always had to follow Tooth everywhere when she came from home school overseas; why she was chosen as a little girl to be the princess' personal handmaiden in the first place. If something happened, she would put her life on the line for the princess as her decoy. Just like all the other seven.
All eight girls were specially chosen to be her decoy protectors because they all looked physically like Tooth, but only Tat was the one with the same blonde streak in her hair.
Tooth and the others affectionately called her 'Baby Tooth' because of it.
When the streak was aligned, Tooth pulled away with a smirk.
"There!" she cheered. "Not as a great as the original, but it still works!"
And Tat stuck her tongue out at the older woman before pulling her into a hug.
"Remember I want that list."
"I promise BT, you'll get it!" she said as she squeezed her smaller body. "Now don't get bored up there without me."
When they pulled away and Tat began walking to the elevators with one of the guards, the latter waved.
"You know I always do!" she called then vanished through the elegant sliding doors. With her presence gone and space beside her empty, Tooth's brilliant grin transformed into a nervous smile.
She touched her coin purse again.
Tooth couldn't wait to fly back home to the palace and see everyone she missed. Even when she left them for the States two-thirds of the year, she never missed an opportunity to fly back and stay with them for break.
But it was a crazy flying schedule to do twice a year.
She still wasn't sure how she managed to enjoy doing it for the past eleven years of her life, but she came to the conclusion a long time ago that she simply loved flying back and forth across the world.
Tooth tried to calm her nerves, thinking about Tat and the other girls and wondering what they doing as she boldly entered into high society without their company.
Maybe Tulia was reading – it was almost eight'o'clock and that's what she usually did by the royal library...
Maybe Tina was stalking that guard she liked so much...
And BT was probably sitting in a chair upstairs, chatting the guard's ear off that she was assigned to stay with – she was just as bad as Tooth.
She grew more homesick. She could almost see the library, and hear Tina slinking down the palaces corridors, even Tatiana's perfume was still in her nose–
Forgetting about all her confident walk into the hotel earlier, Tooth finally opened her purse and snaked around it. The princess didn't say anything as she pulled out her trusty pack of Trident gum and popped a piece of mint candy between her teeth.
Seeing her jittery actions, Prime Minister Ty frowned slightly and leaned toward her worriedly.
She was doing it again.
"Princess, are you okay?"
Tooth grinned weakly with a tiny shrug, still chomping anxiously. But he creased his forehead. Mr. Ty put a hand on her shoulder and it helped her calm down a little. But the princess knew she still freaked him out a little.
"Really," she whispered with a smile, calm washing over her. "I'm fine."
After a few more minutes, the pair and their guards were finally at the front. After they handed their invitations and were let through the grand doors. Tooth's jaw immediately dropped.
"Holy crap."
She missed the disapproving glance from her prime minister – he was such a father figure.
The grand hall of the hotel was decked out. The ceiling glittered, the curtains were rich with color, and every surface had an expensive vase with either a flower or candle floating in it. Several times she saw a camera flash go off from the few private photographers hired to document the event. Tooth felt her senses go into overdrive.
She took a few subconscious steps forward–
–and bumped into someone and they stumbled forward. Tooth immediately backed up and watched as a tall, older gentleman turned to look at her.
"I'm so sorry!" she squeaked with a shy grin and he returned the gesture. "It is all right," the man politely returned then walked away.
Tooth thought that was the end of that as she turned around, but then she heard him mumble under his throat.
"Peliknya mata dia," he mumbled in Malay to himself. Tooth didn't speak it but she understood it. And it made all her previous anxiety come rushing back.
What strange eyes...
Tooth bit her lip as she flicked her gaze across all the people in the room.
She knew she was pretty in her own way but sometimes the weirdness of her eye color came back to bite her in the butt.
Tooth was born with magenta-colored eyes, a dark-purplish-pink that was both the jealousy and oddity of everyone around her. They somehow worked with her dark hair, tanned skin, and blonde streak so she loved them all the same.
But it was just the peculiar stares, thinking she wore crazy contacts, that she had to live with.
She sighed to herself as she continued picking up on the conversations of other people around her, mentioning her appearance.
(Vietnamese) "Oh! Wow, look at her eyes General Vu!" said one man.
(Thai) "Does she wear...what do you call it? Contacts?" mumbled a couple.
(Hindi) "Why did she highlight only one piece of her hair?" one old woman quipped. "Young people today!"
That's when Prime Minister Ty walked up beside her and read her expression. He frowned.
"Are you listening to their conversations again?" he whispered like it was a bad habit of hers that she needed to stop.
Tooth huffed again and glared awkwardly at the floor.
"What? They're all talking about me."
Minister Ty put a hand on her bare shoulder and squeezed thoughtfully.
"Well, I keep telling you that if you taught yourself to speak the languages, then you wouldn't have to keep listening to them and not be able to do anything about it," he remarked smartly. "You could tell them off."
Tooth whipped her head at the middle-aged prime minister and gave him a coy smirk.
"You're my Prime Minister, Mr. Bangkot. And you're telling me to be rude to people?"
When he shrugged, she rolled her eyes and nudged him slightly in the shoulder. She knew, like always, he was just trying to make her feel better about herself.
So many strange things Tooth had to live with...her eyes, her weird blonde streak, her messed up flying commitments.
And to top it all, what the doctors called her, "Incredibly Advanced Language Comprehension".
It meant Tooth understood every language or text around her with a complex degree of proficiency. It didn't matter the language; if you said it, signed it, or wrote it, Tooth knew exactly what you were saying.
But she wasn't a polyglot. She couldn't speak a language unless she learned by the book like everyone else. It made absolutely no sense to her or her court but Tooth liked to pretend that she inherited some weird genes from her parents.
The doctors called it remarkable, she called 'nifty'.
Yet still, as a precaution, her palace kept it a secret from the rest of the world because they didn't want to expose her to too much media. Tooth thought it was kind, and it allowed her to be able to go to school in the States like a regular girl. They always looked out for her, even now as they funded for her private education at Fay University. She had a quiet dorm life in the small city of Medford where she only roomed with other students from abroad. They wanted to make sure she had a normal life, as per request of Prime Minister Ty and her caregiver (and private tutor when she returned home to Punjam from school break), Mr. Sanderson.
The trip down memory lane ended as Minister Ty patted her shoulder again and urged her to start meeting other guests. So with a small huff and a forced smile, Tooth bared the brunt of Southeast Asia's dignitaries for the next hour.
Maybe things would get better.
...
One hour later, 8:43 pm
"Excuse me, Prime Minister, I think I am going to excuse myself to the ladies' washroom."
Mr. Bangkot blinked away from his conversation with a finance director and turned for a guard.
"Shall I have security accompany you, princess?"
"No need, I'll be right back," she assured him and she quickly flew out of the hall on her ballet flats.
When Tooth got to the washroom, she waited until the door closed before she sighed dramatically and slumped against it.
"Who knew a development gala could be so boring?!"
She was sure that a group of leaders passionate about helping their people would be more lively and interesting company! But they were all stuffy and kept complaining about their governments fighting.
As she went to wash her hands at the pristine golden sinks, Tooth was fuming under her regal facade.
In her seminars back at Fay U, the students got up and talked about the same issues these people were talking about...but they were ten times more exciting! She even remembered getting up herself in class several times and debating with her classmates on issues with so much determination that by the end of lecture, they'd all come out as friends, rambling on about what changes they'd do to help the world.
But the people here, the actual Southeast Asian leaders involved in making those changes happen, were just...just...Tooth sighed as she shut the tap.
"I swear," she muttered to herself as she fixed herself in the mirror. She fingered her blonde streak fondly. "When I become Queen, these people are gonna hear me and wake up when I talk at the next Gala!"
That's when something caught her eye.
Tooth whirled away from the mirror and stared around the washroom. She had been alone when she came in and hadn't heard the door open since. The black marble of the washroom glittered with cleanliness and the glass was smudge free. All the stalls were open and she could see under each of them, and there were no shoes to prove her point.
So then why did she feel the hairs on the back of her neck shoot up like lightning rods?
Tooth shivered, feeling goosebumps run up her bare arms and around her midriff. She rubbed her shoulder as her heartbeat increased.
Then she saw it. A shadow was outside in the hall, seen underneath the door.
She tensed, freezing completely and holding her breath. The same question, "what?", kept repeating in her head. She tried to ignore the silence that suddenly drowned out the sound of the party down the hall.
Then after several more seconds the shadow vanished, almost as if it was pulled away. Tooth's dark fuchsia eyes squinted uneasily.
How was it possible for a shadow to up and disappear like that without the person walking away?
But she didn't wait to find out.
Tooth took quick steps to the door and with shaky fingers, pulled it open. She peeked around slowly. There were a few people down the hallway just mingling outside the grand hall but otherwise it looked empty and safe. She exhaled shakily.
Tooth didn't know what she would've done if someone had tried to creep on her.
She wasn't very athletic except for that she liked to go running sometimes on campus if she didn't have anything to do. But other than the mediocre punches and kicks that her guards taught her how to throw, Tooth knew she was a goner in a hostage situation. Tooth then scurried back down the hallway and back into the warm light of the gala. As she entered, she despondently hoped to never put herself or any of her handmaidens in that kind of trouble.
...
Almost an hour and a half hour later, the development gala began its cocktail hour.
People had been taking turns getting up on stage for the discussion period, answering questions and addressing issues they really wanted to say. Tooth never went up because she was still too new to the scene but Prime Minister Bangkot did, reading her uncle's speech to the crowd on his financial dry spell proposal.
When a break was called for quick refreshments, Tooth sighed and began to turn lethargically toward the snack table like everyone else.
The party really needed a pick-me-up. Or a dance.
"Excuse me!"
That's when someone cleared their throat and tapped the mic back on the floor.
"But can I have everyone's attention?"
The new voice shifted the crowd's interest.
When Tooth turned to see who it was, her eyes widened.
Chapter's soundtrack: "The Perfect Heist" — Blue Stahli (Thanks ToothianaFrost for helping me with my Malay, along with The One Who Is All, who shared with me the interesting effects of actual Poliosis!)