Ynixia stepped forward, watching as the blinding light behind her narrowed further and further until it vanished completely with the closing of the gate. Darkness descended on the lonely corridor—the distant echoes of laughter passing through the gate adding ambiance to the isolation…
She sighed and leaned back against the wooden gate, listening closely to the fragnted conversations. She didn’t expect her emotions to be this confusing.
“The curse…” She looked down at her own hands, picturing the mist wrapping around them. “Did it truly…”
Ynixia shook her head, dismissing the thought. She couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “What in the Black Stars am I even thinking… This fate of mine cannot be escaped so easily...”
Although Soren’s theory was sound, there were certainly many flaws to it as well. For one, her powers were currently nowhere close to where they were originally. Perhaps her ability to touch Soren safely was due to her current weakness. With all the living shadows she had consud, there was no telling how long it would last.
Secondly, Ynixia had no way of confirming whether or not the curse was simply being selective this ti. Maybe there was sothing unique about Soren that rejected the curse’ activation. If used on soone else, it might still harm them.
Should I test it?...
The thought crossed her mind for but a second before she dismissed it. Her lips sunk into a frown.
“I will never erase anyone else ever again.”
For a brief mont, she could see Marceline’s smile flashing brightly in the courtyard where she used to play. There was also the worried expression she would make whenever Ynixia decided to run away unexpectedly. This was who she was—a person who cared deeply for Ynixia in every action she took.
Marci… She clutched her fists.
“Never again…”
All of a sudden, the mist around her began to quiver. She smiled in response.
“Don’t worry, Albert. I’m fine…
“If anything, your presence is comforting enough.” She wiped a single tear. “I will be sure to make everyone in Carcosa rember who they are. I will turn my curse into a blessing.”
Albert answered back—the mist shifted once more. She simply chuckled in response.
“I know, I know… The shadows here are all… strange. We cannot consu them just yet. However, it does seem that my identity remaining the sa has caused them to go into a frenzy. To them, I am no different from a beacon of light attracting a flock of moths.”
The mist shifted again, this ti with a more cald tone. Albert agreed with her.
Smiling with newfound confidence, Ynixia stood up and stretched. “We should probably hurry up before Soren leaves the banquet hall as well. It would be embarrassing if he finds out we didn’t complete the task we sought out to complete.”
But just as she was about to pick a direction to head into, a strange sound began to echo from a distance. Ynixia instinctively shifted toward it, squinting her eyes.
“A living shadow? Strange, I expected them to arrive, but not this fast…”
But what erged from the darkness left her utterly shocked instead.
Stepping out of the shadows was a knight, donned in pitch-black armor more archaic than any monunt. Every step they took shook the hallway, extinguishing even the lit candles from the passing breeze. Placed on their shoulder was an even bigger sword, serrated in bloody thorns that scraped savagely against the corridor’s brick ceiling.
The horrifying knight walked casually toward Ynixia—their glowing white eyes visible through their visor.
Ynixia instantly assud a battle stance, readying to summon Albert from the mist if needed. But then, she paused.
This knight… There was sothing recognizable about him. She squinted her eyes, trying to capture more of their terrifying details. It didn’t take long for her to rember who he was. Her eyes widened in utter disbelief.
“Ser Mordred of the Black Thorns…”
Amidst a cacophony of laughter and music, a silenced voice hid in the shadows with tears falling from their eyes.
Why… the woman said to herself. Why did I answer that question incorrectly!
She held her head tightly, hiding beneath a wine colored tablecloth with only the darkness as her company. Every so often, the linen robes would shift as the passing nobles stepped by, letting flashes of light to leak inside.
Tucking her head deeper into her arms, the young lady tried shielding herself from the surrounding noise. Though, it was all utterly useless—as if the surrounding whispers were marching at her from all sides, wanting to strangle her.
The mask! Her mind spun in agony. That damned mask!
Mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask!
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“I need to remove it!” She whimpered softly, afraid that soone would hear. She clawed at its edges, trying her best to scrape it off… But it was no use. The filigreed patterns felt as if they had rged with her skin—she could only peel at her face.
She grit her teeth from the pain. “I need… I need to remove it!”
“Would you like to help you with that?” A soft, yet confident voice echoed in her mind, prompting her to pause. She looked up to see a strange young man with glowing amber eyes peeking underneath the tablecloth, staring directly into her eyes. His white burial robes were tattered at the seams, as if he were an ancient ghost or spirit long forgotten by ti itself.
She shuddered for a second, her confusion growing by the second.
“Y-You… Who are you?...”
Soren smiled deeply. “My na is Soren Andersen, but many like to call the Traveler. It is a pleasure to et you.”
Na… The word lingered in her mind for a second. It was only then that she realized sothing.
“Y-you’re not hiding your identity?!” What’s more, the man before her didn’t seem to be wearing any mask at all. This was supposed to be an impossibility—after all, no one could remove those masks no matter how hard they tried…
Hearing her question, Soren could only chuckle in response. “Hiding who I am isn’t necessary for soone like . The world always knows no matter where I walk.”
His remarks only confused her further. Her frown deepened. “You… You said you can help ?”
“Of course,” he nodded. “But on one condition.”
She instantly tensed up.
“Don’t get wrong,” Soren chuckled, "it's not a complicated condition. All I want is knowledge. Firstly, why are you hiding from the other nobles? Your behavior isn’t exactly… normal.”
“I am normal!” She lashed out, “It's them that aren’t normal! I am the only sane one here!”
“I see,” Soren nodded while crawling under the tablecloth. He sat beside her and smiled, “Care to elaborate? You don’t resemble the other nobles here, how did you arrive at Hyades Castle?”
The woman was slightly taken aback by his careless approach. After collecting her thoughts for a bit, she finally sighed, hugging her legs in the process.
“My na is Victo…ria… I work as a runecraft engineer. A few days ago, I completed my investigation of an ancient runic relic assigned to by my superior. After finishing my report, I fell asleep on my desk out of sheer exhaustion. Then, in my dream, I witnessed a strange dark castle that lood in the distance, surrounded by shadowed mist.”
Soren frowned. The quiver in her voice was unmistakable.
“I… I don’t exactly rember the details, but during that dream, I managed to reach the castle and enter inside. The mont I did, I woke up and found myself in this closed-off banquet hall with no way of escape.” She hugged her legs even tighter.
Soren rubbed his chin. “Interesting, this isn’t sothing I expected at all, but I guess it should have been obvious from the language you’re speaking.”
Victoria glanced at him in confusion. “What… do you an?”
“Haven’t you noticed,” Soren chuckled, “I am speaking directly to you in your language, but it's sowhat broken, right? My accent doesn’t sound natural at all.”
She nodded.
“That’s because this isn’t a language that exists in this world. I used my abilities to learn it after observing you in secret for a bit. It was called Hystic, according to my Soul Weapon.”
“What…” Her expression stiffened. She was so shocked, she didn’t even register his admission of stalking her.
“It's alright if you don’t understand.” He smiled. “But to explain it in simple terms, this castle exists in an entirely different world from the one you know of. You were whisked away here without your awareness.”
“No way…”
“Though, even that explanation doesn't fully cut it.” Soren continued, “It seems that and my companion underestimated the capabilities of this place. Hyades Castle wasn’t a relic of the past that was sohow erased and brought to this world nad Carcosa. It seems, the opposite was true, actually.
“It seems this castle has the power to exist in many locations at once. A version of it existed in your world that likely had a connection to the relic you were studying—that was how you arrived here. However, the world I originated from also had its own version of Hyades Castle that existed directly in reality, rather than a dream. And I suspect many other worlds likely hold a similar secret.”
She couldn’t help but rub her temples in utter shock.
“Just… hold on a second. Are you saying other worlds exist? Not different planets, but other, separate dinsions? How is that even possible!"
“If it wasn’t possible, would you even be in this predicant?”
“.....”
Soren chuckled, “Now that you know the truth, does it change anything about your experiences here?”
She paused for a mont, then shook her head. “No, in fact it only makes things worse. How will I ever be able to return to Zearia 3...”
Zearia… 3? Soren interpreted this to be the na of her original world.
“Escaping this place is definitely possible,” he decided to reassure her. “After all, this banquet follows a very strict rulebook. A reasonable conclusion that ‘rewards’ the participants has to exist, otherwise, there would be no point in playing their ga.”
His words cald her slightly. Biting her lips, Victoria glanced toward him and whispered. “Those masks… they’re dangerous! But none of them want to listen to !”
“I know,” Soren nodded.
“You… know?”
He smiled. “Of course. Didn’t I say I will help you? I realized it the mont I entered this banquet hall. Those masks possess their own distinct anima signature. Moreover, this foreign anima seems to hold the power to change itself… As if to mimic the person wearing it.
“Those nobles around us have likely never noticed because they believe they aren’t wearing a mask at all.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re saying…”
“Yes,” he answered swiftly, “those masks are responsible for the swapping of personalities. They cling to your face, as if they were another layer of skin. To the person wearing it, the personality and identity of the mask becos who they are. And the more they swap with the other nobles, the more the mask takes control of their existence. To the point where they no longer even believe they are wearing a mask at all…”
Soren leaned his head against his arm as he locked eyes with her and smiled.
“The sa applies to you, doesn’t it? You have already swapped with soone too.”
“Victoria’s” lips twitched slightly. She wanted to refute the claim, but couldn’t. She buried her head in sha and sighed.
“Yes… My real na is Victor. Not Victoria.”
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