novelraw Chapter 287: A Banquet of Masks
Chapter 287: A Banquet of Masks
Chapter 287: A Banquet of Masks The pair glided across the bright ornate tiles, shifting from left to right, then left again as they maneuvered between each pair of nobles. Each movement was as deliberate as the flapping of a butterfly’s wing, as if their dance had merged with the rhythmic waves filling the hall.
“How…” Ynixia gripped his hand tighter, their fingers interlocking even further. “How are you able to touch me?”
Soren smiled, lifting their joined hands to spin her beneath his arm. “Who knows?”
“Who knows?” She repeated in annoyance mid-twirl, “What kind of answer is that!”
“I’m being honest,” he pulled her closer again and chuckled. “Why would I know how your curse operates? You only told me about it a few moments ago.”
“.....” She opened her lips momentarily then closed them. She wasn’t sure what to say.
The dance continued for a while in silence as the two followed the orchestra’s tunes. All around them, masked nobles did the same, smiling ear-to-ear as if this were the happiest moment of their lives.
He couldn’t help but feel slightly unnerved.
“Are you sure you don’t know?” She asked again, this time with her signature inquisitive look. The tension and worry masking her expression had disappeared—replaced by curiosity and a longing for knowledge.
He grinned subtly. “I do have a theory.”
“Oh?” She spun once more then returned to his embrace, letting the chandelier light flicker off her silver mask with each graceful motion.
“Remember that this world is kind of like a purgatory,” he said rather casually. “A place where things that have vanished end up. The remnants of the Death Empire is one such example, but we’ve run into numerous other living shadows with unknown backgrounds all across the Outer Boundary. Some of them seemed as if they had arrived from entirely different worlds too, completely foreign to Yar—Avalon’s history.
“So then, one must therefore ask: Can something be erased, if that thing has already been erased to begin with?”
His words sparked a realization in her. “Are you saying that my curse doesn’t really work in Carcosa because… everything here is already forgotten?”
Soren chuckled as they crossed by another pair of dancers who seemed passionately entwined with one another. “It's hard to say. After all, the Nameless Mist isn’t something that can easily be categorized.
“So far, I’ve experienced its effects in several distinct ways. It can be used to corrupt the souls of people using Conceptual Override, turning them into Malevolent Hexes or erasing them entirely. It can also erase individual memories, emotions, sensations, and even the environment itself. It can create strange creatures called Soul Skinners that turn others they bite into themselves… And from that fight against a certain
bastard, I’ve seen it be used to conceal literal concepts as well. Not to mention your ability to manifest Albert, a Living Shadow that isn’t directly connected to you, but follows your every command. Oh, and I guess we should mention the Living Shadows themselves—what the hell are those things anyway?” Soren shook his head. “My point is, the Nameless Mist as it's called seems highly versatile. There’s no telling what else it can do—I am sure there are many use-cases we are still completely unaware of. Who knows, maybe in the future, you might even find a way to control that curse entirely, turning it into a useful weapon.”
Ynixia shook her head. “Controlling it is impossible. I’ve tried everything. Pendragon has tried everything. Everyone around me… they all wanted to figure out a way to control it.
“All of them failed…
“No,” she sighed, “every attempt we tried only made things worse.”
In that moment, Ynixia recalled a few of her memories—her time growing up at the temple and her visits to that castle… She smiled wistfully.
“Did you know, Soren… I used to have a maid who took care of me. She treated me like I was her daughter. I used to call her Marci—short for Marceline.”
She chuckled, “Marci would bathe me, dress me, defend me, teach me… She was my one and only support in that demented temple. Even as the world grew darker around me, Marci continued being my guiding light. And yet… do you know how I repaid her sacrifices?”
The smile on her face began to twist. Soren couldn’t help but frown.
“I erased her!” She said with bitter laughter. “Nothing, not even the people she adored were allowed to remember her!” She shook her head as they twirled to a rhythm they could no longer even comprehend.
Ynixia looked down at her own hands, “Now, only I remember she existed. The memory of my sins linger for eternity within my mind.”
The dance continued on in silence. Not even the music seemed to matter anymore. As they twirled around the ballroom, Soren sighed deeply.
“But did any of that make you give up?”
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Her lips twitched slightly.
“It didn’t, right? You are still here, demanding answers. Trying your best to uncover the past you lost.”
She paused momentarily, then shook her head and smiled. “No. None of this would have happened without you lifting that lid from my coffin. If it werent for that, I may have likely remained in that coffin for eternity.”
“Then we are the same in that aspect,” the Traveler chuckled. “I too, would have remained where I was if not for your arrival. My curiosity compelled me to see what lay within that coffin—to know my connection to it, despite my desire to end it all at that moment.
“So in a way, we are both wandering ghosts, roaming the world aimlessly.”
The ballroom echoed in the steps of countless noble dancers, smiling profusely behind their ornately crafted masks. But there were now hints of worry and fear lingering in their eyes as well. The longer the twisted music continued to play, the more anxious of what awaited them in the end.
Soren watched them all from the periphery, waltzing in between their passionate grasps and twirls. “Choosing you as my dance partner might have been an extremely suicidal gamble, but it was definitely the correct choice.”
Hearing this, Ynixia couldn’t help but want to trip him purposefully in the dance. “How many times do I have to remind you—”
“Yes, yes, yes” he rolled his eyes and smiled. “I am your knight. My life and death can only be decided by you~”
“Shut up…”
He smiled wistfully. Despite his teasing, Soren knew deep down that her words truly did have an effect. Perhaps, he might have even been using them as an excuse all along. After all, there still remained a portion of him that refused wanting to die—a human trait that was completely hard to oppose.
Human, huh… He chuckled, What the hell even am I anymore? Alien? Spirit? Human? Something in between? The world seemed just as absurd as it was nihilistic.
He shook his head slightly, turning to face his dance partner once more. “Regardless, you understand why, don’t you? This entire farce seems completely stacked against us.”
Her eyes sharpened. “Indeed… It's not hard to realize Cassilda has a hidden agenda. She may have even hidden some of the rules to throw us off.
“For example, the two of us were fully aware of our identities from the start, so surely there must be a rule that prohibits teaming with the same person each time?
“There is also something else confusing about all of this—the nobles who originally arrived here could have easily chosen to leave rather than swapping identities. Why didn’t they? What caused them all to start this twisted game from which escape became impossible?”
He glanced around, watching as the so called “nobles” obliviously completed their twirls and steps, like sheep marching toward greeny grass. All of them seemed far too up their own asses to realize how doomed they all were… And yet, the desperation in their eyes had grown significantly, there was no mistaking that.
How creepy… He thought inwardly.
Turning to his dance partner, the unease on Ynixia’s face also said the same. She shook her head and sighed. “Either way, it’s good we were able to select each other. At first, I had thought I was doomed due to my curse. There was no telling what would have occurred if I couldn't select a dance partner.
“As long as we say the truth, the both of us can leave the banquet safely for now to explore the rest of the castle. Then, if the banquet resets and drags us back here, we’ll be far more prepared to handle it.”
Soren nodded with a smile. Coincidentally, only moments later, the orchestra completely paused their instruments. Each pair of dancers froze in response, finalizing the final steps of their movements gracefully before bowing toward each other. They all looked like puppets commanded by strings rather than actual real people…
Soren and Ynixia did the same, trying their best not to stand out. She glanced at him confidently and smiled.
“I believe you are Soren Andersen, the one known as the Traveler.”
Soren felt an invisible wind sweep past his ears, as if an unseen veil had been lifted. He glanced toward the white haired girl standing before him, picturing her face behind the silver mask:
“You are the Shepherd of the Nameless Fold. The one called Aelyne, right?”
The girl froze, her expression twisting in shock. “N-no… Why did you—”
But before she could object, a mysterious force began compelling her to answer his question truthfully:
“I… I am not Aelyne. I am Ynixia.”
Soren’s smile wavered before breaking into a deep sigh. He let go of her hand and backed away, dusting his robes casually. “Seems I guessed wrong. How annoying~”
“Hold it, you damned fool.” Ynixia furrowed her brows in anger. “I’ve already told you numerous times that I am not this Aelyne person you keep mentioning… Why did you purposefully sabotage yourself?!”
Soren looked at her briefly and shook his head. “Who said it was sabotage? I asked a legitimate question. Your identity has always been a mystery to me, so I decided to try and verify it. Although…”
Soren crossed his arms. “It isn’t really guaranteed that the mysterious powers in control of this subspace are omniscient enough to know the full truth. Perhaps our answers can only be reflected as truthful if the person they are subjected to identifies with that name subconsciously. We have no way of fully knowing how this castle operates—at least not yet.”
Crossing her arms, Ynixia’s frown deepened. “Are you saying you were using our dance as an experiment? Do you take me for a lab rat or something?”
“Hardly,” Soren grinned. “More of a lab kitten or puppy.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“It would be my pleasure to die for you, princess~”
Calming her nerves, Ynixia stomped her way to the banquet’s exit. “I guess I’ll stick to exploring the rest of Hyades Castle. I’ll leave investigating the inner workings of this banquet hall to you.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He watched her go alone—no one else seemed to have guessed correctly, leaving them once again stranded and forced to dance.
Just as Ynixia was about to leave, she paused near the doorway and turned to face him. Her expression carried more emotions than he could count.
“Be extra careful… Like I said before, you do not have permission to die.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckled, watching the gate close behind her.
Now then, Soren stretched while glancing at his Soul Weapon which was strapped to his waist. It seems I have much to uncover and [Record]...
He then scanned the ballroom, counting every noble stuck within it. All of them seemed to have returned to their previously jubilant state, as if they were machines that had their programming reset.
However, within the crowd, Soren noticed an anomaly. A woman that seemed the same age as him—donning a brown mask that accentuated the leather patchwork patterns scattered across her dress.
She was different from the other nobles. Her expression… it was full of terror, as if she was aware of the eternal damnation she had been trapped in.
Observing her for a bit longer, Soren couldn’t help but smile. “To think I would find my next dance partner this quickly…”