Dancing on Strings

Howling Winds

Mai opened her mouth to scream back at him but her eyes widened as she felt the bones in her ankle shatter.

The wind died away in a second.

Mai staggered for a moment, stunned, not quite comprehending what she was feeling.

Then she collapsed to the ground and the pain struck.

She screamed, her hands flying to her ankle that she could have twisted backwards.

The pain was unimaginable but it was nothing compared to what the sight meant.

Tears streamed down her face as she screamed and screamed from pain and the sight of her dancing career shattered in a second.

It was over!

She would never dance again!

She couldn't recover from this!

It was over! Her world had been destroyed!

Reve's fingers locked into her hair and he wrenched her head backwards, forcing her to look at him as she sobbed.

"I'm warning you, Mai. I will not be crossed! I gave you your talents! I will take them away!"

Mai's eyes widened as she gaped at him through the blur of her tears.

Then Griffin appeared, pushing Reve aside, his expression devastated as he reached for her.

Reve stepped back, allowing Griffin to fall to his knees in front of her and wrap his arms around her, cradling her against his chest.

"It's alright!" he cried, hugging her close, "It's alright, it's not real. I promise, it's not real. It's an illusion."

Mai almost choked on her tears as she stared up at Reve before she shut her eyes to the sight of him, burying her face in against Griffin's shoulder and focusing on his words.

Not real.

It wasn't real.

Of course it wasn't.

This was the dream world.

One illusion just needed to override another.

She willed the pain to stop. The bones to fix. The break to vanish.

Her ankle twisted against her will and she screamed in agony.

"Stop! Reve, stop!" Griffin snarled.

"Oops, am I hurting her?" Reve asked, before laughing slightly.

"Stop!"

"What? Can't she do it? Can't she overpower me? I thought that was her entire aim. Isn't that what she's doing here?"

"REVE!"

Reve sighed with a shrug, rolling his eyes before snapping his fingers.

The pain vanished and Mai collapsed against Griffin, her body trembling.

He gathered her into his arms and stood up, hurrying passed Reve.

"Aw Mai," Reve said with a disgustingly sweet, mocking tone, his fingers gently tracing along her jaw and through her hair as Griffin passed. "Look after yourself, dear. I don't want to have to take my gifts back after you've used them so well after all these years."

Mai opened her eyes, squinting down at Reve as Griffin carried her up the stairs.

He smiled up at her, his face achingly beautiful as he folded his arms.

"Haven't people ever told you that you dance as if blessed by the gods?" he asked with a laugh and Mai turned away, gripping the lapel of Griffin's jacket as he curled her in closer, pressing his lips to her forehead.