The company all stared in slight fear at the floating, spectral being that was glowing wickedly in front of them all; all but Noel, who, albeit staring, was not fearful of the Star Child. Gold dripped silently around his eyes and his fingertips. Both the Star Child and Noel made eye contact for a minute or so, both in a strange mutual respect. After they broke eye contact, Noel looked around the room at the masked faces; most had removed the masquerades at this point, except for a strange wolf-masked person standing silently behind Lady Corbeau.
Her ivory, feathered plumage of a neck-scarf was making her visibly heated, Noel noticed, but she wouldn't remove that, the wide-brimmed black hat stuck with a red feather, the sunglasses she replaced her mask with, or the long black coat that she draped over her tight dark dress that ruffled above her raven-like pointed feet. They also made eye contact, but for only a few fleeting seconds.
She was the only vampire to pick up on Festum's existence; her bird-like observational skills were unparalleled; there was a reason she was the queen's personal assassin. And the queen's personal assassin was now snapped out of the daze, and reaching under a table for something...
Drawing his attention away was the Star Child; he was dropping to the floor now, walking around the witch and the queen who were now gazing in awe. The Star Child, who was supposedly a myth, was now here.
See how much of a myth he is now, spoke Festum, prompting Noel to stand up to watch the battle unfold, rolling his eyes at the comment made by Festum. That demon could be a little annoying sometimes, especially when they throw one of their... tantrums.
Festum dealt primarily in greed, meaning their overwhelming desire for excess of anything, useful or superfluous, was what drew them to Noel, who had nothing, not even his life, when he was claimed by the demon.
When they had met, they had made a deal, and Noel now owes the demon, who protects him at the cost of being a host, servitude, and general relinquishing of the beast's excessive desire for anything from food to wealth. Anything that he wanted, Noel had to supply, or the demon would get angry, and he didn't want a repeat of what happened when he was younger.
In any case, attempting to ignore the golden voice of Festum, Noel watched as the Star Child glided along the floor. His body was glowing with an aura similar to an actual star; his movements seemed to be exaggerated and dramatic, like he was in some sort of mock drama. The air in the room was a still vacuum, with the physical bodies of both the people and the furniture of the room being stationary and no elliptical in this situation.
"W͠ELL,͏ ̵WEL͝L҉, W͜EL̡L͜.̶..͢," the Star Child was chiding the witch as she lay in a heap of black scarves and cloth. It was as if a star was maniacally scolding the witch who was about four or five times his age. "I ҉GU͠E̕S͝S IT'́S TIMÈ F̀ÓR̷ ̨LIL͝' ̵O̸LD ̡ME̡ ͠TO ͘U͠N͟-̸F̷U̡CK͢ ͟T͘HIS͡ MÉSS̢ T͘H̸A͜T͢ ͝YOU͠ ̀C҉A͘US͟E͠D̴." The star child smiled eerily with glowing teeth and a ghostly aura releasing itself from his mouth, as if he were smoking.
A small bottle was launched at the star child by the witch in an effort to defend herself, however he caught it effortlessly and tossed it onto a nearby table. Laughing darkly, the star child approached the witch, who showed fear, but wasn't letting herself be conquered by this young teenager. Defiantly, she raised herself and looked into the starlight eyes that had become the emphasis in her view.
Her body then felt light as she began to levitate unwillingly; the star child was raising her with some sort of dark energy that extended from his fingertips to the witch. Everyone in the room felt slight fear except for the demon possessed jester and Lady Corbeau, who now held some sort of weapon hidden behind her back as she stood with everyone beside her in front.
"BE G̡ONE̡, WITÇH,̴ BEFORE̴ SO̡M̀E̸ONE D̨RO͞PS ̸A H̸O͘U̸SE ̡O͝N͠ Y̸OU!̢" The star child then swung his arm around and launched the witch out into the garden through one of the wide glass windows that was in the now dim ballroom. The crashing sound of the glass deafened everyone who was in the room.
"Mom!" Theo's exclamation escaped his lips as Matilda had now escaped the room; unwillingly. Selena looked fearfully at the new Nicolas, who was possessed by some sort of power that had warped his personality so drastically.
The guard, Jack Ten, had rushed over to the Queen to help her on her feet and out of the room. His eyes cut like the bullets he had shot in order to create the illusion that the star child was dead. But the star child wasn't; he was right before his eyes.
Soleil and Celine stood together; they looked equally fearful, but Soleil was showing it in his demeanor as he hid slightly behind both Celine and Lady Corbeau; he was the only one to notice the gun behind her back; he wasn't sure what kind it was, his sister would know that, but Soleil knew what the Lady was going to do. But he kept quiet.
The person in the wolf mask stood silently staring at the star child. Their demeanor was solid, like a statue, and as Noel scanned the crowd of characters, he focused slightly on this mysterious figure that was standing in a corner, next to the window that Matilda had been thrown out of. They were plotting something, though Noel didn't know what.
"I want to take over now!" Festum whined, shocking Noel out of a daze; what would Festum do while Noel was complacent? It was impossible to tell, though Noel barely had a say in the manner. Fearfully, Noel nodded slightly and covered his face as he felt the demon invading his mind and soul, taking reign of the host and his body. He felt the golden voice become louder, and the infinite spectrum of gold, casino noises, Mardi Gras beads, and other strange artifacts that plague humans and their tendency for greed.
And so Noel was now under Festum's control.
***
The air of the room had become stale and illusionary, giving new meaning to the glittering room that had once shone brightly. Now that room was a mess of destroyed china and desserts, of misbegotten intentions, and of disillusioned minds. It's funny the way things like this can switch connotations depending on the people or events that are there.
"N̨OW҉ WÉ ̨C̡A̴Ņ ŖE̛ALLY̶ ̨G̨E̢T T̶H̛IS ̶PAR̷T̸Ỳ ̷S̷TA͜R͜TE̕D!" Shouted the star Nicolas, who was laughing creepily while turning away from the window he had thrown the witch out of.
It was now that Selena gained her footing mentally once again; normally she was so calm in situations that were mentally taxing. In fact, one time she was a hostage in a bank robbery, and remained calm enough that she was thought to have had suffered emotional trauma that put her in shock.
But she was just calm.
And so now she was calm.
"What are you doing?" Theo asked feverishly. "You can't talk to him like this, its suicide!" Selena shook her head and adjusted her glasses and dirty cosmic dress. It had been a long experience, and Selena was tired of things being so terrible. So she decided to do something.
Rolling the sleeves of her sweater up, revealing her dark forearms, Selena passed the tables that were acting as an invisible barrier between the group of guests and the Star Child, as the people here referred to Nicolas.
Nicolas was laughing creepily as he picked up the giant cake that was the focus of the Vampire Princess' original plan to stop the Witch, tossing it up in the air so that it would land face down on the marble. It was more an act of destruction than that of trying to harm someone; everyone that he had wanted to harm was out of the room.
"What is she doing?" The Vampire prince Soleil spoke in a hushed tone to his sister, Celine.
"She's going to try and reason with the Star Child," whispered Celine back. "Sorry... I mean Nicolas." Everyone's eyes were now on the cake that was coming back down, causing the guests to scatter in different directions of the room.
Theo followed Soleil and Celine to one of the doors, and found that they were enchanted shut. Who had sealed them? All guesses went to the Wicked Witch. Now was not the time for spreading blame though; they had to find a way out of the building.
However, Celine noticed two things; one, Nicolas seemed to be purposefully missing the guests of the party, and two, Noel wasn't panicking at all. He was just staring. This struck Celine as odd, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she turned to watch the girl who had knocked her out talk with the Star Child.
"Nicolas, why are you doing this?" Selena was right in front of the carnage dealer now, speaking calmly, yet putting a force behind her words.
"I'M͜ N̷OT̨ NI̧C̡OL̡AS ̡A͟N͜YM͜O͜RE̷ Y̛O͞U FO̸OL, ̕I͘'M ͟THE STAR͘ CH̵IL͠D!̛" Nicolas laughed once more, using elongated spectral hands to smash another table of tea cups and cakes. Selena stood her ground however, and stared bleakly into the eyes of the spectral being.
"No," Selena squinted menacingly but not without empathy. "This is all new to me, and I'm sure to you too," She spoke as Nicolas threw a large, elegantly carved chair into one of the curtains that was still aflame. "In the past two or so days, I think, we've experienced some weird-ass shit that probably will never leave us, I think. And it's all new and terrifying, but you are not this." She motioned up and down to emphasize the ghastly, spectral Nicolas with his star-speckled body. "Well, I mean, you are, but you are also Nicolas. You may be the Star Child to the weird ass citizens of this weird ass place, but you are also Nicolas Tsukino, the guy who talks more to plants than to people, the guy who enjoys star gazing, the guy who is literally the biggest fucking wallflower at any party he goes to. You may be the Star Child, but you are Nicolas first."
The spectral Nicolas was now on the ground staring weakly into the eyes of Selena. His smile had faded, the stars had dimmed, and his body was like a melancholy sunrise. He walked slowly to Selena, the smoke in his eyes fading up into the golden ceiling. His once bright, terrifying eyes were now fading into a sad abyss of periwinkle and realization.
"S͢E̕LENÁ-̸ ͘I W҉A͟NT TǪ G͞O..҉. ͝HOM̀E.̕.̛." Whispered Nicolas, his voice returning from the metallic, astronomical voice he had before. Right before Selena, he slid down to his knees and then fell to his side. From the distance, Celine watched and could have sworn she heard the faint tears of a misbegotten soul that longed for home.
The homesickness was drowning him; his tears were as white starlight and slid down like star dust as he lay on the floor. Almost everyone was watching; the only exception Noel, who was now walking over toward Lady Corbeau.
Selena was on the ground, stroking the head of the star child as his stellar form faded like the night into daylight. The night outside was still as dark as ever, however. Theo was now walking over with his bag, and Celine decided to do so as well.
Just as she was a few feet away, Lady Corbeau began to speak atop a table.
"How pathetic," a condescending voice spread among the guests with a twinge of maliciousness. "The star child is just a weak little demigod, unstable and emotional. How worthless and disgusting; he can't even kill a witch. And as all of you fools have been watching as this pathetic mess of a celestial myth barely does anything but cause worthless carnage, the village of lights outside has been the subjects of a wildfire started by none other than the witch who was thrown out into the gardens!" Lady Corbeau revealed a black rifle that had been hooked underneath the table she was currently standing on.
The only one to change position was Noel, who stood up when he saw that she had taken the weapon out. Without another word, everyone blankly watched as she quickly adjusted herself, aimed the weapon at Nicolas, and fired.
***
The shots that had been fired echoed throughout the room; everyone felt the blood in their bodies morph into ice. Not really, just metaphorically. Selena looked down at the recovering Nicolas, who now had a bullet hole in his head.
Theo searched his bag quickly for various ingredients for a potion that could perhaps be able to do something for Nicolas. Luckily he found some small ingredients that he mixed together under his breath as the blood from the bullet-wounded Nicolas began to seep into his clothes.
Somehow, the Star Child was still alive.
"Why the fudge truffle would you do that?!" screamed Celine at Lady Corbeau, approaching her with an elegant disdain. Even in a high pressure situationlike this one, she wouldn't break and CURSE.
Without a word, the Lady jumped off of the table and broke down the door that led to the main hallway. She strutted silently up the stairs and away, her heels clicking softly in the distance.
From across the room, the Festum-possessed-Noel jumped up and ran across the marble floor and to Nicolas.
"Stop the blood!" exclaimed Celine, and Selena ripped a piece of table cloth off the table that Lady Corbeau had been standing on.
Everyone in the room swarmed around in a panic except for the Lady and the Masked Person. Instead, the Masked person used this chance at the distraction of everyone to run to Theo, snatch his bag, and jump unrealistically out of the window. Frustrated, Theo slammed his fist into his leg.
"Finish stirring this," Theo stated, handing the solution of potion over to Selena and stepping up. He then added; "It's made of phoenix tears and... Shit... I can't remember where you put it..." He held his head and knocked on it as he walked over to the window. What kind of worthless witch's son am I? I can't even remember where to put a simple fucking potion. He thought with self-annoyance.
Soleil interrupted when Selena was finished by taking it and methodically, like a surgeon, dipping some drops of the solution onto his sleeve and pressing it into the bullet wound. Green smoke rose up from the wound and it seemed to help sew the skin and other organs of the wound together.
As Theo turned to pursue the Wolf-Masked person, he barely had a chance to scream, "Hey!" at the person. As he did though, he stared darkly out into the flame-ridden town. The paint on his arms was disappearing due to experience, and his eyes were stormy and dark. Without thinking, he jumped out of the window after the Wolf-mask person and into the woods, leaving the others to care for Nicolas. The only person to notice was Soleil, who decided to, in turn; pursue Theo in order to help. However, instead of jumping out the window, he took a path through the courtyard.
The blood from Nicolas had spread to everyone as the leaned down and, with panicked voices, tried to both reason a way out of this and try to help Nicolas.
"Where's Soleil?"
"He went with the Witch's Son," responded Noel in a different voice than normal. Celine took note, but said nothing about the change that Noel was going under. The tattoos that swirled around his arms seemed to be good a pinpointing things, and served a purpose in helping to locate and pull the bullet from the wound. "We need to bring him... ahaha... to the Spin Sisters."
Grinning maniacally before a near-corpse, gold blood dropped terrifyingly from his mouth as Noel spread Nicolas blood in a twitching motion around his face. Celine and Selena watched in horror, though Celine showed it more evidently.
In a tongue of what seemed like ancient Latin, the demon-possessed boy began to chant a spell as he rubbed the blood of Nicolas around on the marble floor. The symbols were satanic, and the chanting was cult-like. The entirety of the room seemed to turn into shadow as the jester performed his ritual.
Nicolas' wound was nearly healed, and his breathing had been stabilized, but he was still in a slight coma. Just a slight coma.
Noel's eyes rolled back into his head as the floor began to glow in gold and silver, and he fixed his small top hat as he finished the chant, opening a dazzling portal. As he turned back to the two girls who were watching, he smiled and let more melted gold leak onto his sweater vest in an eerie, Cheshire smile.
"You've got a little something there," Celine exclaimed nervously as she observed this new Noel. This side of Noel she hadn't seen before was terrifying; the normally meek, passive, and complacent boy had transformed into some sort of demonic monster that was greedily watching Nicolas.
Everyone seemed to be showing new sides; the masks were now off and the illusion were gone. Selena then stood up and walked over to him.
"Okay, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Selena angrily shouted, startling both Celine and Noel as the comatose Nicolas was breathing softly. "WE ARE LITTERALLY TRYING TO FUCKING SAVE NICOLAS, AND WITH NO FUCKING RESPECT YOU JUST DO YOUR LITTLE SATANIC JIG OR WHATEVER THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED, WITH HIS FUCKING BLOOD ALL OVER YOUR FACE. NOW YOU BETTER FUCKING HELP US BRING HIM TO THAT FUCKING SPIN PLACE OR SO HELP ME I WILL SHOVE THE ENTIRE DEVIL UP YOUR ASS."
Admittedly, even Festum was becoming afraid of this teenager. Her rage was a tempest, and more like Noel than his normal self, Festum just nodded meekly.
The three then carried the limp body of Nicolas into the portal.
And the room was silent; the flames were dim, the gold darkened, and the night still, except for the distant screams of those in the village.
END OF ACT 1