*Chapter Twenty-Eight*
Aria looked thoughtfully into the mirror. The light blue floor-length gown easily swirled around her. She twisted around to see her back.
“Nope, too serious.”
As a courtesy from Melody, she has granted everyone who's attending the ceremony a completely-free-of-charge dress. Aria had chosen the most extravagant, lavish, and regal shop in the entire dimension. If I weren't born in a Royal family, my jaw would have dropped to the floor from the mere sight of the most expensive shop in the dimension. The ceiling, floor, and wall were all painted in ivory with thin gold trims forming beautiful patterns all around the room. The spacious room held all clothes imaginable, ranging from accessories to dresses.
“Aren't all gowns serious?” I deadpanned.
“Of course not!” Aria exclaimed with horror. “How could you ever think that all gowns are the same?! They're completely different! Like that one you tried on earlier didn't bring out your eyes, but the green - ”
“Okay okay, I get your point.”
No, not at all.
“I don't see why I had to come here,” Rayden grumbled unhappily.
“'Cause I said so,” Aria smiled sweetly.
“Or more like Zach will kick your ass if you don't listen to Aria,” I added helpfully.
“Did I hear...” Ray turned towards me and narrowed his eyes, “something?”
“Nope,” I laughed nervously, something about that look gave me goosebumps, not the good ones.
“None of these would suit the Halloween Theme,” Aria whined and pouted at the racks and racks of fancy dresses.
“Well, it's not like we need any Halloween theme,” I shrugged, “everyone would just have to be in their true form.”
“No!” she cried exasperated at my lack of understanding of her highly admirable fashion sense. “You don't get it. What I'm trying to have here is a scary atmosphere, a spooky one.”
“I thought this was supposed to be a happy day?” I raised my tone at the end of the sentence, causing it to sound like a question.
“Melody will definitely not allow everyone to transform into his or her real form. The different auras, especially the Royal ones, would attract too much attention,” Ray reasoned. From the look on Aria's face, one would think that Ray has just declared the death of her ten-year-long pet unicorn.
“But - But can't there be a barrier? One that could keep our aura hidden from everyone else?”
Well, she does have a point.
“Melody needs to keep an eye on the entire dimension. She won't risk the chance of not being able to sense anything for a while.”
I glanced at Ray with new found admiration. He sure is good at reasoning (of course, when the person he's arguing with is you, it's not admirable anymore).
“Fine,” Aria pouted; her hands never stopped searching through the racks of dresses. Both Ray and I let out an almost inaudible sigh of relief. “I'll just have to make the decorations extra spooky and choose some suitable outfits.”
“You're choosing everyone's outfit?” I asked incredibly.
“Yup,” she chirped happily. “Who would refuse the offer of the protagonist of the ceremony?”
Yes, who would?
“As long as it's not something that stands out a lot, I'll be fine,” I carefully watched her expression. Knowing Aria, she'll probably end up choosing something that will make you stand out like fire at night.
“Don't worry,” she waved her hand, trying to assure me. “It'll be gorgeous.”
“Right,” I mumbled.
“Anytime soon?” Ray said and glanced around the room impatiently.
“Red is too bright...black would be dull...white wouldn't suit the theme...”
Rayden let out an enraged growl.
What can I say? He can be pretty impatient.
“I'll wait for you two outside.”
“I'll need your opinion on our dresses!” Aria called after him just as he disappeared among the tall racks of clothes. How I envied him. “Males,” Aria muttered before resuming her search.
There was a sharp intake of air, I turned around to see Aria running off to one of the changing room.
“Stay there and do not move!” she yelled before locking the door. I sighed and slumped down against a leather seat, waiting for her.
A few moments later, she came out. My eyes widened. The sleeve of the dress stopped just above her elbow. It hugged her body perfectly up till her waist, spreading out in thick layers of fine silk from her hip onwards. The dress started off in a pale yellow, but gradually morphed into a fiery red by the hem of the dress. There was one thing that is definite; the dress will attract all the attention in the entire room.
She twirled around for me to see, and the dress flowed like a river of lava around her.
“Isn't it beautiful?”
I could only nod in reply.
“Perfect,” she clasped her hand together. “Your turn.”
We spent an hour searching through the gigantic store for a suitable dress for me. They either didn't bring out my eyes, not suitable for my way too pale skin, didn't go well with my almost silvery lavender hair, or didn't hug my body perfectly.
“Don't you think that,” I paused and searched for a word that wouldn't launch Aria into a lecture telling me how each and every aspect of the dress should be perfect, “your standard is a bit high?”
“Absolutely not!” she exclaimed, and I winced, thinking that she would start. Thankfully, she didn't. “It just needs to be...a bit more striking.”
I sighed dramatically.
“Why don't we just go for a color that would suit everything, like black?”
“Excuse me,” she planted her hands on her hips, turning around with narrowed eyes. “Do you think I, Arianna Valencya Quentin would give up on a mere dress? Do you think I, the most fashionable girl in my entire - ”
“Okay! Okay! J-Just carry on searching.”
“Good.”
She suddenly turned around and perused me, dragging her eyes over my body.
“I think...I know just the right dress.”
She grabbed my hand and dragged me all the way to the other side of the store and navigated through the maze of clothes as if she has lived here her entire life.
We stopped by a collection of black and white clothes. You would think that black and white wouldn't stand out that much, but you are wrong. This particular shop has made the two most basic colors to stand out like a beacon. Your attention would simply be involuntarily dragged to the person.
“Try this on.”
Aria ushered me to one of the changing rooms and promised me that if I take longer than thirty seconds, she will definitely barge into the changing room. Knowing that she was bluffing but couldn't help but be cautious, I stripped off my clothes and dragged on the dress in haste. I burst out of the door where Aria had been checking out the other dresses.
“Aria...”
“Yeah, these dresses - Oh. My. Gosh. Have you seen yourself?”
“No,” I admitted. “Well, you said to hurry - ”
“You must see it now!”
She twisted me around, and I was immediately faced with a full-length mirror. The girl in the mirror looked like a vampire princess straight out of a fairytale. The top part of the dress was held up by two thin straps criss-crossing each other and was tied together as a ribbon at the back of my neck, leaving my entire back bare. The dress fanned out just below the base of my waist from the back while it stopped a little above my knee in the front. The pitch black dress contrasted my pale skin and brought out my turquoise eyes. A single deep violet gem was embedded slightly to the left on a ribbon that was wrapped around my waist.
“This is it! Definitely this dress!” Aria exclaimed joyfully.
“I do like this dress,” I said honestly.
“Perfect, now go change it back. I changed my mind about showing Ray your dress. He can have a pleasant surprise on that day,” she beamed happily.
We picked off two shoes that matched our dress surprisingly well. Hers being a crimson stiletto that was way too high for me to even dream of. However, she had walked perfectly fine in it. Mine was a black heels that I could run around perfectly without breaking my ankles. We picked out some accessories as well and chatted happily as we exited the store.
“Hey, Ray. How's sitting alone - ”
I stopped my sentence when I noticed a pretty brunette giggling madly at something Ray had said. He didn't seem too interested, but I can't say the same for the brunette.
“Ray, we're going,” Aria said with a hint of fake cheerfulness.
Ray stood up, but the girl grabbed him by his wrist, annoyance flickered within me. How long has she known him? A few hours?
“Don't go,” she pleaded with her big, doe-like eyes that would probably mesmerize any males to do whatever she asks. “I'm scared of being alone.”
I couldn't help but snort out loud. Aria sent me a funny look while neither the girl nor Ray seemed to notice.
“Who are they?” she asked Ray.
I didn't answer, but I was getting annoyed. She talks as if I were invisible.
“They're my friends,” Rayden answered for me.
“I can talk for myself, Ray,” I said coldly.
“Okay, you guys go on ahead. I'll just drop Lysha home.”
“Sure,” I mumbled.
~Hell~
“Done?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Excellent, bring her here.”
The black cloak swished around Master like mist, making Master seem more unknown and mysterious. Riley bowed and retreated back towards the entrance. Not even a second later, a fragile girl's form appeared at the doorway. From the bag under her eyes, the dull look in her eyes, the cuts and wounds on her hands and all over her body, and now messy and knotty hair, one could say that she had gone through a lot. Her skin was an unhealthy pale color, and there were two red marks on her wrist where the handcuffs were for a almost an entire month.
“How did she do?” Master asked with a slight hint of interest.
“Twenty-six middle-high class demons in less than five minutes. Not a hair out of place.”
Master stood up. He stretched out a long, bony finger and gently touched her cheek. She didn't bat an eyelash.
“So beautiful, just like her mother.”
She flinched and tried to move away, but it was like she was frozen in her position. Master let her go, and she looked visibly more calmed down.
“My dear Neraine, soon it shall all start.”
A flicker of emotion passed through her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had came. Her eyes returned to a cold empty gaze. It was as if...she had lost all hope.