Ch 2.65: Den

The building was nondescript enough that Elaina hadn’t even realized they were at the right place, still wasn’t quite certain. In face, none of the wooden buildings around had any sign or marker to indicate what was inside. “You’re sure this is right?” she asked Tira.

“Mmhm.”

“Alright…” Elaina had no idea how any of them could tell where something was in a town as huge as this, but the general area they were in did seem like it would house a place like Mirage. It was lit with what looked like red crystal light similar to the Red Order crystals, but she’d been assured they were just normal crystals housed in red glass. Despite that revelation, the red light still dripped with an ominous air, bathed the girls in crimson shade as they maneuvered their way through the nightlife crowd.

The stares back at school had been pretty intense, even for Elaina, but by the standards of the people around her she was pretty averagely covered up, she found. Flora, having shed her cover-up dress in the carriage ride over, still was drawing the gaze of passersby, but she was the only outlier. Not that that bothered Elaina, of course. She didn’t really want to be stared at, after all.

She was brought back out of her thoughts as they approached a door with two large men standing outside, both wearing all black, both very intimidating, even to Elaina now with all her power.

“Here for the event,” Tira said.

“Hmm,” one of the men said, looking them over.

“Crystal portraits,” the other said, reaching his hand out. “They’ll be returned when you leave.”

“Don’t own one,” Tira said, holding up her hands. “And these pants are tight enough that you can tell."

“Own one, but I left it at home,” Flora said, spinning in a circle for the guards, the flapping of her skirt showing more than enough to prove she was telling the truth. “No pockets,” she added with a smile.

“Here,” Carly said, digging into her bag and handing over hers, looking a little sad as she did.

“And you?” the guard asked Elaina.

“Oh, uhm, don’t own one either,” Elaina said, holding her hands up as well. The man looked at her a long while, considering, then shrugged.

“If you’re lying, you’ll be the one to regret it, not me. Go on in,” he said, opening the door as the other guard had Carly sign some sort of inventory sheet. Strange sounds and lights poured through the entryway, calling them in.

Tira entered first, Elaina following behind with wonder in her eyes. There were red lights in here too, but green, yellow, purple, even white as well. It seemed blue was the only color that was absent from the rays of light swinging around the room they entered.

But even beyond the dancing rainbows, the strangest thing was the sound coming from a stage in the corner. It was music, some instruments Elaina could recognize like fiddles, horns, guitars, but some she’d never seen, heard, nor even heard of. A giant fiddle bigger than the person playing it, propped up on the ground, horns that wrapped around their players like snakes, an entire set of drums and metal discs. Still, none of those compared to the strangeness of the person at the front of the stage. She was sat on a stool, singing with the volume of Headmaster Alonse, but doing so into some crystal contraption, a ball with thousands of holes into it.

But even that wasn’t the most fantastic thing. That honor was reserved for the thing in front of her, a giant slab of crystal that she was skating her hands across. That was it, the source of the eerie, unnatural sound that pierced the room. There was a crackle to it, a grit that seemed to crunch through the air as the woman’s fingers danced across the crystal tablet, cutting in and out as she pressed on it, pitch rising and falling as she slid up and down its length.

“Eyes forward, Elaina,” Tira said.

“Come on, Iron Whip,” Flora said, coming in from behind with Carly. “This stuff’s going to be entirely new; she’s never been to the capital before!”

“This is what it’s like in the capital?” Elaina asked, still unable to contain her amazement as she looked around the area. It was large, larger than it seemed when she first saw the entrance. She could tell that was the idea, how the wall behind her would’ve overtaken what she thought were different buildings from outside.

There were various games going on, some she vaguely recognized like cards and dice, but others as new as the strange crystal instrument, like a giant spinning wheel with numbers on it, standing tables with pegs in them that metal balls were bouncing down, the sound of them adding to the cacophony of the hall.

Tira was right though; Elaina had to focus. Tira had assured them they’d be relatively safe, in the public areas of Mirage anyway, but they were in the wolves’ den, even if the wolves were hosting guests. “Is this where we play?” Elaina asked, gesturing to the small set of table with cards.

“No,” Carly said. “When he took my portrait the guard said we go to the very back.”

“Alright,” Tira said. “Remember, this is a trap for us specifically in all likelihood. Stay with your partner at all times, no matter what. And stick to the plan, got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” Flora said as she grabbed onto Tira’s arm, looking down into her eyes with faux-enamorment. “Why would I want to leave you anyway, my dear?”

“Off,” Tira said, pushing the girl away as Elaina and Carly giggled. It was a needed moment of levity, something Flora was always good at providing, but even Flora herself became serious afterwards. They were all in agreement that getting the missing subcore was the most important thing tonight, second only to their own safety, and they knew the danger they were in.

Stick to the plan, Elaina told herself. She still wasn’t sold that she could pull it off, but Carly needed her, and they all trusted her. Further into the wolves’ den she would go, and she’d make sure the plan succeeded, no matter what.