Steamed Beatles

"Here we are. This is Crystalline Bay." Ealure said, turning back to the rest of the group. She was trying to hold in her overwhelming panic of the situation. Ealure wanted more than anything to never have to visit this place ever again. Her heart was nearly racing at the mere thought of how her father and Infir had both died here. Hoks, Hemlock, Athenias, and Mary didn't seem to notice or care, however. They were preoccupied gawking at the towering architecture and the giant cliffs surrounding Crystalline Bay. 

"It's worse than the last time we were here, isn't it?" Infir says to Ealure. Her eyes were filled with terror as her gaze flicked around, not managing to meet Ealure's eyes. 

"Yeah, it looks way worse." Infir pursed her lips and squeezes Ealure's claw. Ealure took in a sharp breath and continued to speak, "I know you're scared, Infir. You have every right to be. I'm terrified as well. I'll be with you. If you get hurt I can fight for you. Your training will hopefully come in handy if I ever need to defend you or anyone else."

Infir pauses for a second. "Are we doing the right thing here?"

"What?" Ealure blurts out

"I just don't want to hurt them. This is our business not theirs." Ealure gave Infir a saddened expression.

"We can protect them. I promise you they'll be alright. They all seem more than able to defend for themselves as well. As a captain, it's my job to care for my crew and I assure you that you will all make it out unscathed. Once this is done, we'll be able to help them get home and leave this place," Ealure spoke and reached her claw out to Infir's hand. "We'll be okay, I promise. And maybe once we get all of them back to their homes we can find somewhere to go and watch the actual stars."

"You mean like out of The Caverns entirely?" Infir chimed back

"Maybe. Who knows if it's even possible, but it's a nice thought either way. And no matter what we'll be together in all of this, okay?"

"Of course," Infir replied. The group continued walking forward as they got closer and closer to the massive structure where The Masquerade was held.

As the group began to get to the center of Crystalline Bay, most shops were ones that sold soul crystals. Nearly every shop that was selling them was close to being sold out, as well. The shops that sold soul crystals seemed to be much more beautifully decorated and have many more intricate and pristine details and embellishments that most shops in the outermost parts of Crystalline Bay didn't have. As they were walking the stone roads became more uniform and clean. Once Ealure and Infir were close enough to spot bustling crowds funneling into The Masquerade, the two knew that it was beginning. Shortly after Infir and Ealure slowed to a more steady and slow walking pace the others followed after them.

Ealure turned behind her to look at the rest of the group. "This is your final chance to back out, are you sure that you'll help us go through with this?"

The four nodded and assured her that they were sure. 

"Right, well shall we should make our way in?" Ealure spoke in a more fanciful tone than how she usually spoke. Ealure took a final chance to adjust her masquerade mask and dress before the group joined the crowd and strolled in. Ealure were wearing matching frilly layered dresses. Infir's being black with gold accents and Ealure's being a light shade of pink accented with a light silver. The two had corresponding masquerade masks that lined alternate halves of their faces. In order to better blend in, Ealure also had the soul crystal that her dad's soul was trapped within. She wore it on a silver necklace rather than on a pendant or bracelet so if needed she could hide in and keep it hidden so she could keep it safe. Infir reached to adjust her ponytail and a metallic sheen from Infir's ponytail caught Ealure's eye. 

The group continued to rhythmically walk along the stone road until they got closer to the structure The Masquerade was held within. It was a towering structure that resembled a cathedral. There were very few structures in all of The Caverns that compared to the towering mass that was ballroom of Crystalline Bay. 

It almost felt strange to think of it only as a ballroom because that was hardly all that it was. The main room towered over the rest of the building. The ballroom itself sprawled upwards and had one huge chandelier at the top. At the entrance, there were also two halls to the left and the right, one leading to a library and one to a garden. On the second floor there were more rooms that held more private conversations amongst partygoers. At the third floor sat Louis himself as he watches over the ballroom and all of The Masquerade. The structure could also easily have at least six more floors if it kept with the typical height of each floor used in nearly all of the rest of Crystalline Bay. However, it was instead chosen for there to be two winding staircases on both the left and right of the ballroom. The halls were lined with portraits of the royal family and towered over even some of the tallest citizens of The Caverns. The portraits were oil paintings with intricate silver frames. Everything in the ballroom felt as if it was designed to make you feel small and insignificant.

Infir and Ealure entered the mass of people that were entering and the other four hastily followed behind. Infir and Ealure were both holding their breath out of fear of the guards standing outside of the massive doors recognizing them. As they pass by the two let out a sigh of relief. In the shuffle the four others split up as Ealure had instructed earlier. Infir and Ealure both were only now realizing how truly drab and lifeless the ballroom felt. Nearly all of their surroundings were dull and drab besides the occasional spot of blue, typically there to symbolize soul crystals and how they had brought Crystalline Bay to wealth.

"Never thought we'd be here, huh Infir?" Ealure half-heartedly chuckled.

"It never even crossed my mind," she snickered back. Her eyes drifted to try to find where Hoks, Hemlock, Athenias, and Mary ended up. She noticed that Hoks and Hemlock had both drifted towards the tables that housed food and drinks. Infir catches Hemlock pouring herself a glass of glowing blue champagne before her attention snaps back and locks onto Ealure. 

"How about we act natural for a bit," Ealure felt herself trying to contain her flushed expression before continuing her thought. "Would you want to dance with me, love?"

Infir grabs the claw that Ealure had extended and sped towards the dance floor, laughing and smiling as she did.

Ealure felt rather content. Infir's hand was warming Ealure's claw as she led her in a waltz. Her dress was flowing in a nearly mesmerizing fashion as Infir led her in spinning and circling the cold floor of the ballroom. If her plan failed and this would be her last day, at least she would've been with Infir in her final hour. Ealure took a second to make sure that she still had the dagger by her leg and was relieved when she felt the hilt when she quickly patted her dress to check.

Athenias walked around the rim of the ballroom. Mary was by her side and the two began to search for something they could do. Mary trailed behind Athenias as they decided to stay back to instead eavesdrop and try to listen into other partygoer's conversations. Athenias' eye was caught by a posh looking Crabfolk woman who was eating a plate of delicacies she had gotten from the food table. The woman was wearing a large brimmed hat adorned with lace and crystals. Athenias noticed that it wasn't just her hat; her entire outfit was embellished by glowing blue Soul Crystals. She wore a layered silver and white bustle dress that matched her hat.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Athenias spoke.

"Oh goodness, yes what is it?" the woman replied.

"Do you know where I could find a map?" The woman let out a courtly laugh at the statement.

"This must be your first time at The Masquerade. That makes perfect sense since you don't look anything like anyone I've seen before. I'm assuming you come from The Abyssal Depths! That place truly is a wild card. Oh but let us see... I recall there being a beautiful painting of the architecture in the left hall. Should be able to double as a map!" The woman spoke in a hasty but posh tone.

"Thank you!" Athenias couldn't help but to be confused at being told about somewhere called 'The Abysal Depths.' She never had yet heard of a place by that name and it was quite strange to her that someone could so easily recognize she wasn't like anyone from The Caverns but just wave it off at the simple idea of them being from this place. She could feel it as her magic began to rise up her ponytail. 'No not here!' Athenias thought. She didn't want to draw any more attention to herself and from what she had been told by Ealure, magic wasn't exactly something that was common in Crystalline Bay.

As Athenias was at the map she noticed it would probably be best to try to position herself on the second floor, that way she would be able to stay away from the large amounts of people in the main ballroom of The Masquerade, but still be able to help out the others by forming some sort of distraction. As Athenias began to make her way up the stairs, she began to ponder how she might be able to set up an effective distraction.

Hoks continued to wait by the food and drink table with Hemlock. The two watched over the rest of the partygoers in mostly silence. Either of them were waiting for some sign that Ealure was going to initiate the plan she had formed. The group would pass around a silver dagger that Ealure had until one could deal the final blow to Louis. Ealure had explained to them earlier that trading off a dagger and having separate people making their way up towards where Louis was would be much less suspicious than just one person making a run for it with no stopping in between. Doing this would also help for it to be less obvious who actually had the dagger, that way if any guards spotted them with the dagger, switching it off could help to disorient them. Ealure admittedly knew that it wasn't a foolproof plan but she thought that it would be the best fit in order to keep all of them safe.

Hoks sighed and grumbled as he clawed at the neck of his outfit. He wasn't used to wearing anything similar to it but Ealure told him that it'd be the only way he could fit in at The Masquerade. Hemlock nudged Hoks and tried to discreetly point at Ealure as she approached them. 

"How's the party been, you two?" Ealure questioned.

"I've experienced worse." Hoks said bluntly.

Ealure nodded her head towards the wall and the two caught on that she wanted to move farther away from the rest of the people at the party. Ealure grabbed the dagger from off the leg holster she was wearing under her dress and discreetly handed it to Hoks, which he in turn got the memo to hide it in one of his vest's pockets.

"I'll be going up towards the second floor. Try to signal whoever gets it next to also try making their way upstairs. Louis and his guards are still pretty preoccupied by the guests that are making their way in," Ealure whispered nearly so quiet that even Hemlock who was right next to the two could barely hear. "And so I don't forget, thank you again for this." 

Ealure tried making her way back towards where she had left Infir but she was nowhere to be seen. Ealure didn't want to admit to herself that she was worried about this, but she ultimately decided that Infir had most likely just gone somewhere else to avoid suspicion. Ealure swiftly moved over towards the right hall's stairwell and began to climb up towards the second floor.

Hoks' heart began to race as they tried their best to formulate a plan. He decided that ultimately it'd be best to use the stairwell in the left hall to try to find whoever he'd pass it to next. He made his way over to the stairwell and they scampered up the stairs. The stairwell had silver lined stairs with two silver bars on both sides of the spiral staircase. As Hoks made their way out of the spiral staircase and towards the brighter halls of the second floor, he was met by Infir.

"Infir, do you want to-"

Infir began to hastily shush Hoks. Her eyes darted around the hallway and she motioned to move towards the side.

"Just trust me, if you have it just for now keep it. Trust me. I have to go now. I think I saw Mary towards your right. You can give it to them instead. I'm going to go find somewhere else to be," Infir rushed.

Hoks was confused. He had never yet see Infir in this sort of panicked and disarrayed state. Nonetheless he decided to head towards the right side of the hall to meet Athenias like Infir had told him to. As Hoks walked he took notice to the much smaller groups of people that filled the hall. His attention was also caught by the glowing blue lamps that lined the walls, illuminating the hallway. Not too far away from the stairwell, Hoks found Mary standing along beside some of the groups of partygoers. 

Mary extended her hand out, reaching for the dagger before Hoks could even think about passing it to them. As Mary clung to the wall, they quickly grabbed the dagger from Hoks and hid it away. Mary shot Hoks a quick grin before swiftly disappearing into the crowd. 

Mary was experienced in being rather quick and stealthy since they had killed people much before they had arrived in The Caverns. Her mind was nearly laser focused in stealthily making progress towards the third floor, inching ever-closer to Louis. In her traversing the hall she heard a shriek for help from behind her that she quickly recognized as being Athenias. A distraction would be quite useful for being able to more easily get to Louis so this would be perfect. The scream caused some of the partygoers to panic and try to get away from the screaming, but Mary was able to weave through the moving crowds easily. Just before they could make it to moving towards the stairwell to the third floor Mary spotted Ealure also making her way towards Louis.

Ealure was looking around her to see if any guards were still close by even after Athenias had caused a diversion. Her heart and mind were racing and she was trying with everything in herself to keep calm. Very soon all of this could be over. She noticed Mary was making their way over to her and she prepared herself to make a quick switch of the dagger.

"Do you have it?" Ealure questioned. Mary replied with a quick nod and discreetly gave Ealure the dagger. Mary wasn't too thrilled about not being able to have the dagger for herself, however she knew that she would still most likely be able to fight some guards off and that was all she wanted. She could easily rip through guards with just her teeth.

Ealure took a sharp and deep breath to compose herself and began to make her way up the right-hand stairwell. Once she was on the third floor that would be all. This is her one chance to finally kill Louis for all of the pain he has caused and she was mortified that she would fail. Nobody was trailing behind her as she made her way towards the third floor, however a few guards made their way down the staircase to investigate Athenias' screams. Her heart nearly stopped at the near thought of a guard being anywhere close to her. 

As she entered the third floor she took one final deep breath before continuing on. She decided to tuck the Soul Crystal she had into her dress as it would'nt be harmed by any of the guards or Louis himself. She surveyed the topmost floor and noticed that there were only a few normal partygoers. The rest were guards huddled around Louis. The third floor was a strip that watched over the rest of the ballroom. There was a banister lining the side that watched over the ballroom. It was curved in such a fashion where both ends of the banister were met with the wall. One of these walls, she recognized as the booth where Louis was sitting. This was it.

Ealure began to pick up pace as she ran towards where Louis was. As she bolted towards Louis, dagger at the ready, she was quickly knocked down by a guard who had cut a gash in her leg, leaving her unable to walk as she grasped at it in agony. Another guard swiped the dagger from the floor where Ealure had dropped it. The guard slid the dagger onto a table that Louis was sat at. Ealure heard a familiar laugh and her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach. One guard picked Ealure up, grasping her neck and throwing her into the middle of the floor. As Ealure was gasping for air after she was reeling from the sharp pain she had in both her leg and now her chest from being slammed against the floor, the remaining guards all pointed their weapons at Ealure.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Now, we shouldn't exactly be surprised should we? You aren't very good at this you know. I spotted you and your pathetic little 'girlfriend' the second you walked into the room. You really thought I wouldn't be able to recognize a Siren and a Lobster together that looked exactly like two people who had threatened to murder me, what was it... five years ago?" Louis said in the familiar smooth and nonchalant voice. One of Louis guards got closer and pulled at Ealure's necklace with their sword. The guard reached down and snapped off the Soul Crystal and handed it to Louis. "And what was all that about me being bad for my involvement with Soul Crystals. It's funny really, you preach that I'm so evil and turn around and own your very own Soul Crystal."

"Don't you dare fucking touch that," Ealure growls.

"Don't cut me off. Look, let me cut to the chase, Ealure. How is Infir alive. There is no fathomable way that she wouldn't be dead from a direct stab through her chest like that. I know damn well you have some sort of involvement with it. And don't forget, I can easily have you executed right here. I wouldn't want to go back on my word from all those years ago now, would I? Bluntly, you speak up, or you'll be killed," Louis continued.

"I don't know I-"

"Do not play dumb with me. I know with certainty that you were the one who did it. I know damn well that you know magic even if you won't let onto it. I know who your father was. I'm not oblivious. He was lucky to have only gotten off with warnings when my imbecile father ruled. He sold confiscated information regarding magic and it's safe to assume that you would've learned it from him in some way. I know that you revived her Ealure. I know it couldn't have been anyone else either because I have the knowledge of how revival magic works."

Ealure was horrified. She couldn't believe that Louis could know all that and was taken aback by her father even being mentioned. She couldn't exactly lie either.

"Come on, I don't have all day" Louis barked. "Tell me, Ealure. How did you do it." Louis was standing now, his throne was hastily shoved to the side.

Ealure was silent. She was trying to think of what she could even say. Her thoughts were racing but her mind was blank. She didn't want to die. Not here and not now. The room was silent for nearly a minute, only being filled by the sounds of the chaos that was ensuing on the second floor due to Athenias' distraction. Ealure knew that Louis was too smart to lie to. She was completely lost.

"I'm not telling you. No matter what you do, I won't tell a single other soul about how Infir is alive. And I especially wouldn't tell some bastard like you," Ealure yelled.

Louis let out a grunt "Kill her, I knew there was no purpose in trying to get information out of some scum like her," Louis said as he turned back towards the main room of the ballroom.

As Ealure began to prepare for her fate, a thin golden sword was stabbed through Louis chest. As the figure pull the sword back out, Ealure saw who it was.

"Infir!" Ealure shouted out.

Half of the guards began to race towards Louis to try to help him, one of the mages was being commanded to try to heal him. The remaining guards' attention shifted towards Infir. Before they could strike however, Mary lept out towards one of the guards, ripping off parts their skin with just her razor sharp teeth. Infir managed to block and disarm the other few guards.

"Come on we gotta get back to the ship!" Infir yelled. Ealure scrambled towards the table to quickly snatch up the Soul Crystal her dad's soul was stored in and reconvened with Mary and Infir before continuing to run. Infir grabbed Ealure, noticing that she wouldn't be able to run with her leg slashed.

"Hoks, Hemlock, and Athenias are all making their escape on the second floor right now we just need to get out of here and we'll be okay. The rest of the guards are rushing up the left-hand stairwell. We just need to rush towards the entrance doors and run like our lives depend on it."

"How'd you know I'd be almost dead. And how'd you bring in your sword in?" Ealure questioned.

"It was for backup. I hid it behind my ponytail just in case you needed any backup. I just didn't want to tell anyone because if anyone knew that I'd be heading for Louis either way, that information could've gotten out somehow," Infir rushed.

"We're almost out. Hoks, Athenias, and Hemlock should all be out by now," Infir said. Her heart was racing. She was praying that they'd all get out alive. They were too deep in to fail now.

Infir and Mary skidded to a halt as they swung out of ballroom and caught up to where the rest were waiting for them, catching their breath as they finally were able to stop to halt at a nearby shop. 

"We did it. I can't believe we did it. Let's get back to the ship, now. Achilyu will still be waiting for us there."

Once they were back at the ship, Infir approached Ealure as she was sitting down. The rest of the group was seated along a counter eating the food that Achilyu had prepared for them.

"Are you alright?" Infir asked. "I mean I know the answer but I guess it'd be better to just ask if your leg is feeling any better. That was a pretty nasty gash and it'll probably scar."

"It's better than it was earlier. I cast a healing spell so it'll hopefully heal quicker now," Ealure said. "Infir I just want to say... just- thank you."

"What did I do?" Infir laughed.

"Well you went along with this crazy plan and saved me from dying. I don't think thank you even cuts it for that. I owe you my life, Infir," Ealure said with a pained expression on her face.

"You don't owe me anything, darling. I'd do anything to make sure you were safe, okay?" Infir reassured.

Infir sad down next to Ealure and they both stared at the rest of the group. They were laughing and chatting with each other. Infir thought it was nice to see them so happy, even if there was some bickering scattered into the conversation. Ealure leaned onto Infir and closed her eyes. 

"I can't believe we finally did it. Louis is finally dead now," Ealure said with a smile on her face.