Young Writers Society

The party was beautiful. Lavishly dressed people of all shapes, sizes, and colorings danced about the floor of the lavishly decorated ballroom, their steps light, their smiles cheerful as laughter rang out, somehow only enhancing the sound of the orchestra that played over the dancing crowd. Starlight from the grand window shone down on them, the violins in the symphony that was the ballroom that night. The Moonlight, soft and strong as it illuminated them, was the cellos. The people were the notes, dancing across the bars as the warm glow of torchlight played the part of the bass.

The girl who stepped into the room was a clap of thunder. The symphony paused for her in a brief moment of shock, then they resumed as though she didn't exist.



Megara limped into the room and gazed out a the gathering. The dress she was wearing now wouldn't be anything of note if it wasn't a) not one of hers and b) so, so very heavy. She could tell she was wearing the proper undergarments as well. Oh joy, she thought at that, More layers. And a corset. Corsets were not made for fighting, and just about every time she'd been whisked off to another world, there was an opportunity for fighting.

And she had been whisked off to another world. Again.

She thanked the gods that Eddie was safe, with Ciel, and he had been for the last few weeks while she dealt with Caedis. Nasty business, no place for a child like him.

She scanned the room once more, then turned, walked through and elegant stone archway into a room with comfortable looking cushioned seats and a lit fireplace glowing warmly beside one such chair. The room was entirely deserted, the guests apparently preferring to dance the evening away rather than sit and rest to the sound of the orchestra.

Megara took that seat next to the fire and closed her eyes. What did she know? What did she need to learn? The two questions that would, presumably, get her out of here.

First things first: where was she?

Runi had just been having a regular day - it was even regular for a normal person, and not just for a demon. She was relaxing in her apartment, rewatching Sanders Sides when she suddenly found herself standing in a very fancy place, dressed in an outfit she couldn't help but love.

But outfits aside, she was in a very fancy unfamiliar place, and that couldn't bode well. She scanned the crowd for any familiar faces, but couldn't find any. The only person who stood out to her was one she caught a glimpse of through an arch. She was the only one in that room, just sitting by the fire.

Runi paused in the archway for a second, watching for anything that would confirm her suspicion that they were in the same boat.

But seeing her alone was really the only confirmation she needed, so she confidently strode into the room and over to the stranger.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Runi - did you just get whisked here all of a sudden, too?"

Megara examined the girl- not, she was definitely a woman. In that outfit, she couldn't be anything less.

"I'm Megara," she introduced herself. Unfamiliar world, unfamiliar people, no need for an alias. That's what she told herself after she gave her name. Really, she just hadn't been thinking.

She gestured to the seat across from her by the fire, even the slight twist of her body making the gown glimmer in the firelight, "And yes, I was, would you like to join me?"

She should have been trying to find someone who knew what was going on, or some way to get back, or hints as to what was going on, or just trying to get out of the most noticeable gown she'd ever so much as laid eyes on, let alone actually worn. But no, instead she was inviting the girl to sit with her and have a chat about their shared lostness.

She couldn't find herself actually feeling guilty about that.

The fire just had to be what was making her cheeks turn red and warm, and not the way that the gown glimmered on Megara. And it definitely wasn't because Megara had just gestured for Runi to sit next to her.

Runi sat down next to her.

"Joining you sounds like a good idea," she managed to get out, stumbling a little bit over her words.

Come on, Darunia! she mentally reprimanded herself. She couldn't just go falling in love with every cute woman she met. Chances are she was straight, or, even worse, wasn't but had a thing against demons.

Runi stiffened at the thought.

What if she was Christian?

The potential homophobia part wasn't even what came to mind; it was more the ingrained hatred of things not holy. And, look, she got there was a variety to theological beliefs, but something told her any Christian would definitely not be offering her a seat.

She gave a nervous glanced over at Megara.

"You're not, uh, Christian, are you?" she hesitantly asked. And then, as a follow up, "And what are your thoughts on demons? Asking for a friend. Who, uh, is, uh..."

Her blush grew stronger.

"Trying to do a study on people's beliefs!" she finally concluded, sitting up a little straighter.

Megara studied her. So the other world thing wasn't bothering her that much at the moment. Megara decided to follow suit. They weren't in immediate danger, and it wasn't like there was anything pressing going on back home.

"I'm not...Christian, I'm afraid I'm not sure what that is. As for demons," she shrugged, "I don't really have an opinion on them. They're rare where I'm from, I've never met one."

They were odd questions, suspicious questions. The kind of questions that should have Megara on high alert. Instead, she found herself flustered of all things. Was she blushing? She couldn't tell in the heat of the fire.

Oh.

Runi shifted and straightened in her seat a little more, relief flooding her as she looked over at Megara. The whole potentially straight thing could still be a problem, but at least she didn't have a thing against demons! "That's good to know," she said. "My friend will, uh, definitely appreciate that."

She glanced around the room.

"...Do you know why we're here?" she asked. "I haven't really done the whole 'getting transported to another world' thing before, except when I ended up in my friend's throne room. And that was, uh, a special occasion, and I'm really not getting that vibe right now."

Megara shrugged, then regretted it as that once again shifted the gown. She should change out of this thing, it was too flashy. Like being under a constant spotlight.

"I've been in...this kind of situation before a few times, but never quite like this. Before I had friends, a clear way out. Here..." she shrugged again. Runi was looking at her oddly, or maybe it was just the mask. Definitely the mask. She almost looked like she was blushing, but that was probably the reddish light from the fire. Just the lighting. Like Megara's own blush was just the heat.

"I didn't have the clear way out, but I did have my friend with me," Runi admitted. She looked around the room again, then slowly turned her attention back to Megara. Her cheeks looked red from the fire - it was a little warm in here, wasn't it?

"Maybe we should go out to where other people are?" she suggested. "Someone might know what's going on. If they don't give us a straight answer, we can also eavesdrop."

Megara looked nervously out at the dance floor, her fingers fiddling with the top of her cane. The pain involved with dancing unsupported flashed into her mind and she had to resist the urge to shake her head. Runi was right, someone could know something.

She gave a small smile instead, a plan coming tentatively together in her mind. She offered her hand, "I'm afraid I'm not fully capable of dancing on my own," she said, her eyes flitting briefly to the cane, "Would you care to dance with me?" She wasn't sure if that was the plan from the beginning - part of her hoped it was - but she wasn't willing to entertain the possibility. After all, splitting up would have been more efficient, and Megara should have cared about efficiency.

"Oh," Runi managed to get out. "Um..."

She faltered, her blush getting even worse. There was no denying it now. The heat of the fire wasn't responsible for her warm cheeks - it was the steadily growing crush she had on Megara.

"Dancing would be nice," she said, awkwardly taking Megara's hand. "I, er, haven't really danced before, but, uh..."

She gave a nervous smile.

"...You could teach me?"

Just the heat. It's just the heat. Megara was getting worse at lying to herself.

The smile she gave Runi was almost shy as she ran a quick calculation in her head. They couldn't very well go chatting with the dancing crowd without being part of it. So, she led Runi to the dance floor, trying with every ounce of will not to look at their joined hands. She'd be doomed then, incapable of coherent thought.

Gods, Megara, she chastised herself, You need to hang out with more people your age. This is pathetic.

They reached the dance floor and Megara turned to face Runi, reaching out to place her hand on her waist before hesitating, "May I?"

She didn't resist when Megara reached out to put her hand on her waist.

"Sure," she said. She blushed a little harder. "My, um, background didn't exactly give me a chance to go to dances like this..."

Megara laid her hand on Runi's waist and began to lead the dance, leaning on Runi a little more than was normal for this dance to relieve a bit of the pain her in her leg.

"Mine did," she said, her smile becoming masklike as mixed emotions drained it of its joy, "Why weren't you able to?" she asked, allowing herself to indulge her curiosity and pretending it was only to give herself a distraction.

"Oh," she managed to get out. "Um.."

She fell silent for a moment, letting Megara lead the dance as they started moving around the room. She was vaguely aware that Megara was leaning on her - probably from whatever injury made her need a cane - but didn't bother to comment on it. It wasn't her place to, and she honestly didn't really mind.

"It's a long story," she admitted. "I'm, er..."

She faltered again.

"I'm not much of a people person," she said. "I mean, I am, but most people don't want to spend time with me. I was on my own for awhile. Then I made a friend, but that didn't end well for me, and I don't see my other friend that much because he, er, lives very, very far away."

She thought for a moment. "...He'd actually probably be able to teach me how to dance, now that I think about it. He's a king - and, er, I'm not really sure if I was supposed to tell you that..."

"I spend a great deal of time with royalty," she assured, leaving out the reason, "The idea that you may spend time with a king is nothing too shocking to me." She'd left her cane against the wall, out of the way. She only now realized that that meant that she was now unarmed. That was fine, of course, she didn't need a weapon, exactly, but that didn't make it much less uncomfortable.

"Why wouldn't people want to spend time with you?" Runi was a pretty girl, sweet, a little awkward, but there was nothing about her that Megara could see to make her someone others wouldn't want around.